Wednesday 30 September 2009, 12:35 | By CMU Editorial

Approved: Palms (SNAP Of The Day)

CMU Approved

Here’s some exotic electronic music for you, with New Yorkers Palms working with some sparse beats on their debut album, ‘It’s Midnight In Honolulu’, a record that recalls the German kosmische movement of Cluster et al as much as the lo-fi indie of Velvet Underground (one could be mistaken for thinking it was Nico singing on ‘Der Koenig’). It’s a record full of sweet sounds that are both uplifting and escapist, though there’s a prevalent dark undercurrent which can particularly be found in the lyrics, if you can make them out from the floating vocals. They have a star calling card too, of course, with Nicoloas Vernhes, producer of Animal Collective, Cat Power and DFA’s Black Dice, heading up production duties, which is a fact that definitely looks good on a press release in late 2009.

www.myspace.com/palmsgroup

Interesting deal brings Warner back to YouTube

Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

As expected, YouTube and Warner Music have both confirmed that music videos from the latter are to reappear on the former’s website. As previously reported, Warner ordered the Google-owned platform remove all of its content from the video service at the end of last year when the two companies failed to renew their licensing agreement after a dispute over royalty rates.

The nature of the deal that has finally been struck between the two companies is interesting. Warner Music will now sell the advertising that sits next to its content on the YouTube platform giving a cut to Google, rather than Google selling the ads and giving Warner a share.

That arrangement will test the belief by some major label execs that the Google-owned video site is selling its advertising at a below market rate. Whenever YouTube argue that they just can’t afford to pay the royalty rates demanded by record companies or music publishers based on the income they get from advertising, some of those content owners argue that because YouTube mixes up official pop videos with user-generated clips of someone falling off a chair they can’t charge the ad rates that the official music content could actually demand.

YouTube presumably have no interest in carving up the content uploaded to their site into strands and selling advertising at different rates for each one, so have seemingly said to Warner “if you can sell ads next to your content for more money, by all means be our guest”.

In some ways Warner’s new deal with YouTube is a ‘lite’ version of Universal Music’s grand Vevo plan. Vevo will be a new video website, that repurposes Google technology, and only hosts official music videos as uploaded by record companies. Universal will sell the advertising, and presumably demand more money than YouTube do on the basis that “we only have official content here, thank you very much”.

Of course both Warner’s new YouTube deal and Universal’s Vevo plan assume that the major record companies can sell advertising, which may as yet prove to be the flaw in the plan. Say what you like about Google, but one thing they do have in house is online advertising sales expertise. I could be wrong, but I don’t ever remember being introduced to the online sales team whenever I’ve called in at Universal or Warner’s HQs. Word has it Warner hopes to strike an alliance with a sales or media company to help sell the advertising on its YouTube channels.

Confirming the new deal, YouTube’s Head Of Music Chris Maxcy said: “We feel this is a sustainable model that works for both parties. It puts control and success of their future in their own hands”.

Warner will be utilising the next generation YouTube video player which apparently offers more functionality, both for the user, and commercially. There is some doubt, though, that the enhanced player will be able to be embedded on other websites, certainly initially, which would be a major functionality fail.

Confirming their YouTube plans now their new deal is in place, Warner said in a statement: “Members of the YouTube community will not only be able to access videos and other music-related content from Warner Music Group recording artists and songwriters, but will also gain access to an enhanced user experience on YouTube with a feature-rich, high-quality premium player and enhanced channels”.

Other content owners will probably be watching Warner’s YouTube adventure with interest. To be fair to Warner, they were the first major content owner to strike a licensing deal with YouTube back in the day. With many content companies believing video sites like YouTube are undervaluing their content by sticking it next to UCG and selling advertising dirt cheap, if Warner can make the new ‘we’re in control’ system work, other content firms may follow suit.

TalkTalk man talk talks about three-strikes

Business News Legal Top Stories

Most of the internet service providers are against proposals to force them to become the piracy police, and TalkTalk boss Charlie Dunstone has been one of the most vocal critics of any proposals to force ISPs to restrict, suspend or disconnect the internet connections of persistent file-sharers. So, with the government’s consultation on the issue coming to a close (the consultation which has led to all the recent debate on the matter within the music community), it’s unsurprising Charlie has been speaking out again.

Although not wishing to particularly come down on the side of the pro-three-strike brigade, Charlie is, to an extent, deliberately misrepresenting the proposals put forward by Peter Mandelson’s Department For Business, Innovation and Skills for dramatic effect. He said this week: “The approach proposed by Lord Mandelson is based on the principle of guilty until proven innocent and substitutes proper judicial process for a kangaroo court. What is being proposed is wrong in principle and it won’t work in practice”.

It is true that the issue of who specifically orders the net access of a file-sharer be suspended (ie a government official or a judge), and what process the accused pirate has to defend him or herself, has been the sticking point in both France and New Zealand, where full on three-strike systems are being introduced. But that doesn’t mean three-strikes in itself relies on the “guilty until proven innocent” principle. That’s to do with the way the proposed system is administered rather than the system itself. True, giving media regulator OfCom power in this domain without the involvement of a court (as has been proposed) might be wrong, but that isn’t, in itself, a reason to oppose three-strikes altogether.

Dwelling once more on that issue, Dunstone continues: “TalkTalk will continue to resist any attempts to make it impose technical measures on its customers (unless directed to do so by a court or a recognised tribunal). In the event we are instructed to impose extrajudicial technical measures we will refuse to do so and challenge the instruction in the courts”.

Such statements probably mean Mandelson’s team would be advised to look at the way France is involving a judge in the three-strike process – otherwise, even if the anti-piracy system does become law, you’re probably looking at an incredibly drawn out court case before said system has any real bite. Apart from in Hull perhaps (remember Karoo?).

TalkTalk aren’t the only ISP getting vocal on the issue. As previously reported, BT have already been talking up just how much the three-strike system would cost to administer – a cost that would either have to be covered by the content owners or ISPs – obviously they say content owners should foot the bill. Sky share that viewpoint, stressing that their opinion on the matter is less biased because they are both content owners and an internet service provider, which is true; though it has to be said, most of the content Sky owns is shit.

Interestingly – and presumably because Sky is both content owner and ISP – they are less opposed to the concept of three-strikes, though seem to be attached to the original proposals in the government’s ‘Digital Britain’ report from earlier this year. That accepted that three-strikes may be necessary, but said that stepped up education programmes and primary infringer lawsuits should be tried first as a way of cutting illegal file-sharing. As previously reported, the record companies etc weren’t very impressed with ‘Digital Britain’.

UK Music use FOTL blog in three-strikes ad

Business News Legal Top Stories

So, as may have seen, UK Music added to the on going file-sharing debate earlier this week by taking an advert in the Guardian and using it to print a blog entry by Andy Falkous of Welsh post-hardcorers Future Of The Left from earlier this year – ie before the latest round of debating on this issue – in which he recalls his frustration on finding his band’s new album available on the internet, illegally, just three weeks after is completion and over eight weeks ahead of its scheduled release.

While admitting that “it feels like getting annoyed about downloading in this valueless age is like taking issue with water for being wet or night for gradually turning into day” he adds: “Thank you for downloading in barely a minute something that we poured a year of our lives into, attempting (successfully, I believe) with a great and furious pride to better our previous low-selling (and leaked three months early) album, a record which flew under the radar for many reasons but mostly because most of the goodwill poured on it happened and had dwindled several months before it was available to buy. [But I’m now] a little worried that the [new] record we made will get lost amongst the debris and leave us playing shows like we just weathered at the laughably bad Camden Crawl this last weekend – fifteen people and a world of disillusionment”.

Questioning the assumption by file-sharers that music should be free, he adds: “How far, I wonder, does this entitlement for free music go? My guitars, should they be free? Petrol to get us to shows? Perhaps I should come to an arrangement with my landlord, through the musician-rent-waiver programme. Perhaps he should pay me, for his ninth-division indie-cred through association”.

It’s an interesting and amusing rant on the issue, originally posted back in April. You can read it in full here.

Of course, of even more interest is UK Music’s decision to re-publish the rant in the Guardian at their own expense. The fact it’s a well written piece was only part of their motivation, presumably. It’s key that they’ve chosen a lesser-known band who, while not unsigned and bedroom-based, are still very much in the ‘flog your guts out for minimal return’ stage of their career, a stage many bands never quite surpass, especially now there are a lot less silly-sized major label advance cheques on the table.

As the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis observed: “Clearly UK Music thinks its message isn’t going to get across if it’s delivered by multimillionaires: it’s hard to be lectured on the financial implications of file-sharing from someone who’s rich enough never to have to work again. Here, on the other hand, is the perceived effect of filesharing on a band who clearly aren’t interested in being featured on the Chris Moyles show or capturing that all-important early evening ITV market, and pride themselves on their integrity and conscience: half-empty gigs, albums released to no fanfare, because the excitement happened when they leaked”.

So there you go. The debate, as they say (well, I’m saying) continues.

US creators call on Obama to act on copyright protection

Business News Legal Top Stories

Is the three-strikes debate about to kick off properly in the US?

As previously reported, when the Recording Industry Association Of America announced last year it was ending its programme of self-harming litigation against individual file-sharers it said it would follow the lead of its European counterparts and try and persuade the internet service providers to take a more proactive role in policing piracy.

Given ISPs are generally not keen on taking on such a role, it is likely the content industries in the US, like in Europe, will need new laws to be introduced if they want the net firms to start restricting or suspending the net access of file-sharers.

It is perhaps with that in mind that the so called Copyright Alliance has published an open letter to Prez Obama calling on him to help America’s creative industries to protect their copyrights in the online domain.

Without being too specific about how they want Obama and his government to help, the letter observes: “We are under assault. Our rights to control the distribution, use, and reproduction of our works in our vibrant digital age are dismissed by many who do not understand the value we bring to society. They tell us to work harder, create better, and give our works away. Some think that they should control our works and that they should be able to appropriate, perform, and copy them how they please, without our consent, benefit, or participation”.

It continues: “Mr President, hear our call. We know you understand the value our creative contributions bring to our society and economy, and we know you can encourage our citizens to respect our rights. Please pursue policies supportive of the rights of artists and the encouragement of our creative efforts. Without the proper respect for our rights and works today, it will become even more difficult for us to create in the future”.

Some 7000 creators, from across the creative industries, have so far put their name to the letter. The Alliance hopes Obama’s recent appointment of Victoria Espinel as an IP Enforcement Coordinator will put online copyright issues on the US government’s agenda.

Of course, as previously reported, the big copyright debate in the US of late has centered more on moves to make terrestrial radio stations pay royalties to record companies – something that, for historic reasons, has never really happened in the States.

U2 bigger than the Pope

Gigs & Festivals Top Stories

U2 have broken the attendance record at New Jersey’s Giants Stadium, previously set by Pope John Paul II in 1995, cramming 84,000 people into the venue.

As previously reported when the band broke the attendance record at Wembley Stadium in August, these record breaking achievements are all thanks to their 360 degree stage, which gives a view of the band from all angles, and allows promoters to sell tickets for all seats (rather than having to leave the seats behind the stage empty). With regards the latest broken record, it seems unlikely anyone will get a chance to beat it because the Giants Stadium is soon to be demolished.

After announcing that the band had broken every attendance record ever set in the stadium, Bono added: “I know they’re knocking this place down. We probably won’t be here again before the wrecking ball but it was a magic place for us as well as the Giants”.

In other U2 tour news, the band’s manager Paul McGuiness has revealed that the tour may not actually make a profit, and has not yet broken even. He told BBC 6music that, while they had generated €205m in ticket sales to date, it was costing more than €500,000 a day to keep it running (no word on how much of that was the band’s fee). And that, presumably, is before you factor in the high cost of building the 360 degree stage unit. However, all the band’s touring activity this year and next is expected to generate around €1 billion, and I can’t help feeling the project’s backers will do alright in the end.

Jackson estate sue the Heal The World Foundation

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal

Michael Jackson’s estate is suing the rather odd Heal The World Foundation, claiming they are improperly using the late king of pop’s trademarks in a bid to convince possible donators that the charity is affiliated to or was supported by Jacko.

It’s confusing, of course, because Jackson did indeed form a Heal The World Foundation in 1992 after the release of the rather tedious song of the same name (well, the song was called ‘Heal The World’ not ‘Heal The World Foundation’). But that charity was dissolved ten years later, while the latest incarnation of it was only launched last year.

On its website the Foundation is vague about its links to MJ, though they talk about the charity being inspired by his ‘Heal The World’ endeavours, and carry blog entries reporting on recent Jackson news stories. The Jacko estate argues that the organisation is trying its best to imply an official Jackson affiliation, adding that the body has applied for trademarks over certain key words associated with the late singer, including ‘Thriller’, ‘Neverland’ and ‘King Of Pop’.

The executors of the Jacko estate – John Branca and John McClain – who have court approval to protect and monetise the Michael Jackson brand, have filed legal papers against the Foundation, claiming it has never had any affiliation with the late singer or any of the Jackson clan. According to Billboard, the lawsuit alleges: “The defendants’ acts of infringement and unfair competition have been committed with the intent to cause confusion, mistake and to deceive”.

DJ AM’s death ruled accidental

Artist News

Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, died of an accidental overdose, the New York City medical examiner’s office has ruled. The cause of death was listed as acute intoxication due to the combined effects of prescription drugs and cocaine in his system.

As previously reported, Goldstein’s body was found in his New York apartment on 28 Aug after friends, concerned that they were unable to contact the DJ, alerted police. With “drug paraphernalia”, rumoured to be a crack pipe, found in the apartment, and no sign of foul play, it was announced almost immediately that it was believed Goldstein had died from an overdose, with speculation that his death may have been suicide.

Subsequent reports alleged eight OxyCotin painkiller pills were found in the DJ’s stomach after death, with one additional pill still in his mouth, and it was rumoured that he had been depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend, Hayley Wood, leading some to speculate the overdose was suicide. But Wood later denied that the couple had broken up and called his death a “tragic accident”.

He was buried at was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park And Mortuary in LA on 2 Sep, just less than a year since he and his Blink 182 friend survived that Learjet crash which killed the two pilots and two of the DJ and rockers’ colleagues.

Music: Men buy most, women shop around most, Welsh steal most

Business News Labels & Publishers Retail

Hey, how about some statistics about the way people buy music which may or may not mean anything? That seems like a Wednesday morning sort of thing to do.

Music download comparison site Comparedownload.com has gone out and asked 3000 British people about their music buying habits. They found out that men spend an average of £12,480 on music in their lifetime, while women spend slightly less, £9120. And while men tend to stay loyal to one retailer, women are more likely to shop around to find the best price.

Elsewhere in the survey we are told the average Brit apparently owns thirteen albums they’ve never listened to, but, at the same time, listens, on average, to each album they buy fifteen times. Meaning they must be listening to some of them a great deal more than fifteen times to balance that average out, which makes the statistic itself pretty meaningless. But not as meaningless as the finding that women know the lyrics of 86 songs off by heart, while men know 67.

It’s not all completely generalised gender profiling here, though. There was a bit of inter-nation stuff too. Wales was found to have the highest proliferation of illegal downloading, with nearly half of the Welsh people surveyed admitting to stealing music, while the lowest was found in East Anglia, where only 18% of people said they’d ever obtained any music in a dubious manner. Of course that might just prove the Welsh are more honest when answering surveys.

Overall, 42% of men admitted to illegally obtaining music (with around 25% saying that more than half of their music collection was illegal), while just 29% of women admitted the same.

Asked what led people to illegally download music, most said they did it because the legitimate stuff was too expensive. In fact, 74% of all people quizzed said that they thought music was too expensive, and 63% said they would buy more if it was cheaper.

Commenting on the research, CompareDownload.com boss James Bott said: “The fact that Brits still feel music is too expensive, and 63% would be less likely to download illegally if they could find the music they want to buy at lower costs, show there is real need for better consumer awareness of the best legal download prices out there”.

Diddy discusses Interscope deal

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Following those reports that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was not renewing his business relationship with Warner Music Group and was instead forming a new partnership under the Bad Boy brand with Universal’s Interscope division, the man himself has both confirmed and explained the new deal to AllHipHop. Somewhat confusing, the new arrangement means there will be two Bad Boy record companies.

As expected, under the new partnership Interscope will distribute releases by all future Bad Boy-signed artists, as well as Diddy’s own solo work, including his new album, ‘Last Train To Paris’, which had been slated for release by Warner Music’s Atlantic label in November. But the current Bad Boy catalogue will continue to be distributed by Warner/Atlantic.

Combs explained: “I had started some previous business relationships with [Interscope chairman] Jimmy Iovine. We had a great chemistry with each other. When I sat down with Julie [Greenwald, Atlantic COO] and told them that I had an interest to go sign with Jimmy, they didn’t make it rough for me. Lyor [Cohen, WMG Chairman] and Julie were nice enough to let me get my [Bad Boy] name. I was able to take the name over to Interscope and to still stay in business with them. I am not abandoning any of my artists over there, I still have that imprint. But all my future recordings, including my recording contract, that will be at Interscope Records”.

He added that he sees the new Interscope-based incarnation of Bad Boy Entertainment as a separate entity to its Warner counterpart, and will use it as a small boutique label to nurture new and more unusual talent. He said: “We are going to take our time with the amount of acts that we sign. We want to find those very unique artists. We want to build something very special that’s not already out there”.

Ever modest, he explained that the first “very unique” release to come out of the deal would be his own new album, which Combs describes at “electro-hip-hop-soul-funk”. He said of the album: “It’s hip hop and it has a lot of different ingredients going into it. As soon as people heard the word ‘electro’, they automatically assumed it was electro-heavy. It’s not electro-heavy, it’s a musical gumbo of the different sounds I’ve experienced throughout my travels and through producing”.

Marr and Brown working on music for TV

Artist News

Ian Brown has revealed that he and Johnny Marr are working together on music for a new TV drama being written by a mutual friend. He added that his former Stone Roses bandmate Mani, or possibly Happy Monday’s Paul Ryder, may also lend a hand on bass guitar.

Brown told BBC News: “The idea is that Johnny writes the music and I write the words and the melodies. We’ve got a mutual friend who’s writing a drama series. One of them’s about ticket touts, another one’s about grafters – kids who sell t-shirts and things like that – and another one’s about pickpockets. We’re going to get together and do the soundtrack for these dramas. We’d have to bring a drummer or a bass player in”.

Mogwai to spend 2010 in the studio

Artist News

Mogwai are preparing to return to the studio to record their next album, the follow-up to last year’s ‘The Hawk Is Howling’. With new material currently in the early stages of demoing, the band plan to spend all of next year in the studio.

The band’s Stuart Braithwaite told BBC 6music: “We’ve earmarked all of next year for doing it. I think that everyone’s trying out things at home and probably early next year, we’ll get together and laugh at how bad everybody’s attempts at making music are”.

He added that the band would probably work harder to promote the next album than they have on other releases, as it will be their first through their own label, Rock Action.

Braithwaite continued: “When we do a new record we’ll probably come and play [live] everywhere for a change. I think that our attitudes to activities around the record coming out might change a bit because we’ll be really thinking, ‘We need to push this’. Rather than sitting around asking, ‘What are the label doing to sell our records?’ It will have to be, ‘What have we got to do to sell our record?'”

Boy Of Girl announce new single

Releases

Formerly known as Moon Unit, Boy Of Girl are set to release their new single, ‘Hot Chocolate Boy’, on 2 Nov, the second to be taken from their debut album, ‘Off The Uncertain Button’.

Talking about the single, the duo’s Rosalind Blair told CMU earlier this year: “It’s a love song about sleepy sex. The title is stolen from Beat Happening. There are loads of references to my favourite bands in it. It’s about bedroom rituals, and the joy of sharing sleep with someone. Falling asleep with your lover listening to your favourite music is a cool thing to write a song about, I think”.

You can catch Boy Of Girl live at Cargo in London on Friday night, and you can watch the video for ‘Hot Chocolate Boy’, right now, here.

I Like Trains announce tour dates and stream single

Gigs & Festivals

Post-rockers I Like Trains release a new single, ‘Sea Of Regrets’, on 12 Oct and will head out on a UK tour that same week.

You can stream the single at the band’s website, here.

Tour dates:

14 Oct: Liverpool, Barfly
15 Oct: Manchester, Deaf Institute
16 Oct: Leeds, Cockpit
17 Oct: Glasgow, King Tut’s
19 Oct: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
20 Oct: Bristol, Cooler
21 Oct: Oxford, Bullingdon Arms
22 Oct: London, The Garage
23 Oct: Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
24 Oct: Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms

Campfires may be banned at Reading Festival

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

After banning flags from this year’s Reading festival, the man in charge Melvin Benn may also put an end to campfires at next year’s event.

Benn was due to meet Reading West MP Martin Salter on Monday to discuss the matter, after the MP complained of “angry mobs running around [the festival’s campsite], stealing other people’s tents and possessions and throwing them on the bonfires to keep the fires burning. It’s a lethal cocktail, drunken young people, fires and insufficient security to deal with the situation”.

Salter added: “I am a supporter of the festival, I want it to be a great success, but I want it to be a safe event for young people as it always used to be”.

Former EMI lawyer joins Warner

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Warner Music has appointed a new General Counsel for non-US divisions, a former EMI legal man, Chris Ancliff. He will report to WMG’s Exec VP and overall General Counsel Paul Robinson.

Look, here’s what Paul has to say about the appointment: “I’ve had the opportunity to work with Chris on some very significant matters over the past six years. His breadth of experience, his legal acumen, his managerial skills and his integrity make him a perfect fit for this new and wide-ranging role”.

Ancliff adds: “I’m excited to be joining WMG at a time when the company is so focused on aggressively transforming its business. WMG’s dynamic approach is already helping to define the future of the industry on many levels by pioneering the negotiation and implementation of expanded-rights agreements, developing groundbreaking licensing solutions and launching cutting-edge digital initiatives. I look forward to working with Paul and all of the members of WMG’s outstanding legal and business affairs team and to contributing to the company’s future success”.

The Orchard – CEO goes, jobs cut

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Independent digital distributor The Orchard has announced its CEO, Greg Scholl, is resigning and will leave the company in November. The announcement comes at the same time as a 20% cut in the firm’s head count, which will result in about 20 job losses. It’s thought that some of the cuts will be in The Orchard’s newer physical distribution arm.

Web advertising bigger than telly advertising

Media

Well, this is good news for Warner Music, I suppose, given they are about to enter the web advertising sales market.

The amount of money spent on online advertising in the UK has now passed the amount being spent on TV advertising. Telly spend has traditionally been by far the biggest budget for ad buying types, while the web advertising sector struggled for years to get off the ground, so that’s quite a major development. And you can see why ITV is in such a mess.

According to the Guardian, and based in part on figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau, internet now accounts for 23.5% of UK marketing spend, while TV accounts for 21.9%. The IAB says $1.75 billion was spent on net advertising in the first half of the year.

Web advertising is already bigger than TV advertising in Denmark, but the UK is the first major advertising market where this landmark has been passed.

Indy to stay

Media

Independent News & Media, owners of The Independent, have successfully renegotiated their many debts in a deal which might save the struggling broadsheet.

As much previously reported, there has been disagreement among INM’s shareholders as to whether the company’s refinancing should include the sale of The Indy (a move that could lead to the title being closed, given few would want to buy it). One big shareholder – Denis O’Brien – wanted rid of the broadsheet, while another, the biggest shareholder – Tony O’Reilly – insisted the company should hold onto the title.

O’Reilly preferred a proposal whereby the company would dish out equity to its money lenders – significantly reducing both his and O’Brien’s stakes – in order to give the company a bit more financial security. As part of that arrangement, which O’Reilly successfully got approved yesterday, despite O’Brien’s opposition, The Indy will stay, though will presumably need to turn round its commercial performance to ensure its long term survival.

Some at the Indy say they are now confident they can at least reach a break even point – month on month – in the next year or so, now that their near term survival seems more assured. So that’s nice.

Radcliffe turns down Mayo slot

Media

Mark Radcliffe has reportedly turned down the offer to take over Simon Mayo’s show on Radio 5Live, preferring to stay on his evening show on Radio 2. As previously reported, Mayo is off to Radio 2 himself to take over the Chris Evans drive time slot when he takes over breakfast from Terry Wogan in the New Year.

While Radcliffe is one of BBC Radio’s best, it is thought part of the motivation for giving him the job on the 5Live afternoon slot was the station’s Manchester dilemma.

As part of the Beeb’s big commitment to the regions, its fifth radio channel is meant to be moving most of its operations to Manchester in the nearish future. Breakfast show host Nicky Campbell has committed to moving to Manchester with the station, though it’s known Mayo wasn’t so keen, which is why the Radio 2 transfer was useful.

Radcliffe, of course, already presents his BBC shows from Manchester studios, so that would work just swell. But Radcliffe isn’t interested in a job on the talk station, presumably because he quite likes being able to include his favourite tunes on his radio show.

5Live’s late night man Richard Bacon is now favourite for the afternoon slot, though his opinions on a move to Manchester aren’t known.

BBC4 announce Madness night

Media

This Friday night BBC4 will dedicate its programming entirely to Madness, showing films and previously unseen footage of the band all evening.

‘The Liberty Of Norton Folgate’, a film made in conjunction with the band’s latest album by director Julien Temple – which includes live footage filmed at Hackney Empire intercut with a narrative thread that unearths the tales of London town that inspired the album – will get its first showing on UK TV, and the band’s set at this year’s Glastonbury and a documentary covering their early career through to the turn of the century, ‘Young Guns Go For It’ will also air.

However, the thing I urge you watch/Sky+/tape/get someone to record with a camcorder is ‘Take It Or Leave It’, the early eighties film charting the formation of Madness and the recording of their first album, all acted out (badly) by Madness themselves. It’s a work of pure brilliance.

This week’s sub.tv playlist – w/c 28 Sep 2009

Artist News

The students are back. Well, some of them are. It’s actually Freshers’ Week this week at many universities, with teaching kicking off next Monday, though some are already back in full swing. Whatever, all this means it’s time for Sub.TV to start filling their screens in the country’s students’ unions with more of those music video things. Here’s what has been programmed this week. Artist of the week is Newton Faulkner. More info on all things Sub.tv from DavidLloyd@sub.tv.

A List
All Time Low – Weightless
Chipmunk – Oopsy Daisy
Deadmaus – Ghosts and Stuff
Editors – Papillon
Example – Watch The Sun Come Up
Filthy Dukes – Tupac Robot Club Rock
Kid Cudi feat Kanye West & Common – Make Her Say
La Roux – I’m Not Your Toy
Lady Gaga – LoveGame
Mumford and Sons – Little Lion Man
Muse – Uprising
Newton Faulkner – If This Is It
Paramore – Ignorance
Speech Debelle – Spinnin’
Tiesto feat. Sneaky Sound System – I Will Be Here
Veronicas – 4Ever

B List
The All-American Rejects – The Wind Blows
Asher Roth feat. Keri Hilson – She Don’t Wanna Man
Basshunter – Every Morning
Biffy Clyro – The Captain
Cobra Starship – Good Girls Go Bad
Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
The Enemy – Be Somebody
Funeral For A Friend – Wrench
Green Day – East Jesus Nowhere
The Holloways – Jukebox Sunshine
Kasabian – Underdog
Livvi Franc – Now I’m That Chick
Miike Snow – Black & Blue
The Saturdays – Forever Is Over
Wild Beasts – All The Kings Men
Young Soul Rebels – I Got Soul

Tip List
Baddies – Open One Eye
Bombay Bicycle Club – Magnet
Hollywood Undead – Everywhere I Go
Karnivool – Set Fire To The Hive
Kings Of Convenience – Boat Behind
Lethal Bizzle – Going Out Tonight
Little Comets – Adultery
Lisa Mitchell – Coin Laundry
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance The Way I Feel
Sharam feat. Kid Cudi – She Came Along
them:youth – Halo

Kate Moss joins PRS

And Finally

Kate Moss has joined collecting society PRS For Music, sparking rumours that she is about to embark on a musical project with boyfriend, and one half of The Kills, Jamie Hince. However, given that Moss co-wrote a number of songs with former boyfriend Pete Doherty, she is already due some royalties, which is more likely to be why she’s signed up. In fact, I’m not sure why she’s not done it before.

A PRS spokesman said: “Kate has co-written some songs with Pete Doherty and she will now be able to collect her share of the royalties. For any future songs she writes – and which are played on radio, TV or live – we will also collect the royalties due. Both Pete Doherty and Jamie Hince are members. We are glad to welcome Kate too”.

Dappy leaks

And Finally

Just last week N-Dubz’s Dappy was complaining that, after giving away free copies of their early recordings, people started putting them on the internet.

Now it turns out that the rest of the band have banned him from having any CD copies of their new material at all because, aside from officially giving copies of new tunes to a select few, he has a tendency to leave discs lying around accidentally, which is not going to help if you’re trying to stop unofficial leaks.

Singer Tulisa Contostavlos told The Sun: “We have so many problems with Dappy burning CDs then leaving them at people’s houses that we’ve banned him from doing it with the new album”.

Q&A: Cicada

Artist Interviews

Cicada, aka production duo Alex Payne and Aaron Gilbert, made a name for themselves remixing the likes of Depeche Mode, New Order, Editors and more. Their eponymous debut album was released in 2006, and since then they’ve been working on crafting themselves as a live act, adding former GusGus vocalist Heidrun Björnsdottir and drummer Duncan ‘Pixie’ Mills to the line-up. After touring heavily, they returned to the studio to record album number two, ‘Roulette’, which was released in June this year. The latest single from the album, ‘Psycho Thrills’, is out now, and you can catch the band live tomorrow night in London at 93 Feet East. We spoke to Alex to ask our Same Six Questions.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
I was first introduced to Aaron through our label. We had a lot in common musically and in a rash moment decided to do something together in the studio and the rest as they say is history.

Q2 What inspired your latest single?
I guess it’s a seventies disco idea that ended up clashing with some eighties electro and a quirky vocal. That’s the joy of electronic music. You can throw different ideas and influences into the pot, play around with them and then see what takes your fancy, or what you think works the best – be it French disco house, prog rock, psychedelic or eighties new wave.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
It will usually start with a musical idea and then we will try to develop it using different styles and influences until we find a synthesis that works and excites us and makes us smile. The lyrics/vocals tend mostly to come after that.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
I think there is view that electronic/dance music has a narrower set of influences than a lot of other music. But we have pretty varied musical influences and there isn’t a sequencer in sight in a lot of it. These vary from Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson and Bernard Herrmann to Blondie and Can, not to mention Chic and Daft Punk.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
As little as possible! Hopefully the music speaks for itself over the whole album. Also go back and listen to it again… you might have missed something.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest single, and for the future?
Hopefully the single will get more people to go and find the album, come and see us live which in turn will allow us to keep doing what we are doing, keep developing and making good music and out of the rat race!

MORE>> www.cicadamusic.com

Citibank getting tough with its debtors – what does that mean for EMI?

Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories

The New York Post has been speculating what Citigroup’s apparent mission to rid itself of dodgy debtors might mean for one of its biggest borrowers, EMI.

The Post notes that the struggling US bank has been getting rather tetchy about problematic debt payers of late, even going as far, they claim, as to push German fashion designers Escada into bankruptcy last month, while talking tough with another fashion house, Valentino. The Post claims that Citi is so keen to get troubled loans off its balance sheet that it is considering forcing companies to wind up even when there may be backers on the sideline willing to step in and help refinance.

All of this is relevant to EMI because, as much previously reported, Citibank provided a lot of the funding that enabled Terra Firma’s ambitious takeover of the London-based major in 2007. The music firm has considerable debt commitments to the bank which Terra Firma has been busy trying to renegotiate in recent months, so far without success. In much the same way Terra Firma boss Guy Hands recently admitted he would never have bought EMI had he known the credit crunch was looming in summer 2007, I think it’s fair to say Citibank would never got involved had they realised they wouldn’t be able to sell at least some of the EMI loan on to other lenders (there being no takers for such deals in a recession).

The Post has no evidence to suggest Citibank has decided that, if push comes to shove, it can afford to let EMI collapse, and insiders at the major and its private equity owners recently insisted that the music firm’s fortunes have improved sufficiently in the last six months that it is no longer so reliant on renegotiating its Citibank deals to ensure near-term survival.

But I think the paper’s point is that, with some in the banking sector looking to cut their losses as they attempt some sort of recovery from recent woes, it’s not a good time to owe one institution such large sums of money. And while this month’s Beatles boom and any possible Robbie revenues may give the major some breathing space, those debt commitments, to an antsy bank that’s demonstrated its willingness to press the self-destruct button when necessary, means question marks will remain over EMI’s long term future for sometime to come.

Vodafone confirms it will sell iPhones

Business News Digital Top Stories

Vodafone have confirmed that they too will be selling the iPhone from in the near future. As previously reported, with O2’s exclusivity deal with Apple coming to an end next week, Orange announced yesterday it would soon be selling the popular iPod/mobile hybrid. Vodafone confirmed rumours that it too would soon be selling the iPhone this morning, with a 2010 launch looking likely.

It’s thought the sale of iPhones by three UK mobile networks – Orange, Vodafone and existing seller O2 – will lead to a price war over the devices. The Telegraph quote Steven Hartley from research firm Ovum who says this: “There will be a price war. Research shows that in every country where there is more than one operator selling it, it is cheaper. It could be very disruptive, but it depends how Orange play it. If they get really aggressive O2 will have to respond and a full-on price war could start”.

So that’s nice. Virgin Mobile are also reportedly busy trying to secure a deal to sell the iPhone in the UK, worried that failure to do so will lose them customers. The Apple handset is certainly popular – Vodafone boss Vittorio Colao recently said he thought a key reason his network lost nearly 160,000 subscribers in the last quarter was because his company couldn’t sell them an iPhone. And a price war on the device would make it an attractive purchase to an even bigger audience.

BT say three-strikes very expensive, and it just won’t work

Business News Legal Top Stories

There’s been a bit of disagreement between mega-tel-co BT and record label trade body the BPI over the costs of implementing the previously discussed three-strikes programme.

The internet service providers are against any proposals that they play a more proactive role in policing online piracy, and especially those proposals that they limit or suspend the net connections of persistent file-sharers – ie the proposals currently being considered by the UK government. They often cite privacy concerns as a reason for refusing to more closely monitoring their customers’ net activity as well as questioning why they should foot the bill for tackling online piracy when it’s the content owners who will benefit.

One BT exec, John Petter, recently spoke out against the latest three-strikes proposals, telling reporters they wouldn’t work, and that they could cost the ISP industry up to £1 million a day to implement, which seems like a bit of an exaggeration, but there you go.

A spokesman for the phone firm later added: “Many peer to peer applications are perfectly legal, such as World Of Warcraft and BBC iPlayer. To investigate the exact nature of each case [of P2P traffic] would involve an intrusive level of inspection of people’s traffic and customers would rightly complain”.

But the BPI isn’t impressed with BT’s claims. They claim that the phone firm is exaggerating the implications of the government’s proposals, while arguing that any company whose services can be used for illegal activities has to accept that investing in measures to stop that activity is just a cost they have to bear. BPI boss Geoff Taylor told The Mirror: “It’s shameful for a company like BT to know that a high percentage of the traffic it carries is illegal material but do nothing. If you operate a commercial service and know it is being used to break the law, taking steps to ensure it is used legally is a cost of doing business”.

Lady Sovereign fined for spitting

Legal

Lady Sovereign spent a night in the cells in the Australian city of Brisbane at the weekend after she spat at a bouncer in a club. She had apparently only been in the country a matter of hours when she was arrested on charges of assault and being drunk and disorderly. She appeared before magistrates on Saturday morning and was fined AUS$400 and ordered to pay AUS$200 compensation to the bouncer.

Discussing the incident on Twitter, Lady Sovereign said: “Brisbane police need to go catch some real criminals… what a waste. Spitting in someone’s face is nasty, but how about a guy dressed up as a girl running at you in the toilets and punching you in the head?”

Marilyn Manson free of both pigs and flu

Artist News

Well, Marilyn Manson may have been insisting last week that he had swine flu, but he continued a tour of Canada up until its completion this weekend. You could say it was an enormous show of dedication to his fans, with the shock rocker battling on through it all to avoid causing anyone any disappointment. Or you could say he was lying about having the lurgey. His tour promoters seem to think it’s the latter.

As previously reported, Manson updated his Facebook status on 21 Sep, informing fans that he had “officially been diagnosed, by a real doctor, with the swine flu”, but claimed not to have contracted it by “fucking a pig”.

However, the co-promoters of Manson’s show at the Bell Centre in Montreal on 22 Sep followed-up the star’s claims with this statement: “The Gillett Entertainment Group and Live Nation confirmed today that contrary to rumours circulating, Marilyn Manson is not suffering from swine flu”.

Manson’s original status update has now been removed from his Facebook page (although it still appears on his Twitter feed) and was replaced on Friday with a statement saying: “Marilyn Manson has a clean bill of health and has fully recovered”.

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