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CMU Digest
CMU Digest 02.05.17: Digital Economy Act, IFPI stats, iHeartMedia, UK Music, IOW Festival
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 2 May 2017
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
The revised Digital Economy Act got its royal assent, with amendments made by the Lords getting approval from the Commons before Westminster winds down for the upcoming General Election. Those amendments include two relating to secondary ticketing. First, the bots ban outlawing the use of special software to hoover up large quantities of tickets from primary ticketing sites. Secondly, the obligations on ticket resellers to provide certain information about the tickets they are reselling – contained in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 – will be extended. [READ MORE]
The IFPI revealed its latest set of annual figures, which show that the global recorded music market grew by 5.9% in 2016. In line with statements issued by record industry trade bodies at a national level, the IFPI cautiously welcomed the sector’s solid growth as it launched its stats pack in London, but said that things would be much better if safe harbour protections – used by the likes of YouTube to create opt-out, rather than opt-in, streaming services – were reformed. [READ MORE]
iHeartMedia warned investors that it may be forced into administration before the end of the year, with a $350 million debt repayment due in the coming months. The biggest radio broadcaster in the US, and owner of the iHeartRadio streaming service and Clear Channel billboard advertising business, the company took on $20 billion of debt during a $24 billion private equity buyout in 2008. It is attempting to defer up to $14 billion of those debts. [READ MORE]
Cross-sector trade group UK Music has announced outgoing MP Michael Dugher as its new chief executive. The former Shadow Secretary Of State For Culture, Media And Sport will replace Jo Dipple, who revealed back in January her plans to leave the trade body after five years in the top job. [READ MORE]
The Competition And Markets Authority launched an investigation into Live Nation’s acquisition of a majority stake in the Isle Of Wight Festival, which will ask whether the live music giant taking a significant slice of the annual event will lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the festivals market. It’s not clear why the CMA has decided to investigate this particular acquisition, and it is yet to set a timetable for its review, though it says it has asked Live Nation to ensure the festival continues to operate as a separate entity until its investigation is complete. [READ MORE]
CMU Insights @ Canadian Music Week 2017
We also published reports last week on the sessions we presented at Canadian Music Week looking at a variety of issues and opportunities around the streaming market.
• CrossBorderWorks’ Vickie Nauman spoke about the need for more diversification in streaming music services to maximise revenues.
• Believe’s Georges Tremblay discussed how labels and artists find success via the streaming services, and how that feeds into a wider, more long term plan.
• AMRA’s Tomas Ericsson spoke about the mammoth task of processing the data fed to collecting societies by the streaming services each month, and the issues that can arise when some societies are unable to do so efficiently.
• While our final panel, featuring representatives from artist management and entertainment law, debated the issue of transparency in the streaming business, what is changing and what remains problematic.
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Jack White did a global publishing deal with Universal [INFO]
• Spotify acqui-hired the blockchain team at Mediachain Labs [INFO]
• Jay-Z extended his deal with Live Nation [INFO]
• Mixmag acquired Kerrang! and The Face from Bauer Media [INFO]
• Samsung made Google Play the default music player on its mobile phones [INFO]
• X-Ray Touring aligned with Paradigm [INFO]
• CI and Entertainment Intelligence allied to join digital delivery and data for indies [INFO]
• Rupture Records did a distribution deal with Sony [INFO]
• Iggy Pop signed his brand rights over to Sony’s Artist Legacy Group [INFO]
• Max Richter became the first artist to sign to Decca Publishing [INFO]
• Mac & Phil signed to Warner/Chappell [INFO]
