BAIDU ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH CHINESE COLLECTING SOCIETY
China's biggest search engine, Baidu, announced last week that it had struck up a deal with the Music Copyright Society Of China which means it will start paying a publishing royalty on any MP3s downloaded or streamed via the search platform.

As much previously reported, Baidu has been the target of a lot of criticism and a little bit of litigation from the music industry over the years for its MP3 search function, which lets users specifically search the net for MP3 files by artist or song name. The vast majority of the MP3s linked to come from unlicensed servers, some of which - according to past reports in The Register - could only be accessed via the search engine, suggesting the Chinese company was deliberately rather than incidentally providing access to copyright infringing music. Either way, the result was the same, easy access to millions of unlicensed free downloads.

Under the new agreement with MCSC, China's only collecting society, which has affiliations with various rights bodies elsewhere around the world, including the UK's PRS For Music, Baidu will pass a share of advertising revenue on for every track accessed via the search platform. Exactly what the royalty will be has not yet been revealed, but even if it is tiny - which it almost certainly will be - at least it's a step up from nothing.

Baidu spokesman Kaiser Kuo added: "We will also provide the Society playback and download data, so that they will be able to have some idea of what's actually being downloaded".

Meanwhile Liu Ping, Vice-General Secretary of MCSC told reporters: "The changes Baidu is making could create a really wide-reaching music platform through the internet that will lead to profits for those in the music industry. This has never happened before in China".

Of course, this deal only compensates songwriters and publishers, and not the owners of the sound recordings. However, Kuo indicated that the search firm hopes some sort of deal can now be reached with the record companies also. Quite what deal they'll be offering, and whether it will placate the major labels, remains to be seen. The big content owners may have to write off past infringements, and any damages they feel they may be due, in return for the opportunity to see some kind of royalty-paying system going live in China, a market always notorious for rampant piracy even before the internet.

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HOLY FUCK, WHAT A RULING
This ruling was actually made a couple of weeks ago, but it's only just come to our attention and it's funny, so let's run with it. Promoter Kilimanjaro has been told that it can't run adverts for Holy Fuck tours in mainstream newspapers that contain the words, erm, Holy Fuck, because, I mean, think what it might do to the children.

The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint about an advert for the Holy Fuck tour after it appeared in the Guardian Guide. The complainant argued that "the ad was offensive and inappropriate for use in a supplement that was likely to be seen by children".

Responding, Kilimanjaro apologised for any offence caused to the complainant, but said that Holy Fuck was, after all, the band's name, it was used on lots of other advertising literature without complaint and, perhaps most importantly, The Guardian, which is hardly a kids magazine, frequently uses the word 'fuck' uncensored in its editorial, not least when reporting on the band Holy Fuck.

Nevertheless, the ASA upheld the complaint saying that while it "noted that the Guide was targeted at older teens and adults" that "we considered that, because it was placed in an entertainment listings supplement to a national newspaper, the ad was likely to be seen by a wide variety of readers including children. We considered, in that context, that the name 'HOLYFUCK' was likely to cause serious or widespread offence to some readers".

I look forward to meeting a Guardian-reading child who is offended by the word 'fuck', but there you go.

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COULD FRIDAY END UP IN LITIGATION
That didn't take long, did it? According to Rolling Stone, Rebecca Black's mother Georgina Marquez Kelly has had her lawyer Brian Schall send a letter to the Ark Music Factory - the studio behind the YouTube sensation that is 'Friday' - accusing the company of infringing her copyrights and unlawfully exploiting her daughter's publicity rights.

Kelly, it seems, wants the master recordings of 'Friday' which, she says, she was promised when she paid four grand for her daughter to make a pop song with the Ark Music Factory late last year. She also accuses the music company of exploiting the track - which she and her daughter own - on YouTube, iTunes and Amazon, of making an unauthorised ringtone available, and for incorrectly claiming to be the exclusive representative of Black on its website.

Ark founder Patrice Wilson played down the looming legal dispute when approached by Rolling Stone, claiming he had recently spoken to Black's mother and all was fine. He confirmed his company did not exclusively represent the YouTube star, adding that this claim had now been removed from the Ark website. As for the master recording etc, he added: "She will get the masters and the song, they can have it all".

Though, to confuse matters, Ark's own lawyer Barry Rothman did not concur with his client regards Kelly and Black having "it all". He told Rolling Stone: "They say they own the composition. Nothing could be further from the truth. If they go forward and license it or attempt to copyright it in their name, that would be copyright infringement and we'd act accordingly under the circumstances".

It's possible, of course, that the distinction to be made here is between the track and the song, even though the Wilson seemed to be implying Kelly had bought both with her four grand cheque. But Rothman seems to be saying that while Kelly may own the master recording of her daughter's surprise hit, the songwriting rights remain with Ark. Assuming that is the case, and assuming Kelly was not originally aware of that fact, there could yet be a suitably amusing legal squabble to come out of this.

Add to that suggestions in the Hollywood Reporter that Wilson has fallen out with his business partner at Ark, and that said partner has hired his own legal representation, and you can't help thinking everyone involved here might have been better off had Black's little slice of vanity shit-pop stayed as low key as all of Ark's previous creations. That the world at large would have been better off with such an eventuality goes without saying.

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POD SUE LABEL
Christian rockers POD are suing their record label, US independent INO Records, over claims that the indie is in breach of contract for refusing to pay a $400,000 advance once the band confirmed they were ready to start recording a new album last November.

The band say the advance was due once work began on the follow up to 2008's 'When Angels & Serpents Dance', which was their first long player for the indie after leaving former label Atlantic in 2007. It's not clear why INO Records did not cough up the cash, but POD's legal claim is seeking the money, while stating that, because of the breach, the band is "abandoning all its obligations to INO under the agreement".

INO Records are yet to respond.

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RICALL FOUNDER DIES
Richard Corbett, founder of music licensing agency Ricall, has died at the age of 39 after losing a year long battle with cancer. He died last Tuesday.

Corbett began his professional career with Famous Music Publishing, before moving into management consultancy with the MCG Consulting Group. He founded Ricall in 1998, aiming to offer a platform that made it easier for brands, gaming, TV and film producers to research, access and license music. He continued to work as the company's CEO until his death.

Confirming his passing last week, Ricall's Neil Hadfield said in a statement: "It is with great sadness that I have to announce the untimely death at age 39 of our CEO and founder, Richard Corbett. Richard passed away peacefully on the evening of 29th March 2011 after struggling with cancer for eleven months. Richard was a pioneer in the music synchronisation licensing arena. He was one of the smartest and most industrious individuals I have known".

He continued: "Just days before his passing he was still intimately involved in the management of his company and was totally committed to the idea that his creation, Ricall, should continue and prosper after his departure. At the most recent board meeting in February, Richard proposed a resolution that I should succeed him as CEO and Chairman. The motion was passed. This is a great responsibility thrust upon me. I shall make every effort to oversee the success of Ricall as a lasting memorial to his genius".

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IL DIVO NAMED ARTIST OF THE DECADE
If you were under the impression that the Classic BRITs was more sophisticated than its pop counterpart, you might be interested to learn that this year a special Artist Of The Decade award will be dished out to Simon Cowell-manufactured opera boyband Il Divo.

The group's David Miller said of the award: "When we joined Il Divo none of us had done anything like this before. We were excited to break from our traditional roots and create something new. The immediate and overwhelmingly positive response from the public gave us even more encouragement to continue our journey. Performing and recording are what we love, but receiving this award is a great honour".

As previously reported, the Classic BRIT Awards will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on 12 May.

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BANDS STILL WANT LABELS
A survey conducted by direct-to-fan platform ReverbNation and Digital Music News of 2000 unsigned acts has found that 75.4% of those questioned still aspire to secure a record deal to help them properly launch their music careers. So much for the DIY era, then.

The survey also asked the wannabe American rock stars which labels they'd like to sign to, and the top ten is totally major label driven, with three of the major label groups coming top three, and then their various subsidiaries filling the rest of the ten, as follows:

1. Sony
2. Universal
3. Warner
4. Atlantic
5. Columbia.
6. Interscope
7. Epic
8. Capitol
9. RCA
10. Def Jam

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GLASVEGAS BEGIN WORK ON THIRD ALBUM
Glasvegas' second album, 'EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\', is released today, but frontman James Allan has revealed that the band are already working on the follow-up.

Speaking to The Daily Record, he said: "I can't help it, it is my passion for good and bad. A lot of it is messing about but that is how the band and a lot of our songs came about. The best things normally come from no grand plans. I wrote the last song [on 'EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\'], 'Change', in December. I have just felt the time is right to start messing about again now".

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RUSSIAN CIRCLES RECORDING FOURTH ALBUM
Instrumental rock trio Russian Circles have announced that they are working on their fourth album, the follow-up to 2009's 'Geneva'.

Bassist Brian Cook told CMU: "A lot of the mood going into this album has been reflective on the last couple years of touring. We have a ton of material. We're excited to get into recording and be somewhat sheltered from the outside world. We're going to try to make the same ebb and flow of our live set happen on the record, with more constructive dynamics and dramatic bridging between songs. We want to experiment in similar ways that we did with strings and embellishments on 'Geneva', but we don't want to have songs that won't sound the same in a live setting".

The album is due out later this year via Sargeant House, which has previously handled the vinyl releases of the band's albums. The band will also support Boris on their European tour later this summer.

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PLAN B TO STAR IN SWEENEY MOVIE
Plan B, aka Ben Drew, is to star alongside Ray Winstone in a film adaptation of 70s TV show 'The Sweeney', stepping into the role of George Carter, originally played by Dennis Waterman. Whether that means Drew will write the theme tune, sing the theme tune, I'm not sure.

Produced by Vertigo, the film will be directed and co-written by Nick Love and is set for release in summer 2012.

Drew told The Sun: "It's a dream come true for me to be in a film with Ray Winstone. He is one of my favourite British actors of all time. I'm really excited about working with Nick Love in what I feel will be a challenging role for me to play".

Winstone added: "I can't wait to work on 'The Sweeney'. It was inspired casting to have Ben Drew as George Carter. I'm a huge fan of his".

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FLAMING LIPS PLANNING PINK ROBOTS MUSICAL
The Flaming Lips are planning a stage show version of their album 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots', and have enlisted Des McAnuff, who created the stage show of The Who's 'Tommy', to help.

Said frontman Wayne Coyne to Billboard: "It'll be a big chunk of Flaming Lips music, probably about thirty songs. It's a big deal. It's hokey and wonderful and poignant and powerful. It's really become a perfect combination of my fantastical robot-world vision and [Des's] little, internal, humanistic version of what that music is. I really believe it could work - and luckily I don't have to do much!"

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LCD SOUNDSYSTEM FINALE GIG ON YOUTUBE
LCD Soundsystem played a three-and-half-hour set at Madison Square Garden this weekend at what was supposedly their last ever gig. Among the guests to appear were Arcade Fire, who sang backing vocals to 'North American Scum'. Pitchfork has recorded the whole thing and plonked it on YouTube. Thank God YouTube don't still make you split everything up into nine minute chunks.

Watch it here: youtu.be/BgoooO-3MPQ

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LIVE NATION CANCELS CONCERT FOR JAPAN
Live Nation has cancelled a large scale concert to be held in aid of the relief effort in Japan, after it was unable to book enough artists to perform. Which is a bit embarrassing. The show had been due to take place at Wembley Arena later this month and would have been broadcast on the BBC and NBC.

A spokesperson for Live Nation told Music Week last week: "Unfortunately, with now only thirteen days to go to the proposed concert for Japan, sadly we are in a position where we have been unable to secure the artists required to produce the worldwide TV broadcast that we had hoped for and have therefore very reluctantly decided to proceed no further".

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

BELSONIC, Custom House Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 17-27 Aug: Topping the bill at this Absolut Vodka-sponsored event are Elbow, The Specials and Primal Scream, who will perform classic LP 'Screamadelica' all the way through. Bringing an urban flavour to proceedings are Dizzee Rascal and Wretch 32, who will also be accompanied by Plan B and Katy B. www.belsonic.com

BOOMTOWN LONDON BALL, Bussey Buildings, Peckham, London, 13 May: This raucous mini-festival is set to host Dub Pistols, Babyhead, funk outfit Los Albertos and Guildford ska band The JB Conspiracy as part of a warm up for its big sister event, the secretly-located Boomtown Fair. www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143334482399311

DOT TO DOT, various venues, 29-31 May: Organisers have supplemented the Dot To Dot bill with a couple more acts, with We Are Scientists and Guillemots primed for the three-legged festival, which takes place across various venues in Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham. Hurts, The Naked And Famous, The Joy Formidable and Wolf Gang are highlights of the existing line-up so far. www.dottodotfestival.co.uk

THE GREAT ESCAPE, various venues, 12-14 May: Rounding off the Great Escape roster are a horde of over 100 new additions, with acts including The View, Anna Calvi, Art Brut, White Denim and Okkervil River. Hotly-tipped up-and-coming bands like Flats, Gallops, Grouplove, Young Buffalo and Brit rapper DELS are also fresh on the bill alongside such already-announced favourites as Warpaint, DJ Shadow, Friendly Fires and Sufjan Stevens. www.escapegreat.com

HEVY, Port Lympne Wildlife Park, Kent, 5-8 Aug: Funeral For A Friend and pop punks Four Year Strong lead the latest introductions to the weighty Hevy bill, with appearances also booked for The Carrier, Stick To Your Guns and Gold Kids. The rock festival will also feature a farewell performance by The Ghost Of A Thousand, alongside exclusive sets from previously confirmed co-headliners The Dillinger Escape Plan and Architects. www.hevy.co.uk

JERSEY LIVE, Royal Jersey Showgrounds, Jersey, 3-4 Sep: Katy B, Jamie Woon, Ed Sheeran and Pony Pony Run Run comprise the latest raft of acts set to mix things up at Jersey Live, finding themselves on the line-up with past bookings including Madness, Plan B, The Streets and Mr Oizo. www.jerseylive.org.uk

LATITUDE, Henham Park Estate, Suffolk, 14-17 Jul: Festival goers can look forward to seeing sets from Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cribs, Lyle Lovett and The Raghu Dixit Project at this year's Latitude, with this quartet of acts the latest introductees to a bill that includes The National, Suede, I Am Kloot, Deerhunter and Bombay Bicycle Club. www.latitudefestival.co.uk

WAKESTOCK, Abersoch Bay, Wales, 8-10 Jul: Kids In Glass Houses, Far East Movement, Kissy Sell Out & MC Cobra, Herve and Ed Sheeran and the acts newly set to join Biffy Clyro, Ellie Goulding and The Wombats for some beach-based fun at this summer's music and surf celebration. www.wakestock.co.uk/abersoch

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VIRGIN RECORDS PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN
Shabs Jobanputra has stepped down as UK President of Virgin Records, after less than two years heading up the EMI division. As previously reported, Jobanputra took on the top job at Virgin in May 2009 having previously headed up Relentless, the indie label he founded in 1999 but which became part of the EMI family in 2003. It's thought he is parting on amicable terms, and will presumably return to his Media Village Group of music and media companies, which remained independent throughout.

Elsewhere in EMI news, the major has announced the appointment of Robert C Wright to the board of its holding company EMI Group Global Ltd. A former CEO at NBC Universal and current board member of GE, Wright will, says Citigroup exec and EMI Group Global Chair Stephen Volk, bring experience and insights from running a media company to the table.

EMI CEO Roger Faxon commented: "Robert's deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing media, and his demonstrated success at building a business that combined the best of creativity, technological acumen and business discipline will be invaluable to EMI as we move forward".

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ECSA JOINS GLOBAL RIGHTS DATABASE PROJECT
The Global Repertoire Database Working Group - which is the fun name for the group of companies looking into launching a global database of songs and their owners - last week confirmed that the European Composers & Songwriters Alliance had joined the party.

Already collaborating in the venture are the publishing bits of EMI and Universal, plus digital firms iTunes, Amazon and Nokia, and collecting societies PRS, SACEM and STIM. ECSA represents various composer and songwriter organisations from across Europe.

Confirming the organisation's involvement, ECSA Exec Chair Alfons Karabuda told reporters: "It is very encouraging to see that the industry is recognising the vital need for collaboration in order to provide the operational infrastructure required to support the digital music value chain. We welcome the opportunity to work with the GRD WG and believe that a global database will have a wide-ranging positive impact on writers and composers, the music industry, and its related businesses and consumers".

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DAVE BERRY JOINS CAPITAL FOR WEEKEND SHOW
Xfm breakfast host Dave Berry is moving back down a floor at Global Radio headquarters (I say down a floor, I can't really remember which floors different Global stations actually occupy) to takeover the weekend morning show on Capital FM. Berry, who has presented the Xfm breakfast show since the start of last year having previously fronted drive, started his Global career on the Capital station.

Capital FM's PD James Brownlow told Radio Today: "Dave Berry is one of the leading radio talents in the UK. He will be joining one of the strongest line-ups including Johnny Vaughan, Lisa Snowdon, Greg Burns and the rest of the Capital team. Dave is a true local lad and Londoners are going to love what he has in store for them".

No word just yet on who will take over on Xfm breakfast.

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AL FAYED CONSTRUCTS MICHAEL JACKSON STATUE AT FULHAM FC
Fulham FC chairman Mohammed Al Fayed has surprised, well, everyone except Mohammed Al Fayed I think, by constructing a statue of Michael Jackson at the football club's stadium. The statue was originally commissioned to be erected at Harrods in London, but its final location was changed after Al Fayed sold the famous department store.

Statues at football stadiums are nothing new, of course though they tend to normally be representations of people who have a significant connection to the club. Michael Jackson's only connection to Fulham FC is that he once went there to watch a match as a guest of Al Fayed. Despite this, the chairman said he couldn't see why some people thought the erection of the Jacko statute was an odd move.

Al Fayed told the BBC: "Why is it bizarre? Football fans love it. If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift they can go to hell. I don't want them to be fans. If they don't understand and don't believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else".

So, that's them told.

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