MUSIC BUSINESS MODELS - MAKING MONEY, FINDING INVESTMENT
How to make money out of music - both now and in the future, with a look at alternative investment and revenue streams, and a new approach to monetising artists and their music. Wed 23 Mar 2011

MUSIC RIGHTS - INSIDE & OUT
A beginner's guide to music copyright - everything you need to know about copyright law, licensing, monetising copyright, the fight against piracy and the future of the music rights industry. Wed 6 Apr 2011

For more information or to book visit www.theCMUwebsite.com/training

LIMEWIRE SETTLES WITH PUBLISHERS
The US music publishers have reached an out of court settlement with the company behind now defunct file-sharing service LimeWire.

As previously reported, the music publishers entered the LimeWire legal battle last year once it became clear the file-sharing service was likely to be forced out of business by the US courts, who ruled that the Lime Group were guilty of contributory copyright infringement.

Although it was the record companies that had fought the LimeWire battle on behalf of the wider music industry, the publishers figured that if there was liability for infringement on the file-sharing firm's part then they were due damages too, given the copyrights that exist in the songs they own had been infringed as well as the rights in the sound recordings the record companies represent.

But on Monday that particular strand of LimeWire litigation came to an end when both sides submitted papers to the US courts asking for the voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit. The terms of the out of court settlement between LimeWire and the publishers are not known, though according to the Hollywood Reporter all parties will cover their own legal fees.

The music publishers might want to make sure they get any damages payments quickly, before their sister companies in the record industry push the Lime organisation into bankruptcy (probably) with their own billion dollar damages claim. That is likely to come to court in May, and there doesn't seem to be much hope of an out of court settlement just yet.

While, in the end, the once bullish LimeWire folded pretty quickly once the US courts had finally found in favour of the record industry, shutting up shop at the end of last year, the Lime Group's lawyers do seem to have found some fighting spirit for the pending damages court battle.

They are currently trying to get access to internal documents from the major record companies which, they say, will show the record industry has consistently exaggerated the tangible cost of file-sharing and undervalued the benefits - ie the idea that some people use file-sharing platforms as a preview service, and then buy the music they like from licensed download stores.

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WENTZ SUES FOR JOINT CUSTODY OF HIS SON WITH SIMPSON
Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz has gone legal in his custody battle with former pop star wife Ashlee Simpson, formally objecting to her application that she have primary custody of their son Bronx.

Simpson filed divorce proceedings against Wentz last month citing "irreconcilable differences". It was predicted at the time that it would be custody of the couple's two year old child that would cause the most tension, and that seems to be the case.

According to TMZ, Wentz has now filed his own set of legal papers demanding joint custody of Bronx. His court submission also requests that both sides should have to cover their own legal costs in any custody battle.

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ALICE IN CHAINS CO-FOUNDER DIES
Mike Starr, a founder member of grunge band Alice In Chains, has died in Salt Lake City. The cause of death has not been revealed, though police say there are no suspicious circumstances. Starr has had a very public fight with drug addiction over the years, recently appearing on VH1's 'Celebrity Rehab'.

Starr joined with Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and later Layne Staley to form what became Alice In Chains in Seattle in the mid-1980s. After signing to Columbia Records, they went on to enjoy considerable success as the grunge scene crossed over into the mainstream.

Starr appeared on the band's first two albums, 'Facelift' and 'Dirt', before departing in 1993 because, according to Staley at the time, unlike his bandmates he had tired of the gruelling schedule of gigs and record promotion. Though Starr himself later admitted that he was eased out of the band by his bandmates because of his then emerging drug addiction.

After leaving Alice In Chains he briefly played bass for another band Sun Red Sun. But in more recent years he came back to public attention not because of his music, but because of his appearances on VH1's 'Celebrity Rehab', where he was seen by viewers receiving treatment for heroin addiction. He also appeared in spin-off show 'Sober House'.

Starr was recently arrested in Salt Lake City over an outstanding warrant relating to an earlier drugs charge, and was also found to be carrying unauthorised prescription drugs. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, one of the police officers who dealt with the arrest says Starr told him he was in town working on a new music project.

A statement from the surviving members of Alice In Chains (Staley died of an overdose in 2002) issued yesterday said: "Jerry and Sean are mourning the loss of their friend and ask that the media respect their privacy - and the privacy of Mike's family - during this difficult time. Their thoughts and prayers are with Mike's family".

Meanwhile the host of 'Celebrity Rehab', Dr Drew Pinsky, tweeted: "Devastating to hear of Mike Starr succumbing to his illness. So very sad. Our prayers are with his family".

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COLLINS SETS RECORD STRAIGHT ON RETIREMENT
Phil Collins isn't retiring from music because he's ashamed of his success, or for any of the reasons he apparently gave in a recently published interview with FHM. All those things he said were jokes, he just wants to be able to look after his two children properly. So said the musician in a message to fans earlier this week.

As previously reported, FHM quoted Collins as saying: "I don't think anyone's going to miss me. I'm sorry that it was all so successful. I honestly didn't mean it to happen like that. It's hardly surprising that people grew to hate me".

However, in a message sent to fans via his mailing list this week, the musician wrote: "I've decided to write this in response to the articles that surfaced last weekend regarding my retirement. Why they were printed at all is a mystery, as I haven't spoken to anybody in the press for a few months".

Explaining his reason for his departure from the music world, he went on: "I'm not stopping because of dodgy reviews or bad treatment in the press. I'm not stopping because I don't feel loved, I know I still have a very large fanbase that loves what I do. Thank you. I'm not stopping because I don't fit in, this was proved with 'Going Back' reaching number one in the UK, and doing incredibly well worldwide. I'm not stopping so I can dive full time into my interest for the Alamo. I am stopping so I can be a full time father to my two young sons on a daily basis".

He added that many of the comments used in recent articles were said jokingly, but have "ended up sounding like a tormented weirdo who thinks he was at the Alamo in another life, who feels very sorry for himself, and is retiring hurt because of the bad press over the years".

Adding further confusion to this story, Collins' rep told People magazine yesterday: "He is not, and has no intention of, retiring".

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GAMES SIGN TO WARP PUBLISHING
American electro duo Games, which consists of Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford, have signed to the publishing division of London-based indie Warp.

The duo's next album, which has been produced by Prefuse 73, will actually be released under the moniker Ford & Lopatin in May. Meanwhile Lopatin will also release a new album later this year via his solo venture Oneohtrix Point Never.

If you want a taster of the new material, I'm assuming they'll offer it up when they play at the Gorilla Vs Bear showcase at SxSW next week.

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CLIFF RICHARD WORKING WITH DAVID GEST ON DUETS ALBUM
Cliff Richard is working on an album of duets, which will feature David Gest as executive producer. And the singer hopes the new record will help him finally crack the US market, something which has eluded him throughout his career. At a press event to announce the new project, the singer said "I think it is jolly well about time" he got a US chart placing.

But how did this pair come together to work on a record, I hear you ask? Well, it was all the idea of Gloria Hunniford. Gest explained: "This all came together when Gloria and I were doing 'Celebrity Cash In The Attic'. She said: 'You should do something with Cliff Richard, do something unique'". Brilliant. And if you hear a better story than that today, I'm calling you a liar.

Amongst those who will sing with Richard on the album are Candi Staton, Percy Sledge, Freda Payne, Dennis Edwards of The Temptations, and Chanté Moore. There may also be a rapper, says Gest: "[I] can't say who yet, but don't be shocked if there is a rapper or two on one of these records. You may laugh now, but we're going to have the last laugh".

Richard also had some ideas for more contemporary artists who could join him, singling out Adele and Leona Lewis, and then adding: "I wouldn't mind singing with Lady Gaga, but she can't wear any of those hats".

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FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND STREAM NEW ALBUM
Funeral For A Friend are streaming their new album, 'Welcome Home Armageddon', on their Facebook page, ahead of its release next week via Distiller Records. The band are also due to release a new single, 'Sixteen', on 28 Mar.

To listen, head over to www.facebook.com/funeralforafriend

Explaining the album's title, vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye told CMU: "A friend of mine was mentioning how he felt that the best thing for the planet was for the human race to just drop dead and at times I can see and understand his way of thinking but a big part of me has this (probably) misguided faith in humanity to kind of steer the ship in the right direction for a change. So 'Welcome Home Armageddon' is the idea of patiently waiting for the end to arrive at your doorstep and give you a nice big hug".

And if you fancy some more streaming music before Armageddon comes, hold on for Friday, when FFAF drummer Ryan Richards will be taking us through his ten favourite new Welsh bands for our Powers Of Ten playlist this week. To receive the playlist via email, along with a round-up of all the week's news and the CMU podcast, subscribe at www.thecmuwebsite.com/weekly.

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KITTY DAISY & LEWIS ANNOUNCE NEW MATERIAL
London rockabilly kids Kitty Daisy & Lewis are set to release a double A-side single 'I'm So Sorry/I'm Going Back' on 18 Apr through Sunday Best.

The tracks come from the band's sophomore album 'Smoking In Heaven', a record produced by Graeme Durham, the sibling trio's dad. Still electing to do things the good old fashioned way, the entire LP was made by the band on analogue tapes with vintage equipment.

'Smoking In Heaven' is scheduled for release by Sunday Best on 30 May, but you can get a preview of it when they play London's Koko the day after the single release, on 19 Apr.

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NME ANNOUNCES RADAR TOUR ACTS
NME's new music portion Radar has announced a series of special live dates, in partnership with sickly "stimulation drink" Emerge. Much-lauded Anglo-Italian songstress Anna Calvi is to headline the UK-wide tour, with LA indie quintet Grouplove in support.

NME editor Krissi Murison can barely contain her sugar-induced excitement when she says that "the Radar Tour has built an amazing reputation for breaking some of the world's most important new artists. Having seen Anna recently support Mumford & Sons at their special NME Awards show, we are really excited about her being on board to headline. I can't wait".

The dates will be as follows:

1 May: Portsmouth, Wedgwood Rooms
2 May: Bristol, Thekla
3 May: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
5 May: York Fibbers
6 May: Hull University
7 May: Manchester, Academy 3
9 May: Glasgow, King Tuts
10 May: Liverpool, Academy 2
11 May: Birmingham, Academy 2
14 May: Cambridge, Junction
15 May: Norwich, Waterfront
16 May: Oxford, Academy 2
17 May: London, Koko

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LONE PIGEON ANNOUNCES TOUR, RE-RELEASES BACK CATALOGUE
Cult Scottish musician Lone Pigeon has announced a string of UK tour dates to promote the release of 'Time Capsule', a seven album retrospective that will include his past discography and some previously unreleased material.

Featuring sleeve notes by his brother King Creosote and hand-drawn artwork, the 'Time Capsule' box set is scheduled for release on 11 Apr through Domino. The release will be accompanied by this here tour, where Lone Pigeon will be joined by Fence Collective colleague Johnny Lynch aka The Pictish Trail:

9 Apr: Crail Community Hall
14 Apr: Edinburgh, St Paul's Church Hall
15 Apr: Aberdeen, The Blue Lamp
16 Apr: Newcastle, The Butterfly Cabinet
19 Apr: Reading, South St Arts Centre
20 Apr: London, Bush Hall
22 Apr: Manchester, Islington Mill

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STRUMMERVILLE TO HOST NIGHT OF NEW MUSIC
Charity Strummerville has announced details of an upcoming London gig night which will feature Frank Turner as headliner - who will be playing his 1000th show, apparently - plus newer talent including The Barker Band, Benjamin Folke Thomas, The Great Whale, La Rabla Fam, Shooting Star Poets, Bastille, Dark Moon and The Welcome Committee.

The event, due to take place on 21 Apr in East London's Hearn Street Carpark, will also feature DJ sets from The Maccabees and One Love Soundsystem.

See the Strummerville website for more information: www.strummerville.com

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

END OF THE ROAD, Larmer Tree Gardens, North Dorset, 2-4 September: Scottish rockers Mogwai are amongst the latest additions to the EOTR line up, booked as they are to top the bill on day two. Also just announced to make appearances are US noise-punks Health, White Denim, Caitlin Rose and Wild Nothing. A meaty existing line-up includes The Walkmen, Wild Beasts, The Fall and Laura Marling. www.endoftheroadfestival.com

EXIT, Novi Sad, Serbia, 7-10 Jul: Always known for a quality line-up, the just-announced bill for Exit's Dance Arena doesn't disappoint. Deadmau5, Digitalism and Magnetic Man are amongst the heavyweights confirmed to have dance fans sweating with delight at this Serbian festival, which is already set to welcome acts including Arcade Fire, Pulp and Portishead. www.exitfest.org

GREENWICH SUMMER SESSIONS, Old Royal Navy College, Greenwich, London, 26-31 Jul: Headliners for five of the shows in this council-organised festival programme have been announced. And they are, in chronological order, The Divine Comedy, Mark Ronson & The Business Intl, Status Quo, Squeeze and The Pogues. The sixth show is tbc. First night support comes from Jose Gonzalez, with Nine Below Zero also confirmed to back Status Quo on their special evening. www.greenwichsummersessions.co.uk

PARKLIFE WEEKENDER, Platts Field Park, Manchester, 11-12 Jun: This year's edition of this dance music-led two-dayer will feature a headline performance from Chase & Status, with acts including Kelis, Katy B, Metronomy, Mark Ronson and Grandmaster Flash also set to perform. Festival-goers can also expect a host of DJ sets from the likes of Simian Mobile Disco and Erol Alkan. www.parklife.uk.com

SUMMER SUNDAE WEEKENDER, De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 12-14 Aug: The Maccabees, Graham Coxon and Newton Faulkner head up proceedings at this year's Summer Sundae, with acts such as The Bees, Bellowhead and Little Comets also set to play. www.summersundae.com

TRUCK FESTIVAL, Hill Farm, Steventon, Oxfordshire, 22-24 Jul: Gruff Rhys and Bellowhead have been announced as this year's Truck headliners. Also among the first acts to be announced for this well loved event are St Etienne, Johnny Flynn, Cherry Ghost, Fixer, Trophy Wife, Jonquil, Chad Valley, Caitlin Rose, Marcus Foster, Jonny and Richmond Fontaine. www.thisistruck.com

UNDERAGE FESTIVAL, Victoria Park, London, 5 Aug: The festival for teenagers aged thirteen to seventeen celebrates its fifth year with an impressive line-up, including Janelle Monae, Bombay Bicycle Club, Labrinth, Devlin, Roll Deep, Brother, Frankie And The Heartstrings, Giggs, Cocknbullkid, Florrie, Dog Is Dead and more. www.underagefestival.com

WE THE PEOPLE, Bristol Harbour, Bristol, 4-5 Jun: Making a second appearance in today's line-up update are pesky production duo Chase & Status, who will share headline duties with The Streets at this brand new South Western festival. www.wethepeoplefestival.co.uk

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HOSTESS RENEWS SONY PARTNERSHIP, LOSES COOPERATIVE CONTRACT
Japanese music company Hostess, which represents numerous European independent artists and labels in the Japanese market, has announced it is renewing its partnerships with Sony, which provides some distribution and digital marketing services to the indie.

Hostess say that being able to tap into Sony's networks has brought many benefits to the artists it represents, including increased market reach, and a joint effort in the sync domain which has scored Hostess-represented artists some lucrative deals.

Maintaining its partnership with Sony, however, has cost Hostess its relationship with UK-based indie label services business Cooperative Music which is, of course, now part of Universal. Cooperative has decided to use the distribution and marketing networks of Universal's own Japanese division rather than to continue to work with Hostess and, therefore by association, rivals Sony.

Hostess CEO Andrew Lazonby told CMU: "Renewal of these service partnership deals [with Sony] was never in any real doubt, and with a few minor tweaks happily applied we're very much looking forward to building on what has been a rewarding first two years working together".

He continued: "Whilst it is a shame to have to relinquish our Cooperative contract at this time, changing our service partner in Japan was never going to be an option for Hostess and we do understand Universal Music Group International's wish to now release it's repertoire through it's own company Universal Music LLC (Japan). We wish the Co-op management all the very best for their future business with Universal in Japan".

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DEVELOPERS GET SNEAKY PREVIEW OF GOOGLE TUNES
So, it's not just new albums that leak. An IT programmer has stumbled upon (or deviously hacked into, possibly) Google's in development music locker service, seemingly by installing a new version of the web giant's Android operating system designed for tablet computers onto an old Android-powered mobile phone.

As much previously reported, we've know for ages now (since the early 1920s, I think) that Google is planning some sort of music service, and it's seemed increasingly likely of late that that service will take the form of a digital locker, whereby users can upload their MP3 collections to the cloud, and download or stream that music to any net-connected device.

Such a service would fit nicely into Google's existing cloud-storage business, and would probably result in much lower licensing costs than a Spotify-style streaming service (indeed some argue digital lockers don't need any licences from music companies, though the music companies do not agree).

According to Business Insider, the programmer who claims to have seen the Google music locker that is in development has reported on the XDA Developers Forum that he successfully uploaded 785 tracks from his phone's memory to a central server and could then play them back via his phone over the net (he deleted the tracks from the phone itself to be certain). Other IT types have seemingly copied this programmer's approach and have similarly got a glimpse of the Google music storage service.

It seems that the current version can only sync with a phone and not a PC, and actually uploads every track. Some reckon digital lockers of the future will actually scan a user's music folder first and any tracks that are already on a central server (which will usually be most of them) won't actually be uploaded, rather the locker service would just give users access to them via its existing music bank, thus reducing upload time and bandwidth costs.

Though such a system is even more complicated in licensing terms, and given the best way to handle licensing talks with labels over brand new digital services is to go step by step, it's possible Google have gone for the more basic approach for legal rather than technical reasons - ie get the labels on board for more simple cloud storage first, then push them into more complicated territory down the road.

Google Music does not currently have any official launch date, though Billboard has noted in recent months that the web firm has been quietly putting in place an executive team to run it.

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BEYOND OBLIVION GETS NEW CASH INJECTION
Talking of digital lockers and cloud-based-musical-flim-flams, the previously reported News Corp-backed Beyond Oblivion, a digital locker service which plans to pay/charge a small licence fee every time a song is played over its system, has just secured another $77 million in financing ahead of a planned launch later this year.

According to a statement the new funding, which includes another injection from News Corp as well as an investment by the Wellcome Trust, will provide "the financial backing to secure worldwide content rights, deploy a robust global delivery infrastructure and market commercial launch".

Meanwhile, founder Adam Kidron told CMU: "Wellcome Trust's investment in Beyond Oblivion is an important waypoint as we prepare the Beyond Marketplace for launch. Today's announcement will be followed by others as leading device manufactures, network operators, consumer brands and investors seek the commercial advantages of a fair and transparent recorded music marketplace".

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QTRAX LIVE IN FIVE COUNTRIES
Following the news that another relaunch was in the offing, Qtrax refreshed its home page last night announcing they were now live in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. More territories are expected to be added soon, while a Mac version of the currently PC-only system is apparently soon to launch as well.

Meanwhile it seems three of the four majors (we think all but Warner) have signed up to the service for a trial period. The ad-funded Qtrax is still free to use, though users must watch an ad before downloading a track, and the track will then only play through the Qtrax player which also carries advertising. That said, some reports from people who have used the all new Qtrax have been pretty positive.

With regards to the record companies licensing the new service, Billboard reports that the three majors were motivated to take part, albeit on a short term basis, to help Qtrax raise some revenue to pay off old royalty bills that were run up during previous attempts to get the digital music service off the ground.

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SOUNDCLOUD ANNOUNCES VISUAL PARTNERSHIP
SoundCloud has announced a partnership with US company ThingLink which will enable users to link music or any audio to a photo or, perhaps more importantly, to a specific user-defined 'hotspot' in a photo, meaning people can hear different music or sounds as they scroll over different spots on a picture. Or something like that.

Says ThingLink CEO Ulla-Maaria Engeström: "Images and sound are a natural combination and really complement each other. Context invites clicks, and sound adds a new dimension to images, be it fan shots, fashion photos, or family albums".

Meanwhile SoundCloud founder Alexander Ljung says: "This simple concept of linking sound to the images that are meaningful to you opens up endless opportunities to audio creators. Not only will it change the way artists promote themselves, their music and their live shows, but it will also allow people to add narrative to their holiday snaps, verbal descriptions to their designs or funny soundbites to their illustrations".

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ALAN SUGAR TO CHAIR YOUVIEW
Mr Alan Sugar, who you would have thought would have launched a brand of sugar by now, has just got himself yet another job, this time as Chairman of YouView, the much previously report Freeview-based video-on-demand service due to launch later this year and backed by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva.

Sugar will take over from former OfCom man Kip Meek, who is leaving YouView, possibly on the basis that with a name like that he's surely a fictional character from a bad detective novel, which isn't necessarily someone you'd want heading up your start-up VOD venture.

Though Meek has successfully headed up the initiative since it was dull old Project Canvas, winning OfCom approval for the venture, overseeing the launch of the YouView brand and appointing CEO Richard Halton to run the company day-to-day, which isn't bad for a fictional character.

Meek told reporters yesterday: "It has been apparent for some time that the YouView board would benefit from additional expertise in consumer marketing and technology delivery. Lord Sugar clearly supplies this. As the venture progresses towards launch, the change in chairman makes sense. I wish Lord Sugar well".

Although you possibly think of Sugar's main contribution to British telly as being overseer of the BBC's much loved annual celebration of over-ambitious, clueless idiots, his former company Amstrad was a leading name in the set-top box business, working in particular for Sky Digital, so he does bring expertise to the YouView table other than the ability to fire people in a very melodramatic way.

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BIEBER GUITARIST (DOESN'T) QUIT
The guitarist at Justin Bieber's live shows, Dan Kanter, told his Twitter followers on Monday that he was quitting the latest Bieber tour and would be leaving the Tweet-sphere too, having no interest in continuing to communicate with the squeaky teen star's fans. The Biebster then shot a Tweet back telling the guitar man that while he would be missed, "what you did was horrible" and "you will never be forgiven".

So, tense times in the Bieber camp? No, not at all, just crazy, zany, wacky, smacky, zooney, looney, pranks galore.

Turns out the Biebster had nicked his guitarist's phone and posted both Kanter's resignation tweet and his own bitchy response. Kanter, now back in control of his own Twitter account, reports: "Got pranked by JB. Guess I should cancel those auditions for @davematthewsbnd @phish @metallica and @bobdylan... and get REVENGE".

What crazy, zany, wacky, smacky, zooney, looney times we live in.

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