Wednesday 21 December 2011, 12:01 | By CMU Editorial

Bieber accuser stands by her story

Legal

The lawyer now representing the woman who claims Justin Bieber fathered her baby during a brief backstage liaison in LA last year has said it is the pop star’s people who are delaying things, so that the paternity of the child is still to be confirmed.

As much previously reported, Mariah Yeater claims she had sex with Bieber at the Staples Center in LA last year, and that she became pregnant shortly afterwards. The singer denies any such liaison took place, adding that he has never met Yeater. She then filed a paternity lawsuit that aimed to force the teen popster to take a paternity test, but before that could reach court Bieber’s people said the star would voluntarily provide a DNA sample to prove Yeater was lying. It was also suggested that Bieber’s lawyers would then launch a defamation lawsuit.

Yeater then switched legal teams, her paternity lawsuit was dropped, and Bieber took the DNA test. And then things went quiet, amid rumours Yeater’s lawyers were disputing the credibility of any paternity test conducted without one of their representatives present. Various reports then circulated about Yeater’s private life, and an ex-boyfriend not only claimed he was the father of her child, but told reporters how a broke Yeater had made a plan to get thousands of dollars out of a tabloid magazine by making up the Bieber shag story.

There was a rumour Yeater would hand over her son for a DNA test earlier this month, but that didn’t come to pass. And now the Chicago Sun-Times has caught up with both Yeater and her lawyer Jeffery Leving, who are standing by their claims that the Bieber DNA test is not sufficient, and that he must submit another sample in the presence of one of their representatives.

Talks with the Bieber camp are ongoing they add, but little progress is being made and Yeater’s paternity lawsuit may as yet be reinstated.

Leving: “Although the legal proceedings have been dismissed, we have the ability and the legal right to re-file at any time. Bieber’s counsel has not provided me documentation supporting that the DNA test occurred. Bieber’s counsel hasn’t told me where Bieber’s alleged DNA is secured nor has provided information substantiating the chain of custody and protocol utilised in the claimed DNA collection and testing. If negotiations with Bieber’s counsel does not result in DNA testing of everyone under mutually agreeable and controlled conditions, then the legal proceedings will likely need to be re-filed”.

Meanwhile Yeater restated her claims that she believes Bieber to be the father of her son, adding “I had sex with him on 25 Oct 2010 in a bathroom at the Staples Center in LA”. Asked about the recent claims made by her incarcerated ex-boyfriend Robert Powell, she continued: “I know him. He is not the father and he’s locked up and out of the picture”.

So, this story is not dead quite yet. Leving also revealed to the Chicago newspaper that he is working on this case pro bono, adding that his daughter is a big Bieber fan “which is making my case not popular at home”.

X-Factor acts most prolific British performers, says PRS

Artist News Live Business

Former ‘X-Factor’ losers JLS and Olly Murs are the hardest working acts in British live music according to PRS For Music, though that basically means they each played gigs at 29 venues this year, which doesn’t sound like particularly hard work to me. But PRS has given both acts ‘hard work’ awards, and sent over quotes from both of them, and it would just seem rude not to run them.

Olly Murs: “It’s a real honour to be receiving this award from PRS For Music. The last two years have been incredible for me – I’ve achieved so much and it’s great to be recognised for all the work I’ve put in. Thanks to everyone who’s come to see me play live – there’s lots more to come!”

JLS: “This is a great achievement and really goes to show how hard we have been working this year. It’s an honour to be awarded this by PRS For Music and we are looking forward to what 2012 will bring!”

Only the collective ‘X-Factor’ show played at more “major venues” than Murs and JLS this year, while Skinny Lister played the most festival sets and The Merseybeats the most concert hall shows.

Here are the ten most active live acts in each of those categories this year, according to the PRS stats:

Most performances in major venues: X Factor, JLS, Olly Murs, Take That, Russell Watson, Alexandra Burke, Westlife, The Wanted, Beady Eye, Michael Ball.

Most performances at festivals: Skinny Lister, Ed Sheeran, Example, Lucy Ward, Pilgrims Way, Dry The River, Yasmin, Rachel Sermanni, Bellowhead, Katy B.

Most performances at concert venues: The Merseybeats, The Searchers, Chas ‘n’ Dave, Joe Brown, Dennis Locorriere, Tony Christie, Paul Carrack, Joe Longthorne, Mike Harding, The Blues Band.

Björk releases standalone app for Christmas

Releases

Björk has released a standalone version of the app for her track ‘Solstice’, which is also available within her larger ‘Biophilia’ app, released alongside the album of the same name and available for Apple devices.

‘Solstice’ was inspired by a Christmas poem by Icelandic author Sjón, which was written as a celebration of light and seasons, and compares the solar system to a Christmas tree. Like you do. The app takes this as its inspiration too, with a sun at its centre and rays of light manipulated by the user acting as harp strings plucked by circling planets. Which all sounds very nice, though the noise I just made with it wasn’t so much.

Presuming you make a sound that’s a bit nicer with the app, and then want to share it with people, music created in the standalone version of the app can be sent as a Christmas e-card. Download it here.

Public Image Ltd to reissue albums

Releases

Public Image Ltd are set to reissue most of their back catalogue next year, and have also announced plans to release a brand new LP.

The reissued set, which will include two live albums, though not their 1979 studio set ‘Metal Box’, is expected to be released via EMI next year.

Speaking to BBC 6music about the band’s ninth album, which they’ve been working on since reforming in 2009, PiL leader John Lydon said: “It is probably going to be called ‘This Is PiL’, basically because it is, it is all the work, effort and energy we put into this record”.

Union Square compilation series reaches 100th release

Releases

Catalogue marketing company Union Square will release the 100th title in its eclectic Simply compilation series next February, a four CD release called ‘Simply Peace’ featuring “freedom songs, inspirational themes, meditation music and chillout”.

To celebrate the landmark in the series, which has also included compilations of jazz, chillout, country, acoustic and swing music, as well as country themed collections, Union Square has confirmed it will make a donation from every sale of ‘Simply Peace’ to the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity.

Die Antwoord announce new LP

Releases

Following a falling out with Universal Music earlier this year (and a dispute of whether or not they were still signed to the label), South African rap collective Die Antwoord have confirmed plans to self-release second LP ‘TEN$ION’ on 6 Feb via their own label ZEF Records. The cover art features the crew’s Yolandi Visser clutching a blood-soaked heart, having just had a little taste of it. See that enlarged here, if you’d like, on the Die Antwoord website.

The album’s hilarious tracklisting is as follows:

Never Le Nkemise 1
I Fink U Freeky
Pielie
Hey Sexy
Fatty Boom Boom
Zefside Zol
So What?
Uncle Jimmy
Baby’s on Fire
U Make A Ninja Wanna Fuck
Fok Julle Naaiers
DJ Hi-Tek Rulez
Never Le Nkemise 2

And if you missed it last time, why not watch the official video for ‘Fok Julle Naaiers’, which certainly put me in a Christmassy mood.

Korn to tour

Gigs & Festivals

Korn have revealed they’ll promote their dubstep-inspired latest album, ‘The Path Of Totality’, with a string of live dates in March 2012.

The band’s British tour plans look thus:

25 Mar: London, Brixton Academy
26 Mar: Birmingham, Academy
28 Mar: Manchester, Academy
29 Mar: Glasgow, Academy
3 Apr: Bristol, Academy

Live Nation moves into South Korea

Business News Live Business

Live Nation has launched a new division in South Korea to be led by Steven Kim and Yongbae Cho, both veterans of the country’s live industry.

Confirming the new office, to be based in Seoul, Live Nation boss Michael Rapino told reporters: “We see great opportunity for concerts around the world and our move into South Korea represents another step in the growth of this business. Our strategy is to continue our international expansion into under penetrated regions and identify new markets to deliver our unique live experience product”.

Sony marketer joins Strutt

Business News Industry People Marketing & PR

Former Columbia Records marketer Jo Power has announced she is joining Strutt Music Marketing Management, the previously reported music marketing agency launched by another former Sony marketer, Claire Horseman, back in July.

Power, who worked with the likes of The Ting Tings, Manic Street Preachers, Kasabian, Editors, Calvin Harris and Mark Ronson while with Sony’s Columbia division, will become a director of Strutt.

Power told CMU: “Claire and I have talked about running our own consultancy for a long time and are both so excited it’s now a reality. We’d like to think together we represent a pretty unbeatable combination of marketing minds. Our knowledge, success, creativity and experience in music marketing is immense”.

Horseman added: “Jo joining is the perfect next step in Strutt’s evolution. We already have a very strong working relationship with different but very complementary strengths. Strutt feels perfectly placed to execute marketing campaigns across all areas of an artist’s business, a necessity in today’s challenging climate, and to advise on music campaigns across the board”.

Apex insurer joins Robertson Taylor

Business News Industry People

Entertainment industry insurer Robertson Taylor has announced it is being joined by Martin Goebbels from rival insurance firm Apex Insurance. He will bring with him both his existing clients and his team at Apex, Pamela Choat and Holly Leary.

Robertson Taylor CEO John Silcock told CMU: “We are delighted to welcome Martin to our team. He is very experienced with a proven track record in music and touring insurance and will be a great asset to our business, as will Pamela and Holly. These appointments underline our strategy to grow our core business, both in the UK and internationally, and we anticipate making further announcements shortly”.

As previously reported, Robertson Taylor was bought by Entertainment Insurance Partners last month.

Baidu taken off US IP offenders list

Digital

Chinese web search firm Baidu has been taken off the US government’s list of ‘notorious markets’, which are company’s (or, more conventionally, market places) that are seen to aid – directly or indirectly – large scale IP infringement.

The move follows the Chinese web firm’s deals this year with the major music companies and a local music publishing collecting society for a licensed music service. Prior to that the big Western music firms were highly critical of Baidu’s specific MP3 search service, which linked to vast libraries of unlicensed music, some of it seemingly only available via the Baidu platform.

Baidu is one of a number of companies to be taken off the US government’s list of IP offenders, though many still remain, including the likes of The Pirate Bay.

Commenting on those companies still on the list, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk told reporters: “The notorious markets highlighted in this review negatively impact legitimate businesses and industries of all sizes that rely on intellectual property to protect their goods and services. We hope that this review will continue to yield the kind of concrete action from highlighted markets that led to the removal of several markets from the list this year”.

BPI extends parental advisory scheme to digital

Digital

Record label trade body the BPI yesterday formally announced the expansion of its parental advisory scheme to online music services, a move it originally announced back in June ahead of the release of a government report that stressed about the ever increasing amount of sexualised imagery children see in music videos, TV programmes and advertising.

The BPI reckons its parental advisory stickers, used on CDs and DVDs, are widely recognised, so it makes sense to extend the same scheme to digital services, including a la carte download stores and streaming and music video platforms, so that parents are more readily informed about the suitability of different content.

Digital services and etailers set to participate in the new programme include VEVO, iTunes, TuneTribe, eMusic, Napster, ASDA, Orange, 7Digital, Tesco, HMV, Amazon, Play, Digital Stores, Fairshare Music, MTV.co.uk, The Hut, Trackitdown and Badlands, with the aim to add more in due course. A new parental advisory website better explaining the scheme has also been launched.

Confirming the expansion of all things parental advisory into the digital domain, BPI top man Geoff Taylor told CMU: “We know that the parental advisory logo on CDs and DVDs has been a useful tool for parents, offering them a simple means of identifying music content that may not be suitable for their children. We believe that parents need the same guidance when their children are downloading or streaming songs or videos online, so we have extended the logo to digital music services. Meanwhile our new website, www.parental-advisory.co.uk gives parents the details they need”.

For reasons not entirely clear (well, she is a mother, and she will have a new record that needs flogging next year), Jamelia flew in from the past to give her backing to the new scheme, telling reporters: “As a parent, naturally I worry about whether my kids are viewing and listening to appropriate content when they’re online, but without some form of guidance it can be almost impossible to stay on top of what’s suitable and what’s not. I think parents would agree that having the same logo for online music services that we’re used to seeing in the high street gives parents the ability to quickly and easily judge whether a song or music video is right for their child”.

For all sorts of parental advisory fun go check out www.parental-advisory.co.uk.

OfCom issues new guidelines for explicit lyrics on radio

Media

Media regulator OfCom has released its previously promised new guidelines for UK radio stations which aim to bring broadcasters in line when it comes to inappropriate tracks being played during the daytime.

In theory rules banning inappropriate lyrics already exist, but the media regulator said last month that too many stations are routinely breaking those rules, and the new guidelines will be clearer about what is and isn’t suitable. These guidelines are also designed to deal with those aforementioned concerns that children are too frequently exposed to inappropriate content in this here Broken Britain.

Subject matter is as relevant as the quantity of swear words, says OfCom in its new guidelines, stressing that “radio broadcasters should avoid broadcasting lyrics that clearly focus on the taking of drugs, sexual acts or behaviour, or convey a clearly sexualised theme, when children are particularly likely to be listening”.

Times when children are likely to be listening are listed as 6am to 9am and 3pm to 7pm on weekdays during term time, and 6am to 7pm at weekends, though I knew a child once who stayed up to 7.10pm. I dread to think what sort of filth he’d be hearing in those dangerous ten minutes after seven.

Dutch magazine apologises for racist language in Rihanna article

Media

Dutch magazine Jackie has apologised after it published an article in its latest issue referring to Rihanna as “the ultimate niggabitch”. Titled ‘De Niggabitch’, the piece offers fashion advice on how to dress your children like Rihanna and also incorrectly identifies her as being Jamaican.

Translated into English by Parlour magazine, it reads: “She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate niggabitch and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare”.

On Monday, Jackie’s Editor-in-chief Eva Hoeke published an apology on the magazine’s Facebook page. In it she said: “This should never be allowed to happen. The author meant no harm – the headline of the article was meant as a joke, but it was a bad joke, to say the least. And it slipped through my fingers. It’s stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has now been addressed on it, and I will ensure that this kind of wording no longer appears in the magazine”.

She continued: “I hope that you guys believe that there was absolutely no racist motive in the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of street language – hearing this sort of language on the radio and TV apparently shifts your idea of what is normal – but it was also especially misguided. There was no malice intended”.

Taking to Twitter to give her opinion on the matter, Rihanna said: “I hope you can read English, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate! You ran out of legit, civilised information to print! You put two words together, with the intent of abasement, that made no sense… “NIGGA BITCH”?! Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you… FUCK YOU!”

I’ve forgotten how to write hits, says Alex Turner

And Finally

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner seems to be suffering a slight crisis of artistic confidence, having told The Sun he doubts his ability to write hit songs any more. And he’s not too certain about his ability to sing them either.

Asked about the band’s debut single, ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, he said: “I have fucking forgotten how to do that. I don’t know what that is any more, it’s a different landscape these days”. Turner then appraised his voice, which, despite it maturing markedly since the Arctics’ early career, he’s still not satisfied with. Says Alex: “I was never a singer. I have had to practice at that and writing melodies is something that didn’t come naturally. I was more comfortable writing lyrics”.

He adds: “I am still working on it but I think we are getting there with the singing thing”.

These perfectionists, what to do with them? Presumably this all came about after he’d written ‘Piledriver Waltz’. Though not necessarily a ‘hit’ in the traditional, chart-topping sense, it’s unarguably beautiful. Here it is accompanying the ‘Submarine’ trailer.

Jon Bon Jovi insists he’s not dead

And Finally

Jon Bon Jovi, who was rumoured to have died this past Monday, has published a dated picture of himself to prove that he is, in fact, still alive. Reports of the rocker’s apparent demise began when little-known WordPress site Dailynewsbloginternational.com claimed that he’d suffered a fatal heart-attack aged 49.

The story was later revealed to be a hoax, adapted by the site from the LA Times’ 2009 commentary on the death of Michael Jackson. Dailynewsblog creators seem only to have written one other article, posing the pertinent if slightly ungrammatical question: “Would you still do Megan Fox if u know that she has a HIV positive?” So, never an especially reliable news source then.

Anyway. Bon Jovi’s response to the rumours was to post a photo on his band’s Facebook page in which he stands, holding a piece of paper that reads: “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey”. No play on ‘It’s My Life’, then. How about ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’ or ‘Livin On A Prayer’? Fine.

So there you are, irrefutable evidence that Jon Bon Jovi lives. Or, at least, that his preserved corpse has been convincingly propped up next to a Christmas tree.

Universal has no special takedown privileges says YouTube

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal MegaUpload Timeline

The war of words is ongoing over the ‘Mega Song’ and its initial removal from YouTube, though the sparring this week is between Universal Music and YouTube itself, with MegaUpload watching from the sidelines for the time being.

As previously reported, the ‘Mega Song’ is a promotional video posted by MegaUpload ten days ago featuring various well known music types singing about how great the file-transfer platform is for moving large files around the internet. The appearance of the likes of Will.i.am and Kanye West in the video was a surprising, because the major record companies to which said artists are signed has accused MegaUpload of providing a platform for a new kind of illegal file-sharing.

Universal Music requested that YouTube remove the video, which the video sharing website promptly did, citing a copyright claim from the music major. But MegaUpload quickly pointed out that it owned the copyright in the ‘Mega Song’, and therefore Universal had misused the content takedown system set out in US copyright law, which isn’t allowed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. MegaUpload then sued Universal over the allegations seeking damages.

Initially there was talk of Universal acting on behalf of its artists, who said they hadn’t given MegaUpload permission to use their contributions in this way. But the Mega company responded by saying that one such cited Universal artist didn’t actually appear in the final edit of the ‘Mega Song’, while it had watertight signed agreements from all the other artists involved.

Universal then officially responded to MegaUpload’s lawsuit by claiming that it had requested the ‘Mega Song’ be removed from YouTube for reasons other than copyright infringement, adding that its agreement with the video site allowed this. The company added that, because the takedown request had been issued under its contract with YouTube, rather than the statutory provisions of the DMCA, there wasn’t a case for saying the music major had inappropriately used the US copyright system.

That led to much chatter about what exactly Universal’s licensing agreement with YouTube said, given the music firm was seemingly claiming it had the contractual power to have anything removed from the YouTube website should it so wish. Of course Universal, as the market leader record company, is an important content provider to both YouTube and its sister Google Music service, as well as being a customer via the VEVO venture, but would Google really give the label a special veto to have any content uploaded to the YouTube site removed?

Well, Google has responded with a resolute “no”. It seems that Universal’s claims regarding its rights to request content be removed from YouTube possibly rely on its lawyers’ interpretation of some pretty standard terms offered to content owners rather than any private additional agreement, and Google doesn’t agree with that interpretation.

As a result, the MegaSong video has been reinstated on YouTube, and yesterday the video site issued this statement to Digital Music News: “Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YouTube unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated [the ‘Mega Song’]”.

Whether that statement will have any impact on Universal’s efforts to have MegaUpload’s lawsuit dismissed remains to be seen. Should it look likely that a court might rule Universal did indeed violate the DMCA’s takedown rules, perhaps we’ll see the world’s biggest music company licensing YouTube rival and MegaUpload sister service MegaVideo in a bid to avoid a potentially embarrassing court case. Fun times.

Meanwhile, Digital Music News has also posted a copy of Will.i.am’s one-page contract with MegaUpload in relation to the ‘Mega Song’, following claims by the Black Eyed Pea’s lawyer that his client appeared in the video without permission. Will.i.am’s attorney also reportedly filed a takedown request in relation to the promotional vid, though MegaUpload later said it had spoken to the Pea and he’d said he didn’t know anything about the takedown request issued in his name.

Anyway, you can see the contract Will.i.am seemingly and somewhat strangely put his name to here.

State of Indiana settles with stage collapse victims

Legal

The State Of Indiana has now reached settlements with 63 of the 65 claimants who came forward for damages after the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair in August.

As previously reported, seven people died and over 40 more were injured when one of the stages at the State Fair collapsed when hit by freak winds just before a concert featuring country duo Sugarland was about to begin. Various legal disputes have come out of the tragedy, and as organisers of the Fair the State Of Indiana was among those liable, though State Law limited that liability to a total of $5 million.

Most of that damages fund has now been allocated to individuals affected by the stage collapse, with only two of 65 claimants still to agree terms. Fair officials have also distributed just short of $800,000 donated by the public after the incident.

As also previously reported, as well as the claims made against the State Of Indiana, 48 affected parties have also begun legal proceedings against Sugarland and their business associates, on the basis the band had a contractual right to cancel the show over weather concerns, and were therefore negligent not to exercise that right.

Spanish court says no infringement case against P2P software maker

Legal

An attempt by the record industry to sue the provider of file-sharing technologies in Spain has failed. All four majors joined with Promusica to sue Pablo Soto and his MP2P company, which distributes various file-sharing clients, including Blubster, Piolet and Manolito P2P.

Spanish law hasn’t proved especially useful over the years in helping the record industry fight illegal file-sharing, with judges there generally ruling that individuals sharing copyright content online does not constitute infringement if the users are not profiting from their actions.

With that precedent set, it’s harder to go after the providers of P2P software for so called contributory infringement (the kind of infringement P2P software makers have been successfully sued over in the US, and which The Pirate Bay was found liable for in Sweden), because if the software’s users are not infringing to start with, there’s nothing for the software makers to contribute too.

As previously reported, the Spanish music industry hoped that if they could prove MP2P was profiting from activities that were detrimental to their business that might be a strong enough case in itself (similar arguments have had some success in the Italian courts) but it wasn’t to be. According to El Mundo, a Spanish court has now ruled that Soto and his companies provide a neutral technical function, and that there is no liability for any sort of infringement.

Needless to say, Soto welcomed the ruling, telling reporters: “We are extremely grateful to the court for finding not only in our favour, but in favour of justice, innovation and in equal access to digital distribution”.

The music industry, meanwhile, will not be impressed. Of course in parallel to this case, music companies in Spain and certain governments from elsewhere, particularly the US, have been calling on Spanish regulators to overhaul the country’s copyright laws so rights owners can better fight online piracy. The so called Sinde Law, which will provide a system through which rights owners can have copyright infringing websites blocked, has been approved by the country’s parliament, though implementation of that system has been delayed by an election and now change of government.

Kan-Z lawyers respond to Johnson lawsuit

Legal

Lawyers for Kanye West and Jay-Z have responded to that previously reported lawsuit filed by soul man Syl Johnson over a track on their collaborative album ‘Watch The Throne’.

As previously reported, Johnson says the duo’s track ‘The Joy’ samples his song ‘Different Strokes’ without permission. Johnson’s lawsuit says West’s people approached his representatives about using the sample on his ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ album but no agreement was reached. The sample then showed up on ‘Watch The Throne’ without a request even being made.

As expected, the West-Z legal team are fighting the legal claim primarily on technicalities relating to US copyright law. ‘Different Strokes’ dates from 1967, five years short of the key year of 1972, when federal copyright protection kicks in. Although Johnson’s lawsuit specifically claims copyright protection under Illinois State Law, the West-Z rebuttal disputes that any such protection exists.

It’s a complicated area of American copyright law, and Johnson lost a previous legal action over an unapproved sample against Cypress Hill because of the same technicalities. It remains to be seen how things turn out this time.

Michael Jackson estate executors renegotiate fees

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal

Michael Jackson

The executors for the Michael Jackson estate have successfully negotiated what amounts to a pay rise for their work managing what has become a very lucrative entertainment business. Both John Branca and John McClain claimed that their work managing the late king of pop’s legacy was much more demanding than either had expected, hence their request for higher recompense.

The pay rise has been achieved by allowing companies associated with Branca and McClain to be paid directly for work they undertake for the estate, rather than their fees coming out of the two men’s respective shares of the loot.

Under a previous agreement, the two men get 10% of revenues generated by the estate, not including dividends from the estate’s stake in the Sony/ATV music publishing business and profits from sales of Jackson’s recordings catalogue and the ‘This Is It’ movie. But fees charged by Branca’s law firm and McClain’s studio are included in that 10%.

Under the new agreement, approved by the Jackson family and this week by a judge, a separate 3% share of revenues will go to the two men’s respective companies, thus increasing the monies they personally get for their work.

Elsewhere in Jackson-related money news, the previously reported auction of some 500 items from the LA home where the singer died generated sales close to $1 million last weekend. As previously reported, the bed the pop star actually died in was removed from the sale at the request of the Jackson family.

Blur to perform at 2012 BRITs

Awards

Alex James has been talking some more about the possibility of more Blur reunion shows, following confirmation the band will regroup next year to collect their Outstanding Contribution To Music gong at the BRIT Awards.

James told The Sun’s Gordon Smart on his Xfm show that the band have met up to discuss the accolade, saying: “We’re all very pleased. I saw the guys this week, we had a Christmas cuppa”. He continued: “We all remembered how much we loved being a band. I had always said in interviews I didn’t miss being in a band, but that reminded me that I did”.

Asked if Blur would schedule any more performances beyond the BRITs appearance, he said: “I wish I could tell you more. I’m sure it will happen one day but I don’t know when. It’s quite nice to keep it special”.

Michael Eavis to receive lifetime achievement award

Awards Business News Live Business

Glastonbury supremo Michael Eavis will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at next year’s European Festival Awards. The ceremony will be held at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival on 11 Jan. Commenting on the announcement, Eavis said: “After 41 years, to win something of this magnitude is something to be incredibly proud of. To still be doing this after that amount of time is no mean feat”.

Festival Awards Ltd MD James Drury added: “Since founding one of the most famous and long lasting festivals in the world, Michael has dedicated his life to Glastonbury and the millions of festival goers which have attended the event over its 41 year history. Glastonbury is the grandfather of the incredible festival market which Europe enjoys, and Michael is cited as an inspiration by almost every festival organiser I speak to across the world. This is why he is so deserving of this honour”.

Talking of all things Festival Awards, read our interview with Drury, conducted ahead of this year’s UK Festival Awards last month, here.

Russell Simmons named PETA’s person of the year

Awards Business News

Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons has been named PETA’s Person Of The Year for his work in animal welfare and promoting the vegan lifestyle throughout his personal and professional life. The hip hop mogul also recently appeared on a line of US postage stamps featuring famous vegetarians.

Accepting the award, Simmons said: “The horrible abuse of animals is the worst karmic disaster in the history of human kind. The work that PETA does to combat this catastrophe is amazing. I’m truly humbled to be chosen as this year’s Person Of The Year, but the praise should go to the hundreds of thousands of volunteers that are on the ground doing the work. I accept this honour on their behalf”.

Little Mix top chart with second worst performing X winner single

Artist News

‘X-Factor’ winners Little Mix may have had the best selling single last week by quite some margin, and with 210,000 units sold their cover of ‘Cannonball’ was the fastest selling single of the year, but it’s still the worst performing ‘X-Factor’ winner’s single release since Steve Brookstein’s cover of ‘Against All Odds’ back in 2004.

Last year’s ‘X-Factor’ winner Matt Cardle sold 439,007 copies of his winning single ‘When We Collide’ in the week after his victory on the ITV show, while in 2005 Shayne Ward shifted 742,180 copies of ‘That’s My Goal’. All previous ‘X-Factor’ winners have outperformed Little Mix on first week sales except first ever winner Brookstein.

The slip in record sales follows the slide in viewing figures for this series of ‘X-Factor’, which has been blamed on various things, including unpopular judges, disappointing contestants and a general fatigue for the format. Though it is still one of the biggest shows on British TV, and certainly the biggest music show on UK television. And, of course, the success of that first single immediately following an ‘X’ win has never guaranteed a long pop career, and by the same token, lower than expected sales won’t necessarily mean the winners’ debut album will bomb when it’s released next year.

Fortunately for ‘X’ bosses, by basically bailing on the Christmas number one race this year by bringing out the winners’ single a week early, they aren’t having to openly compete with the charity single from the Military Wives Choir, which is likely to be Christmas number one this Sunday, and which would very possibly have beaten Little Mix to that spot even if the two singles had been released in the same week. The output of another TV programme, a documentary for the BBC, the Military Wives single has been getting huge coverage across the Beeb’s TV and radio networks.

If the Military Wives are number one on Sunday, they will be the first act to receive a new award that will subsequently be given to every artist who tops the singles chart. Dished out by the Official Charts Company, and set to be formally handed over by Radio 1 chart show host Reggie Yates, the new awards will provide a useful photo opportunity to promote the singles chart each week.

Apparently Olly Murs, Professor Green, Emeli Sande and The Wanted have all given the new award their official “backing”, though I don’t really know what that means. Presumably they were asked “if you get a number one, would you like a prize to take home and your photo in the paper?”, to which Olly, Steve, Emili and The Wanted drones all said “oh, yes please”. By which logic, presumably anybody even vaguely likely to ever have a number one single is backing the new gong also.

Cher Lloyd signs Epic deal with LA Reid

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

British ‘X-Factor’ pop person Cher Lloyd has signed a US album deal with Sony’s Epic Records, having impressed the label’s CEO and resident ‘X-Factor USA’ judge LA Reid, by seeming “fresh” and outspoken.

The ‘Swagger Jagger’ singer, whose debut album ‘Sticks And Stones’ had its UK release last month via Simon Cowell’s Sony imprint Syco, told BBC Breakfast about her American breakthrough-to-be: “I’m not going to run before I can walk. It’s quite a big thing to try and achieve, but you never know what’s going to happen”.

Recalling her meeting with Reid, she said: “He finds me quite funny. He said that I am very outgoing, and I say what I want, and sometimes it comes out before I get to think about what’s going to come out of my mouth, and he likes that. He just said that I’m really fresh and he’s very excited”.

Meanwhile, tune into the below video to see Cher and guest MCs Mic Righteous, Dot Rotten and Ghetts performing her penultimate ‘Sticks And Stones’ number ‘Dub On The Track’. Apparently she’s the kind of girl to do just that.

Azealia Banks blogs new track

Releases

New York rapper Azealia Banks, her of hype-heaped NME Cool List fame, has posted a new track titled ‘Liquorice’ on her Tumblr blog.

The song finds the eclectic MC, who’s known primarily for her viral hit ‘212’ and cover of Interpol’s ‘Slow Hands’, sampling Brit electro instrumentalist Lone’s ‘Pineapple Crush’. Banks, who remains unsigned having parted ways with her one-time label XL Recordings, is working with producer Paul Epworth on new material.

Pending a first listen to Azealia’s Epworth sessions, why not stream ‘Liqourice’ below. She also encloses a lyrics sheet and glossary explaining the meanings behind certain slang terms, so there’s no excuse not to join in.

Giana Factory to headline first 2012 Ja Ja Ja showcase

Gigs & Festivals

Organisers of Nordic showcase night Ja Ja Ja are set to usher in 2012 with the live sounds of alt-blues songstress Mirel Wagner, electronic Oslo trio Philco Fiction, and CMU approved dark-pop troupe Giana Factory. All three acts will appear at London venue The Lexington on 26 Jan. Tickets available here.

Horrors duo announce one-off collaboration

Gigs & Festivals

The Horrors’ Rhys ‘Spider’ Webb and ‘Coffin’ Joe Spurgeon have announced plans to form a band with SCUM guitarist (also Rhys’ brother) Huw Webb for what Rhys terms a “one-off thing”.

The trio, whose working moniker is Bang Bang Bang, will make their first and only appearance at North London’s Buffalo Bar on 31 Dec.

Says Rhys: “Joe and I are gonna play with a new outfit, which we’ve as yet not written the music for. It’ll be me on bass and singing, my brother on guitar and Joe on drums”.

King Charles announces tour

Gigs & Festivals

Flamboyant folk bloke King Charles has heralded the tbc release of ‘LoveBlood’, the follow-up to his debut single ‘Bam Bam’, with news of a 2012 tour.

His last UK run sold out completely, but tickets are still available for the new one. Kicking off on 7 Feb with a show for HMV’s Next Big Thing festival, dates are as follows:

7 Feb: The Garage, London
25Feb: Tunbridge Wells, The Forum
26 Feb: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
27 Feb: Oxford, O2 Academy 2
29 Feb: Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
1 Mar: Stoke-on-Trent, Sugar Mill
2 Mar: Barrow, Sonic Zoo
3 Mar: Durham, Live Loung
4 Mar: Glasgow, King Tut’s
5 Mar: York, Fibbers

And since ‘LoveBlood’ doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, here are Charles and his coiffure enacting the song live at a recent show in Southampton.

Wednesday 21 December 2011, 12:01 | By CMU Editorial

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