UK music industry worth £3.5 billion in 2012, says UK Music
The UK music industry contributed £3.5 billion to the UK economy in 2012, according to new figures from cross-sector trade body UK Music.

The stats have been compiled by UK Music after being granted access to data held by the Office For National Statistics, in a bid to identify a more accurate figure for the 'added value' impact the wider music business has on the British economy. Such figures to date have either relied exclusively on stats from the record industry (which are easier to identify), or have seen the music sector lumped in with other creative industries.

The £3.5 billion in 'added value' constitutes the profits made and wages paid by the music industry. According to The Times, that figure includes £1.6 billion related to musicians, composers and songwriters, £662 million from live music, £634 million from recorded music sales and £402 million from music publishing. UK Music also reckons that the music business accounts for £1.4 billion in exports and employs 100,000 full-time employees.

While there are still plenty of estimates involved in reaching these figures, UK Music boss Jo Dipple reckons that these stats are much more accurate than anything that went before. She also suggests that previously released official figures that reckoned the entire creative sector contributed £4.1 billion to the economy are something of an under-estimate.

Dipple told the Times: "The sector has been poorly served by economic analysis. It has been poorly measured or underestimated. Our music might be fun, but it is a formidable asset to the UK. Government has said that it wants to support the creative industries, but until now they have not had the precise data to hand".

UK Music plan to use the figures, which don't include indirect revenues the festivals sector generates for the tourism industry or the revenues of digital music firms based in Britain, so are - Dipple reckons - still an under-estimate, to try and persuade policy-makers to treat the music business as a stand-alone sector at an international level, rather than lumping it in with the rest of the creative industries.

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Global Radio will not further appeal Competition Commission ruling on Real Smooth deal
Global Radio has confirmed that it is throwing in the towel in its fight with the Competition Commission over its acquisition of the Guardian Media Group's former radio business.

As previously reported, Global acquired GMG's Smooth and Real Radio networks last year in a £70 million deal, but the arrangement required clearance from the competition regulator.

Following criticism of the takeover from Global's key competitors, the Commission ruled that the radio giant could only keep a minority of the additional stations it had acquired, and would have to sell off outlets in seven regions, either its recent Real Smooth acquisitions, or one of its existing operations in those markets.

Global called the ruling "outdated", and said it failed to appreciate new competition in the advertising market that meant that the FM radio sector no longer operated in isolation. But last month the Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed Global's arguments against the Commission's original ruling.

Although initially critical of the Tribunal's decision too, Global said on Friday that it would not seek a further appeal, and instead would comply with the Commission's ruling and put several stations up for sale in early 2014.

Quite who will buy those stations remains to be seen. Main rival Bauer has acquired Planet Rock and Absolute since Global's GMG deal, so is unlikely interested in the Real Smooth stations, and indeed could find itself subject to Competition Commission restrictions if it bid for the former GMG licences.

Which leaves UTV Radio, known to have been unwilling to pay the sum Global paid for Real and Smooth back in 2012, or the smaller commercial radio players, who might be interested in one or two of the Real Smooth stations.

Russia's Supreme Court critical of Pussy Riot ruling
Russia's Supreme Court last week criticised the guilty verdicts in the Pussy Riot case and ordered a review of the ruling.

As much previously reported, three members of the punk protest group were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" in August 2012 after staging a provocative performance that criticised the Russian government and church in a Moscow cathedral. Two of the three, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, were jailed.

Most in Russia's political class, including President Vladimir Putin, endorsed the ruling, but the country's Supreme Court now says that the prosecution in the case failed to demonstrate that the defendants were motivated by hatred towards a specific social group, which, appeal judges said last week, is necessary for this ruling. The Supreme Court added that judges in the lower court should also have considered that Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were mothers with young children when sentencing them.

With this in mind, Supreme Court judges have ordered a review of the case. As previously reported, it's already thought that an 'amnesty bill' recently put forward to the country's parliament by Putin, in theory aiming to show leniency on the twentieth anniversary of the Russian Constitution, but more likely designed to overturn internationally controversial Russian court rulings before next year's Winter Olympics in Russia, could also lead to the Pussy Riot two being freed early.

Though, with only three months or so of the two protestors' sentences left to run anyway, even if the amnesty bill or Supreme Court ruling do lead to early release, the duo will still have served most of their respective jail terms.

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Paul Gambaccini rebailed in sexual offences case
Radio 2 DJ Paul Gambaccini has been rebailed, following his arrest last month as part of Operation Yewtree. His bail now extends to March next year.

As previously reported, Gambaccini was arrested in November as part of the third strand of the investigation launched by police following the Jimmy Savile revelations. It's the strand that is investigating historic sexual offence allegations against various media personalities that are not directly linked to Savile's crimes.

Gambaccini said in a statement last month that he had been falsely accused.

U2 confirm Oseary/Live Nation deal, thank McGuinness
U2 have confirmed that long-time Madonna manager Guy Oseary has now taken over day-to-day management duties for the band via a new Live Nation-backed venture, with their long-term manager Paul McGuinness now having an advisory role.

As previously reported, it emerged last month that McGuinness was planning to merge his Principle Management business with Oseary's Maverick company to create a new outfit that would be backed by live giant Live Nation, U2's long-term touring partners, and the firm with which Madonna already has something nearing a 360 degree deal relationship. McGuinness will have a back seat Chairman role at the new venture, with Oseary running things day-to-day as CEO.

The alliance, confirmed by McGuinness last month, had the backing of U2, with Bono seemingly involved in the wheelings and dealings that led to the deal. And earlier this month in a post spotted by Hypebot last week, Bono et al confirmed the change in management to their fans, thanking McGuinness for his guidance to date.

The post reads: "This week U2 finalised and signed a new management contract with Live Nation and Guy Oseary. The band now want to publicly thank Paul McGuinness for his extraordinary leadership, guidance and friendship over the last 35 years. Paul has saved us from ourselves many times over and we would not be U2 without him. Sometime soon, U2 will begin a new adventure around the world and we totally understand and respect Paul's desire to not run away with the circus - AGAIN".

The post goes on: "Perhaps more than any music management operation in history, Paul, alongside Trevor, Keryn and the team at Principle Management has always fought for our rights, for our music, for our fans and for the principles that we and he believe in. His central lesson was that if you cared for your 'art', you must also 'take care of business' as historically with rock and roll bands, the latter has undone the former".

And on the new arrangement, they concluded: "We are relieved that Paul will remain on as the mentor-in-chief. We've known Guy for a long, long time, and we're excited that, with Paul's blessing, he's agreed to take us on. He is a brilliant man with a lot of energy, and knows he has got some big shoes to fill".

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Embrace sign to Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl has clasped Embrace to its bosom, sealing an international artist services deal with the band in time to release their new LP in spring 2014.

Clearly excited by the idea of Embrace's first long player in eight years, singer Danny McNamara says: "We had a few labels that loved the album, some who'd wanted to work with the band for a long time. But as soon as we met the Cooking Vinyl team, we knew we'd found the right home. We're really looking forward to working with them".

Cooking Vinyl Director Rob Collins chips in with: "We're so, so pleased to land Embrace, especially given the stiff competition. This is a band that has delivered great songs time and time again, and is putting the polishing touches on another special album. We struck up a great relationship with Danny and had a shared vision for the record".

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Cherry Red announce Wakeman and other deals
London-based indie Cherry Red last week announced a number of new signings, led by a major catalogue agreement with Rick Wakeman which will see the label work on eighteen titles from the one-time Yes man's mind-blowing 100+ solo album archive. The deal will result in a reissue campaign kicking off in early 2014, including albums like 'Out Of The Blue' and 'White Rock II'.

Also confirmed by Cherry Red last week was a new deal with The Fall, who have worked with the indie of five previous releases. The new arrangement includes the band's just released mini-album 'The Remainderer' and a full LP release next year.

Other deals, meanwhile, include new albums from The Woodentops and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce, and a new collaborative release from Van Der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill and one-time Captain Beefheart collaborator Gary Lucas.

Confirming all this, Cherry Red's MD Adam Velasco told CMU: "It's a treat to get to work with catalogue as rich as Rick Wakeman's or on exciting new albums from the likes of Jack Bruce and The Fall. Each of these artists shares our philosophy of treating music with the love and respect it deserves, and these deals will spawn some special releases that fans will love".

Warner losses widen, but management remain optimistic
Warner Music posted a $57 million net loss on the quarter up to 30 Sep, a financial report from the mini-major confirmed last week. Revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% year-on-year to $764 million, though that was mainly due to the acquisition of the Parlophone Label Group, the various EMI units in the UK and Europe that Universal was forced to sell by the regulator after its purchase of the EMI record company.

Warner Music's CFO Brian Roberts said that the decline in profits (and in revenues if Parlophone is taken out of the mix) was down to a "light release schedule" in the quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, particularly in Japan where the summer quarter in 2012 included three major artist releases. Which is good news, after a decade of record companies blaming disappointing financials on "challenging times for the entire recorded music sector", it's good to get back to the classic "slow release quarter" excuse.

For the financial year, which ended with this quarter, the company posted net losses of $198 million on revenues of $2.87 billion, compared to $112 million on £2.78 billion the previous year. Roberts said that the acquisition of Parlophone had contributed to the losses, though the merger would result in $70 million in cost savings over the next two years.

Meanwhile Warner boss Stephen Cooper gave a positive spin on his company's future direction, insisting that digital is coming of age. He said that streaming music would continue to grow, with both subscription and ad-funded services expected to generate increasing revenues in the years to come, while also indicating that he expected the download market to co-exist with streaming platforms, even though growth in download sales is slowing.

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BMG UK top execs promoted
BMG has promoted two senior execs within its UK division, with Alexi Cory-Smith becoming Exec Vice President of BMG Chrysalis UK and Mark Ranyard Exec Vice President and CFO. It's not a massive overhaul, but will result in a slight rejig of executive responsibilities, and will see the UK chiefs ranking higher on a global level.

Following the promotions, which come into effect on 1 Jan, Cory-Smith will oversee all "outward-facing" functions at the music rights company's UK division, including A&R, business affairs, marketing and sync, while Raynard will oversee income tracking and royalty audits as well as copyright, royalty and contract admin.

Confirming all this, BMG top man Hartwig Masuch told CMU: "These promotions are a well-deserved recognition of the success of BMG's UK operation, a cornerstone of our worldwide business. They reflect our commitment to developing our executive talent".

Bon Jovi top Billboard touring charts for the year
I think we're all used to ageing rockers topping the touring charts, and this year the accolade goes to Bon Jovi (for the third time no less) who, according to Billboard, grossed $205,158,370 through their live activity this year, putting themselves way ahead of the closest competition, Cirque Du Soleil's touring Michael Jackson tribute.

Though you might not have guessed that lovely P!nk would come third in this year's global touring charts, and while that's in part because, other than the Jackson circus show, she did the most gigs of all the artists in the Billboard Top Ten this year, still, that's a fine achievement, with all but three of her 114 shows selling out.

And now, the ten biggest tours according to Billboard (with gross income), plus click here for more stats about these acts' live activity and the rest of the Top 25.

1. Bon Jovi ($205,158,370)
2. Cirque Du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour ($157,299,100)
3. P!nk ($147,947,543)
4. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band ($147,608,938)
5. Rihanna ($137,982,530)
6. The Rolling Stones ($126,182,391)
7. Taylor Swift ($115,379,331)
8. Beyonce ($104,358,899)
9. Depeche Mode ($99,972,733)
10. Kenny Chesney ($90,932,957)

Last.fm continues to lose CBS money, financial report confirms
One of the original streaming platforms continues to struggle, according to its latest financials as reported on by The Guardian last week.

Last.fm, which has offered various online music services over the years, being possibly best known in the UK for its 'scrobbling' listening-stats technology, but a serious player in streaming music in some markets a few years back, made losses of almost £4 million in 2012 as income at its UK business fell by nearly 70%.

Overall revenues were down 21% year-on-year in 2012, from £8.13 million to £6.38 million, though the firm did manage to narrow its pre-tax losses from £4.4 million in 2011 to £3.94 million last year, probably because the company has taken some of its loss-making services offline in recent years.

Ad revenues were down 23% while subscription income fell by 12%, with the biggest slides coming from the UK, Last.fm's original and, until last year, biggest market. Meanwhile revenues in the US went up, making it now the biggest region for the digital company in terms of revenue.

Famously bought by CBS in 2007 for $280 million, even though it was never entirely clear how Last.fm would ever make serious money long-term, The Guardian says that the US media giant is committed to continue backing the firm for at least another year.

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YouTube makes livestreaming available to all
YouTube last week announced that it will roll out its live-streaming option to all verified accounts on the platform over the next few weeks.

YouTube moved into live streaming in 2011, initially offering the service to key live event partners. Although an increased number of content partners have since had access to the extra technology, live streaming has still been limited, with only channel operators with more than a 1000 subscribers being eligible until this summer.

But now - according to a blog post from YouTube management last week - any channel that has been verified (ie linked to a phone number) and which is in "good standing" (whatever that means), will have access to live streaming at some point in the next few weeks. Said YouTube channel owners will also be able to launch a Google+ Hangout directly from their YouTube Live event manager pages, which is apparently a good thing.

Child Of Lov dies at 26
Belgian-born soul/R&B singer Cole Williams, aka Martijn Teerlinck or The Child Of Lov, has died aged 26, his manager Trey Reames confirmed on Friday. Whilst the cause of his death on 10 Dec hasn't been verified, NME reports it was due to complications following surgery, with writer Barry Nicholson adding in this obituary that Williams had lived all his life with a severe heart defect.

Raised and based in Amsterdam, Williams released his first LP earlier this year on Domino's Double Six imprint, having worked on it with DOOM and Damon Albarn.

As previously reported, Williams - who given the rarity of his shows and lack of bio information online, seemingly liked to keep a low profile - cancelled all his summer festival appearances back in May, saying at the time: "Even though I do feel pressure to do a tour that involves some great festivals lately, I've come to realise that playing gigs cannot occupy a rewarding role if it is not exactly as I envisioned it, exactly as I want it, and exactly the way I know the audience deserves it".

Writing on behalf of Williams and his family, manager Reames says (via VPRO/3VOOR12): "I must announce that Martijn Teerlinck aka Cole Williams aka The Child of Lov aka Sun Patzer is no longer with us. He lived a life of struggle and can now rest peacefully. In his own words: 'When I was younger, I had a tough time physically. I have seen too many hospital beds. It made me stronger. Makes you realise death is always near, for anyone. And what a wonderful thing life is and how grateful we should be'".

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Prince to appear in New Girl PJ party
Prince will play himself (I can't imagine he's very versatile acting wise) in a still-to-air instalment of silly Stateside TV sitcom 'New Girl'.

Apparently Prince - a big (not in size) 'New Girl' fan - pitched the idea to the show's makers that he appear in the midst of a Pyjama Dance Party, similar to the Pyjama Dance Party he held and sang at earlier this year. The episode is set to go out in the US post-Super Bowl on 2 Feb 2014.

So that's Prince, in PJs, with Zooey Deschanel. How simply adorable.

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Joey Jordison leaves Slipknot
Slipknot drummer and songwriter Joey Jordison has left the group, it was announced via their website last week.

The band said: "It is with great pain but quiet respect [that we announce] that for personal reasons Joey Jordison and Slipknot are parting ways. We all wish Joey the best in whatever his future holds. We understand that many of you will want to know how and why this has come to be, and we will do our best to respond to these questions in the near future".

The group added that they will continue to prepare new material for release next year, in the form of their first album since the death of another founding member, bassist Paul Gray.

Asked if any contributions from Jordison would still appear on their new album, frontman Corey Taylor told US radio station 93X: "No. He's been doing [other band] Scar The Martyr, so this is all fresh material that just a handful of us have been putting together. I've been writing some stuff. Jim Root has got a ton of stuff. The guys are together right now jamming and putting stuff together".

As for any information on the split beyond the band's fairly vague statement, Taylor said: "I can't really talk about it right now. It's still so fresh, and there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that people don't know about. So, legally and respectfully, I can't say a lot about it. As soon as we can say something we will. We're trying to protect him, protect us - just making sure we do everything right because that's what we would expect from ourselves and the fans. It's difficult. But if people can bear with us we'll cross that bridge when we can".

Release round-up: Lorde, EMA, Hands and Charlotte Gainsbourg
Though it got somewhat lost in the fallout of last Friday's 'shock visual Beyonce LP' bomb blast, underappreciated NZ pop sensation Lorde also put out some new music in the form of surprise single 'No Better'. Available to buy via iTunes, the track doesn't feature on the singer's first and only LP 'Pure Heroine', but still sounds like it could. Listen here.

And since tis the season we're talking Artists Of The Year, why not take a nostalgic AOTY trip back to 2011, and one of CMU's fave acts at that time EMA, who's now back with a new LP titled 'The Future's Void'. The sequel (numerically speaking) to her debut 'Past Life Martyred Saints', has a vague release date set in spring 2014. Less vague is its lead single 'Satellites', which picks up on the LP's wider themes dealing with the ways we try to 'fit' in the 'digital age', and asking "where we are all headed". The track itself is inspired by the idea that we're being watched all the time, an idea it interprets like so.

A certain Axel Willner has temporarily traded in his approved alias The Field to instead spend time as Hands, his experimental noise moniker. His first Hands full-length has four tracks to it, all of whose titles are variations on 'Beelitz-Heilstätten', which was a sanatorium in Berlin in the 1800s. History bitover, this is what Willner says by way of a billing for the LP, which is called 'The Soul Is Quick' and due out on 10 Feb 2014: "It's a protest record for when you've had enough of how the world works. When you find yourself taking inspiration from human decay rather then brighter things".

Finally, Charlotte Gainsbourg has gone and done-over Jimmy Hendrix's 'Hey Joe' for the score of this happy-clappy kids' film she's starring in (ha) Lars Von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac'. It has her pal Beck at the mixing desk, and is released as a digital single this week. Hear it via Pitchfork, who also have the next-level NSFW 'Nymphomaniac' trailer.

Pearl Jam to play Leeds and Milton Keynes arenas
Pearl Jam - who don't really need an epithet - have added a pair of big British arena dates to a Euro-tour that includes slots at Poland's Open'er and Belgium's Rock Werchter festivals.

The first of the shows in question, which both honour Eddie Vedder and co's current studio LP 'Lightning Bolt', is on 8 Jul 2014 at Leeds Arena, whilst the other is at the Milton Keynes Bowl on 11 Jul.

Tickets will be available for the asking from Friday.

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Eagulls to headline 2014 dates
Flightless Leeds quintet Eagulls, who are good at making angry punk music, have confirmed the biggest headline shows of their short lives. Following a trio of dates (14-16 Feb 2014) supporting Parquet Courts, the real UK-based fun will unfold as follows:

27 Feb: Liverpool, The Shipping Forecast
28 Feb: Bristol, The Louisiana
4 Mar: Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
5 Mar: London, Electrowerkz
6 Mar: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
7 Mar: Glasgow, Nice N Sleazys
8 Mar: Newcastle, Head Of Steam

In Eagulls release news, the band's new single 'Tough Luck'/'Opaque' is out on limited edition seven-inch vinyl as of today. Their first LP, 'Eagulls' meanwhile, will follow on 3 Mar 2014.

Here's lead Eagull George Mitchell on the story behind the 'Tough Luck' video (which is here): "'Tough Luck' originated from a poem I wrote about my granddad's webbed feet titled 'Thalidomide Poem'. The original poem was written from a child's 'pondering' point of view. Intrigued by difference as a child I asked why my Granddad's dissimilar feet were so unlike mine and I was told it was due to a tablet which was used in the 'olden days' to help mothers get through morning sickness during pregnancy".

He goes on: "I later found out that this tablet was the drug Thalidomide which caused numerous birth defects. The song is portraying the gamble of trusting in something without knowing the consequences. 'Touch wood', everything will be fine. But then 'tough luck', sadly you're left with misfortune with your gamble".

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Ezra Furman to tour
Rock hope Ezra Furman nailed a list of 2014 live dates to the wall the other day, also disclosing a clip for his single 'I Wanna Destroy Myself', off his 'crazy' latest LP, 'Day Of The Dog'.

Find promo here, and dates below:

11 Feb: Manchester, Soup Kitchen
12 Feb: Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete's
13 Feb: Glasgow, Broadcast
14 Feb: York, Duchess
15 Feb: Cardiff, Moon
16 Feb: Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
17 Feb: Reading, South Streets Art Centre
18 Feb: Brighton, Green Door Store
19 Feb: London, Sebright Arms

Tour date cancellations lead to rumours The Wanted may be dropped
So, are The Wanted about to be dropped by Universal Music? Well, the gossipers reckon that the boyband's future with the mega-major is at least in doubt following the lacklustre performance of their third album 'Word Of Mouth', which has been "a massive flop" according to the Daily Star.

Of course by normal record industry standards, having shifted 40,000 units of their new LP in six weeks in just the UK would constitute success, though when you're constantly compared with One Direction, whose latest album sold more than that in a day, and which - according to the Star - sold more in the UK in a week than The Wanted managed worldwide in six, well, the goalposts are differently situated.

But whether that would actually mean Universal parting company with the Global Radio-managed group remains to be seen. The doom and gloom rumours may stem from other gossip that the announcement last week that The Wanted were cancelling the mainland Europe leg of their 2014 tour due to "scheduling problems" was code for "really shouldn't have booked this band in venues this big problems".

Whether or not you buy that all this is going to result in The Wanted boys being dropped, here's some words from the Star's boy-band source: "Despite high hopes that The Wanted would rival One Direction as worldwide stars, it just hasn't happened. 'Word Of Mouth' has proved a monumental flop which has just about sealed their fate".

Said source goes on: "The album was a disaster from start to finish. It had no direction and was delayed for over a year due to problems. No final decision has been made, but all promo for the album has been scrapped and no more singles are planned. There are also no plans to reschedule the cancelled European tour dates".