CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases
Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise this week, from Adult DVD, Ray Laurél, Queens of The Stone Age, Tinashe + Perfume Genius…
IFPI backs web-blocking frenzy in five Latin American markets
Global record industry trade group IFPI has welcomed coordinated action by government agencies in five Latin American countries to secure web-blocks against 300+ piracy domains. IFPI says the action “will help protect artists and fans while supporting a healthier digital marketplace for music”…
🎧 Approved: Gaspar Claus
Cellist Gaspar Claus makes contemporary chamber music threaded with Mediterranean folk and electronics - every sound originates from a cello, then gets stretched, processed and metamorphosed into something else entirely. New single ‘Ecstasy’ holds the kind of sensory intensity the title promises…
Outkast sue Ovrkast after he reneges on commitment to change performer name to something less confusingly similar
Outkast have sued Ovrkast for trademark infringement. Rapper and producer Ovrkast admitted himself in a Rolling Stone interview last year that lots of people confuse the two artist brands. A company that manages Outkast’s trademarks says Ovrkast agreed to change his name by July, but then didn’t…
🎧 Approved: Julia Jacklin
Australian songwriter Julia Jacklin makes warm, fuzzy indie-folk with a husky crackling alto. New single ‘If I Had The Hand Of God’ is cathartic and country-nodding. Album ‘The Gem’ - recorded above a Melbourne pub, with a bartender doing the band’s matching tattoos on the last day - is out Friday…
Anti-piracy web-blocks back on the political agenda in the US - with VPNs and DNS resolvers facing web-blocking obligations
New plans to finally introduce web-blocking as an anti-piracy tool in the US would specifically oblige VPNs and DNS resolvers as well as ISPs to block access to piracy sites when rightsholders secure a court order. The music industry is a fan of web-blocking, but the tech sector is strongly opposed…
Ed Sheeran discusses Macklemore axing controversy as his tour resumes in Philadelphia
Ed Sheeran resumed his US tour without support acts this weekend, responding on stage to the controversial axing of Macklemore from the show. Elsewhere in pop politics, Zara Larson has pulled out of a concert in Abu Dhabi and Sylvan Esso have commented on their music returning to Spotify…
Universal and Warner tell judge ‘new use’ clause in AFM agreement is “clear and unambiguous” and does not apply to their AI deals
In June the American Federation Of Musicians sued Universal and Warner over their AI deals, insisting the majors should be sharing their AI money with the union’s members under its Sound Recording Labor Agreement. Both sides have made new court filings as the majors try to get the lawsuit dismissed…
As the drama continues around Ed Sheeran’s US tour, the debate is bigger than one pop star
The drama continues following the axing of Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s US tour over his on-stage support for Palestine. Sheeran himself is taking a lot of heat, though some in the industry have expressed some sympathy, and argue the real debate here is about more than the decisions of one pop star…
DistroKid’s $2 billion valuation based on it being a pipeline for AI slop and copyright infringement, says Universal
Universal claims that distributor DistroKid achieved its recent $2 billion valuation by providing a pipeline for AI slop and copyright infringing music, to the detriment of artists and labels. It has filed a lawsuit accusing DistroKid of copyright infringement and unlawful deceptive trade practices…
Landmark termination rights ruling not the “copyright emergency” music publishers claim, songwriter tells US Supreme Court
When America’s Fifth Circuit Appeals Court backed a songwriter-friendly interpretation of the termination right in US copyright law, the majors bought the song that prompted that ruling and asked the Supreme Court to intervene. The writer of that song has now urged the top court to not get involved…
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