GROOVESHARK EMAILS ON LABEL DEALS: IT'S EASIER TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS LATER THAN IT IS TO ASK FOR PERMISSION NOW
Emails from Grooveshark's Chairman, included in Universal Music's latest lawsuit against the controversial streaming music platform, indicate that the service's owners, Escape Media, deliberately set out to make large amounts of unlicensed music available, in order to build audience and generate user data; the plan being that once the firm reached a critical mass of users and stats, the big music companies wouldn't be able to afford to not do a deal with them.

As previously reported, Universal launched a new lawsuit against Grooveshark last week. The streaming platform allows users to upload content into its libraries, which other users can then access. Although it has licensing deals in place with EMI and a handful of indies, the user-upload element means Grooveshark's libraries contain many tracks from artists and labels with which it has no arrangements.

While various music types have cried foul regarding that fact, Grooveshark say that it operates a takedown system - removing unlicensed tracks if and when the company is made aware of them - giving it protection from copyright infringement claims under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

While many in the music business reckon Grooveshark pays only lip service to its takedown commitments, and others believe the streaming company is abusing the safe harbour clauses of the DMCA, this is a grey enough area of US copyright law that if a label was to sue, it could not be assured success in court. In fact precedent in American law suggests that Grooveshark may have a stronger case.

With that in mind, Universal has been trying to find a way to sue where the DMCA takedown defence would not stand up, and to that end last week said it had evidence that staff at Grooveshark itself - including key senior executives - had uploaded a lot of the unlicensed content that can be found on the streaming music platform. The DMCA safe harbours would not apply if it's the Grooveshark team, rather than users, uploading Universal's music. Grooveshark says Universal has deliberately misinterpreted data it provided (as part of an earlier lawsuit) in order to make these claims.

More of the legal papers submitted to court by Universal as part of its new lawsuit have now been made public, including emails from Sina Simantob, a partner in one of the investment firms backing Escape Media, who has also taken the post of Chairman of the digital music firm.

C-Net has published two of those emails, one seemingly an internal message to one of Grooveshark's founders, another to a possible investor, both of which seem to confirm the fears of many in the music business, that Grooveshark's plan is to screw over rights holders now, so they can grow to a point where content firms are forced to do licensing deals. Cynics would argue that YouTube, the company Grooveshark directors often cite (in the context of "if YouTube is legal, so are we"), pursued a similar strategy in its early days.

In one of the Simantob emails published by C-Net, the investment man writes to a Josh in late 2009, presumably Grooveshark co-founder Josh Greenberg. He notes: "The only thing that I want to add is this: we are achieving all this growth without paying a dime to any of the labels. My favourite story related to our case is the story of a kid who appears in front of the judge for sentencing for the crime of having murdered both his parents saying 'judge have mercy on me cuz I am an orphan'".

He continues: "In our case we use the label's songs till we get a 100 million uniques, by which time we can tell the labels who is listening to their music, where, and then turn around and charge them for the very data we got from them, ensuring that what we pay them in total for streaming is less than what they pay us for data mining. Let's keep this quite [sic] for as long as we can".

The second email, to a venture capitalist, comes from April 2010, and in it Simantob writes: "We bet the company on the fact that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. When EMI sued, everyone thought it is the end of the company. Once we settled that suit everyone said EMI was weak anyway so the real Goliath to beat is [Universal Music Group]. Well it took the boys a bit before they could re-group but I think these guys have a real chance to settle with UMG within a year and by that time, they'll be up to 35 million uniques and a force to be dealt with".

In reality Universal has never really looked likely to settle on this. As with LimeWire, the sense you get from insiders is that Universal just wants this company sued out of business. And emails like these are only going to add to the resentment felt at many record companies regarding digital firms who skirt around copyright laws to build audience, hoping that mega-user figures will ensure more favourable licensing terms down the line. (Of course some people, including some in the music business, would argue that if the record industry made it easier for digital start-ups to get licences they'd be less likely to go the "ask for forgiveness later" route Simantob advocates, though that's probably a debate for another day).

All that said, while the Simantob emails published by C-Net will piss off many in both the labels and artist community, they are not the smoking gun required by Universal to prove that Grooveshark staff members routinely upload unlicensed content to their own website, thereby committing copyright infringement. And Grooveshark maintains that Universal's evidence to back up that allegation - the aforementioned data and an anonymous blog post whose author claims to work at the digital firm - is weak.

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CHARLOTTE CHURCH GIVES EVIDENCE TO LEVESON
Well, someone from the music domain had to show up eventually, didn't they, the pop world being strangely absent from much of the Hack-gate scandal so far. OK, so we've had George Michael and Creation Records boss Alan McGee putting the boot in from the sidelines, but it's surprising how few music stars have been part of this story to date; perhaps the pop PR community so freely provide gossip to the tabs about their clients, that the journalists never needed to actually hack any pop stars' phones.

But yesterday a music person did finally appear before the government-instigated Leveson Inquiry into the seedier activities of the press. And it was Charlotte Church, in the tabs from childhood of course, who was on hand to describe the pressures inflicted on music stars who find themselves in the tabloid spotlight. Demonstrating the power - or, at least, the perceived power - of the papers in making or breaking stars in the entertainment business, Church revealed how - aged thirteen - she was urged to waive a £100,000 fee to sing at the wedding of Rupert Murdoch to his third wife Wendi Deng.

She says that she was told that Murdoch's people had proposed she might sing for free in return for a 'favour', ie positive coverage in the newspapers owned by Murdoch's News International, in particular, presumably, The Sun and the News Of The World. Both management and label, Church added, advised her to take the favour.

She continued: "I remember being told of the offer of the favour [from Murdoch's people] - to get good press - and I also remember, being thirteen, and thinking 'why would anyone take a favour of £100,000?'. But I was being advised by my management, and certain members of the record company, that he was a very, very powerful man and could certainly do with a favour of this magnitude".

The returned favour, though, was short-lived, given the tabloids, including Murdoch's papers, soon turned against the singer. She recalled: "I was initially marketed by an aggressive record company campaign in which I was branded 'the voice of an angel'. Little did I know, as a twelve year old, that this description would be used and distorted repeatedly to mock me in catchy tabloid headlines". She then recalled being "appalled" when, a few years later, The Sun had run a countdown to her sixteenth birthday, alluding to the fact that she was almost old enough to have consensual sex.

Honing in on other tabloid coverage of her personal life, she recalled how The Sun had revealed her first pregnancy before she had even told her family, saying: "I had not told anyone. I can't see how it came from any other area [other than phone hacking]. My family were really upset that I had not told them first".

More shocking, perhaps, was the News Of The World's reporting on her father's affair, and the impact that reporting had on her mother. Noting that the tabloid had already reported on her mother's mental health at the time, Church said "they knew how vulnerable she was, but still published the story. It just had a massive impact on my mother's health, her mental health". The fact the paper was reporting on her mother's condition also bothered Church, who adds "the only way they [could] know about that was either through [phone] hacking or the bribing of hospital staff".

Although, perhaps, Church's family suffered most from the tabloid intrusion, the singer added that it impacted on other friends and colleagues too, partly because, as the tabloids revealed secrets only a small group of people could have known, Church naturally found herself doubting the people around her - who was it that was leaking information to the press? Having subsequently discovered those secrets were probably obtained by phone hacking, Church admitted the guilt she now feels for having suspected others of providing stories to tabloid journalists.

You can read Church's full statement here: www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Witness-Statement-of-Charlotte-Church.pdf

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NEW QUESTIONS RAISED OVER WYCLEF JEAN'S CHARITY
Wyclef Jean's charity, the Yele Haiti Foundation, has come under new scrutiny after it was revealed that only a relatively small portion of the money it raised after the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010 was spent on relief efforts.

As previously reported, in January 2010 it was revealed that the accounts of the Foundation were closely intertwined with Jean's business enterprises. Jean initially hit out at the criticism, but eventually conceded that the charity was not as well run as it could be. He then stepped down from the charity later in the year as he launched a failed attempt to run for the Haitian presidency.

But now the New York Post has published claims that although the charity raised $16 million in 2010, tax records show that only $5.1 million was spent on disaster relief, and that over $1 million was given to a Miami-based "food distributor" called Amisphere Farm Labor Inc, which is apparently no longer trading (and never filed any paperwork after it was launched in 2008). The Post also discovered that Amisphere's CEO, Amsterly Pierre, bought three properties in Florida last year.

Commenting on this and other discrepancies, Bennerr Weiner of the Better Business Bureau said: "Given the fact that Yele Haiti was involved in a swirl of controversy after the earthquake in Haiti, it's all the more reason to be more transparent to ensure donors that their funds are going to help people".

However, Wyclef Jean denies many of The New York Post's claims, insisting his charity played a crucial role in providing relief for those affected by the Haiti earthquake, and that Amisphere did deliver in return for the monies paid to it. He told AllHipHop.com: "The NY Post piece entitled, 'Questions Dog Wyclef's Haiti Fund' is misleading, deceptive and incomplete. The Post conveniently fails to acknowledge that the decisions that Yele made were a response to one of the world's most catastrophic natural disasters in modern history and required an immediate humanitarian response".

He continued: "I am proud of the way that Yele handled the crisis on the ground in 2010. We were able to feed, clothe, provide medical assistance and shelter for more than 250 thousand people in need ... The Post never highlights that Amisphere Farm Labor was responsible for preparing and delivering close to 100,000 meals".

Read the New York Post article here: www.nypost.com/p/news/international/quandered_millions_hBeqPFQ6KfrdETKp0CjKII

And Wyclef Jean's statement here: allhiphop.com/2011/11/27/exclusive-wyclef-responds-to-new-allegations-surrounding-charity/

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IFPI SUES TPB ADMINS THROUGH FINNISH COURTS
The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has launched litigation in the Finnish courts against the current administrators of The Pirate Bay, calling on said unknown people to "stop facilitating the unauthorised distribution of music", and to pay compensation to the IFPI's members, and rights owners affiliated with Finland's Copyright Information And Anti-Piracy Center, which is also involved in the legal action.

Quite why the IFPI thinks the Finnish judiciary can succeed where the Swedish courts have failed - ie to actually take the rogue file-sharing website offline - isn't clear, although in reality the claim against the admins of TPB is a sideshow to the main action here, which is an attempt to get a court order forcing two Finnish ISPs, Sonera and DNA, to block access to the Pirate Bay site.

IFPI Finland successfully got such an order against another Finnish ISP, Elisa, earlier this year, although that net firm is appealing that ruling. If Elisa, Sonera and DNA were all forced to stop their customers from accessing The Pirate Bay, the IFPI say, that would block 80% of Finnish web users (or, at least, 80% of web users not tech savvy enough to circumvent ISP instigated blocks).

As previously reported, in the UK the BPI has also requested various ISPs block access to the Bay, citing the precedent set in the recent MPA v BT case over the file-sharing site Newzbin. The ISPs are yet to officially respond, though it is likely legal action will be required.

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TLC SINGER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
The 'T' of TLC - T-Boz, or Tionne Watkins - has filed for bankruptcy, according to TMZ. The gossip site reports that Watkins, one third of the one time chart topping girl group, has run up debts in excess of $700,000, and is struggling to pay off the mortgage on her $1.2 million home. Other reports suggest this is Watkin's second filing for bankruptcy this year. TMZ adds that the singer says she is owed $250,000 in child support payments from the father of her eleven year old daughter, rapper Mack 10.

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BUZZCOCKS TO REUNITE WITH HOWARD DEVOTO
The Buzzcocks will perform with co-founder Howard Devoto for the first time since 1977 next May, according to Louder Than War. Devoto formed the band with Pete Shelley in 1975, but left after the release of their debut EP, 'Spiral Scratch', subsequently forming Magazine.

According to LTW, Devoto will now join The Buzzcocks at the end of two upcoming shows, one in London and one in Manchester, and play with them on all four tracks from 'Spiral Scratch'. The dates are as follows.

25 May: Manchester, Apollo
26 May: London, Brixton Academy

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LANA DEL REY CHRISTENS DEBUT LP
So, it seems Interscope-signed starlet Lana Del Rey has inadvertently blurted out the title of her debut album to the world's ravening music press. The revelation came about as she was discussing her forthcoming single, 'Born To Die', during an appearance on French television show 'Tarantata', when she remarked that her album would bear the same name. A tentative release date of 23 Jan, which reports claim Del Rey also divulged in the same interview, has been attached to the LP.

Perhaps this was all just a contrived means of revealing the news. Perhaps Lana needs media training. Possibly both.

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ODD FUTURE'S MIKE G DROPS EP
Rapper Mike G, one of the more silken-voiced affiliates of Odd Future, has posted up a new EP entitled 'Award Tour'. Keeping things very much within the OFWGKTA family, the seven-track set features production from Odd Future types Syd Tha Kid, Left Brain and Hodgy Beats. The EP fills the interim between Mike G's debut album, 'Ali', and his as-yet unfinished sophomore suite, 'Gold'.

As with many releases from the OF camp, you can download the full EP for free from the collective's Tumblr: oddfuture.tumblr.com/day/2011/11/26

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ST SPIRIT ANNOUNCE FREE SINGLE, LIVE DATE
Several months since we approved so highly of their debut single 'Build A Life', London quintet St Spirit are back with a sequel in 'New Skin'. Stirring up just as much of the chill and clamorous heartbreak that we admired in that first release, the new song is set to feature on the band's first EP, which is due out in February of next year. It will be available for free download from the St Spirit website - www.stspirit.com - as of 9 Dec, when the band are also set to play a live show at Cargo.

Build A Life: www.youtube.com/watch?v=quRTWni7OUg
New Skin: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsiaTL3a1yk

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DRC MUSIC PLAN ROUGH TRADE SHOWCASE
Members of DRC Music, the Damon Albarn-led collective of electronic producers and Congolese musicians, are to present a "unique collaborative performance" at London's Rough Trade East on 6 Dec.

As previously reported, Albarn and a cast of producers - not least Kwes, Actress and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - recorded DRC Music's debut album, 'Kinshasa One Two', in the Democratic Republic of Congo working with local singers and instrumentalists to raise funds for Oxfam.

With the first line-up announcement expected on Thursday, details are currently scarce. You can, however, procure a free wristband guaranteeing entry, and keep track of future additions to the bill, at the Rough Trade site: www.roughtrade.com/site/instore.lasso

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ART BRUT ANNOUNCE BULL & GATE RESIDENCY
Following news of the Bull & Gate going up for sale, Art Brut are to take up a short two night residency at the Kentish Town venue to mark the tenth birthday of its flagship promoter, Club Fandango. The band will be joined on 8 Dec by party guests including Keith TOTP and his Minor UK Indie Celebrity Allstar Backing Band, while No Cars and The Brute Chorus will support on 7 Dec.

A portion of a statement issued by Art Brut's Barnaby Fudge reads thus: "It has come to my attention that some in the intersphere consider Art Brut to be less than politically minded. They are considered a party band, letting the events of the day wash over them like a drunk asleep in a gutter. Well, I am here to tell you that our merry band are not so oblivious! The voice of today's youth has not gone unheard!"

He goes on: "We refuse to sit idly by and watch Club Fandango celebrate a birthday without a residency-size truckload of Art Brut fans causing chaos, booze fuelled funstruction. The madness has gone on too long!" Hurrah!

Tickets (priced at £11 per night, or £18 for both) and full live listings for Club Fandango's tenth anniversary season can be found here: www.clubfandango.co.uk/news.php?id=551

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GLASTONBURY WARNS AGAINST OFF-SITE ACCOMODATION
Glastonbury Festival will no longer direct people to off-site accommodation options at future festivals, Michael Eavis has announced.

In a statement, Eavis says: "Off-site camping facilities at Glastonbury have generally caused me problems, but even more so this year. One operator failed to deliver his site, having taken the money from unsuspecting purchasers, and left me with a £60,000 bill, as I couldn't bear the thought of 3,000 people turning up here and being let down at the last minute. This wasn't the first time people have been let down, and as a consequence of this we simply cannot allow the same problems to happen again in 2013 [ie at the next Glastonbury Festival], so we will no longer be giving out any information about these off-site accommodation providers and would encourage festival-goers to use only the accommodation we provide".

He advised festival-goers to spend the festival "under canvas, taking advantage of the camping fields which are included in the ticket price, or those who want a few more comforts can bring a campervan/caravan or stay in one of our legendary teepees", adding: "Glastonbury Festival is not responsible for the provision of off-site accommodation, or any arrangements made with third parties such as accommodation providers, so we would urge people to think before parting with their money".

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

WAKESTOCK, Penhros, Abersoch, 6-8 Jul: Team Wakestock have named their first 2012 headliner as affable up-and-comer Ed Sheeran, who is set to stun surf-loving crowds with a set of tunes from his debut album, '+-'. If, on the basis of this one booking, you'd like to purchase early bird tickets for the event, they'll be on sale as of 1 Dec. www.wakestock.co.uk

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JACKSON TRIBUTE SHOW PROMOTER GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION
The company set up to stage the somewhat shambolic Michael Jackson tribute concert, which took place in Cardiff last month, has gone into administration.

Global Events LLP was founded by Michael Henry and Chris Hunt, whose backgrounds seem to be in raising finance for film projects, specifically to stage the concert. Although the ambitious tribute show at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, officially supported by Jackson's mother Katherine, went ahead with few hitches on the day, preparations didn't go especially well.

Some Jackson siblings openly criticised the timing of the show (during the Conrad Murray trial), the MJ Estate distanced itself from the project, and fans hit out at both ticket prices and a subsequently axed plan to have Kiss play (Gene Simmons having been openly critical of Michael Jackson in the past).

Ticket sales were slow, with the majority sold during a last minute publicity push, and on the day the upstairs seating area was kept closed. Meanwhile a planned webcast of the event was scrapped last minute when it emerged key licensing agreements were not in place.

According to reports Global Events LLP went into administration after it struggled to pay mounting debts in relation to the tribute concert. Although the Millennium Stadium says it was paid its rental fee upfront, it is thought many of the people who worked on the show may be affected. A spokesman for London-based insolvency practitioners RSM Tenon confirmed it was handling the administration, telling reporters: "We are currently conducting our initial review of the business".

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SIX ARRESTED IN COUNTERFEIT CD RAID
Six market traders believed to have been producing and selling large quantities of counterfeit CDs and DVDs have been arrested as part of a raid organised by Greater Manchester Police. Record label trade body BPI, the Intellectual Property Office and anti-piracy body FACT were also involved in the investigation into the operation, which was selling dodgy albums and movies from Salford Market, Greymare Lane Market and Conran Street Market.

Counterfeit CDs and DVDs worth tens of thousands of pounds were seized during the raids on Friday, which the government's IP Minister Judy Wilcox apparently attended in person. She told CMU: "The Intellectual Property Office has played an important part in helping to collect the intelligence for this operation in Manchester. It is fantastic to see so many organisations working together to disrupt criminal activity. The government has already worked with the Crown Prosecution Service to develop training which will equip prosecutors to deal effectively with cases involving counterfeit goods. And we will continue to work with Trading Standards, the police and CPS to share information and disrupt this type of criminal activity".

Commenting on the raids, the BPI's anti-piracy man David Wood added: "Physical music piracy costs the record business more than £100 million per year - a significant percentage of industry revenue. Buying and selling these fake CDs and DVDs strips artists of a fair reward for their music and deprives record companies - both big and small - of the capital required to invest in exciting new artists, merchandise and products that music fans deserve. We would like to thank Greater Manchester Police, Manchester City Council, and Salford Council for their professionalism and diligence in undertaking this collaborated approach to target the organised crime gangs who are manufacturing and distributing counterfeit CDs and DVD".

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COOPERATIVE OPENS NORDIC DIVISION
Universal Music's independent label services division Cooperative Music has opened offices in the Nordic region, so that it will have a direct presence in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, distributing and marketing the output of the labels it already represents in the region, as well as looking for new clients in the four countries.

Music from Cooperative-represented labels has previously been distributed in the Nordic region by the Cosmos Music Group (or Bonnier Amigo Music Group, as it was known), and a former label manager from that company, Espen Slapgård, will join the new Cooperative division, with responsibilities for the whole region and, in particular, Norway. Another former Cosmos exec, Troels Gammelgaard, will oversee Danish operations, while Henrik Nyström will oversee Sweden and Pekka Saila and Sami Rikala, of Universal Finland, will work for Cooperative labels there.

Cooperative Music General Manager Vincent Clery-Melin told reporters: "The Nordic territories are a very exciting place for independent labels to do business in right now. The digital market is booming, and our independent label partners have been growing there year on year with success stories such as Fleet Foxes, Martha Wainwright, or more recently My Morning Jacket".

He continued: "The Nordics are also an great source of repertoire for the rest of the world, as we've seen in the past through our long standing partnership with The Knife and their label Rabid Records, artists such as Peter Bjorn And John, or our association with the Spinefarm label out of Finland. We're incredibly excited to be opening our own business there. We couldn't think of a better team than Espen, Henrik and Troels to run it, and of a better infrastructure than Universal to host and distribute it!"

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FUGAZI LAUNCH ONLINE GIG ARCHIVE
Fugazi have announced the launch of their online gig archive, recordings of 130 live shows, which will go officially live on Thursday. Once fully operational the site will give fans access to more than 800 live recordings. As previously reported, frontman Ian Mackaye told Approaching Oblivion in May: "I wanted it to be up last fall ... It's a fuck of a lot of work".

Shows will be available to download on a sliding scale starting at $1 and ending at $100, with a suggested price of $5 (the price the band tried to keep tickets at when they played live shows). For a list of the gigs that will be available, go here: www.dischord.com/label/fugazi-live-series

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NOEL: NOT MAKING IT BIG IN AMERICA IS ALL LIAM'S FAULT
Noel and Liam Gallagher's ongoing squabbling may now be primarily the business of the two brothers' respective legal teams, but that doesn't stop one or the other engaging is some more informal bitching.

Noel G has blamed his brother for the fact Oasis never quite cracked America in the way they had hoped they would, honing in on a crucial 1996 tour which was cancelled when Liam withdrew at the very last minute because his then girlfriend Patsy Kensit wanted to go house hunting.

The incident is included in Noel's recent countersuit against Liam's defamation litigation, which the latter launched against the former in relation to claims made at a press conference. But Noel has also told the story to the New York Times.

He says: "As I'm getting on the plane [to the US for the 1996 tour] he's getting off because his wife [actually, then still girlfriend] called, saying: 'We need to buy a house'. What they were doing for the previous three months is anybody's guess. Probably picking gnats out of each other's hair like monkeys".

He continues: "The first gig was a 16,000 seat arena, and the singer's not turned up. That killed us stone dead in America. This is rock n roll. Would Johnny Rotten have gotten a house on the eve of an American tour? Keith Richards? John Lennon? You either want it or you don't, and I blame him for us never becoming as big in America as we were in England".

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