| CMU Daily - on the inside Monday 6th November |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Spanish judge refuses to punish file sharer
- Kazaa reach deal with US publishers
- UK singles chart to embrace all digital sales
- Billy Bragg joins MusicTank conference line up
- Shakira wins big at Latin Grammys
- Montreux chief to receive MIDEM award
- Madonna blames media for adoption controversy
- McCartney intends to divorce with dignity
- LOVE album previews online
- James Bond theme not by anyone that anyone speculated about
- Editors exclusive on The Downloader
- Live review: Evangelicals in Norman, Oklahoma
- Tunstall, Razorlight join action on climate change
- Kylie back in Australia for tour
- Jackson to play live at awards ceremony
- Massive Attack announce a coupla charity dates
- Good Shoes tour, single
- Union Of Knives tour, EP
- Ticketmaster expand into Turkey through acquisition
- New York firm make Vivendi takeover offer
- Universal formally ask for EC approval of BMG publishing deal
- Music people invited to London networking night
- Get with the cool kids, start IMing
- RIAA to target Santangelo's children over P2P
- MSN to point music buyers to Zune or Real
- ITV launch new innovation team
- Chart update
- This week's Student Radio Chart
- Subshot playlist
- Total Rock World Album Chart
- Cowell considers more categories for X Factor
- Fiddy to star with De Niro, apparently
- Westlife singer to be a dad
- Jones joins Jones jamboree
- Former Oasis chap says he is great
- Skinner gutted
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TOP BIT>>
You know what the music business needs? More polls and awards. I mean, it's been, oh, an entire three days since the last lot of music awards were revealed. But never fear, because the year is fast approaching its climax, which means CMU's two end-of-year list things are getting ever closer. As last year, the CMU editorial team will, over the next five weeks, select its favourite ten albums of 2006, and we will reveal them, alongside interviews with the winners, in the last ten editions of the CMU Daily before Christmas. I bet you can't wait.
But more important than that is the annual CMU Track Of The Year poll, giving you, the ever insightful CMU readership the opportunity to vote for your favourite song of the year. Because last year's simple one round of voting system worked so well, we've decided to make it more complicated this year, just to make our lives more difficult. This is how it will work.
We are inviting you to vote for your track of the year right now. You can pick any track released this year (and released in the widest sense of the word - album tracks, unreleased promos, unofficial bootleg mixes which surfaced this year are all eligible). Just email in the name of the release, the artist it's by, if you know it the label who released it, and, if you wish, a couple of sentences explaining your vote (we'll publish some during December). The address to send your nominations to is [email protected] If you're of the opinion that the best track of the year might be still to come, that's OK, we'll accept nominations until 8 Dec.
After that we will reveal the most nominated tracks of the year. You will then be able to vote for one of those finalists between 15 and 19 Dec, from which we will compile a final top ten chart of your favourite tracks of the year. We'll announce the winners just before Christmas at an exclusive gathering at a secret location in rural England (actually, my Mum's kitchen - it will be exclusive because, as far as I'm aware, the music industry doesn't have much of a base in Holmes Chapel, even though Robbie Williams was once rumoured to be buying a house there, so I doubt any of you will be able to come). The final ten will also be announced in the final edition of the CMU Daily of 2006.
So, to cut a rather long story short, vote for your favourite track of the year - [email protected]
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CLASSIFIEDS>>
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CMU RECOMMENDS>>
KILL ALL HIPPIES NOVEMBER
The next edition of the CMU recommended Kill All Hippies takes place this coming Friday - 10 Nov - at its new home, the Carling Islington Academy. You'll find Archie Bronson Outfit and Kubichek and Broken Dolls all taking live to the KAH stage. DJs wise the Cooper Temple Clause boys will join KAH resident Gavin Nugent in the main room, while in Room 2 you'll find the City Rockers team with Eclectic Aristocracy, GoodBooks, We Hate You, Gaz N Max and the Xerox Teen all taking to the decks. Doors open at 8.30pm, it runs till 4am, and tickets are just £6 if you guest list in advance. Oh yes, and Carling is just £1.80 a pint - bargain.
Full info>> http://www.leylinepromotions.com/killallhippies
BREAKING GROUND
Another storming night for your diaries - the second edition of breaks fest Breaking Ground. All the big names are going to be on the bill - Pendulum (Live), Stanton Warriors, Rennie Pilgrem with MC Chickaboo, Splitloop (Live), Precision Cuts, Janette Slack, Breakfastaz, Deekline & Wizard with MC Ivory, Cltr-Z, Freshold, Si Begg, General Midi, Soto, Merka, Symmetrik, Dirtpop, Mr Sushi and Fyoog. Phew. It will all take place at London's seOne Club on Saturday 2 Dec, from 9.30pm to 6am. Tickets are £18.50 in advance - from http://www.ticketweb.co.uk - press info from Leyline.
Full info>> http://www.leylinepromotions.com/breakingground
PRODUCTION MAGIC
Music Tank and the Music Producers' Guild's Production Magic conference is the one stop all day event for anyone working in music production, with a stack of top names offering their insights into this exciting sector of the music biz. Dance music pioneer Nile Rodgers will provide the opening address, multi-Grammy winning Phil Ramone will be interviewed, plus Guy Chambers, John Leckie and Hugh Padgham are among the other producers who will speak at the event. Also speaking are EMI A&R chief Chris Briggs and producer Magnus Fiennes - both just added to the line up. This all takes place at the London offices of the Magic Circle a week on Saturday - 11 Nov. For full details you need to get on over to http://www.musictank.co.uk. Admission to the conference is £155, but CMU readers can get a £40 discount (ie the trade association rate) - for details of how to book with that discount email [email protected]
Full info>> http://www.musictank.co.uk
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MYSPACE OF THE DAY: PENDULUM
I can't actually believe these guys haven't already been MSOTD, perhaps I was in a bad mood with them because they proved so flaky when I tried to arrange an interview with them. But it's hard to stay in a bad mood with a production outfit making such consistently brilliant music - while reinvigorating (reinventing some might say) the whole drum & bass scene at the same time. But now is a good time to give them a mention - [a] because their current MySpace is the best designed MySpace page I think I've ever seen (although their player is somewhat confusing floating down the bottom) and [b] you'll find video footage of their recent live performance at their Fabric night, which everyone in the d&b/breaks fraternity has been talking about in very excitable tones ever since it took place a few weeks back, but which I missed. If you also missed it, go and sample a bit now here on the MySpace, then book your tickets for the CMU Recommended Breaking Ground (mentioned above) where they'll be doing it all again.
http://www.myspace.com/officialpendulum
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SPANISH JUDGE REFUSES TO PUNISH FILE SHARER
A Spanish judge has created something of a storm in the country's music industry by ruling that an unnamed man cannot be prosecuted for sharing music online, despite the fact he did so without the permission of the owners of the content he shared. The 48 year old man was being pursued by the state prosecutor's office with the support of two music distribution associations after he downloaded songs from illegitimate sources and then allegedly offered to make copies of the tracks available on CD through email and chat rooms.
But Judge Paz Aldecoa said last week that there was no proof the defendant had made profit from distributing CDs and, more importantly, that Spanish copyright laws did not allow for people who download music for personal use to be "punished" or "branded a criminal" - prosecutors were looking for both a fine and custodial sentence for the defendant's alleged actions. Judge Aldecoa added that doing so "would imply criminalising socially admitted and widely practised behaviour where the aim is not to gain wealth illegally but to obtain private copies".
Victor Domingo, the head of Spain's internet user association Internautas, welcomed the ruling, telling Abc newspaper: "If the purpose of the copy is not to gain wealth there is no way that it can be considered illegal. It would be a lot different if someone downloaded in order to sell on".
However, the Spanish recording industry association Promusicae hit out at the ruling, and pledged to appeal it. The association's Antonio Guisasola told reporters that internet users in Spain should not assume that the ruling means downloading music via P2P networks was now a legal. He told reporters: "I have been with both the justice minister and the culture minister today and they are both quite clear that peer to peer is illegal".
Whether the ruling will really set any kind of long term precedent regarding file sharing, in Spain or beyond, is unclear but probably doubtful. It's not the first time a court has questioned the power of domestic copyright law in banning the sharing of music online where no profit is being made, although the courts have been going more in favour of the content owners of late, in civil cases at least. But where courts do limit the power of existing copyright law in battling online file sharing, there is normally political support to make those laws more explicitly anti-P2P - even if it takes time to translate that political support into new legislation, long term content owners will probably win the day.
That said, judges, especially in criminal cases, will frequently remain cautious of implementing even explicit anti-P2P laws when the implications are wide spread - ie because so many people casually share music online, prosecuting one casual file sharer basically turns everyone into criminals. Those concerns were at the heart of Aldecoa's ruling, and whatever political support they have, the content industries and prosecutors will need to carefully select at what level they should use the courts to protect copyrights, so as to protect the creators' interests without seeking rulings that set too wide a precedent. To be fair, most of the trade bodies involved in the fight against P2P have been aware of that sometime, meaning they do tend to pursue only legally sound (if, in our opinion, ultimately futile and commercially unnecessary) litigation.
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KAZAA REACH DEAL WITH US PUBLISHERS
Meanwhile, in a domain of planet P2P more palatable to the music business, the US's National Music Publishers' Association has announced it has reached an out-of-court settlement with the once flagship P2P network Kazaa. As you'll remember, having ignored industry outrage and litigation from its off shore base for years, Kazaa has finally decided to go legit and is looking to reach settlement with the content owners whose music was illegally (except in Spain, of course) shared via their file sharing software over the years. Details of the settlement between Kazaa and the US's main music publishing body aren't known, although the New York Times say a source told them that the publishers will receive $10 million in compensation as part of the deal. The arrangement is still subject to various court approvals, but is expected to be accepted by all parties.
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UK SINGLES CHART TO EMBRACE ALL DIGITAL SALES
As expected, the committee that regulates the music charts in the UK has announced changes to its regulations, though the changes go a little further than many expected, and could lead to some radical changes in the make up of the main singles chart.
The changes mainly centre on the way physical and digital sales are included in the combined singles chart. As previously reported, at the moment digital sales are only counted in the combined chart when a physical release is also available, although digital stats are also counted the week before physical release and for two weeks after the physical release is deleted.
However, under new rules due to come into force at the start of 2007 all digital sales will be counted in the combined chart, oblivious of an accompanying physical release. This means that digital sales will start to appear in the singles chart as soon as they become available. Moreover singles only released digitally, or album tracks available as single track downloads, could now also appear in the combined singles chart for the first time.
Ronnie Traynor, COO of independent download platform TuneTribe, who have been pushing for wider inclusion of download sales in the singles chart for a while, welcomed the move. She told CMU: "This is very exciting. We have been pushing for this since day one. The chart is, after all, supposed to be a reflection of what music fans are consuming, oblivious of whether they consume it digitally or physically. The news is particularly exciting for grass roots and independent artists who have previously been ignored by the main singles chart, even if they have achieved considerable digital sales. We are in the process of launching a version 2 site which will help bands to both sell and promote their music. This will be linked to our new digital record label, we will be allowing our consumers to essentially act as an A&R team, and will offer digital record deals to artists who gain the most popularity through the site. This whole thing is now more exciting because, as of the New Year, those artists could now get into the overall singles chart."
The rule changes also mean that the line up of 'digital single bundles' - ie packages which include a single release and between one and three b-sides, as you would find on a CD single release - need not now be exactly the same as those of the physical release, as has been the case. This essentially increases the total number of 'packages' labels can make available around any one single release without affecting their chart eligibility.
Meanwhile, in the physical domain, the rule changes will mean that 'maxi single' releases will be able to provide consumers with more content without affecting chart eligibility (up from 20 minutes and three original tracks, to 25 minutes and four original tracks).
Last week's rules change announcement follows that previously reported recent announcement by the Entertainment Retailers Association, one of the chart's stakeholders, that it was willing to see an expansion of the digital stats included in the combined singles chart, although the changes announced last week go further than what was discussed by ERA at the time of that announcement.
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BILLY BRAGG JOINS MUSICTANK CONFERENCE LINE UP
The previously reported and, if I remember rightly, wholly CMU recommended MusicTank conference, Beyond The SoundBytes, which takes place at the London offices of the Foreign Press Association on 15 Nov, have just announced that Billy Bragg has joined the line up of speakers who will take part. The whole event, of course, has been initiated by a MusicTank commissioned report on the state of the music business written by Bragg's manager, Peter Jenner. Also added to the bill are AIM chief Alison Wenham, former Chrysalis president Doug D'Arcy, industry expert Emmanuel LeGrand, The Rights Marketing Company co-founder Michael Bayler and Music Week editor Martin Talbot.
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SHAKIRA WINS BIG AT LATIN GRAMMYS
Shakira was the big winner at last week's Latin Grammys, as the singer took home five of the six awards she was nominated for. Her latest album 'Fijacion Oral Vol. 1' was judged Album Of The Year as well as Best Female Pop Vocal Album, also garnering the award for Best Engineered Album - the plaudits going to Gustavo Celis, Serban Ghanea, Mauricio Guerrero, Rob Jacobs, Kevin Killen and Dave Way and mastering engineer Vlado Meller. Her single 'La Tortura' won Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year.
Also meeting with a fair degree of success at the ceremony at New York's Madison Square Garden were Reggaeton act Calle 13, gaining awards for Best Urban Music Album for their eponymous debut, Best New Artist, and Best Short Form Music Video for 'Atrevete Te, Te!'
Elsewhere, Ricky Martin was presented with the accolade of 'Man Of The Year' on account of his campaign against trafficking in prostituted children.
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MONTREUX CHIEF TO RECEIVE MIDEM AWARD
More awards, oh yes. Claude Nobs who, as I'm sure you all know, was and is the founder and CEO of the Montreux Jazz Festival, will receive the Personality Of The Year award at next year's MIDEM music convention thingy in Cannes. Now, don't you go saying we didn't tell you.
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MADONNA BLAMES MEDIA FOR ADOPTION CONTROVERSY
Madonna has told Time magazine that the media created the controversy over her adoption of little David Banda, saying that the average person would not independently think she had done anything wrong. "But when you throw in things like I'm a celebrity and I somehow got special treatment, or make the implication of kidnapping, it gets mixed into a stew, and it sells lots of papers," she said, adding: "What they should care about is that there are over a million orphans in Malawi".
The singer went on to say that she felt there was a racist element to the reportage, saying "there's a lot of Brits - reporters on the street - who've said 'Why don't you adopt a kid from Britain?' Or 'Why did you adopt a black child?'"
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MCCARTNEY INTENDS TO DIVORCE WITH DIGNITY
Paul McCartney has said that he hopes that his divorce from Heather Mills will proceed with dignity on all sides. Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme at the Royal Albert Hall, where the premiere of his classical album 'Ecce Cor Meum' was taking place, the musician said: "Remember that it is a private affair and [acting with dignity] you will probably get through it better, you will put less noses out of joint and I think it's a more dignified way to go about it, so that's what I try to do."
Addressing the audience following the performance of 'Ecce Cor Meum', which has been almost a decade in the writing, Sir Paul said: "This has been such a long labour of love and so many great people have helped me. So many people - members of my family, my friends."
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LOVE ALBUM PREVIEWS ONLINE
Talking of Macca, if you're wanting to preview tracks from the Beatles' 'LOVE' album, then you can do so in return for various bits of personal information, at http://www.TheBeatles.com. Available for preview are the reworks of 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'Lady Madonna', 'Octopus's Garden' and 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. The latter is in many ways the most interesting, taking George Harrison's original demo and adding a George Martin composed string arrangement. 'LOVE' is released on 20 Nov.
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JAMES BOND THEME NOT BY ANYONE THAT ANYONE SPECULATED ABOUT
The new James Bond theme song is out soon, and it's not by anyone that anyone was speculating that it might be by (originally, that is, I think we'd already reported on the fact that Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell's involvement had been confirmed). 'You Know My Name', which goes on digital release only on 13 Nov, is sung Cornell, and was composed by him and Bond composer David Arnold. According to reports, that track will not appear on the film's OST, but according to a press release, it will appear on Chris Cornell's upcoming solo album. The film, 'Casino Royale', is released on 17 Nov.
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EDITORS EXCLUSIVE ON THE DOWNLOADER
More great free downloads coming your way from our friends over there at The Downloader. As you'll remember, The Downloader invite different labels to stage a 'takeover' for a week, making five free MP3s available during their week, one per day. Well, this week it's Kitchenware Records doing the taking over, which means you'll be getting a totally exclusive demo version of Editors album track 'Camera', among other things. So make sure you check out the site - http://www.thedownloader.co.uk - each day this week. Oh, and next week too - then it's 679 Recordings.
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LIVE REVIEW: Evangelicals at Opolis, Norman, Oklahoma on 3 Nov
The dividing line between 'local' bands and bands that have left their local scene and gone on to bigger and better things is often all too blatant. Evangelicals display tonight that they're comfortably past that line. Norman's favourite three-piece rock band write complicated psychedelic pop songs tinged with both melancholy and surrealism, and drenched in reverb. The band have been touring all over the country recently and singer/guitarist Josh Jones tells the crowd that "it's been too long since we've played in Norman". You can tell that the crowd agree, showering the band with whoops and applause whenever possible. Originality is somewhat rare in pop music these days, but Evangelicals have it in bucket-loads - something which especially shines through with the rhythm section. They also exude talent, with the bassist playing bass with one hand and keyboard with the other on several songs, and the singer's voice ranging from falsetto 'ooo's to deepthroated growls. Evangelicals are routinely described as Oklahoma's second best band (behind the wondrous Flaming Lips), and after tonight, I'm certainly a convert to that belief. Look out for them appearing on the rain-washed shores of Blighty sooner, rather than later. DG
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TUNSTALL, RAZORLIGHT JOIN ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
KT Tunstall and Razorlight have joined thousands of people in London's Trafalgar Square to call for urgent action on climate change. Simon Amstell was there too.
Tunstall took to the stage and told the crowd: "I'm here today because of the situation with the environment. We are screwing it up, we are making a real mess. Today is about raising awareness that we need to change our behaviour. I'm not trying to tell people what to do. I'm not perfect. I boil the kettle twice sometimes, but it's about knowing that's a bad thing to do and wanting and needing to change that behaviour."
And here's what the ever popular Johnny Borrell, out of Razorlight, said about the event: "I'm here with everybody else to register my voice essentially and to be heard for our concerns about the environment. The whole thing about climate change is an issue I hardly knew anything about. It didn't register until I saw Al Gore's film recently. I walked out of the cinema saying we've got to do something about it. I phoned up Friends of the Earth and they asked me to do this today."
The event was organised by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and was timed to coincide with global climate talks in Nairobi.
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KYLIE BACK IN AUSTRALIA FOR TOUR
Kylie Minogue has returned to Australia to resume the tour which was postponed following her breast cancer diagnosis. The star was, of course, treated initially in her home country, but, as previously reported, returned to Europe for her subsequent course of chemotherapy.
The singer told reporters in Sydney: "I'm thrilled to be back - I've been waiting for this day for such a long time. We've got our work cut out for us this week. We're on tour again!"
Kylie will play three dates in Sydney, starting 11 Nov, before completing five further dates around the country. She will proceed to the UK in January for six nights at Wembley Arena.
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JACKSON TO PLAY LIVE AT AWARDS CEREMONY
It may just be a rumour, but according to reports, Michael Jackson is planning a rare live set when he appears, as previously reported, at the World Music Awards. The ceremony takes place at London's Earl's Court on 15 Nov, hosted by Lindsay Lohan and featuring appearances from the likes of Beyonce and Gwen Stefani. Jackson is, of course, to receive a 'Diamond Award'.
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MASSIVE ATTACK ANNOUNCE A COUPLA CHARITY DATES
Massive Attack have announced that they'll play two charity gigs at the start of next year in aid of the HOPING Foundation, which helps Palestinian children living in refugee camps. They appear at Birmingham Academy on 6 Feb, and at London's Brixton Academy on 7 Feb.
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GOOD SHOES TOUR, SINGLE
We like Good Shoes, for various reasons, not least their amusing name, and so we're pleased to hear that they are playing various dates to coincide with upcoming new single 'Photos On My Wall' which is set for release on the somewhat interesting date of 25 Dec. Here's where you can catch them:
21 Nov: Oxford Zodiac
22 Nov: Cambridge Soul Tree - Club Goo
23 Nov: Manchester Night & Day
24 Nov: Liverpool Korova - Club Evol
26 Nov: Birmingham Bar Academy
27 Nov: Glasgow King Tuts
28 Nov: Leeds Brudnell Social Club
29 Nov: London Kings College
30 Nov: Bristol Academy II
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UNION OF KNIVES TOUR, EP
Union Of Knives are also rather good, also on tour, and also releasing something. They've got a 4 track EP coming out on 6 Dec, and will play their instruments, etc, in the following locations:
18 Nov: Leeds Nasty festival
19 Nov: Sunderland Insangel
20 Nov: Liverpool Barfly
21 Nov: Sheffield Boardwalk
22 Nov: Wrexham The Central Station
23 Nov: Cambridge The Loft
25 Nov: Hastings Heroes
26 Nov: Brighton Pressure Point
27 Nov: London The Fly
28 Nov: York Fibbers
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TICKETMASTER EXPAND INTO TURKEY THROUGH ACQUISITION
Ticketing giant Ticketmaster has announced further European expansion through the acquisition of a Turkey-based ticketing firm called Biletix. The takeover of the company, founded by Turkish conglomerates Koc Group and TAG Enterprises in 2000, sees Ticketmaster entering the Turkish live entertainments sector for the first time.
Biletex currently services over 400 venue, promoter and sports clients in Turkey, who between them stage over 6000 events a year. The company's founding general managers, Dave Dorner and Ali Abhary, will stay on in their current positions, essentially coordinating Ticketmaster's operations in the country.
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NEW YORK FIRM MAKE VIVENDI TAKEOVER OFFER
More takeovers. Well, a nearly takeover, to be precise. Reports suggest that New York based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts last month offered $50.8 billion to take over French conglom Vivendi who, of course, own the Universal Music Group. Apparently "serious talks" took place between Vivendi chiefs and KKR, but things faltered because a takeover by a US firm would mean the group would lose its favourable tax status in France. And you don't want to be losing favourable tax status, do you?
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UNIVERSAL FORMALLY ASK FOR EC APPROVAL OF BMG PUBLISHING DEAL
Talking of Vivendi's business dealings, the French firm formally asked the European Commission for permission to take over BMG Music Publishing on Friday. As previously reported, Universal are the preferred bidder of German based Bertelsmann to buy the BMG publishing company, something Bertelsmann is selling off to help fund a recent shareholder buyout.
Because Universal already own a not insubstantial music publishing firm, the takeover needs EC approval. But bosses there say the takeover should be given the go ahead because the combined BMG Universal Music Publishing would be only ever so slightly bigger than current market leader in all things music publishing, EMI, meaning that the market would remain competitive. With that in mind, a spokesman for Universal said: "We're hoping that it is going to be a relatively straightforward process given that we're creating a market leader which still leaves lots of scope for competition".
As previously reported, the pan-European body for independent music, IMPALA, doesn't agree on that, and has said it will oppose the takeover. They are, of course, still on a bit of a high on all things to do European competition regulations (or they are in as much as anyone could be) following their court win earlier this year that ruled that another major music business deal involved Bertelsmann, the creation of SonyBMG, should not have been given approval.
The Commission is expected to consider Universal's proposals for about a month before reaching a decision or ordering a more in-depth four month investigation.
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MUSIC PEOPLE INVITED TO LONDON NETWORKING NIGHT
The Black Music Congress is supporting a speed networking event taking place in London on 17 Nov which aims to link together creative people with community and voluntary associations, professionals, entrepreneurs and funders. The event, being organised by Brent-based BTWSC, will take place at Willesden Green Library Centre between 7-9pm a week on Friday. Creatives will be able to network with each other, promote their work, and get advice from professionals and organisations such as the Heritage Lottery Fund. Explaining his support for the event, BMC founder Kwaku told CMU: "At last February's congress, there was a lot of talk about networking and a need for a directory for better communications and to help grow careers and businesses. We're hoping this initiative is going to move things forward from talking, to the doing stage." For more information about the event email [email protected] or call 020 8450 5987.
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GET WITH THE COOL KIDS, START IMING
Ha, look at you, reading emails, you're so, like, last year. Well, I assume you're reading this via email, it's possible you're looking at it on the CMU Music Network website. Ha, that's so, like, last millennium. No, all the cool kids are too busy instant messaging each other to be bothering with antiquated communication methods like email.
Or at least that's what new research from Dallas-based Parks Associates reckons. They say that less than one fifth of Amercians aged between 13 and 17 use email as a primary communication method with friends, with one third citing IMing as they communication tool of choice. Meanwhile those embarrassingly behind-the-times 25 to 34 year olds (CMU editors excluded, obviously), still use email first (well, 40% do), while only 11% are IMing each other.
Here's what John Barrett, Director Of Research at Parks Associates, IMed me last night: "We are seeing a generational shift in communication patterns, and e-mail is now old-fashioned. Teenagers and young adults are increasingly accustomed to an always-on world where friends and family are instantly accessible. By the way, did that smiling face sticking its tongue out work on your IM reader?"
Of course, because kids can transfer files over their IM systems, the growth in the use of instant messaging means there is a whole new viral network for record companies to be tracking for illegal music sharing - should they have nothing better to do.
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RIAA TO TARGET SANTANGELO'S CHILDREN OVER P2P
Back the previously mentioned need to know when it is worth pursuing anti-P2P litigation, and when it is not, and another story involving the RIAA that demonstrates they're not so good when it comes to making judgments in this domain. Following on from their unsuccessful attempts to sue one Patricia Santangelo over allegations she shared music online (she proved she pretty much didn't know how to turn on a PC), they are now pursuing legal action against her children (who probably did the illegal file sharing associated with her IP address). Now, her children are aged 20 and 16, so it's not quite the same as suing 12 year old music fans, but given that Santangelo enjoyed quite a bit of positive coverage for her original defence against the RIAA, the new case could lead to some more bad PR for the wider record industry, in a bid to win a legal action that, in the bigger picture, really doesn't matter.
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MSN TO POINT MUSIC BUYERS TO ZUNE OR REAL
Word has it that MSN Music, in the US at least, will very soon stop selling digital music itself and will, instead, offer users of its music services the option to buy tracks from either Microsoft's new proprietary download platform, the previously reported Zune Marketplace, or from Real Network's Rhapsody service (Real's download platform, which is yet to launch over here). Quite how the latter will work isn't clear, because Real's priorities are more related to their subscription service than a la carte downloads. But the link through to Rhapsody is all part of that previously reported partnership between Real and Microsoft that came about after the out of court settlement of a long fought legal battle between the two firms.
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ITV LAUNCH NEW INNOVATION TEAM
ITV is launching a new division to bring in new and innovative ideas that don't involve jungles and love islands, in a bid to find and develop some innovative new programme concepts that will capture the imaginations of audiences and, more importantly, advertisers (the latter have become increasingly critical of the UK's biggest commercial TV network, of course). The new division will be called ITV Imagine, and is being set up after the TV network investigated how companies with a reputation for innovating did their, erm, innovating.
Confirming the new division, and some details of the 14 people who will lead it, ITV Commercial Director, Ian McCulloch told reporters: "Teams like this are integral parts of some of the most successful creative industries in the world and, at a time where technology and trends are changing more rapidly than ever before, Imagine is an essential component of ITV's growth strategy. Imagine's job is to harness the huge creative talent within ITV and unite it with the best experts, visionaries and technologies to come up with the most innovative business ideas for ITV".
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CHART UPDATE
With revamps in the charts in the news today, we thought we'd make some radical changes to our chart coverage. So we've changed the order in which we present our Monday chart stories. Once again, CMU leads the revolution.
So, let's begin with albums chart shall we? And it's Girls Aloud who are at the top of the heap, with their greatest hits going straight in at the top, knocking Robbie into second place. Also rating well is that lovely Amy Winehouse, whose new long player 'Back To Black' goes straight in at number 3. The other new entries go like this: The Who 'Endlesswire' at 9, Madeleine Peyroux 'Half The Perfect World' at 12, Tony Bennett 'Duets' at 15, Aerosmith greatest hits at 19, Michael Ball 'One Voice' at 22, Deftones 'Saturday Night Wrist' at 33 and Smokey Robinson 'The Definitive Collection & Timeless' at 39. That's quite a lot.
Singles wise, no new entries in the top three, although both Fedde Le Grande and Bodyrox saw their physical releases go on sale just last Monday, which presumably helped them take numbers one and two respectively. The highest full on new entry is that U2 and Green Day charity track 'The Saints Are Coming' which goes in at number 6. The other new ones run like this: All Saints 'Rock Steady' at 11, Simon Webbe 'Coming Round Again' at 12, Depeche Mode 'Matry' at 13, Babyshambles 'Janie Jones: Strummerville' at 17, Jamiroquai 'Runaway' at 18, Keane 'Nothing In My Way' at 19, The Good The Bad & The Queen 'Herculean' at 22, Tenacious D 'Pod' at 24, Panic At The Disco 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' at 25, Game and Junior Reid 'It's Okay' at 26, Klaxons 'Magick' at 29, Sugababes 'Easy' at 30 and Sean Paul ft Keyshia Cole '(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me' at 31. Super.
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THIS WEEK'S STUDENT RADIO CHART
The most played music on UK college radio this week, compiled by the Student Radio Association.
1. [5] Muse - Starlight
2. [NE] Kasabian - Shoot the Runner
3. [11] My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
4. [3] Hot Chip - Over and Over
5. [1] The Killers - When We Were Young
6. [RE] Amy Winehouse - Rehab
7. [RE] The Young Knives - The Decision
8. [NE] Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)
9. [30] Paolo Nutini - Jenny Don't Be Hasty
10. [NE] U2 & Green Day - The Saints Are Coming
11. [4] The Kooks - Ooh La
12. [7] Wolfmother - Love Train
13. [15] The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
14. [19] Little Barrie - Pin That Badge
15. [27] Goo Goo Dolls - Stay With You
16. [NE] The Rapture - W.A.Y.U.H
17. [NE] Juliette And The Licks - Sticky Honey
18. [28] Keane - Nothing In My Way
19. [RE] The Holloways - Generator
20. [NE] The Charlatans - You're So Pretty We're So Pretty 2006
21. [24] Jamelia - Beware of the Dog
22. [NE] Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair
23. [NE] The Feeling - Love It When You Call
24. [NE] TV On The Radio - Dirty Whirl
25. [RE] Klaxons - Magick
26. [2] Razorlight - America
27. [NE] All Saints - Rock Steady
28. [12] Jamie T - If You Got the Money
29. [NE] Brakes - Hold Me In the River
30. [NE] The Good The Bad And The Queen - Herculean
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SUBSHOT PLAYLIST
The videos appearing on the SUBtv screens network in students' unions around the UK this week. New entries marked with a *.
A-List
AFI - Love Like Winter
All Saints - Rock Steady
Bodyrox feat. Luciana - Yeah Yeah
*BootyLuv - Boogie2Nite
Fedde Le Grande - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit
*The Feeling - Love It When You Call
Kasabian - Shoot The Runner
Oakenfold feat. Pharrell - Sex'n'Money
Oasis - The Masterplan
Plan B - No More Eatin'
*Snow Patrol - Set The Fire To The Third Bar
Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief
B-List
Example - What We Made
*Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - War of the Worlds
Jet - Bring It On Back
Midlake - Head Home
Misty's Big Adventure - Fashion Parade
Paul Weller - Wild Blue Yonder
*The Pigeon Detectives - I Found Out
*The Rain - Big Lie
Stone Sour - Through Glass
Tunng - It's Because We've Got Hair
*WinterKids - Tape It
*yourcodenameis:milo - Wait A Minute
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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
As counted down on Total Rock over the weekend - http://www.totalrock.com. New and re-entries marked with a *
1. Evanescence - The Open Door (SonyBMG)
2. Nickelback - All The Right Reasons (Roadrunner)
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium (Warner Bros)
4. Trivium - The Crusade (Roadrunner)
5. Audioslave - Revelations (SonyBMG/Epic)
6. Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death (EMI)
7. Jet - Shine On (Warner/Atlantic)
8. Billy Talent - Billy Talent II (Warner/Atlantic)
9. Muse - Black Holes & Revelations (Warner Bros)
10. Razorlight - Razorlight (Universal/Mercury)
11. Evanescence - Fallen (SongBMG)
12) Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May (Roadrunner)
13. Guns n Roses - Greatest Hits (Universal/Geffen)
14. Blue October - Foiled (Universal)
15. Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell III (Universal/Mercury) *
16. AFI - Decemberunderground (Universal/Polydor)
17. Aerosmith - Devil's Got A New Disguise (SonyBMG/Columbia) *
18. Cradle Of Filth - Thornography (Roadrunner)
19. Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil (Warner Bros)
20. Sense Fail - Still Searching (Vagrant)*
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COWELL CONSIDERS MORE CATEGORIES FOR X FACTOR
Simon Cowell is considering some "major twists" when X Factor returns next year, like offering the winner a career that lasts more than a week. No, only joking. That's never going to happen. (I suppose Shayne Ward will go top ten next month now, just to disprove my cynicism). The change Cowell is most actively considering is having more categories than just groups and solo singers, under and over 25 - a move that would presumably also result in having more judges involved. Cowell is quoted as saying: "We might add a few more categories. You've got to change things about". As previously reported, another rumour regarding a possible X Factor revamp is the replacement of Kate Thornton as presenter.
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FIDDY TO STAR WITH DE NIRO, APPARENTLY
According to reports, 50 Cent is set to act alongside Robert De Niro, despite the fact that he's not very good at acting. I'm talking about Fiddy, there, not De Niro, who's not bad. Anyway, The Hollywood Reporter claims that the rapper is to play the role of a New Orleans cop in a film set against the backdrop of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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WESTLIFE SINGER TO BE A DAD
Westlife's Nicky Byrne is going to be a daddy. That's because his wife Georgina, eldest daughter of Irish PM Bertie Aherne, is with child. We know this because a statement was released. A statement which read: "Nicky and Georgina Byrne are delighted to announce that they are expecting their first child next summer".
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JONES JOINS JONES JAMBOREE
Grace Jones has appeared at that previously reported record breaking gathering of Jones's. That is to say, lots of people all with the surname Jones all gathered in one place, in this case the Wales Millennium centre, and Grace Jones was one of them. 1,224 people were there, pretty much smashing the previous record of 583 Norbergs in Sweden two years ago.
Anyway, Grace pitched up and entertained the Jones massive with two songs, alongside opera singers Gwyneth Jones and Gwyn Hughes Jones, and West End star John Owen-Jones. Failing to keep up with the Jones's were Bryn Terfel Jones, and Aled Jones, and Tom Jones, none of whom managed to attend the event - but they sent special messages which were read out to the crowd. Which was nice, if entirely unnecessary on Tom Jones' part, given that actually, his real name is Thomas Woodward.
Jones's from all over the world turned up for the event, which operated a strict door policy - all those attending asked to provide proper identification. Hyphenated and maiden names did not count, which seems a bit harsh, especially as they seem to have waived the rules when it came to the aforementioned John Owen-Jones...
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FORMER OASIS CHAP SAYS HE IS GREAT
Former Oasis guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs has said that Oasis was much better when he was in it. Arthurs, who quit the band, apparently acrimoniously back in 1999, was talking to the Sunday Mirror about the upcoming greatest hits album, and said this: "If Liam and Noel don't get round to sending me a couple of copies, I'll have to pop down the shops and buy one. I'm on 13 of the 18 songs, which isn't bad at all. But then they were a much better band before I left."
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SKINNER GUTTED
Mike Skinner is gutted. This is because he trained for months to do the New York marathon, but had to pull out at the last minute. He wrote on his MySpace blog: "I can't fucking believe it. I've torn a muscle and I can't run in New York this weekend. Typical. Been training for months and the first time I hurt myself is a week before the race!"