| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 12th January |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Doherty pleads guilty (shocker)
- Beanie Sigel pleads guilty, too
- New Michael Jackson child abuse accusations
- Judge provisionally approves SonyBMG rootkit settlement
- People's Choice Awards
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs album release
- Nick Cave DVD
- Arctic Monkeys play hometown gig
- Kula Shaker back from wherever they were
- Korn enter interesting partnership with Live Nation
- Virgin get ready to launch O'Connell show
- Heart launch new Theakston ad campaign
- ITV programming chief goes to RDF
- HIM reschedule
- EP review: Hoboken - Beauty Queen
- Celtic Connections cancel opening show
- Saddle Creek make vinyl releases iPod friendly
- Sony partner on new gay label
- !K7 confirm new Berlin-based UK marketing man
- Rumours reported on future of Casablanca
- Mrs Dave Grohl expecting
- Iggy approves of biopic, but doesn't want to be involved
- Ordinary Boy favourite to win celeb BB
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TOP BIT>>
Well, here we are twelve days into the New Year and every edition of the CMU Daily so far in 2006 has left our server at 10am as God intended. Which probably means our entire IT infrastructure will go down tomorrow morning in a bid to stop us meeting our deadline. Today's edition was very nearly delayed, not because of any gremlins with the technology, but because at twenty to seven this morning I realised that the new single from the Freelance Hellraiser, due for release on 27 Feb via Ugly Truth Records (press contact Darling), is one of my favourite tracks of all time, and I suddenly had to listen to it eight times in a row when frankly I should have been assessing the intricacies of Korn's new contract with Clear Channel spin off Live Nation. The Freelance Hellraiser is one of the masters of the bootleg genre, as reader's of our Remix Update surely know, and he was the guy who last year radically remixed a stack of Paul McCartney tracks to create the much under-exposed Twin Freaks project. But the double a-side 'Want You To Know' / 'Pound For Pound' sees the bootleg man releasing some of his original work, and it's damn good - it was the first track, apparently originally a limited white label release from 2003, that was successfully distracting me this morning. So, if tomorrow's Daily comes out late, I'm either kicking a dead server or I'm sitting in a corner listening to this track on repeat play.
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DOHERTY PLEADS GUILTY (SHOCKER)
Pete Doherty pleaded guilty yesterday when he appeared at Ealing Magistrates' Court on charges of possession of heroin and cocaine.
As previously reported, the Babyshambles frontman was stopped and arrested by West London police after he was seen driving a speeding car back on 30 Nov. Yesterday, the prosecution told the court that Doherty had three packets of heroin and one packet of cocaine in the vehicle, and that police reported that he had a 'glazed look'. He subsequently tested positive for cocaine and opiates.
Not that surprisingly, Doherty turned up for the hearing more than an hour late, but the singer's solicitor Eamonn Sherry blamed the papps, apologising for his client's absence by saying: "Mr Doherty travelled in a car and he had traffic difficulties and I am told was being followed by a number of other individuals. Given the press activity that there is in relation to this gentleman, that is the reason."
Doherty is now due reappear in court on 8 Feb for sentencing.
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BEANIE SIGEL PLEADS GUILTY, TOO
Elsewhere in the pop courts, Beanie Sigel pleaded guilty to assault in a Philadelphia court on Tuesday. The case relates to an incident back in Jan 2003 when Sigel was accused of attacking a man following a verbal altercation, punching him in both eyes, and breaking the man's left eye socket.
The rapper was fined $180 and sentenced to two years probation. Sigel's attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr, suggested that his client was now planning to put the incident behind him and to "make music, make movies and work on his clothing line."
Sigel was, of course, cleared of shooting a man two years ago, serving several months in prison on weapons charges, however, before his release. His family court issues have also made the headlines in recent months. The rapper was temporarily gaoled in November last year for not paying almost $30, 000 in child support and court fees, but released after the money was paid.
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NEW MICHAEL JACKSON CHILD ABUSE ACCUSATIONS
Michael Jackson is facing new allegations of child abuse. A twenty year old man has filed a complaint in California claiming that the pop star not only molested him as a child, but also forced him to have cosmetic surgery and stole his ideas for songs between 1987 and 1999.
A lawyer representing the young man said: "It is alleged that my client was present at Michael Jackson's residences and other places from the age of two to 14 and was molested many times over the course of those years. There is also an allegation that my client came up with song ideas, lyrics and melodies which were used by Mr Jackson in his records and made an awful lot of money. I have got photos of my client with these red lips just like you see on Mr Jackson and a big old cleft on his chin which he didn't have previously."
The case will be heard on 14 Feb at the Orange Country Superior Court.
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JUDGE PROVISIONALLY APPROVES SONYBMG ROOTKIT SETTLEMENT
We hear a judge in the US has provisionally approved that previously reported settlement proposed by SonyBMG regarding its use of that dodgy copy-protection software on album releases in North America. The deal would see the major commit to offer everyone who bought a rootkit infected CD a cash refund and some free downloads. More when we get it.
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PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS
Well, the American public don't have a great record when it comes to voting for things, though the Christian fundamentalists presumably have less influence when it comes to the US People's Choice Awards, given that the Bush-baiting and rather good Green Day were pronounced Best Group. Anyhow, the results of this annual poll of the American public's entertainment tastes, now done through an online survey, were announced on Tuesday night, and here's the winners in the five music categories.
Favorite Female Performer: Kelly Clarkson
Favorite Male Performer: Tim McGraw
Favorite Group: Green Day
Favourite Tour: U2
Favorite Song From a Movie: Jessica Simpson - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (from The Dukes of Hazzard)
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YEAH YEAH YEAHS ALBUM RELEASE
The new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album has a release date and a name. It's called 'Show Your Bones', and it'll be out on 27 Mar. The LP was produced by Squeak E Clean and mixed by Alan Moulder. Singer Karen O says: "'Show Your Bones' is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket. Maybe there is some of that electric current flowing through the tracks of our album illuminating us from the inside out for you to laugh at and cry to or fry to. Or not."
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NICK CAVE DVD
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are to release a new DVD next month featuring tour documentary 'The Road To God Knows Where' as well as 'Live At The Paradiso', recorded in Amsterdam back in 1992. The DVD double also boasts a couple of exclusive bonus features, 'The Song, A Short Film By Uli M. Schueppel' which documents the band recording 'I'll Love You Till The End Of The World', and 'City Of Refuge', a collection of Super 8 film shot by Schueppel. The collection is out on 23 Jan. I think.
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ARCTIC MONKEYS PLAY HOMETOWN GIG
Arctic Monkeys are to play a small gig at Sheffield Leadmill on 22 Jan. Tickets for the show have already sold out, not surprisingly as the venue only has a capacity of 900, and those Arctic Monkey boys are quite big now, I hear.
Following that, the band head out on the road with Maximo Park, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets on the sold out ShockWaves NME Awards Tour which kicks off in Dublin on 24 Jan.
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KULA SHAKER BACK FROM WHEREVER THEY WERE
Good news for Kula Shaker fans (anyone?): Kula Shaker are back. They apparently played a secret gig at the end of last year under an assumed name, but are now ready to admit that they still exist. A statement on the band's new website said: "It's official. Kula Shaker has arisen from the bottomless pit. How and why will all be revealed in good time, as this site grows, swells and expands. In the meantime join our mailing list and be the first to find out about secret gigs, free downloads and the inside story on what is sure to be their finest hour."
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KORN ENTER INTERESTING PARTNERSHIP WITH LIVE NATION
Having signed an interesting recording contract with EMI last year, now Korn have entered into an equally interesting partnership with Live Nation, formerly the live music bit of Clear Channel.
The deal will see Live Nation investing in the band, with a reported $3 million upfront payment, in return for a cut of future recording, publishing, touring, merchandising, and sponsorship revenues. The deal will work alongside Korn's recording contract, which also gave EMI a cut of a number of different revenue streams (ie not just recording sales) in return for a reported $30 million advance.
The logic employed by Korn's management, The Firm, is that if every major player involved with a band has a vested interest in said band's entire career, rather than just their specific domain, then all of those players will have to take a more holistic approach. So if EMI has a vested interest in Korn's ticket sales, and Live Nation in the band's record sales, the two congloms will better support each other's work, which is better for the band.
Confirming the Clear Channel deal, The Firm CEO Jeff Kwatinetz told reporters: "This is about shifting power back to artists by finding strategic partners who are the best in their respective businesses. This deal allows [Live Nation] to focus not just on selling concert tickets, but on fully investing in the Korn brand."
Throwing their support behind the new deal, EMI North America boss David Munns said: "EMI was first to recognise the logic and potential of going beyond the traditional record label/artist relationship and creating partnerships that allowed us to be part of an artists' overall career. We are delighted that Live Nation is also breaking the mould and joining with us".
These kind of deals are important to the major congloms, especially the record labels, who recognise that they need to tap into less traditional revenue streams in order to ensure long term financial security - especially given that the long term value of record sales in the digital age is hard to predict.
Of course, as companies like EMI and Live Nation start to move into each other's territories, interesting things might happen to the overall structure of the music industry - with a growing argument that the strongest music companies will be those trading in different sectors of the business. Now apart from the rest of the Clear Channel group, what's to stop Live Nation merging with a major record company that is keen to compete in size with SonyBMG and Universal, wary of EC regulations that will prevent it merging with another record company, and aware of the need to diversify? I wonder.
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VIRGIN GET READY TO LAUNCH O'CONNELL SHOW
Virgin Radio is getting ready to promote to the skies its new breakfast show with former Xfm man Christian O'Connell, which launches a week on Monday. A massive ad campaign will kick off next week, centring on a four week billboard campaign which will apparently see pictures of O'Connell against the word 'best'. Virgin bosses will be hoping that O'Connell manages to maintain his past critical acclaim in his new job, while keeping the station's existing listener base on board. The new show will be sponsored by Orange in what Virgin Radio say is their largest on-air and online breakfast show deal to date.
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HEART LAUNCH NEW THEAKSTON AD CAMPAIGN
Elsewhere in the radio breakfast show wars, Heart 106.2 have launched a new round of adverts for its Jamie Theakston breakfast show, timed to coincide with Capital Radio's relaunch, which began this week. The Theakston ads will air on most of the London TV networks and, for the first time, in cinemas across the capital. Launching the new ads Heart's Brand Marketing Director told reporters: "These ads convey even more of Jamie's natural, fun personality to encourage even more new listeners in our 30-something target audience to tune in to the breakfast show".
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ITV PROGRAMMING CHIEF GOES TO RDF
Elsewhere in media news, ITV have confirmed Nigel Pickard is quitting his role of Director Of Programming. He is going to independent production company RDF where he will oversee the company's family and children's programming. He's not the first programming chief from a TV network to take a job at the independent - former BBC3 boss Stuart Murphy moved there last year.
Commenting on his new job, Pickard told reporters yesterday: "I believe there is a real opportunity to establish RDF as one of the UK's leading suppliers of family and children's programming and to create significant value. I was very attracted by the fact that RDF has the capability not only to produce content but, through RDF Rights, exploit it as well."
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HIM RESCHEDULE
Finnish rockers HIM's upcoming UK tour has had to be rescheduled after guitarist Mikko Linde Lindstrom fractured his left wrist. The injury means he'll have to wear a cast, which is a bit of a problem when you're a guitar player, apparently. The tour will now take place in April, dates as follows:
18 Apr: Manchester Apollo
19 Apr: Manchester Apollo
20 Apr: Birmingham Academy
21 Apr: Birmingham Academy
23 Apr: Glasgow Academy
24 Apr: Newcastle Academy
25 Apr: London, Brixton Academy
27 Apr: Dublin Ambassador
28 Apr: Dublin Ambassador
Tickets for the original shows will be valid for the rearranged dates. The band's next single release, 'Killing Loneliness', will go ahead on 23 Jan as planned.
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EP REVIEW: Hoboken - Beauty Queen (Royal Jelly Records)
Glaswegian four piece Hoboken are named after Frank Sinatra's birthplace and sound like a collision between 80's New Romantic bands and Electroclash. Vocalist Jonathan Carr has been compared to old time crooners like Scott Walker but on 'Beauty Queen' and backing track 'Sophia', he sounds more like Julian Cope or Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory. The funky rhythms and cool synths evoke images of dry ice and moody silhouettes from Ultravox videos. The quartet have already released a debut album 'Crazy Glue' and ended last year with a Human League tour support. This stylish release gets 2006 off to a good start. JW
Release date: 9 Jan
Press contact: Strike3 [all]
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CELTIC CONNECTIONS CANCEL OPENING SHOW
Organisers of Glasgow's Celtic Connections folk festival had to cancel their opening show at the last minute yesterday after technical reasons made the show, set to feature Galician piper Carlos Nunez, unviable.
In a statement, organisers said: "On Friday 6 Jan we were informed that due to technical reasons Spanish Theatre company La Fura Del Baus could not bring their proposed show in its full capacity to The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. As this was a completely integrated performance with Carlos Nunez which was set to be both visually and musically spectacular all possible avenues were pursued to try to programme an opening event of equal magnitude. Unfortunately this could not be achieved to the level we desired to ensure all audience members would be satisfied, and it is in these regrettable circumstances that we have had to take the difficult decision to cancel this show".
Despite the cancellation, organisers said the rest of the 19 day festival was set to go ahead as planned at venues across Glasgow, including performances from Richard Thompson, Steeleye Span, The Waterboys and Roddy Frame. More info at http://www.celticconnections.com.
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SADDLE CREEK MAKE VINYL RELEASES IPOD FRIENDLY
Saddle Creek Records are launching a new scheme which means that if you buy one of their releases on vinyl you also get a code which allows you to download all the tracks on the record as MP3. The programme, which will begin with an upcoming release from Two Gallants, recognises that it's hard for vinyl junkies to get the music they buy onto their iPod.
The label's Jason Kulbel explains: "We are fans of both vinyl and listening to music on our iPods, and the two don't work very well together. The only real options are to record it and put it on your computer - pain! - or file share/download an 'illegal' copy of a record you already own."
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SONY PARTNER ON NEW GAY LABEL
Sony Music in the US has announced it is launching a new record label dedicated to gay, bisexual and trans-gendered artists, because if there's one industry where the gay population is under-represented, it's the music business.
A joint venture with Wilderness Media & Entertainment, the company behind the US gay and lesbian TV channel LOGO, the new label, to be called Music With A Twist, will work with gay artists from all genres who have hit potential, as well as releasing compilations targeted at the gay market.
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!K7 CONFIRM NEW BERLIN-BASED UK MARKETING MAN
Following on from the news in yesterday's Daily that !K7 will be handling their UK operations from their Berlin HQ, news today that the label has appointed Alex Waldron as a Senior Marketing Manager. He has relocated to the German capital to specifically run the company's UK activity. Confirming the appointment, !K7 boss Horst Weidenmueller told CMU: "Alex has just moved to Berlin as our Senior UK Marketing Manager. Alex has previously worked for Universal/Island Records and Ministry Of Sound and his new challenge is to further break K7 and its sub-labels Ever and BBE/Rapster in the UK market".
Explaining his decision to locate his European team in one Berlin HQ, Weidenmueller continues: "We have implemented many changes in 2005 and the restructuring of the London office was just one of those strategic changes. As an international record company we felt the need to manage our expertise in our key markets from within our head office in Berlin. As part of that strategy, Julien Gagnebien joined us here earlier this year to coordinate our French operations - utilising his experience having worked at PIAS in France and Warp in London. Alex will be joining that team".
Horst was keen to stress the centralisation of the label's operations was for "strategic" rather than "economic" reasons, as we may have written in yesterday's Daily. So, consider that rectified.
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RUMOURS REPORTED ON FUTURE OF CASABLANCA
Rumours reported in the New York Daily News this week suggest that the relaunched Casablanca Records, a JV between the Universal Music Group and former Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola, is struggling after the disappointing performance of the Lindsay Lohan album in the US. The paper's gossip man Ben Widdicombe said the 2003 deal that created the label was just an attempt by Univeral boss Doug Morris to keep Mottola "under his thumb", going on to suggest Universal were tiring of the relationship. But a Universal spokesman told the paper: "there [is] no plan to get rid of Tommy... that I know of."
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MRS DAVE GROHL EXPECTING
A spokesman for the Foo Fighters has confirmed that Mrs Dave Grohl, Jordyn Blum, is expecting the couple's first child - the baby is due early Spring. Foo Fighter fans had been speculating about Blum's pregnancy for a while, with initial confirmation coming when the band's drummer, Taylor Hawkins, told MTV: "We're going to be touring Europe in January and February, but we've got be home by March, because Dave and his wife are having a baby. But I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that."
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IGGY APPROVES OF BIOPIC, BUT DOESN'T WANT TO BE INVOLVED
Iggy Pop has told reporters that he has seen the script for the biopic being made about his life, but that he has declined an offer by the movie's producers to get involved in the project.
Iggy: "The script ain't chopped liver...It was a work of art. But subjectively, I don't want to be involved in any way. A producer and the writer sent me a very decent letter, and asked me to write back if I didn't want them to do it...I don't feel negative about it at all."
He added that he was "curious" that Elijah Wood is set to play him in the movie, but added: "I don't really know about him...I saw him on TV the other day, and he seems like a very poised and talented actor."
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ORDINARY BOY FAVOURITE TO WIN CELEB BB
Well, it seems that Ordinary Boy Sam Preston is now the favourite to win the increasingly tedious Celebrity Big Brother. His current odds at William Hill are 9/4, just ahead of former favourite Michael Barrymore, who is now on 7/2. Non-celeb Chantelle is now equal with Barrymore, possibly because it seems unlikely her housemates will put her up for eviction, and if she reaches the final vote she may well get the sympathy vote. Should they reach the final vote, Preston will presumably rely on the cool kids vote with Barrymore relying on his probably-a-lot-bigger-that-you-realise fan base.
The full William Hill odds as of yesterday are as follows:
9/4 Preston
7/2 Michael Barrymore
7/2 Chantelle
4/1 Maggot
7/1 Pete Burns
16/1 Traci Bingham
20/1 Rula Lenska
33/1 George Galloway
33/1 Dennis Rodman
66/1 Jodie Marsh
66/1 Faria Alam