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The five biggest stories in the music business this week...

01: Hilco acquired HMV. Deloitte confirmed today that HMV UK has been sold to Hilco, the restructuring company that already owns HMV Canada, and which will now take the British business out of administration. Hilco will take over 140 HMV stores, including the Fopp network, in a deal thought to be worth £50 million. As a result, a small number of the flagging retailer's shops that have already been closed during the administration will reopen. CMU report | Sky News report

02: ReDigi lost is legal battle with Capitol Records. The American MP3 resale platform was sued by Capitol, then still part of EMI, in early 2012. The major said that enabling the resale of MP3s amounted to contributory copyright infringement. ReDigi countered that its system ensured that when a consumer resold an MP3 over its system the original file was deleted, and that the consumer's right to resell was protected by the 'first sale' doctrine in US copyright law, which allows the resale of CDs. But Judge Richard Sullivan did not concur last weekend, saying of the ReDigi process "it is beside the point that the original phonorecord no longer exists, it matters only that a new phonorecord has been created". Damages and other outcomes are yet to be ascertained. ReDigi said that it planned to appeal, and that the ruling only applied to the first generation of its technology, that had now been superseded by ReDigi 2.0. CMU report

03: PRS confirmed its revenues were up in 2012. A 32.2% boost in digital revenues helped counter the continued decline in royalties being paid to music publishers and songwriters via the sale of CDs, and also a 14.2% slip in the royalties paid by the live sector. International royalties, a growth area in recent years, were also down, mainly because of exchange rate fluctuations. But overall the royalties collected by PRS for its members were up 1.7% to £641.8 million. CMU report | Billboard report

04: Jury selection got underway in the Jacksons v AEG Live trial. The Jackson family claim that AEG should be held liable for the death of Michael Jackson, because it was paying Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted for causing the late king of pop's demise through negligent treatment. AEG counters that while it paid Murray, he was appointed and managed by Jackson himself. Murray will likely refuse to testify in the civil case, though gave two interviews to CNN from jail this week, in which he continued to proclaim his innocence. Jackson's siblings and children are likely to testify though, while a possible witness list revealed this week also included Diana Ross, director Spike Lee, producer Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson's one-time wife Lisa Marie Presley. CNN and NBC also lobbied this week for the judge to allow TV cameras in to film the case. Murray interviews report | Witness list report

05: Classic Rock and Metal Hammer were sold. The Future Publishing-owned titles were sold to a new company called Team Rock, being led by two former execs of GMG Radio. Team Rock plan to utilise the two music magazines as part of a new multi-media venture aimed at rock fans, which will include a new digital and online radio service.

CMU report | Guardian report

In CMU this week, we chatted to Patrick Wolf about his 'Sundark & Riverlight' album and tour, and to Nitin Sawhney about his direct-to-disc project One Zero. WALL, aka singer-producer Lyla Foy, chose the tunes, and the CMU Insights team navigated the music press. Approved were Spectrals, Benjamin Damage and OMD.

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HILCO'S HMV DEAL ANNOUNCED, SOME CLOSED STORES TO REOPEN
Hilco has bought HMV UK, it has been announced, and will now take the streamlined company out of administration. As much previously reported, when HMV finally fell into administration in January, Hilco, the restructuring firm that already owns HMV Canada, quickly bought up the retail company's bank debts and then opened talks with administrators Deloitte about acquiring the HMV UK business.

And while a plethora of other bidders came forward to acquire the leases on certain key HMV stores, it's not thought anyone else was seriously interested in taking on the HMV UK company as a going concern (despite rumours ASDA was considering it). So much so, confirmation of Hilco's acquisition has been expected for a number of weeks now.

The deal, thought to be worth £50 million, will save 140 of the retail firm's shops, including 132 HMV-branded stores and the eight shop Fopp chain. It means that the HMV network emerging from administration is twice as big as many people expected, though about 60% of what it was last December.

Whether Hilco and the management team it puts in place can build a commercially viable entertainment retail business in the long-term remains to be seen. The removal of loss-making stores and weighty bank debts will certainly provide some breathing space, but it won't overcome the fact that CD sales continue to slide across the board, and the gadgets business that the previous HMV management put their hopes on also faces stiff competition from online operators with much lower overheads.

But, in the short term at least, the all-new HMV can count on the continued support of the record and DVD industries, which are thought to have already agreed terms of business with the firm's incoming new owners.

Hilco's 140 store plan will save about 2500 jobs, and will see several HMV stores already closed (or in the process of closing) being saved too. Which explains why a number of regional newspapers have been declaring their local HMV stores "saved" in recent weeks, and why posters have appeared in the windows of some closing stores declaring "We're here to stay!"

Under the headline, that poster continues: "We're very pleased to announce that thanks to the support of our valued customers and landlord, this store is staying open. Normal service will resume shortly - please bear with us while we refill the store with the music, film, games and tech you love".

According to local news reports, stores in Freshney Place in Grimsby, Princes Street in Edinburgh, Royal Priors in Leamington Spa, Ropewalk Shopping Centre in Nuneaton, Chapel Street in Southport, the Cleveland Centre in Middlesbrough, King's Walk in Gloucester, High Street in Newport on the Isle Of Wight and Commercial Street in Newport (the mainland Newport) will remain open for the foreseeable future.

The Irish Independent has also reported that Hilco's Ireland-based division is hoping to reopen some Irish HMV stores, all of which were closed when the company went into administration. Dublin's Grafton Street store is apparently first on the list to return.

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PRS REVENUES BREAK RECORD DESPITE DECLINES IN RECORDED MEDIA AND LIVE
Collecting society PRS For Music collected a record £641.8m for the UK music publishing sector last year, an increase of 1.7% on 2011. And whereas, in the main, it has been growing international royalty income that has led overall growth in PRS collections in recent years, this time it was booming digital revenue and the continued growth of TV sync that delivered the results. In total £571.9 million was distributed back to the society's publisher and songwriter members.

Online revenue from song rights, which includes the publisher's share on download sales as well as royalty payments from streaming and subscription services, shot up 32.2% between 2011 and 2012 to £51.7 million. This countered the continued decline in publishing royalties generated by the sale of CDs in the UK (though, overall, PRS's 'recorded media' income was up slightly because of some new pan-European work in this domain).

International revenue, which has seen considerable growth in the last decade, was down 4% in 2012, a result, in part, of exchange rate losses. However, this income stream - collected by other collecting organisations from licensees outside the UK who use songs represented by PRS on a global basis - is still the biggest single revenue generator, bringing in £180.1 million.

Royalties from broadcast and the public performance of works also saw some growth in 2012, with television revenue, which includes sync in the UK, up 4.3% to £106 million. Radio increased slightly from £46.8 million to £47 million, while overall public performance income, paid by the live sector and public buildings and businesses which play music, was up 0.5% to £154.7 million. Though that latter rise was lessened by the British live industry having a difficult year, its overall contribution slipping 14.2%.

PRS's music publisher and songwriter members also saw the benefit in 2012 of some quiet down-sizing that has occurred at the society, with the organisation's costs down from £76.5 million to £73 million, meaning that while total revenue was up 1.7%, the sum passed on to creators and song rights owners was up 2.6%.

Making a quick comment on this year's figures, PRS boss Robert Ashcroft told CMU: "Copyright remains fundamental to the continued success of our members both at home and abroad, while the ever-increasing importance of licensed online services such as iTunes and Spotify underlines the value of music to the internet economy".

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SONY RE-SIGNS GLORIA ESTEFAN
Gloria Estefan has signed a new deal with Sony Music, after a temporary distribution dalliance with the big bad Universal Music Group in 2011. The new multi-album deal will result in "a diverse array of new projects" says an official notice of the arrangement, kicking off with a multilingual venture called 'The Standards'.

Confirming the new alliance with Estefan, the boss of all things Latin at Sony Music, Afo Verde, told CMU: "It only takes one word to recognise her magnificent voice. Gloria is one-of-a-kind - in any language, in any genre. She sings better every day! Dearest Gloria, welcome to the place that always was and always will be your home, Sony Music. We are honoured, happy and thank you for your trust. The best is yet to come!"

Estefan added: "I'm excited to join again with Sony, who I have happily worked with for over 30 years. 'The Standards', a project which has been a lifelong dream, will be the first of many more to come with my Sony family".

Oye Mi Canto. Did we ever find out what exactly happened to the Miami Sound Machine?

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YEAH YEAH YEAHS HOLD ONLINE LISTENING PARTY FOR NEW ALBUM
Wanna hear the new album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Well you can. Right now. And in between each song you can hear the band talking about stuff, thanks to the archived video of an online listening party they held with Noisey earlier this week.

The first in a series of such events, hosted by Vice's music offshoot, the band played and talked through their fourth album, 'Mosquito', which is due for release via Universal/Polydor on 15 Apr.

Watch the video here.

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LANA, FLORENCE, EMELI AND BRYAN (FERRY) ON JAY-Z'S GATSBY TRACKLISTING
At last, after many, many speculative articles, official info on the Jay-Z-scored LP accompanying Baz Luhrmann's gaudy new 'Great Gatsby' film has now been released.

At a quick glance the OST will provide 'a guest artist doing a cover track' for all moods, not least Emeli Sandé and Brian Ferry's take on 'Crazy In Love', and Jack White's interpretation of U2's 'Love Is Blindness'. It's all quite bizarre.

Anyway, it'll all be released on 6 May. Hear several of the tracks (Beyonce's, Lana Del Rey's and Florence 'And The Machine' Welch's) via this trailer, and after, if you're still keen, take a tracklisting:

Jay-Z - $100 Bill
Beyonce & André 3000 - Back To Black
Will.i.am - Bang Bang
Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock - A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)
Lana Del Rey - Young And Beautiful
Bryan Ferry And The Bryan Ferry Orchestra - Love Is The Drug
Florence And The Machine - Over The Love
Coco O - Where The Wind Blows
Emeli Sandé And The Bryan Ferry Orchestra - Crazy In Love
The xx - Together
Gotye - Heart's A Mess
Jack White - Love Is Blindness
Nero - Into The Past
Sia - Kill and Run

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CAT POWER TOUR ON AGAIN
Hurrah! Cat Power's on again, off again tour, as was postponed back in November because of health and financial adversities, is back on (again). So again, hurrah!

Starting in June, it'll wind its way to Britain via a show at London's Roundhouse on 25 Jun, pre appearances at this year's Glasto and Latitude. Since those buying into the original, cancelled shows were given their money back, new tickets are available here.

This, meanwhile, is the new vid representing Cat's 'Sun' ray 'Manhattan', a track she may play live when she's on 'Later... with Jools Holland' on 9 Apr.

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EIGHTIES MATCHBOX POSTPONE LONDON SHOW
Details of a slight change in the timing of Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster's 12 Apr show at London's Shepherds Bush Empire now, as the band postpone it in order to carry on making a new LP. It's been moved to 18 Oct, and all original tickets will be valid.

This is what EMBLD have to say for themselves: "Following our reformation and amazing reactions to the last sold out tour, we've been working on some exciting new material. The work is taking place between London, Brighton and Berlin and we're deep into finishing recording before unveiling the tracks live, so we've decided to postpone the forthcoming Shepherd's Bush Empire show. Apologies for any inconvenience but we promise it will be worth the wait! Remember, happiness is a stretched face".

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COACHELLA TO STAY IN INDIO UNTIL AT LEAST 2030
AEG Live subsidiary Goldenvoice has announced that its Coachella and Stagecoach festivals will stay in the Californian city of Indio until at least 2030, by which point Apple or Google will probably be selling a 'festival experience pod' meaning we'll never have to trek into a field to get the fest-buzz ever again.

Goldenvoice last year threatened to relocate its two big festivals after an Indio lawmaker proposed a new tax on large scale events which, the live firm said, would have added $36 to every ticket. Said lawmaker quickly backed down, though talks between Goldenvoice bosses and the city authorities in Indio have continued.

According to Billboard, under the new deal Goldenvoice will double the amount of ticket money it shares with the city, from $2.33 to $5.01, beginning next year. The promoter will also be able to increase the capacities of its two current events, and now has the option to stage two new festivals in the city in the autumn.

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE: ATP ICELAND, BENICASSIM, YOKO ONO's MELTDOWN AND MORE
Hey, so as ATP starts selling early bird tickets to its first ever All Tomorrow's Parties party in Iceland (artists tba on 16 Apr), what else is new in festival-based revelations?

Well, there's a new phase of artist admissions going on at Benicassim, as has taken Beach House, BRMC, Rudimental and The Child Of Lov into its Killers, Arctic Monkeys, QOTSA and Primal Scream-featuring midst.

Elsewhere, some news about the 20th anniversary of London's alternative arts-athon Meltdown, the one 'directed' by Yoko Ono, which now has some real live artists on its line-up, including Iggy & The Stooges, Patti Smith, Boy George, Kim Gordon, Siouxsie Sioux, Thurston Moore, Peaches, Savages and Deerhoof.

Ms Ono - who's also playing solo and with her Plastic Band as part of the programme - says: "It's not only a great honour to curate Meltdown in its 20th year, it's also a lot of fun to be able to invite many of my favourite performers, activists and favourite collaborators to join me".

Ah, that's nice. FLUU thrills are also derivable via France's Midi, which has hired headliners The Horrors and cool auxiliaries like Mount Kimbie, King Krule, Christopher Owns, AlunaGeorge, Mykki Blanco and... Peter Hook & The Light to make its ninth year the best ever; Portugal's Optimus Alive!, as now comes with added Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Jessie Ware and - as per 99.9% of festivals in 2013 - pervasive alt-pop name-squashers AlunaGeorge; and Cream, who have announced some details about their Ibiza programme for this year (which is sort of a festival) and which will have Calvin Harris, Paul Van Dyk, Above & Beyond, Laidback Luke and Paul Okenfold DJ-ing at it.

And now, I hope you're all in the mood to look at the new FLUUs in full made to Benicassim, Cream Ibiza, Exit and South West Four, because that's what follows:

BENICASSIM, FIB Heineken, Valencia, Spain, 18-21 Jul: Beach House, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dorian, Bigott, Rudimental, And So I Watch You From Afar, Smile, Grupo Salvaje, Attic Lights, The Child Of Lov, Soledad Velez, Alba Lua, Pleasant Dreams. fiberfib.com

CREAM IBIZA, Amnesia, Ibiza, Spain, 13 Jun - 19 Sep: Calvin Harris, Above & Beyond, Paul Van Dyk, Laidback Luke, Alesso, Nicky Romero, Hardwell, Paul Oakenfold, Eddie Halliwell, Gareth Emery, Arty, Dirty South, Otto Knows, Chris Lake, Mat Zo, Michael Woods, John O'Callaghan, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Norin & Rad, Ben Gold, Jordan Suckley, Burns, Tom Staar, Gareth Wyn, GTA, Mosca, Henrix, Deorr. www.cream.co.uk

EXIT FESTIVAL, Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia, 10-14 Jul: Cee Lo Green, Eric Prydz, Ame b2b Dixon, Scuba, Ana Popovic, Prong, Delilah, Kate Boy. www.exitfest.org

FLOW FESTIVAL, Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland, 7-11 Aug: My Bloody Valentine, Grimes, José González, Parquet Courts, Junip. www.flowfestival.com

MELTDOWN, Southbank Centre, London, 14-23 Jun: Yoko Ono, Plastic Ono Band, Siouxsie Sioux, Iggy & The Stooges, Boy George, Thurston Moore, Cibo Matto, Peaches, Savages, Patti Smith, Marianne Faithfull, Immortal Technique, Deerhoof, Reggie Watts & Mac Lethal, Amadeus Leopold, Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, Body/Head & Ikue Mori, Mystical Weapons. meltdown.southbankcentre.co.uk

MIDI FESTIVAL, various venues, Hyeres, France, 26-28 Jul: The Horrors, Mount Kimbie, Peter Hook & the Light, Christopher Owens, AlunaGeorge, King Krule, Mykki Blanco, Splashh, Justin Martin, Only Real, Francis Lung, Appletop, Jed Nayef. www.midi-festival.com

OPTIMUS ALIVE!, Lisbon, Portugal, 12-14 Jul: Jurassic 5, Vampire Weekend, Tribes, Jamie Lidell, Jessie Ware, Disclosure, AlunaGeorge, Gold Panda, Redlight, Dusky, Huxley, Shadow Child, Mosca, Two Inch Punch. www.optimusalive.com

SOUTH WEST FOUR, Clapham Common, London, 24-25 Aug: Loco Dice, John Digweed, Laurent Garnier, Adam Beyer, Carl Craig, Guti, Hector, Tim Green. www.southwestfour.com

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BEYONCE PREMIERES NEW SINGLE IN PEPSI ADVERT
Beyonce's new single has, as expected, been previewed in a new Pepsi advert, as part of the singer's ongoing partnership with the drinks company. Entitled 'Mirrors', the ad features a clip of the new song, 'Grown Woman', and sees Beyonce revisit looks from some of her past videos, dating right back to her Destiny's Child days. The first single from the singer's as-yet-untitled new album, the track will be available to buy from Monday.

Says Beyonce of the video: "I had so much fun collaborating on this campaign with Pepsi. I got to re-live some of my favourite past characters and looks. It was the first time I saw those costumes in years and it was very emotional. I'm proud of those moments and they all connect in some way and have helped me evolve into who I am today".

Pepsi CMO Simon Lowden added: "As one of the first markets to showcase the commercial, we are continuing our Super Bowl Halftime Show momentum and storyline with Beyonce in a way that only Pepsi could deliver - by infusing a pop culture icon, never before heard or seen musical content, and the excitement of NOW".

I don't know what that means. Anyway, you can watch the advert, and hear the clip of 'Grown Woman', here.

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BERTELSMANN CONFIRMS RTL SHARE SALE TO FUEL EXPANSION
BMG owner Bertelsmann has confirmed that it will sell up to 17% of its TV business RTL to generate cash to fund other acquisitions.

As previously reported, in a recent financial briefing, Bertelsmann boss Thomas Rabe confirmed he was looking for new expansion opportunities, especially in digital, education and music rights, the latter via the v2 BMG business, which the German media group now owns outright, it having previously been a JV with equity group KKR. Rabe added that he would be primarily looking to acquire existing businesses in these areas that were valued between 500 and 750 million euros.

Bertelsmann hopes that it could raise as much as two billion euros through its sale of shares in RTL, even though the media firm will still have a 75% stake in the TV business after the offloading of stock. Rabe also confirmed yesterday a plan to list RTL on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, instead of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and the Euronext Brussels market here it currently sits.

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ESSENTIAL SIGNS DEAL WITH WEEK OF WONDERS
Essential Music & Marketing has announced a global product management deal with East London independent label and management firm Week Of Wonders, the company led by Karen Tillotson, which works with the likes of Stevie Neale, Sega Bodega, GREATWAVES and Gentlemen. Under the deal, Essential will provide manufacturing, marketing, distribution, sync and licensing services.

Confirming the deal, Essential's Steve Crane, told CMU: "It's exciting to be working with Karen and WoW. The roster is incredible and the music coming through will blow people away. It's a great fit for Essential and hopefully the start of another long and successful working relationship with a dynamic and forward-thinking artist management company and label".

Meanwhile Tillotson added: "For us, it's all about believing in someone, having a vision and sticking with them until they break - and knowing that they will. It's time well spent building up a fanbase rather than getting an elusive deal with a major and thinking you've made it when you haven't. Our deal with Essential lets us continue along that path".

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SIX07 RECRUITS KITT
Following the previously reported closure of music PR agency Anorak London, one of its former publicists has been recruited by Six07 Press. Aoife Kitt will join Six07 next week, bringing with her clients like Mount Kimbie, Charlotte Church, !!!, Ultraista, CLOSE, Daniel Johnston, Sweet Baboo, Scuba, Cali, Teleman and Amsterdam's PITCH Festival.

Confirming the appointment, Six07 Press Director Ritu Morton told CMU: "In this time of flux within the music industry I am very pleased to welcome Aoife to Six07 - she brings with her a solid reputation. Aoife is hugely respected and liked by both her clients and journalists and I think her considered approach and warm demeanour combined with Six07's bespoke and dedicated philosophy will make for a successful and harmonious accord".

Kitt added: "I'm really excited to be joining the Six07 family; they have such a wealth of experience that will develop my expertise further - I think it will be the start of a great relationship".

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APPLE CLOSE TO SIGNING STREAMING DEALS
According to C-Net, Apple is close to signing deals with Universal and Warner for its long rumoured streaming music service, which I'm going to stop colloquially referring to as iStream, because the pedants out there keep pointing out a service already exists using that brand. I'd use the more mundane iRadio that some people are going with but that's already taken too. Oh, let's just called it iAccessToALargeCatalogueOfOnlineMusic until the actual operating name is announced.

Details of the new Apple music service are still unclear, though it has often been assumed that it would operate more to the Pandora model rather than being a fully on-demand Spotify rival, mainly because a Pandora-type service would be cheaper to licence.

Though, reports say, Apple is pushing to pay even lower royalties than Pandora, which currently licences recording rights in the US through collecting body SoundExchange. Apple's argument, it seems, is that the streaming service would upsell downloads, which has a logic to it, though previous efforts to link streaming and download set-ups haven't enjoyed much success.

Of course, previous efforts haven't been attached to the largest and most popular download store, and recent pre-release streaming efforts with David Bowie and Justin Timberlake seem to have proved successful (even if that model isn't entirely what Apple seems to be pushing for).

While the specifics of all this remain unclear, gossipers reckon the service could launch this summer, with plans to quickly roll it out into at least twelve territories, says C-Net.

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AMAZON EXTENDS AUTORIP SERVICE TO VINYL
Launched in January for CD purchases, Amazon has extended its AutoRip service to vinyl. As previously reported, the service means that US Amazon customers who buy CDs - and now vinyl - within the AutoRip catalogue will have MP3s of the release automatically added to their Amazon Cloud Player account (if they have signed up for one). In addition to new purchases, this also applies to any eligible vinyl purchase made through an Amazon account since 1998.

Amazon's VP Digital Music, Steve Boom said: "AutoRip has been wildly popular with customers since it launched earlier this year. It's a fun experience to suddenly find CDs you purchased just today - or fifteen years ago - added automatically and free of charge to your digital library. We're thrilled to extend this experience to vinyl records. Many of our music customers are vinyl fans and it's traditionally been very difficult to make digital versions of vinyl records - now customers can enjoy the albums they buy wherever they are, not just when they have access to a record player".

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BLACKBERRY TO CLOSE BBM MUSIC
BlackBerry is closing BBM Music, the streaming service it launched in November 2011, following a strategic review, the company has announced. Why it took a year and a half for the phone firm to decide not to follow a strategy that involved running a rubbish music service is anybody's guess.

As previously reported, BBM Music, powered by Omnifone, allows users, each paying £4.99 per month, to build a library of 50 tracks from a catalogue featuring music from all the majors, and to then access both their own library and those of any also-subscribed friends on the BBM messaging network, thus encouraging social interaction between users.

BBM Music will close on 2 Jun, at which point all remaining subscribers will be given a month's free access to Rdio, which is a pretty good deal. Maybe when the company finally stops making phones, it'll let its last few customers each stroke an iPhone for ten minutes.

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CMU INSIGHTS PROVIDE GUIDE TO NAVIGATING MUSIC MEDIA
The CMU Insights team has added another article to the CMU:DIY guide, the free online resource that provides advice and guidance to those at the start of their music business careers, and to grass roots artists, songwriters, managers and music entrepreneurs.

The latest guide, by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke, offers some tips on navigating the music press. Says Cooke: "So you're looking to engage with the music press to try and build profile for a new artist or release; where should you start? What titles are worth approaching in 2013? Do people still read print magazines? And who should you be speaking to at each title? Well, let us give you some pointers".

The latest addition to the CMU:DIY guide comes ahead of a new weekend course from CMU Insights on promoting music, that takes place at CMU's Shoreditch HQ tomorrow at 10am. The four hour session provides an overview of the music media, key social media tools, and how music PR campaigns work. A couple of places are still available for just £75 - email insights@unlimitedmedia.co.uk to book.

Other CMU Insights sessions currently booking include the latest edition of the ten-part Music In 2013 course, which kicks off on Monday, plus Marketing, Metrics, Analytics & Advertising (18 Apr), Understanding Music Rights & Licensing (24 Apr) and Managing & Monetising Music Rights (1 May).

The latest CMU:DIY tips piece is online here.

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WILEY "WALKING OUT" OF WARNER, APPARENTLY
Great grime grinch Wiley is (again) moaning and complaining at Warner Music via a new Twitter tirade.

Wiley and Warner's last artistic impasse ended in the MC sharing his new LP, 'The Ascent' (unauthorised and in advance of its official release) and this time, he says, he's leaving the major to set up on his own.

Apparently it's because the label's choice for Wiley's new single and Wiley's choice for Wiley's new single aren't one and the same, but that may be the least of it. He wants to release a non-dance single, whilst Warner wants 'Lights On', which, Wiley insists, doesn't aptly represent his diverse "musical mind". Oh, Wiley.

In a series of tweets since deleted, the MC said: "I am walking out of Warner today, I don't need em any more".

And: "I've rinsed majors for every penny, enough is enough. Need to put my own money where my mouth is now and stop pussy footing around the industry. I have got time for [Warner] and I respect you, but goodbye".

Though NME says it has confirmation via a Warner rep that all with Wiley is "business as usual" so... please carry on with your day.

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