Monday 29 November 2010, 12:20 | By CMU Editorial

Calvin Harris to quit singing and end his live show

Artist News

Calvin Harris has told Aussie newspaper Herald Sun he’s going to stop singing, in order to focus on producing and DJing instead, a decision which will also result in an end to the rather popular live show format he’s been touring for a while now.

Said Harris: “I’ve stopped the live shows. I’m going to focus more on production and DJing and zero per cent of my time will go on singing. I’ll do tracks with people who can sing well – proper artists, proper performers. I can focus on what I’m much better at, which is making music. I’m just not cut out for that role”.

Talking about why, as a producer first and foremost, he went the full on live show route in the first place, he continued: “I kind of fell into it a few years ago – the live show had to happen, I had to be the frontman because I was doing the vocals on the songs. It went alright. I spent a few years trying to get it really properly good, but it dawned on me it wasn’t going to get much better. I’ve taken the singing thing as far as I can”.

The new look Calvin Harris machine may also be popping out new tunes on a more regular basis than the customary ‘new album every two or three years’ system would allow. He added: “The priority is making good songs and getting them out there, not making anybody wait, especially me. The next thing will have a featured vocalist and it’s dead exciting because these are proper artists. It’s a new lease of life for the sort of music I make”.

Sunday Best release David Lynch double a-side

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Releases

Rob da Bank’s record company Sunday Best Recordings has announced a deal with movie making icon David Lynch which will see the indie label release the director’s first efforts at music production, complete with is own vocals, a single release featuring two tracks, ‘Good Day Today’ and ‘I Know’.

When the former first appeared on a white label and was played on LA radio station KCRW by Jason Bentley it was initially assumed it was a new release from Underworld, leading to much speculation on that outfit’s website as to who had actually made the track. Having discovered its real creator, Bentley passed the track to da Bank’s manager Ben Turner at this year’s International Music Summit in Ibiza, who in turn passed it on to the Sunday Best chief.

Says the label owner and Radio 1 DJ: “If I hadn’t just pinched myself I’d swear I was dreaming that we’re actually putting out a record by David Lynch. It proves that not only is he a master director responsible for many of my favourite films but he’s also a talented producer with an innate sense of how powerful music is and can be. I can’t wait to unleash this fantastic record on the world”.

Lynch himself told CMU: “I am very happy to be with Sunday Best with the songs ‘Good Day Today’ and ‘I Know’. This feels like a good partnership and I’m looking forward to everyone having a good day today. In all my films, I have always been very involved with all that one hears. The creation of this record was a natural extension of my love of sound and music”.

Sunday Best will make the track available worldwide exclusively via iTunes from today.

Black Eyed Peas to play Superbowl

Gigs & Festivals

Those most Black Eyed of all of the Peas have been confirmed as headliners of the half time show during next year’s Superbowl, the biggest annual TV event in the US.

The Peas follow The Who, Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney and, of course, Janet Jackson in taking the Superbowl half time show honour. Let’s see if Fergie’s performance can generate as many headlines as Janet’s, shall we?

Extra dates added to Blink 182 tour

Gigs & Festivals

Blink 182 added three more dates to their 2011 UK arena tour on Friday, by popular demand and all that, with a second gig at the O2 Arena and two new shows, one in Cardiff and one in Sheffield. So the full tour now looks like this, with extra dates marked with a very informative asterisk.

7 Jul: Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena*
8 Jul: Manchester, MEN Arena
12 Jul: Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
13 Jul: Nottingham, Trent FM Arena
15 Jul: Birmingham, LG Arena
16 Jul: Cardiff, CIA*
18 Jul: London, O2 Arena
19 Jul: London, O2 Arena*

McFly arena tour

Gigs & Festivals

So, you know McFly, right? Yeah? Well, they’re going on one of those tours next year, singing songs and stuff in large sheds. The following sheds on the following dates, to be precise.

12 Mar: Nottingham, Trent FM Arena
14 Mar: Belfast, Odyssey Arena
16 Mar: Dublin, O2 Arena
18 Mar: Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena
19 Mar: Manchester, MEN Arena
20 Mar: Brighton Centre
22 Mar: Cardiff, CIA Arena
23 Mar: Bournemouth, BIC
26 Mar: Glasgow, SECC
27 Mar: Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
29 Mar: Liverpool Echo Arena
30 Mar: Birmingham, LG Arena
1 Apr: London, Wembley Arena

Chrysalis and BMG chiefs discuss their merger

Business News Labels & Publishers

Chrysalis founder Chris Wright and BMG chief Hartwig Masuch have been taking to Billboard about the latter’s acquisition of the former’s publishing company. As previously reported, Chrysalis confirmed it had been bought by the always acquisitive BMG Rights Management on Friday, less than a month after admitting it was accepting takeover offers once more.

Masuch was a little vague as to his plans for exactly how Chrysalis will merge with the existing BMG company, though he indicated the Chrysalis name will continue to be used beyond the three years dictated by the takeover deal, observing that the name is “very important because it is the entrepreneurial music brand in the US and the UK, no doubt about it”.

He also admitted there was a chance the existing BMG UK team could make Chrysalis’s West London HQ their home moving forward. As to whether the merger would result in any cutbacks at Chrysalis, Masuch was again a little vague, though he insisted that BMG was a growing company – now the biggest independent music publisher ready to take on the majors – and that he saw the Chrysalis management team as playing a crucial roll in that growth.

Asked what it meant for Chrysalis-signed songwriters, Wright said he’d been asked that very question by his staff earlier that day. He said he’d told his company’s A&Rs to tell the songwriters they work with that “the company is not for sale any more, because one of the problems we’ve had since we were in the last sales process two and a half years ago is that when you’re signing a major writer or major artist, the opposition can always say ‘oh I wouldn’t sign with Chrysalis because the company’s for sale'”.

He continued: “So I think from the standpoint of the talent, I think it’s a fantastic situation because they are now part of an extremely well financed group that’s going to have much more resource with an even greater international infrastructure to be able to do an even better job for them, and know the company is not going to be sold”.

From a cultural point of view, Masuch says he thinks BMG and Chrysalis should integrate smoothly. He said: “When we decided to relaunch the [BMG publishing] business we wanted to come back with a different philosophy in relationships with the creative community, and in that respect Chrysalis is a benchmark of the last 40 years with a consistent approach to fair relationships, respect to the creative community”.

You can read the full interview here.

Flowerpot team find new home

Business News Live Business

The promoters who ran north London venue The Flowerpot have announced they have found a new home after the lease on their former premises in Kentish Town Road was sold with very little notice. From next weekend they will resume staging gigs at The Wheelbarrow pub on Camden High Street.

A note on The Wheelbarrow website says: “The people who created The Flowerpot have found a new home. A comfortable and cosy pub slap bang on Camden High Street. We’ve decorated the place, installed a top range PA and we will be inviting the world’s finest bands and DJs to come and entertain you”.

As previously reported, The Flowerpot team will also stage a New Year’s Eve party at The Forum headlined by Foals.

Copyright reform becomes a big issue in Canada as proposed new laws come under scrutiny

Business News Legal

The National Assembly of Canadian province Quebec has called on Canada’s federal government to amend its plans for revamping the country’s copyright laws, so to better protect the interests of rights holders.

As much previously reported, there have been calls for Canada’s copyright laws to be reformed for years, and the current government has finally got round to doing just that, with its Bill C-32 proposals. Needless to say, creators and rights holders say that the proposed reforms don’t go far enough, while some consumer groups say the new laws are far too draconian.

Among the complaints of the former group are that the new laws don’t force the ISPs to take action against file-sharers three-strikes style, that they are too soft on mash-up makers and too generous to educational institutions, and that they do not extend the old private-copy levy paid on cassettes and CDRs to MP3 players.

On the other side, a key concern of consumer rights groups and the library movement is that new legal protection being proposed for digital rights management technology could make content unusable in the future.

It’s the creators that the Quebec assembly has come out in support of, passing a motion last week that called for the federal government to “modify as often as necessary Bill C-32 on copyright, to ensure Quebec creators the full recognition of their rights, adequate protection against illegal copying of their works, the application of the private copying principle, and income in accordance with the value of their intellectual property”.

The motion was discussed in Quebec as a committee in the wider Canadian parliament began to scrutinise the C-32 proposals, a process that is expected to take until at least February. A letter was also sent to that committee signed by over 350 Canadian artists, including Nickelback, specifically calling on the extension of the private copy levy to be extended to the MP3 player.

According to CTV, the letter said: “MP3 players are this generation’s version of blank media. A copy is a copy and the principle of fair compensation for rights holders should apply whether the copy is made onto blank media or MP3 players … we know that you do not want to see a Canada that is devoid of musicians and songwriters, but without fair and balanced treatment, that may be the tragic consequence”.

Myers to review BBC radio

Media

The former boss of GMG Radio, John Myers, has been appointed by the BBC to undertake a review of Radios 1, 2, 1Xtra and 6music with a view to him making proposals as to how these stations could provide their current range of services more cost efficiently.

Finding cost savings at the BBC’s vastly over-staffed, hugely over-resourced national radio stations isn’t going to be all that difficult, though presumably somebody high up in the Corporation hopes someone of Myer’s experience has sufficient credibility in the industry that any cuts he proposes can then be forced on bosses at each of the four radio stations with minimum backlash.

Or, perhaps more importantly, that by bringing in a man from a commercial radio background to undertake the review the Beeb can placate its increasingly vocal critics in the commercial sector, most of whom want to see the BBC’s national stations cut down to size or, in the case of Radios 1 and 2, maybe even privatised.

Whether either of those things can be achieved remains to be seen. Though Andrew Harrison of commercial radio trade body RadioCentre did tell reporters: “Although this falls short of a formal benchmarking exercise, we would still expect John Myers, who is greatly respected across all of the industry, to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings”.

Myers previously undertook a review of the commercial radio sector for the last UK government, and was recently asked to take over as CEO of radio industry organisation the Radio Academy. He won’t take on that new job until his consulting work for the Beeb is completed.

Bono’s miner tribute criticised

And Finally

According to the Daily Star, Bono’s choice of song when paying tribute to the 29 miners who died following two explosions in a New Zealand mine last week has been criticised.

Whereas Jay-Z, who is touring New Zealand with Bono et al at the moment, dedicated his song ‘Forever Young’ to the victims, telling his crowd “they will always be in our hearts and they will always be forever young”, Bono, for some reason, reportedly chose to sing ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ in their honour.

Some considered this inappropriate given that efforts to find the miners alive after a first smaller blast failed, and work was now underway to recover their bodies.

The tabloid quoted one gig goer who said: “Bono made two mentions of the miners, but it was a really awkward moment for the first. I don’t think I was the only one who thought it was more than a little insensitive. People were looking round at each other”.

Allen hits out at Daily Mail gossip hack

And Finally

Lily Allen isn’t happy with Daily Mail gossiper Katie Nicholl who wrote in her column this weekend that the singer planned to marry boyfriend Sam Cooper.

Nicholl claimed that a friend of the pop-star-come-fashion-lady had told her the couple had talked about marrying before, but had firmed up those plans since Allen’s recent miscarriage. The tabloid hack quoted said friend as saying that the pair had “realised through their grief that they absolutely adore one another and cannot live without each other”.

Allen hasn’t confirmed or denied the story as such, but I think she is bit pissed that Nicholl is idly speculating about her life while she is still getting over the ordeal of losing a second child during pregnancy. Allen tweeted yesterday: “Katie Nicholl I THINK you’re a cunt, leave me out of your shitty column, you know nothing about the intimate details of my life. There’s a time and a place for your musings where I’m concerned, and it’s not now”.

Bieber gets special coaching as his voice breaks

And Finally

Talking of tabloid gossip, the News Of The World has claimed that Justin Bieber is getting specialist coaching to help him cope with his voice breaking as he somewhat belatedly hits puberty. The secret, apparently, is to ensure his voicebox gets plenty of rest, so personally I’d prescribe taking four years off, but that doesn’t seem to be what the so called ‘specialist’ has advised.

One of those sources told the tab: “Justin is physically developing at a slower rate than most guys so his voice is only breaking now. He’s working with the best in the business, a specialist called Jan Smith, to make sure he gets much vocal rest as humanly possible for a working popstar”.

Apparently Bieber’s mentor Usher, who was also performing before his voice broke, had the same specialists help him, so we should rest assured that the possibly even more squeaky than normal popster is in safe hands. Still think the four year break sounds better though.

Approved: MNDR (Best Of Approved 2010)

CMU Approved

Amanda Warner goes by the name MNDR. As an abbreviation it doesn’t necessarily work, though that does ensure that every time I see it I have to say it at least three times to myself in my head as my brain attempts to process it. Therefore, as a stage name, I’d say it’s a winner. She self-released an EP, entitled ‘EPE’, in April, which generated some attention, but the real boost to her career was providing vocals on the first single from Mark Ronson’s ‘Record Collection’ album, ‘Bang Bang Bang’ alongside Q-Tip.

Last week I caught her live in London and it was at that point that her pop star credentials really hit me. It may just have been one person on stage with a lot of backing track, but the amazing video backdrop that interacted with the music and her performance made it one of the most engaging shows I’ve seen this year. Here’s how she described the show before it took place: “This show will include some visual adventures in lights and we plan on turning the club into chrome tears. Our bones will light up”. Sounds ridiculous, but you know what? She was spot on.

Over on her blog, she’s giving away a free download of ‘Caligula’, a track from her in-production debut album. If you root around there, you’ll also find a link to her MySpace page, which is playing the ‘EPE’ EP.

mndrmndr.com/blog/

Playlist: PRS For Music’s Most Controversial Songs

CMU Playlists

As Kate Thornton probably once said on Channel 4’s ‘104 Tedious Celebrities State The Obvious About Pop Music’: “Like, wow, you know, and I remember, because, like, wow, it gets to the end, and like it’s been all, you know, like wow, and then, well, you see, I remember it, it gets to the end and you’re like, wow, you know, wow because, well, it gets to the end and like, the camera points to a mirror…” Vernon Kaye would then pop up and say “and it’s only a bloomin chick! Fantastic”.

Just as predictable, probably, is that The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ would top a poll of the most controversial songs of all time. Well, it was a definite contender anyway. The guys at collecting society PRS For Music this week published a list of the ten most controversial pop tracks, them having surveyed Kate Thornton, Vernon Kaye and that guy off T4. Or possibly some other people. Alas Mike Read didn’t answer his phone when they called him for his vote, which is why ‘Relax’ ended up at number three.

On releasing the survey, the generally uncontroversial boss man of PRS, Ellis Rich, told reporters: “This poll demonstrates the link between music and society. Many of these songs have achieved iconic status because of the controversy or simply because the record was banned”.

We here at CMU are never ones to shy away from controversy so, to mark the PRS’s impromptu celebration of music that offends, we’ve bunged all these songs into a Powers Of Ten playlist for your amusement/disgust.

MOST CONTROVERSIAL TEN
Click here to listen to the most controversial playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about the tracks included.

01 The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up
So, officially the most controversial song of all time, which is pretty good going for a track that only contains two lines sampled from ‘Give The Drummer Some’ by Ultramagnetic MCs, performed by rapper Kool Keith. When the single went top ten, Radio 1 refused to mention it by name on its chart show.

02 The Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen
Released to coincide with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, this song ensured The Sex Pistols’ place as the most hated band in Britain. That didn’t stop it from rocketing up the singles chart though, getting to number one or number two depending on who you speak to. Though in some cases publications left a blank space in the chart where the song should be.

03 Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax
Although it had already reached number six in the chart, controversy struck when Radio 1 DJ Mike Read announced that he didn’t like the single’s lyrics and suggestive cover artwork. The BBC banned it, it went to number one for five weeks and the rest is history.

04 Eminem – Kim
In the process of putting this together, we’ve discovered that there’s a radio edit of this track. Surely the most pointless edit ever. Removing all instances of the word ‘fuck’ doesn’t make this song any less controversial. It’s fairly amazing that it’s only at number four, considering that, unlike ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, it goes into some detail about the smacking up of the female lead – in this case Eminem’s real life ex-wife.

05 Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
But how can a Christmas song be controversial? Well, most concentrate on the sweary “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” crescendo and ignore the accusations of police corruption and Ku Klux Klan membership. For a brilliant and hugely detailed look at the lyrics of ‘Killing In The Name’, read this.

06 The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode
The BBC banned ‘Ebeneezer Goode’ due to claims that the song promoted the use of ecstasy. The Shamen denied this for years, saying it was just about a naughty character they’d invented. They fooled no one.

07 Ozzy Osbourne – Suicide Solution
Ozzy Osbourne was sued by the parents of a teenager who shot himself while listening to ‘Suicide Solution’, claiming subliminal messages hidden in the song had driven him to take his own life. Ozzy denied there were any such messages and said that the lyrics of the song were actually about alcohol abuse.

08 Marilyn Manson – Get Your Gunn
It wouldn’t be a list of controversial songs if Marilyn Manson wasn’t in there somewhere. The Gunn referred to in the title is Dr David Gunn, who is thought to be the first abortionist in the US to be assassinated by ‘pro-life’ campaigners in 1993.

09 Slayer – Angel Of Death
With lyrics recounting the actions of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who conducted experiments on prisoners held in Auschwitz during World War II, its release brought with it claims that the band were Nazi sympathisers. They denied this, arguing that the song is simply a recounting of history.

10 XTC – Dear God
It seems almost quaint that ‘Dear God’ should make it onto this list. At a time when Richard Dawkins writes bestsellers and has his own documentaries on mainstream TV, that a song about atheism should be considered one of the most controversial ever written is a bit odd. It’s nice to hear it again, though.

CMU Beef Of The Week #45: Axl Rose v Slash via Guitar Hero

And Finally Beef Of The Week

Sometimes it amazes me that Axl Rose doesn’t feature in the column every week. It could easily be argued that he is the king of the beef. He always has the perfect combination of unhinged anger and misguided self-importance.

This week Axl is angry that, when playing Guns N Roses’ ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ in the ‘Guitar Hero III’ videogame, fans were able to see a digital representation of Slash, who, of course, wrote and played guitar on the song. This, he says, was specifically prohibited in the contract with the ‘Hero’ franchise’s maker, Activision, where he gave permission for his song to appear in the game. As a result, he’s suing the company for $20 million. Twenty. Million. Dollars.

That there is bad blood between the two former bandmates is no secret. Although the guitarist seems to have softened recently, Rose bears his grudge so firmly that he is attempting to have Slash removed from history. As well as apparently forcing Activision to agree not to include Slash in the game, legal documents filed this week also state that the gaming company went back on another promise to not include any songs by GNR spin-off Velvet Revolver.

The lawsuit states: “Activision understood the extraordinary value Guns N Roses and ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ could add to the ‘Guitar Hero’ platform … [and] began spinning a web of lies and deception to conceal its true intentions to not only feature Slash and [Velvet Revolver] prominently in ‘Guitar Hero III’, but also promote the game by emphasising and reinforcing an association between Slash and Guns N’ Roses and the band’s song ‘Welcome To The Jungle'”.

That’s right, it was Activision that were “emphasising and reinforcing an association between Slash and Guns N Roses and the band’s song ‘Welcome To The Jungle'”. It was nothing to do with the fact that the song appearing in itself would do just that, it being one of the most famous songs by a band famous for being the band that Slash used to play guitar in.

And what’s Activision’s stance on this? Well, the company hasn’t commented. Luckily, though, Axl is on hand to tell us that, too. Describing a party where Rose and Activision’s vice president of music affairs Tim Riley crossed paths, the legal papers state: “In tears, he [Riley] apologised for the way in which Rose and Guns N Roses had been mistreated by Activision. He said ‘I can’t sleep at night’ and asked Rose to forgive him”.

Presumably, Activision had to incorporate Slash into the game, because if they’d based it on the current line-up, gamers wouldn’t have been able to play a note for several hours after switching it on. And then they’d only get through half the song before Axl stopped everything and refused to play any more.

This Beef Of The Week comes from this edition of the CMU Weekly. Subscribe to the CMU Weekly here.

Album Review: Jenny and Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now (Warner)

Album Reviews

Don’t tell Zooey Deschanel, but I occasionally cheat on my number one girlcrush with Jenny Lewis. Shh, I told you to keep it down!

Anyway. Jenny – beautiful Jenny – and her man-friend Johnathan Rice release their first album ‘I’m Having Fun Now’, a typical foray into the cutesy boy/girl set-up that has become rather popular over the years between pretty, fey ladies (read: Lewis, Deschanel, Campbell) and retiring, silent-type men (read: Rice, Ward, Lanegan). I’m not complaining; from Ella and Louis to The Raveonettes, I’ve always been a fan of this particular strand of soulful indie rock; maybe it’s something about taking the rough with the smooth, or mixing the dynamics of gender. Whatever – it works.

And boy, do J&J make it work. Between Jenny’s sweetly mature and dulcet vocals and Johnny’s skill for writing a bloody perfect alt-country tune, ‘I’m Having Fun Now’ is everything its title says – it’s fun, it’s well-married, it’s a collaboration of two people who are genuinely in love with each other’s methods and what they are doing together. The album is warmly authentic; it feels real and unforced – the references to pop culture, politics and drugs aren’t blase, they’re honest and almost biting.

But besides that, ‘I’m Having Fun Now’ is, in its sound, truly and wholly American. The sweetness of ‘Animal’ sounds like a cross-country road-trip during dusk, while the bulkier ‘Big Wave’ screams of California and its easy living with darker undertones laced through the lyrics. ‘Straight Edge Of The Blade’ is an incredibly catchy song that tells a surprisingly sad, mournful story; and album opener ‘Scissor Runner’ has that Ben Kweller-esque melody that grabs you and hangs on until you give in and admit that you’d want to hear it over and over.

A match made in heaven, Jenny and Johnny have nodded hugely towards classic American pop with their debut, but instead of just ‘having fun’, have painted clever and entertaining tales, and have created something that nuzzles extremely comfortably in its genre without fading amongst the rest. TW

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

The music business week in five – Friday 26 Nov 2010

Business News Week In Five

Hey there people, Happy Friday everybody and belated Thanksgiving greetings to our American readers. We hope much thanks was given. Coming up, your Week In Five round up, but first a quick reminder that the final CMU Training course of 2010 takes place in Shoreditch next week. This one is for anyone who plans to still be working in music in a year’s time. Anyone? Well, the industry is still changing rapidly, and our Music Business Models course keeps you up to date with what’s happening, what new revenue streams and investment models are out there, and what this might been for the future of record labels, artist managers and other music companies. We have a couple of places left, you will find information at www.theCMUwebsite.com/training. Meanwhile, that promised week in five.

01: It was confirmed that Sainsbury’s had joined the VAT dodge party. The Observer revealed that the supermarket firm, which launched a mail-order CD store recently, is outsourcing the operation to a company based on the Channel Islands. US retail giant Best Buy has done the same thing for its CD website. This, of course, means the company doesn’t have to pay VAT on any CDs that cost less than £18. Mainland-based high street and mail-order retailers argue this much exploited VAT loophole is hugely unfair, has contributed to the demise of the indie music retail sector, costs the British tax payer millions and contravenes European tax rules. CMU report | Anti-loophole campaign

02: Spotify made £16.6 million in losses. Not this week, I should add. Well, not as far as we know. But Music Ally got its hands on the company accounts for Spotify Ltd for 2009 and worked out that is how much the firm lost as it built its foothold in the European streaming market last year. Losses for 2010 are almost certainly much higher. Some span this story as doom and gloom for Spotify, though presumably the company’s business plan accommodates such losses in the early years. Though gossipers says investors are now putting on the pressure about the service’s much delayed US launch, which might result in it going live there without all the majors on board. CMU report | Music Ally report

03: The US industry hit out at a PC Mag LimeWire alternatives article. Actually, the letter a bunch of American music industry trade bodies sent to the US tech website was posted earlier this month, but went public this week. They said that, by reporting on what other P2P software web users could utilise once a judge banned the distribution of LimeWire, PC Mag was encouraging copyright infringement. PC Mag said that claim was “nonsense”. CMU reports | PC Mag report

04: Axl Rose sued Activision over ‘Guitar Hero III’, with one of our favourite lawsuits so far this year. The Guns N Roses man says he was assured Slash would not appear in the game when he gave permission for their song ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ to appear. The guitarist then appeared as an avatar and in a Velvet Revolver track. Rose claims that an Activision chief previously admitted the company had screwed him over during a tearful apology. The gaming firm is yet to respond. If this goes to court it could be a classic. CMU report | Radar report

05: Rumour had it the Google Tunes launch has been delayed, because the major record companies still have reservations about the digital locker part of their plans. A source told the New York Post those reservations were delaying licensing talks meaning Google was now unlikely to enter the digital music market before Christmas, as originally planned. CMU report | New York post report

And that’s your lot. Except to say well done to all the winners at last night’s Record Of The Day Awards. And that Chilly Gonzales was freaking marvellous the other night. And did you see the story in the FT yesterday about the brilliant diversity in PR progamme UnLimited Media is involved in? Go read it.

Goodbye,
Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

EMI and NME dominate at ROTD Awards

Awards Media Top Stories

Two of the oldest British music brands, EMI and the NME, were the big winners at the Record Of The Day Awards for music journalism and PR last night, the former taking home four prizes, and the latter three, including the flagship Editor and Magazine Of The Year gongs.

And the music weekly got four as well if you count veteran music journalist Charles Shaar Murray, a one time NME writer, who picked up one of the outstanding contribution prizes, and he – while heralding the revival of his former haunt in his acceptance speech – suggested that we should. So we just did.

It’s no secret that current NME Editor Krissi Murison’s revamp of the IPC title has proven very popular within the music industry and the rock journalism fraternity, and last night’s awards for both the magazine and its chief were proof of that fact. It was interesting NME.com also picked up a prize, it seemingly yet to go through any real editorial rebirthing process and still operating the quantity over quality approach introduced by last editor Conor McNicholas.

Though on a commercial level, it is the NME website that probably does deserve the big prize, it being one of the few music sites that boasts serious traffic and, seemingly, fairly decent ad sales. Meanwhile the print edition’s albeit inevitable decline into oblivion has escalated considerably since a more serious and journalistically credible approach was adopted.

Which poses some interesting challenges for Murison and her IPC bosses for whom the printed product into which so much effort has been poured will surely soon be a loss leader, if it’s not already. Though for today, at least, they should probably sit back and enjoy the fact that, with their comrades in the music industry, their April relaunch has been a big success.

Also navigating tricky times are the team at EMI Artist Publicity, who have surely been working under more pressure than anyone else in the music PR sector of late, though their four wins were down to tangible results not sympathy votes. Ironically, as with much of EMI, three years of downsizing, top level chaos and uncertainty has resulted – possibly more by accident than design – in one of the best set ups for in-house PR, a fully centralised and united team able to offer a more proactive and helpful service.

And, perhaps more importantly, for a company that loses executives left, right and centre, in the PR department the major has managed to hang on to some of the best. So well done Team EMI. Despite the frequency with which journalists like ourselves speculate about your company’s impending demise and subsequent merger with Warner Music, we do actually pray at least three times each week that, against the odds, Britain’s biggest music company remains intact as a stand alone business and, as a happy by-product, you can continue to be one of the best PR units in the business.

Anyway, enough EMI love I think, time for one quick mention for the winner of the Best Student Music Writer award, sponsored by the dudes at PPL and organised in association with CMU’s sister website CreativeStudent.net, the community for all students involved in arts, media and entertainment on campus. And well done to Kate Allen of Reading University who most impressed a team of professional journalists, including CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke, to take the prize. Big things surely beckon.

Anyway, enough waffle, coming up the full list of winners, but first here’s Record Of The Day supremo Paul Scaife with a quote: “Once again, we had more votes, and at a higher calibre, than ever, and the stature of the awards continues to grow. Last year’s student winner found himself fast-tracked to freelance success, and I hope this award grows in importance. It was interesting to see the votes for EMI and NME, two different institutions that have seen unprecedented changes over the last few years, yet still remain loved”.

And now those winners in full, you lucky, lucky people…

Best In-House PR Person: Janet Choudry, EMI Artist Publicity
Best In-House Online PR: Stuart Freeman, EMI Artist Publicity
Best Independent PR Person: Nikki Wright-McNeill, Global

Best In-House PR Department: EMI Artist Publicity
Best Independent PR Company: Dawbell
Best Online PR Company: Anorak

Best PR Campaign For An Established Act: Plan B (Ruth and Beth Drake, Toast Press)
Best PR Campaign For A Breakthrough Act: Tinie Tempah (Janet Choudry, EMI Artist Publicity)
Best Reissue PR Campaign: Rolling Stones ‘Exile on Main St’ (Kate Etteridge, LD Communications)
PR Reputation Management: Cheryl Cole (Sundraj Sreenivasan, Supersonic)

Best Student Music Writer (voted for by panel of journalists): Kate Allen, Reading University
Best Publication (voted for by students): Drowned In Sound
Best Music Writer (voted for by students): Peter Robinson

Best Blog: My Band’s Better Than Your Band
Best Music Coverage In A Newspaper: The Guardian ‘Film & Music’
Digital Publication Of The Year: NME.com
Magazine Of The Year: NME

Record Reviewer Of The Year: Alexis Petridis, The Guardian
Live Reviewer Of The Year: Simon Price, The Independent on Sunday
Breaking Music Writer Of The Year: Peter Robinson, Popjustice
Feature Of The Year: Caitlin Moran for ‘Lady Gaga’ in The Times
Editor Of The Year: Krissi Murison, NME

Outstanding Contribution To Music Journalism Award: Charles Shaar Murray
Outstanding Contribution To PR Award: Terri Hall
Outstanding Contribution To Music Photography Award: Mick Rock

BMG buys Chrysalis

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Top Stories

The very acquisitive BMG Rights Management has bought Chrysalis, it has been confirmed. The German music rights company had been tipped as a favourite bidder ever since the London-based publisher admitted it was accepting takeover offers earlier this month.

Says BMG tip top man Hartwig Masuch: “The acquisition of Chrysalis represents an important step forward in our strategy as we build a major, global music rights business. Chrysalis’ extensive and high quality catalogue represents an excellent fit with our existing business”.

Says Chrysalis co-founder and chairman Chris Wright: “Our continued progress – evolving from management, recorded music, television and radio to focus on music publishing – has been clearly recognised by BMG. As we embark together on the next chapter of the Chrysalis story, I am proud of both our track record and our future prospects in an industry in which we have both innovated and pioneered”.

Google Tunes delayed by locker insecurities

Business News Digital Legal Top Stories

Google’s much mooted digital music service, which the web giant seemingly wanted online before Christmas, now seems unlikely to launch this year, according to reports.

As previously reported, it is widely assumed Google’s big entry into the music space will be a combined a-la-carte download store and music locker service, meaning that when consumers buy tracks they can not only download them to their home PC and portable music device but also stream them from any net-connected device. It is likely Google would want to let customers upload their existing MP3 collections to their locker also, otherwise it doesn’t make for a very compelling service.

Although digital lockers are nothing new, the record industry has long been nervous about the concept, fearing that they provide an even easier way for file-sharers to enjoy and share their ill-gotten music collections. Lockers also take away one of the big USPs of Spotify-style services, in that they make MP3 collections more readily accessible. Some, most notably Michael Robertson of MP3tunes, argue there is nothing labels can do under existing copyright laws to stop digital firms from offering consumers remote or ‘cloud-based’ hosting for their digital music collections.

But even if there was legal certainty on that issue, which there isn’t yet, with Google looking to licence the a la carte bit of their offer for the first time, they don’t really want to be facing off any of the majors in court. Which presumably means they are having to sit through endless tedious meetings with label chiefs and their lawyers using words like “inevitable” and “opportunity” and “provides new boost for digital market”.

One source at the web firm was quoted by the New York Post yesterday as saying: “What’s been holding things up is that the labels will do downloads, but they need to know more about the locker service, and Google really wants to keep the two together”.

Insiders say there is still an outside chance a deal could be done in time for a launch pre-Christmas, but an arrival first quarter 2011 now seems much more likely.

Billy Joel recovering from double hip op

Artist News

Billy Joel is recovering from a double hip replacement operation, his publicist confirmed yesterday. Claire Mercuri told reporters: “Billy Joel is doing extremely well following bilateral hip replacement and will be back at his Long Island home by the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend”.

Throbbing Gristle founder member dies

Obituaries

Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle (pictured centre) died at his home in Bangkok on Wednesday, aged 55.

Both an artist and a musician, Christopherson’s first dabblings with the music business was as one third of the Hipgnosis team, who created a load of iconic album artwork for bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Pink Floyd.

But he is probably best known as a founder member of influential avante-garde industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle, who even gave their genre its name via their record label venture Industrial Records. Throbbing Gristle were active from 1976 to 1981, and then again in more recent times after reforming in 2004.

Christopherson was involved in other music projects, including Psychic TV, formed with fellow TG member Genesis P-Orridge in 1981, and later another hugely influential industrial outfit, Coil. There were a couple of solo releases and, on the more artistic side, he started directing music videos and even TV ads.

Christopherson’s death was confirmed by his Throbbing Gristle bandmates Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter who tweeted: “Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night. Words cannot express our grief”.

Bieber twice as expensive as Crow, Drake and Weezer

Artist News Live Business

Justin Bieber is currently earning a reported $300,000 for every concert he plays, making him more or less twice as expensive as Sheryl Crow, Drake and Weezer.

And they’ve got responsibilities, all Justin has to buy is comics and bubble gum. And a lot of hair products. Manager Scooter possibly takes a cut, but I’m pretty sure he’s actually a cartoon character.

That fee figure comes from contract documents obtained by thesmokinggun.com. According to WENN, the average per concert fee demanded by Crow is $146,500 while rap man Drake charges $155,000. And the Weezer boys have to share $150,000 between them.

System Of A Down reunion announcement expected

Artist News

The much rumoured reunion of System Of A Down is expected to be announced next week. Monday, in fact. So get ready for that. It’s expected that the announcement will be made as part of a wider update on next year’s Download festival, which it’s thought the band will be headlining.

Download festival organiser Andy Copping told fans via Twitter this week: “Download 2011 early bird tickets on sale 9am Friday 3 Dec 2010. There will be more Download info [on 29 Nov]. Please… any specific questions about bands being announced, ticket prices, RIP, length of time for early birds etc will be answered 29 Nov”.

Asked about the possibility of a reunion by The Pulse Of Radio back in August, frontman Serj Tankian said: “[Bassist] Shavo [Odadjian] got married like two months ago, we were all at his wedding, and you know, we all talk, we’re friends, nothing’s changed, and we get offers to play shows, tours, whatever, and we discuss them once in a while. We have not made any decisions as of yet as to what we’re gonna do. But when we do, it’ll be quite obvious”.

Earlier this month, French radio presenter Francis Zégut claimed that SOAD are booked to perform at Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy in Paris on 6 Jun. This would put the band very close to Download in both space and time, so it would be rude of them not to play the festival.

Do you think they’re taking requests? I would like them to play ‘Know’ off the first album and all of ‘Toxicity’.

BMG signs OMD

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

BMG Rights Management has signed an exclusive administration deal with OMD via a partnership with UK-based firms Sonic Seduction and Blue Noise, the latter Andy McCluskey’s own company. The deal will cover the band’s most recent work, the ‘History Of Modern’ album.

The whole thing has got BMG chief Hartwig Masuch very excited. He told CMU: “I am absolutely fascinated by the ambitious and fresh appeal Andy and Paul managed to keep up and alive ever since the release of their fantastic ‘Joan Of Arc’ in 1981. BMG is very proud to administer this new piece of synth-pop art”.

McCluskey and his partner in OMD crime Paul Humphreys added: “We are delighted to have signed with BMG and excited about working with such a dynamic company. It is important for an artist to make the most of their music catalogue, and ‘History Of Modern’ is now with a most pro-active publisher”.

Toro Y Moi announces second album

Releases

Toro Y Moi, aka Chaz Bundick, has announced his second album, which I would be more excited about if learning this fact hadn’t led me to seeing someone describing his sound as ‘glo-fi’. Anyway, horrible genre tags aside, the news is still quite exciting. Entitled ‘Underneath The Pine’, the album will be released on 21 Feb through Carpark.

Originally planned for release this year, the album sees Bundick move away from the solely electronic production of his debut, ‘Causers Of This’, to record with live instrumentation instead, with this set of songs apparently influenced by composers like Ennio Morricone and Steve Reich.

This is the track list. Memorise it, there will be a test later:

Intro/Chi Chi
New Beat
Go with You
Divina
Before I’m Done
Got Blinded
How I Know
Light Black
Still Sound
Good Hold
Elise

Bleeding Heart Narrative announce new single

Releases

The fantastic Bleeding Heart Narrative have announced that they will release a new download-only single, ‘Perun’, on 6 Dec via Tartaruga Records to prepare the ground for their forthcoming third album.

To officially the launch the single, the band will be playing a special show at London’s Union Chapel on 11 Dec as part of promoters Arctic Circle’s Daylight Music Sessions. As the name of the event suggests, it will take place during daylight hours – starting at midday. The free show will see the seven-piece band perform with the additional help of a string section.

But enough of this talk of the future, let’s get on with right now. What are you doing right now? You are going to www.tartarugarecords.com/tartaruga/perun in order to download ‘Perun’ for free, that’s what.

Active Child announces video and tour dates

Gigs & Festivals

We love Active Child’s music very much. Mainly because it is brilliant. Plus harps get bonus points by default. So, yes, we’re quite excited by the appearance of a mildly disturbing video for his actually-quite-old-now track ‘I’m In Your Church At Night’.

Watch said video here.

We’re also excited to learn that he’ll be bringing his choirboy electronica back on tour supporting White Lies in the UK in February, just ahead of his next release on Vagrant Records. Here are the dates…

4 Feb: Cambridge, The Junction
6 Feb: Norfolk, UEA
7 Feb: Brighton, Corn Exchange
9 Feb: Bristol, Academy
10 Feb: London, Shepherds Bush Empire
13 Feb: Leeds, Academy
14 Feb: Birmingham, Institute
16 Feb: Glasgow, Barrowlands
17 Feb: Newcastle, Academy
18 Feb: Manchester, Academy

Ray Davies to curate Meltdown

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Former Kinks man Ray Davies may not be well enough to tour the US (he cancelled his tour there this week on doctor’s orders) but that doesn’t mean he’s not up to curating the next Meltdown festival. I suppose that is the sort of thing you can do from your bed. Davies will pick the acts that perform at next year’s Southbank Centre based music fest, which takes place from 10-19 Jun.

Confirming his appointment to the director role for 2011, Davies told reporters: “My wish for Meltdown 2011 is that it will be a creative celebration through the decades. A bridge between past, present and future”.

The Southbank Centre’s Jude Kelly added: “Enigmatic, provocative and literate – his razor-sharp observations on British society have coloured perceptions of ourselves for nearly 50 years”.

Festival line-up update – 26 Nov 2010

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

Isle Of Wight Festival, Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle Of Wight, 10-12 Jun: Tom Jones will make a “very special guest appearance” at next year’s Isle Of Wight festival, playing the Big Top stage. He joins the previously announced Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters, Pulp and Kasabian. www.isleofwightfestival.com

RockNess, Dores, Loch Ness, Scotland, 10-12 Jun: Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Paolo Nutini have been announced as the headliners of next year’s RockNess festival. This year’s event won the Best Line-up award the UK Festival Awards earlier this month. www.rockness.co.uk

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