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WORK AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST FESTIVAL ThreeWeeks is CMU's sister media, the biggest reviewer at the Edinburgh Festival, the biggest cultural festival on the planet. ThreeWeeks is based around a unique media education programme involving 100 students each year. Between them they review more shows than any other media at the Festival, ensuring hundreds of grass roots shows that would otherwise go unreviewed get the coverage they deserve. ThreeWeeks runs a four week operation in Edinburgh during August, and is looking for the following temporary staff to join the team. Office Manager Distribution Manager Junior Designer To apply for these roles send a CV and covering note to [email protected] stating in the subject line the job title of the role you are applying for. Limited space is available in the ThreeWeeks flat in Edinburgh, so it may be possible to accommodate good candidates not based in Edinburgh who apply for these roles. If you are not based at an Edinburgh address you should state if you would need accommodation in your application. |
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![]() INVESTMENT FIRM BUY INTO NEW BMG VENTURE As previously reported, the all new BMG aims to both own and administrate music rights, including recording and publishing rights I think, and to work in partnership with other labels and artists to develop, monetise and exploit new and existing intellectual property. But unlike a traditional record company, it will not actively involve itself in the manufacture, sale and marketing of recorded music products, so kind of applying the music publisher business model to recording rights and beyond. The deal with KKR will see the creation of a new company, owned 51%/49% by KKR and Bertelsmann respectively. The investment firm will put in 250 million euros, while Bertelsmann will transfer the existing BMG Rights Management business to the new company, which includes ownership of a handful of former BMG recording catalogues it kept back when doing its deal with Sony last year. The new deal is being interpreted in various ways. It's probably a sign that Bertelsmann wants to properly retain its links with the music industry, but also that the struggling German media giant knows it can't do so on its own. It is also certainly a sign that the new music rights venture is planning a number of acquisitions. It's thought that the revamped firm is already in talks to acquire three significant US music catalogues (not sure if that's recordings or publishing), and that bosses there are ready to snap up various European publishing catalogues which they reckon will come up for sale in the next year or so. There had, of course, been rumours that BMG might look to acquire some or all of EMI's publishing assets, gossip which extended to rumours Bertelsmann were talking to investment types about putting together a bid to buy EMI outright, or possibly form a JV with the London-based major's existing owners Terra Firma. These rumours are now being denied by both BMG and EMI, and do seem a little bit nutty. A 250 million euro investment from KKR sounds a lot, but it's a small muffin if you're aiming for the big EMI pie. If that metaphor works. Which is almost certainly doesn't. Anyway, here's what Hartwig Masuch, CEO of BMG Rights Management, and the man who will head up the new joint venture business, had to say about the deal: "KKR shares our views on future business models for the music industry. I am excited to work with such a partner. With many high-visibility contracts and the foundation of an international organization in six European countries, it has taken BMG Rights Management only nine months to position itself successfully in the market. Songwriters and performers respond very well to our service oriented approach". -------------------------------------------------- JACKO DOC NOT DADDY As previously reported, there has been speculation since paparazzi shots of Jacko's very Caucasian looking children first appeared sans-veils last year, that Jackson wasn't their biological father. Even though it was known (or possibly thought) that Jacko's ex-wife, the white Debbie Rowe, was the mother of the eldest two, many gossipers pointed out they'd surely look a bit more mixed race if they'd really inherited some of their father's genes. As also previously reported, since Jackson's death TMZ has claimed that neither Jackson nor Rowe are actually the biological parents of Prince Michael or Paris, sperm and eggs having been donated by unknown third parties. Rowe, they say, was just the surrogate. Anyway, one new theory that has surfaced, mainly via Us Weekly, is that Jackson's longtime dermatologist Dr Arnold Klein was the sperm donor for the singer's eldest two children. Rowe, of course, worked for Klein, and it was via the doc that Jackson met her. But he has now formally denied those claims. Well, sort of. Speaking to ABC News yesterday he said: "To the best of my knowledge, I am not the father of these children. I can't answer it in any other way. I don't want to feed any of this insanity that is going around". So, that's that, erm, not really sorted. Klein also spoke about the skin treatment Jackson received over the years, commented on the singer's plastic surgery, and responded to other allegations against him, that it was him who was providing the prescription drugs that may or may not have caused the singer's cardiac arrest. Klein confirmed Jackson's many claims that his skin colour basically changed as a result of a medical condition. The doctor said the singer developed a serious skin condition which would have resulted in his dark skin becoming speckled. Not wanting that, he underwent treatment that ensured his skin was a constant colour, but a much lighter one as a result. Klein: "He was developing severe speckling and you can't look like a leopard. You have to even your skin tone". However, while explaining and justifying the changes in Jackson's skin colour, he admitted he was never a supporter of the singer's other more radical plastic surgery. He said he thought Jacko's plastic surgeons were out of control, observing: "No matter what he wanted someone would give it. The very rich, very poor and the very famous get the worst medical care". He concluded: "I did not like what was happening so got him out of the hands of those plastic surgeons". Finally turning to the allegations he may have provided Jackson with Diprivan, the severe prescription drug found at Jackson's home, a dose of which some are speculating could have caused the singer's death, Klein denied any knowledge of how the drug got into the singer's possession. He told ABC: "How am I going to prescribe Diprivan when I don't know how to use it?" -------------------------------------------------- STILL NO WORD ON JACKSON BURIAL As previously reported, it's thought the family are split regarding where Jackson should be buried. Some favour the proposal he be buried at the Neverland ranch, as part of plans to turn the property into a Gracelands style tourist attraction. Others, including his mother, preferring a more traditional burial site, most likely the Forest Lawn memorial park in the Hollywood Hills where this week's private funeral service for family and close friends took place. The hearse that took Jackson's body from the cemetery to the big bash at the Staples Center on Tuesday left the LA venue empty, so it's not clear where the singer's flashy coffin went after the memorial show. Though reports say the singer's death certificate, which was made public this week, says the body is being temporarily stored at the aforementioned Forest Law cemetery, and technically speaking there's a legal obligation to do what it says on that document. It's thought, therefore, that the coffin was returned there in a less distinctive vehicle in a bid to throw the paps off the scent. Either way, presumably at some point the family will announce where exactly their brother and son has been laid to rest. And in the meantime, I don't suppose we really need to know. FREELAND ACCUSES PEAS OF PLAGIARISM Talking via Twitter, Freeland told his fans: "OK. Check this. Listen to our song 'Mancry'. Now listen to Black Eyed Peas 'Party all the time' WTF!". What the fuck, indeed. Listen to the two tracks side by side - which you can do via this rather handy YouTube link - and, unless we're going insane, it's pretty clear the Peas have just taken the Freeland track wholesale and dropped it in behind their vocals. Cheeky. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbJ5kHfIhC4 Freeland insiders have confirmed they knew nothing of the sampling of their track until Adam stumbled across the Peas song. Needless to say, lawyers have been informed. Because, as Perez Hilton will testify, probably best not to challenge Will.i.am face to face on such things. Meanwhile, you can listen to 'Mancry' in its entirety on the 'COPE' player at http://www.freeland.fm. -------------------------------------------------- SCOTTISH FOOTBALL CLUB SUE ELTON -------------------------------------------------- MU WELCOME COURT RULING ON OZ MUSICAL PLEDGE But, as previously reported, the Musician's Union don't necessarily agree, and have various agreements in place with theatre producers as to when they can and can't use recorded music for musical stage shows. And as part of its campaign to keep musicians employed in musical theatre, the MU has welcomed a court ruling against the Lowry Theatre in Manchester. This case was, though, was actually about the way a stage show using pre-recorded music marketed itself, rather than the use of recorded music itself. A cellist called Adrian Bradbury sued producers of a Christmas production of 'The Wizard Of Oz' at the Lowry under the Trade Descriptions Act, claiming that the show's publicity material implied there would be live music when, in fact, there wasn't. Bradbury had taken his family to see the show, and argued he had been sold tickets under false pretences. And the court agreed that the theatre's presentation of a show to backing tapes was inappropriate given they'd described their production of 'The Wizard Of Oz' as "the most magical family musical of them all". The court ordered the theatre to give Bradbury back the money he'd spent on tickets. Bradbury welcomed the ruling, calling any production that uses backing tracks glorified karaoke. He told reporters: "I am over the moon that a court of law has recognised the importance of live interaction in a musical performance. A pre-recorded track cannot react musically to live singing or dancing, so has no place in a musical theatre. Karaoke must stay where it belongs - away from the professional stage". Of course if such a theory was applied to pop concerts there'd be lots of problems, and it should be noted the court's ruling in this case related to the way the show was communicated, and not the principle of using backing tracks over a live band. And while the MU do oppose the use of backing tracks in stage musicals as a principle, they also recognise this case was about consumer expectations. That, though, links nicely to its own Honesty Code campaign, which is calling on theatre producers who use backing tracks rather than live musicians to make sure that is properly communicated in show publicity. MU General Secretary John Smith told CMU: "It is extremely disappointing when recorded music replaces live musicians in musical theatre productions. It not only threatens the livelihoods of professional musicians in the UK, but it also means that audiences may not be getting what they think they have paid for. We will continue to campaign against the use of recorded music in theatre where it denies our members work that has traditionally been a major source of employment for them". LISSY TRULLIE HIT BY SWINE FLU Despite the fact that no one else in the band or their tour manager showed any signs of having the virus, they were all quarantined and forced to cancel all but two shows on their European tour. Says frontlady and band namesake Lissy Trullie of the experience: "We had to take Tamiflu so we couldn't catch anything... not even a break!" The band will be back in the UK, major illnesses permitting, for a tour with The Cribs and Adam Green in September. They will also release their debut Bernard Butler-produced album early next year. GRAINGE AND ROBINSON TOP HOSPITAL MOVERS AND SHAKERS LIST That, of course, covers music, which means we now know which music business types Hospital members reckon are doing more moving and shaking than anyone else - in the sense of being important and influential, not in the sense they do more drugs. There are two lists of music types in the Hospital's survey - emerging and established. I'm not entirely sure what the difference is - Popjustice's Peter Robinson tops the former, and he's been around for years. But whatever, here are the two lists for your enjoyment... Emerging Established INNERPARTYSYSTEM MIXTAPE, AND OTHER NEWS The band said in a statement: "We know we've been a little elusive as of late with news, but we have a few really big updates. First off: Innerpartysystem is no longer on Island Records. There's really nothing else to be said there. There are some really amazing, overworked, underpaid, stressed out people who love music, working very hard there... and there are a handful of people who just didn't really understand this band, and didn't know how to react when 'Don't Stop' wasn't 'Just Dance.' Our bad there. There's a particularly badass crew at Island UK, who really fought and worked the hell out of this brand new, no name band from America, and we're sincerely thankful that we've had the team by our side to help build such a strong foundation". On the subject of their new web presence, they continued: "This is a very exciting time for us. We also realise that now, more than ever, we need to directly connect with our fans. There's no amount of marketing money that is more valuable than IPS being able to directly communicate with you, and let you know exactly what's going on in our world. With that in mind, our tech guru/ soundman extraordinaire, Andy, has put together innerpartysystem.net, a forum site specifically for IPS fans where we can communicate with you directly, and most importantly, use it as a place to give you free exclusive music, videos, and whatever else the gods of the interweb may dream up. To celebrate the launch, we're posting a free download of our 'Official Warped Tour/Summer Mixtape'". Finally, they add this plea to listeners: "Fans of IPS, we appreciate you. We need you. We wouldn't exist without you. We can't wait to share new music with you later this year, and we hope to see tons of you all this summer on Warped Tour. Until next time". -------------------------------------------------- MEW ANNOUNCE ALBUM DETAILS No more stories No more stories Yes, all of that is the title. Currently touring Europe with Nine Inch Nails, Mew will be in the UK next week for a few shows, which look like this: 15 Jul: London, O2 Arena (with Nine Inch Nails) Oh, and while we're here, why don't we publish the tracklisting for the new album? New Terrain Two of the tracks from 'No More Stories...' are available now on the band's new EP of the same name, which was released last week. You can hear it on Spotify here. -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- 6 DEGREES TRACK AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD The cover features six artists, obviously, including Roisin Murphy, Sinead O'Connor, Micachu (of Micachu and the Shapes), thecocknbullkid and Alessi's Ark, and the track has been put together by Epic US chief Amanda Ghost. Go download at this URL: www.actionaid.org.uk/6degrees/?page=free-download -------------------------------------------------- BIBIO'S VIRTUAL FOREST Many of the sounds found on the album were collected from around the countryside, and now you can return them there (kind of) by planting your own virtual tree in the forest, designing how it looks, controlling the weather, and selecting the music and ambient sound that will play when people go to look at it. Take a look here. JACKSON STUFF PULLED FROM BRUNO MOVIE TIMBERBLAKE TO WRITE GOLF BOOK NINE INCH NAILS ANNOUNCE MORE US SHOWS Writing on the band's official website, Reznor said: "Getting right to the point, we're going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting 22 Aug. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. Upon reflection, the NIN/JA tour felt like we had to rush through sets due to a limited allotted set length and many shows were in daylight - it just didn't feel right to end NIN that way. An offer to headline a festival (being announced soon) set the idea in motion to play some FUN shows to end this up with. If we can get it together we'll film these shows, too". He continued:"In NYC we'll be playing Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall and Terminal 5. In Chicago, the Aragon Ballroom. In LA we'll be at The Wiltern, The Henry Fonda, The Palladium and The Echoplex. These should be cool, unusual and unique shows and I hope you come out - this is it". On the subject of support acts, Reznor said that The Horrors would be joining them in New York, with Mew supporting at some or all of the shows in all three cities. Full details and ticket info will be announced shortly. -------------------------------------------------- Here are the group's upcoming revised UK tour dates: 12 Dec: Glasgow SECC -------------------------------------------------- WAR CHILD ANNOUNCE ARMY OF YOU LINE UP REGISTRATION FOR GLASTONBURY 2010 OPENS Not only that, but Michael Eavis has revealed that he's already booking next year's headliners too. He says: "We've got some headliners who haven't played for a few years and some who have never played here. I'm not saying names, it will be the same old guessing game. But they're all on the phone at the moment so it will be special". www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk -------------------------------------------------- MACHINE HEAD PULL OUT OF SONISPHERE In a statement, the band said: "In a turn of events that has left us absolutely baffled, the promoter of the UK Sonisphere festival recently placed, unbeknownst to us, Limp Bizkit in our third slot on the festival. Seeing as the running order was a significant part of the negotiation and agreement between us and the promoter, and the fact that we had been advertised in that slot since the festival's announcement, you can imagine our surprise when we were 'told' that we would now be playing in the fourth slot, under Limp Bizkit, and bizarrely, it was actually expected that we would quietly move down the bill without issue. We will not". They added: "Machine Head turned down the UK's Download Festival, a festival we are very fond of - which incidentally, had us above Limp Bizkit - to commit to the Knebworth festival, as we felt a closer kinship to the bands performing this year. In an effort to make this situation in Knebworth work, we have spent more than a week striving to resolve this issue in a proper manner. Unfortunately, that did not happen. So we have regrettably been left with no choice but to cancel our appearance rather than stand for the disrespect and indignity offered by a promoter who won't honour our agreement". In response, Sonisphere said: "We have spent close to two weeks talking to Machine Head to try and keep them on the festival including offering them higher billing on the Saturn Stage, so that they would be performing immediately after Limp Bizkit and before Nine Inch Nails. They would also get a longer time slot and were offered an increase in fee. Unfortunately the band did not find this agreeable. We have strived to make Sonisphere a great festival in our debut year with one of the strongest line ups out there. Our main priority is to give the fans a great weekend full of awesome bands and it was only recently that Limp Bizkit became available. In the process Machine Head have been upset, and despite our best efforts, they have made the decision to cancel their appearance". In situations like this, there's only one things to do - decide who's to blame. Head over to Thrash Hits to cast your vote: www.thrashhits.com/2009/07/machine-head-out-of-uk-sonispherebut-whos-to-blame/ -------------------------------------------------- POLICE OFFER T IN THE PARK ADVICE Festival goers are advised to arrive prepared for all weather eventualities with adequate clothing and waterproofs, to not take drugs, to stay close to friends, and to sleep with their tickets inside their sleeping bags. Officers also said that fans should not bring valuable property with them, and should look after their mobile phones. All of which is just common sense, really, but I suppose some people don't have any sense. The police also warned that festival goers caught carrying or dealing drugs would be arrested, but that there will be drug amnesty bins for people to offload any narcotics without fear of prosecution. Chief Superintendent Craig Suttie said: ''I would appeal to everyone who is coming to T In The Park to enjoy the occasion, take care of themselves and their friends and help us to provide a safe environment for everyone to revel in what is an outstanding event. Before they arrive people should plan their trip to T In The Park, whether it is for one day only, or for the weekend's duration". ALBUM REVIEW: James Yorkston And The Big Eyes Family Players - Folk Songs (Domino) Buy from iTunes FORD KA AD SONG TO BE RELEASED Wyler, who is currently working on her debut album, told CMU: "The Tease is a incredibly collaborative group of guys. They bounce ideas off each other and everyone writes bits to ultimately weave and create the whole song. They also allow a lot of freedom and input from whomever they are working with, which is pretty unusual and really great to be a part of". You can see the video for the song here. CDS DOMINATE JACKO SALES In the week leading up to last Sunday night, Jackson shifted 800,000 copies of his solo albums, an increase of 90% on the previous week. Of those 656,000 were physical albums, compared to 144,000 digital albums. This is a shift on the previous week, when physical releases only counted for 43% of Jacko sales, although this is more because retailers of physical media were unable to keep up with demand in the first few days after the singer's death. Retailers in the UK, of course, were better prepared as they had already been stocking up in preparation for an expected rise in interest during the planned O2 shows. What this tells us about CD buying trends I'm not sure. Some are predicting that it's one last blip in the life of a format which is ultimately doomed. And in a period of collective grief, or at least collective willingness to pay tribute to Jackson, it seems reasonable to think that people would want to own something tangible, more so than they would for the latest disposable pop star. It's also possible that a large number of people who do not generally buy much, if any, music at all are heading out to the stores to stock up on Jacko, and those people are also more likely to want things in physical form simply because they are not familiar with digital music. All that said, downloads of Jackson's music in the US stand at 2.2 million tracks for the last week, which is not an insignificant amount. -------------------------------------------------- ASDA COMMITTED TO ENTERTAINMENT LINES -------------------------------------------------- NE-YO PRODUCTION COMPANY EXPAND TO UK Confirming the UK expansion, Ne-Yo told CMU: "As a songwriter as well as a singer, I think it's important to cast my words wide. In other words, I am not trying to contain myself in some little box marked 'urban.' I have travelled the world, and I want to bring that across in the material. Forget about urban, pop or whatever..." Compond's COO, Tishawn Gayle, added: "Ne-Yo has always been well received in the UK and Europe by his label, his fans, the media and the wider industry. We're really excited at the prospect of building on those relationships and developing new ones with the exciting talent within the UK". MEGA VIEWING FOR JACKO MEMORIAL UK TV ratings for the memorial are estimated at just over 6 million. Over here BBC Two, BBC News, Five, Sky News and Sky Arts all showed the show. In France ratings people say about 10 million people tuned in, while ratings for Germany are a massive 20 million, nearly a quarter of the population. Online MSNBC say 19 million people logged into its webcast of the show, while MSN.com say they had 9.7 million people streaming the show from their servers. Over all, show producers AEG reckon about a billion people watched the show live, which is somewhere behind the 2.5 billion who tuned in to the aforementioned Princess Of Wales post-death shindig at Westminster Abbey, but it's still an awful lot of people. Simon Cowell really ought to get a Shaheen Jafargholi single out soon. OASIS WIN THAT OLD BRITPOP BATTLE, ACCORDING TO AIR PLAY As you'll no doubt remember, at the height of the manufactured Brit Pop war back in August of 1995 the bands fought it out in the charts - Oasis with 'Roll With It', and Blur with 'Country House' - and it was Blur who won that particular skirmish. But it's 'Wonderwall' that's had the most plays on radio overall since then. Here are the figures that demonstrate it: Wonderwall - Oasis - 68% Steve Porter, Chief Executive PRS For Music, said: "With Blur performing some storming gigs and Oasis' back on tour it's like the heyday of Britpop once again. These new figures showing that despite Blur winning the original battle, Oasis wins long term by number of plays. However with both bands still working and their music being widely played the battle continues". Amazing, considering that 'Wonderwall' is utter rubbish. Well, popular doesn't always mean better, I suppose. |
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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. |
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