Tuesday 29 November 2011, 11:05 | By CMU Editorial

Art Brut announce Bull & Gate residency

Gigs & Festivals

Following news of the Bull & Gate going up for sale, Art Brut are to take up a short two night residency at the Kentish Town venue to mark the tenth birthday of its flagship promoter, Club Fandango. The band will be joined on 8 Dec by party guests including Keith TOTP and his Minor UK Indie Celebrity Allstar Backing Band, while No Cars and The Brute Chorus will support on 7 Dec.

A portion of a statement issued by Art Brut’s Barnaby Fudge reads thus: “It has come to my attention that some in the intersphere consider Art Brut to be less than politically minded. They are considered a party band, letting the events of the day wash over them like a drunk asleep in a gutter. Well, I am here to tell you that our merry band are not so oblivious! The voice of today’s youth has not gone unheard!”

He goes on: “We refuse to sit idly by and watch Club Fandango celebrate a birthday without a residency-size truckload of Art Brut fans causing chaos, booze fuelled funstruction. The madness has gone on too long!” Hurrah!

Tickets (priced at £11 per night, or £18 for both) and full live listings for Club Fandango’s tenth anniversary season can be found here.

Glastonbury warns against off-site accommodation

Business News Live Business

Glastonbury Festival will no longer direct people to off-site accommodation options at future festivals, Michael Eavis has announced.

In a statement, Eavis says: “Off-site camping facilities at Glastonbury have generally caused me problems, but even more so this year. One operator failed to deliver his site, having taken the money from unsuspecting purchasers, and left me with a £60,000 bill, as I couldn’t bear the thought of 3,000 people turning up here and being let down at the last minute. This wasn’t the first time people have been let down, and as a consequence of this we simply cannot allow the same problems to happen again in 2013 [ie at the next Glastonbury Festival], so we will no longer be giving out any information about these off-site accommodation providers and would encourage festival-goers to use only the accommodation we provide”.

He advised festival-goers to spend the festival “under canvas, taking advantage of the camping fields which are included in the ticket price, or those who want a few more comforts can bring a campervan/caravan or stay in one of our legendary teepees”, adding: “Glastonbury Festival is not responsible for the provision of off-site accommodation, or any arrangements made with third parties such as accommodation providers, so we would urge people to think before parting with their money”.

Festival line-up update – 29 Nov 2011

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

WAKESTOCK, Penhros, Abersoch, 6-8 Jul: Team Wakestock have named their first 2012 headliner as affable up-and-comer Ed Sheeran, who is set to stun surf-loving crowds with a set of tunes from his debut album, ‘+-‘. If, on the basis of this one booking, you’d like to purchase early bird tickets for the event, they’ll be on sale as of 1 Dec. www.wakestock.co.uk

Jackson tribute show promoter goes into administration

Business News Live Business

The company set up to stage the somewhat shambolic Michael Jackson tribute concert, which took place in Cardiff last month, has gone into administration.

Global Events LLP was founded by Michael Henry and Chris Hunt, whose backgrounds seem to be in raising finance for film projects, specifically to stage the concert. Although the ambitious tribute show at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, officially supported by Jackson’s mother Katherine, went ahead with few hitches on the day, preparations didn’t go especially well.

Some Jackson siblings openly criticised the timing of the show (during the Conrad Murray trial), the MJ Estate distanced itself from the project, and fans hit out at both ticket prices and a subsequently axed plan to have Kiss play (Gene Simmons having been openly critical of Michael Jackson in the past).

Ticket sales were slow, with the majority sold during a last minute publicity push, and on the day the upstairs seating area was kept closed. Meanwhile a planned webcast of the event was scrapped last minute when it emerged key licensing agreements were not in place.

According to reports Global Events LLP went into administration after it struggled to pay mounting debts in relation to the tribute concert. Although the Millennium Stadium says it was paid its rental fee upfront, it is thought many of the people who worked on the show may be affected. A spokesman for London-based insolvency practitioners RSM Tenon confirmed it was handling the administration, telling reporters: “We are currently conducting our initial review of the business”.

Six arrested in counterfeit CD raid

Business News Legal

Piracy

Six market traders believed to have been producing and selling large quantities of counterfeit CDs and DVDs have been arrested as part of a raid organised by Greater Manchester Police.

Record label trade body BPI, the Intellectual Property Office and anti-piracy body FACT were also involved in the investigation into the operation, which was selling dodgy albums and movies from Salford Market, Greymare Lane Market and Conran Street Market.

Counterfeit CDs and DVDs worth tens of thousands of pounds were seized during the raids on Friday, which the government’s IP Minister Judy Wilcox apparently attended in person.

She told CMU: “The Intellectual Property Office has played an important part in helping to collect the intelligence for this operation in Manchester. It is fantastic to see so many organisations working together to disrupt criminal activity. The government has already worked with the Crown Prosecution Service to develop training which will equip prosecutors to deal effectively with cases involving counterfeit goods. And we will continue to work with Trading Standards, the police and CPS to share information and disrupt this type of criminal activity”.

Commenting on the raids, the BPI’s anti-piracy man David Wood added: “Physical music piracy costs the record business more than £100 million per year – a significant percentage of industry revenue. Buying and selling these fake CDs and DVDs strips artists of a fair reward for their music and deprives record companies – both big and small – of the capital required to invest in exciting new artists, merchandise and products that music fans deserve. We would like to thank Greater Manchester Police, Manchester City Council, and Salford Council for their professionalism and diligence in undertaking this collaborated approach to target the organised crime gangs who are manufacturing and distributing counterfeit CDs and DVD”.

Cooperative opens Nordic division

Business News Labels & Publishers

Universal Music’s independent label services division Cooperative Music has opened offices in the Nordic region, so that it will have a direct presence in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, distributing and marketing the output of the labels it already represents in the region, as well as looking for new clients in the four countries.

Music from Cooperative-represented labels has previously been distributed in the Nordic region by the Cosmos Music Group (or Bonnier Amigo Music Group, as it was known), and a former label manager from that company, Espen Slapgård, will join the new Cooperative division, with responsibilities for the whole region and, in particular, Norway. Another former Cosmos exec, Troels Gammelgaard, will oversee Danish operations, while Henrik Nyström will oversee Sweden and Pekka Saila and Sami Rikala, of Universal Finland, will work for Cooperative labels there.

Cooperative Music General Manager Vincent Clery-Melin told reporters: “The Nordic territories are a very exciting place for independent labels to do business in right now. The digital market is booming, and our independent label partners have been growing there year on year with success stories such as Fleet Foxes, Martha Wainwright, or more recently My Morning Jacket”.

He continued: “The Nordics are also an great source of repertoire for the rest of the world, as we’ve seen in the past through our long standing partnership with The Knife and their label Rabid Records, artists such as Peter Bjorn And John, or our association with the Spinefarm label out of Finland. We’re incredibly excited to be opening our own business there. We couldn’t think of a better team than Espen, Henrik and Troels to run it, and of a better infrastructure than Universal to host and distribute it!”

Fugazi launch online gig archive

Digital

Fugazi have announced the launch of their online gig archive, recordings of 130 live shows, which will go officially live on Thursday. Once fully operational the site will give fans access to more than 800 live recordings. As previously reported, frontman Ian Mackaye told Approaching Oblivion in May: “I wanted it to be up last fall … It’s a fuck of a lot of work”.

Shows will be available to download on a sliding scale starting at $1 and ending at $100, with a suggested price of $5 (the price the band tried to keep tickets at when they played live shows). For a list of the gigs that will be available, go here.

Noel: Not making it big in America is all Liam’s fault

And Finally

Noel and Liam Gallagher’s ongoing squabbling may now be primarily the business of the two brothers’ respective legal teams, but that doesn’t stop one or the other engaging is some more informal bitching.

Noel G has blamed his brother for the fact Oasis never quite cracked America in the way they had hoped they would, honing in on a crucial 1996 tour which was cancelled when Liam withdrew at the very last minute because his then girlfriend Patsy Kensit wanted to go house hunting.

The incident is included in Noel’s recent countersuit against Liam’s defamation litigation, which the latter launched against the former in relation to claims made at a press conference. But Noel has also told the story to the New York Times.

He says: “As I’m getting on the plane [to the US for the 1996 tour] he’s getting off because his wife [actually, then still girlfriend] called, saying: ‘We need to buy a house’. What they were doing for the previous three months is anybody’s guess. Probably picking gnats out of each other’s hair like monkeys”.

He continues: “The first gig was a 16,000 seat arena, and the singer’s not turned up. That killed us stone dead in America. This is rock n roll. Would Johnny Rotten have gotten a house on the eve of an American tour? Keith Richards? John Lennon? You either want it or you don’t, and I blame him for us never becoming as big in America as we were in England”.

Five Day Forecast – w/c 28 Nov 2011

CMU Planner

December begins later this week, which means we’ll be switching over to our end of year features on Thursday, announcing the first of our ten artists of the year, as well as commencing our look back at some of the best artists to have featured in our CMU Approved column in 2011, while Vigsy will be providing his top New Year’s Eve party tips. So look out for those. This, of course, can only mean that it’s nearly Christmas. How the hell has that happened? I’m going to go and investigate. While I do that, why don’t you check out some of the other stuff that’s going on this week.

01: Spotify announcement. Spotify last week announced that it will be making an announcement this week in New York. CEO Daniel Ek was coy about what exactly will be said, but he did reveal that he would be joined by some “special guests” on Wednesday to discuss the streaming service’s “latest major development” and “a new direction for the company”. There has been much speculation, of course, about what this might be, with suggestions ranging from opening up a new API to the closure of the free version of the service. I reckon they’re teaming up with Sweden’s other big export, Ikea, to create Billy bookcases with embedded audio. It’s definitely that.

02: Conrad Murray sentencing. Dr Conrad Murray, I’m sure you remember, was earlier this month found guilty of causing Michael Jackson’s death through the negligent administration of the surgical anaesthetic propofol. On Tuesday he’ll be sentenced, likely receiving a custodial sentence of some sort, though possibly not as long as the maximum of four years that the prosecution are pushing for. It’s also likely he’ll lose his medical licence, which is arguably more problematic for the doctor long term.

03: Creative Lancashire Music Blogging Discussion. CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke will be heading North later this week to take part in one of Creative Lancashire’s SoundByte panels, this one looking at the role of bloggers and blogging in music marketing and promotion, one of his very favourite topics. The event takes place at BBC Radio Lancashire’s studios in Blackburn on Thursday at 6pm, and the local BBC Introducing show will be airing highlights on a future edition.

04: New releases. Hospital Records is fifteen years old this year and today the company releases a compilation of classic tracks, extended versions and more to celebrate. Co-founder Tony Colman also put together a playlist of his ten favourite tracks from the label for us last week, which you can check out now too. Also out this week are very fine new releases from Peter Broderick, Zomby and Abi Wade, while Sunn O))) are re-releasing their ‘¯¯ Void’ album, Bon Iver has a special digital version of his latest album out with short films created for each track, Gorillaz have a compilation of all of their singles, and Adele is releasing a live DVD.

05: Gigs. This week, Memphis Industries celebrates its thirteenth birthday with a gig at Koko in London featuring sets from The Go! Team, Field Music, Dutch Uncles and Colourmusic. As well as that, The Great Escape will be showcasing some alternative Balearic acts, Little Boots will play a warehouse somewhere in London, the Gorillaz Soundsystem will appear at the 100 Club, and Outfit, Peggy Sue, Kwes, Nneka and The Jezabels all have London shows planned too. Meanwhile, Thurston Moore, Field Music and The Drums are all touring.

And, as ever, there’s a new CMU podcast out for you to listen to, which this week features talk of the Record Of The Day Awards, Grooveshark, tattooist-endorsed energy drinks and more.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

Approved: Jack Mazes – Art Is Cheap

CMU Approved

“Art is cheap… people make millions and trillions of pounds out of a brain cell firing successfully. It’s crazy. I’ll write you a song for £10… send me a song title and your email address and I’ll be in touch… a song title or anything, guitar part, drum beat… whatever. I’m feeling inspired”.

Thus blogged Jack Cooper (singer with Dalston-based DIY champions Mazes) earlier this year by way of an introduction to his ‘Art Is Cheap’ project, as part of which he spent a week writing songs especially for anyone who asked. Fifteen of the 35 tracks composed in that week are now available to download, either individually or as a digital album, via Cooper’s Bandcamp page.

From rosy birthday sonnet (and every girlfriend’s dream) ‘Lotti’, to ‘Johnny Says I’m A Witch’, as slots a Broadcast drum sample into a sleepy Byrds homage, most of the tracks are lent character by a note of accompanying context.

[wp_bandcamp_player type=”album” id=”856068252″ size=”venti” bg_color=”#FFFFFF” link_color=”#4285BB”]

Dizzee label announces Universal alliance

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Dizzee Rascal’s record company Dirtee Stank has announced a “multi-layered” deal with Universal Music which will see the major’s Island Records division market and distribute releases from the indie, including the next Dizzee album.

Dirtee Stank was formed in 2000 by the rapper and his manager Nick Cage. They worked in partnership with Beggars label XL Recordings on the first three Dizzee albums, but went it alone on album number four, 2009’s ‘Tongue N Cheek’.

The label also has the Newham Generals, Smurfie Syco and Katie Pepper on its roster, the latter of which Rascal discovered when judging on Sky’s short lived talent show ‘Must Be The Music’, and whose recordings will also be handled by Island as part of this deal.

Confirming the new partnership, Cage, who also produces a lot of the Dirtee Stank label’s output, told CMU: “I am incredibly excited as to what the new year holds for Dirtee Stank, we’ve achieved so much by ourselves in the last couple of years that the mind boggles as to what is possible now we have done this deal. Universal truly are universal and in Island Records they have one of the most creative and focused teams in the industry worldwide today, so ultimately there is only one place to take my artists in order to achieve world domination”.

Universal Music UK CEO David Joseph added: “Dizzee Rascal is a truly exceptional artist, one of the crown jewels of the UK music scene, and we are delighted and proud that he has joined us at Universal. We are sure that together we can help Dizzee achieve his global ambitions”.

Jarvis says tabloids contributed to Winehouse’s death

Media Top Stories

Jarvis Cocker says that the newspapers should take some responsibility for the death of Amy Winehouse, and it does seem to be the month for kicking the tabs while they’re down, so why not?

The Pulp frontman reckons that having to live her life in the tabloid glare contributed to Winehouse’s drink and drug additions, which ultimately led to her premature death. Speaking to The Guardian, he says he went through a similar situation during the height of his fame in the 1990s.

Says Jarvis: “Amy Winehouse passed away this year and it was all ‘drugs killed Amy Winehouse’. I think that the press killed Amy Winehouse as much as drugs did, because it sends people into that place where they’ve got no peace, and so they just try to escape. And sometimes you use drugs and drink to do that”.

He continued: “That atmosphere of fear that the tabloids cause – and I experienced that a bit, back in the bad old days – it makes you not want to go out, and it makes you act more weirdly because it makes you more self-conscious, and it makes you want to get more off your head [so you can] block it out”.

Kanye song theft case rests on Nietzsche quote

Legal

A previously reported song-theft lawsuit involving Kanye West is still rumbling its way through the US courts, though the rapper’s lawyer wants the case dismissed, partly on the basis that, just because her client, like the claimant, nicked a line from the work of nineteenth century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche for his rap, that doesn’t mean he infringed the litigant’s copyright.

As previously reported, Vince P, or Vincent Peters, says he sent a copy of his song ‘Stronger’ to West’s manager back in 2006. A track of the same name then appeared on West’s 2007 album ‘Graduation’ with some similarities to his work, namely both mentioned Kate Moss, and both had a play on the Nietzsche maxim “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”, rhyming ‘stronger’ with both ‘longer’ and ‘wronger’. Peters claims West stole his song without permission.

But the claimant failed at first instance, with a US judge ruling that there wasn’t enough similarity between the two songs for there to be a case of copyright infringement, with the most similar line not being original on either counts. But Peters is appealing, which is why West’s lawyer Carrie Hall has had to submit new papers calling for the case against her client to be dismissed.

According to Billboard, Hall submitted her dismissal application earlier this month, arguing Peters had failed to back up his claim that West’s song was substantially similar to his, and that the lower court’s judgement on the matter should therefore stand. She added that if Peters were to succeed in his copyright infringement claim, based simply on a one word title, reference to Moss and the use of a famous maxim, “it would create a dangerously low threshold for establishing copyright protection over otherwise commonplace words and phrases”.

We await the judge’s response to Hall’s submission.

Bieber baby claimer wants a second DNA test

Legal

Legal reps for Mariah Yeater, the woman who claims that Justin Bieber fathered her child, have demanded the teen pop star take a second paternity test, this time with them in attendance.

As previously reported, the Biebster attended a clinic in the US the week before last to take a DNA test to prove he wasn’t the father of Yeater’s young son, who she claims was conceived during a very brief sexual liaison with the pop star backstage at LA’s Staples Center last year. But, with Bieber’s DNA sitting in a test tube, it then emerged the pop star’s lawyers were having trouble getting a DNA sample from Yeater’s child so to complete the paternity test.

Now it turns out that Yeater’s lawyers – who are seemingly different to the legal types who submitted her original and now withdrawn paternity lawsuit – are demanding Bieber take the test again, this time in their presence.

They are seemingly distrustful of any results from the previous test, because they did not see the pop star actually donate his saliva to the lab technicians, allowing, they say, for an alternative sample to be substituted.

Bieber’s lawyers would presumably counter that they used a respected clinic for the DNA testing whose reputation means their results should be trusted, though given that Yeater’s legal team are clearly going to push this one as far as it can go, you’d have thought they’d have invited one of the claimant’s lawyers along in the first place, just so there was no uncertainty.

Yeater attorney Jeffrey Leving told the Daily News late last week: “I want a new DNA test with both sides together at a lab in California as soon as possible. We need proper protocol and a chain of custody. For me to feel comfortable, I want a member of my legal team in the room when Justin Bieber’s genetic fluid is sampled. This case is unique in terms of media interest, celebrity, and the amount of potential child support at issue. There could be motives on the parts of many different people to corrupt the evidence”.

George Michael is getting better, friend says

Artist News

George Michael is slowly recovering from that nasty bout of pneumonia, according to his close friend Fadi Fawaz, who various media claim is dating the singer. Fawaz spoke amid rumours that Michael’s condition was deteriorating, rumours possibly fuelled by an announcement on Friday that the singer was cancelling all remaining dates on his Symphonica tour because of his ill health.

But Fawaz told the Mirror: “George is doing well and is in good spirits. I have been seeing him each day and he is getting stronger all the time. George is trying to stay upbeat. He is smiling through it all and everyone is just willing him to get better. A lot of what has been reported isn’t true. I’ve been with him every day and his condition is getting better. His family and friends are very happy with his care. He is in the best place, getting the treatment he needs”.

More More More singer dies

Obituaries

Disco singer Andrea True, best known for the hit ‘More More More (How Do You Like It?)’, has died in New York aged 68.

True was actually an actress, having mainly appeared in pornographic films, when she co-wrote the track in 1975. She became stranded in Jamaica, where she had been filming a commercial, after political conflict prevented her from leaving the country, so she invited songwriter and producer Gregg Diamond to join her, and together they created the song.

Subsequently released under the performing name Andrea True Connection, the song was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and an album, also called ‘More More More’ followed, which spurned one more hit in the UK, ‘What’s Your Name What’s Your Number’.

However, a follow-up album failed to match the initial hit’s success, and True stepped away from her music career. Keen to give up her work in the porn industry, True spent most of the rest of her life away from the entertainment business, though still earned a royalty from her big hit, which has been synced on many occasions over the years, as well as being sampled by Len in their 1999 track ‘Steal My Sunshine’, and being covered by various artists, including Bananarama and Rachel Stevens.

True died on 7 Nov, though her passing was only announced this weekend. No immediate family members survive her.

Australia’s big music awards presented

Awards

So, it was Australia’s big music awards, the ARIAs, this weekend. Following a 2010 awards bash that could be best described as shambolic, this year’s event seemed to be much better received, though, by being shunted onto youth channel GO!, the TV transmission saw its viewing figures slump to half those enjoyed last year. But, you may well ask, who won? Well, here’s the winners list. I think it’s fair to say solo artists Gotye and Kimbra, as well as indie rockers Boy & Bear had a good night.

Best Male Artist: Gotye
Best Female Artist: Kimbra
Best Group: Boy & Bear

Album Of The Year: Boy & Bear – Moonfire
Single Of The Year: Gotye feat Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know
Best Breakthrough Artist Album: Boy & Bear – Moonfire
Best Breakthrough Artist Single: Boy & Bear – Feeding Line

Best Pop Release: Gotye feat Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know
Best Urban Album: Drapht – The Life Of Riley
Best Blues And Roots Album: The Audreys – Sometimes The Stars
Best Dance Release: Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Best Rock Album: The Living End – The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating
Best Hard Rock Album: Front End Loader – Ritardando
Best Independent Release: Art Vs Science – The Experiment
Best Adult Alternative: Boy & Bear – Moonfire
Best Adult Contemporary: Billy Thorpe – Billy Thorpe’s Tangier
Best Children’s Album: The Wiggles – Ukulele Baby!
Best Comedy Release: Hamish & Andy – Celebrating 50 Glorious Years
Best Country Album: Kasey Chambers – Little Bird
Best Classical Album: Sally Whitwell – Mad Rush: Piano Music of Philip Glass
Best Jazz Album: Elixir featuring Katie Noonan, First Seed Ripening
Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album: Chris Lilley – Angry Boys: Official Soundtrack Album
Best World Music Album: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu – Rrakala

Best Music DVD: AC/DC – Live at River Plate
Best Video: Goyte feat Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know
Best Cover Art: Alter, for Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Producer of the Year: Wally De Backer for Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know
Engineer Of The Year: Francois Tetaz for Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know

Most Popular Australian Artist: Birds Of Tokyo
Most Popular Australian Live Artist: The Living End

Bee Gee brothers may tour again together

Artist News

Robin Gibb would like to tour again with brother Barry, or so says former label exec and friend of the Bee Gees David English. As previously reported, Gibb is currently very ill with an unconfirmed condition, and has had a couple of hospital stints in recent weeks. However, English told the Daily Mail, he remains in good spirits, and responded eagerly to Barry Gibb’s proposal that they perform together again once he is fit again.

English told the tabloid: “He’s not very well, obviously. The whole family was there when I went to see him this week. The first thing I did was to give him a hug – carefully because he is quite frail. Though he is very, very thin, his mind is just as sharp as ever, as is his wonderful sense of humour. Barry and I were crying with laughter at the things he comes out with, as we always do with Rob”.

He continued: “Barry came out with it and said: ‘Look, why don’t we go on the road again?’ And Rob just grinned and said: ‘Great, when can we go? We said: ‘Well, we need to get you a bit stronger and better first, we will have to feed you up, none of this vegan nonsense with herbal tea’. I think it was the best medicine we could have given him”.

Bowie people deny licensing tracks to ‘Heroes: The Musical’

Artist News

Reps for David Bowie have denied reports that the singer has licensed songs from his catalogue for use in a new stage show called ‘Heroes: The Musical’.

The Observer, among others, reported this weekend that one Deep Singh had devised a musical including various songs from Bowie’s repertoire, and that – having got the green light from the singer’s people – the show would debut at The O2’s IndigO2 venue next March. The paper quoted Singh as saying: “We could not really believe it when they gave us permission. His people had warned us that it was very unlikely that he would be interested and that he had been asked many times before. We did not want Mr Bowie to think it was going to be a tribute show, and that seems to have had an effect”.

But it seems Singh may have jumped the gun, because Team Bowie deny any knowledge of the show. A statement posted on the official David Bowie website reads: “Neither the David Bowie Organisation, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at The O2, as has been reported in the UK. There are no negotiations pending for a long-running musical featuring the music of Mr Bowie”.

So look at that, apparently some things are sacred.

Wild Beasts announce 2012 tour

Gigs & Festivals

Having just wrapped up a weekend’s worth of sold-out shows in London, Cambridge and Brighton, Wild Beasts are maintaining live momentum with news of a few 2012 dates. As for the choice of venues, they’re all places the band haven’t yet visited since releasing their acclaimed album ‘Smother’ earlier this year.

Tour dates:

11 Mar: Warwick, University
12 Mar: Norwich, Waterfront
13 Mar: Colchester, Arts Centre
14 Mar: Exeter, Phoenix
15 Mar: Falmouth, Pavillion
16 Mar: Cardiff, Coal Exchange
17 Mar: Liverpool, Masque Theatre

The Great Escape to host Balearic showcase

Gigs & Festivals

The team at The Great Escape are presenting an evening of live Balearic delights upstairs at north London’s The Garage on 1 Dec. With doors at 7.30pm, the live billing will offer folk-tinged alt-pop from Mallorcan outfit The Marzipan Man, exuberant lo-fi from tropical quartet Beach Beach, and dark, enveloping sounds courtesy of Poomse, aka singer and multi-instrumentalist Llorenç Rosselló.

Full event details can be found here.

Festival line-up update – 28 Nov 2011

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

BY:LARM, various venues, Oslo, Norway, 16-18 Feb: Danish folk-pop ensemble Cody, Swedish DJ duo Rebecca and Fiona, and visceral synth outfit IGNUG are a sample trio from recent additions to live proceedings at this pan-Scandinavian festival and conference, which will celebrating its fifteenth anniversary next year. www.bylarm.no

NOVA ROCK, Pannonia Fields II, Nickelsdorf, Austria, 8-10 Jun: A truly mighty first group get next year’s Nova Rock roster off to a strong start, as Slayer, Mastodon and headliners Metallica are set to be flanked by the live and loud likes of Machine Head, Killswitch Engage, Trivium and Lamb Of God at this Austrian three-dayer. www.novarock.at

ROCK AM RING, Nurburgring, Germany, 1-3 Jun: Back for a fifth appearance at the German bash are headliners Metallica, who are booked to perform their iconic LP ‘The Black Album’ in its entirety. They join Germany’s premier punk troupe Die Toten Hosen, so far the line-up’s only other occupants, with more acts to be announced in the weeks and months to come. www.rock-am-ring.com

Government announces music education plan

Business News Education & Events

The government announced its first ever national plan for music education in England on Friday, responding to the previously reported Henley Review of music education matters, undertaken by Classic FM Managing Director Darren Henley.

Among other things, all school children will be offered the opportunity to receive lessons to play a musical instrument for at least one term, a new music teaching module will be developed for trainee primary teachers, and new ‘music hubs’ will be set up around the country to assist in music education in schools, overseen by the Arts Council.

The new hubs will replace the local authority music service departments that already exist, and ministers hope the new framework will ensure there is more consistency around the country, noting that while some areas already have excellent music service units, that is not the case in every region.

According to The Stage, the government’s education chappy, Michael Gove, said the new grand plan would “deliver a music education system that encourages everyone, whatever their background, to enjoy music and help those with real talent to flourish as brilliant musicians”, while Culture Minister Ed Vaizey added that the new resources would help “provide our fantastic creative industries with the next generation of talent”.

Meanwhile the CEO of the Arts Council, Alan Davey said: “I know from personal experience just how much early opportunities to get involved in the arts can enrich a young person’s life and help develop their potential. That’s why I’m so pleased to apply the Arts Council’s skill and judgement to the establishment of music education hubs, which will play a key role in ensuring that every child in this country has the chance to experience the richness of music”.

However, The Incorporated Society Of Musicians, which represents music teachers, welcomed various elements of the new plan, expressed concern over the speed with which the new music hubs are expected to take over from existing music service departments. Says the ISM: “We are delighted that the government recognises the pre-eminence of music education in this country and the central role music plays in our creative and cultural economy. However, we have serious concerns about the rapid pace at which the new music education hubs are expected to take forward the work of local authority music services, supposedly beginning to operate as early as September 2012”.

They continued: “We already know that many music teachers’ jobs up and down the country are under threat as local government and other bodies make cuts. In these difficult times, with further uncertainty following the late publication, government needs to ensure that these proposals are turned into a reality, avoiding an ill thought through implementation process”.

Dutch collecting society announces Europe-wide shop for indie labels securing mechanical rights

Business News Labels & Publishers

The Dutch publishing rights collecting society BUMA/STEMRA has joined up with pan-European indie label trade body IMPALA to create what it is calling the “first ever European portal for mechanical rights licensing”.

Basically, under the new partnership any members of IMPALA and its affiliated trade bodies, which includes the UK’s Association Of Independent Music, will be able to licence the Europe-wide ‘mechanical publishing rights’ on physical releases (so, the licence that allows a record label to sell recordings of a song, and which pays a royalty to the publisher and/or songwriter which owns it) for songs represented by the collecting society via a one-stop-shop. Which is a very long sentence.

In the words of Hein van der Ree, CEO of BUMA/STEMRA: “This new structure creates the possibility of a European one-stop-shop, a single licence for all of Europe. At the same time, the arrangement will create improved transparency for rights owners through the aggregation of these European licences”.

Explaining why a one-stop-shop for mechanical rights would be useful for the labels IMPALA represents, the trade body’s Executive Chair Helen Smith told CMU: “Independents currently have agreements for mechanical licences in many European countries on many different conditions. We are confident that this will streamline the whole licensing process and add value for independent labels in helping them to sustain their position in the European music market, producing over 80% of all new releases”.

Google extends search term black list to include file-sharing sites

Digital

Google has expanded the list of words banned from search recommendations so that it includes many of the leading file-sharing websites, Torrentfreak noted last week.

Responding to concerns expressed by rights owners, earlier this year the web giant introduced a black list of piracy-related words that would not appear in search recommendations. This doesn’t stop users from searching for those terms, but it means the search engine won’t suggest them as it auto-completes entries made by users.

Content owners complained that, for example, when you typed an artist’s name into Google it often used to suggest searches like ‘Artist Name BitTorrent’, which would almost certainly link the user to unlicensed content by that artist.

The initial black list was seemingly quite short, but has been quietly extended, possibly at the content industry’s request, possibly on Google’s own initiative. According to Torrentfreak, recent additions to the black list include “thepiratebay”, “the pirate bay”, “isohunt” and “torrentreactor”.

It is known that one of the issues brought up when Google was recently in licensing talks with Sony Music, for the new Google Music service, was a concern at the music major that the web firm’s previous commitments to reducing the presence of piracy websites on the Google search platform had not gone as far as many content owners had originally hoped. However, it’s not known if that kind of pressure has had any influence on Google extending its search term blacklist.

Unseen Jackson footage fails to sell

And Finally

That previously unseen footage of Michael Jackson recorded on his ‘Dangerous’ tour in 1993 has failed to sell at auction, despite expectations it could fetch over $7 million. However, auctioneer The Fame Bureau say it is hopeful it will still find a buyer.

As previously reported, the video, which features both performance and backstage footage, was recorded in Buenos Aires and given to a Brazilian chauffeur as “a bonus” for his time spent ferrying the singer around during the 1993 tour.

The driver kept the VHS tape a secret until after Jackson’s death in 2009, when he posted a short section to YouTube. That clip was then taken down due to a copyright notice, and Sony Music and the Michael Jackson estate both subsequently claimed ownership of the footage. However, according to reports, the driver was later named the legal owner of the recording, allowing the big sale.

That said, there seems to still be some ambiguity about the rights in the video, so much so The Fame Bureau was forced to take a clip from it off its website, and it’s very possible those ambiguities are affecting potential interest in buying the film, as a multi-million dollar buyer would almost certainly want to commercialise the content.

A spokesman for the auction house told reporters: “At this stage it has not sold. We are still talking to people, but online it did not sell”.

Editor’s Letter: The future of live performance

CMU Weekly Editor's Letter

There have always been musicians who have tried to push the limits of what live performance is and can be, from The Grateful Dead pumping their audiences full of LSD to Pink Floyd performing behind a wall. But over the last eighteen months there seems to have been a real leap forward in the amount of effort some artists have been putting in.

Riz MC’s ‘MICroscope’ show, which I saw in June last year, and which mixed live music, theatre and audience interaction to create a new kind of performance, was a particular highlight of my 2010 gigging calendar. But this year I’ve been most enthralled by advances in projection technology. I will concede that’s is not the most thrilling sentence I have ever written, but stick with me.

Live projections have been a staple of live music for some time now, of course. Electronic producers like the Chemical Brothers and Orbital have long used them as a means of dressing up what might otherwise be a visually uninspiring performance, and it’s almost a decade since I first saw Mew using short films as a backdrop to their songs in a way I still see as the benchmark for such things. And as such backdrops become increasingly prevalent, thrown in as a matter of course more than an artistic accoutrement, it’s a benchmark I see not being met with increasing frequency at gigs of all sizes.

But now, as well as all that, some people have started bringing the visuals to the front of the stage and doing amazing things with them. At the Great Escape festival in Brighton this year, DJ Shadow performed his ‘Shadowsphere’ show, which sees him perform inside a sphere onto which are projected various images. In the CMU-programmed convention section of TGE, Shadow explained the inspiration behind the show and some of the technical difficulties involved in projecting images onto a surface that isn’t flat. It’s very clever stuff, and was mind-boggling to watch and try to understand. And then a month later Amon Tobin premiered his ‘ISAM’ show in Montreal and took things to a whole new level.

Like Shadow, Tobin performs inside a structure, appearing at various points in the show, but mostly allowing the visuals to fill the audience’s view. However, Tobin’s structure is more than just a sphere; it’s a huge arrangement of cubes, which through the magic of technology and design appear to move and change shape, become machinery, become filled with smoke, and become a surface on which a virtual Tobin manipulates streams of light, all locked into the precise, industrial sounds of the real Tobin’s ‘ISAM’ album.

At times it looks like it’s not actually there, just something you imagined, thanks to the incredible precision of the projections and the amazing skill that has gone into creating them.

Watching the show at The Forum in London last night, the second of two shows at the venue this week, was a jaw-dropping experience. Jaw-dropping as in my jaw actually dropped on several occasions. It was one of the most visually amazing performances I have ever seen. And that it fits so perfectly with Tobin’s music, ensuring a kind of overstimulation from bass that will knock the breath out of you, makes it almost unbelievable that the two weren’t created in unison.

For some sort of idea of what I’m trying to get across, take a look at this trailer, and also check out this behind the scenes video looking at how it was all put together. Then cross your fingers and hope that he’ll be back soon (rest assured, we’ll alert you to future UK shows in the Daily as soon as they are confirmed).

Now, I mentioned The Great Escape (and our involvement in it) back up there somewhere. We were very pleased to officially announce this week that we will be back to programme the convention again in 2012. Last year, as well as DJ Shadow, we had speakers including BRIT Award winning producer Paul Epworth, Topspin founder Ian Rogers, BPI chairman Tony Wadsworth, industry veteran Seymour Stein and singer songwriter Frank Turner. Next year we hope to match and exceed everything we achieved this year. We’re already talking to some exciting people, so you’ll be wanting to head over to www.escapegreat.com right now to get your early bird tickets. That’s what I reckon anyway.

There will, of course, no doubt be much discussion – on stage and between delegates – about the future of the music industry at The Great Escape in May, and we’ll look at some of the emerging technologies that will continue to allow artists and music companies to make money from their work. Some think that Grooveshark is the future of the industry. Mainly the people who work at Grooveshark admittedly, and certainly not the people who work at Universal Music. The people over at Universal don’t like Grooveshark one bit, and this week they launched a second lawsuit in their continued attempts to sue the streaming service out of business.

Universal says it has evidence that Grooveshark’s founders uploaded unlicensed content – thousands of songs – to the streaming service themselves, which would consitute more straight forward copyright infringement, arguably stopping them from saying safe harbour provisions in the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act make their service legitimate even if they are providing access to tracks (supposedly uploaded by users) that belong to artists or labels who have no deals in place with the web company. Grooveshark, however, hasn’t taken kindly to those allegations, saying that Universal’s claims are a “gross miscategorisation” of the facts.

That war of words was certainly the big music industry news story of the week, but what else has been occurring on theCMUwebsite.com in the last seven days I hear you cry. Unless that was the wind or something. Well, anyway, Hospital Records co-founder Tony Colman (aka London Elektricity) compiled his ten favourite tracks from the label’s back catalogue into a playlist to mark its fifteenth anniversary. We also spoke to Angular Records co-founder Joe Daniel about the upcoming Independent Label Market, which will take place in London next month, and Eddy Temple-Morris wrote about former Southern Death Cult drummer, label owner and activist Aki Nawaz.

In the CMU Approved column, we approved of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’ album, which has just been re-issued, mysterious Californian indie sorts Tashaki Miyaki, techno producer Throwing Snow, and UK rapper Cappo.

Elsewhere, we also brought you new music from the likes of Kid Cudi, Gruff Rhys, Sharon Van Etten, Wrongtom, First Aid Kid, Paul Thomas Saunders, Foxes, Outfit, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Ital Tek, and contemporary classical composer Leah Kardos, who I’m off to see launch her debut album at The Wilmington Arms in London later on tonight.

And don’t forget the CMU podcast. Imagine if you did forget it, you’d miss out on chat about the Record of The Day Awards, The Great Escape, Grooveshark, Johnny Vaughan, the Gallagher Brothers, and Bruce Dickinson’s attempts to save a commercial airline from administration.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

CMU Weekly Podcast – Friday 25 Nov 2011

Setlist

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review the week in music and the music business, including the Record Of The Day Awards, The Great Escape, Universal v Grooveshark, Gallagher v Gallagher, Johnny Vaughan and Bruce Dickinson’s planes. Get the CMU Weekly Podcast every Friday by signing up via iTunes or RSS.

The music business week in five – 25 Nov 2011

Business News Week In Five

So hello there one and all, and welcome to Black Friday, America’s national day of shopping which Amazon is trying to inflict on the rest of us with its various “Black Friday Week” offers.

If we’re going to adopt one of America’s holidays personally I’d rather have Thanksgiving, I quite like eating excessive amounts of food, but absolutely hate shopping. And besides, ‘Black Friday’ was named because of the horrific congestion all those shoppers caused in American cities and malls. Who wants to adopt that?

But the good news is that there is no Black Friday in London, so there shouldn’t be any out of the ordinary congestion, which means there’s no excuse for not heading down to the main Topman store at Oxford Circus today for the mega-DJ-jam involving our very own Eddy Temple-Morris, and designed to raise awareness for CALM, an incredibly important charity designed to reduce the number of suicides among the young male population. If you can’t make it to Oxford Circus, do read Eddy’s column on the venture, and if you can, well do enjoy watching Eddy, Zane Lowe, Dan le Sac, Kissy Sell Out, Herve, the Loose Canons and many more going head to head in a DJ fashion.

But first, take a few moments to catch up on this week’s big music business stories…

01: Universal sued Grooveshark, again. Based on data it got access to as part of a previous legal dispute with Grooveshark, Universal says it has evidence that bosses at the often controversial streaming music service have themselves uploaded unlicensed content to the company’s web platform. Grooveshark is a Spotify-style set up that allows users to upload music to its catalogue, meaning it streams music from many more labels than the handful it has licensing agreements with. Owners of the service say they operate a DMCA takedown system for that unlicensed content, so are protected under US copyright law. But, Universal’s lawyers argue, that does not apply if Grooveshark staff are uploading the unlicensed material. The web firm said the major was deliberately misinterpreting the data it had handed over, but if Universal were to win this one, it would likely push for millions possibly billions in damages based on the statutory damages allowed in the US for copyright infringement. CMU reports | WSJ report

02: UK Music called on music types to contribute to live licensing review. The government is reviewing the 2003 Licensing Act which many in the live sector reckon has made it too hard to stage grass roots music events. The government’s consultation on the issue is actually considering proposals for cutting live entertainment red tape considerably more radical than those already set out in a private member’s bill on this issue, Lord Tim Clement-Jones’ Live Music Bill. Submissions to the review need to be in by 3 Dec, and UK Music called on anyone in the music space who supports these proposed changes to put that support in writing. CMU report | UK Music statement

03: European courts said ISPs couldn’t be forced to become the piracy police. In an ECJ ruling relating to a long running battle between Belgian collecting society Sabam and net firm Scarlet, the Euro judges said that forcing ISPs to monitor all traffic with a viewing to blocking the sharing of unlicensed content – which Sabam wanted Scarlet to do – would breach various bits of the EU’s Charter Of Fundamental Rights. Although a pain for Sabam, its arguable that the ruling doesn’t affect too many other efforts to force ISPs to assist in stopping illegal file-sharing, because other demands to this effect have been much more narrowly defined than by the Belgians. CMU report | PC World report

04: The Music Managers Forum backed a speech by EU Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes which called for more reform to European copyright systems, including more collective licensing in the digital domain. Kroes also called for content owners and technology companies to collaborate on systems to better monitor copyright ownership and royalty distribution. MMF Chair Brian Message said: “Neelie Kroes summed up our views succinctly and with passion. Her final sentence – ‘let’s not wait for a financial crisis in the creative sector to happen to finally adopt the right tools to tackle it’ – says it all. We applaud her and wholeheartedly share her vision”. CMU report | Register report

05: CMU was confirmed as convention programmers of The Great Escape 2012. It may be a bit self indulgent to include this here, but yes, Team CMU will once again programme the convention side of Europe’s leading festival for new music next May, bringing together the very best minds from across the music, media and digital industries to share ideas, advice, case studies and opinions. Early bird tickets that get you into the whole convention plus priority access to the festival are just £120, get yours now! CMU report | TGE tickets

And that’s your lot till the CMU podcast this afternoon, see you for that later.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

Approved: Soul Heaven at Pulse

Club Tip CMU Approved

Soul Heaven returns, this time at Pulse, a newish club just south of Blackfriars Bridge, which shares a postcode with Ministry and has similar door prices. Expect the Oxford Dictionary definition of soulful house here, with the massive Master At Work Kenny Dope and Baltimore’s DJ Spen on the decks. Phil Asher and Craig Smith will take it somewhere else in Room Two, while in Room Three you’ll find DJ Rocco from France and Risk Sound System from Holland, plus the rather excellent Atjazz. Such a quality line up is only suitable for those over 23 obviously (no, I don’t get that either, but sorry young people, you’re not allowed).

Saturday 26 Nov, Pulse, 1 Invicta Plaza, London, SE1 9UF, 11pm – 7am, £17 adv/£25 door, more info here.

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 11:05 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Art Brut | Bull And Gate | Club Fandango

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 11:02 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Glastonbury Festival | Michael Eavis

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 11:01 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Wakestock

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 10:57 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Global Events LLP | Michael Jackson

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 10:54 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | Fact | Intellectual Property Office (IPO) | Piracy

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 10:52 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Cooperative Music | Cosmos Music Group | Universal Music

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 10:48 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Fugazi

Tuesday 29 November 2011, 10:44 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Liam Gallagher | Noel Gallagher | Oasis

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:53 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT:

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:50 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Jack Cooper | Mazes

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:48 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Dirtee Stank | Dizzee Rascal | Island Records | Universal Music

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:45 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Amy Winehouse | Jarvis Cocker

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:43 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Friedrich Nietzsche | Kanye West | Vince P | Vincent Peters

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:41 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber | Mariah Yeater

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:38 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Fadi Fawaz | George Michael

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:37 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Andrea True | More More More

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:32 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: ARIA Awards

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:26 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Barry Gibb | Bee Gees | David English | Robin Gibb

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:23 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: David Bowie | Deep Singh

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:21 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Wild Beasts

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:18 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: The Great Escape

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:16 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: by:Larm | Nova Rock | Rock AM Ring

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:13 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Arts Council | Classic FM | Darren Henley | Ed Vaizey | Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) | Michael Gove

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:10 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Buma/Stemra | The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA)

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:08 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Google

Monday 28 November 2011, 11:06 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Michael Jackson | The Fame Bureau

Friday 25 November 2011, 18:31 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Amon Tobin | DJ Shadow

Friday 25 November 2011, 16:00 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Bruce Dickinson | Capital FM | Grooveshark | Johnny Vaughan | Liam Gallagher | Noel Gallagher | Oasis | Record Of The Day Awards | The Great Escape | Universal Music

Friday 25 November 2011, 12:01 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT:

Friday 25 November 2011, 12:00 | By Paul Vig

READ MORE ABOUT: Kenny Dope | Soul Heaven