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Click JUMP to skip direct to a section of this email or ONLINE to read and share stories on the CMU website (JUMP option may not work in all email readers). For regular updates from Team CMU follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CMU Jobs is a proven way to recruit the best music business talent for roles across the industry at all levels, from graduate to senior management. To book an ad contact Sam on 020 7099 9060 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bloom.fm shuts down after losing investor The Tumblr post announcing the sudden closure of the much hyped service last night came right out of the blue, declaring that: "We'll keep this short because we're pretty shell-shocked. It's game over for Bloom.fm. Our investor, who's been along for the ride since day one, has unexpectedly pulled our funding. It's come so out of the blue that we don't have time to find new investment. So, with enormous regret, we have to shut up shop". The message went on: "This is a poetically crappy turn of events as our young business was showing real promise. Our apps and web player are looking super-nice and we had 1,158,914 registered users in a little over a year. Yep. A massive thanks to everyone that helped us get this far. We're absolutely gutted. But it's been a real pleasure". Bloom.fm grew out of the Twitter-meets-iTunes service mFlow, and offered a subtly different approach to streaming music, and a significantly different pricing structure. The people behind Bloom said that they reckoned their model had more mass-market potential than those digital operations running a Spotify-style service, and they splashed out on a more conventional advertising campaign than employed by most tech start-ups these days to reach that more mainstream consumer. But launching a streaming service of any kind is an expensive business, requiring deep pockets to fund tech development, marketing and, most significantly, the licensing fees paid to the record labels and music publishers. Bloom (and mflow before it) seemingly relied on one principal backer, Russian media firm TNT Media Investments, which has abruptly halted its support. Speaking to Music Ally last night, Bloom.fm CEO Oleg Fomenko was candid about the challenges of launching a streaming music business. He said: "Underlying this decision is economics - there is no business case at the moment in licensed digital music - margins are too low and up-front and growth costs are too high. The solution is a massive scale that then will allow for re-distribution of margins in the value chain". "[But] most consumers are not willing to pay existing prices", he went on. "You can see this in dominance of YouTube and by popularity of totally free ways of listening to music on the mobile. [But] we do hope that someone will re-start to offer truly mass-market streaming options soon. I am very saddened that it will not be Bloom.fm". Of course, Bloom's assets - its technology, userbase and the licences it had in place - may well be of interest to another player (though licensing deals are not always transferable), so elements of the business might live on elsewhere. Though the sudden shutdown of a very promising new service demonstrates that - for all the hype, and for all the royalties being paid into the record industry by the better funded players - streaming music is still a risky business, where only a very few are likely to prosper. -------------------------------------------------- Great Escape just a week away Once again the team from CMU Insights have programmed the convention side of the proceedings which, as much previously reported, will this year feature at its heart six half-day insight strands, which you can read up on right now via these links. Direct-to-fan IS the music business, as we'll discuss in Building A Fan Business. The music rights sector IS adapting to the digital age, as we'll discuss in Maximising Music Rights. Standing out in a crowded marketing place will be a key theme of The Festival Business. Generating new revenues through innovative products will be the topic in New Product Strategies. How digital differs around the world will be covered in Global Digital Markets. And what we can do about pop's misogyny problem will be tackled in Blurred Lines. On top of that lot, don't forget on the Saturday of TGE there is the DIY programme for the grass roots artist community and Blueprint, a day exploring creative collaborations in tech. If you can only make it to Brighton on the weekend, standalone tickets are available to both of those here. And of course there are a stack of networking events (including one on the Brighton Wheel!) and the extensive conversations programme, a number of additional announcements on which are coming up in the next few days here in the CMU Daily. So that's an awful lot to be getting on with. Get your delegate passes now I'd say, because they are very, very close to all being gone (festival tickets all sold out yesterday). Meanwhile, what about the 400 bands playing this year's marvellous Great Escape festival? Well, CMU Editor Andy Malt has picked out his ten top tips and made a lovely playlist out of them. See you in seven days. -------------------------------------------------- Weatherley renews call to 'go after the money' in piracy battle While various ad agencies and advertising industry organisations have had lists of websites to avoid advertising with for sometime now, in a bid to ensure ads don't appear alongside unlicensed music and movies online, many in the content industries, and Weatherley, reckon much more could be done. Weatherley has been working with the City Of London Police's IP Crime Unit and the government's Intellectual Property Office to review what extra measures could be implemented, and says that a report should be available in early June, with a view to then drafting a new voluntary code for the ad sector. Weatherley will also speak at two events in June on this topic. Says the MP: "Following the money is central to my campaign to tackle IP crime. It's quite straightforward in that the primary driver for individuals hosting websites with illegal content is money. By cutting off this significant revenue stream, it is inevitable that thousands of websites will simply close down. While the music and film industries have been slow to adapt to the digital market, there are now a plethora of cheap and simple ways to get content legally". And, of course, Weatherley will be taking part in the Maximising Music Rights strand at The Great Escape next week, discussing this and other piracy matters with CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke at the conclusion of the half-day focus on all things music rights. More on that here, and read the interview we did with Weatherley earlier this year here. |
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Warner agrees to increase Kylie dancers' pay to legal minimum According to The Age, a number of professional dancers were asked to work on the eleven hour video shoot for free or below the standard rate. After complaints, some were then offered AUS$100 (about £55). Meanwhile, the dancers who appeared at the Australia TV awards ceremony were offered AUS$700 (£385) for their time, including rehearsals and overtime, a bit more generous, but also below usual expectations. Director of the Equity Australia union Sue McCreadie said that Warner Music and the production company behind the video had now agreed to pay legal minimum rates to the 30 affected dancer for both performances. This ranges from AUS$174 (£95) to AUS$448 (£246) for the video, depending on each dancer's experience, and up to AUS$1156 (£636) for the awards show. -------------------------------------------------- Prosecutor appeals decision to return Kim Dotcom's assets In a tweet yesterday, Dotcom said: "Crown Law appeals High Court ruling to return assets to my family. Government bullying continues". As previously reported, the original court ruling ordered the return of personal assets seized by New Zealand police from Dotcom when his home was raided in January 2012, during an international operation against MegaUpload and its management team. Had the appeal not been lodged, he could have been reunited with property, several cars and around $10 million as early as next week. Last week Dotcom also filed papers in Hong Kong in order to regain corporate assets seized from MegaUpload. |
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Roc Nation signs Alexa Goddard One of those YouTube stars they have now, Goddard was at one time on of the ten musicians with the most subscribers on the video platform in the UK, which in 2010 helped her to reach number 20 in the hit parade (and number one in the indie chart). She'll be headlining the Islington Academy in London on 20 May, and this is a song called 'Pretty Girls', released to coincide with her Roc Nation signing. |
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StubHub announces US gig series The performers will be announced next week, with tickets available for sale through StubHub itself for $60. Though if you really want to get into the spirit of the event, you should buy yours from Ticketmaster's TicketsNow for $300 at a later date. StubHub's Chief Marketing Officer Michael Lattig told Billboard that this was to become a long term project, saying: "This is about doing something that we can repeat and continue to bring around the country and deliver to fans in as many markets as makes sense". And you know that when someone from marketing says this is for life, they really mean it. Profits from (primary) ticket sales will go to the Mr Holland's Opus Foundation charity. |
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Ministry Of Sound advert not in breach of rules, says ASA Four people complained that the advert, which featured a woman twerking on a council estate, was overtly sexual and demeaning to women. However, in its response, ad firm Clearcast said that while the dancing was provocative, it did not agree that it was overtly sexual, due to only her arms and midriff being exposed and no other people being present. The ASA concurred with this response, saying that it "acknowledged that the ad contained scenes of dancing known as 'twerking'", and adding that "in the context of an ad advertising a dance CD, the dancing would be regarded as reflecting the genre of music that was being promoted". You can watch the ad, but not be offended, here. |
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Wilko Johnson has major cancer op Having apparently resigned himself to an October 2013 "deadline" (in his own words) and played a series of farewell live dates last year, the one-time Dr Feelgood guitarist says it was discovered recently that the tumour was of a rare, slow-growing kind, and not as aggressive as doctors first thought. Speaking to Tony Parsons in GQ Magazine on the day of the reportedly unprecedented procedure, which saw doctors remove his entire pancreas, and additionally his spleen, and parts of his stomach and small and large intestines, Johnson said: "October had come and gone, and a friend of mine - who is both a photographer and a cancer doctor - became curious as to why I wasn't dead. And why I wasn't even sick". On dealing with his new, more optimistic prognosis, he added: "It's unreal to me. I'm going to have to readjust my mind as well as my body. My reaction to the diagnosis of terminal cancer was euphoria. The doctor was sitting there drawing on his diagram - yes, you have this mass and unfortunately we can't operate on it. You've got cancer. You're going to die. I was absolutely calm. Not a flutter. And he gave me a few more details and I sat there nodding. And when I walked home - it was January, a beautiful winter's day - I remember looking up at the trees against the sky and feeling this rush - I'm alive. It was so intense!" And: "Walking along in a reverie - I can't remember such joy in existing since my time of youth. By the time I got home I was high - to the extent that I wondered if it was some kind of shock reaction, that in a couple of hours I was going to come crashing down. And I didn't. It just carried on like that. I never Googled pancreatic cancer. I didn't want to struggle against it. I didn't want to fight it. I never clung to false hopes. I didn't want to ruin my last few months of life. I just felt - I'm alive, I'm alive. Death, where is thy sting?" It was revealed yesterday via a statement on Johnson's site that all of his forthcoming shows have been cancelled while he recovers from the treatment. -------------------------------------------------- Her? She is Mariah... the elusive chanteuse 'Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse' Mariah explains the title - like it needs any explanation - in a new video thrust upon the internet last night. The first half, she says, comes from a self-portrait she drew when she was three and a half years old, which also features on the back cover of the album. Aw, how cute. Though it would be even cuter if the picture wasn't so clearly not the work of a three year old. Whatever, that's Mariah's story and she's sticking to it. "It was a creative visualisation of how I saw myself with the purity of a child's heart... before it was ever broken", says Mariah. "I've kept this drawing private for so long, but because this album is a reflection of some of the peaks and values that have made me who I am today, I've decided to share it with those of you who actually care and have been here for me through it all". That's a bit melancholy really, isn't it? It's still not the work of a three year old though. The second half is the nickname that Mariah claims people have been calling her lately. I'm not sure who these people are, but they definitely call her that - The Elusive Chanteuse. Watch the video here. 'Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse' -------------------------------------------------- Robbie Williams has no time for Take That (at the moment) Getting real re the practicalities of his playing a part in the TBA album and tour, Robbo, who is soon to be a dad again, thanks mainly to his wife, Ayda Field, said via The Sun: "Logistically, I can't do it. I have the ['Swings Both Ways'] tour and I'm going to be a dad again". See? He's going to be a dad again. Which isn't to say Williams is leaving the Bank Of Take That for good. Because look, this is what Williams later added: "It doesn't mean to say I won't join in along the way. Whatever happens, I am absolutely going to be in Take That - I love being in Take That". 'Swings Both Ways', is it? Apt. -------------------------------------------------- Former Lostprophets members working on new music Refusing to comment on whether or not he was performing with the band too, he told Radio Cardiff: "It's been my honour to work with them on their new band from a label perspective. And it's just so good, man. People are not going to know what hit them when the new band comes out, it's like everything I grew up on. A little bit of New Order; little bit of Joy Division; little bit of The Cure; it's just so forward-thinking. And it's also like... all the roots are everything I've ever loved from goth music". Lostprophets, of course, announced their split shortly before former frontman Ian Watkins was convicted of child sexual abuse crime. He is currently serving 29 years in prison, pending an appeal. Listen to Rickly's interview in full here. |
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Prince to play four UK shows in May The first one's at Birmingham's LG Arena (15 May), another is the following night (16 May) at Manchester's Phones4U Arena, whilst the other two are at Glasgow's SSE Hydro (22 May), and finally, Leeds' First Direct Arena on 23 May. Tickets, which are only £65, will go on sale tomoz at noon, aka midday, aka 12pm. And no, £65 is not a lot, really. It's Prince, for Christ's sake. PRINCE. -------------------------------------------------- Festival Line-Up Update: Secret Garden Party, Latitude, Calling and more With that said, it's time to roll on with today's line-up update bonanza, which is as follows... BELLADRUM TARTAN HEART, Belladrum Estate, Inverness-shire, Scotland, 8-9 Aug: Band Of Skulls, I Am Kloot, The Vatersay Boys, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Nine Below Zero, Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire, George Barnett, The New Piccadillys, Raintown, Brownbear, Luke Jackson, Torridon, Feis Rois. www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk CALLING FESTIVAL, Clapham Common, London, 28-29 Jun: Jack Johnson, Paloma Faith, India Arie, Radkey, Heaven's Basement, The Jezabels, No Hot Ashes, Tax The Heat, Chantal Claret, 3 Dudes, Toseland. www.callingfestival.co.uk HEVY FEST, Port Lympne Wildlife Park, Hythe, Kent, 15-16 Aug: 68, Brutality Will Prevail, The Catharsis, Deez Nuts, Devil Sold His Soul, Empire, Empress, The Hell, Iwrestledabearonce, Monuments, Nai Harvest, Oathbreaker, The One Hundred, Palm Reader, Polar, Reel Big Fish, The Safety Fire, Stampin' Ground, TesseracT, Texas In July. www.hevyfest.com LATITUDE, Henham Park Estate, Beccles, Suffolk, 17-20 Jul: Chrissie Hynde, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, Future Islands, Summer Camp, Elliphant, Childhood, Young Fathers, Glass Animals, The Jayhawks, James Holden, Tycho, Mnek, Rhodes, Syd Arthur, Vaults, DD Dumbo, Solomon Grey, Emilie Nicholas, Years And Years, Danni Nicholls, Ady Suleiman, Milky Chance, Tiempo Libre, Hollie Cook, Big Sandy And His Fly-Rite Boys, Natty Bo And The Top Cats, Derriere, Suns Of The Tundra, Gavin Osborn. www.latitudefestival.com MYSTERYLAND, Floriade, Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands, 23 Aug: Kaskade, Umek, Pan-Pot, Henrik Schwarz, Blawan, Sadar Bahar, Bass Modulators, Pendulum DJ Set & Verse, Olivier Weiter, Julian Jordan, Black Coffee, Le Youth, DIO. www.mysteryland.com SOUTHSEA FEST, various venues, Portsmouth, 20 Sep: Dinosaur Pile Up, Fear of Men, Laurel, Mazes, Brontide, Eliza And The Bear, Pawws, Blessa, 100 Onces, Alpha Male Tea Party, Bad Grammar, Beautiful Boy, Big Fin, Big Sixes, Boy Jumps Ship, Charlie Boyer And The Voyeurs, Deluxe Flamingos, Eighteen Nightmares At The Lux, Falls, Fickle Friends, Fred Page, FURS, Happyness, House Of Thieves, Holy Casper, Kagoule, Kill Moon, Layers, Looks, Lyger, Meadowlark, Menace Beach, Nothing But Thieves, Osca, Passport To Stockholm, Pedro Don Key, Pixel Fix, Racing Glaciers, Raglans, The Lion And The Wolf, The Ramona Flowers, Shopping, Slaves, Tigercub, Trampolene, Uncle Luc, Violet Skies, We The Wild. www.southseafest.com |
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Sizzurp Round-Up: Danny Brown, Soulja Boy and Justin Bieber So now is a moment to look back on purple drank-dranking times past. Reactions have been mixed so far, varying wildly from weary resignation, to fond nostalgia, to Soulja Boy stacking and showing off his giant 'lifestime' cache of the codeine-based drug. LOOK AT THE CACHE. On the 'fond nostalgia' side of the post-sizzurp camp, Justin 'Sir Bizzle' Bieber has likened (via his new track 'We Were Born For This') real "love" to "appreciation/mixed in a double cup of Sprite". Selena will appreciate that, I bet. But hey, kids, there's always the sensible way, which is to now pack in the lean permanently. Danny Brown did it because his habit meant he was drinking a lot of sugary soda, which meant he gained weight and became too big to fit in his Balmain jeans. And on a serious note, because it was fucking with his health and sanity. Speaking to Tim Westwood, the Oprah of the rap game sipping addiction, Brown said: "I was getting too fat man, I gained like fifteen pounds! You can't wear Rick Owens looking pregnant. You can't have a Gucci Mane belly and wear high-end fashion". Going on to add that withdrawal from the 'drank' caused him pretty nasty symptoms (mainly chronic diarrhoea, whilst overdoing it apparently does the opposite), Danny got grave for a bit and gave this warning: "It's liquid heroin, it's a opiate. Everyone know what heroin do to people, it just does the exact same thing. It tastes amazing, you know what I'm saying, but once you get addicted to that taste man, it's a brain thing, it's like a mental thing, it's stuck there. I haven't drunk in a month and a couple weeks now, and there hasn't been a day that go by where I don't taste it in my mouth still". So I guess sizzurp is a bit like love, just like Justin said. Shit. |
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Send ALL press releases to musicnews@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - this is checked daily by the whole editorial team meaning your release will definitely get to the right person. For details of the training and consultancy services offered by CMU Insights click here - Andy and Chris are also available to provide music business comment, just email them direct. To promote your company or advertise jobs or services to the entire UK music industry via the CMU bulletin or website contact Sam on 020 7099 9060 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk |
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