Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:14 | By CMU Editorial

Big Weekend goes to Bangor

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business Media

The BBC yesterday announced that the Welsh town of Bangor will host this year’s Radio 1 Big Weekend. Whether those who go will be able to reminisce “didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went there” remains to be seen. Pixie Lott is the only confirmed artist so far, so it’s not looking especially likely yet, though presumably the Beeb have some good acts lined up to play too.

The Big Weekend will take place on 22 and 23 May, and here’s that Radio 1 events man, Jason Carter, saying things: “We’re proud to be hosting our tenth Radio 1’s Big Weekend – the event is an outstanding success, making a huge impact on the areas it visits both culturally and economically while evolving every year to bring original and creative content to our audiences. We’re delighted to be bringing our flagship event to Bangor this year”.

Festival line-up update – 25 Feb 2010

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR, Catton Hall, Walton-on-Trent, South Derbyshire, 13-15 Aug: British thrash metallers Onslaught have been confirmed to play at this year’s Bloodstock, which will be their first UK festival appearance. They will join previously announced headliners Twisted Sister, Children Of Bodom, Heaven & Hell and Fear Factory. www.bloodstock.uk.com

CAMDEN CRAWL, various venues, Camden, 1-2 May: Teenage Fanclub, The Drums and Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip are amongst the first acts confirmed for this year’s Camden Crawl. Also added to the line-up are Delays, The Sunshine Underground, Babybird, Alex Metric, Holly Miranda plus many more. www.thecamdencrawl.com

RELENTLESS BOARDMASTERS, Watergate Bay, Cornwall, 4-8 Aug: Leftfield have been confirmed as headliners at this year’s Relentless Boardmasters. www.relentlessboardmasters.com

SECRET GARDEN PARTY, East Anglia, 22-25 Jul: Gorillaz Sound System, Mercury Rev and Marina And The Diamonds have been announced to play this summer’s Secret Garden Party, along with The Whip, Kate Walsh, David Rodigan and Belleruche. www.secretgardenparty.com

Lots more EMI speculation – woo!

Business News Labels & Publishers

So, with Terra Firma now having less than 95 days to come up with the $189 million that will stop EMI from defaulting on its loan commitments to Citigroup, there is increasing speculation as to what will happen if the equity firm can’t find the cash, and ownership of the music firm transfers to the US bank.

Some suggest that Citigroup’s Chairman, Richard Parsons, will play a particularly active role in deciding EMI’s future if it should fall into the bank’s possession, even though his top position at the bank is technically a non-executive one. Parsons, you see, was, until recently, the top man at Time Warner meaning he knows a thing or two about the entertainment industry.

And about selling off major record companies, he having been in charge at Time Warner when it sold its music assets to Edgar Bronfman Jr. Of course Bronfman Jr’s Warner Music is generally seen as the most obvious buyer for EMI, though no one seems sure whether Parsons and Bronfman’s previous track record in this domain makes that deal more or less likely.

While an EMI Warner merger still seems the most viable deal to be done within the existing record industry, given the combination would make the merged company a similar size to its rivals Universal Music and Sony Music, some reckon both those bigger rivals might be interested in picking up some of the London music firm if it was suddenly on the market. And, of course, there have been albeit unsubstantiated rumours that the new version of BMG might be interested in getting its hands on some of EMI’s catalogues.

But what about deals from outside the record industry? Could this be the long predicted moment that one of the big web or tech players, with their large cash reserves, bolsters their position in the digital entertainment market by acquiring a sizable catalogue of content for themselves? Might a consortium of British companies mount a bid with the aim of keeping the UK’s last major music business in British ownership, what, given the hoo haa that surrounded the news Cadbury had fallen into American hands? Or might Citigroup keep hold of the music company for itself, to give Parsons an entertainment industry toy to play with? It seems unlikely, though not impossible.

Meanwhile, how will the sale be structured if it were to happen, ie would EMI Group be sold as a going concern, or would the firm be split up before sale? It’s no secret that it’s EMI Music Publishing that most people will want to get their hands on, and some think a sale of that division alone would enable Citigroup to recoup the money it lent Terra Firma to buy the music firm in the first place.

But if EMI’s publishing business was to be successfully sold as a standalone business, what would that mean for the major’s recordings division? As previously reported, EMI Music Services – the recording division’s revitalised and expanded distribution division – is performing well, and might be an attractive buy, especially for one of the other three majors. But what about the EMI record labels?

Well, ironically, some are now saying that the label structure that has emerged out of the quagmire that followed Terra Firma’s acquisition of EMI is actually a good one, with some sensible systems and talented people. The current problem is that all the publicity of the major’s multi-billion dollar debts is making it hard for the company to sign the kind of buzzy new talent which can make a record clabel serious money if and when they break. That is to say, EMI arguably now has the right structure in place, but no decent new band (ie any being wooed by other labels) will risk using it, because of the debt concerns.

But, put the EMI labels into newer more secure ownership – even Citigroup ownership – and they might become a powerful force in the wider record industry. Whether another record company, like Warner, would be willing to admit that is another matter. Some reckon a Warner takeover of EMI would result in the latter’s labels and rosters being absorbed by the former’s existing recordings division.

To that end, the EMI labels might actually be better off if they were split from Publishing, and sold to a buyer who recognises the potential of what Terra Firma has built, and that the current failings are really the result of the debt scenario the equity firm created when it bought the major just before the credit crunch hit.

DCMS respond to Clement Jones live music questions

Business News Live Business

Liberal Lord Tim Clement Jones has received answers to his previously reported questions about the government’s recent report on live music in the UK, which he said was full of holes. The report by the Department Of Culture, Media & Sport in part justified the government’s opposition to Clement Jones’ Live Music Bill, which would amend the 2003 Licensing Act which many music types argue is crippling the grass roots music scene.

Clement-Jones also wanted more information on the DCMS’s stats regarding the number of people attending live music events between 2005 and 2009. Although live music attendance is undeniably up, the Lord wanted to know how much of the increase was accounted for by uber-venues like The O2 and Wembley Stadium, and whether there was actually a decline at the grass roots end of the market. The DCMS admitted it didn’t have access to that sort of data breakdown, even though the stats were based on their own research.

I haven’t spoken to Tim yet, but I’m guessing neither of those answers are going to convince him that the government know what they are talking about when it comes to knocking back his Live Music Bill, or when rejecting most of the proposals of parliament’s Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee, whose review of the Licensing Act preceded and informed the Lord’s bill.

PRS’s ICE project to be fully based in Stockholm

Business News Labels & Publishers

Song rights collecting society PRS For Music have confirmed that the International Copyright Enterprise, a massive database project launched in 2007 in partnership with their Swedish counterparts STIM, will be primarily based in the latter’s offices in Stockholm moving forward, rather than at PRS’s London HQ. The decision will result in some job losses at PRS, with Music Week citing sources who say up to fifty staffers could be for the axe.

A PRS statement on the matter reads as follows: “As part of the ICE project, the work undertaken by the copyright department of PRS For Music will be transferred to ICE Services AB in Sweden. The affected employees within the company have been made aware and an ongoing collective and individual consultation process has been underway for a number of months. As part of this consultation process, PRS For Music is exploring opportunities elsewhere in the business for impacted employees, as well as potential relocation to ICE offices in Sweden”.

Some rather large ‘record sale decline’ stats for you

Business News Labels & Publishers

Here’s some happy stats for all your record label people, especially American CMU readers. Research firm NPD reckons that 33 million fewer Americans bought a CD in 2009 compared to 2007, while 24 million fewer people bought any recorded music at all. So, that’s nice.

These stats were presented by NPD Group’s Russ Crupnick at the Digital Music Forum this week. To put them in context, the population of the US is approx 308.7 million.

iTunes sells ten billionth download

Digital

So at 9.43pm GMT last night somebody somewhere downloaded the ten billionth track to be sold by Apple’s iTunes. We don’t know who it was or what they downloaded. But we do know that person’s iTunes account just got charged up with a ten grand credit, which has to be nice. We thought we’d celebrate this digital music landmark by bringing you ten billion iTunes-related news stories. So, here goes.

Story one: iTunes will start selling recordings of performances of the live heats on the latest series of ‘American Idol’, with tracks going live the day after each show airs. The Apple store will also announce upcoming themes on the ‘Idol’ show and publish playlists of the original versions of songs covered on the programme.

Story two: There is a bit of confusion this week as to Apple’s policy on sexually explicit iPhone apps. Last week Apple started removing some of the racier apps from its official store, seemingly after complaints that they were easily accessible to children in possession of an Apple phone. But The Register reports that while some have indeed been removed, others still remain. It’s not clear if that’s because such apps are being removed selectively, or because it’s taking a long time to find them all among the 150,000 odd apps in the Apple store. Some also wonder whether a locked ‘adult content’ strand is now being planned in the app store. Some developers noticed an ‘explicit content’ tag was temporarily added to the app upload system earlier this week. If all explicit content was to be banned no one would ever select such a tag, so if that became a permanent fixture of the upload platform then presumably Apple plan to have somewhere in their store where such things can be distributed.

Story three: We7’s previously reported iPhone app has now been approved by the Apple appy types, meaning it will be available to download from Monday. This will make the online streaming service mobile compliant. As with Spotify, mobile We7 will only be available to premium subscribers. As previously reported, We7’s recently launched premium offer retails at half the cost of its Swedish rivals, at £4.99 a month.

Story ten billion: US TV network CBS is reportedly planning to start selling selected TV shows via iTunes in America for a dollar a show, making those programme available at half the current cheapest price point for telly content on the download store. It is thought the price drop is an experiment to see if sales dramatically increase.

And there you have it. This ended up being a very long article, I do hope our blog system doesn’t truncate it.

Streaming is important, say Muse

Digital

Muse bassist Chris Wolstenholme has said he is disappointed by those previously reported plans put forward by Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr to back away from free streaming services, especially in the US market. Muse, of course, are signed to Warner.

Wolstenholme told BBC Newsbeat: “It’s like taking your song off the radio, isn’t it? You’re instantly taking your song away from a group of potential listeners. The corporations are setting the rules on these things because they’re clutching at straws. They’ve lost so much money on record sales because of the internet. I do sometimes feel that this whole restriction that’s been set on how your music can get out there these days, that doesn’t ever really come from the bands. It’s coming from the corporations behind everything. As far as bands are concerned, you just want people to hear your music whichever way they can”.

BBC Worldwide to represent Universal audio-visual content

Media

The BBC’s commercial division Worldwide has confirmed a long-term deal with Universal Music to distribute video content owned by major music company. The same bit of BBC Worldwide that sells the Beeb’s own music archives to international broadcasters will now represent a stack of Universal content too.

Worldwide music man Stephen Davies says this: “We are proud to become distribution partner with the world’s biggest record label and are delighted to be representing such a great roster of artists. This deal further strengthens our relationship with Universal and, with its promise of more great programming, will take BBC Worldwide Music to a new level as a major music distributor”.

This week’s Student Radio Chart – w/c 22 Feb 2010

Artist News

The songs most rated by student radio stations around the UK. The Student Radio Chart is compiled by the Student Radio Association and aired on student stations across the country, hosted by a different affiliated station each week. More at www.studentradio.org.uk/chart

1. Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (pictured)
2. Owl City – Fireflies
3. Bombay Bicycle Club – Evening/Morning
4. Marina and the Diamonds – Hollywood
5. Groove Armada – Paper Romance
6. Example – Won’t Go Quietly
7. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
8. Vampire Weekend – Cousins
9. Gorillaz – Stylo
10. Mumford and Sons – The Cave
11. Rihanna – Rude Boy
12. Biffy Clyro – Many Of Horror (When We Collide)
13. Iyaz – Replay
14. 3OH!3 feat Katy Perry – Starstrukk
15. Ke$ha – Tik Tok
16. Helping Haiti – Everybody Hurts
17. Daisy Dares You feat Chipmunk – Number One Enemy
18. Ke$ha – Blah Blah Blah
19. Glee Cast – Don’t Stop Believin
20. Lady Gaga – Telephone

Cole album to be re-released under Tweedy name?

And Finally

Rumour has it that when Cheryl Cole’s debut album gets its customary special edition re-release later this year it could listed under the name Cheryl Tweedy rather than Cole, such is her anger towards her soon to be ex-husband, idiot footballer (is that a tautology?) Ashley Cole.

In related news, it’s thought Cheryl has been advised to tell her estranged other half that she’ll give him a quicky divorce if he’ll let her keep their multi-million pound home in Surrey. Although the singer come ‘X-Factor’ judge could try to get a slice of the footballer’s fortunes, some actually quite sensible sounding advisors are saying she could probably earn a similar amount by pushing on with her burgeoning TV career and capitalising on US interest in her, rather than wasting time on an expensive time consuming divorce battle.

Meanwhile, our new favourite Cole-related Tweet of the week so far, courtesy of comedian David Schneider: “Cole divorce hearing. Cheryl to give evidence by lip-synching to a statement backing track. Ashley will text his in”.

Approved: Bonobo Reverse Remix Competition

CMU Approved

Remix competitions are two a penny these days. If you were really serious about such things, entering them could almost be a full time job. So, Simon Green, aka Bonobo, is offering all you budding producers out there the chance to put your feet up, because his new remix competition is one with a twist – he’s going to remix one of your tracks. And that, if you somehow weren’t already aware, is a very exciting proposition indeed.

All you need to do is upload your track to the competition website and sit back while flocks of people vote for it (or not). The most popular ten will be sent off to Bonobo and he will select one to get all remixy with. Your music can be of any style, you just need to own the rights and be able to provide the individual parts for your track, should it be chosen. In other Bonobo news, he releases his fourth album, ‘Black Sands’, via Ninja Tune on 23 Mar. It will be good.

www.bonobomusic.co.uk/remixcompetition/

Q&A: Blood Red Shoes

Artist Interviews

Formed in Brighton in 2005, Blood Red Shoes are drummer Steven Ansell and guitarist Laura-Mary Carter (with the duo sharing vocals). Normally keen to distance themselves from other English guitar bands, the duo consider themselves to be a punk outfit, drawing inspiration from the likes of Babes In Toyland, Nirvana, Queens Of The Stone Age and Pixies. The band’s first releases were a string of 7″ records in 2005 on a number of different independent labels, while their debut album ‘Box Of Secrets’ was released in 2008 via Universal imprint V2. Their latest single, ‘Light It Up’, is out now, with album number two ‘Fire Like This’ released on 1 Mar. We spoke to Steven to ask the Same Six Questions.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
Both of us started playing piano when we were younger, when we didn’t know each other. I think we both felt the same, though. We both gravitated towards rock music, which piano isn’t always so useful for, eh? We didn’t meet each other until way after this point, when we were both already in punk bands. When those two bands broke up we decided to try writing stuff together, and that was the birth of Blood Red Shoes.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Dreams, confusion, frustration, boredom, anger, sadness, death, psychosis, alienation, loss, how we connect or don’t connect with the world and the people around us, and trying to work out who you are constantly.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
We just start out by jamming together. We fuck around until something clicks. I guess the first rule would be, let there be a riff. Then I start to improvise the drums along to the riff and we gradually evolve the song from there, later trying out vocals by singing whatever comes out. With this album we were more fussy about it, and we did a lot more demo recording and going back over details, tweaking structures and melodies. We didn’t do that so much on the first album.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Lots. On this album I can definitely hear hints of Queens Of The Stone Age, Hot Snakes, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Trail Of Dead, My Bloody Valentine maybe The Yeah Yeah Yeahs a bit. Or even The Smashing Pumpkins, in fact. At least, I can trace our references to them; maybe no one else can hear that!

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Listen to it loud and open your heart to it. There is no irony or posturing or fakery in our music, it’s straight and direct. Our background is in punk rock music, which is about immediacy of expression and hitting people with intensity. Regardless of the style of the music, that’s the approach. So, we are just two people expressing whatever it is we feel like and playing music the way we like it. That’s how you should experience it. If you connect, you connect, if you don’t, you don’t.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
With this album we just want to be a bigger better band than with the first record. We’re not scared of setting our sights on becoming a big band, and I think this record will help us on that journey, because I think it’s a strong record with good songs on it; songs which mean something, and which are played with intensity and feeling. At the moment there aren’t many records I hear that aren’t just stylised shit. I don’t hear any really good rock records, either. So, either we’ll fucking disappear because we’re so out of touch with what’s in right now, or we’ll actually cut through because we’re offering something very different to what’s out there. My hope is that it’s the latter, obviously.

MORE>> www.bloodredshoes.co.uk

Album Review: The Knife in collaboration with Planningtorock and Mt. Sims – Tomorrow, In A Year (Brille)

Album Reviews

For those who have always thought that The Knife are, well, a little bit, shall we say ‘peculiar’, this here is a whole new kettle of weird fish for you to feast your ears (and, dare I add, mind) on.

Unearthly, freakish gorgeousness awaits listeners of ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’, The Knife’s experimental (now, I know what you’re thinking – when have The Knife ever not been experimental?) theatrical collaboration with Planningtorock and Mt Sims. Primarily, the record is an opera based on Darwin’s ‘On The Origin Of The Species’, and it reflects the same sort of un-fluid movement of form from basic to complex over two discs, worth about an hour and a half between them. It’s not an easy listen, I’ll tell you that right away, but with the right mood or under the right combination of influences, one can hear it for the fractured beauty that it really is, and can read the story as it’s told.

We’re told that “closed headphones” and an “open mind” are strongly recommended; this isn’t bad advice. ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’, with its static breaks, scratchy sound effects and jarring-but-beautiful operatic vocals, isn’t as accessible as, say, Miriam Gauci, but give it a chance and it will grab you. Or make you see red from frustration. TW

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

Future of Sellaband in doubt

Digital Top Stories

The future of fan-funding website Sellaband is very much in doubt following news the company behind the service has been declared bankrupt in its home country, the Netherlands. Though, despite rumours that this meant the service was dead in the water, a statement yesterday insisted the website would resume operations soon because a buyer had been found for the company.

Digital music site Hypebot were the first to spot that the Sellaband company had been declared insolvent, them having become suspicious after the Sellaband website had been down for “maintenance” for several days. The company’s top man Johan Vosmeijer subsequently issued the following statement: “On Friday 19 Feb, SellaBand AG requested provisional suspension of payments (moratorium). This was granted by the Court in Amsterdam on the same day. Yesterday, Monday 22 Feb, this moratorium was changed into bankruptcy, with [the] appointment of Mr Paul Schaink, an Amsterdam lawyer, as trustee”.

Assuring users of the site that the service should, at some point, resume operations, the statement continued: “The trustee wishes to inform the ‘Sellaband community’ that, apart from a few technicalities, the completion of a transaction with a potential buyer of the business, is to be expected soon, in order to make a fresh start, safeguarding both the rights of Believers and Artists. More news will follow shortly”.

Of course, most companies that go into administration talk about possible buyers mounting rescue bids, and while sometimes that comes true (and there’s no reason to suspect it won’t here), often said companies ultimately disappear. If that were to happen to Sellaband there is much speculation as to what would happen to any monies the service has taken off fans but which has yet to be distributed to the bands it was pledged to.

In theory fan-funding services will be bound by rules and systems to protect such investments if and when the company running the operation goes under, but if Sellaband were to disappear it would be the first real test of whether or not said rules and systems work. If they didn’t, Sellaband’s rivals would have to mount a PR effort to assure users their set up is different.

As previously reported, while the fan-funding model is gaining some traction, one of the most high profile fan-funding ventures to date – Public Enemy’s bid to fund a new album via Sellaband – faltered after a good start leaving the hip hop outfit a long way off their target amount, with some fan investors actually pulling out.

Abbey Road granted listed status

Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Oh good, it turns out that all that time everyone spent reporting on false claims that Abbey Road Studios was up for sale last week wasn’t a total waste of time. After English Heritage spoke up to remind the government that they’d recommended that the legendary recording studio should be Grade II listed way back in 2003, it seems the threat that the building could be turned into something more commercially viable, like a block of flats or a kebab shop, has shaken those political types into action and they’ve done just that.

Announcing the move, Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said yesterday: “Music – of whichever genre – is the thread that follows us through all our lives and Abbey Road Studios have produced some of the very best music in the world. It is a testament to both the importance of music in people’s lives as well as the passion this kind of issue stirs up, that so much interest has been generated by the perceived threat to the future of Abbey Road”.

She added: ”Whether your tastes are for classical, hard rock or pop music, one of your favourites is more than likely to have been recorded at Abbey Road. My favourite song of all time, ‘If I Fell’ by The Beatles, was recorded there in 1964, and to have played a part in preserving this world famous venue is as exciting for me as hearing that song for the first time. Well, almost”.

In a separate, less desperately-trying-to-get-in-with-the-cool-kids-style statement, The Department For Culture Media And Sport said the Grade II status had been granted to acknowledge ”outstanding cultural interest and to ensure that recording artists for generations to come can continue to make and record music in the same rooms as musical icons of years gone by”.

As previously reported, EMI issued a statement at the weekend in response to speculation over Abbey Road’s future, in which the company admitted that it was in talks with various investors about revitalising the loss-making studio, but said that selling it was not on the cards. The company added that an offer of £30 million to buy Abbey Road had been made in 2009, but it had been turned down “since we believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI’s ownership”.

Ministry set up petition

Business News Top Stories

Ministry Of Sound have launched an online petition to rally support for their bid to fight plans by property developers Oakmayne to build a big apartment block next to their South East London superclub.

As previously reported, Ministry bosses are concerned that a major residential complex next to their club will result in future licensing problems for their events, and are pissed off that Oakmayne boss Chris Allen has, at times, been rather dismissive of their positive role in the local community.

Allen argues that he has offered to pay for Ministry to upgrade its sound-proofing in a bid to ensure both the club and apartment block could co-exist, though its not clear how viable those proposals really were.

Anyway, with Southwark Council still considering Oakmayne’s proposals, Ministry are encouraging clubbers and dance music fans to put their name to their petition, to prove – in case there was any doubt – what a major force the independent music firm is in both British dance music and the international clubbing community.

You can add your name to the petition here: www.ministryofsound.com/Petitions/PetitionForm.aspx

Plastic People fighting police moves to revoke licence

Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories

Talking of London clubs facing closure – and this one’s much more imminent – long standing Shoreditch clubbing venue Plastic People could lose its licence because of action being taken by the Met police.

It seems the police have asked Hackney Council to reconsider Plastic People’s licence over allegations the management there have breached the terms of their existing licence, and have failed to prevent crime, disorder and public nuisance. A notice that such a review will now take place has been posted outside the premises and any local “interested parties” have been invited to submit opinions about the venue. It’s thought the whole thing will be properly considered at a council meeting in late March.

In a statement yesterday, the club’s management said: “We are in no doubt how serious this situation is and as a result had a meeting with the solicitor yesterday. This does not mean that all hope is lost and that Plastic People has come to its end. However, it does mean that we must do all we can to co-operate with the police and Hackney Council in order to ensure that we can keep the best dance music venue in London open for all to enjoy”.

As word spread around London’s clubbing community about the pending licence review yesterday, Plastic People manager Bernard Koudjo urged angry clubbers to be restrained with their opposition to the Met police’s actions while he and his team work with the authorities to find a way to enable the club to continue to operate. However, he added: “A collection of people involved in the club are setting up a committee called Friends Of Plastic People. They will gather people’s experiences of working with and attending Plastic People over the years. They will meet this week and no doubt they will let you know how you can help. I would urge everyone to hold back on making representations to the police or the Council in the meantime, but by all means carry on spreading the word”.

Noting the 10,000 plus people who have already signed up to a Keep Plastic People Alive Facebook group, Koudjo added: “We know that Plastic People is loved by all of you, but we could never have predicted the reactions from so many people in such a short time. It has been overwhelming. On behalf of everyone here at Plastic People, special thanks to Benny Blanco for starting the ‘Keep Plastic People Alive’ campaign and to all of you who are showing your appreciation for what the club has done over the last sixteen years”.

You can join that Group and keep up with the campaign to save the Shoreditch venue here:
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=312688015977

Linda Stein PA guilty of Ramone manager’s murder

Legal

Natavia Lowery was yesterday convicted of the murder of her former employer, one time Ramones manager Linda Stein who, as previously reported, was found dead at her New York apartment on 30 Oct 2007.

A murder investigation was launched pretty much as soon as Stein was found, with Lowery – Stein’s personal assistant at the time – the prime suspect from the word go. Lowery initially denied killing Stein, claiming she had witnessed a masked man kill her employer who had told her she must not report the crime. She subsequently confessed that she had, in fact, murdered Stein, but then retracted that statement, saying it had been harassed out of her by police.

The prosecution claimed Lowery had stolen a substantial amount of money from Stein and probably killed her boss when confronted about the theft. They presented evidence of other dodgy behaviour Lowery had been accused of in the past, including embezzling from a church where she worked. The jury took less than a day to find her guilty.

Best known as manager of the Ramones, and also as the one time husband of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, in her later life Linda became a property agent for the stars, securing New York apartments for the likes of Sting, Billy Joel, Steven Spielberg and Elton John.

Baidu lose lyric lawsuit

Legal

Chinese search engine Baidu – always unpopular with music industry types because of its MP3 search function which links to all sorts of illegal content – has lost a music lawsuit in the Beijing courts, which makes a change, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry having had little success in its various efforts to sue the search firm.

The new case centred on lyrics to songs that Baidu posts next to its MP3 search function. It was sued by the Music Copyright Society Of China, which said the search firm did not have the appropriate licence to publish song lyrics owned by its members. The Beijing People’s Court for the Haidian District agreed and fined Baidu, albeit a relatively small amount, 50,000 yuan plus 10,000 yaun legal costs (so just over £5500).

Some might wonder if this finding might set a precedent that would help in future IFPI efforts to sue Baidu over the MP3 search functionality itself. However, it seems unlikely, mainly because Baidu’s usually successful defence – that it just provides links and can’t be liable if said links go to unlicensed content – didn’t apply in this case, as it was actually publishing the lyrics on its own site, not just linking to them. Some commentators reckon the fact the lawsuit was pursued by a Chinese organisation, rather than a Western-based outfit like IFPI, also helped.

Meanwhile, Baidu plans to appeal.

Spanish indies to sue government over piracy

Legal

A consortium of independent labels and music distributors in Spain are planning on suing the country’s government for negligence for failing to respond to the growth of online piracy, which, they say, has desecrated the country’s record industry. What fun.

As previously reported, the Spanish courts have not proven overly helpful when the record industry has tried to combat file-sharing using the country’s existing copyright laws, and the IFPI recently specifically picked out the country as one where the legal system has completely failed to protect intellectual property rights in the digital age. The indie labels now going legal presumably reckon the Spanish government had a duty to fix its copyright laws as soon as it became clear the country’s courts were not going classify file-sharing of unlicensed music files as being illegal.

According to Billboard, the consortium of indies, which includes Blanco y Negro Music, Discmedi, PIAS Records Spain, Popstock, K-Industrial Cultural and Picap, has presented a document outlining the government’s failures in the copyright domain to ministers, and has given them until mid-March to respond, otherwise they will sue. I think they want the government to compensate the indie record label sector for the losses they have incurred because of rampant piracy in Spain.

As also previously reported, the Spanish government did recently announce a new initiative to tighten up the country’s copyright rules, mainly by making it easier to close down websites which aid infringement – so things like The Pirate Bay or Oink – but the indies reckon it’s too little too late.

PIAS Spain’s Gerardo Carton told Billboard: “The proposal is insufficient – they could close a website one day, and 500 new ones could open the next day in the Ukraine, for example. The measure would not resolve the most relevant problem, which is the actual impossibility of us taking civil action against those final users who appropriate music without paying, and systematically violate intellectual property rights”.

He continued: “We think the administration is responsible for our plight. We demand that the government take effective measures imminently to protect the rights and interests of the record industry, as well as the intellectual property rights of the agents that intervene in the creative musical process within internet”.

Gang Gang Dance accuse Florence of plagiarism, Florence agrees

Legal

New York experimentalists Gang Gang Dance have accused Florence And The Machine of robbing part of their song ‘House Jam’ for the intro of her top 20 single ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’. Strangely for these sorts of situations, Flo has put her hands up and admitted it.

The band say they spotted the similarity when they saw the video for ‘Rabbit Heart’ and approached Florence’s label, Universal’s Island UK. The band’s publishers, Warp, told Pitchfork that “they did acknowledge the infringement and said that they were aware of it”, apparently adding that the fact Gang Gang Dance were left off the credits for the track and, indeed, never contacted about it at all, was the result of one of those oversight things.

Florence herself added: “Yeah that’s true, it’s no secret. I’ve spoken about it in interviews before. I’m a massive fan of Gang Gang Dance and it was in homage to them”.

The Gang Gang Dancers will now get a cut of all publishing royalties from the track, which is nice.

Marr reunited with stolen guitar

Legal

I’ve written a lot of stories over the years about musicians having their equipment stolen, but it’s not often you get to write about anyone getting any of it back. Especially not ten years later. But that’s what’s just happened to Johnny Marr, after police recovered a guitar stolen from him a decade ago. Which is nice, isn’t it?

Stephen White admitted to taking the guitar last month, after police searched his home in Enfield following a tip-off from a guitar shop in Soho’s Denmark Street, where White had taken it to be repaired. The cherry red 1964 Gibson SG (which has been valued at £30,000) had been on display in his living room since he stole it after managing to get backstage at a Johnny Marr And The Healers gig at The Scala in London in 2000.

White was sentenced to 200 hours of community service at Highbury Magistrates Court last Thursday. He told the court that the theft had been a “spur of the moment decision” and that he was “disgusted” with himself. He added: “There’s a victim here. I can’t reconcile myself with the behaviour of that night”.

PC Christopher Swain of Camden’s Beat Crimes Unit told The Islington Gazette: “We tracked down Mr Marr through his management company and he was absolutely chuffed. … It’s a pretty unique guitar and it has huge sentimental value for him. It’s obviously one of his particular favourites but he never thought he’d see it again. He was completely shocked when we told him we’d found it”.

Marr is currently on tour with The Cribs in Australia.

Foals return in May

Releases

Foals, remember them? They were big news for 57 days in 2008. Well, good news for those that felt the Foals boys never really achieved their potential, because a second album is more or less complete, and has been pencilled in for a 10 May release. It will be called ‘Total Life Forever’.

J Lo departs Epic

Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers

From Epic UK to the US version of the Sony label, and they have just parted company with Jennifer Lopez, who was due to release a new album via the major in April (well, originally last month, actually).

It’s not clear why J Lo and Epic will no longer work together, given that the latter did seem primed to release and market the new album, to be called ‘Love?’ Lopez’s people simply said the “time was right” to move on to pastures new.

J Lo manager Benny Medina: “Jennifer had a wonderful relationship with the Sony Music Group, and they have shared many successes together, but the time was right to make a change that best serves the direction of her career as an actress and recording artist. She is grateful and appreciative to everyone at Sony for all that they accomplished together”.

Kate Nash club tour dates

Gigs & Festivals

Kate Nash has announced a handful of gigs in smaller venues, to ease her back into that whole playing live thing. As previously reported, Kate releases new single, ‘Do Wah Doo’ on 12 Apr, followed by her new album ‘My Ignorant Youth’ the following week.

Tour dates:

6 Mar: Glasgow, Classic Grand
7 Mar: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
8 Mar: Brighton, Komedia
17 Mar: London, Bethnal Green Working Mens ClubTickets available now from www.katenash.co.uk

Hudson Mohawke announces first UK tour

Gigs & Festivals

Following the release of his excellent debut album last year, weirdy electronic producer Hudson Mohawke has announced his first ever full UK tour.

Tour dates:

6 Mar: A Taste Of Sonar
30 Mar: London, The Roundhouse (supporting Phoenix)
22 Apr: Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, World Headquarters
23 Apr: Leeds, A Nation Of Shopkeepers
27 Apr: Manchester, FAC251
29 Apr: Bristol, The Thekla
30 Apr: London, The Macbeth
1 May: Sheffield, The Plug
2 May: Nottingham, Detonate indoor festival

Get paid to trek round thirty festivals this summer

Brands & Merch Business News Gigs & Festivals

Chewy gum people Trident are looking for someone willing to take in thirty music festivals over thirty weeks in return for thirty grand, which, I think it’s fair to say, wouldn’t be the hardest job in the world. All you’d have to do in return is document the experience via Trident’s festival website, through tweets, blogs, photos and videos, with reviews, gossip and celebrity interviews.

The festival trek would take in every kind of music fest in every corner of the world most are tbc, but already in the schedule are Bestival, Sonisphere and Creamfields, though the latter is the Buenos Aires edition of Creamfields, so that’s already taking you someway beyond the British Isles.

If this all sounds like a very easy deal, it is. But the challenge is getting the job, which will involve an online application, a face to face interview and, if you make it down to the final ten, an all-day assessment in front of a celebrity panel including 6music irritant George Lamb and Bestival supremo Rob da Bank.

More info and application details at www.tridentgum.co.uk

Fairport Convention man to lead Meltdown

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention – one of the twenty greatest guitarists of all time if you believe Rolling Stone, and I don’t see why you wouldn’t – has been announced as the curator of this year’s Meltdown, the arty music festival that takes place around London’s Southbank Centre each June. Past curators have included John Peel, Nick Cave, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Massive Attack and Ornette Coleman.

Confirming he was taking on the role this year, Thompson told The Guardian this: “I am very excited to be hosting this year’s Meltdown at Southbank Centre. The wide-ranging programme reflects many of my interests and influences across many musical, visual and literary styles, and should provide some unique moments, unusual collaborations and juxtapositions. All this in the place where I saw my first concert in 1961 – such an honour!”

Thompson’s Meltdown programme will be announced soon, apparently. If he could add himself to the programme to play his ‘Mock Tudor’ album in full, that would be nice.

Festival line-up update – 24 Feb 2010

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

CITY SHOWCASE SESSIONS, Apple Store, Regent Street, 23 Mar and 13 Apr: Tony Christie and Toploader have been confirmed to take part in the monthly City Showcase Sessions, both hosting talks and performing at The Apple Store, Regent Street. www.cityshowcase.co.uk

HIGH VOLTAGE, Victoria Park, London, 24-25 Jul: The Quireboys and UFO are amongst the latest acts to be confirmed for brand new fest High Voltage, joining a line-up that has headliners ZZ Top, Emerson and Lake And Palmer. www.highvoltagefestival.com

LOVEBOX, Victoria Park, London, 16-18 Jul: Roxy Music and Grace Jones will headline at Lovebox this summer, joining the previously announced headliner Dizzee Rascal. Also on the bill are Mark Ronson, The Noisettes, Empire Of The Sun and Ellie Goulding. www.lovebox.net

OXEGEN, Punchestown Racecourse, Ireland, 8-11 Jul: Eminem, Muse, Kasabian and Jay-Z are amongst the first acts to be announced for this year’s Oxegen. Other artists confirmed include Black Eyed Peas, The Prodigy and Florence And The Machine. www.oxegen.ie

ROCK NESS, Loch Ness, Scotland, 11-13 Jun: Vampire Weekend have been announced as headliners for this summer’s Rock Ness, joining the previously confirmed The Strokes, Fatboy Slim, Doves, Ian Brown and many more. www.rockness.co.uk

T IN THE PARK, Balado, Scotland, 9-11 Jul: Eminem and Muse have been confirmed to join Kasabian as headliners at this year’s Scottish uber-fest, with the likes of Jay-Z, The Prodigy, Florence and the Machine and Paolo Nutini all also added to the line-up. www.tinthepark.com

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