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EMI INTERNATIONAL CHIEF STEPS DOWN
Several senior label types pointed out when EMI chief Guy Hands first announced his dramatic restructuring plans at the start of the year that, actually, widespread downsizing and major roster culls were are not unusual at major record companies, especially after a change in ownership. But it has to be said I don't remember a major label rejig with quite so many senior level casualties as this one. Another top player at EMI has gone, and this time it's one I actually expected to stay. Jean-Francois Cecillon, President and A&R chief of EMI International (so, most things outside US and UK) will leave the major at the end of this week, apparently by "amicable agreement".
Cecillon's duties will be taken over by two existing senior EMIers. Billy Mann, the major's Chief Creative Officer, will take over the non-UK/US A&R remit as well as his current job, while David Kassler, currently President of EMI Music UK and Ireland, will swap jobs to take over as operational chief for mainland Europe, Afria and the Middle East. Ashley Unwin, currently filling in as acting A&R chief for the UK and US, will take over Kassler's EMI Music UK job once incoming A&R head for UK and US, former Island UK man Nick Gatfield, finally arrives. Mann and Gatfield are expected to work closely together on A&R projects.
Unlike some of the other recent senior exec departures from EMI, which have been quietly confirmed by the major, Hands did make the effort to thank Cecillon when the company confirmed his departure. Saying the International chief had made "many contributions to EMI", he said: "[Cecillon] has consistently delivered on financial targets for his region. He has also nurtured great talent - both artistic and executive - and led a strong and united team over the past four and a half years".
Cecillon originally worked for EMI in the mid-nineties, when he was CEO of EMI Records UK, and during which time he oversaw the signing of a certain Robbie Williams to the major's Chrysalis imprint. After leaving the job in 1998 he took on a top job at Sega, later working for marketing firm Music Matrix, before returning to EMI in 2004.
Confirming his departure on Friday, Cecillon said in a statement: "Now the shape of the new organisation is complete, the time is right for me to step back. I leave a lot of great friends in EMI and in its extended family of wonderful artists, and I encourage them to make the most of what I believe will be a new phase of opportunity for everyone associated with this great company". It's thought Cecillon may stay on as a consultant for the major.
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EMINEM SUED OVER STRIP CLUB PUNCH ALLEGATION
According to the Detroit News, a man has filed a lawsuit against Eminem over allegations he was sucker-punched by the rapper in a bathroom in a Detroit nightclub in 2006 - a sucker-punch being a punch that comes out of nowhere, apparently.
Miad Jarbou says he was hit by Slim Shady after he and a friend ran into him in the bathroom at Detroit's Cheetah strip club. He alleges that his friend said "Hey Eminem, what's up man" to which the rapper (or possibly a security guard with him, I'm not entirely clear on that) responded: "Shut the fuck up, man! Don't say another word". Jardou says he came to his friend's defence by saying "Hey, man, my friend ain't starting trouble, it's just cool to see Eminem", which prompted Shady to lash out with his fists "without warning or provocation".
I'm not sure why it's taken two years for Jarbou to sue in relation to the incident, which was apparently reported at the time, but without any police action being taken. He is reportedly suing for over $25K in damages to compensate for the "physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, ongoing serious injuries requiring medical treatment... embarrassment, humiliation, medical expenses, wage loss and other economic and non-economic" damages caused by the punch.
Eminem's people are yet to comment.
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JOY DIVISION MEMBERS' PLEAS FOR CURTIS HEADSTONE
Former members of Joy Division have been talking about that previously reported theft of late vocalist Ian Curtis' headstone from Macclesfield Cemetery last week.
Bassist Peter Hook told Xfm: "I must admit that in my life I've been to Ian's stone a lot. It's somewhere, especially with the effect it had on me after what we did, it's somewhere that I go for a moment of quiet reflection just to give the guy a nod".
Drummer Stephen Morris told NME: "I just don't understand why anyone would do it. You couldn't sell it on eBay - it's ridiculous and very upsetting. I'm speechless. It really is not a very nice thing at all".
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NO SOAD REUNION ON THE CARDS
System Of A Down aren't getting back together. So, just get over it, will you? Guitarist Daron Malakian has told Gigwise that the success of frontman Serj Tankian's solo work, and other projects from the band members, including Malakian and SOAD drummer John Dolmayan's new band Scars On Broadway, have effectively brought their former band to a halt. He said: "If someday it feels right for us to do it then we'll do it but as of right now I'm really focussed on this and I want to take this to different levels and so does John. We don't talk about System, we don't talk about doing System. If it does happen I see it being very, very far down the line".
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NOEL DOESN'T HATE JAY-Z
So, that whole debate about Jay-Z headlining Glastonbury was completely unwarranted, as the man who sparked it all off, Noel Gallagher, actually likes the rapper. It was just the media spinning things out of control. Bad media. We'd never get caught up in something like that. Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Gallagher said: "For the record, I like Jay-Z. That's my opinion. The broadsheets get hold of it and have me going down Hyde Park Corner blasting and slamming. If it offends people, don't ask me any more questions". I'm not even sure what that means but I'm convinced nonetheless.
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NOEL WORRIED ABOUT RISING KNIFE CRIME
Elsewhere in the 'Noel Gallagher Speaks Out' folder, the Oasis man has been commenting about this apparent rise in popularity for stabbing amongst the youth of today. Presumably everyone has seen all the media coverage of the apparent rise of knife crime in the capital and elsewhere?
Well, speaking at an awards event in London, Noel says he reckons stabbings are on the rise all over the country, observing that it's a "pity scumbags are taking over our streets", and that young people from underprivileged backgrounds see violence as a way to prove their "worth". "In my day", he added, "status was trying to be somebody, do you know what I mean, not trying to kill somebody?"
He continued: "I don't even know what Cameron or Gordon Brown are going to do about it. I was watching a documentary on Panorama and another one about kids carrying knives and violence. One of the lads, a little lad, made a telling comment. The guy [interviewer] said, 'Do you not think there's anything better for you in life?' And he [the kid] said, 'Yeah, there probably is but I've never known anything else'".
Video games, he reckons, do have a role to play in making the kids more violent. He concluded: "People say it's through violent video games and I guess that's got something to do with it. If kids are sitting up all night smoking super skunk [cannabis] and they come so desensitised to crime because they're playing these video games, it's really, really scary".
I'm not sure what Brown or Cameron are going to do about it all either - though perhaps the lesson here is if you're a kid with an obnoxious brother prone to violent outbursts, write a couple of chart topping songs and distract him away from the violent video games and focus his limited attention span onto fronting a world renowned rock band. Simple.
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FIFTY INJURED AFTER BOMB BLAST AT BELARUS CONCERT
More unnecessary violence for you, and at least fifty people have been injured in Minsk, the capital of former Soviet state Belarus, after a bomb exploded during a concert there. The concert was taking place to celebrate the anniversary of the country's independence, and was staged in the cultural quarter of the capital. The country's rather controversial president, Alexander Lukashenko, was due to attend the event, and was on his way there as the bomb exploded. But a spokesman for the country's leader says he doesn't believe the bomb was targeted at the politician, and, with no group seemingly claiming responsibility for it, authorities are describing the attack as an act of "hooliganism".
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DAVID GRAY ON HIS TORTURING SONGS
And from violence to torture - it's all fun, fun, fun this Monday morning. David Gray has been talking about reports that one of his songs is reportedly being used by US interrogators in their previously reported music-based torture tactics. As previously reported, the UK's Musicians' Union recently called on the global federation of musician organisations to officially condemn the use of music as a tool in interrogation, what Amnesty International have termed 'psychological torture'.
Following reports his song 'Babylon' was among those used by US interrogators, Gray told Radio 4's 'The World Tonight': "Only the novelty aspect of this story gets it noticed... Guantanamo greatest hits. What we're talking about here is people in a darkened room, physically inhibited by handcuffs, bags over their heads and music blaring at them. That is torture. That is nothing but torture. It doesn't matter what the music is - it could be Tchaikovsky's finest or it could be Barney the Dinosaur. It really doesn't matter, it's going to drive you completely nuts. No-one wants to even think about it or discuss the fact that we've gone above and beyond all legal process and we're torturing people".
'Guantanamo Greatest Hits', now there's an idea. Presumably the compilation department at one of the majors has that in development, no?
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OASIS GET SILVER CLEF
The awards where the aforementioned Noel Gallagher was getting all chatty were the Silver Clef awards, the annual music business awards bash staged in aid of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity. Oasis won the flagship Silver Clef award, while Bryan Adams, Amy Macdonald, The Fratellis, violinist Nicola Benedetti and Squeeze were presented with the ambassador of rock, newcomer of the year, best British band, classical and icon awards respectively. Meat Loaf won an international award while Estelle was celebrated for having download of the year with her track 'American Boy'.
According to Billboard, when being presented with his award by boxer Ricky Hatton, Gallagher again referenced his negative remarks re Jay-Z headlining Glasto by telling the audience that he planned to take Hatton with him as "personal security on my forthcoming peace mission to Brooklyn", while Lily Allen, presenting Squeeze with their prize, said she felt a bit like "someone off 'Hollyoaks' presenting an award to Robert de Niro". Ah Lily, why so down on yourself?
The awards show, with both an auction and raffle as part of the night, reportedly raised a neat £400,000 for the charity.
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SHERYL CROW DOES CHRISTMAS
According to Billboard, Sheryl Crow has recorded a special Christmas album, to be sold exclusively via greetings tat giant Hallmark. The LP will feature festive standards like 'O Holy Night' and 'White Christmas', but also a new track called 'Hello Friend', which the singer says is "about people coming back together at Christmas, which I think is really poignant".
On her reasons for making the record, she said: "I had been wanting to do this for a while, so when the opportunity came up I just kind of jumped at it. I love Christmas music; every year we have this ritual after the Christmas Eve service, 40 or 50 people come over the house and we play Christmas music. We pretty much rely on the same Christmas music every year, and every year I've said, 'I'm gonna make some Christmas music of my own'".
"The album is just gorgeous," she continued. "It's kind of a humble record; it's very sweet and innocent and a little bit of a throwback to maybe the '60s or '70s in production. It's definitely a departure from any Christmas record I've ever heard".
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DOHERTY WORKING WITH COCO STING
According to reports, Pete Doherty is working on material with Sting's daughter Coco after the pair met at a gig last month. The resulting tracks will, it's claimed, appear on her debut album. The People quote a source as saying: "She has got a lot of talent and is going to be huge. Coco is a huge fan of Pete's and is delighted that he is going to be a musical influence on her career".
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FORTY-FIVE MORE YEARS OF THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS PROMISED
Alex Turner says that his Last Shadow Puppets project with that Miles Kane fella could last for another 45 years. At times it feels like they've been peddling their tunes for that long already. No, only joking. Actually I don't think Turner specifically pledged to keep his second band going for another four decades, rather he was asked by the Guardian if him and Miles might still be working together in 45 years time to which he replied: "Yeah, maybe". Kane added: "I'll be 67. Like Paul McCartney. He looks OK on it".
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BLOC PARTY COUNTING DOWN TO SOMETHING
Bloc Party's website has a countdown going on which should have reached zero by the time this reaches you. The NME reckons a free track from the band's in development third album might become available. Or perhaps just a new look website. Why not go and look? www. blocparty.com
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BRITNEY TO TOUR WITH MADONNA?
The Sun claims that Madonna has asked Britney Spears to join her on tour for a few dates, in a move to help Spears get her actual career (singing, etc, as opposed to being paparazzi/tabloid fodder) moving a bit.
Apparently, Britney is to appear on a video recording due to be screened during Madonna's upcoming Sticky And Sweet dates, but may also put in some live appearances. The Sun's source is quoted as saying: "They are recording a video together on Sunday that will provide the backdrop for part of Madonna's show. And they are talking about Britney taking the stage on a few of the dates too. It's hoped that Madonna can help Britney get back to her old self".
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ALBUM REVIEW: Pop Levi - Never Never Love (Counter Records)
It would be very easy to compare Pop Levi to Mika. The similarities are obvious - the quirky male artist with a twinkle in his eye and an elevated range to rival the falsetto of Thom Yorke. But a more in-depth study reveals a valley of difference between the pair. Pop exchanges Mika's brashness for a deep sensitivity that allows him to produce the most emotive of love songs. His porous heart is glaringly obvious on 'Never Never Love', his second album, succeeding 2006's 'The Return To Form Black Magick Party', which received both critical and celebrity acclaim, with such influential forces as Noel Gallagher and Jarvis Cocker standing firmly behind it. The London native was something of a child prodigy, having begun a love affair with the piano at the tender age of three. He penned his first song aged nine, and from there, he knew that there was no going back - Pop knew he was destined for great musical things. He followed his dream to Liverpool during the 90s, where he performed in various guises, before serving his electro-pop apprenticeship with Ladytron, with whom he toured for two years and contributed bass to their third album. It was on this tour that he would first visit LA, and there, he found his musical feet as a solo artist. The central driving force behind 'Never Never Love' is Prince's signature 1980s style funk assisted by injections of T-Rex's glam rock. From a glance at the cover art, it is obvious what Pop Levi is all about, straight from the off. His natural flamboyance is channelled through the striking red and gold kimono in which he is photographed against a dark background. This stark contrast acts as a visual metaphor for Pop himself, something bright and shiny standing rather flagrantly out from the crowd. The majority of the tracks on this album are immediate, straight-up funk, but Pop manages to fuse a huge range of styles including reggae and electro to make an overall sound that is uniquely his. This is refreshing, organic pop music and that can only be good for the soul. MB
Release Date: 14 Jul
Press Contact: Ninja Tune [NP, RP, CP], Cool Badge [NR, RR, CR]
Buy from iTunes - Buy from Amazon - Buy from TuneTribe
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TICKETMASTER WIN TYPOSQUATTING CASE
The chaps over at the World Intellectual Property Organisation have ruled in favour of Ticketmaster in what is being dubbed a 'typosquatting' internet domain-name dispute. The ticketing giant objected to a company who had registered the domain name www.ticketfmaster.com and then pointed that URL in the direction of rival ticketing websites, from which, presumably, the domain name owners earned a commission.
Ticketmaster took their grievance to the Geneva based IP body who have ordered the company who own that domain, US-based Domainstand.com, to hand the misspelt URL over to the ticketing firm. The ruling was made on the basis that Domainstand had deliberately registered the URL to try and capture Ticketmaster customers with bad typing skills - ie they had registered the URL in "bad faith".
It' not the first cybersquatting case Ticketmaster have taken to WIPO, though most previous cases have been against variations of the ticketing site's domain rather than misspellings, eg yourticketmaster.info.
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VIRGIN MEDIA BACKTRACK ON DISCONNECTION THREAT
In a follow up to last week's reports on Virgin Media sending out emails to file-sharing customers warning them about the legal ramifications of accessing illegal sources of music, the cable company come net provider has been back-peddling a little after it was revealed the envelope in which the letters were mailed threatened said file-sharing customers with disconnection.
As previously reported, record label trade body the BPI has proposed that ISPs send copyright infringing customers two warning letters and, if said customers then continue to fileshare, to cut off their internet connections. While agreeing to send warning letters, Virgin have stressed from the start of their alliance with the BPI that they do not intend to get involved with the 'cutting off' bit of the record companies' proposals - the letters, they say, are an educational initiative to warn customers of the legal risks associated with illegal file sharing (ie a lawsuit from the record labels) rather than part of a wider campaign which will see them cutting persistent file sharers off.
But then the envelopes the net firm used to send out their letters warned customers of disconnection if they didn't read the letter within. But Virgin bosses have said the wording on the envelopes was a mistake and that they never meant to imply disconnection was on the cards for file-sharers. So that's alright then.
As also previously reported, BT recently sent out a letter to one serial copyright infringer threatening them with disconnection if they continued to infringe, but they said that that letter was a routine correspondence that is occasionally sent to customers that breach the terms and conditions of their ISP services, and nothing to do with the BPI's latest push against P2Pers.
Finally in this domain, Carphone Warehouse's Talk Talk, probably the most resistant ISP to proposals net firms should help record companies combat music piracy, has reportedly reaffirmed that it has no intention in playing ball with the BPI on this one. Unless government force them to presumably. Which they might next Spring. Maybe.
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MOBILE MUSIC SET TO BOOM
Another survey predicting gloom but some hope for you record industry types. The gloom is that the decline in record sales will continue, the hope that online and especially mobile music will boom in the next few years. In fact, according to this survey by research firm eMarketer, the value of mobile music is already expected to almost double this year, from $1.7 billion in 2007 to about $3 billion. By 2011 mobile music should be generating $7.3 billion. Online sales won't grow quite so fast, but will still be generating $7.5 billion by 2011, meaning that in three years time combined digital music surveys should account for 56% of the record industry's income. So, I'd be getting me head around mobile music platforms if I was you.
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SINGLE REVIEW: Maroon 5 feat. Rihanna - If I Never See Your Face Again (Universal/A&M/Octone)
I must admit, I was cringing a little and quite embarrassed when this song started, but once it gets going, and after a few listens, I must confess that it's pretty catchy. Maroon 5 have reinvented 'If I Never See Your Face Again', previously released in 2007 on the album 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long', which is also being reissued. This in itself starts alarm bells; re-releasing a whole album a year after it originally came out seems a little desperate, but having pop starlet Rihanna on board isn't going to do them any harm. The track is as pop-rock you might expect from Maroon 5, but I'm fairly sure it is Rihanna's faultless voice that makes it so infectious. Having said that, as the track ebbs and flows from cheesy slap bass and gravelly guitars to electro bleeps and squeaks, the whole thing comes together on its own; Rihanna is the glue that holds it all in place, and I don't doubt that her input will help this single in the charts. DH
Release Date: 30 Jul
Press Contact: Universal IH [all]
Buy from iTunes - Buy from Amazon
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CHART UPDATE
Hurrah for Dizzee Rascal and his good friends Calvin Harris and Chrome, who have scored a number one in the old singles chart. They knock Ne-Yo into second place, and beat Basshunter, whose latest single 'All I Ever Wanted' goes in at 3. Other new entries are noticeable mainly by their absence - obviously a quiet week for single release, everyone in the record industry was obviously too busy recovering from Glastonbury to be releasing records last week. Talking of Glasto, Jay-Z's headline set helped '99 Problems' slide back into the Top 40 at 35.
Albums wise, Coldplay is still top, while new entries come from Seth Lakeman with 'Poor Man's Heaven' at 8, My Chemical Romance with live album 'The Black Parade Is Dead' at 12, Eddy Grant with a best of at 14, Subways with 'All Or Nothing' at 17, Aerosmith with a best of at 32, Dirty Pretty Things with 'Romance At Short Notice' at 35, and G-Unit with 'TOS' at 39.
The chart comes from the Official Chart Company - www.theofficialcharts.com
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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's the Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock over the weekend - www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.
1. Disturbed - Indestructible (Warner/Reprise)
2. The Offspring - Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (SonyBMG)*
3. Judas Priest - Nostradamus (SonyBMG)*
4. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros)
5. Kid Rock - Rock - N Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)
6. Opeth - Watershed (Warner/Roadrunner
7. Nickelback - All The Right Reasons (Warner/Roadrunner)
8. Guns n Roses - Greatest Hits (Universal/Geffen)
9. Led Zeppelin - Mothership (Warner/Atlantic)
10. Daughtry - Daughtry (SonyBMG)
11. Journey - Revelation (Frontiers)
12. Iron Maiden - Somewhere Back In Time (EMI)
13. Whitesnake - Good To Be Bad (SPV)
14. Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience & Grace (Roswell)
15. The Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden (Universal)
16. Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Universal/Mercury)
17. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Best Of (Polytel)
18. Testament - The Formation Of Damnation (Nuclear Blast)
19. Simple Plan - Simple Plan (Warner/Atlantic)*
20. Journey - Greatest Hits (SonyBMG)*
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BARAT SAYS HE HAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS WITH DOHERTY
Carl Barat says The Libertines may reform, which is interesting, because I could have sworn that last week he said they wouldn't. Oh, I see, last week he said they wouldn't reform anytime soon due to all round busy-ness, but this week he's said they may reform eventually. Speaking to Sunday Mail Live the Dirty Pretty Thing said he had "unfinished business" with Doherty, and that he would like to work with his former bandmate again at some point. Barat: "As to whether The Libertines could reform, it's a big 'Maybe'. It's a question that follows me around constantly. Some schoolkid will ask, 'When are you getting The Libertines back together?' I'm thinking, 'Do you really think this is something I haven't given a lot of thought to?' I miss the purity of what me and Pete had together when we started out. It would be great to have that back. Pete always used to say, 'Imagine the songs we still have to write'. That thought is always with me". Super.
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MORRISSEY DISSES KYLIE, MEAT-EATERS AT WIRELESS SHOW
Morrissey has mocked Kylie Minogue for getting an OBE. He sarcastically told the crowd during his Wireless appearance this weekend that he was "absolutely thrilled to death" to see the pop star honoured, adding "I'm sure you'll agree, it was completely deserved". Not sure whether his problem is with her, or the honours system. It's possibly both.
He also, perhaps predictably, had something to say about George W Bush, and then he had a go at meat-eaters in the crowd when he caught the scent of burgers, presumably being cooked at some dodgy van nearby. The singer, who played a couple of tracks from upcoming new album 'Years of Refusal', also ripped off his shirt and threw it into the crowd. Which can't have been altogether pleasant for them. Especially those that were already feeling a bit queasy after eating all those burgers.
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MARTIN: BERRYMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR COLDPLAY'S SUCCESS
Chris Martin has said that bandmate Guy Berryman is the secret of Coldplay's success because he claims he is the pretty one, something I would dispute, frankly. But Chris Martin doesn't listen to me. He told Blender magazine, "My entire life is spent trying to push him forward at photo shoots. He's our packaging... He's a handsome bastard. None of us pretend that if he wasn't in the band we'd be as popular. He's responsible for all our calendar sales".
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ABBA WILL NEVER REFORM, OK?
I think it's safe to assume that if Abba were ever going to reform they'd have done it already, though I suppose they say 'never say never'. Except Bjorn Ulvaeus just has. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph as their Abba-song musical 'Mamma Mia' hits the big screen, Ulvaeus said this weekend: "We will never appear on stage again. There is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were - Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head".
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