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 27 Jul

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GEORGE MICHAEL ACCUSES NOTW OF TRYING TO "DESTROY" HIM
George Michael has taken to Twitter once more to reel off yet more accusations about newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International, as the phone-hacking scandal engulfing the newspaper company continues to grow.

As well as accusing News Of The World photographers of attempting to hack into his computer, Michael also identifies occasions when he believes members of the press were tipped off about his various indiscretions by corrupt police officers. Members of the Metropolitan Police illegally handing over information to NOTW and Sun journalists, probably for money, is also part of the scandal, of course. The singer is particularly convinced the tabloids were tipped off by police officers when he was arrested for engaging in a lewd act in 1998 and for driving under the influence of drugs in 2007.

As previously reported, as the long-running phone-hacking scandal first start to escalate last week, Michael celebrated the demise of the NOTW, while claiming via Twitter: "[Former NOTW/Sun Editor and current NI CEO] Rebekah Brooks sat two feet from me in my own home and told me that it was never the public that came to them with information on celebrities, and that the police always got there first. Don't ask me how she got there. Believe me, I didn't invite her!"

Yesterday, back on the micro-blogging platform, he provided more background on his run-ins with the now defunct Sunday tabloid, accusing the paper of hacking into his computer. He tweeted: "The two photographers who sat outside my house in their cars night after night for several years were regularly seen with computers open on their laps. I presumed for years that I was under surveillance. In fact, one night in particular, I strolled over the road to one of them and tapped on his window and said: 'I hope you like my taste in men'".

As he tweeted more and more accusations and revelations, he noted: "Just spoke to my lawyer... apparently [the police] want to interview me about my comments on Rebekah Brooks here on Twitter. Like I said, glad to help. I have way more to tell the police than I can tweet to you here... Believe it or not, I've been careful so far!"

Expanding on the subject of police being paid for information, he went on: "Don't get me wrong, I met (a lot!) of perfectly decent policemen and women in my darkest, most shameful hours, but I [also] knew that the press would get to my house before I did [after any arrest]. On every occasion, some little creep in that police station would have called the press, cap in hand, and made a nice little wad of cash. I just became resigned to it. Perks of the job in the Met".

He continued: "But it was the first court trial that [really] blew my mind. Right now I am trying to get together transcripts and other information. Not because it will make any difference to me. It won't. In fact, I can safely say that I am one of the few people amongst the thousands of News International's targets to have genuinely benefited from Murdoch's attempts to destroy me. No, if I decide to say anything about how my first conviction came about - besides the fact that I was an idiot - it will be because I love my country, and I believe its judicial system MUST be trustworthy".

He concluded: "I am NOT trying to exonerate myself of anything, I did something bad and got my 'Karmuppance', as I like to think of it. It's just that the sequence of events between my being arrested and finally convicted for sleeping pills and exhaustion seemed extremely, well, let's just call it... illegal. I was going to say odd, but sod it, they seemed at the very least, outside of normal legal procedure. These are only my suspicions, but I think that if they hold water, then it's very important that they come to light for everyone's sake".

The wider News International scandal continues, of course, despite the closure of the News Of The World this weekend. Allegations of illegal practices have now been made against other NI newspaper titles, putting more pressure on the executives who oversee the company, in particular Brooks, and the Murdochs James and Rupert. .

In a bid to halt the negative impact of the scandal on his bid to buy BSkyB outright, Murdoch Snr yesterday requested his big telly deal be reviewed by the Competition Commission. Murdoch's News Corp had previously tried, successfully, to persuade the UK government that a Competition Commission review was not necessary, mainly by promising to spin Sky News off as a separate company. But with the entire political community now amassing in opposition to the Murdoch empire, he presumably reckons there's a better chance of getting the BSkyB deal approved by competition regulators than via any alternative approach that relies on political favours.

The Competition Commission may rule that complete ownership of Sky in addition to News International's The Sun, Times and Sunday Times would give News Corp too much dominance in the wider British media industry. With Sky vastly more profitable than NI, and with The Sun looking likely to become as tarnished as its closed down sister title, some wonder whether Murdoch will look to offload his British newspaper company altogether, so that market dominance concerns re Sky will no longer exist. Such a move, although inconceivable just over a week ago, would be likely to win the approval of News Corp shareholders back in the US, who have been long been more enthusiastic about TV than print media, which they see as a dying industry.

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COHEED AND CAMBRIA BASSIST CHARGED WITH ARMED ROBBERY
Coheed And Cambria bassist Michael Todd has been arrested and charged with armed robbery by police in Massachusetts. The alleged incident happened in Attleboro, shortly before the band were due to support Soundgarden at the city's Comcast Center.

According to TMZ, Todd entered a pharmacy and showed the pharmacist a note on his mobile phone which said he had a bomb, and that he'd detonate it if he wasn't given several bottles of the painkiller tablet Oxycontin. He fled in a taxi with six bottles of the pills, but was later arrested after being identified by the pharmacist and the taxi driver, as well as on CCTV footage of the robbery.

In a statement, Coheed And Cambria told fans that they would continue without Todd for their remaining tour dates. They said: "Michael Todd was arrested today on what we consider very serious charges and therefore he will not be finishing up the current tour. Wes Styles, longtime member of the Coheed family, will take on bass duties starting tomorrow for the remaining dates. No shows will be cancelled".

They added: "We are surprised, to say the least, and will address the situation with Michael after the tour. For now, we just want to have a great time out here and finish with some killer shows in Boston, Poughkeepsie, Quebec City and Halifax".

The bassist previously spent time away from the band in 2006 to seek treatment for heroin addiction. He was released from police custody on $10,000 bail yesterday.

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LENNON THEMED BAR SENT LEGAL LETTER FROM YOKO
A pub owner in Dundee has reportedly been threatened with legal action by Yoko Ono because his establishment is called Lennon's Bar and is filled with Beatles memorabilia.

According to reports, Mike Craig, who has been running the John Lennon themed bar for five years, and spent thousands on relevant memorabilia, has been sent a cease and desist letter from Ono accusing him of infringing her intellectual property rights, possibly on trademark grounds. The letter demands he change the name of his bar and remove all the Beatles crap from inside.

Craig told reporters Ono's claim was "ridiculous", but admitted he didn't want a legal battle with Lennon's widow and would likely comply with the demands in her letter, however dubious her legal claims over the bar may be.

If Yoko Ono really doesn't like bars and cafes and restaurants and hotels and shops trading on the back on Lennon's legacy, she probably ought to send a cease and desist letter to entire city of Liverpool.

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DIZZEE RASCAL REMOVED FROM FLIGHT AFTER ALLEGED AIR RAGE
Dizzee Rascal is facing a lifetime ban from British Airways flights, according to tabloid reports, after he was seemingly removed from one of the company's planes this weekend after clashing with BA staff over delays.

That said, there seems to be differing accounts as to exactly what happened. One eyewitness told the Mail On Sunday: "Dizzee was getting very angry [because] it was taking so long to take off. Then he threw a tantrum with staff, and passengers were told something was wrong. After the incident his band members were still on the flight. They started kicking off too, shouting that they couldn't play without him because he'd been thrown off".

But another eyewitness told the Evening Standard that Dizzee's interaction with BA staff was more sleepy and confused than diva-ish: "We had been on the plane for about an hour, Dizzee had been asleep, and he woke up and there was a female member of cabin crew walking past and he said to her something along the lines of: 'What's going on? What are we still doing here? What's happening?'"

Either way, the rapper was seemingly removed from the delayed BA flight to Portugal, resulting in him missing his slot at the Optimus Alive! festival near Lisbon.

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MIZELL BROTHER DIES
One quarter of Motown's sixties songwriting powerhouse The Corporation, and one half of the subsequent Mizell Brothers production set up, has died aged 68, according to the LA Times.

Alphonso 'Fonce' Mizell began performing music in his teens with his school band the Nikons and, once at Howard University, in a jazz quartet called the Vanlords. However, his rise to commercial success came after he was recruited by Deke Richards to join The Corporation, a group of songwriters and producers that also included Freddi Perren and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. The group wrote many of the classic Motown label's big hits, including early Jackson 5 songs like 'I Want You Back' and 'ABC'.

After parting ways with Motown in the mid-70s, Fonce began working with his brother Larry, who had also been in that school band back in the day, and they formed their own production company Sky High. The duo wrote and produced a string of influential albums, especially for the Blue Note label, in many ways defining what would become the soul-jazz genre.

Their songs of this era, though probably not as commercially successful as Mizell's Motown hits (though that's not to say their output didn't find a big audience), were hugely influential, and continue to be so, not least through frequent sampling by the hip hop generation.

As yet the cause of Mizell's death is not known.

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WILLIE ROBERTSTON DIES
Willie Robertson, co-founder of music insurance specialists Robertson Taylor, has died.

Robertson, Bob Taylor and Ian France founded their business in 1977, aiming to broker insurance deals for an industry not especially targeted by traditional insurers. It was an aim that involved educating both the insurance and entertainment industries, but they quickly made progress on both fronts and subsequently became industry leaders. Today Robertson Taylor is an international company offering insurance services to music and entertainment clients across the world.

The Robertson Taylor company subsequently became part of the Oxygen insurance business, though both Robertson and Taylor themselves continued to work for the firm, and both renewed their contracts with the firm just last summer.

Robertson was also a founder member of the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity in 1976, and continued to support the organisation for the next 35 years. His tireless work for the charity was recognised with a Music Industry Trusts Award in 1994.

Paying tribute to Robertson this weekend, the Music Managers Forum said in a statement: "It is with great sadness that we heard today of the passing of industry insurance giant Willie Robertson. Willie and his partner Bob Taylor invented the music insurance market, and Willie was a friend of the MMF from beginning to end. We will miss his joie de vivre and his company. A sad day".

Robertson is survived by his wife Angi and his three children.

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IMOGEN HEAP RELEASES 3D SINGLE
Imogen Heap has released the second song from her fourth album. As previously reported, the new LP project will see her work on a different track for a two week period every three months, and then releasing said tracks via her website. A full album, to be called, 'Propeller Seeds', will then follow on project completion.

Originally titled 'Heapsong2', the new track is apparently the world's first 3D audio single and was created with award-winning sound designer Nick Ryan. You can listen to the song here. Or watch the video here.

Earlier this month, Heap put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us, which you can listen to via Spotify now.

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REBECCA BLACK TO DEBUT SECOND SINGLE NEXT WEEK
Rebecca Black is back. At last. The singer will release the follow-up to internet mega-hit 'Friday' next week.

Entitled 'My Moment', the song and accompanying video apparently tell the story of Black's sudden rise to fame via three minutes of pop. Though presumably with the bits where everyone says she's rubbish left out. According to a statement, it's "a fairy tale story, but it happened in real life".

As previously reported, Black is currently working on her debut album, which is due for release in August. Despite talk of major label deals being on the table following the 'Friday' phenomenon, Black is set to self-release her new material.

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MALE BONDING ANNOUNCE ALBUM AND TOUR DATES
Male Bonding will release their second album, entitled 'Endless Now', through Sub Pop on 29 Aug.

The album was recorded with producer John Angello at Dreamland Recording Studios in Hurley, New York. You can watch a video of the album being made at the converted nineteenth century church here. And download a track from the new record, 'Bones', here.

The band will head out on a tour of the UK in September, but before that, you can catch them at the Buffalo Bar in London on Thursday:

14 Jul: London, Buffalo Bar
24 Sep: Exeter, The Cavern
25 Sep: Cardiff, The Globe
26 Sep: Liverpool, Shipping Forecast
27 Sep: Birmingham, The Victoria Pub
28 Sep: Manchester, The Ruby Lounge
29 Sep: Glasgow, The Admiral
30 Sep: Newcastle, The Other Rooms
1 Oct: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
17 Oct: London, The Garage

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WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
We Were Promised Jetpacks have announced that they will release their second album, entitled 'In The Pit Of The Stomach', via FatCat on 3 Oct. That's ages away, but you can hear a track from it, 'Act On Impulse', on the band's website now: wewerepromisedjetpacks.co.uk

Frontman Adam Thompson says of the new record: "We had been touring the debut album extensively for over two years, so we were very excited to get back in the studio and record the follow-up, which we hope demonstrates how much we have progressed as a band. We recorded the debut album in eight days with one short tour under our belts - this time around we spent a full three weeks in the studio recording with [live sound engineer] Andrew Bush and made an album that both captures the sound of our live show and is strong from start to finish".

The band will also be touring again later this year. Look:

9 Sep: Dundee, Doghouse
1 Oct: Stirling, Tollbooth
6 Oct: Edinburgh, Liquid Rooms
11 Oct: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
12 Oct: London, XOYO
13 Oct: Brighton, Jam
14 Oct: Manchester, Deaf Institute

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MICHAEL EAVIS: GLASTONBURY'S ON THE WAY OUT
Michael Eavis is in a chipper mood. Having recently decided not to retire and hand over the Glastonbury reigns to his daughter Emily, instead opting to run it for "another ten years", he's now saying the festival probably won't be around in another decade to be run by anyone.

Sounding very gloomy about the state of the festivals market, he told The Times: "Partly it's economics, but there is a feeling that people have seen it all before. Womad and Latitude are not selling out ... We sell out only because we get huge headliners".

Eavis also claimed that in 2008, the year the festival didn't sell out, "we nearly went bankrupt", losing £22 million on the event.

So, pessimistic talk all round from Eavis Snr. Though with Glastonbury taking a year off in 2012, maybe he'll have changed his mind by the time the next edition of the festival comes round. He usually does.

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FORMER WATERSTONES EXEC TO REPLACE GARY WARREN AT HMV
HMV has nabbed a former executive from its former books business Waterstones to take on the role of Commercial Director. Michael Neil left the bookseller just before the HMV Group sold it to Alexander Mamut, but will now return to the wider HMV business to manage the commercial team that oversees the firm's high street operations.

He basically replaces Gary Warren, a long term HMV exec who is leaving after 25 years with the company to "pursue new interests".

Confirming Neil's appointment, HMV top man Simon Fox told reporters: "Michael brings with him a wealth of commercial insight and retail experience gained across a number of senior positions, and I am delighted to welcome him to HMV at this pivotal time as we continue our transformation into a broad-based entertainment brand".

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UNIVERSAL MUSIC APPOINTS NEW BUSINESS AFFAIRS CHIEF
Universal Music has promoted Adam Barker to the role of Director Of Business Affairs for its UK recordings division. He will basically replace Universal UK's Exec VP Clive Fisher, who is leaving the major after 33 years. Fisher plans to relocate to the US, but will still work as an advisor to his former employer.

Barker joined Universal UK's Mercury division in a business affairs role in 2003 after three years as Commercial Director for Ministry Of Sound. Last year he was promoted to a new role at a Universal Music UK level supporting various parts of the business, including media partnerships, TV projects and catalogue marketing.

Confirming the latest promotion, Universal CEO David Joseph told CMU: "Adam is a smart, perceptive and experienced deal maker who clearly understands the new commercial opportunities for our artists and labels. I'm delighted he's accepted this position".

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WARNER/CHAPPELL APPOINTS NEW MARKETING HEAD
Warner Music's publishing company Warner/Chappell yesterday announced the appointment of former Arts Council marketeer Clara Goldsmith to the new role of Head Of Creative Marketing. I don't know whether that means all of Warner/Chappell's previous marketing activity has been of the uncreative variety.

In the new role, Goldsmith will be charged with the task of looking for new marketing platforms, brand partnerships and cross media opportunities for the songs and songwriters represented by the publishing company.

Warner/Chappell UK MD Richard Manners told CMU: "The modern entertainment industries are using music in an ever-multiplying number of ways. The creation of this role underlines our commitment to ensuring the full spectrum of our repertoire benefits from these new opportunities. Clara's experience, creativity and strategic thinking will be valuable as we expand the first-class services we provide our songwriters and composers to help them engage with brands and music fans".

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UNIVERSAL TO LICENCE LAST.FM DIRECTLY
Universal Music has announced it will licence all of Last.fm's streaming services directly, rather than via collecting societies like PPL, according to Music Week. Previously some elements of Last.fm's offering in the UK were licensed by the music major directly, while others were covered by PPL licences.

The use of collecting societies, or not, in the digital domain is a big debate in the music business just now, of course, with regards to both recording and publishing rights. Unlike, say, with radio, there is no obligation on rights owners to license digital services through a central collecting society. In the main the record companies have chosen to licence digital services directly, while the publishers have chosen to licence many of their digital rights through societies, but the situation is in a constant state of flux.

Most in the industry agree the current system for licensing digital music platforms is not ideal, but there is disagreement as to how things should change. Some reckon all digital rights should be licensed through collecting societies, so that digital service providers would only need two or three licences from relevant societies in each territory, and would be charged industry-wide standard rates, opening up the market to digital start-ups who can't afford to pay large upfront advances.

Others argue that all digital rights should be licensed directly by labels and publishers, cutting out collecting societies completely. Although this would mean digital service providers would have to negotiate their own rates and terms with each major music company and indie label aggregator, some say that this way rights owners could offer multi-territory, or even global, licenses, actually simplifying things for digital companies with ambitions to operate worldwide.

In reality, Universal cutting PPL out of the Last.fm relationship isn't that big a deal. The record labels have generally kept their collecting societies out of digital deals anyway, with only the most simple of interactive radio services (so, Pandora style) being covered by PPL licences (though arguably Mixcloud have pushed the boundaries on that a little). But, following EMI's recent decision to take some of its publishing rights away from US collecting society ASCAP in the digital domain, Universal's move is seen by some as part of a trend of big rights owners pulling away from the collective licensing system for digital just at a time when others are arguing they should be embracing that approach full on.

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GLOBAL RADIO CHIEF APPOINTED RADIO ACADEMY CHAIR
Well, some smaller operators in the commercial radio sector might say that Global Radio chief Ashley Tabor already pretty much dominates their main trade body RadioCentre, so he might as well control the radio industry's other trade organisation too.

The boss of the UK's biggest radio firm has been named as the new Chairman for the Radio Academy, the organisation that organises the annual Sony Awards and Radio Festival, and offers a range of professional development opportunities for radio types from both the BBC and the commercial sector.

Tabor takes over from outgoing Chair, BBC Radio's Bob Shennan. The BBC will still be represented in the body, though, with 5Live Controller Adrian Van Klaveren appointed Deputy Chair, and BBC Radio execs Ben Cooper and Chris Burns both appointed trustees.

Confirming the new board appointments, the Academy's CEO, John Myers, told reporters: "I am delighted to welcome Ashley to the chairmanship of The Academy. He is part of the new phase of our industry and I'm sure his passion and enthusiasm will have a big impact".

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FRITH LEAVES TIME OUT
Mark Frith is to step down as Editor of Time Out after two and a half years with the London listings magazine. Former Heat Editor Frith was brought in to the entertainment title as it struggled to compete with rival listings and review services online.

Many expected (and some Time Out purists feared) the man who totally reinvented Heat once in charge there, creating a hugely successful celeb magazine in the process, might make similarly dramatic changes at Time Out, especially once equity group Oakley Capital took a stake in the Time Out company, bringing with them lots of cash. But any changes this time round were much more subtle.

Confirming Frith's departure from the magazine, which continues to lose readers year on year, Time Out's CEO David King told reporters: "Mark has helped us through a period of huge change. He has been a great ambassador for the magazine and I have really enjoyed working with an editor with such a strong, commercial focus. His impact has been substantial and we wish him well".

Frith himself added: "I've loved my two and a half years at Time Out and am over the moon with the success we've had but I'm very ambitious and feel now is the right time to take on a new challenge. To leave on the high of our second PPA Magazine Of The Year win is just perfect".

Time Out's Content Director Tim Arthur will fill in as Editor of the magazine until a replacement is found.

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DAPPY CALLS OUT POP CHEATERS
N-Dubz's Dappy has said that he considers any artist who gets a song they didn't write themselves into the charts to be "cheating". And he feels that same about rappers who don't do their own choruses.

He told Bang Showbiz: "People who don't write their own songs shouldn't be allowed to be release them in the charts. We've come from nothing and wrote all our own stuff. Rappers who only feel they can rap and not do the chorus and let someone else do the chorus, that's cheating as well. Do the whole tune, three and a half minutes by yourself and I'll take you seriously".

N-Dubz are currently on hiatus while the trio's members work on solo projects. Presumably anything Dappy releases will feature no guests or outside help.

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LIAM BRANDS NOEL A LIAR
Liam Gallagher has expanded on his tweet that followed his brother Noel's previously reported press conference last week. Having simply sent out a message reading "SHITBAG" to his followers, after Noel announced his two new solo albums and spoke about the break-up of Oasis, he's now branded his brother "a liar".

In particular, Liam took exception to comments Noel made about his clothing label, Pretty Green. Noel said last week: "I'd never had enough of Oasis - I'd had enough of him. It started to unravel when he started his clothing label and he demanded that in the Oasis tour programme he be allowed to advertise. And I didn't think it was right for him to be flogging his gear to our fans. There was a massive row about it. It slowly went downhill after that".

But Liam told Radio 1 in an interview broadcast last night: "In my opinion - he's a control freak. He's making up lies to get brownie points. I have never ever had a conversation with him about Pretty Green or anything. Them words, 'Pretty Green', have never come out of my mouth with Noel Gallagher. Ever. Him saying it's the demise of Oasis - I'm not having it".

He continued: "It's time he woke up. He's no angel. I'm partly to blame but I'm not solely to blame. It's breaking my heart. People need to know that it wasn't just me who split the band up, it was Noel too. [He was] being rude to people who'd been working for us for eighteen years. I bring it up to him, tell him to wind his neck in and he didn't like being told".

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