All eyes (well, some eyes) were on the Music Publishers Association AGM yesterday where Paul Curran, MD of BMG's UK publishing company, was appointed as the new chairman. Commenting on his new post Curran said: "I'm very optimistic about the future. New business models like Apple's will be the start of a large online business that will move our whole world forward."
Among all the usual reviews and appointments at the AGM, perhaps most important was the proposition from outgoing chairman Andrew Potter that royalties collection body MCPS, which is wholly owned by MPA, should be spun off into a sister holding company to avoid any conflict of interest between the trade association and its commercial wing - especially in light of plans by the European Commission to review the way all the royalty collection bodies work.