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

01: Grooveshark announced a deal with Sony/ATV. The often controversial streaming service recently announced it had reached a settlement with EMI Music Publishing, which had sued the digital firm, and now had a licensing deal in place. And this week a similar announcement was made about Sony/ATV, the company that now controls EMI Music Publishing. Details of Grooveshark's deal with Sony/ATV/EMI are not known, though it does give the digital set-up a little more legitimacy as it continues to fight litigation from all of the major record companies. CMU report | The Verge report

02: Gatecrasher announced a restructure following a so-called 'pre-pack administration' which will see many of the clubbing firm's club venues spun off into a separate entity. The remaining Gatecrasher business, free of debt as a result of the restructuring, will focus on its flagship venue in Birmingham, and in staging major EDM events around the world, including a new dance music bash at Donington. CMU report

03: Former Ticketmaster President Nathan Hubbard joined Twitter. Following his somewhat sudden departure as global chief for Live Nation's ticketing business earlier this month, Hubbard quickly popped up in a new role as Head Of Commerce for the social networking firm. He will be charged with the task of building a business that sells things via tweets. CMU report | Business Insider report

04: It was reported that the Gaye family were offered money before Robin Thicke went legal. Billboard reckons that reps for Thicke offering Gaye family members a pay off when they first alleged that his hit 'Blurred Lines' borrowed from Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up'. That offer was turned down, and, it seems, so followed Thicke's litigation seeking court clarification that his song does not in anyway infringe Gaye's work. CMU report | Billboard report

05: The first Momentum Music Fund grants were distributed. The Arts Council funded initiative, managed by the PRS For Music Foundation, launched at The Great Escape back in May. And this week the first ten acts to benefit from Arts Council England's first artist-centric funding initiative were announced. It was also revealed that Deezer is supporting the programme, by providing additional funding and promoting Momentum-backed artitsts. CMU report

On the CMU this week, we threw the spotlight onto our timelines covering the Jacksons v AEG Live case, Grooveshark's legal challenges, and the MegaUpload debacle, all stories that were added to this week. In the approving department, Team CMU got about doing the big-ups for Glasser, Tim Hecker and Willis Earl Beal.

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HMV BRAND TO EXPAND IN IRELAND THANKS TO XTRA-VISION ALLIANCE
It having looked for a time like the HMV brand would disappear completely from the Republic Of Ireland, the entertainment retailer will now expand its presence around the country as a result of both it and video/games rental firm Xtra-vision coming into common ownership.

As previously reported, when the HMV Group fell into administration at the start of the year the company's Irish stores quickly closed down, even while a buyer was still being sought for the UK business. But once Hilco had acquired the HMV UK company, it opened negotiations with the landlords of some of the firm's former Irish stores, and will now open four shops in the country.

Meanwhile, in April Irish DVD and gaming retailer Xtra-vision also fell into receivership, will Hilco buying that business in June. And now Hilco has confirmed plans to co-brand 26 Xtra-vision stores in Ireland with the HMV name, introducing some of the product lines more associated with the music seller. It will result in the HMV brand arriving in a number of places where it never previously operated.

The CEO of Xtra-vision and HMV in Ireland, Gerry Butler, told reporters: "This roll out ensures that customers have access to a huge range of exciting movies, games, music and a range of other must-have entertainment products, coupled with Xtra-vision continuing to deliver and expand the movie and game-rental proposition. It's really the best of both worlds for customers".

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NEW CANADIAN LAWS MEAN EXTRA EXPENSES FOR OVERSEAS ARTISTS
Promoters in Canada have hit out at recent changes in the rules governing foreign workers in the country which will make it much more expensive to put non-Canadian talent on stage in small bar and coffee shop-type venues.

Effective since late-July, the new rules from Canada's Ministry Of Employment, Social Development & Multiculturalism, reports the Calgary Herald, increase the bureaucratic costs of bringing in and staging overseas artists in small venues by up to fourfold. Specifically, any venue with a primary business that isn't music (coffee shops, bars etc) will be charged increased application fees per musician, and this also applies to any members of their management/crew travelling with them, plus an extra work permit fee.

Spencer Brown, booker at Calgary haunt The Palomino, says the changes came without warning, and are "anti arts and culture" and "anti small business".

He adds: "If I have a one four-member American band at the Palomino, I'm looking at CAN$1700 just to get them on the bill - and that's on top of paying out a sound tech, paying for posters, gear rental, paying the other bands, staffing. Concert promotion at this level is, in itself, a high-risk occupation. So this has just put it through the roof. There's no way to start already $1700 in the hole and break even. It's impossible".

The government agencies at the heart of it all, Employment And Social Development Canada and Citizenship And Immigration Canada, state that the new laws will "ensure that owners and managers of those types of establishments look to hire Canadians first before hiring temporary foreign workers", adding that "musicians in a band performing several tour dates in Canada and musicians and buskers coming to Canada to perform in festivals" will be exempt from the additional charges, the main stipulation being they don't play in bars and restaurants.

An independent petition against the extra fees is viewable here.

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BOY GEORGE ANNOUNCES KOBALT PARTNERSHIP
Boy George has announced that he will release a new solo album entitled 'This Is What I Do' on 28 Oct via his own label Very Me Records in partnership with Kobalt Label Services. This follows his signing with Big Life Management earlier this year.

He told CMU: "This is the first record I have ever made and owned myself. It's very exciting to be a bit more in control of my work and to be doing this independently feels very liberating. Working with Kobalt adds to the excitement. I feel that I'm going to get more personal involvement from them, and have been very impressed with their work with Pet Shop Boys recently".

Big Life's Jazz Summers added: "We at Big Life are truly excited to be able to work with Kobalt Label Services on such an amazing project. The worldwide expertise of Richard Sanders coupled with Paul Hitchman's experienced knowledge of digital releases and social media heads up an exciting team of people who really understand how to break artists internationally. It's the perfect home for George's label Very Me Records and we look forward to great success together".

Speaking of Paul Hitchman, KLS's MD, he had something to say to. And it was this: "Kobalt Label Services works with a wide range of artists from the newest developing artists to global icons, but for us it always starts with the music, and with 'This Is What I Do' Boy George has created an album of exceptional songs, spanning the personal and universal. We feel privileged and excited to be working with George and the Big Life management team to support the release of such a distinctive record by such a unique artist".

The record features guest appearances from artists including DJ Yoda, Kitty Durham of Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Ally McErlaine of Texas / Red Sky July, Dreadzone's MC Spee and Nizar Al Issa, some of whom will form part of Boy George's live band.

Live band, you say? But surely a live band requires tour dates. Yes, and tour dates they have. Look:

3 Nov: Manchester, RNCM
5 Nov: Birmingham, Glee Club
6 Nov: Leeds, City Varieties Music Hall
7 Nov: Glasgow King Tut's
9 Nov: Oxford, Academy 2
10 Nov: London Koko (Virgin Records 40th anniversary show)
11 Nov: Brighton, Concorde 2

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PAUL MCCARTNEY NAMES NEW LP, NEW SINGLE FEAT MARK RONSON
'What's new with Paul McCartney?', you may well ask. Well, in answer to that, Macca is back, and has a new single on show. Its name is 'New', incidentally a title it shares with a twelve-track LP McCartney is releasing on 14 Oct.

His first album of 'new' songs in six years, it features "new collaborators" like Mark Ronson, whose mixing skills appear on 'New' the track. So basically, everything is new. New new new.

Hear 'New' here.

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TRENT REZNOR ON ALBUM PRICING: "TEN BUCKS, OR GO FUCK YOURSELF"
Having spent much of the last decade experimenting with new business models for selling his music, including giving much of it away for free, Trent Reznor has come to a conclusion for the new Nine Inch Nails record: "It costs ten bucks, or go fuck yourself".

As previously reported, the new album, 'Hesitation Marks', sees Reznor returning to the major label system with NIN, this time Sony/Columbia (also home to his other band, How To Destroy Angels), having operated independently since leaving Universal/Interscope in 2007.

Reznor told Spin: "I know that what we're doing flies in the face of the Kickstarter Amanda-Palmer 'start a revolution' thing, which is fine for her, but I'm not super-comfortable with the idea of Ziggy Stardust shaking his cup for scraps. I'm not saying offering things for free or pay-what-you-can is wrong. I'm saying my personal feeling is that my album's not a dime. It's not a buck. I made it as well as I could, and it costs ten bucks, or go fuck yourself".

The band are offering something a bit different for your money though. This week they announced that anyone who buys the record from nin.com will also gain access to a special 'audiophile' version of the record which will be mastered a bit more subtly than the standard edition.

Mastering engineer Tom Baker said, via the Nine Inch Nails Tumblr blog: "I believe it was Trent's idea to master the album two different ways, and to my knowledge it has never been done before. The standard version is 'loud' and more aggressive and has more of a bite or edge to the sound with a tighter low end. The Audiophile Mastered Version highlights the mixes as they are without compromising the dynamics and low end, and not being concerned about how 'loud' the album would be. The goal was to simply allow the mixes to retain the spatial relationship between instruments and the robust, grandiose sound".

The blog post then goes on to insist that one is not "better" than the other, they're just different. Which I think is a roundabout way of saying that so-called 'audiophiles' are actually pedants who claim to hear things that aren't there. Not my words, the words of Nine Inch Nails.

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GOLD PANDA ADDS NOVEMBER DATES
Berlin-based maker-of-electronica Gold Panda has released new live listings at the same time as revealing a 'visual' for his 'Half Of Where You Live' single 'Community'.

A collaboration with designers Lux & Noah and film maker Scott Ward, it features scenes filmed at GPs recent PA at the Electric in Brixton, which apparently give an idea of what fans can expect to see at the newly-set dates.

See it here, and the dates below:

22 Nov: Leeds, Stylus
23 Nov: Liverpool, East Village Arts Club
25 Nov: Glasgow, Arches
26 Nov: Manchester, Gorilla
27 Nov: Brighton, Coalition

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THE SCRIPT CANCEL SHOWS CITING FAMILY ILLNESS
The Script have, with great reluctance, had to cancel a live date they'd set at Leeds Academy yesterday, and one at the Blackpool Illuminations switch-on gig tonight (where that Gary Barlow has stepped in).

Apologising for the late notice via Facebook (and for inflicting Barlow onto Blackpool, presumably), the band said it was "sudden serious family illness" that'd caused them to call off the shows.

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THE WEDDING PRESENT TOURING IN OCTOBER
The Wedding Present will celebrate a definitive re-release series featuring eight of their greatest LPs (this beginning later this year) by playing a set of ten dates, mainly in late October. That now said, there seems little else to do except list the dates, which are:

22 Oct: Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
23 Oct: Cardiff, The Glee Club
24 Oct: Leeds, Academy
25 Oct: Glasgow, ABC
27 Oct: Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree
28 Oct: Newcastle, Warehouse 34
29 Oct: Liverpool, Academy 2
30 Oct: Leicester, Academy
31 Oct: Northampton, Roadmender
1 Nov: London, Shepherd's Bush Empire

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UNSOUND FESTIVAL BANS FAN-FILMING AND PHOTOS OF LIVE SHOWS, EXPLAINS WHY
Bosses at Poland's ultra-alternative Unsound have, in keeping with the festival's 2014 theme of 'Interference', placed a ban on all filming and photo-taking at the event (though selfies are fine, it seems).

Clarifying his and his team's anti-cam policy, which in the past has had A-list advocates in Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Savages and even Beyonce, Unsound AD Mat Schulz says: "Our aim is to encourage our audience to focus on being in the moment, and not distract others out of that moment. We want to question the automatic tendency to place photos and videos of concerts online, be it on social networks, music websites or video streaming platforms, to put some tiny glitch in the constant bombardment of images, today's main tool of communication.

He somewhat strictly adds: "The ban will not be policed by security guards, this is going to be a community action - if you see someone next to you filming, ask them politely to stop".

Taking place in Krakow between 13-20 Oct, this year's Unsound will feature the unfilmable likes of Andy Stott & Demdike Stare, Laurel Halo, Pantha Du Prince And The Bell Laboratory, Dean Blunt, James Ferraro, Mykki Blanco, Julianna Barwick and Forest Swords. That'll all be preceded by a London-based lead-in event, spanning various locations from 26-29 Sep, co-starring Karenn (aka Blawan and Pariah), Forest Swords and King Midas Sound.

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE: ICELAND AIRWAVES, UNSOUND, CMJ AND MORE
Making up a large part of today's FLUU are the massive initial artist listings (Fuck Buttons, The Dismemberment Plan, HAERTS, Glasser, Savages and Menomena amongst them) attached to NYC-based marathon showcase fest CMJ, which has barely even started to disclose its usually unquantifiable line-up.

Holding its own in the face of all that, meanwhile, is Iceland Airwaves' final wave of additions, which names Fucked Up, Jagwar Ma, Ásgeir, Nite Jewel and MONEY as the very last acts aligning with main players Björk, Sigur Rós and Kraftwerk.

That all said and done, it's now time to scan lists of the latest acquisitions to the above; plus Poland's Unsound and Yorkhire folkfest Musicport:

CMJ, various venues, New York City, USA, 15-19 Oct: ASTR, Betty Who, DIANA, The Dismemberment Plan, Empress Of, Fuck Buttons, Glasser, Godflesh, HAERTS, Half Moon Run, Helio Sequence, Hunters, JMSN, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Lovelife, Menomena, Nick Waterhouse, Obits, Quadron, Saul Williams, Savages, Speedy Ortiz, The Griswolds, The Long Winters, Woodkid, Bad Suns, Ball Park Music, Black City Lights, Bear Mountain, Big Black Delta, Black Light Dinner Party, BLK Kathy, Bored Nothing, Calvin Love, Cardiknox, Caught A Ghost, Chrome Sparks, City Riots, Cloak Ox, Continuum, Courtney Barnett, Dan Croll, Deep Cotton, Deep Dark Woods, Diane Birch, Dorine Levy, Dune Rats, Duologue, Dusted, Ejecta, Eleanor Friedberger, Electric Wire Hustle, Elizabeth Rose, Elle King, Elliot and The Ghost, Emperors, Enola Fall, Ex-Cult, Firehorse, Frontier Ruckus, GEMS, Geoffrey O'Connor, Ghost Wave, Ginger And The Ghost, Gossling, Grizfolk, Gus + Scout, Hopspin, In The Valley Below, INVSN, Jacco Gardner, JBM, Jessy Lanza, Jetta, John Murry, Julia Easterlin, July Talk, Junior Prom, Kid Karate, Kill It Kid, King Dude, Landshapes, Larry Gus, Lawrence Rothman, Le Trouble, Lee Bannon, Little Daylight, Lindi Ortega, Magic Man, Marc Kinchen, Marijuana Deathsquads, Misun, Moonstone, Nicole Mercedes and the Affair, Night Drive, NONONO, North Highlands, Oh Mercy, Okta Logue, Optic Yellow Felt, Orgone, P.O.S.* Panama Wedding, Peachpit, Pelican, People Get Ready, Pictureplane, Ponyboy, Pool Cosby, RATKING, REPTILES, Reuben and the Dark, Royal Bangs, Saint Rich, Sheppard, Shigeto , Slim Twig, Squad, Still Corners, Story of the Running Wolf, Strange Talk, Streets of Laredo, TEEN, The Aprons, The Delta, Riggs, The History of Apple Pie, The Novocaines, The Preatures, Them Swoops, Tiny Ruins, Touch, Sensitive, Tremor Low, TV Ghost, U.S. Girls, Vadoinmessico, WET, Will Stratton, Wilsen, World's End, Press, Yamantaka, Sonic Titan. www.cmj.com

ICELAND AIRWAVES, various venues, Reykjavik, Iceland, 30 Oct - 3 Nov: Fucked Up, Jagwar Ma, Ásgeir, Nite Jewel, MONEY, Sykur, Caveman, Mikhael Paskalev, Sísý Ey, Gluteus Maximus, Daníel Bjarnason, Pétur ben, Shiny Darkly, Caterpillarmen, Eivör Pálsdóttir, Kira Kira, Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band, Electric Eye, Lára Rúnars, Elín Ey, Nadia Sirota, Trust the Lies, Terrordisco, Marius Ziska, Svartidauði, Amaba Dama, Strigaskór Nr 42, Benny Crespo's Gang, Bárujárn, Byrta, Halleluwah, Loji, Ramses, Cell7, Quadruplos, Subminimal, Thizone, DJ AnDre, Skurken, Jara, Gang Related, Stroff, Vigri, Ragga Gröndal, Árni², Bob Justman, Bellstop, Kaleo, The Mansisters, Dísa, Oculus, Housekell, Úlfur Eldjárn, Fears, FKNHNDSM, Mono Town, Æla, dj. flugvél og geimskip, Hellvar, Jan Mayen, Grúska Babúska, Love & Fog, My Bubba, Myrra Rós, Skelkur í bringu, The Wicked Strangers, Lockerbie, Kippi Kaninus, Skepna. icelandairwaves.is

MUSICPORT, Whitby Pavilion, Yorkshire, 18-20 Oct: Neil Innes, Maia, Snowapple, Jackie Oates, The Peace Artistes, Hekima & the Bongo Flava, Arifa, Latif Bolat, Harp And A Monkey, Salsa Como Loco, Me & My Friends, Soham, The Well-Dressed Gentlemen. www.musicportfestival.com

UNSOUND, Krakow, Poland, 13-20 Oct: Pantha Du Prince And The Bell Laboratory, Laurel Halo, Roly Porter, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Lucy Benson, Marcel Weber, Jacaszek, Kwartludium, Kwadrofonik, Gardland, Powell, Samuel Kerridge, Wilhelm Bras, DJ Marfox, DJ Nigga Fox, Clippping, Tralala Blip. unsound.pl

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UNIVERSAL AND BMG BOTH AID PARENT COMPANY FINANCIALS
Having completed its acquisition of the EMI record company last autumn, sales at Universal Music shot up 16.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2013, from 1.92 billion euros to 2.24 billion euros, though the costs of integrating the former British major meant that profits were down.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were 143 million euros, down from 156 million euros in the same period a year earlier. Though for the last quarter EBITA were 88 million euros, more or less in line with the second quarter in 2012.

The mega-major said that continued sales of Rihanna's last album, the debut from US alt-rock band Imagine Dragons, the 'Les Misérables' movie soundtrack, and the new acoustic version of Justin Bieber's 'Believe' played a key role in generating mega-sales during the first half of the year. Meanwhile major releases from both Eminem and Lady Gaga should assure a successful second half of the year.

Universal Music remains one of the most successful businesses for parent company Vivendi, which saw its EBITA in the second quarter slide 19.9% to $1.01 billion, even though overall sales were more or less the same as a year earlier. As previously reported, it is the telecoms side of Vivendi that continues to struggle, with management at the company still looking to withdraw from that sector to focus on media and entertainment.

Commenting on the latest round of financials, Vivendi CEO Jean-Francois Dubos told reporters: "Vivendi's subsidiaries are confronted with a challenging economic environment and highly competitive markets. In this context, the group's media businesses have resisted, benefiting from the first positive impacts of the acquisitions and growth drivers they put in place. Vivendi is realising at its own pace its announced restructuring aimed at achieving new growth milestones. Our priority remains the creation of shareholder value".

Elsewhere in financial reports, German media group Bertelsmann has reported operating profits for the first half of 2013 up 5.2%, an uplift very much aided by the firm taking full control of the BMG music company in April. As previously reported, Bertelsmann bought business partner KKR out of BMG earlier this year.

Commenting on the first half of 2013, Bertelsmann top man Thomas Rabe told reporters: "The first six months went well for Bertelsmann. We have made good progress on our four strategic priorities: strengthening the core, digital transformation, building growth platforms and expanding our activities in growth regions".

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FIRST MOMENTUM MUSIC FUND GRANTS ANNOUNCED
The PRS For Music Foundation has announced the first ten artists to benefit from the Momentum Music Fund, the new Arts Council-funded initiative providing grants to bands looking for help getting to the next level which was launched at The Great Escape earlier this year. It's the first artist-centric programme for contemporary music pursued by the Arts Council in England.

And the ten bands to receive the first round of Momentum funding are: Brolin, Dutch Uncles, Esco Williams, Floating Points, Hacktivist, Hannah Peel, Kindness, Teleman, Thumpers and The Wytches. They were selected by an industry panel from around 500 submitted applications. There are eight more Momentum funding rounds between now and October 2014 with the judging panel to vary each time.

The fund can grant up to £15,000 to any one artist, and that can be used to fund a range of activities, including recordings, releases, marketing campaigns and touring. The PRS For Music Foundation says the aim of the fund is to "support exceptional artists, to help them realise their potential and contribute to the musical success story of this country".

Commenting on the first round of applications for the new fund, PRS Foundation boss Vanessa Reed told CMU: "The overall quality of the Momentum applications to our first deadline has reinforced my belief in the importance of this fund and the impact it's going to have on its first line-up of talented beneficiaries. Our message to those who were not successful this time is not to give up. There are more funding deadlines to come and we're actively seeking additional sponsors to increase the support we can offer".

The first such additional sponsor is streaming music service Deezer, which will make a contribution to the Momentum Music Fund and provide support to artists who receive grants. Deezer has also put together a playlist featuring eight of the bands who secured funding on this first round.

Commenting on all this, Arts Council England boss Alan Davey told reporters: "This is a brilliant milestone for Momentum and, after many months of hard work behind the scenes both at the Arts Council and PRS For Music Foundation, it's marvellous to see artists starting to benefit from this fund. Momentum is all about helping real talent to find its place and I look forward to seeing all ten artists - and those who follow them - grow and flourish with its help".

Davey, of course, previously ruffled some feathers in the UK record industry when the Momentum Music Fund launched, and he told Radio 4 - who deliberately misunderstood what the Arts Council meant by 'pop music' to question the validity of the new fund - that the initiative was needed now because the big record labels weren't investing in new talent in the way they used to.

In response, the big labels were adamant that they were very much still taking big risks on new music, forcing Davey to backtrack a little. Though presumably the Arts Council now hopes that future major label fall-outs can be avoided, now that the UK boss of the biggest, Universal Music, has been appointed to the organisation's National Council. David Joseph was one of five people to join the now fifteen strong committee earlier this month, a voluntary team that oversees the state-funded arts body.

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WARNER/CHAPPELL MAKES DIGITAL APPOINTMENTS
Warner's music publishing business Warner/Chappell yesterday made three digitally-focused appointments.

First New York-based Ann Sweeney was named Executive VP for Digital Strategy & Policy, a move which will expand her existing role so she takes on global responsibilities. Meanwhile Stephen Dallas was appointed VP Digital Legal Affairs & Business Development, charged with negotiating licensing agreements with digital service providers and investigating new digital business opportunities.

On this side of the Atlantic, Iain Morris has been promoted to the new role of Head Of Digital, Europe. Based in London, he will become the primary point of contact for digital licensees across the region, and will also lead Warner/Chappell's Pan-European Digital Licensing initiative.

Commenting on all this, the Warner man who oversees the major's publishing business, Cameron Strang, told CMU: "Warner/Chappell is a bold and determined digital pioneer. We are committed to providing our outstanding songwriters with dynamic, best-in-class services that maximise revenue generating opportunities for their songs. Thanks to Ann's extensive experience, outstanding negotiating skills and deep understanding of the industry, she has played a significant role in accelerating the growth of our digital footprint. She and her newly expanded team will help ensure we continue to lead our industry's fast-paced evolution".

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PLEDGEMUSIC ANNOUNCES CANADIAN HIRE
Fan-funding and pre-sale D2F platform PledgeMusic has announced the appointment of musician and artist manager Cole Stephenson to the role of Territory Manager Canada.

The appointment follows Pledge's previously reported alliance with Universal Music Canada, and he will manage that partnership and support other Canadian artists utilising the Pledge platform.

Confirming the hire, PledgeMusic's President for North America Jayce Varden told CMU: "We are delighted to welcome Cole to the PledgeMusic team in Canada and see his role as key to growth in this territory and to the success of our relationship with our partners Universal Music Canada".

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SPOTIFY APPOINTS HEAD OF GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Spotify has appointed Jorge Espinel, previously a digital strategy man at News Corp, to the role of Head Of Global Business Development, seemingly basically replacing Gerrit Meier, who departed the steaming firm nearly a year ago.

According to Billboard, Espinel's main job at Spotify will be to seek new strategic partnerships with tel cos and suchlike that result in sizable subscriber increases in key territories.

Billboard also speculates that, given Espinel is from Colombia, seeking such partnerships in Latin America, a particular target for most digital music services at the moment, will be a priority.

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BANK OF ENGLAND HEAD COMPARES UK PRODUCTIVITY TO JAKE BUGG FOR SOME REASON
The new Governor of the Bank Of England, Mark Carney, has compared UK productivity over the last eight years to Jake Bugg, claiming that the teen singer-songwriter has been a lot more successful that the country as a whole in that time.

This soundbite came during Carney's first speech as Governor, which took place in Nottingham yesterday. Because Jake Bugg is from Nottingham. But so is Bruce Dickinson, and he owns a fucking airline, so I'm not sure why Carney's looking to Bugg for inspiration.

Anyway, Carney said in his speech: "The UK is no more productive than it was back in 2005. And to put it in context, that was before Nottingham's own Jake Bugg got his first guitar and since then, as you know (I know), he's had a number one record and a string of very successful gigs. He's become a lot more productive, and the critical question is how much more, and how quickly can productivity improve across the broader economy".

Of course, while Jake Bugg may have become more productive, the quality of his work is of such a low standard that it risks reducing repeat orders from foreign exporters across the board, so I'm not sure we should be taking too much of a lead from him.

Watch a clip of Carney talking Bugg here.

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