Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:54 | By

Woodstock 50 is cancelled but then not cancelled

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business Top Stories

Woodstock 50

There was quite a bit of confusion yesterday over that big festival being staged to celebrate the five decade anniversary of Woodstock, after one of the event’s financial backers announced that it had been cancelled only for Woodstock company to insist it was going ahead.

The 2019 event – the third time a milestone anniversary has been marked with another festival – is due to take place from 16-18 Aug with Jay-Z, Dead & Company and The Killers all set to headline. To date Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang has been the main spokesperson for the festivities, telling reporters that he hoped the event would celebrate activism and political engagement as much as the music happening on stage.

However, yesterday it was another entity putting out statements about Woodstock 50. Amplifi Live, a division of marketing group the Dentsu Aegis Network, was one of the festival’s backers, and it announced that “despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees. As a result and after careful consideration, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, a partner of Woodstock 50, has decided to cancel the festival”.

In the wake of that announcement, Billboard reported that organisers had recently approached both Live Nation and AEG to step in as new backers of the festival, mainly by pumping $20 million into the event. Neither of the live music giants seemed keen to get involved, possibly because of divisions between those running the show, and rumours that the festival’s main production partner was about to be fired.

However, pretty much as soon as the news Woodstock 50 was cancelled had circled around the internet, a new statement was issued from the festival’s organisers insisting the show was still going ahead. They stated: “We are committed to ensuring that the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock is marked with a festival deserving of its iconic name and place in American history and culture. Although our financial partner is withdrawing, we will of course be continuing with the planning of the festival and intend to bring on new partners”.

Elsewhere, the aforementioned Lang told TMZ that Amplifi Live’s statement had come as a “complete surprise” to him. Meanwhile, other people involved in the actual Woodstock company told media that their financial backer had no right to unilaterally announce the festival had been cancelled, indicating that legal action could now follow over that announcement.

Quite who the new partners will be to help make the big anniversary party happen is not yet known. But in their statement, the Woodstock team insisted: “The bottom line is, there is going to be a Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival, as there must be, and it’s going to be a blast”.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:53 | By

SideOneDummy Records allies with AWAL

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

SideOne Dummy

Kobalt’s AWAL has announced one of those exclusive distribution and services deals with LA-based independent label SideOneDummy Records. And if you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe it when Lonny says so.

Says AWAL CEO Lonny Olinick: “AWAL is proud to work with the best artists and labels across genres. Signing this deal with SideOneDummy Records is an amazing opportunity for AWAL to continue this tradition with a legendary indie label. Whether working in punk, indie rock, or with singer songwriters, their team has created an artist friendly label focused on true artist development. They have bold ambitions to expand SideOneDummy”.

Still not believing this news? Well, what about Bill? You’ve gotta trust Bill. “We have been fans of Kobalt for many years and have watched them grow from the sidelines”, says SideOneDummy Records co-founder Bill Armstrong. “We have been impressed with their forward thinking, independent spirit, transparency and creative initiatives”.

He goes on: “Our meetings with Lonny, combined with how much he knows and understands our company culture made AWAL the natural next step into the future for SideOneDummy. The evolution of the music business has been dramatic in recent years and Kobalt is leading the charge, we are THRILLED to be a part of it”.

In its nearly 25 years in business, SideOneDummy Records has worked with the likes of The Gaslight Anthem, Flogging Molly and Gogol Bordello. Current acts include Xavier Rudd and Rozwell Kid.

READ MORE ABOUT: | |

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:48 | By

Stephen Fry, Sharon Osbourne and more say calls for Eurovision boycott turn “a tool of unity into a weapon of division”

Business News Media

Eurovision Song Contest

Stephen Fry, Sharon Osbourne, Gene Simmons and comedian Al Murray are among various people from the creative industries to sign a letter opposing calls for a boycott of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. A number of music industry reps are also among the names on the list, including Scooter Braun, Glassnote’s Daniel Glass, Downtown’s Andrew Gould, BMG’s Zach Katz, JEM Artists’ Colin Lester, and artist manager Jonathan Shalit.

There have been various calls to boycott this year’s Eurovision due to it taking place in Israel. In January, creative types including Peter Gabriel, Wolf Alice and Reverend And The Makers joined the Boycott, Divestment And Sanctions movement – which calls for the cultural boycott of Israel over its policies towards Palestine – in pressuring the BBC not to broadcast the contest.

Since Madonna announced that she would be performing at the event, there have also been various calls for her to withdraw.

However, the new counter-protest to these protests, which has been put together by an organisation known as Creative Community For Peace, says that “the spirit of togetherness is under attack by those calling to boycott Eurovision 2019 because it is being held in Israel, subverting the spirit of the contest and turning it from a tool of unity into a weapon of division”.

“We believe the cultural boycott movement is an affront to both Palestinians and Israelis who are working to advance peace through compromise, exchange, and mutual recognition”, the statement goes on. “While we all may have differing opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the best path to peace, we all agree that a cultural boycott is not the answer”.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place in Tel Aviv in May.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:47 | By

Vanessa Reed named CEO of New Music USA

Business News Industry People Management & Funding

Vanessa Reed

Vanessa Reed has been named the new president and CEO of New Music USA. She has, of course, been head of similar UK-based organisation the PRS Foundation for the last eleven years.

New Music USA was founded in 2011 as a result of the merger of the American Music Center and Meet The Composer. The organisation supports new music created in the United States, including through grant funding. Reed replaces Ed Harsh, who stood down as its CEO last year.

“I believe that music, like every art form, deserves specialist resources and advocates that offer support, build new connections, and create a better future for its creators, practitioners, and audiences”, says Reed. “That’s why I’ve loved every minute of my time at PRS Foundation in the UK and why I’m excited to be taking up this post at New Music USA, which plays a crucial role in supporting and connecting America’s many talented and diverse new music communities”.

Waving her off, PRS Foundation chair Simon Platz says: “Vanessa has been the power house behind the force that has transformed the Foundation in recent years. Her passion and energy has been infectious and the strategic partnerships she has struck up between the Foundation and all kinds of major funders, music organisations and national bodies like the BBC will be her enduring legacy. We wish her all the best with her exciting new appointment in New York”.

Meanwhile, chair of New Music USA Frederick Peters says: “The board of New Music USA feels profoundly grateful that our search has sourced such an extraordinary woman to lead our organisation into the future. Vanessa’s deep knowledge of the field, her boundless energy and fountain of transformative ideas, and her collegial approach make her the perfect leader for New Music USA’s next phase”.

Reed will officially take up her new post on 12 Aug.

READ MORE ABOUT: | |

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:41 | By

Approved: Mount Forel

CMU Approved

Mount Forel

Mount Forel’s debut single ‘America’ is unusual in that the band’s opening gambit is, in part, an apology.

“It’s about the rise of the far right and fascism, and the demise of the liberal agenda”, says frontman Ross Thompson of the track. “The triumph of Trump and the normalisation of racism, misogyny and general douchary that has sadly become so acceptable. As an American I find that, increasingly, I have to say ‘we’re not all cunts'”.

Alright, perhaps not an apology. More an exasperated lament.

The song is the closest to home for Thompson, who is American. Other songs on the album take their names from other places, with each band member also harking from a different country.

While the thoughts on the state of the planet are intriguing, what really draws you in is the music – inventive guitar-led songs that use pop, dance and psychedelic influences.

At ground level, the song structures are rock solid, which allows them to switch genres and leap into odd time signatures while maintaining an anchor to hold you there with them.

Watch the video for ‘America’ here:

Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:37 | By

Kate Tempest announces new album, The Book Of Traps And Lessons

Artist News Releases

Kate Tempest has announced that she will release her third solo album in June. Titled ‘The Book Of Traps And Lessons’, the first single from the record is ‘Firesmoke’.

“I think of the song like a cleansing moment in the wider context of the record, in the same way that a relationship can be a cleansing moment in the wider context of a life”, Tempest says of the single. “A kind of a turning point. I wrote it for my woman. Inspired by her and everything that falling in love with her has taught me”.

The follow-up to 2016’s ‘Let Them Eat Chaos’, the new album has been in the works with producers Rick Rubin and Dan Carey for the last five years. It will finally be released on 14 Jun.

Watch the lyrics video for ‘Firesmoke’ here:

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:29 | By

Ozzy Osbourne reschedules farewell shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne has announced rescheduled British Isles dates for his farewell tour. With the finale venture already hampered by hand surgery and a bout of flu, the Black Sabbath frontman pulled all remaining 2019 dates after injuring himself in a fall.

Everything’s back on now though, with the UK and Ireland leg of the tour now rescheduled for early 2020.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Europe for these shows”, says Osbourne. “Thank you to all the fans for sticking with me and waiting for the new dates to be announced. I can’t wait to see you all next year”.

Tour dates:

31 Jan: Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
2 Feb: Dublin, 3Arena
5 Feb: Manchester Arena
7 Feb: Newcastle, Utilita Arena
10 Feb: London, O2 Arena
21 Feb: Glasgow, Hydro
14 Feb: Birmingham, Resorts World Arena

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:28 | By

One Liners: Spotify, Jayda G, Hayden Thorpe, more

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

Spotify

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Spotify now has 100 million paying users. The streaming firm included the big fat stats brag in its latest quarterly report yesterday. They should really launch 100 million green balloons into the sky to celebrate. Though that would be very bad for the environment. I can’t believe Spotify is going to damage the environment by launching 100 million green balloons into the sky. It’s a scandal! And anyway, we all know balloons are meant to be red. And they should really have done the balloon stunt when they reached 99 million users. OK people, cancel the balloons. The party is officially off.

• Producer Jayda G has announced the next in her series of JMG Talks environmental science events. Taking place at Giant Steps in Hackney Wick on 22 May, she will be talking to Alex Cancelli about his research into the behaviour of contaminants in treatment wetlands.

• Banks is back with new single ‘Gimme’. “‘Gimme’ is a song about getting what you want”, she says. “It’s about knowing what you deserve, saying it out loud, and demanding it with no apologies. I’m ready to release this into the world and begin a new chapter”.

• AlaskaAlaska have released new track, ‘Tough Love’. “‘Tough Love’ is a protest and a paradox”, says band leader Lucinda Duarte-Holman. “It is an invite to each individual listener to interpret however they like”.

• Former Wild Beasts frontman Hayden Thorpe has announced five shows around the world, where he will perform songs from his new album solo on piano. He will hit London on 20 May. Register for free tickets here.

• D Double E has announced that he will play The Borderline in London on 23 May, followed by shows in Glasgow and Brighton in June.

• Hootie And The Blowfish have announced UK tour dates in October, including a performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on 12 Oct.

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

READ MORE ABOUT: | | | | | |

 

Tuesday 30 April 2019, 12:22 | By

Twitter announces content partnerships with Live Nation and MTV

And Finally Business News Deals Digital Live Business Media

Twitter

Now, we all know that – in 2019 – Twitter is primarily a platform for adding sarcastic remarks underneath the posts of professional shit stirrers, ensuring that warm glow you can only feel after taking down some cunt with a clever witticism and seven emojis. But Twitter HQ is still insisting that its app is some kind of brand-friendly modern media platform, and to that end its just announced some new content partnerships.

Those partnerships include one with Live Nation which will be pumping exclusive footage of gigs and festivals into Twitter and “bringing the power of live to millions of music fans”. There will also be “must-see moments from iconic festivals”, which -together with the live music – “give brands the opportunity to meaningfully engage with fans when they’re truly listening”. Yeah, whatever you say Twitter. Sorry, #whateveryousayTwitter

Not only that, via a partnership with Viacom, MTV will be running a Twitter gimmick at the VMAs where fans will be asked “to decide which audience member they’d like to watch on a live reaction cam or follow backstage and behind-the-scenes during the show’s biggest moments”. Exciting stuff. Sorry, #excitingstuff

And now here’s Twitter’s Global VP And Head Of Content Partnerships Kay Madati saying some nonsense: “When you collaborate with the top publishers in the world, you can develop incredibly innovative ways to elevate premium content and bring new dimensions to the conversations that are already happening on Twitter”.

“Together with our partners”, he adds, “we developed this new slate of programming specifically for our audiences, and designed the content to fuel even more robust conversation on Twitter”.

Meanwhile, every Twitter user everywhere nodded politely and then returned to diligently telling Donald Trump to fuck off. Sorry, #fuckoff

READ MORE ABOUT: | |

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:46 | By

Lifetime to air follow up to Surviving R Kelly documentary

Artist News Media

R Kelly

US TV network Lifetime has announced a follow-up to its ‘Surviving R Kelly’ series which will look at the impact the original programme had in relation to the many allegations of sexual abuse made against the musician. It will put the spotlight on the new allegations and criminal investigation that have followed the documentary’s airing, and also the wider conversation around sexual violence that it initiated.

Few of the claims in the programme were new, journalist Jim DeRogatis having rigorously documented allegations that have been made and civil lawsuits that have been filed against Kelly since the early 2000s. And amid mounting media coverage, a campaign calling on the music industry and music media to stop working with and supporting the musician had been steadily gaining momentum for a few years now.

However, the Lifetime documentary took things to a whole new level when in was first aired in January, with the documentary’s allegations dominating the news agenda in the US shortly after broadcast. Kelly continues to proclaim his innocence, pointing out that he was acquitted the only time criminal charges were previously pressed. But in the wake of the programme new charges have been made, and this time the music industry seems more keen to cut its ties with the star as a result.

According to Deadline, the follow up programme will be called ‘Surviving R. Kelly: The Impact’ and will “highlight the impact the documentary has had on our culture globally, how it has elevated the conversation on sexual violence and what it means to be a survivor”. It will also look at the now infamous interview Kelly gave to CBS journalist Gayle King after the original show aired and put the spotlight on those still defending the musician.

The new programme will be hosted by journalist Soledad O’Brien and will air in the US next Saturday, 4 May.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:45 | By

Dave Stewart signs to Paradigm

Artist News Business News Deals Live Business

Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart has signed to the Paradigm Talent Agency which will now represent him in his various guises, including when he is making music, producing film and TV projects, taking photos and writing books and all that.

“I’m excited to work with Marty Diamond, Tom Windish and the powerhouse team at Paradigm”, says Stewart. “I am a polymath with music at the core of everything I do and still have that hunger to disrupt, create and build new worlds and platforms so music has an interesting and exciting journey ahead. I’m happy we will be on that journey together”.

The there mentioned Diamond adds: “Paradigm’s mandate to push the boundaries of creativity makes partnering with Dave a natural fit. Dave is a maverick and one of the most underrated guitarists of all time – we are THRILLED to be a part of his evolution as a global media multi-hyphenate”.

I wish I’d known I could just call Stewart a “global media multi-hyphenate” back in that first paragraph. It would have saved me listing all his various guises. And sounding like nonsense bullshit is definitely better than a sentence being slightly too wordy.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:30 | By

Skepta announces Ignorance Is Bliss

Artist News Releases

Skepta

Skepta has announced that he will release his new album, ‘Ignorance Is Bliss’, next month. The LP is the follow-up to 2016 Mercury-winning ‘Konnichiwa’.

Other than the title, artwork and a release date of 31 May, there are few details about the rapper’s fifth album available as of yet. Since the release of ‘Konnichiwa’ he has put out an EP – ‘Viscious’ – and a number of standalone singles, most recently Wiley diss track ‘Wish You Were Here’.

In a post on Instagram announcing ‘Ignorance Is Bliss’, Skepta thanked his management company Metallic Inc “for bringing my ideas to life”.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:27 | By

Help Musicians UK to release fundraising compilation

Artist News Releases

Help Musicians UK

Help Musicians UK has announced a new compilation album titled ‘Smoke Rainbows’ which aims to raise funds for its Music Minds Matter mental health service.

The album features twelve tracks, each recorded in one take at Abbey Road Studios by artists including The Magic Numbers, The Leisure Society, Matt Deighton, The Blow Monkeys, Ren Harvieu, Pat Dam Smyth and more.

“I’ve always liked the parquet flooring at Abbey Road, along with the room sounds you can get”, says Deighton. “‘Overshadowed’ had an extra dimension in there”, he adds of the track he contributed to the record.

“Thanks to Help Musicians UK”, he goes on, “who over the past have indeed helped this musician in a time when the chords were of a minor persuasion. So I would like to dedicate this live version to all at Help Musicians UK, and to my friend Chris Sheehan who lit the spark for the record to be possible”.

Help Musicians UK CEO James Ainscough adds: “This is an album of truly beautiful songs, where the passion and artistry of those involved in creating it shines through. An album of this nature dedicated to the charity is a first for Help Musicians and a huge honour … At Help Musicians, we want a world where musicians thrive”.

“Supporting the mental health of musicians via the Music Minds Matter listening ear service is an important part of our work” he concludes. “The proceeds from this album will help us continue to reach more musicians in the years ahead – offering a lifetime of support, when it is needed most”.

Here’s the full tracklist for the compilation:

1. The Leisure Society – Last Of The Melting Snow
2. The Magic Numbers – Wayward
3. Penny Police – Take On A Little Love
4. The Magic Lantern – Different Paths
5. Matt Deighton – Overshadowed
6. Rory Butler – Mind Your Business
7. Bloom – People Like You
8. Charlie Wood – Grand Piano
9. Ren Harvieu – Little Raven
10. The Blow Monkeys – Fortune’s Wheel
11. Pat Dam Smyth – Where The Light Goes
12. Tyni – Fighter

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:21 | By

Stormzy to Glastonbury naysayers: “I’m a serious musician”

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Stormzy

Apparently there are still people out there who don’t think Stormzy won’t be very good at headlining Glastonbury – something he’ll be doing regardless later this summer. Those people need not worry, he says, it is no accident that he’s ended up topping the bill alongside The Killers and The Cure.

“There were so many doubters being like, ‘Oh he hasn’t got no number one song’ or, ‘Oh he’s got one album out, he’s not ready'”, he told BBC 1Xtra. “I’m there because I’m a serious musician. If you think I got booked for Glastonbury headline to come there and not give you an iconic headline performance, you’ve gone crazy”.

Last week, the rapper released ‘Vossi Bop’, the first single from his still-to-be-announced second album:

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:18 | By

Two Door Cinema Club announce UK tour, launch new album into space

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases

Two Door Cinema Club

Two Door Cinema Club have announced UK tour dates for October, which will follow a number of festival shows over the summer.

Last week the band also launched their new album, ‘False Alarm’. Literally launched it. Like, they shot it into space. Their new single is called ‘Satellite’, so it makes sense. Does it? No, probably not. But if you can do something, you might as well.

“We’re trying to create a new world for this record to exist in, and we want that to go everywhere from the music videos, to the artwork to the live show”, says frontman Alex Trimble, not actually referring to why they fired the record into space, but it’s more amusing if you pretend he is.

“We’re putting together the live show right now”, he adds. “It’s so exciting because there are no limits anymore. We’re not just Two Door Cinema Club as defined by what we’ve done, we’re Two Door Cinema Club doing whatever we want to do”.

The album will be available on Earth from 14 Jun. Here are the tour dates:

3 Oct: Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
4 Oct: Glasgow, Academy
8 Oct: Manchester, Victoria Warehouse
10 Oct: Hull, Bonus Arena
11 Oct: London, O2 Arena
13 Oct: Plymouth, Pavilions

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:13 | By

One Liners: Zara Larsson, Rammstein, BTS, more

Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases

Zara Larsson

• Zara Larsson has released the video for new single, ‘Don’t Worry Bout Me’.

• Rammstein have released the video for new single, ‘Radio’.

• Japanese Breakfast has released new single, ‘Essentially’.

• Joy Crookes has released new single, ‘London Mine’. The track is taken from an upcoming new EP.

• Candy Says have released new single, ‘Gravity’. Their new EP, ‘You Are Beautiful, We Are All Beautiful’, is out on 7 Jun.

• BTS have announced that they will live stream the first of two shows at Wembley Stadium on 1 Jun. The band will be the first Korean act ever to play the venue.

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

READ MORE ABOUT: | | | |

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 14:05 | By

Moby claims he rubbed his penis on Donald Trump

And Finally Artist News

Moby

It wasn’t that long ago that we could only wonder which pop penises had come into contact with politicians. Now, suddenly, everyone’s talking about it. Recently we learned that Pop Will Eat Itself drummer Fuzz Townsend once dunked his genitals into Boris Johnson’s beer. Now Moby’s claiming to have rubbed his right up against Donald Trump’s leg.

Trump wasn’t a politician at the time – assuming you consider him one now – the incident taking place at a party in 2001, when Trump was still just a silly billionaire businessman.

“The party wasn’t that exciting”, Moby tells The Sunday Times. “It was mainly full of businessmen and real estate developers, most notably Donald Trump, who was standing a few yards away, talking loudly to some other guests. I drank a shot of vodka to brace myself, pulled my flaccid penis out of my trousers and casually walked past Trump, trying to brush the edge of his jacket with my penis”.

Somehow, no one seems to have noticed the penis, or Moby bobbing back and forth as he attempted to slap it against Trump.

“Luckily he didn’t seem to notice or even twitch”, says Moby of Trump’s non-reaction. “I returned to my friends and ordered another drink”.

So, the denouement of this story is that Moby might have touched Donald Trump’s jacket with his cock once. I think we’re going to need more certainty in any future stories in this series. Or everyone could just keep their trousers on.

Anyway, as well as adding to the pop penis politician prodding cannon, this is just the latest slightly odd story involving Moby and Trump. The musician has previously claimed to have insider information on collusion between the current US President and Russia. He said last year that “active and former CIA members” had given him the information over dinner and then encouraged him to share it online because he had a bigger social media following than them.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 08:46 | By

Setlist: 20 years of CMU – How web-blocking became the anti-piracy tool of choice

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Setlist

Web-block

This week’s episode of Setlist is another marking CMU’s 20th birthday, the fifteenth in a series of special editions reviewing the 20 biggest stories CMU has covered over the last two decades. This time we look at the various strategies the music industry has employed to combat online piracy during that time, and how it ultimately settled on web-blocking as a preferred method. Setlist is sponsored by 7digital.

Subscribe to Setlist
Listen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…

Acast | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Play | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | SoundCloud | Spotify | Spreaker | Stitcher | TuneIn

More
20 Years Of CMU podcast series

READ MORE ABOUT: | | | | | | |

 

Monday 29 April 2019, 05:01 | By

CMU Digest 29.04.19: Amazon, Notorious Markets, NoiseTrade, BBC, Spotify

CMU Digest

Digital Music

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

Amazon and Google both added free music streaming options to their respective smart speaker set-ups. Amazon will now offer a free entry-level music package to anyone using an Alexa-powered device in the US. This free ad-funded option provides access to pre-programmed playlists and will sit on the web giant’s existing menu of music services, which offers differing catalogue and functionality at differing price points. Google will offer a similar free version of its YouTube Music audio service on devices that utilise its Google Assistant. [READ MORE]

The US government published its annual report on piracy around the world. Produced by the US Trade Representative, it lists countries and websites that department believes are having a negative impact on the intellectual property rights of American citizens and companies. The country list still includes Canada and Mexico, albeit on the slightly less extreme ‘watch list’. Meanwhile the roll call of bothersome piracy sites includes a number of stream-ripping services and unlicensed steaming platforms, plus old favourites like The Pirate Bay. [READ MORE]

The Paste Media Group bought fan data gathering platform NoiseTrade off PledgeMusic. As part of the deal the former will put sessions recorded for its Paste Magazine website and Daytrotter channel onto the NoiseTrade site, which offers free music in return for email addresses. Pledge bought NoiseTrade in 2016 when it was looking to expand the range of direct-to-fan services it could provide artists. The sale comes as the wider Pledge company also seeks a buyer in order to overcome widely publicised financial problems that have resulted in artist payments being halted. [READ MORE]

The BBC announced that it will appoint a new head of pop music. The new executive will oversee all of the Corporation’s pop radio stations as well as BBC Music and the broadcaster’s pop music TV programmes. It’s not the first time the Beeb has attempted to more closely align its music output by putting multiple radio stations and programmes under one division, though it’s not really worked in the past. However this attempt is slightly narrower by excluding classical music from the new role. Radio 1 boss Ben Cooper is favourite to get the new top pop job. [READ MORE]

Spotify committed to remove music from India’s oldest record label from its platform. Saregama went to court to complain after its recordings were included on Spotify’s Indian service when it launched in the country back in February. Saregama, which began life more than a century ago as the Indian division of EMI, said that although it had started deal negotiations with Spotify and had handed over its recordings as part of those talks, it never signed on the dotted line. The streaming firm didn’t seem in any mood to fight and confirmed it would remove the label’s content from its servers within ten days. [READ MORE]

The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Downtown Music Publishing allied with Cowboys & Pirates [INFO]
• Superstruct bought several of Global’s festivals [INFO]
• Boiler Room announced a deal with South Bank Centre [INFO]
• Hipgnosis Songs Fund acquired the publishing catalogue of Starra [INFO]
• Kobalt signed Loud Luxury [INFO]
• Position Music signed Michael Franti [INFO]
• BMG signed The Allman Betts Band [INFO]
• Sony/ATV signed Mustard [INFO]
• Fierce Panda signed Desperate Journalist [INFO]

READ MORE ABOUT: | | | | |

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:37 | By

US government publishes its annual piracy gripe lists

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

Internet

The American government has published its annual piracy report, which is where the US Trade Representative namechecks the countries and websites that it reckons are causing the biggest headaches for the country’s intellectual property owners. Canada still appears in the first of those lists, while the super resistant Pirate Bay is still featured in the latter.

Both of America’s closest neighbours – ie Canada and Mexico – appear on the US government’s watch list of countries that should be doing more to protect IP rights. Though neither are on the more extreme priority watch list, which calls out Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Venezuela.

In a statement yesterday, the USTR said: “These trading partners will be the subject of increased bilateral engagement with USTR to address IP concerns. For such countries that fail to address US concerns, USTR will take appropriate actions”.

The accompanying Notorious Markets report lists all the websites that the US government reckons are rampantly facilitating copyright or other kinds of IP infringement. Although The Pirate Bay gets its customary mention, the report acknowledges that other forms of piracy are now out-performing good old-fashioned file-sharing. The report notes that “pirate streaming sites continue to gain popularity, overtaking pirate torrent and direct download sites for distribution of pirated content”.

The music industry’s top piracy moan stream-ripping is also mentioned, with a number of sites that allow users to create permanent downloads of temporary streams among the list. That includes Russian sites Flvto.biz and 2Conv.com, which the US record industry sued last year. In that case, a judge in Florida concluded that he didn’t have jurisdiction over the two websites and, earlier this month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation urged the courts to uphold that judgement now that the record labels are appealing.

The USTR says that the aim of its annual piracy bad boys list is “to motivate appropriate action by the private sector and governments to reduce piracy and counterfeiting”.

Some sites listed on past lists have been shut down, either as a result of legal action, the threat of legal action, or just because of changing trends in piracy consumption. So maybe this annual naming and shaming works. Though there are also some sites that just keep popping up again every year. Whether The Pirate Bay will ever be removed remains to be seen. Possibly, but mainly because downloads are becoming less popular across the board.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:36 | By

Paste Media Group buys fan data platform NoiseTrade from flagging PledgeMusic

Business News Deals Digital Management & Funding Media

Paste & NoiseTrade

The Paste Media Group – which operates both Paste magazine and the Daytrotter live sessions series – has acquired direct-to-fan data gathering platform NoiseTrade from PledgeMusic. Terms of the deal are not known, but Paste will be making a bunch of Daytrotter sessions available to download via the NoiseTrade website.

Pledge bought NoiseTrade in 2016 in a bid to extend the range of direct-to-fan tools it offered artists that used its services. Although for music fans NoiseTrade was a source of free downloads, for artists it was all about accessing fan data in return for offering up some freebie content. It also provided a similar service for authors willing to give away ebooks.

There has been much speculation about what the future might hold for NoiseTrade since the Pledge company admitted it was experiencing financial difficulties last year, subsequently suspending artist payments in February. Sources said NoiseTrade was still running pretty much as normal, it operating more or less autonomously from its parent company. But obviously, if Pledge collapsed completely that could cause problems for the subsidiary firm.

A statement posted on the Paste magazine website yesterday confirming the deal began: “Today begins a new era of NoiseTrade with its acquisition by Paste”. The media firm then said of its new acquisition, “we’ve long been fans of the site’s ability to connect artists with new fans, and music fans with their new favourite bands”.

The statement went on: “We recently combined forces with Daytrotter to become the largest collection of live music performances on the internet, and we’ll be adding that library to NoiseTrade in the coming weeks, offering thousands of sessions to NoiseTrade’s already abundant offering”.

Meanwhile, in a short post over on Facebook, NoiseTrade itself said: “NoiseTrade has officially joined the Paste Magazine family! We’ll continue to bring you the best music and books content, including exclusive performances from the Paste Music and Daytrotter studios, along with interviews, reviews and more. The goal to connect artists and fans won’t change; we’ll just be doing it a whole lot more!”

We still await news regarding the future of the wider Pledge business, which still owes money to a plethora of artists who were running fan-funding or pre-order campaigns on the site when the financial issues got out of control. A co-founder of NoiseTrade recently remarked on Twitter that Pledge founder Benji Rogers had told him that a possible buyer for the business was still going through the due diligence process.

READ MORE ABOUT: | |

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:35 | By

Boiler Room returns to China, announces Southbank Centre partnership

Business News Deals Digital Live Business

Boiler Room

Boiler Room has announced its official launch in China, following a short run of parties in the country back in 2017. Two launch shows are set to take place in Beijing and Shanghai next week.

“China is fast becoming a powerhouse in global underground music, and so it’s with huge excitement that we announce Boiler Room’s return with events in Beijing and Shanghai”, says the club and gig streaming site’s founder Blaise Bellville.

“Our core mission is to document club and dance floor culture the world over”, he goes on. “A big focus for us in the coming months will be to ensure these burgeoning Chinese scenes and artists are part of that story. We want to build a sustained presence for Boiler Room within China, through regular events and content that can be enjoyed both sides of the Great Firewall”.

The opening show will take place on 30 Apr at China’s first techno club, Lantern. Performing will be New Yorkers Volvox and Berlin’s Fadi Mohem, plus Beijing-based artists L+R Wang Lu & Yu Miao, Guzheng and Sun Meng. The live streaming for that will start at a very respectable 3pm in the UK.

After that, on 2 May, Shanghai will get in on the action at 44kw. That show will be headlined by Chinese producer Temple Rat, alongside fellow locals Max Shen and Deep 19, plus Serbian Tijana T.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Boiler Room has announced a new partnership in London with the Southbank Centre’s Concrete Lates for a new monthly night running from May to the end of the year.

“Launching Concrete Lates a year ago was an experiment for Southbank Centre, but one that is central to our dedication to be for everyone”, says the venue’s Senior Contemporary Music Programmer Bengi Ünsal. “London’s nightlife and culture is one of the most diverse and varied in the world, and it’s right that the UK’s largest arts centre is taking its place within the capital’s clubbing scene”.

“After a promising first year, having Boiler Room come on board is a huge vote of confidence for us”, she goes on. “Their reputation with both artists and audiences for quality live music experiences is unrivalled the world over. With our two talented teams working together, I’m super excited for what Concrete Lates has to offer in the year to come”.

Details of the first three parties in the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall will be announced on 1 May.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:34 | By

BBC to appoint one big boss of pop

Business News Media

BBC

The BBC is planning to introduce a new role overseeing all of the broadcaster’s pop music output across radio and TV. Meanwhile, another new staffer is set to oversee the direction of the BBC Sounds app.

In an internal memo, BBC Director Of Radio & Education James Purnell explains: “We currently have a mix of controllers and heads in the pop music area, so I’m planning to create a new role – Controller, BBC Pop Music – to bring our portfolio of pop stations and music output under one umbrella”.

There have been attempts to more closely align the BBC’s various music operations before, although with mixed success. Indeed, many initiatives intended to streamline management at the top of the radio stations and music telly projects have instead added extra personnel and bureaucracy into the mix. Often this results in the BBC finding new things to keep those people busy, which is in part why the Corporation has increasingly started to compete with the music industry it’s meant to support by becoming a festival promoter.

Explaining what specific divisions will be part of this latest effort at joined up thinking, Purnell goes on: “The pop stations – Radio 1, 1Xtra, Asian Network, Radio 2, 6 Music – [and] BBC Music and the music TV commissioning heads will report into the new controller. This is a great opportunity for the pop music stations to work more closely together and for the BBC to maintain its effective voice with the music industry”.

In some ways the new position could be seen as a replacement for Bob Shennan, the Beeb’s former Director Of Radio And Music, who has been promoted to an overall MD role. The new role won’t have quite as wide a remit, but such roles often expand at the BBC, so could ultimately do so. A current favourite for the pop boss job is Radio 1 chief Ben Cooper.

Meanwhile, the second newly announced executive position will put one person in charge of the BBC Sounds app. Launched last year with mixed success, the app brings together all of the BBC’s radio and podcasting activity, and has been made a top priority by Director General Tony Hall.

Purnell notes that the broadcaster is “launching into a competitive, relatively mature market” in terms of offering ever more enhanced on-demand music experiences through an app, and therefore “gaining audiences is going to require determination and focus”.

However, he says, “we have something none of our competitors do – the breadth of our creativity. The streamers don’t have radio stations – yet. We are local, national and global. We have a unique public purpose – to serve the public by informing, educating and entertaining. And we have some of the best marketing and product teams in the world”.

“To succeed”, he goes on, “we need to make Sounds more than the sum of those parts. We are therefore going to have a single person accountable for the service – a new Controller of BBC Sounds. They will develop the strategy for Sounds, and oversee its delivery, coordinating our editorial, product development and marketing teams. The Controller will develop the editorial strategy for Sounds with the networks, who will do the majority of the commissioning”.

Applications are being accepted for both roles now, if you fancy having a crack at it. Although, I’ll just point out again that everyone is expecting the top pop job to go to Ben Cooper, so maybe don’t bother for that one unless you really like writing job applications. There is an opening for a new Radio 4 Controller at the moment though. But I think the deadline’s passed for that. Sorry, this paragraph has been a real downer, hasn’t it?

Elsewhere at the Beeb, the organisation has put in a request to media regulator Ofcom for a change to the rules to allow a big revamp of the iPlayer service. Keen to better compete with Netflix and Amazon, it wants to keep shows streaming via the on demand video platform for twelve months after their original telly broadcast, rather than the current one month. Also, it wants to make more full series and archive films available.

“Audience expectations have changed dramatically, viewers are now used to being able to watch what they want when they want, and they expect much more from BBC iPlayer”, says Director Of Content Charlotte Moore. “We want to make the best UK programmes available to audiences for longer and provide a range of series and box sets for everyone to enjoy. This will bring the BBC iPlayer in line with what other services already offer and give audiences even greater value for their licence fee”.

Ofcom has not yet given an indication of how long it will take to make a decision on the BBC’s request.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:33 | By

CMU:DIY: Elevate Seminars at The Great Escape

Business News CMU:DIY Update Education & Events

TGE Elevate

The Great Escape has launched a brand new professional development programme for early-career music industry people called Elevate. As a result of this new scheme, which is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, 30 delegates will get a subsidised, curated and enhanced delegate experience, with personally crafted schedules and access to exclusive networking and Q&A events.

As part of the Elevate programme, CMU:DIY will also present a series of seminars on the Saturday of TGE alongside the O2 Presents DIY Academy day of educational panels. These are basically an opportunity for Elevate participants – and all TGE delegates and wristband holders – to access some of CMU’s acclaimed training courses for free.

Recognising how busy everyone is at TGE, each seminar is just 45 minutes. But those 45 minutes will be packed with easy to digest information and a load of practical tips. Topics covered across the day include: making money from gigs, streaming and direct-to-fan, plus the top five social media tricks, top five reasons you’re not getting paid, and the top five music industry fuck ups and how to avoid them.

All six seminars will take place in the all-new delegate hub at TGE, ie Jury’s Inn Waterfront, on Saturday 11 May. And unlike the rest of the TGE Conference, the Saturday sessions are open to anyone with a Great Escape ticket, including festival wristband holders.

Click here for full information on the seminars.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:32 | By

Bruce Springsteen announces new album, Western Stars

Artist News Releases

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen has announced his first new studio album for five years, after various recent online hints. It is titled ‘Western Stars’.

“This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements”, says Springsteen. “It’s a jewel box of a record”. A jewel box! How lovely.

His nineteenth studio album, the bulk of the record was played by Springsteen himself at his home studio in New Jersey with producer Ron Aniello. Various guests made contributions later, including Patti Scialfa and Jon Brion.

The album will be released on 14 Jun. It’s got a real nice picture of a horse on the cover.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:31 | By

Chrissie Hynde announces jazzy covers album

Artist News Releases

Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde has announced a new covers album, ‘Valve Bone Woe’, which will see her tackling songs originally performed by The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Nick Drake, The Kinks and more in a jazz style.

“A few years back when I saw an obit in the paper for the valve-trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, I mailed my jazz sax-playing brother saying ‘RIP Bob Brookmeyer'”, explains Hynde. “Terry, a man of few words, responded with ‘Valve Bone Woe’, a kind of Haiku beatnik prose”.

“I thought that was a perfect title for the album I’d been working on with producer Marius de Vries”, she goes on. “I’m not hugely interested in branching out into other musical genres, being a devout rock singer as such, but jazz is something I grew up around – thanks to my bro – and I’ve always had a soft spot for it”.

“I often bemoan what I regard as a decline in melody in popular music and I wanted to sing melodies” she adds. “Plus, I have a penchant for cover songs, it’s the surprise of singing something that I didn’t think of writing myself that turns me on”.

Concluding, Hynde muses: “Jazz got side-lined by rock n roll in the 60s, but now the demise of rock seems to be heralding in a newfound interest in it, the most creative and innovative musical forms of the 20th century. I’m happy to jump on the bandwagon”.

Rock is dead then. Long live jazz. Listen to jazzed up versions of The Beach Boys’ ‘Caroline, No’ and already pretty jazzy jazz standard ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ here.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:30 | By

One Liners: Fierce Panda, Taylor Swift, Chvrches, more

Artist News Business News Deals Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Management & Funding One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Fierce Panda has signed Desperate Journalist to a publishing deal with its Fierce Panda Songs company, in partnership with Bucks Music. “We’re delighted to be plugging into the Bucks system for this opportunity for Fierce Panda Songs, and trust that many more acts will follow in the shadowy footsteps of Desperate Journalist in the months and years ahead”, says FP founder Simon Williams.

• BMG has promoted Marian Wolf to VP Global Writer Services & China. He will remain based in LA.

• Management firm TaP Music has hired Aimee Jessiman as Senior Day-To-Day Artist Manager. She joins from Modest Management.

• Amanda Playle and Jho Oakley have founded a new artist management company, Decade Management, with an initial roster of Pendulum, Knife Party and Cameron Hayes. The pair previously worked together at Oakley’s former company, Jho Management.

• Chvrches have spoken out against recent collaborator Marshmello, after he released a new track with Tyga and Chris Brown yesterday. “We like and respect Mello as a person but working with people who are predators and abusers enables, excuses and ultimately tacitly endorses that behaviour”, they said in a statement on social media. “That is not something we can or will stand behind”.

• ‘IS TAYLOR SWIFT ABOUT TO RELEASE NEW MUSIC?!’, everyone has been screaming for weeks. The answer is yes. Well, not “about to” anymore, because she already has. Here’s ‘ME!’, featuring Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie. And that completes our exclamation mark ration for today.

• The Black Keys have announced that they will release their ninth album, ‘Let’s Rock’, on 28 Jun. Here’s first single ‘Eagle Birds’.

• Kelly Clarkson has released the video for ‘Broken And Beautiful’, taken from the soundtrack of the upcoming Uglydolls movie.

• Loyle Carner has released the video for ‘Angel’, featuring Tom Misch, from his new album ‘Not Waving, But Drowning’.

• Idris Elba has released new track ‘Ballie’, featuring Kah-Lo. “Bong Ballie is slang for everything is good”, he says. “Kah-Lo and I wanted to fuse hip hop and house and she was so easy to work with. I played this tune out for the first time at Coachella and it went off. I knew I had to put it out immediately”.

• Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats have released new mixtape ‘Anger Management’.

• LoneLady has released a cover of New Order’s ‘Cries And Whispers’. “This is a really special, magical era of New Order for me and has definitely had a big influence on me”, she says. “I love that early awkwardness; I find it beautiful somehow. There’s value in showing fear and discomfort”.

• Yumi Zouma have released the video for ‘Crush (It’s Late, Just Stay)’. The track is taken from new EP, ‘III’.

• FKA Twigs will play Alexandra Palace in London on 28 May. Tickets go on sale at 5pm on Monday.

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

READ MORE ABOUT: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

 

Friday 26 April 2019, 10:29 | By

Mathew Knowles announces Destiny’s Child musical

And Finally Artist News

Destiny's Child

Beyonce’s father Mathew Knowles has announced plans for a musical based on the career of Destiny’s Child, the group fronted by his daughter that he also managed. Titled ‘Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical’, the show sounds like it will mostly be about him, or at least it will be told entirely from his perspective.

“I want to pull back the curtain”, says Knowles. “I feel it’s time to give the world an opportunity to hear, see and feel the victories and failures that I’ve had as a husband, father and manager who risked everything in pursuit of fulfilling dreams – those of mine and others”.

Knowles founded Destiny’s Child and managed the group throughout their career. He also initially managed Beyonce’s solo career, although they severed ties “on a business level” abruptly in 2011. Although Beyonce has never commented publicly on the split, a lawsuit filed by Knowles Snr later revealed that he had been accused of stealing money from her tour revenues.

Mathew Knowles has subsequently worked in other areas of the music industry and written books on racism and marketing. He also earned a PhD in Business Administration in 2016. However, his connection to Destiny’s Child and Beyonce has remained a large part of his public persona too. Last month, he announced that he is also writing a book looking behind the scenes of the group.

What about the musical, though? Knowles is working on it with producer Je’Caryous Johnson. His credits include Snoop Dogg musical ‘Redemption Of A Dogg’, in which the rapper himself starred. It remains to be seen if he can convince any members of Destiny’s Child to take part in this new show. Probably not, eh?

“I am ecstatic to be working with Mr Knowles on the development of ‘Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical'”, says Johnson. “It is a unique and inspiring story that will fearlessly tackle hard truths, while bringing both vindication and healing to all who lived it. It’s fair, it’s real and it’s an absolute honour to know that Mr Knowles trusts me to pen and produce such an iconic piece of American history”.

It has apparently been planned that the show will premiere in Houston in the spring next year, before taking up residence on New York’s Broadway and in London’s West End, and then heading out on a world tour. Although, I’m not sure if those are ‘plans’ so much as ‘things that someone has said’.

READ MORE ABOUT: | |

 

Thursday 25 April 2019, 10:48 | By

Spotify to remove recordings from India’s oldest label following legal action

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

Spotify

There’s a little secret that they teach you at law school. It’s a clever little trick that only lawyers know. It goes like this: if you’re negotiating a deal with a company, try to remember to actually do the deal. Deal making’s super fun, see. And sometimes you get all distracted with the fun times and forget to do the deal. Spotify was having so much fun negotiating its licensing deal with India’s oldest record label Saregama, it forgot to do the deal. And now Saregama wants its music taken off the streaming platform.

Spotify recently went live in India, of course. It first started talking to Saregama – the music company that began life over a century ago as the Indian wing of EMI – in February 2018. A year later, as the streaming firm’s long awaited Indian launch got closer, Spotify asked Saregama if it would send over its recordings catalogue so it could be ingested and therefore be ready to stream at launch, assuming a deal could be done.

However, it seems, a deal wasn’t done. And yet, as Spotify switched on in India, Saregama’s recordings were available to its users. Which is why the music firm headed to Delhi’s High Court “seeking [an] ex parte injunction to restrain the defendants, directors, proprietors etc from doing any act including exploitation / use of the plaintiff’s works as filed in the digital form, ie sound recordings/songs, including the underlying literary and musical works contained therein which are in infringement of the plaintiff’s works”.

Spotify has seemingly confirmed that it will indeed remove Saregama’s music from its platform in an almost speedy fashion. A court filing notes that a legal rep for Spotify has said that “the defendant does not consider this litigation as an adversarial litigation. He submits that whatever work infringed the copyright of the plaintiff would be taken off / deleted by the defendant from its platform within ten days from today. The defendant shall remain bound by the above submission made in court”.

Which is all nice and lovely. And will amuse, I’m sure, good old Warner Music. Because it – of course – has had its own spat with Spotify in India. The mini-major hadn’t reached a deal with Spotify for the Indian market as it went live there, and therefore wanted the streaming firm to remove any recordings that are of songs published by its Warner/Chappell division (or at least those that are recordings of Warner/Chappell published songs that the publisher licenses directly in the digital space).

Spotify countered that it reckoned it could rely on a compulsory licence under Indian copyright law for those works. Warner angrily disagreed. Both sides said some snarky things. Warner went legal. The dispute is ongoing.

Of course that legal dispute centred on Warner’s songs not its recordings, whereas Saregama is mainly requesting the removal of its tracks from Spotify’s Indian service. And deleting recordings from a streaming platform is much easier than deleting songs, due to tedious music rights data issues.

Though the Saregama legal complaint does reference the company’s song copyrights as well as its recordings, so, who knows? Either way, Saregama moans, Spotify removes the content. Warner moans and, well, Warner can fuck off. Sounds sensible to me.

READ MORE ABOUT: |

 

Thursday 25 April 2019, 10:46 | By

R Kelly loses civil abuse case by default after failing to appear in court

Artist News Legal

R Kelly

R Kelly has lost a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing an underage girl. The ruling against the musician was made by default after he failed to appear in court to defend himself.

The woman who filed the civil litigation is one of the four whose accusations form the basis of the criminal charges that Kelly is also facing, for which he is yet to stand trial. She filed her lawsuit in February, claiming that she had a number of sexual encounters with the musician, the first in 1998 when she was sixteen years old.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Kelly was served a court summons in relation to the action but never responded. To that end, earlier this week, the judge overseeing the case granted a request by the woman’s attorney to rule in her favour.

Asked why Kelly had failed to defend himself, his publicist Darrell Johnson told the Chicago Sun-Times: “We don’t care about the lawsuit. The lawsuit means nothing to us”.

A hearing has now been set for next month to determine what damages Kelly should pay the woman in the case. Whatever the figure, it will add to mounting debts for the star, who was recently revealed to have just $625 to his name. He is currently facing further jail time as he fails to keep up to date with child support payments.

Aside from his financial troubles, Kelly is also facing those criminal charges, of course. Accused of sexual abusing four women, three of whom were underage at the time of the alleged incidents, if convicted he faces up to 70 years in prison.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 

CLICK FOR OLDER STORIES