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 29 Jun

PROMOTING MUSIC - MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA & 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 13 Jul

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GERMAN LABELS CRITICISE GEMA OVER YOUTUBE
Reps from both Universal Music and Sony Music in Germany have criticised, in interviews with US trade mag Billboard, their country's publishing rights collecting society GEMA over their continued legal squabble with YouTube.

As much previously reported, GEMA has, in the main, taken the hardest line of all the collecting societies when it comes to licensing new digital services, leaving some popular European music platforms, including Spotify, unable to launch in the German market. Digital start-ups say GEMA is asking for far too high royalties for music streams, while the collecting society says it is simply looking for viable business models before licensing its songs.

The record companies, in the main, have good relationships with YouTube (although there was a wobble with the YouTube/Warner deal at one point), and indeed Universal and Sony are basically in business with the web firm via their VEVO venture. On the publishing side, where the performing rights YouTube need are generally licensed collectively, there have been some issues - including a falling out with PRS For Music in the UK - though, in the main, deals have been done

GEMA, however, has a long running dispute with YouTube and its owners Google, and has been publicly critical of the web giant in the past, which it sees as wanting to profit from music-based services without properly compensating rights owners. That ongoing feud has turned legal on various occasions, and earlier this year the Society put in a claim against YouTube's US division via the Californian courts, albeit in relation to twelve specific songs it represents.

Quite why Billboard has focused on this issue now isn't clear - the US legal claim was made in April - though it's possible there are concerns that the escalated litigation is hindered ongoing licensing negotiations between YouTube and the German publishing sector. Certainly Billboard didn't have to dig hard to find supporters for the YouTube side of this squabble within the music business.

Edgar Berger, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment in Munich told Billboard: "I suspect that some members of GEMA's supervisory board have not yet arrived in the digital era. We want to see streaming services like VEVO and Spotify in the German market. [These platforms] must not be blocked by GEMA any longer. Artists and music companies are losing sales in the millions".

Meanwhile, Frank Briegmann, President of Universal Music Germany said: "Germany is a developing country in the digital music market. GEMA apparently has not yet understood the new developments in the international music market".

Tough words. Of course, presumably, the Sony and Universal publishing companies are influential within the GEMA camp, so perhaps Berger and Briegmann should be doing some lobbying within their own wider companies on this issue. Perhaps they are.

Either way, GEMA's Alexander Wolf insists that the escalation of their legal action relating to those aforementioned twelve songs does not hinder his society's ability to negotiate with YouTube on a wider licence, but adds that the web firm has done nothing to address some fundamental concerns - including access to full video play stats and financial rewards based on the impact of music content on YouTube's wider business performance and not just ad revenues sold alongside specific pop promos.

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DRAKE HITS OUT AT UNIVERSAL FOR STOPPING HIM POST TRACKS
While some artists get all hot and bothered when tracks from their new albums appear online before official release, rapper Drake is pissed his label is going around the internet ordering leaked tracks be taken down. Though this is mainly because it's him leaking the tracks via his own blog.

The rap man hit out at Universal Music, owners of Lil Wayne's Young Money imprint, to which he is signed, after they ordered the removal of two new Drake tracks from the artist's own blog and various other websites. Both tracks presumably come from the rapper's new album, 'Take Care', which isn't due for release until October.

Drake tweeted late last week: "Universal needs to stop taking my fucking songs down. I am doing this for the people not for your label". Universal didn't respond by tweeting "Drake should read his record contract re leaking tracks online", though I bet at least one exec there thought it.

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PM PAYS TRIBUTE TO LOCAL TORY CHAIRMAN AFTER GLASTO DEATH
And we all thought Bono's tax arrangements would be the political angle for covering this year's Glastonbury Festival. There remains some mystery this morning regarding the death of Christopher Shale, Chairman of the Conservative Association in the constituency of Prime Minister David Cameron, who died at the Glastonbury fest this weekend.

Shale, at the festival with his family, disappeared on Saturday afternoon, his body being found a toilet in the VIP area of the event on Sunday morning. Glastonbury boss Michael Eavis initially told reporters he'd been informed the death was the result of a "suicide situation", though friends of the Shale family said later the Tory activist had died from a massive heart attack.

Either theories may be linked to a story that appeared in the Mail On Sunday yesterday, which focused on a leaked memo written by Shale in which he admits it is hard to recruit new members to the Conservative Party because Tory politicians are often seen as been "voracious, crass, and always on the take".

Shale had been alerted to the Mail's plan to publish the memo by Tory Central Office just hours before his death, though the Conservatives say they had told him not to worry about the newspaper report, and that Shale himself seemed quite relaxed about the situation.

Eavis said the death was "very very sad", though he couldn't say much more about it. Meanwhile Cameron paid tribute to his former associate, saying in a statement: "A big rock in my life has suddenly been rolled away. Christopher was one of the most truly generous people I've ever met - he was always giving to others, his time, his help, his enthusiasm and above all his love of life. It was in that spirit that he made a massive contribution to the Conservative Party both locally and nationally".

He continued: "Our love and prayers are with Nikki [Shale's wife] and the family. They have lost an amazing dad, West Oxfordshire has lost a big and wonderful man and, like so many others, Sam and I have lost a close and valued friend".

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BIEBER, SWIFT, IGLESIAS AND FLO AMONG THE ARTISTS SUPPORTING ALL-STAR AUCTION
Forty artists, producers and directors are supporting an online auction in aid of LA-based cancer research organisation City Of Hope, which reaches its climax on eBay this Thursday. From Justin Bieber to Linkin Park, Florence Welch to Oliver Stone, Taylor Swift to Yoko Ono, all genres are covered in this all-star auction, which is being run by a new American music website set up to champion and support not-for-profits, PlayForLife.fm. The auction, which offers numerous opportunities to meet participating artists, plus signed guitars and behind-the-scenes experiences, has been backed by an on-air and online advertising campaign across all of Clear Channel Radio's stations around the US for the last three months.

Participating artists include: 3 Doors Down, Barry Manilow, Brad Paisley, Bret Michaels, Buckcherry, Carrie Underwood, Clem Burke, Colbie Caillat, Enrique Iglesias, Florence & The Machine, Gary Allan, Guster, Jaron Lowenstein, Jason Castro, Jay Sean, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Linkin Park, Matthew Morrison, Nikki Sixx, New Kids On The Block, Papa Roach, Raphael Saadiq, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Rihanna, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Train, Vince Gill and Yoko Ono, as well as organisations like Cirque du Soleil, Reel FX and 54 Sound Studios, and veteran movie maker Oliver Stone.

Confirming his support for the programme, the mentioned-somewhere-in-that-long-list 'Glee' star Matthew Morrison told reporters: "The power that music holds to impact people emotionally, spiritually and physically never ceases to amaze me. That's why I'm so thrilled to partner with Clear Channel and City Of Hope on Play For Life to support music therapy for cancer patients and their families".

Although an American venture, PlayForLife.fm is actually operated by London-based Bigtime Arts & Media, working in partnership with CMU's sister company UnLimited Creative. UnLimited has worked with Bigtime on numerous music-based promotions over the years, many supporting new talent and good causes, though this is the biggest yet. The auction in aid of City Of Hope is the first in a series of fund and awareness raising initiatives that will be staged on the PlayForLife.fm platform, which also provides a free music recommendation service and, moving forward, will encourage and equip young readers to achieve their own musical ambitions.

Bigtime CEO Ian Spero told CMU: "Play For Life continues a theme that has run through a number of our projects from the last decade, constructing mutually beneficial partnerships between traditional media, artists and music companies, brands and good causes, to encourage creative innovation, and to support health and educational organisations. This will be the first of many such initiatives under the Play For Life banner, in both the US and beyond".

Given the tie up we're slightly biased, of course, but we think it's all brilliant. US-based readers can check out and bid in the current auction at PlayForLife.fm/auctions.

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GOOGLE FACING ANTI-TRUST INVESTIGATIONS
Google is facing multiple anti-trust investigations in the US, it has been revealed, with both state and Federal level agencies looking into allegations it uses its dominance in the web search and search advertising markets to hinder its direct competitors, by favouring its own services in search results. Or something like that.

Following reports in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal about different anti-trust investigations against Google last week, it has emerged that Attorney Generals in California, Ohio and New York are all looking into this issue, as are the US Federal Trade Commission, though none of those offices have actually commented on their investigations, and nor has Google.

The American investigations will likely follow a similar line of inquiry to one begun by the European Commission late last year, which has also responded to allegations from Google's competitors of unfair play.

Of course, both Google and Apple - as the new techie giants of the internet age - have faced a stack of anti-trust accusations in recent years, which may be down to sour grapes on their competitors' part, or due to sinister decision making at the top of the IT firms. Or possibly both. Either way, it's all good news for anti-trust lawyers.

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EARLY RAPPER WINS BLACK EYED PEAS TRACK DISPUTE
A US DJ and one time rapper Orrin Lynn Tolliver Jr has won $1.2 million in a legal dispute over the Black Eyed Peas' track 'My Humps', which sampled his 1983 song 'I Need A Freak'. Though it's not the Peas who will be paying Tolliver the cash, rather the dispute was with a former collaborator of the rapper.

Tolliver recorded 'I Need A Freak' under the moniker Sexual Harassment with one James McCants at the latter's studios in the early eighties. McCants registered the track with US collecting society BMI, crediting Tolliver as the songwriter. According to an agreement made at the time, Tolliver would get 75% of royalties generated by the track.

I'm not sure, however, how well that agreement dealt with the issue of who actually owned the copyrights in the track, or who would have the right of veto of its future use. Either way, the two men first fell out over the song in 2000 when it appeared on a compilation album without Tolliver's permission. At the time McCants denied having licensed the track to the label behind the compo.

Needless to say, that dispute only got bigger when 'I Need A Freak' showed up as a sample in the twice platinum selling Black Eyed Peas single, again without Tolliver's permission. When faced with legal action from his former collaborator, McCants offered a number of different excuses: that he hadn't licensed 'I Need A Freak' to the Black Eyed Peas' label, that the song wasn't actually in the track, that he had co-authored the original, and that he owned it via assignment.

McCants' shifting defence clearly didn't go down well with the judge, who ruled in Tolliver's favour in a summary judgement. The case then went to a jury to determine damages, with McCants ordered to pay $1.2 million - which breaks down as about three quarters unpaid royalties and one quarter damages - to his former creative partner.

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MISSY ELLIOT REVEALS THYROID CONDITION
Missy Elliott has revealed that she suffers from a thyroid problem called Graves disease, which resulted in her hair falling out and her nervous system shutting down, which sounds pretty damn serious. Though the good news is that the condition is rarely life-threatening, and that she is keeping it under control by sticking to a special exercise regime.

Talking about the condition, which was diagnosed in 2008, the rapper told reporters: "My nervous system shut down, you know. Your skin is dry, your hair falls out, you wake up, your eyes feel like they've got rocks in them".

Elliott's publicist, Anne Kristoff, later told Reuters that since being diagnosed with the disease, which isn't currently curable, her client "pretty much exercises every day, so she's committed to her health".

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BONO SAYS GLAD ABOUT WRONG PROTEST
Glastonbury bosses have insisted there was no "instruction to use heavy-handedness" after security staff at the festival tussled with the Art Uncut protestors as they tried to inflate a big fat balloon that read 'U Pay Your Tax 2' at the start of U2's set at the festival on Friday.

It was no secret that the Art Uncut group was planning to protest U2's much reported tax arrangements at the festival, in particular the band's decision a few years back to move some of their financial affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands where tax liabilities would be less. Many were critical over the weekend of what they saw as a heavy-handed approach by Glasto staff to kill a peaceful political protest at what is meant to be a politically aware event that champions freedom of expression.

For his part, Bono told reporters he was "glad" the protestors had had a chance to have their say, even though they didn't, adding that their campaign was "wrong", which it isn't. Well, it's a well-intended but overly simplistic view of a complex situation, a bit like Bono's whole approach to political matters, and the fight against poverty.

Bono told the Daily Mail: "'I'm all for protests. I've been protesting all of my life. I'm glad they got the chance to have their say. But, as it happens, what they're protesting about is wrong".

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CHRIS BROWN LEADS AT BET AWARDS
I think it's fair to say Chris Brown has been fully rehabilitated into planet pop, which is good news for any kid out there who aspires to be both an R&B star and a wife beater.

The pop man was the biggest winner at the BET Awards in the US this weekend, taking home four gongs, including the Viewer's Choice Awards (even though, somewhat embarrassingly, there was some confusion as to whether that prize had gone to Brown or his former punch bag Rihanna).

The full list of winners at the annual awards bash from the Black Entertainment Television network is as follows:

Male R&B Artist: Chris Brown
Female R&B Artist: Rihanna
Male Hip-Hop Artist: Kanye West
Female Hip-Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj
Group: Diddy-Dirty Money

International Act (UK): Tinie Tempah
International Act (Africa): 2Face Idibia (Nigeria) & D'Banj (Nigeria)

Gospel: Mary Mary
Centric: Marsha Ambrosius
New Artist: Wiz Khalifa
Young Stars: Willow & Jaden Smith
Viewers' Choice: Chris Brown

Collaboration: Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes - Look At Me Now

Video Of The Year: Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes - Look At Me Now
Video Director The Year: Chris Robinson

Actor: Idris Elba
Actress: Taraji P. Henson

Movie: For Colored Girls

Sportsman: Michael Vick
Sportswoman: Serena Williams

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JOOLS HOLLAND TO GET 2011 MIT AWARD
Jools Holland will be presented with this year's Music Industry Trust Award, which will be handed over at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on 7 Nov. So that's nice. The annual award, now in its 20th year, has in the past gone to the likes of Tom Jones, John Barry, George Martin and Ahmet Ertegun, and is presented at a charity lunch in aid of the BRIT Trust and the Nordoff Robbins charity.

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COMMON SIGNS TO WARNER
Rapper Common has signed to Warner Bros Records in the US after a decade working with Universal Music labels. Confirming his new deal at a Warner Bros event on Friday, Common said: "I'm very grateful to be a part of this family, to be a part of this team. We have very inspirational, exciting music to team up with you. We're just open to what this change can bring".

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COLBERT RELEASES SINGLE VIA JACK WHITE'S LABEL
US comedian Stephen Colbert has teamed up with Jack White's record label Third Man Records for the release of his first single 'Charlene II (I'm Over You)', which White helped create.

The song was premiered on 'The Colbert Report' TV show last Thursday, at the end of a week in which the US comedy show featured quite a few musicians, including White.

Colbert then performed the song live in New York on Friday with The Black Belles, another band signed to Third Man Records. The track is available on vinyl and digitally right about now.

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BRIAN WILSON BIOPIC IN THE WORKS
A biopic about the life of Beach Boy Brian Wilson is in the works. Independent production company River Road Entertainment has announced it has secured the rights to make a film, which will "take an unconventional look at Wilson's unique musical process as well as his struggles with mental illness, and how he managed to persevere as an artist with the love and support of his wife Melinda".

Oren Moverman, who directed the movie 'The Messenger', will write the screenplay, though that's pretty much all we know about the project so far.

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WARNER BROS PLUGGER LAUNCHES OWN AGENCY
Former Warner Bros UK regional radio plugger Sue Reinhardt has announced she is launching her own promotions agency. Having begun her career in radio promotions with Sony Music's alternative department, she later joined agency Hart Media before moving to Warner in 2008. She launched her own company earlier this month.

Reinhardt told CMU: "I have worked in regional radio promotions for over ten years, and there have been a lot of changes in the radio industry during that time, but I still maintain that regional radio plays an extremely important role in breaking both artists and songs. I'm looking forward to working with a broad range of artists, from mainstream pop to the more specialist alternative, rock and metal genres. I still get excited about discovering bands in their early stages so, as well as working with established acts, I am also on the lookout for some great new artists to get my teeth in to!"

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MERLIN SIGN UP TO QRIOCITY
Indie label digital rights agency Merlin has signed up to Sony's Music Unlimited service, the entertainment giant's subscription-based cross-device Spotify competitor that operates under the ridiculous Qriocity brand.

Says Merlin chief Charles Caldas: "We are very excited to see the evolution of innovative cloud-based digital music services like Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity in the digital market bringing music to millions of people around the world on a wide range of connected devices. With the addition of our members' artists' repertoire to the catalogue, and the global reach of Sony, we believe that this service is well placed to attract a large amount of consumers, generating legitimate revenue for rights holders and taking digital music consumption to the next level of mass market appeal".

Meanwhile Jeff Hughes of Omnifone, who operate the Sony service, told CMU: "Having Merlin within the Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity global catalogue provides the independent repertoire that dominates the charts in several markets, making Merlin a valuable component of any global music service".

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UBISOFT TO RELEASE BLACK EYED PEAS GAME
Ubisoft is launching a Black Eyed Peas video game. I think it's an adventure game where you have to steal as many samples as possible without any of the original creators noticing. No, not really, with 'The Black Eyed Peas Experience' you'll have to dance like the only slightly tedious hip hop group do. The game, announced in Paris last week, will initially launch for Xbox 360 and the Wii later this year.

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UBM SELLS MUSIC WEEK
UBM has sold music industry trade mag Music Week to Intent Media, a publishing company that already owns trade titles for the gaming, toys and mobile sectors.

UBM has been downsizing its magazine operations for a while, focusing more on its event and database businesses, while Intent Media has been acquisitive in this domain in recent years. Under the new deal, Intent will acquire four of UBM's titles, so Television Broadcast Europe, Pro Sound News and Installation Europe as well as Music Week. The £2.4 million deal with see Intent also acquiring all the online and event-based spin-offs of these four titles. Up to 36 staff will move as a result of the sale, some to Intent's Hertford HQ, though some will be based in the firm's soon-to-open London offices in Islington.

Music Week recently went through a revamp under new Content Director Michael Gubbins, who has put more of the title's online content behind a pay-wall while focusing on analytical rather than straight news editorial in the weekly print mag.

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NO CHERYL COLLAB FOR EXAMPLE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH
British rap man Example isn't looking for any pop types to collaborate with, thank you very much. And by that, I think he means he doesn't want to work with Cheryl Cole.

Not that that was really an option anyway, but he told Bang Showbiz (who possibly raised the issue to start with): "I'm not really big on duets. I work with cool people. Cheryl Cole, well... I make cool dance music. I don't make cheesy pop stuff. There are some people who I wouldn't work with, not because I've got anything against them but because they're not right".

If you believe the tabs, Cole is currently taking time off from both her pop and telly careers following her eviction from 'X-Factor USA' to concentrate on getting back together with her cheating bastard of an ex-husband Ashley Cole. Well, I suppose in the era of the super injunction, at least she won't find out the next time he cheats on her. Good times.

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