26 or younger and have never attended MIDEM? Grab your reduction now!
Either studying or working in the music industry and never attended MIDEM, benefit from a special discount rate at 280 euros, more than 50% off October rate.

Networking: Seek out key contacts and extend your professional network; make deals with your partners and identify new business opportunities.

Educational content: access to the renowned MidemNet digital business conference at no extra cost; get concrete, practical knowledge and training from experts through workshops.

Live concerts: hook up with partners and new contacts at the Opening and Closing Night Parties; discover new international artists with Talent showcases.

MIDEM: the one stop destination for the world’s music community, 23-27 January 2010. Register now! Click here

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MIDEM 2010, Cannes: Intimate club venue available for hire in the Palais du Festival - to showcase your artists and bands.

4am license. UK bar prices. 400 Capacity. Private entrance. Staff and DJ supplied.

Leyline has teamed up with Splash Promotions in Cannes to offer production, event management and PR services.

Contact 020 7575 3285 [email protected] / [email protected]

www.splashpromotions.co.uk - www.leylinepromotions.com

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SHOREDITCH OFFICE, 764 SQUARE FOOT (15-20 DESKS), £1000 PER MONTH
Self-contained office space available in the centre of Shoreditch, on the corner of Shoreditch High Street and Great Eastern Street, next to the CMU HQ. 5-8 minutes walk from Liverpool Street and Old Street tube stations. A top floor workspace with plenty of natural light in an exciting neighbourhood that is home to numerous music, media, PR and creative companies. 764 square feet, with room for 15-20 desks plus its own kitchen area and adjacent toilets. £1000 per month plus service charge and business rates (full breakdown available on request). Includes heating. Available from November. For more information contact [email protected].

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Advertise your stuff here: £120 for five editions - [email protected]

PPL COLLABORATE WITH PRS ON NEW CHARITIES LICENCE
The two main UK collecting societies - PRS and PPL - have announced they will collaborate on a new music licensing scheme for charities and not-for-profit organisations.

The new scheme follows an announcement by the government's Intellectual Property Office that music licence exemptions enjoyed by charitable organisations will be removed next April, to bring UK copyright rules in line with the rest of Europe. The changes mean charitable organisations, who have always paid songwriting royalties, will now also have to pay sound recording royalties for playing music in a public place.

PPL and PRS have agreed to work together on this, partly so that the former can use the latter's existing infrastructure for licencing charities, and partly to simplify the process for charitable organisations, who probably aren't too thrilled that they'll have to start paying more royalties for music they play, but will presumably appreciate not having to fill out too many new forms.

It's only the second time the two collecting societies have collaborated on a joint licence, the previous collaboration being on a dubbing licence for DJs. The new joint PPL/PRS licence will be worked out in liaison with the Community Sector Law Monitoring Group, which represents various charities.

Confirming the new licencing rules, PPL chief Fran Nevrkla told CMU: "PPL welcomes the government's decision to adopt the simplest solution for rights users in the 'third sector' [that's the poncey name for the charitable sector]. This is a welcome move by the government which gives our performers and record companies equivalent rights to those enjoyed throughout the rest of Europe. We have already started the dialogue with the charity umbrella organisations and we are determined to reach an agreement with them which is both easy to administer and fair to the charities and to the musicians and labels who produce the music they wish to use".

Meanwhile PRS acting CEO Jeremy Fabinyi added: "We have been licensing music used in premises all across the UK since 1914 and, working with our customers, we have developed a fair and balanced licensing approach, ensuring community groups can enjoy the benefits of using music. We are committed to working closely with PPL to develop a pilot joint licensing scheme ensuring easy access to music for all that wish to use it".

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JACKSON EXECUTORS CONFIRMED
LA Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff has formally confirmed John Branca and John McClain as co-executors of Michael Jackson's estate.

The two men have been fulfilling that role for months now, of course, but their long term role in relation to the late king of pop's affairs was in question because of objections from the Jackson family. But with Jacko's mother Katherine now accepting the legal man and record industry exec as executors, and Joe Jackson's objections rejected by the courts, the two men's roles can be made permanent.

They have been granted authority over the Jackson estate until 4 Jan next year. Although it's still limited authority, I think that further expands their rights to enter into deal on the estate's behalf without having to get specific court approval.

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PROMOTERS SUE LIL KIM FOR $20K NOSEBLEED
London-based promotors Abstrakt Visions Entertainment are reportedly planning to launch a lawsuit to reclaim a $20,000 fee they claim Lil Kim is refusing to return, despite not playing a series of gigs planned to take place over the last week.

Kim was booked to play six club shows between 7-14 Nov. However, according to TMZ, she got a nosebleed in her hotel room on the night before the first show, and so cancelled them all and flew back to America. As you would.

The rapper's people have reportedly admitted that Kim did indeed suffer a nosebleed, but argue that she decided to pull out of the shows not because of the nose blood, but because of poor planning on the part of Abstrakt. They say she is therefore keeping the fee to cover her travel expenses.

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N-DUBZ TULA TO UNDERGO SURGERY
After overcoming swine flu and a kidney infection, N-Dubz star Tula Contostavlos is heading back into the pop hospital, this time to have surgery to remove a lump from her nose.

Confirming the pending treatment, the N-Dubber told reporters: "I've had everything in the last couple of months. I had a kidney infection, and now this. I'm really scared about it".

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MONSTERS OF ROCK CREATOR DIES
Rock promoter Maurice Jones, perhaps best known for establishing the Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington, and as co-promoter of the original Live Aid event, has died aged 64.

Jones began dabbling in music in his late teens while undertaking an apprenticeship at an engineering company in Wolverhampton. He managed an act called The N Betweens, who went on to become Slade, and subsequently joined the Wolverhampton-based Astra Agency as a booker, going on to book all sorts of rock bands to play the city's Club Lafayette venue.

In the late seventies, he launched his own live music business, Midland Concert Promotions, through which he promoted a variety of bands, from ACDC and Def Leppard to Simply Red, Eurythmics, UB40, Simple Minds and, later, Oasis. It was through MCP that he created the Monsters Of Rock festivals and expanded his involvement with the Donington site.

Jones retired from MCP in 1997. He is survived by his wife Diana, and daughters Kristy and Nicola.

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PAUL HARVEY DIES
Paul Harvey, director of Madison Management, died earlier this month, according to Music Week. He had been suffering from a long illness, and was 44 when he died.

Having originally worked in IT and banking, Harvey only moved into the music industry earlier this decade, but quickly became a popular player in the industry, providing both management and auditing services for artists through his company Madison. Artists he worked with included Mungo Jerry, Lee John, Alannah Myles and Ned's Atomic Dustbin.

Harvey was an active member of the Music Managers' Forum and the Association Of Independent Music, and regularly appeared at music business conventions and the like. He was recently interviewed about management in Dennis Publishing's 'How To Make It In Music' magazine.

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THE XX TALK SPLIT
The xx's co-fronting type Oliver Sim has spoken about the recent departure of guitarist Baria Qureshi from the band.

As previously reported, The Quietus revealed that Qureshi had been absent at a gig in London last month, which was followed by the announcement that the band were postponing a number of European shows. At the time the official line was that the guitarist was suffering from exhaustion and would be coming back.

However, Sim tells The Stool Pigeon in a new interview: "We're a three-piece now. We've been in a band with Baria since we were sixteen and known her since we were twelve. It's just been a case of, I suppose, growing apart. It's a big jump from thirteen years old to 20. I think we've just grown into different people and I don't believe touring was for her, really".

He continued: "It's been ridiculously sad, but I'm quite looking forward to seeing what spawns from here. For the first time in a long time we sat and worked, jamming in a rehearsal space trying to build up the live set again and have moved a bit further away from the album, after a stage of just reciting it. I feel like we're going somewhere else now - being a bit more creative, trying to put on a bit more of a show".

I'm not exactly sure what "putting on a bit more of a show" will mean, given that up until now their gigs have largely consisted of four almost motionless people standing in a line. I vote for funny hats and fairy lights.

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SHAKESPEARS SISTER REFORM (IN A WAY)
Right, Chris CMU is no longer allowed near the office music controls. One day he plays - apropos of nothing - a Shakespears Sister track, the next day a gig and new album is announced. Who knows where that sort of thing could end.

Anyway, Shakespears Sister have reformed. Well, Siobhan Fahey is using the name again, anyway. The other half of the duo, Marcella Detriot, is staying well away, though the new album, 'Songs From The Red Room', will feature a number of collaborations with other folks, such as Whitey, Jagz Kooner, Death In Vegas and Terry Hall.

Fahey will perform live as Shakespears Sister for the first time in fifteen years at The Hoxton Underbelly in London in 20 Nov. The album will be released on 30 Nov.

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ROBBIE AND TAKE THAT SHARE STAGE, DON'T PERFORM TOGETHER
So, Robbie Williams and Take That did both appear at this Children In Need charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall last night, though they didn't sing together. Well, unless you count them both joining the big sing-a-long at the end of the show. Which we don't.

Gary Barlow did introduce his former bandmate, but Williams proceeded to sing his own songs rather than contributing any vocals to Take That's performance.

Leona Lewis, Lily Allen, Mika, Muse, Dizzee Rascal, Paul McCartney and Shirley Bassey also performed at the Barlow-organised concert, which raised over half of million for the BBC's tedious telethon, which will take over the Corporation's main channel next Friday.

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LEONA LEWIS TO TOUR(!)
Leona Lewis is going to tour the UK next year, which is mildly exciting news because it's something she's never done before. I guess she just forgot, what with all the experiences she was having.

Here's what Lewis said about the whole thing: "Over the last few years I've had some amazing experiences and sung in some really interesting places but it's going to be great to be able to perform all my own material on my very own tour".

Tickets go on sale on 27 Nov. Here are the dates:

28 May: Sheffield Arena
31 May: Liverpool, Echo Arena
2 Jun: Nottingham, Trent FM Arena
4 Jun: Manchester, MEN Arena
8 Jun: Birmingham, LG Arena
12 Jun: London, O2 Arena
14 Jun: London, O2 Arena
20 Jun: Glasgow, SECC
24 Jun: Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
27 Jun: Dublin, O2 Arena

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HOT CHIP ANNOUNCE FEBRUARY TOUR
Hot Chip will tour in February, because that's when they're releasing their new album and it makes sense to do everything at once.

The album, which they've called 'One Life Stand', will be released on 8 Feb, and is apparently "more cohesive and soulful" than their previous offering, 2007's 'Made In The Dark'. Maybe they had better lighting this time.

Anyway, here are the tour dates:

12 Feb: Glasgow, Academy
13 Feb: Edinburgh, Picture House
15 Feb: Nottingham, Rock City
16 Feb: Leeds, Academy
18 Feb: Newcastle, Academy
19 Feb: Manchester, Academy
20 Feb: Birmingham, Academy
22 Feb: Bournemouth, Academy
23 Feb: Bristol, Academy
24 Feb: Norwich, UEA
26 Feb: London, Brixton Academy
27 Feb: London, Brixton Academy

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JAMIE T RESCHEDULES TOUR
Jamie T has rescheduled those tour dates he postponed after coming down with laryngitis earlier this year. And he's added an extra date at Brixton Academy, too. Which is nice. Tickets for the original dates will still be valid.

19 Jan: Nottingham, Rock City
20 Jan: Birmingham, Academy
22 Jan: Sheffield, Academy
23 Jan: Manchester, Academy
25 Jan: Leeds, Academy
27 Jan: Glasgow, Barrowlands
28 Jan: Newcastle, Barrowlands
30 Jan: Preston, 53 Degrees
31 Jan: Norwich, UEA
2 Feb: Southampton, Guildhall
3 Feb: Bristol, Academy
5 Feb: London, Brixton Academy
6 Feb: London, Brixton Academy
9 Feb: Belfast, Mandella Hall
10 Feb: Dublin, The Academy

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SINGLE REVIEW: Animal Collective - Brother Sport (Domino)
These dark winter nights offer the perfect opportunity to reflect on the marvelous wealth of gems that the musical world has bestowed upon us throughout the year, and what better way to do it than with the jungle of end of year round-up's that are about to circulate. Animal Collective's jubilant ninth offering, 'Merriweather Post Pavilion', is sure to grace a great many of them.

The album's third single, 'Brother Sport', is a euphoric tour de force that is foaming at the mouth to follow from the wired delirium of 'My Girls' and 'Summertime Clothes'. As the final stop on the album, it's dizzy repetition is oozes joy. And as a special pre-Christmas treat, the single is backed by brand new live track, 'Bleeding'. MB

Digital release: 9 Nov
Press Contact: Domino IH [NP, RP], Hermana [O]

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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INDIE LABELS LAUNCH BRAND PARTNERSHIPS JV
Four UK indie labels (well, one is half French) have announced a new joint venture which will seek brand partnerships for artists signed to each record company.

The labels are Moshi Moshi, Wichita Recordings, Because Music and Bella Union and the new venture is called IMU, which presumably stands for something, possibly the Independent Music Union, though that is a guess. IMU, headed up by Ruth Clark, will work on sync projects as well as artist appearances, endorsement and collaborations.

Look, here's what Clark told Music Week about the new venture: "[IMU gives] independent labels a real sense of scale in terms of what they can offer, and by giving brands an easier and faster way to licence the brilliant content they have to offer".

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BBC WIN APPEAL CASE OVER ITS 2ENTERTAIN PURCHASE
BBC Worldwide's purchase of 2entertain, the DVD and CD company which also owns Demon Records, should now go ahead after an appeal court ruling in the Beeb's favour.

As previously reported, 2entertain was a joint venture between the BBC's commercial division and now defunct retailer Woolworths. As the wider Woolies group faced collapse the BBC offered £110 million to buy the retailer's 40% share in the company. However, once Woolworths had collapsed, and the BBC entered into new negotiations with the retail firm's administrators Deloitte, they changed their offer.

The Beeb's commercial bods argued that as soon as Woolies went into administration, the licence agreement between BBC Worldwide and 2entertain, giving the latter rights to make DVDs featuring BBC content controlled by the former, ceased to exist.

That, coupled with the fact that without the Woolies retail empire 2entertain had lost a valuable network through which to sell its DVDs, meant the Woolworth Group's 40% stake in their joint venture was now worth a lot less than it previously had been. The £110 million offer was no longer on the table. The Beeb also argued that that its agreement with Woolies gave it first refusal to buy the former retailer's 40% share.

Deloitte said it disagreed with some of the Beeb's claims regarding its 2entertain agreements with Woolworths, which is why it has taken so long for Worldwide to take complete ownership of the company. The dispute between the BBC and Deloitte went to the High Court in August, with the Beeb winning. The administrators appealed, but this week the Appeal Court went in BBC Worldwide's favour too.

Commenting on the appeal court judgement, a BBC Worldwide spokesman told Broadcast: "This latest judgment fully upholds the position we have maintained from the outset, and we now look forward to being able to move ahead with taking full ownership of 2entertain".

As previously reported, BBC Worldwide's MD of Home Entertainment, Paul Dempsey, has already taken on the role of CEO of 2entertain, which in real terms brings the company closer to its parent in operating terms.

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LIVE PRODUCERS WANT MORE COMPENSATION FOR RADIO FREQUENCY CHANGES
A consortium of live event producers, including key music promoters, has called on the government to provide more financial assistance to cover the costs of plans to move the radio frequencies used by wireless kit utlisied at live events. Media regulator OfCom is proposing to change the frequency used by such wireless devices from channel 69 to channel 38 in 2012. The move will render a lot of kit used by gig, theatre, TV and film producers redundant.

OfCom has estimated that the move could cost affected producers up to £18 million, collectively, though affected industries reckon the costs could easily be double that, and that the government's proposals to compensate those industries is therefore "totally inadequate".

The consortium, going by the name Save Our Sound UK, said in a statement this week: "If the government does not provide adequate funding to cover the costs, then live music, newsgathering, musical theatre and other events including those listed above are likely to become impossible to stage. There is little doubt that companies will go bust, individuals will go bankrupt, employees will be made redundant, and charitable and community organisations will have to divert funds from core services".

The campaign is backed by many in the live music sector, including Harvey Goldsmith, who told Music Week: "Yesterday Save Our Sound wrote to Lord Mandelson to raise these crucial issues and urge the government to intervene. The valuable real estate [ie the radio airwaves] we are talking about will be sold-off very soon, and there will be no second chance to secure the future of those affected. The time to act is now".

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WARNER DO DEAL WITH ONLINE AD TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
Warner Music has announced another partnership in the advertising space, this time with a California-based online advertising technology company called FreeWheel, whose technology will enable advertisers to manage the ads they place on Warner owned websites.

The deal comes as Warner looks to sell more advertising to support its online ventures. As previously reported, Warner Music will start to sell advertising that appears alongside its content on YouTube, the major believing it can secure higher ad prices than YouTube and Google's bargain basement rates. It previously announced a partnership with media sales agency Outrigger Media to aid in its new ad sales initiatives.

Confirming the new deal, Warner Music's Mike Jbara said this: "Working with FreeWheel's powerful technology platform allows us to enhance our online advertising strategy and, along with the brand targeting effort we recently established with Outrigger Media, offers the kind of critical management tools we need to maximise the value of that strategy for our artists. Our goal is to turn our artists' digital footprint into reliable revenue streams for them, and these tools enable us to do that quickly and precisely, while also enabling us to scale our effort across a wide range of genres and sites".

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UNIVERSAL REVENUES DOWN
Universal Music Group's revenues slipped 12% in the last quarter (14% when you account for currency fluctuations), with revenues for the year so far down 5% (8.4% at constant currency). Profits are also down for the third quarter, 34% compared to 2008 and 47% compared to 2007.

The music major, which has to date been the most resistant to general decline in the record industry, reported its financials as part of parent company Vivendi's latest financial report. At a Vivendi level things were looking rosier, with revenues up 9.8% for the year so far, and profits up 10.3%.

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BEBO MAKE CUTS
Following all those job cuts at MySpace, now that other social networking firm, AOL-owned Bebo, has announced some downsizing. It will cut jobs at its UK operation and will stop commissioning new web TV productions, even though its original youth-orientated video programming is the main thing that has won Bebo acclaim.

Confirming cuts are a coming, a spokeswoman for AOL told reporters: "We are in the process of re-aligning the Bebo business and need to make sure that our resources are aligned with our new business mode in order to execute effectively against our future vision and stay competitive. We are therefore required to make some difficult decisions about the future of our organisation and its people in order to stay competitive".

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SIRIUS XM CHAIRMAN STANDS DOWN
The chairman of US satellite radio firm Sirius XM has announced he is resigning. Gary Parsons was a founder of XM Radio, and played a key role in the drawn out merger between it and its main rival Sirius.

He will be replaced as chair of Sirius XM by Eddy Hartenstein, publisher and CEO of the LA Times, who has been on the satellite radio firm's board since July 2008.

Although satellite radio now has a dedicated following in the US, Sirius XM continues to struggle, partly because its growth is linked in part to the sale of cars with built in satellite radio devices, and car sales in the US have been hit by the recession.

Earlier this year there was speculation the company might go under, or be forced into reluctantly selling out to satellite firm EchoStar, until an new investment by Liberty Media helped the company bring its debts under control.

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JAZZ FM APPOINT NEW ENTERPRISE CHIEF
Jazz FM earlier this week appointed a new Head Of Enterprises - Philip Murphy - who will oversee all of the radio company's non-radio activities, which include a record label, events and the company's online operations. Former lawyer Murphy was previously COO of music firm the MAMA Group, having co-founded MAMA's predecessor company Channelfly.

Confirming the new appointment, Jazz FM chief Richard Wheatly said: "I'm delighted that Phil is joining us. Jazz FM has just celebrated it's first birthday as an independent company. We are looking forward to building upon our first year's success in rapidly developing a large UK radio audience by focusing on the huge potential global audience. We also see the growth of non-radio enterprises as vital to the success of the business and Phil's experience in music and media, particularly in live events and artist development represents a key part of our strategy for Jazz FM over the next two years".

As previously reported, the latest incarnation of Jazz FM, now on digital only, launched in October 2008 thanks to a licencing deal between The Local Radio Company and GMG Radio. It is now operated by an independent company headed up by Wheatly.

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MORRISSEY TO APPEAR ON DESERT ISLAND DISCS
I don't think I've listened to 'Desert Island Discs' since Gary Lineker was on the show in 1990. I might be tempted to tune in to hear what Morrissey's favourite tunes, book and luxury item are, though. Do they still force you to take the Bible with you?

The singer will appear on the long-running Radio 4 show on 29 Nov.

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BRITNEY GIVES HERSELF TO SATAN
Britney Spears revamped her Twitter page yesterday with some snazzy Illuminati imagery, announcing: "I give myself to Lucifer every day for it to arrive as quickly as possible. Glory to Satan!" And then half an hour later: "I hope that the new world order will arrive as soon as possible!"

The official line is that someone hacked into the singer's Twitter account, messed around with the images and then posted the two tweets before her people were able to wrestle back control and take all the bad stuff down. But, knowing how much Britney loves Satan and secret societies, I think it seems more likely she did it herself.

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