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PROMOTING MUSIC - MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA AND MORE
How to build a profile for your artists - the state of the music media, traditional and new publicity techniques, social media and the future of music PR. Wed 1 Jun 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 15 Jun 2011

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

GIL SCOTT-HERON DIES
The legendary Gil Scott-Heron died on Friday afternoon, aged 62, after falling sick during his recent trip to Europe.

Born to a football playing father and musical mother, Scott-Heron spent his early years in Tennessee before moving to New York with his mother aged twelve. There a teacher spotted his potential as an emerging poet and writer, and helped him win a scholarship to the private Fieldston School. He subsequently attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he met his long-time musical collaborator Brian Jackson, though he dropped out of college to work on his first novels, 'The Vulture' and 'The Nigger Factory', and a collection of poetry.

His first musical project, 'Small Talk At 125th And Lenox', was released in 1970 and, despite everything that followed, may well be the work for which he is most remembered: politically-charged spoken word over a musical backing. It also included what is probably his most famous track, 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'. Four albums followed in the next five years - 'Pieces Of A Man', 'Free Will', 'Winter In America' and 'Midnight Band: The First Minute Of A New Day' - in the main more musical than the debut, as Scott-Heron and Jackson explored the potential of the soul, jazz and funk genres.

As the eighties began Scott-Heron's work became ever more influential, especially on the emerging hip hop scene, earning him the oft-used title of the Godfather Of Rap. Despite that, Arista Records decided to drop the Godfather from its roster in 1985, and though he continued to tour, Scott-Heron's recorded output halted for a time. He maintained his political edge throughout though, supporting both the anti-nuclear and anti-apartheid movements, and becoming a regular critic of Ronald Reagan's government during the 80s.

And when he briefly returned to recorded music via a deal with TVT in 1993, he made another of his more famous tracks, 'Message To The Messengers', calling on the increasingly violent hip hop fraternity to focus their lyrical efforts on pushing for political and social reform, rather than pursuing personal vendettas. Although he continued to write, record and perform, and to garner acclaim, in his later years Scott-Heron struggled with drug addiction, and ran into trouble with the law on various occasions as a result. His output declined, despite promises of new work being in the offing.

But then, in 2010. he released his first studio album in sixteen years, over two years in the making, the widely acclaimed 'I'm New Here'. Seemingly back on form, many were excited about what was to come, though his health was always an issue, he having admitted to being HIV positive in 2008. The exact cause of his death last week is not known, though it was very likely linked to that condition.

Among the many artists paying tribute on the internet this weekend were Eminem, who tweeted "RIP Gil Scott Heron, he influenced all of hip hop", while Chuck D wrote "RIP GSH... and we do what we do and how we do because of you, and to those that don't know, tip your hat with a hand over your heart and recognise". One time Black Star member Talib Kweli added: "I met Gil Scott-Heron at SOBs in 1993, I went to see him perform, he completely influenced me as an artist".

XL Recordings chief Richard Russell, who worked on and released 'I'm New Here', wrote a tribute on his blog, remarking: "Gil meant a massive amount to me, as he did to so many people. His talent was immense. He was a a master lyricist, singer, orator, and keyboard player. His spirit was immense. He channelled something that people derived huge benefit from. He was incredibly generous in how he dealt with me, encouraging me to write and produce with him and rediscover my own creativity through him. He never questioned my ability to do these things, even when I did. I have shared some of the best experiences of my life with Gil, and I feel so privileged to have known him".

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XL BOSS SAYS HE HOPES ADELE SUCCESS WILL CHANGE POP INDUSTRY'S ATTITUDE TO FEMALE TALENT
Talking of the boss of XL Recordings, Richard Russell has said that the music industry is guilty of "over-sexualising" female artists, often putting sexual imagery before the songwriting, and resulting in "boring, crass and unoriginal" music. But in an interview with The Guardian he said he hopes the phenomenal success of Adele might persuade labels to put their money into female artists where it's the music wot sells it.

Russell: "The whole message with [Adele] is that it's just music, it's just really good music. There is nothing else. There are no gimmicks, no selling of sexuality. I think in the American market, particularly, they have come to the conclusion that is what you have to do".

Saying that some of the 'faux-porn" pop promos for artists like Rihanna made him queasy, he added: "But now you see that Adele is No 1. What a great thing, how amazing. Not only are young girls going to see that, but [also] the business people who are behind all those videos. It's going to make them rethink what they should be doing".

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ANOTHER SPECTOR APPEAL APPLICATION KNOCKED BACK
The Californian Court Of Appeals has knocked back yet another application to overturn the 2009 murder conviction against legendary producer Phil Spector. As much previously reported, he is currently serving a 19 year jail sentence for shooting dead one time actress Lana Clarkson at his home in 2003.

His lawyers claim that the judge who oversaw both of the Spector murder trials (the first was declared a mistrial when the jury couldn't reach a unanimous verdict) made various procedural errors preventing the producer from getting a fair trial.

An initial application for a new trial was knocked back by the Californian appeals court at the start of the month, but Spector's defence team had another go last week, re-filing their claim. But court officials refused to consider the new application, saying there was overwhelming evidence of his guilt.

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LOVE SUED OVER TWEET FOR A SECOND TIME
Courtney Love is being sued for a second time over something she said on Twitter. According to Reuters, the Hole frontwoman is being sued by a lawyer who the singer hired to investigate allegations money had been stolen from her late husband Kurt Cobain's estate. Love eventually fired attorney Rhonda Holmes, claiming on Twitter that the lawyer had been "bought off" by the people she was meant to be investigating. It's that claim that Holmes is suing over.

Of course, always the pioneer, Love has already been sued once for defamation based on a tweet - quite an achievement for such a new phenomenon. In that case Love settled with fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir, agreeing to pay $430,000 in damages after calling the fashion lady an "asswipe nasty lying hosebag thief".

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WINEHOUSE BACK IN REHAB
Amy Winehouse is back in rehab, yes, yes, yes. The singer's spokeswoman confirmed Winehouse was back in The Priory on Friday, adding that her client wanted to get back in control of her drinking before embarking on a series of European tour dates this summer. People.com later reported that the latest rehab stint had been instigated by Winehouse's father Mitch, while The Sun say that doctors had told the singer she was risking her life if she didn't take action to cut back on alcohol consumption.

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SEAN KINGSTON INJURED IN JET SKI CRASH
Hip hopper Sean Kingston was still in intensive care yesterday after being involved in a jet ski accident in Miami on Sunday, though his condition has stablised. A spokesman for Epic Records told reporters: "Sean Kingston is now stabilised and has moved from the trauma unit to ICU. Sean's family thanks everyone for their prayers and support during this time". The extent of Kingston's injuries are not known, but both he and a female passenger were injured when the singer's 'watercraft' hit the Palm Island Bridge on Miami Beach.

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PAN'S PEOPLE CO-FOUNDER DIES
Flick Colby, a co-founder of the Pan's People troupe of dancers who were synonymous with the BBC's 'Top Of The Pop's for much of the seventies, has died aged 65.

Having attended ballet and dance classes in the US, Colby moved to London with her then husband in the sixties, and there got work as a dancer and choreographer, mainly working in TV. She co-founded Pan's People in 1966. They made regular appearances on 'TOTP' over an eight year period, dancing to music by artists unable to appear on the show themselves, this being the era before the pop promo video became the norm.

Colby was also involved in setting up Legs & Co, the dance group successors to Pan's People on 'TOTP'. She later returned to the US. She died at her home in Clinton, New York, on Thursday, the group's publicist confirmed this weekend.

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LADY GAGA HAS BIGGEST FIRST WEEK SALES OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga sold 215,000 units of her new album 'Born This Way' in the UK last week, scoring the biggest first-week sale of any album this year, and outselling the rest of the top ten combined. The Gaga pushed Adele off what had become her adopted home of late, the album chart top spot, those she does still fill positions 2 and 3 of the top ten countdown.

In the US, 'Born This Way' seems set to shift 1.15 million units in its first week on sale, though, of course, some will still be moaning that with Amazon selling the album at a multi-dollar-losing 99 cents at the start of last week, the pop queen had an unfair advantage.

As previously reported, Billboard last week said that every sale, including the one dollar purchases, will count in this week's chart, adding that it's not their job to dictate what price records should be sold for. Which led some (well, one commentator on theCMUwebsite.com) to wonder if the music chart of the future should be based on revenue generated rather than units shifted - film industry style - which is an interesting proposal me thinks.

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

FLOW FESTIVAL, Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland, 12-14 Aug: Empire Of The Sun are a shining example of a brand new Flow Festival booking, as are Spanish electro artist El Guincho and New York DJ Danny Krivit. Longer-standing line-up residents include Kanye West, Lykke Li, Q-Tip, James Blake and Warpaint. www.flowfestival.com/en/

GLADE FESTIVAL, Winchester, Hampshire, 10-12 Jun: Glade organisers have added a set from Sub Focus plus clubnight/blog showcases from the likes of Hypercolour, Filth and You Can Call Me Pelsk to this buzzing electro fest's running order, which prior to these latest amendments already included appearances from Trentemoller, Drumcode feat Adam Beyer, Andrew Weatherall Dub Pistol's and The Losers. www.gladefestival.com

HARD ROCK CALLING, Hyde Park, London, 24-26 Jun: Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart aka The Kills and rockabilly starlet Imelda May are fresh acts on the bill for this year's Hard Rock bash, joining co-headliners Rod Stewart, The Killers and Bon Jovi. www.hardrockcalling.co.uk/2011/lineup/

JERSEY LIVE, Royal Jersey Showgrounds, Jersey, 3-4 Sept: This Channel Island-based bash welcomes obnoxious duo The Ting Tings, who take their place on the line-up beside such other luminaries as Madness, Plan B, Zane Lowe, Mr Oizo, Katy B and a newly-reformed The Rapture. www.jerseylive.org.uk

ROCKNESS, LOCH NESS, SCOTLAND, 10-12 Jun: Ms Dynamite and YasmIn lead the recent additions to RockNess' thriving line-up, which will also welcome other new introductions including Swedish popsters Niki And The Dove and Scottish bands James McKenzie & The Aquascene and Strawberry Ocean Sea. Previously announced prime time performers include Kasabian, DJ Shadow, Erol Alkan, Katy B and Two Door Cinema Club. www.rockness.co.uk

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UNIVERSAL CONFIRM HILFIGER TIE UP
Universal Music chief Lucian Grainge and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger have both commented on the two parties' previously reported joint venture which will see the creation of fashion ranges around a number of the artists signed to Universal's labels. The deal is specifically between Universal's merchandising division Bravado and Hilfiger affiliate Music Entertainment Sports Holdings.

Says Grainge: "Bravado's clients are among the most iconic musical artists in pop culture. Bringing them together with MESH's creative ability and global distribution resources will be transformative for Bravado in terms of its scale, the unique opportunities it provides our artists, and the diversification it brings to our portfolio of global brands. This is a new approach that takes the current notion of artist merchandise and propels it into those places which have, up until now, been reserved for major designers and major brands".

Hilfiger added: "I am incredibly excited to be a part of this historic fusion of fashion, music, and retail," Tommy Hilfiger said in a statement. "Between the unrivaled roster of artists under the Universal / Bravado umbrella and the unparalleled ability to produce quality product through our partnership with MESH, finally, the marriage between music and fashion is official".

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FOX SAYS HMV IS BACK FROM THE BRINK
HMV is "back from the brink", CEO Simon Fox has told games industry magazine MCV. Keen to draw a line under months of speculation about the entertainment retailer's future, caused by profit warnings and admissions the firm is likely to fail the terms of its multi-million bank loans, Fox says the sale of the Waterstones chain for £53 million will allow his company to move on.

Fox: "The Waterstone's sale is a turning point. We went through a very tough restructuring, but that is behind us. We still have to get the bank facility in place and we need shareholder approval for this transaction. That will all complete, I expect, by the end of June. And then we will be free to drive the business forward and become an entertainment brand across all channels".

Looking forward, he continued: "We need to continue to invest in our stores. We want to continue to grow our share in games. We are going to increase in-store space for technology products such as iPads. We need to build our online and digital presence. And then we have actually had a good year and a good quarter with our live division. We had some 16 per cent growth with our music venues. It is an evolution at speed. We need to change the mix of what we sell and we need to do that quickly".

Noting the rampant press speculation about his company in recent months, Fox added that he hoped the Waterstones deal and resulting restructure of the firm's loans would bring to an end predictions of his company's imminent demise, letting him get on with the entertainment group's reinvention. Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath.

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RAPHAEL TO RELAUNCH LONDON RECORDS FOR UNIVERSAL
Universal have announced that Nick Raphael, who is joining the major from Sony Music, will relaunch and head up an all-new London Records. Raphael worked for London back in the day in one of his early music industry roles, before joining BMG and later Sony. London Records was originally a subsidiary of Polygram, which merged with Universal in 1998. After the merger London was sold to Warner - who announced last week that they were reviving one of the label's dance imprints, Pete Tong's FFRR - but the London Records name itself seemingly reverted to Universal last year.

By heading up a new division Raphael will report directly into Universal Music UK boss David Joseph, who told CMU this morning: "Nick is a hugely welcome addition to our team and I am confident he will create a new force with a re-born London Records. He is a highly talented and respected executive with great energy and creativity - I'm delighted he's chosen Universal to further his career".

Raphael added: "I am extremely excited to be joining David and his team at Universal and to start the next chapter of my career under the banner of London Records. Hopefully I can continue London Records' tradition of launching and breaking a diverse range of global artists that stretches decades from The Rolling Stones to Salt N Pepa to All Saints".

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PRS BOSS UPBEAT AT AGM
It was the Annual General Meeting of PRS For Music last week, and CEO Robert Ashcroft was upbeat, despite us all knowing the collecting society's overall revenue was down 1% in 2010. That was due in part, Ashcroft said, to the unusual boom that occurred during the record breaking year that was 2009. Looking forward, he said emerging markets like China and India allowed the potential for future growth. As for the monies distributed to PRS members, Ashcroft insisted that with a 10.4% administration rate, PRS For Music "is one of the most efficient collecting societies in the world".

The guest speaker was John Whittingdale, the MP who heads up parliament's Culture, Media & Sport select committee. He praised both the PRS and the wider music business for their engagement in the government's recent Hargreaves Review of copyright law, in particular noting the proposal in the PRS's submission encouraging search engines to incorporate a traffic light system, whereby websites where there are copyright concerns are marked with a yellow or red dot.

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CONTENT INDUSTRIES WELCOME G8 COMMITMENTS
Representatives from 16 globally-focused content industry trade bodies have welcomed commitments made at the G8 Summit in France last week regards protecting intellectual property rights.

In a joint statement signed by film, publishing, acting and music trade bodies, including Alison Wenham from the Association Of Independent Music, Frances Moore of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, and the Musician's Union's John Smith (in his guise as President of the International Federation Of Musicians), the collective content industries said: "As representatives of the creative sector we welcome the commitment by the G8 leaders in Deauville to steps that will ensure a thriving digital environment guided by the rule of law".

They continued: "We welcome the G8 Summit's recognition of the need for laws and frameworks leading to improved [copyright] enforcement. We also applaud its commitment to ensuring effective action against violations of intellectual property in the digital world. We share the goal of a responsible online marketplace benefitting consumers, the creators we represent and the development of legitimate commerce".

They added: "Our sector - which includes the book, film, games, music and television industries - is a vital part of the world economy. We are a major source of cultural creation, jobs, growth and tax revenue. Every country has artists, composers, authors, performers, whose contributions to their nations' cultural and economic wealth depend on the ability to protect their rights online as well as in the physical world. These commitments by the G8 leaders will help ensure that the creative sectors in their countries can thrive in a digital environment guided by the rule of law, with all that this means for jobs, cultural diversity and economic growth".

Speaking specifically for the record industry, Moore at IFPI issued her own statement, saying: "The G8 summit has sent a clear and unambiguous signal about the importance of protecting intellectual property online. They recognise that if investment in creativity is to be sustained then the internet
cannot be exempt from the rule of law. We greatly welcome the political leadership of the G8 in this area and particularly the role President Sarkozy played in placing this issue at the heart of the discussions".

Of course whether combined commitments by G8 leaders really make much difference (though any commitments made by Russia and Canada are possibly significant), and whether politician-supported measures to crack down on piracy really work anyway, is all debatable. Nevertheless, the G8 summit's strong words on protecting IP underline that - for all the influence of Google and the tel cos - more and more governments seem set on helping copyright owners enforce their rights online.

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GERMANY ANNOUNCE COPYRIGHT REFORM PLANS
Talking of which, the German government has outlined its plans for reforming copyright law - Germany being someway behind other Western European countries in introducing new anti-piracy measures.

Bernd Neumann, Germany's Minister Of Culture & Media, has resisted calls from the country's Green Party to put user rights at the heart of copyright reform, and instead seems to be following a similar policy to that employed in the UK and France, in particular making the internet service providers take a more proactive role in policing online piracy. Germany has previously resisted calls for a three-strikes system, though Neumann seems enamoured with at least the warning letters strand of France's much previously reported Hadopi programme.

Neumann told Billboard: "The cultural damage would be irreparable if artists and creative people who were trying to make a living from their art could no longer support themselves with the income generated by others exploiting their work and in a worst case scenario had to stop their creative work altogether. The economical consequences for large parts of the cultural and creative industry would be incalculable without the enforcement of appropriate copyright legislation".

Although Germany's political class does seem to be slowly swinging in favour of the copyright community, some in the German music business are annoyed these plans are unlikely to come into effect until 2013 - they wanting quicker action.

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NEW X-FACTOR JUDGING PANEL ANNOUNCED - NO COLE
So, Take That's Gary Barlow, N-Dubz's Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland will join Louis Walsh on the judging panel for the next series of 'X-Factor', if you're interested.

We sort of knew that already, but of course the whole 'who will judge this year' story took an interesting turn last week when Cheryl Cole was spectacularly sacked from 'X-Factor USA' for speaking odd and being a bit mopey (so the gossipers say, apparently producers weren't impressed with her choice of dress for the first audition either, they already being a bit pissed she had shunned their stylist).

There was much chatter that ITV bosses, already nervous about having such a dramatic overhaul of the 'X-Factor' UK judging panel in one go, had seized on the opportunity to try and get Cheryl back on their show. Some said she was demanding double the fee to return, while others claimed that she was too angry with Simon Cowell and his entire 'X' franchise over her treatment in the US that nothing would get her back onto either versions of the programme. Others still said she was too depressed to be thinking about any new projects.

Either way, with the first auctions due to kick off this week, clearly no deal could be done - assuming one was ever in the offing - in time for ITV's judging panel announcement this weekend. So what next for Cole?

Well, now there's speculation she is being courted by makers of the previously reported 'The Voice' talent show, which is due to come to the UK on the BBC later this year. Of course Universal Music is the label partner on that show, and Cole is signed to a subsidiary of Universal UK, which might open doors for that deal to be done. The BBC show would unlikely be able to match ITV on money, though given the rumour Cole walked away from 'X-USA' with her full series one fee in her pocket, money possibly won't be a concern.

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SEESAW TO CLOSE
I'm not sure anyone but me cares, but SeeSaw is shutting, booooo! The TV-on-demand website, which carries mainly Channel 4 and BBC archive programming, plus some US shows, uses technology originally developed by Project Kangaroo, the online telly platform planned by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 but blocked by the competition regulator.

The platform ended up being owned by broadcast infrastructure company Arqiva. They had been looking for a new investor or a buyer for the service, which offers some programming for free funded by advertising, while other shows are available on a pay-per-view basis.

A bit like a commercial BBC iPlayer, SeeSaw competes mainly with on-demand services operated by the broadcasters it licenses shows off, though it many ways it was also set to compete with YouView when it launches, possibly later this year.

YouView, of course, is the newer video-on-demand JV between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, which began life as a technology standard for VOD devices, but which now is set to become a stand-alone service, albeit one based around set-top boxes rather than your computer.

Arquiva announced last week that no buyer had been found for SeeSaw, and that they had therefore decided to turn the service off in late July. The service's 28 staff were told on Friday.

The asking price is probably too high, but ITV should seriously consider buying SeeSaw; compared to most of the third channel's other questionable online ventures it would be a good buy, and with their ad-selling power might just work. And if nothing else, it would enable them to replace their proprietary web-based ITV Player with something that actually works.

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RONSON SETS WEDDING DATE
Mark Ronson will marry his French model fiancée Josephine De La Baume on the first weekend in September, according to the Mail On Sunday, who say the producer has sent out 'save the date' cards to friends. Rumour has it the wedding will have a celeb-heavy guest list, so much so the tab-pack are getting very excitable already.

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BORRELL ON THAT PHOTO
Johnny Borrell has commented on that photo, and the ridicule it garnered.

As you may remember, when Borrell presented the relaunched Razorlight to the world earlier this year, he did so by sending out a press photo that not only included three bandmates no one recognised, but one of them was wearing a crazy crazy hat. It certainly got people talking. And laughing.

But Borrell has told the News Of The World he didn't mind the mockery, remarking: "If people were laughing, then good! You shouldn't change what people ridicule you for, because in reality it's your strength". So take that mockers.

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