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

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 7 Sep

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

SPOTIFY TO ARRIVE IN THE US TODAY
Spotify is widely expected to finally launch in the US later today, having secured a last minute licensing deal with Warner Music yesterday, according to the New York Times. It means the popular European streaming platform will arrive in America with music from all four major record companies in its catalogue. An announcement is expected at 8am New York time (1pm in the UK).

As much previously reported, Spotify has been eager to launch Stateside for some time, but struggled to convince the American counterparts of the record companies who had licensed the service in Europe to sign up. US label execs expressed concerns about the ad-funded free-to-access version of Spotify, not convinced an ad-funded service can work long term, and worried that in the short term the freemium offer would hinder the growth of the various subscription-based music platforms that have been gaining traction in the American market, including Rhapsody and MOG.

In the end they were talked round through a combination of big upfront advances and a limitation of the freemium offer, limits also put in place in Europe of course. It is expected that Spotify USA will offer the same three levels of service as currently available in Europe - a free limited-play preview service, an all-you-can-eat service for five dollars a month, and a smart-phone compatible service for ten dollars a month. Sign-ups will initially be controlled to an extent by a register-and-wait-for-your-invite system. Registrations, of course, opened last week.

It is expected that Spotify will be one of the services to be bundled into Facebook's long mooted music channel, which will offer various music services within the Facebook platform. There had been speculation that Facebook may launch their music add-on in sync with Spotify's arrival Stateside, though that now seems unlikely.

Spotify, of course, has bold ambitions about its American expansion, even though the US is arguably a much more competitive market place in the digital music domain. But there is certainly an excitement about the prospect of Spotify launching amongst much of the US music community that hasn't really been seen before for a brand new digital service.

Of course, arguably the 'wow' factor that Spotify launched with in Europe - all that music, all the time, for free - has now gone, so it remains to be seen if what the Americans get lives up to what they've been expected. But certainly Britney Spears is excited. She tweeted last night: "So excited Spotify is FINALLY coming to the US tomorrow! Getting my playlists ready now".

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GEORGE CLINTON SUES HIS FORMER LAWYERS
George Clinton is suing his former lawyers, claiming they failed to pursue two copyright actions that he hired them to undertake, and instead launched a royalties lawsuit against Universal Music which, the Parliament-Funkadelic frontman claims, they bungled and, as a result, he lost.

Clinton is suing Seattle-based Hendricks & Lewis, and one of its partners Oscar Yule Lewis Jr. He says he originally hired the law firm to launch a legal action under America's Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organisations Act in a bid to regain ownership rights to certain Funkadelic master recordings that he says were "misappropriated" by a former manager. Clinton adds that he chose Hendricks & Lewis because they had done similar work for the Jimi Hendrix estate.

But, he alleges, Lewis Jr advised him that as a RICO action would be expensive, he should first pursue legal action against Universal Music which, it was thought, owed the funk man royalties. Monies generated from that action could be used to fund the RICO action.

However, Clinton alleges in his new lawsuit, Lewis messed up the royalties action against Universal, by misinterpreting contracts, failing to name Clinton's company Thang Inc as a claimant, and failing to deal with issues thrown up by America's Statute Of Limitations. When the case started to untangle, Clinton says, Lewis tried to bail on the royalties action, basically killing it off.

Meanwhile Clinton was charged $3.5 million in fees relating to the Universal lawsuit, which would have been more than enough to pursue the original RICO action the bandleader had hired Lewis for in the first place. Plus, Clinton's lawsuit continues, at the same time Lewis failed to pursue a more straight forward copyright action against a label called Charly Records, which were selling certain Funkadelic recordings without permission. Charly Records, Clinton says, was up for negotiating some sort of settlement which would have included a $200,000 advance, but Lewis failed to enter into negotiations.

The Funkadelic chief is seeking over $10 million in damages from the lawsuit. Lewis, for his part, says he has a very different recollection of events. He says his company worked hard for Clinton for three and a half years, and is owed a lot of money for that work, and that it is their attempts to get paid their fees that has led to this malpractice claim.

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FOXY BROWN MOONING CHARGE DROPPED
Rapper Foxy Brown has had a charge of breaching a restraining order, relating to an incident where she mooned her neighbour last year, dropped. The neighbour (and holder of the restraining order) refused to testify when the matter came to court yesterday, resulting in Brown going free.

As previously reported, Brown was arrested in July last year after a fracas involving her and neighbour Arlene Raymond at her Brooklyn home, the same neighbour that the rap lady threw her Blackberry at back in 2007, which resulted in the restraining order. The breach was the last remaining of seven felony and misdemeanour charges in relation to the fracas, six of which a grand jury dismissed last September. Assistant District Attorney Robert Isdith told the judge yesterday: "[Raymond] wanted this matter behind her. She wanted to drop the charges".

However, Raymond has already won a civil case against Brown in relation to this run in. In May, a judge gave a default judgement after Brown failed to respond to the lawsuit, ruling in favour of Raymond's claims of emotional distress, slander, and outrageous conduct. Another hearing on that lawsuit is scheduled for 21 Jul.

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FORMER QOTSA MAN IN TWO HOUR STAND OFF WITH POLICE
So, earlier in the week the bassist from Coheed And Cambria held up a pharmacy with a fictional bomb, and now Nick Oliveri, formerly of Queens Of The Stone Age, has had a two hour face off with a SWAT team from the LAPD. It's all kicking off on planet rock.

According to TMZ, police officers swooped on the LA home of Oliveri, who now fronts his own band Mondo Generator, after reports of a domestic incident. The rocker initially refused to allow them into the property and, with fears he had a high powered rifle to hand, police chiefs called in a SWAT team resulting in a two hour siege.

Oliveri eventually gave himself up. He was arrested on charges of domestic violence and released on $100,000 bail.

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PJ HARVEY AND ADELE FAVOURITES FOR MERCURY
The shortlist for this year's Mercury Prize won't be announced until next Tuesday, but already the betting is hotting up, with Adele and PJ Harvey named favourites to win. I think it's probably safe to say both their albums will be on the shortlist. But then the one person I was sure would be on it last year was left off, so what do I know?

PJ Harvey has won the award before, in 2001, with her 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea' album. That doesn't mean she shouldn't get it again though, because she should.

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PALOMA FAITH FRUSTRATED WITH SECOND ALBUM PROGRESS
Paloma Faith has said she is frustrated with the slow progress of her second album, which she is currently recording. She released her debut, 'Do You Want The Truth Or Do You Want Something Beautiful?', in 2009.

The singer told Bang Showbiz: "The album's not finished yet and I'm not sure when it will be. If I had my way it would be out tomorrow, but there are so many other people involved that nothing happens quickly. If you're in a band in this business, you can group together and make things happen, or stand up for what you really believe in. When you're on your own it's much harder. I suppose you have to be hard nosed. I'm not afraid to say what I think, but I tend to back down too often".

At least some of her frustrations are with her label, Sony Music's Epic. She continued: "We all have to bend sometimes. Epic [did back] the release of the album's title track which wasn't an obvious single, but you definitely have the feeling there's less time to prove yourself or develop as an artist than you might have on an independent label".

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BLINK 182 TO PREMIERE NEW SINGLE THIS WEEK
Blink 182 will premiere the first single from their new album, their first since reforming in 2009, tomorrow.

Announcing the news on Google+, the band's Mark Hoppus revealed that the song, entitled 'Up All Night', would get its first play on KROQ in LA at 10.30am EST (that's 3.30pm in the UK).

You'll also be able to hear the track at www.kroq.radio.com and www.blink182.com.

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THE DRUMS ANNOUNCE ALBUM DETAILS AND TOUR
The Drums have announced details of their previously teased new album, 'Portamento', revealing the tracklist and first single, as well as a handful of intimate London shows.

Of the album, frontman Jonny Pierce says, "This new album touches on everything from my extreme religious roots to transgenderism to violence, and of course there's plenty of heartbreak stuff, which I couldn't get away from even if I tried".

In the run-up to their appearance at Bestival, the band will play low-key (ish) shows at London's Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, The Lexington, and XOYO on 5, 6 and 7 Sep respectively. And you can hear the single, 'Money, here now.

The album will be released by Moshi Moshi on 12 Sep.

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RAPPER BLACK MILK UNVEILS JACK WHITE COLLABORATION
Housing a diverse list of resident artists that includes roots-rockers The Dead Weather, gnarled bluesman Seasick Steve and even chat-show pundit Steven Colbert, Jack White's Nashville-based Third Man Records is set to put out its first hip hop release, the new single from Detroit MC and producer Black Milk.

Titled 'Brain', the song is a brassy, bombastic affair that features co-producer White on drums, and was recorded live as part of a lengthy performance at Third Man's label HQ back in April of this year. Black Milk looks set to further prove his worth as the lone rap contingent on an otherwise rock-dominated label roster, having announced future plans to release an album brimming with more live cuts from the aforementioned Nashville show.

Stream 'Brain' here and its b-side 'Royal Mega' (on which White turns up again, toting a guitar this time) here.

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WEEZER TO TAKE FANS ON CRUISE
Weezer have announced a cruise. That's right, a cruise on the ocean. In a boat. With Weezer. And other bands. But mainly Weezer.

The ship will sail from 19-21 Jan, and will feature two shows by Weezer, as well as a Q&A session and a chance for all on board to have their picture taken with the band. As well as that, bands including Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Wavves, The Antlers, Yuck and Boom Bip will play. It will be amazing. I must go. Someone sort that out for me, please.

More information can be found here: www.theweezercruise.com

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ZOLA JESUS ANNOUNCES ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW
As previously reported, Zola Jesus will release her latest album, 'Conatus', via Souterrain Transmissions on 26 Sep. And now she's announced that on that very same day, she will perform live at the Toynbee Hall theatre in London.

Tickets are available now, and here's a song from that new album to listen to while you book them: soundcloud.com/souterraintransmissions/vessel-zola-jesus

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ALOE BLACC ANNOUNCES UK TOUR
Aloe Blacc will be back in the UK again in December, playing a whole load of shows up and down the country, including one at the Hammersmith Apollo. He's come a long way in the last few months, that boy.

Anyway, tickets go on sale on Friday, and here are the dates:

3 Dec: Birmingham, Institute
4 Dec: Leeds, Academy
5 Dec: Nottingham, Rock City
7 Dec: Manchester, Academy
8 Dec: Newcastle, Academy
9 Dec: Sheffield, Plug
11 Dec: Liverpool, Academy
12 Dec: Glasgow, ABC
13 Dec: Bristol, Academy
15 Dec: London, Hammersmith Apollo
16 Dec: Brighton, Dome

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

KANTAZIP REPUBLIC, Crimea, Ukraine, 30 Jul - 27 Aug: The first slew of announcements for Crimea's premier music event includes such beat-making types as Groove Armada, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Aeroplane, Danny Howells, Richie Hawtin and James Zabiela. A DJ set from Pendulum is also on the cards, which should all make for some momentous nineteenth birthday celebrations for this venerable electro soiree. www.kazantip-republic.com

RELENTLESS BOARDMASTERS, Watergate Bay, Cornwall, 10-14 Aug: Newton Faulkner looks set to get his dreads all sand-logged at this year's Boardmasters bash, finding himself freshly booked as a special musical guest at an intimate Beach Sessions gig, which will be held on 11 Aug as part of the main festival. He joins the likes of Fatboy Slim, Eliza Doolittle and Bombay Bicycle Club on the overall line-up. www.relentlessboardmasters.com

LOVEBOX, Victoria Park, London, 15-17 Jul: With Lovebox literally due to kick off, like, tomorrow, organisers have boosted their bill with some last-minute additions including Is Tropical, Losers, The Correspondents and Engine-Earz. They join Snoop Dogg, Lykke Li, Scissor Sisters and 2manydjs on the bill. www.lovebox.net

THE WICKERMAN FESTIVAL, East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, 22-23 Jul: Pigeon Detectives lead a score of new introductions to this year's Wickerman roster, which also features Feeder, The Coral, Echo & The Bunnymen, Noisettes, The Hoosiers, Craig Charles Funk and From The Jam. www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Sonisphere 2011
Last weekend saw the third year of Sonisphere in the UK, and it's first outing as a three-day event. It also boasted the 'Big Four' of thrash metal, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth (insert metal roar here).

After arriving on site and having a 20 minute walk to the guest campsite (no shuttle bus this year), I rushed on over to watch grunge revivalists Japanese Voyeurs. I bloody love grunge and having already watched this band at my first metal festival of the year a month ago, I couldn't wait to see these guys again. Playing in a similar sized tent, this time around it was even more packed out. No one was disappointed with the band's 90s-grunge-style set, filled with some amazing riffs. And I'd be surprised if anyone there didn't fall head over heels for frontwoman Romily.

Having spent the afternoon mainly getting familiar with the site, things kicked off properly for me when Slayer hit the main stage. Although slightly missing the mark - to be honest, they'd have maybe been better in a tent where they could have created a bigger atmosphere - it was certainly worth seeing these thrash metal legends at work, and definitely a good way to get in the mood for Metallica. Headlining the first night, Metallica hit the stage with everything they had, including the compulsory pyrotechnics. Living up to their 2009 headline performance, they even included by favourite 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', which seemed to be a high point for the rest of the crowd too.

On Saturday, I found out that the best way to wake up and nurse a hangover is to go and watch Gallows perform. At first I was hesitant to see them playing on an outdoor stage, compared to watching them in the Bohemia Tent last year, but I was quickly proven wrong. Frank was completely on form and pretty much spot on with his vocals (despite rumours of problems last year) and managed to whip the crowd up into a frenzy, getting them to form a circle pit around the sound booth, which even I was tempted to join. Declaring it as one of the band's last performances with Frank, it definitely did the band justice, with all of them as thirsty as ever throughout the performance and ending with friends and manager joining them on stage for a singalong, aw.

Next up was a trip to the smaller Jagermeister Stage to see The Virginmarys. Having already heard great things about these guys and having been gutted to miss them at Download, they totally won me over with their set. There was amazing playing, particularly from the drummer, and lead singer Ally's vocals reminded me of a mix of Robert Plant and Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale.

Another highlight of the day, and probably one of my favourites of the weekend, were Weezer. The band kicked off with 'Sweater Song' and pretty much played a set full of their greatest numbers. They even threw in a cover of Wheatus' 'Teenage Dirtbag', sounding better than the original and performed with dry humour from geekily cool Rivers, and the pinnacle of delight was another cover, of Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android'.

A surprising highlight of the weekend for me were Biffy Clyro on Saturday, who had the crowd sucked in from the start and definitely lived-up to their headline-status. They even had me singing along to 'Mountains' with true conviction.

So, final day at Sonisphere and very much partied out, I dragged myself out of my tent for Motorhead - who would want to miss out on some Lemmy action! Again, like Slayer, it was slightly flat on atmosphere, but still one not to miss. Next up were nu-metal titans Limp Bizkit. Having not being a fan until spending a lot of the weekend dancing to a friend's boombox which was blaring out the new album and shouting "douche bag" at every opportunity (yeah that was me/us), this set totally ruled for me. They are now my favourite band that I don't particularly like, which is probably a good thing seeing as I appeared to know a lot of the lyrics to most of their songs. But then everyone knows the words to 'Rollin', don't they?!

Bill Bailey proved to be a good in-between point before Sunday's headliners, throwing in some well-needed funniness to detract from the rain. I very much enjoyed singing along and chanting "Hey Asda, I ain't gonna be your bitch!" Good fun.

The final act of the weekend were mask-wearing heroes Slipknot. I didn't get to see them at Reading a few years back after they pulled out, so this was one band in particular I couldn't wait for - and even with the heavy rain nearly tipping me over the edge and sending me home, they were definitely my favourite of the weekend (or possibly joint with Weezer). The set was full of energy with a setlist covering all four albums, and ended on a rather emotional note with the band paying tribute to the late Paul Gray with an added orange jumpsuit placed on stage at the end of the set.

All in all, a definite four metal stars out of five (minus-ing one for the rain). GS

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UNIVERSAL PUBLISHING US TO CRUNCH STREAMING ROYALTIES
Universal Music Publishing in the US has announced it will start using data management services from a company called Crunch Digital to monitor and manage royalties generated by streaming music platforms. According to Crunch, its PDX Service "centralises data flow under licenses from publishers to the licensed music services and improves the accuracy of royalty reporting".

Confirming their deal with Universal's publishing division, Crunch Digital's CEO Keith Bernstein told reporters: "We found that the reporting and collection methods in the marketplace for music publishers licensing digital services aren't working. Inaccurate reporting means less money going into pockets of publishers and songwriters. Universal is one of the largest music copyright owners, so choosing Crunch Digital as a data partner can help simplify reporting for the digital music services while improving Universal's collections".

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GAGA'S YOUTUBE ACCOUNT SUSPENDED
So, this is strange. Lady Gaga's official YouTube channel is currently offline because of "multiple or severe violations of YouTube's Copyright Policy". What has the Gaga been doing exactly? Have Team YouTube decided, once and for all, that 'Born This Way' really is just Madonna's 'Express Yourself' with different lyrics?

Well, according to Time Out Tokyo, the page has been suspended because she, or her people, uploaded footage from her recent appearance on Japanese TV show 'SMAP x SMAP', and the makers of the show seemingly did not approve and got their people to issue the video site with a cease and desist.

It hasn't affected her presence on the YouTube-powered VEVO, but for now there's no official Gaga presence on YouTube.

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HYPE MACHINE FAST FORWARDS
Music-blog aggregator Hype Machine has launched a new service offering a new way to browse through all the blogs it aggregates.

Called Fast Forward, the new service shows a screen grab of a blog page and automatically plays a preview of the track that is embedded in the post. Users can either click on the screen grab and be taken to the blog itself, or skip onto the next blog-grab-with-track-preview, or 'heart' the track to add it to their Hype Machine favourites for later listening. Users can filter the posts and tracks shown by genres and such like.

Announcing the new service, Hype Machine's Anthony Volodkin wrote this week: "We've been thinking about this idea since 2009, and after some further inspiration, thought to push this experience further. Fast Forward is like a spinning radio dial across radio stations curated by music bloggers".

You can check Fast Forward at hypem.com/fast-forward/

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THE GUARDIAN'S PAUL LESTER JOINS AMAZING RADIO
Writer of The Guardian's New Band Of The Day column Paul Lester has been announced as the latest addition to unsigned bands digital radio station Amazing Radio's line-up of presenters.

Says Amazing Media Group CEO Paul Campbell: "I've admired Paul Lester's ear for new music from afar for ages and here at amazing we're all about new music, so I'm delighted that we've been able to persuade Paul to get behind the mic and play some of the great music he writes about so passionately".

And look, here's Paul himself with a few words: "I am delighted to have been offered a show on Amazing Radio and can't quite believe I'm going to be able to play some of my favourite new music and generally spread the word about how healthy the new music scene is in 2011 on such an exciting new station as Amazing".

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GMG RADIO LAUNCHES NEW MICROSITES WITH WE7 STREAMS
GMG Radio has launched a new microsite for each of its radio brands, Real, Smooth and Rock Radio, which offer back-to-back music streams based around genres or programmes on the stations. The streams come from We7 and are basically the previously reported Real, Smooth and Rock playlists that can also be found within the We7 platform. However, this way they appear like extra music services from the radio stations themselves.

Radio Today quote GMG Radio's Group Commercial Director Jonathan Gillespie added: "Our brands are available on all key listening platforms and this further enhances our online offering. In time we will also see new commercial opportunities for clients which will take sponsorship and advertiser funded programming to the next level".

In other We7 news, following the streaming music service's recent arrival in Belgium, they have now announced an alliance with Belgian social networking site Netlog, users of which will be able to recommend and share music via a We7 widget. The service will also be available to Netlog users in the UK.

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GAGA LATEST VICTIM OF AUSTRALIAN EGGING EPIDEMIC
Earlier this year, an Australian teenager was charged with breaking into a Justin Bieber concert and throwing eggs at the squeaky popstar. He was ordered to adhere to a six month good behaviour bond by Sydney Children's Court last month. However, it seems that this brush with the law has not put off his fellow country folk, who are still throwing eggs at popsters with gay abandon.

This week, it was the turn of Lady Gaga, who was targeted by an egg sniper outside Sydney's ARQ nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning. None of the eggs hit their intended target, though.

The identity of the thrower is unknown, but it seems they may have been lying in wait for some time. Earlier in the evening, the singer had hinted at where she may be found that evening when she tweeted: "Thinking of going out in Sydney tonight. How I wish we had a show. Nevermind, don't listen to me. Maybe I'll just go for a walk in the pARQ".

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MORRISSEY HAS FANS SEARCHED FOR MEAT, EJECTS FANSITE OWNER
According to The Mirror, so fearful is Morrissey that non-vegetarians might turn up at his shows, he's now having them searched for meat before they enter venues. Or at least, that's seemingly what happened at his recent show in Middlesborough.

Moz lover Mel Stokes told the tabloid: "As you went into the venue you were funnelled through to the top of some steps where they were carrying out searches. A member of the security staff then went through my bag and told me that they were checking to make sure that I was not carrying any meat products inside".

Omnivorous people do tend to have such an insatiable appetite for meat that they have to have some about their person at all times, but Stokes also noted: "I know that a few years ago Morrissey stopped a gig because someone was throwing sausages at him. [But] I think [this] was just Morrissey being a diva - again".

Meanwhile, in Denmark on Monday, it seems Morrissey had the owner of a fansite ejected from his show in Copenhagen before it even started. The singer and his band recently performed an encore in Bradford wearing t-shirts bearing the slogan "Fuck morrissey-solo.com", and when David Tseng, owner of the online forum, turned up at the Copenhagen show, he wasn't given a warm welcome.

Tseng wrote afterwards: "It's true, I was ejected before the show started by several of Morrissey's security/crew. They didn't give a reason other than 'you know what you did' which I assume is running this website. I went to get a refund at the ticket office but the Live Nation promoter denied it saying I had to take it up with the band".

So, that's fun. Let's just remember that Morrissey was bitten by a dog recently, so things do balance out in the long run.

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