On this week's show we discuss the ruling in the long-running noise dispute involving Manchester's Night & Day that allows the venue to continue running club nights but potentially puts other nearby venues at risk, plus the BPI’s legal threats against a service that uses AI to create cover versions of songs in seconds.
SECTION TIMES
01: Night & Day (00:08:13)
02: News in brief (00:15:15)
03: Voicify (00:19:57)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)
THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES
Night & Day ruling makes it “open season” on Manchester’s night-time economy says Music Venue Trust boss
The Night & Day venue will be able to continue to run club nights, following the ruling in its protracted legal battle with Manchester City Council over a noise complaint. However, the wording of the decision has raised concerns that other nearby venues may now face similar complaints
Chris Cooke
BPI threatens to sue voice cloning site Voicify
After the US record industry raised concerns about UK-based voice cloning service Voicify in a piracy document last year, it has emerged that British trade group BPI is now threatening legal action against the platform, which makes “high quality AI covers in seconds”
Chris Cooke
NEWS IN BRIEF
More performers seeking specialist health support, says BAPAM
Performer health charity BAPAM has published a set of stats as it prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary, revealing that demand for focused health support from performers has doubled since the start of the COVID pandemic, with the number of mental health consultations increasing four-fold
Chris Cooke
Music and visual arts organisations back new climate change charity Murmur
New climate change charity Murmur brings together music and visual arts organisations with the aim of tackling the impact of climate change within the arts and beyond. A £1 million fund will fund climate crisis initiatives led by companies and artists
Andy Malt
Black Eyed Peas sued for licensing interpolation but not sample of Scatman
The label that owns Scatman John’s ‘Scatman’ has sued Black Eyed Peas over an uncleared sample. Iceberg Records provided a licence that allowed the interpolation of the ‘Scatman’ composition into their song ‘Bailar Contigo’, but says the original recording was also sampled, which was not licensed
Chris Cooke
IFPI report shows 10.2% growth in global recorded music market
Worldwide recorded music revenues grew 10.2% in 2023, according to the Global Music Report from the IFPI. Streaming accounts for 67.3% of total revenues, according to IFPI maths, though the industry still needs to get more value out of free streaming, labels reps say
Chris Cooke
MIDiA shows $35.1 billion in global recorded music revenues - but what does that number actually mean?
It’s music stats season and tomorrow the IFPI’s £25,000-a-pop Global Music Report is released. MIDiA released its own global recorded music revenues report earlier this week - and with significant differences in headline numbers likely, we take a look at why that is
Sam Taylor
ALSO MENTIONED
Spotify publishes new Loud & Clear, says the focus now is artists “dependent on streaming as part of their livelihood”
Spotify has published loads more stats as part of an update to its Loud & Clear website. Although the stats are interesting, this site is partly about countering criticism of Spotify, and it’s interesting to see what criticism is clearly being dealt with among the facts and figures
Chris Cooke
Thom Yorke calls Spotify ‘the last desperate fart of a dying corpse’
Radiohead and Atoms for Peace frontman renews his attack on streaming music service for ‘trying to become gatekeepers’. By Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge