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CMU Digest
CMU Digest 09.03.18: NME, ASA, Universal Music, Redefining Music Education, iTunes LP
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 9 March 2018
The key stories from the last week in the music business…
Time Inc UK announced it was closing the print edition of NME. Despite talking up the achievements of the magazine since it became a free title in 2015, the media firm said “increasing production costs and a very tough print advertising market” meant the print magazine was no longer “financially viable”. NME.com will live on, with plans to ramp up online activity and launch two new NME radio stations. The news follows the recent sale of Time Inc UK to a private equity outfit. [READ MORE]
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority made demands of the secondary ticketing sites in the way they communicate pricing, insisting the total cost of a resold ticket – including booking fees – should be declared upfront. It also said Viagogo should stop using the confusing terms “official site” and “100% guarantee”. Meanwhile in New Zealand the Commerce Commission said consumers should consider whether buying tickets from Viagogo was “worth the risk” after another flurry of complaints about the resale site. [READ MORE]
Universal Music finally confirmed it would share the profits from the sale of its Spotify equity with its artists. Many in the indie community made that commitment in 2014, while Warner and Sony followed in 2016. The question of what happens to the record companies’ Spotify equity has been raised anew now that the streaming service is about to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile Sony is the first of the majors to confirm it will also share its equity sale profits with the indie labels it distributes. [READ MORE]
CMU Insights launched a major new research project called ‘Redefining Music Education’. The initiative will investigate how business and entrepreneurial skills could be better incorporated into the music and wider arts curriculum, and how doing so could help make a stronger case for increased investment in these subjects. Initial findings will be presented at The Education Conference at The Great Escape on 16 May. [READ MORE]
Apple announced it was phasing out the iTunes LP, which is the special format whereby labels could include multimedia extras with albums sold on the tech giant’s download platform. It led to a new round of speculation that Apple might soon bail on downloads altogether in order to focus on its streaming service Apple Music. Originally launched in 2009, the hype around the iTunes LP format burned out long ago. [READ MORE]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Caroline International signed Warpaint [INFO]
• Sub Pop Publishing signed Wye Oak [INFO]
• Sony Music’s Epic signed A.Chal [INFO]
• Concord Music signed Blair Daly [INFO]
• WME signed Dolly Parton [INFO]
