STEVE JOBS STEPS DOWN AS APPLE CEO
Apple Inc yesterday announced that Steve Jobs was stepping down as the company's CEO, and that he would become Chairman instead. Jobs, of course, has been on sick leave for some time, leaving the day-to-day running of the IT firm, with its huge influence on all things music, to his top team. One of those top teamers, Tim Cook, currently COO, will take over as Chief Executive, and also get a seat on the company's board.

In his resignation letter Jobs wrote: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you".

Although Jobs didn't give any specific reason for stepping down as CEO at this time, his health has been a concern for a few years, particularly since he had a liver transplant in 2009 after surviving pancreatic cancer. Jobs' decision to formally stand down as Chief Executive now may be more about keeping investors happy than because of any significant change in his health.

Jobs has been a very popular leader among the investment community, so much so that every time speculation about his health circulated Apple's share price wobbled. With that in mind, some shareholders, recognising that it is unlikely that Jobs will ever be able to return to a full-on full-time executive role at the company, have been pushing the firm's board to reveal a decent succession plan. Keeping Jobs involved as Chairman of the board is a sensible move to ensure Apple still benefits from his expertise, but that concerns about his health will have less of an impact on the day-to-day running of the business.

Paying tribute to Jobs' role in the revival of Apple, an IT firm at one point written off but now one of the most powerful in the world, fellow board member Art Levinson said yesterday: "Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration".

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SYL JOHNSON CONSIDERING LITIGATION OVER KAN-Z TRACK
Soul singer Syl Johnson and archive label Numero Uno are threatening legal action against Jay-Z, Kanye West and Universal's Def Jam label over the use of a sample on Kan-Z's recent collaborative album 'Watch The Throne'.

Via a post on the company blog, Numero Uno says that the hip hop duo sampled Johnson song 'Different Strokes' on their track 'The Joy' without permission. It adds that it had been in talks with Def Jam about West using the sample of his previous album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', but could not reach an agreement. There had been no talk, the music company adds, of the same sample being used on 'Watch The Thone".

Numero Uno's blog concludes: "Island Def Jam seems to think that Syl doesn't have any fight left in him. We're betting otherwise".

The Universal division is yet to respond.

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MUTYA WINS SUGABABES TRADEMARK, SORT OF
So, those of you with good memories for music-related trademark disputes will remember how, in November 2009, Mutya Buena applied for ownership of the name of her former group Sugababes. Although she had quit the outfit in 2005, in late 2009 only a few months had passed since her former bandmate Keisha Buchanan had done likewise, resulting in no original members being in the outfit.

It turned out that neither the management company nor the label who oversee the Sugababes operation had ever thought to register the name as a trademark in the UK or EU, meaning in theory it was up for grabs, though said management and label indicated they would submit an objection to Buena's application anyway, on the basis that they had a better claim to the mark in an entertainment context.

All went quiet, and Buena indicated that she might withdraw her application anyway. But, it seems, she did not, and so an objection to the application was duly submitted, presumably by management or Universal Music. However, yesterday the singer announced via Facebook that her application had been successful and that she was now the rightful owner of the Sugababes mark. A disaster for the current incarnation of the girl group, right?

Well, possibly not. When you register trademarks you have to pick the sectors in which you will trade using the registered name. Bands would usually go for 'video/sound recordings' and 'entertainment services' for starters, whereas Buena seems to have been granted use of the name for 'paper products and stationery', which you might want for band merchandise purposes, but doesn't seem to be enough to stop the current Sugababes line-up from recording or performing under that name.

Still, Buena seems very please with herself, so that's nice. And I'm sure there'll be big demand for the Sugababes writing set.

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LIAM DROPS LIBEL CLAIM AGAINST NOEL
Liam Gallagher has reportedly dropped his lawsuit, in which he accused his brother Noel of lying about some of the reasons Oasis split in 2009.

As previously reported, Liam sued Noel earlier this month over comments he made at a press conference in July, particularly a claim that the band's 2009 headline set at the Chelmsford leg of V Festival was due to Liam having a hangover.

In a webchat with fans earlier this week, Noel said: "For the record, it is a fact that Liam was diagnosed with laryngitis and it is fact he had a doctor's note to prove it. But I'd just like to say that if he gets offended by opinions on such things then I apologise. It's all getting very silly and a bit out of hand and it's not very cool".

Whether it was the apology of the accusation that he wasn't being cool that got Liam's attention, we can't be sure. But he has apparently now dropped his case against Noel. An unnamed source told The Sun: "Liam had spoken to his mum Peggy and she was upset by the whole episode. That was playing on his mind then he had a moment of realisation that Noel wasn't being vindictive - he was just being cheeky. It was an anger that had built up over two years because he was so angry Oasis was over".

They continued: "In the cold light of day he realised his brother was actually being quite calm about it all, and decided a legal battle was a bad idea. Hopefully that will draw a line under it all and everyone can move on".

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FRANK DILEO DIES
Former Michael Jackson manager Frank DiLeo died yesterday from complications arising from heart surgery, which he underwent in March of this year. He was 63.

Born in 1947 in Pittsburgh, DiLeo began his career in the music industry distributing records to stores in the city shortly after leaving high school in the late 60s. After a number of other jobs in the industry, he was hired to work in sales and promotion for Epic Records in 1968. He then moved to RCA and Bell Records before leaving the music industry and returning to Pittsburgh in the early 70s.

In 1979, he returned to Epic as Vice President of National Promotion, helping the company to more than triple its revenues in only a few years. The company's biggest success was the 1982 release of 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson, who asked DiLeo to become his manager in 1984.

While managing Jackson, DiLeo orchestrated what was arguably the singer's most successful period as a solo artist, which included his Pepsi endorsement deal and his feature film, 'Moonwalker'. However, the relationship ended abruptly and without explanation in 1989. He briefly acted as the singer's manager again in 2009, prior to Jackson's death.

DiLeo remained active in management, working with artists such as Taylor Dayne, Jodeci and, briefly, The Jackson in the 90s. More recently, his Nashville-based company, Dileo Entertainment Group had been concentrating on emerging artists, and launched a publishing arm.

As well as working in the music industry, DiLeo also acted in several films in the 90s, most notably playing the character of Tuddy Cicero in 'Goodfellas', as well as appearing as record company executive Frankie Sharp in both of the 'Wayne's World' films.

DiLeo is survived by his wife, a son and daughter, and one grandson.

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50 CENT DISCUSSES INTERSCOPE
With his ongoing beef with Interscope still, er, ongoing, 50 Cent has spoken to MTV to discuss some of his issues with the label.

As previously reported, having said his fifth studio album was 80% complete at the start of the year, he took to Twitter last month to tell fans not to expect that record any time soon, saying: "Man I'm not releasing an album... I can't believe Interscope is this fucked up right now. I apologise to all my fans. I will work with other artists on their projects but I will not put out another album. They dropped the ball with me one time too many... they can't seem to get it right when it comes to me".

This week, he said that he has major problems with how the company has handled his latest record, 'Black Magive', which he says will be his last for the company. He told MTV: "To this point, I've recorded more than enough material for it. It's interesting, I've taken more time than I usually take on this record. It's actually my final requirement. My fifth album and the final requirement for Interscope. I had some difficulties with the actual system. There are people there that are afraid to lose their job; they've seen other people get fired. I think they're afraid to make some decisions that need to be made right away, they just sit and look".

"We've had some conversations communicated to develop plans for different things and it's not actually executed in the time plan that we've created. And I get frustrated and I start doing things, like I put the record out. I condition my core audience to hear me a lot, because I perform at least two albums worth of material before I actually release the album. And when they don't hear aggressive content, they turn their nose up at material, unless it's already worked on radio".

"I have issues with the actual company but any artists that doesn't have issues with the company, they're probably on one album and haven't released a record. It doesn't actually mean that I don't like the company because all the success I've had in my career has been with Interscope records. It's just a frustration at different points - like I had a song just go out and it was in their position, they were moving around to actually make the music video for it and then they go 'ok, I don't want that song no more' because it's been presented in the wrong way to the public".

"Then people go 'I don't like this, I like this, I don't know!' - there's no event to it. It's not difficult when you've recorded 40 songs, it's like so what? If you only have one song, you should just go jump off the song. Go get it".

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DECCA TO RELEASE MCCARTNEY BALLET
Decca will release a recording of Paul McCartney's debut ballet, which is due to premier in New York next month. Entitled 'Ocean's Kingdom', the album will be released in October next year.

The project was commissioned by the New York City Ballet. Last year, McCartney told the BBC: "I'm interested in doing things I haven't done before. That offer came up and I love writing music, the two went together and I said, 'Yeah'. So, I just accept things before I even know what I'm doing".

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CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH ANNOUNCE THIRD ALBUM
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will release their third album, 'Hysterical', on 12 Sep through V2. Produced by John Congleton, the release album's release will be preceded by a handful of live dates, with an appearance at the End Of The Road festival followed by headline shows at the Queens Social Club in Sheffield on 6 Sep and The Scala in London on 7 Sep.

Watch a teaser trailer for the album here: cdn.topspin.net/api/v2/widget/player/75175FirefoxHTML%5CShell%5COpen%5CCommand

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NAPSTER FILM IN THE WORKS
After Napster co-founder Sean Parker's prominent role in Facebook movie 'The Social Network', it was probably only a matter of time before a full-blown movie based on the file-sharing network was in the works. I say "probably", but a full-blown Napster movie is in the works right now. So, definitely, then.

Actually, director Alex Winter has been working on this project for a decade now, meaning it pre-dates 'The Social Network' by some distance. However, having originally been planned as a dramatised version of events, it is now being shot as a documentary.

Winter told Deadline: "The rise and fall of Napster and the birth of peer-to-peer file-sharing technology created by Shawn Fanning when he was a college student, changed music to movies, and made possible everything from Julian Assange, WikiLeaks to the iPod and Facebook. It became an expression of youth revolt, and contributed to a complete shift in how information, media and governments work. And it is a fascinating human story, where this eighteen year old kid invents a peer-to-peer file-sharing system, and brings it to the world six months later".

He added: "Nobody wanted to deal with this college kid and the music industry took a hard stance and focused on shutting him down. It's a grey area. I can understand Fanning's side, but I can also empathise with the horror that Metallica's Lars Ulrich felt when a single that wasn't even finished ended up on the radio".

According to Winter, both Fanning and Parker will appear in the film, as will various music industry execs and musicians.

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KID KOALA ANNOUNCES SUBDUED GRAPHIC NOVEL LAUNCH PARTY
Scratch artisan Kid Koala is to present an evening of intergalactic fun in honour of 'Space Cadet', his new graphic-novel-come-soundtrack, which is out via Ninja Tune on 19 Sep.

Comprising a story-related Q&A, character introductions, and a live performance of tracks from the 'Space Cadet' "still picture score", the one-off 'Music To Draw To' launch will take place on 13 Sep at the Material/Red Gallery on London's Rivington Street from 7pm. The only rule, according to the man himself, is "no dancing". Further details here: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=242376089134771

And for those wishing to brain up on the 'Space Cadet' scenario and its main protagonists, why not check out Kid Koala's recap, here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua9ZtvA4KXE

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LISTENER UK TOUR DATES
"Talk music" duo Listener, whose sound sits somewhere between Sage Francis and No Means No, are in the UK this week, playing some shows. They'll hit London next Tuesday, and if you're a CMU reader (which you are), you can get into their show at The Star Of Kings for just £3 if you send an email with the subject line 'CMU Listener' to [email protected].

Get an idea of what you're in for via this acoustic performance of 'Building Better Bridges': www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld6E5hvvD6U

Tour dates:

25 Aug: Brighton, The Hydrant
26 Aug: Southampton, The Joiners
27 Aug: Cheltenham, Greenbelt
28 Aug: Cheltenham, Greenbelt
29 Aug: Fleet, The Links Hotel
30 Aug: London, The Star Of Kings

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[PIAS] ANNOUNCES NEW WICHITA SALES PARTNERSHIP
The folks at [PIAS] have signed a global (excluding the US) sales and marketing deal with Wichita Recordings. In more concrete terms, this means [PIAS] will thereby handle the distribution of forthcoming releases from Wichita-signed artists including Kele Okereke, Los Campesinos!, The Cribs and Simian Mobile Disco. The deal brings about the end of a similar partnership with Universal's Cooperative.

Dick Green, who co-founded Wichita in 2000 with Mark Bowen, said this: "[PIAS]'s enthusiasm and commitment to the independent sector has always impressed us and we are very excited to start this new relationship. From the outset Wichita has been committed to developing acts internationally as well as domestically and the [PIAS] set up will allow us to pursue these objectives across both our established artists and some exciting new signings".

[PIAS] Group MD, Edwin Schroter added: "We are delighted to be working together with Mark and Dick and the many great artists they represent. I am sure that with their world-class roster and our broad range of services that they can tap into both in the UK and internationally, we can add another chapter to the already impressive Wichita success story". Hurrah!

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MYSPACE TO RELAUNCH AS MUSIC SERVICE
So, MySpace is going to reinvent itself as a music-centric service. Hmm, where have I heard that one before? Though this time that means anything not musical will likely be dumped from MySpace website.

We were expecting a press conference last week from the flagging social networking site's new owners, Specific Media, possibly with their newly appointed Creative Director Justin Timberlake on hand to offer some words of wisdom. That press event didn't happen, but the company's also newly appointed Senior VP Of Global Marketing, Al Dejewski, has told Ad Age that the new look MySpace will be 100% focused on music, suggesting everything the web firm has tried that wasn't music-related in the past was a big fat mistake.

Says Dejewski: "[In its eight year history] MySpace has been like young male adult who found a way to express himself through music but decided to bulk up on things like classified ads and horoscopes along the way. This young adult male needs to be put on a diet, we need to get it on P90X, clean its system and get back to its foundation. And we've found that foundation is music. No other music destination online today can claim the breadth of partnership we have with the four major music labels in addition to the tens of millions of independent artists and the libraries of their songs".

So that's something to look forward to, isn't it? A leaner, more musical MySpace. I give it to 2013.

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MUSIC WEEK APPOINTS NEW EDITOR
UK industry trade mag Music Week has appointed a new editor following its recent acquisition by Intent Media. Despite only recently undergoing a team revamp under previous owners UBM, the implication is that new boss Tim Ingham will build a new team around him as Intent tries to make the music business weekly a commercially viable operation. Ingham, who currently works for consumer-facing video game website CVG but previously worked for other Intent trade titles, will take over at Music Week on 3 Oct.

Confirming his new role, Ingham told reporters: "Entertainment media publications don't come much more respected than Music Week. Even more excitingly, it's a brand that carries an almighty potential, particularly online. My lifelong passion for music burns brighter than ever, and I'm ecstatic to take up such a prestigious role right in the belly of the business".

Ingham will be joined by Darrell Carter who will be the mag's Sales Manager, he already heading up sales for other music-related titles owned by Intent.

In other Music Week news, the trade mag admitted yesterday that the front page scoop on today's edition, that Lady Gaga is to work with 'X-Factor' finalist Cher Lloyd is, in fact, not true. The story was the result of a big of a misunderstanding when producer RedOne revealed the Gaga was working with Cher. He, of course, meant the Cher, and not 'X' wannabe Lloyd.

Admitting their error on their website yesterday, the mag's editorial team said: "Music Week has, of course, been 'flamed' online for [the error], and we accept all the barbs and brickbats in good grace. Tomorrow won't be any better than today, as the print edition will hit your desks with that completely erroneous story on, you guessed it, the front page. Ignore it. Please. Concentrate on the excellent news about record-breaking single sales, maybe. That's all totally true, promise".

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CALVIN HARRIS AND CHRIS BROWN MAKE UP
Calvin Harris and Chris Brown have patched up their differences, after Harris accused Brown of stealing his song 'I'm Not Alone' on his own single, 'Yeah 3x'.

Harris suffered a torrent of abuse from Brown fans after he tweeted: "Choked on my cornflakes when I heard new Chris Brown single this morning. [Just] because Chris Brown is an international celebrity doesn't make it OK to rip off a guy from UK not many people have heard of".

The incident even made it into the prestigious CMU Beef Of The Week column. But it's all water under the bridge now, as Brown gave Harris half of the royalties from the track. Harris revealed to BBC Newsbeat this week: "He phoned me up. He was gutted about the whole situation. Once he heard the original he was like: 'Wow. OK", and sorted it out. He gave me half that track ... We're fine. We're great. Chris Brown's like my best mate now".

Harris isn't the only person to try to patch things up with Brown. Let's all watch Fox News presenter Andy Levy's 'apology' one more time.

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