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CMU Digest
CMU Digest 04.08.17: SoundCloud, Spotify, Spinrilla, Kanye West, Tomorrowland, Y Not
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 4 August 2017
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
There was speculation that two investment firms could be about to pump new money into SoundCloud, buying the flagging streaming platform more time. After it axed about 40% of its staff, SoundCloud recently said that it had finance in place to get it into quarter four this year. Bloomberg has named both New York bank The Raine Group and Singapore’s state-owned investment fund Temasek Holdings as possible new backers. The former would likely want involvement in setting the company’s future strategy as part of any investment. [READ MORE]
Spotify quietly updated its official premium user number to 60 million, meaning it has signed up ten million new paying subscribers since March. The updated number came amidst increased speculation about the streaming firm’s long anticipated listing on the New York Stock Exchange, which is now expected to happen in the final quarter of this year – providing Warner Music joins Universal, Sony and indie-label repping Merlin in signing up to a new multi-year licensing deal. [READ MORE]
The Recording Industry Association Of America denied that mix-tape sharing app Spinrilla enjoyed safe harbour protection under US copyright law. The majors sued Spinrilla for copyright infringement earlier this year, but the mix-tape set-up pleaded safe harbour. In its legal response, the RIAA argues that Spinrilla hasn’t complied with the formalities of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, where the US copyright safe harbour originates, and doesn’t have a proper repeat infringer policy. [READ MORE]
Kanye West sued the Lloyd’s Of London insurers who are yet to pay out on the tour he cancelled last November. The rapper’s lawyers argue that their client had to cancel the shows after suffering a psychological breakdown and that the tour was insured for such a cancellation. The lawsuit accuses the insurers of unreasonably delaying payment and employing tactics designed to find an excuse to not pay at all. [READ MORE]
A Spanish offshoot of Belgian dance music festival Tomorrowland was cancelled after its stage caught fire. Organisers of Tomorrowland this year staged satellite events in cities around the world where performances from the main festival were screened alongside local DJs and special effects. 22,000 attendees at the Barcelona edition were evacuated after staging caught fire. No one was seriously injured. [READ MORE]
Day three of the Y Not festival was cancelled due to bad weather. The site of the festival in Derbyshire had become water-logged after heavy rainfall, with some ticket-goers claiming that the event’s management seemed totally unprepared for the weather conditions. Said management denied that was so, but decided that the weather did mean that the final day of the festivities had to be called off to ensure the safety of everyone involved. [READ MORE]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Universal Music Publishing announced a worldwide deal with Bruce Springsteen [INFO]
• Sony/ATV extended its deal with Noel Gallagher [INFO]
• Reservoir signed Dave Bassett [INFO]
• Sentric Music signed Toddla T [INFO]
