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LAMMY STILL NOT CONVINCED BY NEED FOR 95 YEAR TERM As much previously reported, European political types are currently debating proposals put forward by EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to extend the recording copyright term across Europe from the current 50 years to 95 years, to bring it in line with the recording copyright term in the US. The proposals would also ensure recording artists, and especially session musicians, would receive higher royalties during the extra years of an extended term than they automatically do during the first fifty years. While the UK government had previously rejected the need for a longer term, late last year Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said Britain would now support an extension, though to 70 rather than 95 years. IP minister Lammy, who seems less worried about his relationship with the music business at large than Burnham, has also confirmed his support for an extension, though stresses very strongly that his interest in a longer term is based on the need to support aging musicians and not record companies, though they would obviously also benefit from a longer term. At a recent meeting of the Houses Of Parliament Jazz Appreciation Society called to discuss the then pending European debate on this topic, the industry were pretty clear to Lammy that they wanted the full 95 year term McCreevy was proposing. The minister evaded that issue at the time, and given his comments on Friday, that was presumably because he didn't want a bust up at the otherwise amicable meeting. Responding to the news that the EU's influential Legal Affairs Committee had approved McCreevy's proposals, albeit after adding some extra provisos to protect the interests of performers, Lammy stressed again that the UK would only support an extension to 70 years. His argument is that if the extension is to benefit musicians rather than record companies, then a 70 year term is adequate - assuming that any musician who made their seminal recordings in their mid-20s is dead by their mid-90s, then the only people to benefit from the extra 25 years of copyright would be the record companies who released the work. Lammy told reporters on Friday: "While the UK believes that performers should be protected throughout their lifetime, a period of 95 years goes beyond what is needed to achieve this aim". Although welcoming the new provisos added by the Legal Affairs Committee, Lammy added that he didn't feel the proposals went far enough to protect performers' interests, implying he and his team will be looking to add more provisos as well as reduce the proposed new term length once McCreevy's proposals reach the third and final stage - the aforementioned Council Of Ministers, at which Lammy will represent the UK. As previously reported, while some sort of extension does now seem likely, some reckon the proposals could get delayed by the debate at the Council stage. Lammy's comments seem to back that viewpoint. -------------------------------------------------- PIRATE BAY FOUR GO TO COURT IN SWEDEN The Pirate Bay, of course, provides access to thousands of unlicensed albums and movies, and has become somewhat notorious in the music industry for its blatant violation of copyright laws and its ability to stay online despite past litigation and even the confiscation of their servers. Despite all that, the Pirate Bay four will plead not-guilty at the trial, presumably using the old defence that providing links to pirated content - rather than actually hosting it - does not amount to infringement in itself. It should be an interesting case - and will test the power of so called authorising infringement laws in a European jurisdiction. In related news, internet service providers in Denmark are awaiting a decision regarding the possibility of appealing that previously reported ruling that forces ISPs in the country to block access to the Bay. As previously reported, Danish ISP Sonofon (previously called Tele2) was ordered to block access to the popular source of illegal content after it lost a legal action brought by the country's music, video and publishing industries. Sonofon unsuccessfully appealed the ruling through the country's High Court last year, and as a result the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has taken the ruling as law, and last month wrote to other net firms in the country telling them they also need to block access to the Pirate Bay. Sonofon is now trying to appeal the ruling through the Supreme Court, with the support of the Danish Telecoms Association, who argue that providing access to a website like The Pirate Bay is not, in itself, illegal, so there should be no obligation on them to block access to it. The net firms should hear soon as to whether the Supreme Court will hear their appeal, though, as previously reported, one of Sonofon's rivals, TDC, has voluntarily agreed to block access to the Pirate Bay oblivious of any court rulings. -------------------------------------------------- BROWN ISSUES STATEMENT OVER RIHANNA FRACAS Looking like it had been through several lawyers before reaching the press, the statement said that Brown was sorry for "what transpired" but provided very little insight into what happened and no real apology to Rihanna herself. With the police's investigation into the altercation - which left Rihanna bruised and possibly unconscious - still under way, presumably Brown didn't want to say anything that could incriminate himself. So instead he talked about his family and God. And stressed that much of what has been said about the incident to date is wrong, and certainly any other comments credited to him online are false. Brown: "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired. I am seeking the counselling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person. Much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and/or reported in the media is wrong. While I would like to be able to talk about this more, until the legal issues are resolved, this is all I can say except that I have not written any messages or made any posts to Facebook, on blogs or any place else. Those posts or writings under my name are frauds". If Brown's lacklustre apology didn't piss off Rihanna's fans, then comments made by one of his cousins, Phylicia Thompson, probably did. Though not defending her cousin's actions, Thompson said Brown must have been provoked to behave the way he did. She told US TV show Extra: "There had to be something to provoke him for Chris to do it. He wouldn't have done it just to be having fun. Yes, he's done something wrong, because he put his hands on her, but you don't know what happened. He had to be provoked to do it. Everybody loved Chris... This comes as a surprise to me". The latest c'leb to comment on the incident is Jay-Z, who was heavily involved with Rihanna's career during his time heading up Universal's Def Jam label. He called on everyone to support Rihanna as she recovers from last weekend's incident and the subsequent split from Brown, telling reporters: "It's not a sound bite, this is a real situation. If you can't have compassion for others ... just imagine it being your sister or your mom or someone like that, then think about how you should talk about that. I just think we all should just support her. She's going through a tough time. You gotta realize she's a young girl, as well. She's very young". Rihanna is currently with her family in Barbados recovering from the ordeal. Meanwhile, the police continue to investigate the altercation after the District Attorney last week asked for more information before decide what charges to press (presumably whether to increase current criminal threat charges to actual assault charges). Brown is due in court next month in relation to the incident. -------------------------------------------------- CHUCK MANGIONE LOSES BANDMATES IN BUFFALO AIR CRASH RAPPER ARRESTED OVER TRAINERS JACKSON COULD LOSE NOSE TO MRSA, SAYS SUN Anyway The Sun quote Professor Mark Enright as saying: "A wound infection like MRSA on a delicate area like the nose could cause the tissue to collapse". PETER GABRIEL PULLS OUT OF OSCAR PERFORMANCE Gabriel explained via his website that he'll still be attending the Academy Awards ceremony on 22 Feb even though he won't take part in the Best Original Song, adding: "I'm an old fart and it's not going to do me any harm to make a protest. But the ceremony should be fun and I'm looking forward to it". -------------------------------------------------- GAGA TO PERFORM WITH PET SHOP BOYS AT BRITS Meanwhile, Aussie singer Gabriella Cilmi has been talking about both Lady GaGa and The Brits. According to The Daily Star she isn't too keen on her fellow singer's image, because they quote her as saying "I like to be myself and not a character. I saw this picture of Lady GaGa touching her crotch and I wasn't keen on that. She needs to put some clothes on. Eventually you're just going to catch something and have to go to hospital if you keep walking around in your bra and knickers". And before you start thinking she's just a woman hater, she has good things to say about Girls Aloud, and hopes they'll win the British Band gong at the upcoming Brit ceremony. Cilmi, nominated in the Best International Female Category, told the tabloid: "I want to see Girls Aloud win British Band. I think they deserve recognition and I know the people behind the music. They're real musicians who are talented. I would also like to see James Morrison win British Male as he's got a beautiful voice". -------------------------------------------------- HERB ALPERT AND LANI HALL GET ELLA AWARD GIRLS ALOUD RE-SIGN TO POLYDOR -------------------------------------------------- BURKE SIGNED TO £2.4 MILLION US DEAL FREE DOHERTY DOWNLOAD Get it here: links.emi.com/peter/freemp3 -------------------------------------------------- U2 PLUG NEW ALBUM WITH LIVE LOUNGE SPOT -------------------------------------------------- NEW SIMPLE MINDS ALBUM OUT IN MAY The band are planning to follow the release with a tour, dates tbc. A1 REUNITE FOR GAY Ben Adams hinted during his recent appearance on 'Celebrity Big Brother' that a comeback might be in the offing. Which is all good, because we're fans of A1 here at CMU. We are hopelessly addicted to their 2001 single 'Caught In The Middle'. SOUND CITY ACTS ANNOUNCED As I'm pretty sure we've previously reported, LSC will take over venues across Liverpool from 20-23 May, providing a Northern alternative to Brighton's The Great Escape, which takes place a week earlier in that other sea side city. And we can now tell you that heading up the proceedings at LSC 2009 will be White Lies, Animal Collective and CMU favourite Little Boots, with Cage The Elephant, Deerhunter, Mumford And Sons, Hot Melts and sort of indie supergroup Mongrel also on the bill. Confirming the line up, Liverpool SoundCity Festival Director Dave Pichilingi told CMU: "SoundCity is all about what is fresh, innovative and exciting - just like Liverpool itself. It's going to be tough for some festivals in 2009, but in White Lies and Little Boots we've got two of this year's hottest acts coming to SoundCity". -------------------------------------------------- FESTIVAL REPUBLIC LAUNCH MEGA YOUTH SURVEY The programme will see the festival promoters or, more likely, their research company partners Crowd DNA asking 60,000 16-24 year olds who come to their August Bank Holiday festivals various questions, both onsite and online before and after the event, so that brands, and especially those operating in the music space, can get a better understanding of the youth market. I can probably tell you everything you need to know without speaking to 60,000 young consumers, but not everyone can be as brilliant as me. Though the cynic inside me predicts the mega survey will discover that brands are best off sponsoring major music events taking place in Reading and Leeds or elsewhere in the Festival Republic if they want to engage young consumers, though I'm trying to suppress Mr Cynic, so suggest you don't listen to anything he says. Listen to these people instead. Commenting on the research venture, Festival Republic Sponsorship Manager, James Kent told CMU: "In the current climate brands need to work harder to ensure their music sponsorships deliver for them. Sixty Thousand Voices will allow them to engage in a long-term dialogue with a key demographic, and as a result help inform those aspects of a campaign that will really deliver return on investment". Crowd DNA MD Andy Crysell added: "This is a fantastic opportunity on a number of levels. We have a huge sample of 16-24 year olds to research; also the scope to develop really innovative methodologies and compelling ways to bring the insight to life. Moving beyond traditional approaches to insight, we're looking to develop techniques that allow us to kick-start a potent two way conversation with the audience. The connection between music and brands is well established, but the time has come for fresh ideas and new perspectives to come to the fore, and Sixty Thousand Voices has a major role to play". SINGLE REVIEW: Brakes - Hey Hey (FatCat) Buy from iTunes SHAREHOLDERS AND EUROPEAN OFFICIALS TAKE INTEREST IN LIVE NATION/TICKETMASTER DEAL Speaking to Reuters, Sam Shapiro of Shapiro Capital Management, who own 15% of Live Nation, said: "There's never been a question whether I think the combination of the two companies is a big positive. But as investment managers, we're interested in creation of shareholder value for our clients and I worry about Barry Diller because shareholder return of value to his companies have not been that great". Shapiro is referring to the shareholder return delivered by Diller's main business IAC/InterActive, of which Ticketmaster used to be a division. Although Diller still has a stake in and non-executive role at Ticketmaster, and will continue to do so at the merged company, he isn't involved in the day to day running of Ticketmaster, and won't be at the post-merger Live Nation Entertainment either. However, as Non-Executive Chairman he will form part of investor Shapiro's relationship with the merged company, so the investment man's resistance to him could prove to be a problem, both in getting the merger through, and, if it does get through, in day to day investor relations moving forward. Talking of hurdles the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger must cross before going ahead, commentators suggested this weekend that the scale of the two companies' operations in Europe, coupled with the sizes of their respective turnovers, may well mean the merger will need the approval of EU competition regulators as well as US officials. While indie label trade body IMPALA would tell you EU competition officials have a very poor record in stopping the consolidation of the music industry (they having approved the SonyBMG merger, then Sony buying Bertelsmann out of that merged entity, and the separate sale of BMG Music Publishing to Universal Music), getting past European competition officials has often proved more tricky than getting US regulators onside. That means that, while the European Commission probably won't block the deal, Live Nation and Ticketmaster will have to step up their lobbying efforts on this side of the Atlantic to ensure as swift as possible a merger. -------------------------------------------------- REFURBED MANCHESTER VENUE CONFIRMS NEW STAFF First up Gavin Sharp, who worked for the venue a few years back in a programming role, will become co-CEO, while Mike Chadwick, best known for his presenting work on radio stations like KFM, Sunset Radio, Jazz FM and Smooth FM, will become the venue's new music programmer. The re-opened venue will combine a music programme with various educational projects involving local schools and colleges. -------------------------------------------------- GERMAN INDIE GUN CLOSES OMNIFONE EXPAND MOBILE SERVICE TO THE NET, AIM FOR ISP PARTNERSHIPS Omnifone, the company that operates the MusicStation mobile music service offered in the UK by Vodafone, and the firm who will power Ericsson's in development Comes With Music competitor, has announced it will be making its subscription-based all-you-can-eat music service available over the net, in particular through partnerships with various internet service providers. In the online domain MusicStation is in some ways a bit like existing subscription-based digital music services - Napster being the main survivor in that domain - though Omnifone plan to offer MusicStation Next Generation, as it will be known, via ISP partners, meaning that the cost of the service, rather than being paid by the customers directly, will be bundled in with net subscriptions, making them invisible to the consumer. Omnifone hope that by enabling ISPs to offer a compelling all-you-can-eat digital music service of their own, which includes music from all four majors, they will be more receptive to restricting access to illegal music services. Confirming his company's plans for MusicStation Next Generation, Omnifone top man Rob Lewis told CMU: "Tens of millions of European consumers are engaged in music piracy every day. Whilst government pressure is growing, we also need to deliver alternatives that recognise the needs and desires of the YouTube generation. With today's announcement, Omnifone is offering consumers something better than piracy. MusicStation Next Generation gives consumers legitimate unlimited access to the world's music, in audio and video format, direct to their living room, through set-top box or personal computer, in partnership with their ISP or cable company. Broadband providers can deliver a better music experience; a legal alternative to piracy that differentiates their consumer proposition". -------------------------------------------------- GUNS N ROSES ROCK BAND GAME UPCOMING Commenting on the development of the 'Chinese Democracy' version of 'Rock Band', Rose told Billboard: "They [MTV Games] felt the record - based on the nature and complexity of the depth of instrumentation - sdeserved a bit more attention and some more involved elements than they've generally dealt with. I have no idea what that means but it's my understanding they were very enthusiastic". ITV MIGHT SELL FRIENDS REUNITED ITV bought the first big social networking website in 2005 for £120 million, approximately four years after everyone stopped using it, making it one of the most pointless internet purchases ever. Clueless ITV bosses hoped it would help them catch up the BBC in the online domain, failing to recognise that while the site may have had millions of registered users, most people had stopped using it in 2001, and they'd have been much better off using the £120 million to build a decent ITV.com website. Anyway, this is all relevant today because ITV top man Michael Grade (who, it should be noted, arrived after the dumb ass acquisition) is planning on selling the site in a bid raise much needed funds to help prop up the struggling commercial telly company. I'm not sure the eight pounds I'd give for Friends Reunited will help much, but with a major hole in Grade's budgets, every penny helps I suppose. And there are reports ITV will have to pay a second sum to Friends Reunited's founders later this year unless they offload the site. Insiders say programme budgets will also be slashed and up to 500 jobs could go in the next few weeks as ITV try to make the sums add up, while there are rumours Grade is even considering mortgaging some of the network's biggest shows - most notably 'Coronation Street' - in order to make ends meet. Despite the cuts, Grade may still have to tell his shareholders to expect a reduced dividend pay out as the broadcaster comes to terms with a major slump in the TV advertising market, coupled with rising competition from newer digital channels and those websites people still use. CHART UPDATE MIA GIVES BIRTH -------------------------------------------------- LEONA LEWIS TO MISS BRITS A source told the Daily Star: "The Brits is the biggest night of the UK music calendar, and Leona is arguably our biggest star, but she's giving it a wide berth. Leona was shocked she didn't pick up even one award last time and only last week watched her rivals clean up at the Grammys. With her massive sales it's ridiculous, but she's aware there's a lot of snobbery around reality TV winners. Rather than face the humiliation of being snubbed again, Leona's staying away". back to top-------------------------------------------------- HAWKINS ON GROHL Speaking to NME, Hawkins added: "He tells me what to do but we work off each other as well. He's a drummer first and foremost. He's become a great singer and songwriter but he's a drummer first. When we're working together on music, not only do you have one drummer's ideas but you have two of them coming from totally different places". -------------------------------------------------- LILY ALLEN ON HOW PARENTS SHOULD HANDLE DRUGS The singer is quoted by Dutch magazine Revu as saying: "Parents should say, 'Drugs might seem fun, but they do funny things to your brain. Some people react to it good, some don't. Try it and see what you think'". -------------------------------------------------- FLOWERS QUITS DRINK |
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