![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NOTE: Make sure you 'enable images' to see this e-bulletin properly. WHAT IS THIS? You are receiving this e-bulletin because you are subscribed to the CMU Daily. Unsubscribe information is given at the bottom of this e-bulletin. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE CMU GREAT ESCAPE BIT It's The Great Escape this week in Brighton, and to celebrate each day we will be chatting to one of the artists playing, plus delving into the Same Six Question archives to find out what some of the other bands playing would say to you if you were hearing their music for the very first time at the convention. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ESSER Ben Esser first popped up as a solo artist in 2007 (and before that as the drummer in Ladyfuzz), armed with some great pop songs. Now he's finally collected the best of those songs together, added some more he's written since then, and made a debut album, 'Braveface', which is out now via Transgressive. With instantly lovable chunks of pop like 'I Love You' and 'Headlock', it's easy to see how he's charmed the indie faithful and the pop community alike. Now Esser, and his live band, are about to embark on a heroic tour of just about ever festival going, starting at The Great Escape on Saturday at the Sallis Benney Theaetre. Keeping with the live theme, we grabbed him half way through a soundcheck at another gig earlier this month to ask him our Same Six Questions. |
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Q1 How did you start out making music? Q2 What inspired your latest album? Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track? Q4 Which artists influence your work? Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time? Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future? ESSER AT THE GREAT ESCAPE>> 16 May at Sallis Benney Theatre. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TGE-SSQ: What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time? Heartbreak: "Remember that music is not meant to fit your lifestyle, it's meant to change your life" Brighton Coalition, 16 May. James Yuill: "Hello, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't, please refrain from throwing things... NOT THE FACE!"
Po Na Na, 14 May. Mystery Jets: "I wouldn't say anything. You like stuff or you don't. It's meant to be or it's not, bit like falling in love, it happens or it doesn't" Sallis Benney Theatre, 15 May. Little Boots: "All the songs are quite different and have their own characters so maybe bear that in mind... but I guess just see if you like it!" Komedia, 16 May. THREEWEEKS BRIGHTON FESTIVAL MUSIC REVIEWS Drookit Dogs, at Fletch at St Andrew's on 4 May The Curst Sons And Friends at The Brunswick on 4 May Ivo Papasov at Komedia on 4 May |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() RIHANNA CONCERNED OVER NUDIE PICS A source told the News Of The World: "She is freaking out. She was on the road to recovery after a terrible few months. She has no idea how these pictures have been leaked but she's determined to find out." Whilst neither confirming nor denying that the images are in fact of Rihanna, the singer's label Island Def Jam has called for the images to be removed on the grounds that they "violate the artist's rights". Presumably even if they are not her, someone is violating her rights by saying that they are. Reports speculate, of course, that it's estranged lover Chris Brown who has put them out there, because if they are genuine, it's likely only he and Rihanna had access to them. As anyone reading this must know, Brown stands accused of beating his former girlfriend to something of a pulp the night before this year's Grammys, and presumably could be feeling bitter about being dumped. Though, he must have seen it coming really, given the beating and all. We should note him being behind the photos leak is just gossip at the moment, though I don't think his people have formally denied it as yet. -------------------------------------------------- CIARA A BIT PISSED OFF ABOUT NAKED PHOTOS TOO Speaking about it all with the New York Post, Ciara says: "That shoot was about me embracing my body and the change that was coming, but it didn't quite go the way I planned. That experience didn't go the way I was made to believe it was supposed to go. The photo that was there wasn't the photo that was taken. Not only that, but it wasn't what it was supposed to be - afterwards, it was turned into something that it really wasn't. But you can't control everything, so you just move on". SNOOP CLEARED OF FAN ATTACK, THOUGH HIS COMPANY TO PAY DAMAGES -------------------------------------------------- QUESTION OVER WHETHER FIDDY COMPLETELY CLEARED OF HOME FIRE INVOLVEMENT -------------------------------------------------- BOY GEORGE COULD BE FREE THIS MONTH INDUSTRY VETERAN LÜFTNER DIES Lüftner was born in Austria and in 1959 formed his own record company, Ariola, in Austria and Germany. He built up the company in Europe and the US before going on to work in a number of other high profile industry positions. In 1978 he joined the board of then German-owned BMG, and in 1979 became chairman of Arista, discovering acts such as Peter Alexander and Boney M along the way. Both Ariola and Arista became BMG divisions in the eighties, and by 1990 Lüftner was Vice Chairman of the major, and Worldwide President, A&R boss and CEO of its BMG Ariola division in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The following year he left to found another company, Munich-based Monti Media Consulting. The founders of former BMG owners Bertelsmann, Reinhard Mohn and wife Liz, have released a statement expressing their distress at their friend's demise: "Monti Lüftner will always be a part of the history of our company" they said, "he was a sought after advisor and good friend to all of us. We mourn a wonderful person". Hartmut Ostrowski, CEO of Bertelsmann AG, says of his former colleague: "Hardly anyone else was able to combine artistic creativity with entrepreneurial skill as successfully as he did. He supported me personally as well as the company with his advice right up to the end. We will miss him." Lüftner is survived by a fifteen year old daughter. He was not married. -------------------------------------------------- VIOLA WILLS DIES The pop singer was born Viola Mae Wilkerson in Los Angeles, and was a married mother of six when she was discovered by Barry White, who signed her to Bronco Records. In subsequent years she worked with the likes of Joe Cocker and Smokey Robinson, but it was following a move to London that the release of a version of 'Gonna Get Along Without You Now' in 1979 began a string of dance hits. She later moved on to a different style of music, a mix of jazz and gospel. Her ties to the UK were always strong, though, and over she years she made a number of appearances on UK television and at UK venues including Ronnie Scott's. -------------------------------------------------- GUITARIST BRUTON DIES The Austin-born musician was working right up until his death, and had been focusing on music for a new film, 'Crazy Heart', starring Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal. He had also been collaborating on Kris Kristofferson's new album 'Starliught And Stone'. In the past, Bruton's songs have been recorded by the likes of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, and he worked on soundtracks for films such as 'Miss Congeniality', 'The Alamo', and 'Man Of The House'. ![]() JACK WHITE SAYS STRIPES ALBUM IN OFFING Speaking about the band's last tour and Meg's subsequent break, White added: "I had just come from a Raconteurs tour and went right into it, so I was already at full speed. Meg had come from a dead halt for a year and went right back into that madness. Meg is a very shy girl, a very quiet and shy person. To go full speed from a dead halt is overwhelming, and we had to take a break. We just needed to stop for a while. When it comes down to your health, it's hard, people don't really understand. They think you go up on stage and you're having a blast, like you're partying or some shit. That's not the case. It's hard work to go on tour". -------------------------------------------------- ABBA STARS WRITE POP TUNE -------------------------------------------------- PARAMORE RECORDING IN MALIBU Frontwoman Hayley Williams is quoted as saying: "It's almost too good. Almost like I'm waiting on something bad to happen because it's been so easy. We were lucky because the position that we're in a lot of people would have taken advantage of the poppier side of our band. If anything, Rob took advantage of the heavier side, which is really cool". STONE ROSES ANNIVERSARY RELEASE The original recording has been remastered by original producer John Leckie and, er, original band member Ian Brown, and it will be available in three different packages. The first, the 'special edition', is the album and an expanded booklet, the second, the 'Legacy Edition', will come with an addition CD of unreleased material called 'The Lost Demos' and a live DVD of a 1989 gig in blackpool. The final package, 'Collectors Edition' with inlude a third CD of B sides and non-album singles, three vinyl LPs, a USB thingy full of stuff, and a 48 page booklet. They'll be out on 11 Aug. Don't forget, we'll be chatting to Mr Leckie at the very first CMU Insights event at the Great Escape in Brighton this Friday - www.thecmuwebsite.com/insights. WINEHOUSE COMEBACK GIG CANCELLED The representative said: "Amy would like to express her disappointment that weather forced the abandonment of her show at the St Lucia Jazz Festival last night. The set started well, but as the heavens opened, a number of technical difficulties occurred on stage, culminating with the lighting rig failing for two songs. In addition, rain began to flood the technical wings at the side of the stage which caused sound problems. Amy and the band tried to soldier on but the set had to be cut short". However, fans in attendance claimed that the part of the concert that went ahead was a bit of a shambles, which might be seen as confirmation of previously reported rumours suggesting that she was not prepared for the show. Those present claimed that she forgot lyrics and appeared unstable on her feet. One gig-goer told the BBC: "It was disappointing, it is very sad to see, but she is obviously not fit to be on stage. I was hoping for better - it's embarrassing". -------------------------------------------------- SPINAL TAP TO PLAY GLASTONBURY ALBUM REVIEW: Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha/Continental (Universal) MORE EMI EXECUTIVE SHIFTS The latest in a long line of executive rejigs at the major is, in case you wondered, a sign that EMI is "moving to the next level". Not sure what that means, but I'd love to be EMI's business card printers. Anyway, here's what the aforementioned Elio had to say: "With our major reorganisation behind us, a strong new management team in place around the world and a clear consumer strategy rolling out, EMI is moving to the next level. Ronn and David are results-oriented individuals with multi-national experience who will help us as an organization to drive performance and deliver our ambitious goals". -------------------------------------------------- HEALTH SECRETARY TO SPEAK AT PPL AGM -------------------------------------------------- TOUGH COOKIE FOUNDERS LAUNCH NEW COMPANY Tough Cookie was bought by Malcolm Gerrie's Whizz Kid Entertainment firm in 2007, and since then the company's founders, Andy Wood and Neil Sullivan had continued working for the parent company. But last week they announced they were going it alone again. Insisting the departure from Whizz Kid was "completely amicable", Sullivan told CMU: "We're still as hungry to produce content as we were when we first started Tough Cookie from our homes, but in this economic environment, we wanted to become more agile". The new company will be called Silver Bullet Entertainment and will be, we're told: "a multi-platform production company creating and producing ground-breaking digital content". -------------------------------------------------- PIAS LAUNCH BRAND PARTNERSHIP DIVISION Confirming the new division, [PIAS] UK MD Peter Thompson told CMU: "We believe there's a genuine opportunity to offer our repertoire owners a market leading service for sync and brand related business across Europe. [PIAS]'s ability to offer a cohesive package that understands the needs of our sync partners whilst adding value to initiatives through elements such as mobile and digital marketing will be a distinct advantage". -------------------------------------------------- HMV LAUNCH LOYALTY CARD Anyway, here's what HMV's Head of CRM Marketing, Matt Button, told CMU. Yeah, you're right, we just pulled this off the press release. I mean, if he'd really told us this, we could have said "thanks for that Matt, but tell us, how do you decide who gets the groovy free stuff?" But we didn't so we couldn't. Anyway, here's Matt's generic quote on the new loyalty scheme - by the way, the card's called 'purehmv'. You might need to know that for this quote to make sense. Button: "The purehmv rewards scheme will be unique in the market place. There is no other card out there that gives people access to such amazing, 'money-can't-buy' rewards ranging from signed guitars to VIP tickets for film premieres. The real beauty of it is that in getting our customers closer to the music, film and games they love, purehmv will also enable HMV to get even closer to its customers". -------------------------------------------------- SMASH PR RELAUNCHES -------------------------------------------------- LEYLINE EXPAND PR TEAM APPLE BACKTRACK ON NIN APP -------------------------------------------------- ELAB CHIEF EXPECTED TO RUN UNIVERSAL'S NEW VIDEO SERVICE As previously reported, YouTube are expected to provide the back-end of the new video platform, which will see Universal sell its own advertising, in a bid to bump up ad rates because of the official nature of the service. It's thought other labels will be invited to participate. eLabs chief Rio Caraeff will continue to run the major's digital division until Vevo is properly launched. It's not clear if heading up Vevo will be a complete new job for Caraeff or added to his existing digital brief. -------------------------------------------------- CARPHONE WAREHOUSE BUY TISCALI The phone seller, which already has its own ISP in Talk Talk, of course, reportedly bought Tiscali UK for £236 million, but does not take on any of the business's debts. Tiscali in Italy are expected to use much of the money it makes from the sale to help pay off a chunk of its debts, in order to restructure the rest. Struggling Tiscali has been up for sale since last year, with various suitors tipped along the way. The final deal that was done makes Carphone Warehouse the biggest provider of broadband in the UK, overtaking Virgin Media. Carphone Warehouse chief Charles Dunstone has been one of the most vocal ISP men in opposing efforts by the music business to make the net companies play a more proactive role in combating online piracy, though both Tiscali and Carphone Warehouse were signatories of the BPI's memorandum of understanding - in which the web firms agreed to try and work with the content owners to find a mutually-acceptable solution to the piracy issue - so the takeover shouldn't make a big difference to ongoing talks between the two sectors. Not that those talks have achieved much yet anyway. -------------------------------------------------- ARE MICROSOFT INTERESTED IN SEEQPOD? Much of the content that was accessible via Seeqpod (it's offline at the moment) came from illegal sources, and because users could preview MP3s found by the search engine via an easy-to-use Seeqpod player the majors say the firm is guilty of contributory infringement. But amid rumours of collapse, and as the service went offline, Seeqpod founder Kasian Franks recently told Wired that his company was about to be acquired by a big player. He told the magazine that the new buyers were big enough that they could quickly settle any outstanding litigation and get the service back online. Though even with a buyer as big as Microsoft, the labels would surely only settle if the service committed to a new version that blocked unlicensed content, which would presumably require more development and would arguably make the Seeqpod service, as it was, much less attractive to consumers. Which is possibly why some commentators reckon any Microsoft deal would see the IT giant buy elements of Seeqpod's technology, to incorporate it into their own search engine, but not the brand or overall service as a whole. TechCrunch's Eric Shoenfeld has commented thus: "Seeqpod is indeed speaking with Microsoft, but not about an outright acquisition. Rather, it is trying to negotiate a piecemeal sale of its technology assets and find new jobs for its core technology team". STANDARD RELAUNCHES All of which is somewhat humiliating for Veronica Wadley, the paper's former editor, who was pushed out when Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev bought a controlling stake in the paper in January, She was replaced by the new owner's mate Geordie Greig, who had, some say, orchestrated the whole takeover to begin with. Speaking in the Media Guardian, the former editor is dismissive of the 'sorry' campaign and the paper's new management, saying: "London is laughing at this ludicrous campaign. Saying 'sorry' for the past smacks of a Soviet courtroom 'confession'. 'Sorry' has all the hallmarks of a KGB-style smear campaign. It denigrates the judgement of 500,000 loyal readers. The new management seems to think that a paper should be edited by self serving market research - and the Pravda-style promise of good news is an insult to the intelligence of its readers". Personally I'm quite excited about the re-launch - though however brilliant the new look paper may be, it is still operating in an incredibly difficult market, given the high number of Londoners who are already up on the world via the net before they leave their office to go home, and who therefore may still be happy to rely on the content-lite freesheets to occupy their minds on their evening commute. Coupled with the dire stat of the advertising market, and given that the recession means even Russian billionaires like Lebedev don't have quite as much spare cash around to throw at expensive vanity projects, it will be interesting to see how the all new look Standard fares once the relaunch hype is over. -------------------------------------------------- RICHARD & JUDY WATCH SHOW AXED Commenting on the early exit from Watch, the couple said in a statement this weekend: "Some you win, some you lose. It's a shame we couldn't get this one to fly because both we and our brilliant young production team were genuinely proud of the show and the guests it attracted. But it became obvious that it wasn't the right fit with a brand new pay-for-view digital channel. Many of our former viewers have told us they simply couldn't find us there. When we started we said we wanted to get ahead of the curve, as British television inevitably goes digital. Looks like we were a bit too far ahead of the curve! Perhaps a bridge too far too soon, despite UKTV's strong support. But TV is all about taking risks and that means sometimes you fail. It was a really worthwhile experiment and we don't regret it at all. Now we're both going on to other projects, together and separately". CHART UPDATE Outside the top 10 very little has gone on either. Despite being the catchiest song to be released (at the very least) this year, 'She's Got Me Dancing' by Tommy Sparks has only managed to break into the chart at 22. The only other significant change is that Soulja Boy has risen from 63 to 30 with 'Kiss Me Thru The Phone', which has already been a number one hit for him in the States and isn't set to be released physically until 16 Jun. In the album chart, Bob Dylan is taking Tinchy's lead and sticking to the number one spot. No need to worry about his movement bringing about the end of the world, though. The fact that he's made it to number one at all caused a few waves in that area, but all seems fine now. There are also a couple of new entries in the album top 10. Ciara is in at nine and Yusuf is in at 10. The Maccabees, meanwhile, just miss out by reaching 13, Gallows are in at 20, and The Horrors, despite all the hype and the likes of Nicky Wire and Trent Reznor coming out in favour of them, only make 25. And so ends this week's lesson. The charts are compiled by the mystical secret society known as The Official Charts Company. MADONNA TO COMMIT TO JESUS? Anyway, rumour has it that Luz has already converted from Catholicism to Kabbalah, and the Daily Mirror claims that they are planning the ceremony at the Kabbalah Centre in New York. A source is quoted as saying: "They are totally besotted with each other and he's really helped Madonna through this tough time. It wasn't that the relationship went off the boil, it was more a matter of Madonna wanting to concentrate on her adoption bid of Mercy and they wanted to keep a low profile while that became the main focus". back to top DOLLY GETS DOCTORATE -------------------------------------------------- WILL YOUNG CAN'T REMEMBER LYRICS He continued: "Normally, the words of the songs you know well are ingrained within you, and even though your conscious is saying 'What's next?', you suddenly just remember them. You can't panic, you have to get on with it. So much of it is in the mind - it's funny really". |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SUBSCRIPTIONS>> CMU Daily is a free daily e-bulletin for people working in the music industry and music media, delivered direct to your PC each morning. If you want to stop receiving this e-bulletin click the 'unsubscribe' button below and follow the instructions. If any of your colleagues want to receive the CMU Daily tell them to email their name, company, job title and email to [email protected]. If you would like to recieve the CMU Daily as a text email, send a blank email from the email address you are registered at to [email protected]. MEDIA PEOPLE>> If you are looking for an independent quote on anything to do with the music business, or you need someone to come on your TV or radio show and talk music business, then we can help. There's nothing we don't know about. Email requests to [email protected] or call 020 7099 9050. CMU is published by and (c) UnLimited Media - www.unlimitedmedia.co.uk Send news stories to [email protected]. If we don't respond directly, we do apologise, only we get sent hundreds of emails a day and don't have time to respond to every one of them. However we do check every email sent to the musicnews email address, and do pull out stories that we feel are relevant to our readers. Send CDs for review to CMU, UnLimited Media, 221-222 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6PJ. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||