COULD LIVE NATION AND TICKETMASTER BE ABOUT TO MERGE?
Oh, oh, oh, this is interesting. Remember how we said that the global ticketing market was about to enter a whole new phase following the launch of Live Nation Ticketing, a new division of the always diversifying live music conglom which meant that tickets giant Ticketmaster lost one of its biggest accounts (ie the rights to sell tickets to Live Nation promoted shows/venues) and gained a big new competitor all at the same time? Well, you might have to scratch that, because rumour are rampant that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are about to merge, meaning that the ticketing sector, rather than moving away from having one dominant player, could end up with one player more dominant than ever.

These rumours follow reports last month that Ticketmaster were busy negotiating a merger with a major live music promoter. It was originally thought that that might mean the ticketing firm was considering a deal with Live Nation's main competitors AEG - especially as there were rumours of Ticketmaster/AEG merger talks last year. With Live Nation Ticketing properly launched at the start of this year, meaning both Ticketmaster and AEG now count Live Nation as a key competitor, the idea that they might merge in a bid to take on their shared competitor seemed like a logical proposal. But only because the idea of a Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger seemed a little off the wall.

But the Wall Street Journal has cited sources "familiar with the situation" as saying merger talks between Live Nation and Ticketmaster are taking place and going well, and that some sort of announcement could come as soon as next week. The paper adds that any deal - that would likely to involve a share transfer rather than any cash exchanging hands - would have to be approved not only by the two companies' boards but also US competition officials because of the possible dominance a combined Live Nation Ticketmaster would have in the live entertainment sector.

Neither company have as yet officially commented on the rumours.

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VAT LOOPHOLE ISSUE GOES TO EUROPEAN TAX INVESTIGATORS
Following yesterday's report on the upcoming copyright extension debate in the European Parliament, time now for another long running CMU story that has taken on a European dimension. The European Commission is investigating the much reported tax loophole that lets mail order operations sell low-priced goods, and especially CDs and DVDs, to British customers without having to pay the VAT that their competitors based in the UK (high street or mail order) have to charge.

As much, much previously reported, there's a weird rule that means that goods imported into the European Union under a certain price - £18 in the case of the UK - are exempt from VAT. The rule, which comes from an EU directive, pre-dates the internet so only used to affect a minority of imports, normally by individuals. But since the growth of online shopping the loophole has become big business because it means mail-order operations can set themselves up in places like the Channel Islands - outside the EU but close enough to the UK mainland to make mail-order viable - and then undercut their competitors by £1.50 for every £10 CD (or undercut by a pound and pocket the 50p).

The loophole has been especially used in the music and movies space where most CDs and DVDs fall under the £18 price mark. Play.com, HMV, Amazon, Tesco and Asda all utilise mail-order facilities on the Channel Islands so they can sell CDs via their online mail order websites without paying VAT (CDs that they normally ship in from the UK, and then mail out back to the British mainland). That practice has been much criticised by independent retailers based in mainland Britain who argue it gives their bigger rivals an unfair advantage, because they can't compete, in their stores or via online mail-order services, because their prices will always be 15% (or 17.5% until recently) more expensive. The practice also means, of course, that the UK misses out on millions in tax revenue (some estimate up to £80 million each year).

As previously reported, both the UK and Jersey governments have in the past said they would look into closing the loophole. The latter did make some moves to stop the expansion of it by limiting the number of new mail-order businesses that can set up there, and by asking some existing UK firms who had mail-order offshoots on the island to leave. Though that mainly just meant that those Channel-Island-based 'b2b companies' who operate mail-order services on behalf of other retailers could win more business.

With the recession kicking in and everyone looking for cost cuts other non-music businesses are also starting to use loophole more proactively. Health food retailer Holland & Barrett recently complained to European officials because some of its competitors are using the tax dodge to offer cheaper herbal remedies and food supplements. They have gone the Brussels route with their complaint because they say the UK government has failed to appreciate or tackle the loophole problem.

According to The Guardian, the UK government have told Brussels officials that the loophole issue has been exaggerated by those retailers who oppose it, and that the aforementioned action taken by the Jersey government has reduced its impact. But the paper says: "[We have] found some of the biggest names in retailing, including some that had previously retreated from Jersey, are legitimately using agent companies with operations on the island to gain the benefits of the tax relief. Tesco, Asda and Amazon each use agent companies with operations in the Channel Islands able to transact with customers in a way that qualifies for the relief".

The EU's Taxation Directorate is now investigating complaints by UK retailers regarding the loophole and its continued use. A spokeswoman for the Directorate, Maria Assimakopoulou, told reporters last week that its finding would be released in due course, though it is too early to comment on the investigation as yet.

Richard Allen, who, among other music ventures, runs an independent UK-based music mail-order website and who therefore has witnessed the impact of the VAT-dodging cost-cutting major players on smaller e-tailers first hand, has been lobbying against the loophole for years, and told CMU this week: "Despite being given detailed written evidence and warnings in 2006, by myself and a group of retailers and distributors, that if action wasn't taken to stop the obvious abuse of this relief the market would become so distorted that many smaller UK retailers would go out of business within the next year or two the government has done absolutely nothing effective to halt the flow of goods out of the Channel Island. They essentially passed the buck regarding this problem to the Channel Islands, even though they don't have any power whatsoever to control this tax relief, being outside the EU. Given the UK government's response, we've had no option but to take this to the EU Tax Directorate, and we are confident they will reach the same conclusion we did that this is an abuse of the relief, and will force the UK government to finally take action".

He added: "I think it's absolutely outrageous that no trade body in the music industry has taken a stance against this, leaving it to independent players like myself to fight the tax relief abuse, especially given the impact the tax dodge is obviously having on our traditional independent music retail sector".

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US RADIO ROYALTY PROPOSALS RESUBMITTED TO CONGRESS
Ongoing attempts to force terrestrial radio stations in the US to pay royalties to record companies for the music they play will continue, with legislation proposals submitted to the US Congress prior to last year's elections about to be resubmitted. The original proposals didn't reach their conclusion before the all new Congress, ie with the Congressmen who won seats at last year's elections in place, kicked off on 3 Jan, requiring the proposals to be submitted a new for consideration by the latest batch of Senators and Representatives.

As previously reported, US radio stations, unlike radio stations in most other Western economies, don't have to pay a royalty to record companies for the music they play because of the old adage that radio airplay equals free advertising for the music firms (they do, in case you're interested, pay a royalty to a song's publisher). The record companies haven't been especially pleased with that set up for a long time, but the issue has risen in importance as the labels increasingly rely on royalty revenues to combat declining record sales, and because new online music services and radio stations, who do not benefit from the statutory blanket licensing rules, do have to pay royalties to the labels, and they argue terrestrial stations are therefore at an unfair advantage.

The proposed Performers Rights Act proposes introducing royalties to be paid by the radio firms, and a letter signed by members of the House Of Representatives Judiciary Committee has confirmed the proposals will be resubmitted to Congress this week. The US's National Association Of Broadcasters will presumably continue to lobby against the proposals.

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SPEARS LAWSUIT UPDATE
Britney Spears' former albeit shortlived manager Osama 'Sam' Lutfi, the man some said caused the singer's mental collapse this time last year, is suing the pop star and her parents for libel and defamation. The lawsuit was filed yesterday, and follows moves by the Spears family last week to get a new restraining order against Lutfi to stop him trying to interfere in the singer's life. The lawsuit focuses in particular on a book written by Spears' mother Lynne, called 'Through The Storm', which Lutfi argues contains some "false statements".

Lutfi isn't the only former manager of Spears currently suing her, of course. As previously reported, Johnny Wright, who managed Britney from 1999 to 2003, says he was due royalties off Britney's work until 2008, but hasn't received anything since December 2006. He launched his legal proceedings back in November 2007, and recently tried to force Spears to participate in a deposition, ie answer questions relating to the lawsuit under oath but out of court. However, following a recent closed court hearing, it was decided Spears would not be forced to undergo questioning until the summer at the earliest, I think because of concerns for her well being. Wright's lawyer, though, argued that there is information that only Britney can provide needed for the case, and that based on interviews she has given and public appearances, she seems competent enough to participate in the deposition. However, he will now have to wait until the summer at the earliest for a chance to question her.

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DOHERTY MIGHT BE EVICTED
An eviction notice could be served against Pete Doherty by the owner of the country estate where the Babyshambler has been living of late, not because of any problems with rent payments (which are thought to be about £3520 a month) but because of concerns over the state the property is being kept in. Doherty has been staying in the nine-bedroom property in Marlborough since his split from Kate Moss in 2007. The estate is owned by the Earl Of Cardigan, and he's apparently increasingly nervous about what his tenant is doing to his property since cameras filmed inside the house for that recent MTV documentary that followed Doherty. The landlord is quoted in the tabs thus: "We've had a few problems. It's high time Mr Doherty found somewhere else to live".

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GLASVEGAS WIN XFM NEW MUSIC AWARD
Glasvegas have won the second ever Xfm New Music Award, which is a nice accolade to receive, even though it was given the The Enemy last year.

Speaking about the announcement, one of the award's judges, Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody said: "[The Glasvegas album is] dark as fuck but full of great lines. It's a first class debut album in that it is memorable, passionate and well formed. Every track is a winner, leaves you wanting more and wondering what will come next. I wish I'd produced it".

Full details of the award can be found at www.xfm.co.uk/newmusicaward

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JUNO NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
The nominations for this year's Juno awards, the Canadian version of the BRITs, have been announced, with Nickelback leading the pack with five nominations, including Album Of The Year, Single Of The Year, and Group Of The Year. Also receiving multiple nominations are Celine Dion, Sam Roberts and Hedley.

Last year's big nominee Feist, is back with one this year, for the Juno Fan Choice award, alongside The Lost Fingers, Hedley and Celine Dion.

The awards ceremony will take place on 29 Mar, hosted by Russell Peters and broadcast live on CTV. Nickelback will also perform live on the night.

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CUT COPY UP FOR AUSTRALIAN MUSIC PRIZE
Cut Copy have been revealed as one of the artists on this year's Australian Music Prize shortlist, ahead of the official announcement of the full list at the St Kilda Festival this Sunday, at which Cut Copy will be DJing.

On the early announcement of one of the shortlisted artists, award director Tracey Grimson said: "The Amp has announced Cut Copy's nomination ahead of time so that fans of Cut Copy DJs don't miss out on what is bound to be one of their legendary DJ sets. This is a great coup for The Amp - to have an artist that's so high profile and with so much creative credibility helping us announce the Shortlist".

The full shortlist will feature nine Australian acts and the winner will be announced in Sydney on 13 Mar. The winner receives AUS$30,000.

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SPINAL TAP HEAD TO THE STUDIO
Spinal Tap are about to go into the studio to record new material. No, really. The spoof band from the 1984 mockumentary 'This Is Spinal Tap' plan to record some songs, including the one they performed at the 2007 Live Earth show at Wembley.

Commenting on the recordings, band member Derek Smalls (aka actor Harry Shearer) told BBC Radio 5live: "It'll be for download as well as on conventional media later this year. We've never recorded the song we did at Live Earth, 'Warmer Than Hell'".

Adopting the third person, he added: "I think they [Spinal Tap] are trying to revisit their old success. Not that they were ever popular, maybe in their own universe. We'll do a song called 'Gimme Some More Money', probably with some dubious results".

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ERASURE HITS BOX SET PLANNED
Warner's Rhino Records is to release a career-spanning Erasure box set featuring three CDs and a DVD and remasterted versions of all of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke's single releases, including 'Chains Of Love', 'A Little Respect' and 'Victim Of Love'. It's scheduled in for an April release in the US, though I'm not sure what their UK plans are.

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FLO TOUR
Florence And The Machine have announced some tour dates as follows...

22 May: Birmingham O2 Academy 2
27, 28 May: London Bloomsbury Ballroom
31 May: Glasgow Oran Mor
1 Jun: Manchester St Phillips Church
2 Jun: Brighton Concorde 2

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TAKE THAT ANNOUNCE GARY GO AS TOUR SUPPORT
Relatively unknown singer Gary Go has been announced as support for Take That's upcoming tour, which will be quite a boost for the singer-songwriter, who worked with Take That's Gary Barlow penning songs for that terrible and now axed 'Britannia High' TV show. The announcement that Mr Go will guest on the tour now should also help boost sales of his upcoming single release 'Wonderful'.

Suddenly playing in front of arena audiences will be quite a culture shock for Go but I'm sure he's up to the job - I've just found a review of one of his gigs in 2003 in the CMU archives, and we thought he was ace. Confirming Go's booking for the tour, Mark Owen told reporters: "I'm absolutely made up that Gary Go is touring with us and delighted to hear that things seem to be going so well for him," said Owen. "Go Gary, Gary Go he really is quite... wonderful".

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ALBUM REVIEW: Reigns - The House On The Causeway (Monotreme Records)
'The House On The Causeway' is electronic musicians Reigns' third studio LP, and is the musical equivalent of a snowstorm in northern Russia. At times violent and at others frigidly cold and still, 'Causeway' is, ultimately, a beautiful scope of experimental electronic-folk seen through a broken kaleidoscope of monotone colour. Album opener '(Frontplane)' sets the record's landscape perfectly - echoing pianos, heavy, low synths and an uncanny sense of dread and trepidation. There are rare - and not entirely unwelcome - rays of sunshine though in tracks like 'Mirrors At Night' and the haunted but dazzling 'Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen'. Like the (criminally) underrated Knife album 'Silent Shout', 'The House On The Causeway' is dark and narrative-esque, themed throughout with stories about winter, classical industrial landscapes and, of course, that haunted house on the causeway. If M83 makes the kind of electronic music that uplifts you to a place that is at once bright and exhilarating, Reigns pulls you down into the gutters and the marshy earth, but despite that, is as equally exquisite and surreal. TW
Release Date: 9 Mar
Press Contact: Hermana [all]

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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LYDON HELPS BUTTER BRAND BOOST SALES
And to think, we all mocked John Lydon becoming the face of Country Life butter. I'm not sure what the TV ad campaign did for Lydon's rep (though nothing worse than those allegations his posse beat up Kele Okereke after the Bloc Party man took offence when the Sex Pistol made a racist remark), but the spread's maker Dairy Crest say the promotion helped boost their butter sales by 85% in the last quarter.

The food company says the ongoing decline in its doorstep milk delivery business and the rising costs of milk could have had a negative impact on their financials, but a boost in sales of their 'spreadable' products, led by promotions like the Lydon tie in, have helped them achieve a 4% growth in sales overall.

Whether the even more bizarre tie-up between Iggy Pop and insurance firm Swiftcover will have the same positive impact on their sales I'm not sure. Though the sale of cushions is probably up, given the natural response to the slightly scary Pop ads is to want to hide away from the telly.

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SONY AUSTRALIA RECRUIT COLUMBIA UK GM
The GM of Sony's Columbia UK division is returning to Australia to help the major expand its non-recording operations in the territory. Mardi Caught will become GM Touring, Events & Artist Management at Sony Music Australia's Sydney HQ. Presumably it's assumed her time as VP Talent & Music for MTV will help in her new job.

As well as Caught's appointment, Sony Music Australia have recruited another exec to assist with building new revenue streams. Wylie Fowler, formerly a director at marketing agency Freshworks, will become Manager of Business Enterprises at the major, with the job of securing sponsorships and brand partnerships for the record companies artists and projects.

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BERTELSMANN APPOINT UK BOSS FOR ITS NEW MUSIC ENTERPRISE
I thought I already knew this, but I think it's a new appointment so I'm not sure I could have done. A former Ministry Of Sound exec has been appointed UK MD for Bertelsmann's much previously reported new music company, BMG Rights Management. As previously reported, the new BMG company was launched after Bertelsmann sold its half of SonyBMG to Sony Corp, and sees the German company specialising in music licensing (licensing songs and recordings) rather than releasing records themselves.

Moss, who comes from a music publishing background and most recently administered publishing rights for Modest Management, will head up the new enterprises UK operations, reporting directly to the company's CEO Hartwig Masuch, who says this: "Tony is a person with tremendous vision, drive and passion, and this appointment will give him the opportunity to make great contributions to the growth and development of the BMG Rights Management business in the UK and Ireland. We will also benefit from his extensive knowledge of the UK marketplace which is at the forefront of change in the music industry landscape".

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SONY RELEASE QUEEN SINGSTAR GAME
Sony Computer Entertainment has announced it will release a Queen edition of its karaoke video game SingStar, giving PlayStation owners the chance to sing along to twenty-five of the band's classic hits, including 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are The Champions', 'I Want To Break Free' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (yeah, good luck with the latter, given the band themselves rarely performed it fully live due to the layered vocals). It will be released in the UK on 13 Mar.

The game sees SCE working with EMI, who conveniently own both Queen's recording and publishing catalogues. The boss of EMI Publishing UK, Guy Moot, said this: "The Queen catalogue is undoubtedly one of the jewels in EMI Music Publishing's crown, and we're delighted that we've been able to help bring their music to the 'SingStar' platform. Video games are an increasingly important part of our business now, and I hope that these fantastic songs help introduce yet another generation to the incredible music written by one of Britain's greatest ever bands".

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KANGAROO BLOCKED
Plans to launch a joint on-demand TV service that would be owned by and take programmes from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have been blocked by the Competition Commission. As previously reported, the Commission expressed its initial concerns that a collaboration between BBC Worldwide, ITV and C4 would be anti-competitive back in December, though suggested there might be room for compromise if Kangaroo agreed to certain conditions. But no agreement could be reached between the Commission and the Kangaroos on what conditions would be mutually acceptable, so this morning the regulator blocked the whole project.

In a joint statement, BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 said this: "We are disappointed by the decision to prohibit this joint venture. While this is an unwelcome finding for the shareholders, the real losers from this decision are British consumers. This is a disproportionate remedy and a missed opportunity in the further development of British broadcasting".

Meanwhile ITV top man Michael Grade told CMU: "We are surprised by this decision because we believed that the Kangaroo joint venture, competing in a crowded online world against dominant global brands, was an attractive UK consumer proposition, free at the point of use. 
However, in the two years since the idea for Kangaroo was born, the success of ITV.com has proved that our UK content is attractive enough to stand on its own and we remain focussed on our online growth. We will provide a further update on our online plans with our full year results on 4 Mar".

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FULLER PLANNING NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A TV SHOW
Pop Idol man Simon Fuller is reportedly planning on turning the Now That's What I Call Music franchise into a TV show. Fuller now has the TV rights to the compilation brand, and it's thought he will launch a new pop telly show around it, incorporating some kind of interactive chart and a slot to promote new talent. It's not clear in which territories a Now TV show would appear - Now compilations are now sold in over 20 countries. The UK, the original home of the Now series of course, is an obvious contender though given the lack of a proper pop show on terrestrial TV since the demise of 'Top Of The Pops', 'CD:UK' and 'Popworld'.

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GMG APPOINT NEW BRAND CONTROLLERS
The Guardian's radio firm, GMG Radio, has appointed Jay Crawford and Steve Collins to the roles of Brand Programme Directors for the Smooth and Real/Century networks respectively. They'll be responsible for ensuring 'brand consistency' on all the Smooth and Real/Century stations around the UK. If that doesn't sound like a full time job, that's because it's not. Both men will do their new jobs in addition to their existing GMG roles, PD for Scotland in Crawford's case, PD For Smooth Radio Northwest for Collins.

GMG's Group Programme Director John Simons says this: "This is an exciting new development phase within GMG Radio and Jay and Steve are two experienced programmers who will help develop the Smooth and Real brands ensuring we can meet the growing commercial needs for the networks whilst ensuring the core brand values of the stations continue to be met".

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GTN BUY UBC'S NEWS AND TRAVEL DIVISION
Canadian travel news company Global Traffic Network has bought the commercial division of UK-based UBC Media, which operates UBC's traffic and travel news operation as well as other news and entertainment news services used by commercial radio stations all over the country. The deal, said to be worth £9million, will reportedly see GTN acquire UBC's COO John Quinn, who they see as being crucial to the company's success. UBC CEO Simon Cole will also have to sign a three year non-compete clause. Assuming those and other conditions are met, GTN could acquire the UBC division as early as next month.

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THIS WEEK'S SUB.TV PLAYLIST
These, in case you wondered, are the videos being played on the Sub.tv network of screens in students' unions around the UK this week. New entries marked with a *. More info from [email protected].

A-List
The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
Britney Spears - Circus
Chase & Status feat. Kano - Against All Odds
Coldplay - Life In Technicolor ii*
Daniel Merriweather - Change
Fall Out Boy - America's Suitehearts
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
The Fray - You Found Me
Glasvegas - Flowers and Football Tops
Lily Allen - The Fear
Madcon - Liar
MGMT - Time To Pretend
Sway feat. Akon - Silver & Gold
The View - Shock Horror
Tommy Sparks - I'm A Rope

B-List
Barefoot Confessor - He Doesn't Love You*
Emmy The Great - First Love
Esser - Work It Out*
Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy*
In Case Of Fire - The Cleansing*
Innerpartysystem - Don't Stop
The Joy Formidable - Cradle
Katy Perry - Thinking Of You
The King Blues - Save The World, Get The Girl
Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning*
New Rhodes - The Joys of Finding and Losing That Girl*
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Rex The Dog - Bubblicious*
Rudenko - Everybody
VV Brown - LEAVE!*
The Wombats - My Circuitboard City*

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BALE TIRADE PUT INTO THE MIX
Doing the rounds on the net yesterday, on Twitter in particular, were links to this rather amusing track that features a rather angry Christian Bale losing his cool, apparently at Director Of Photography Shane Hurlbut on the set of 'Terminator: Salvation' last summer. Here's the link...

www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=YTihsJQHt48

In addition to that, LA disco punks The Mae Shi have written a song in tribute to Bale and his ranting abilities. Explains the band's drummer Brad Breeck explains: "We thought it [Bale's outburst] was so crazy that we, The Mae Shi, wrote and recorded a song about it. We should clarify and say that this isn't really a Mae Shi song, it's a tribute song we made to celebrate the epic-ness of Christian Bale".

Watch the video for that song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oFjz6JfACk or download it from www.mediafire.com/?0imgnnnozyn

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MADONNA IS DATING JESUS
Yeah, the headline is better than the story I'm afraid. The latest man being linked to the now single Madonna is a model, nearly thirty years her junior, called, yes, you guessed it, Jesus. Gossipers say the singer has been spending quite a bit of time with Jesus Luz these last few weeks. Boring gossip, but great headline. Well, for easily confused incest fans anyway.

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TOM JONES GOES GREY
And finally, some important news for you. Tom Jones has dumped the hair dye and attended a recent awards show in Poland with a natural grey look. Presumably this is something you're keen to check out for yourself, so here's a link to the BBC's useful 'before and after' photo montage.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7865689.stm

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