Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:46 | By CMU Editorial

Festival line-up update – 20 Dec 2011

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

BEARDED THEORY, Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, 18-20 May: Lead by headliners The Levellers, The Damned and Dreadzone, first confirmations for this family-friendly fancy dress fest also include The Selecter, Show Of Hands and ‘Tequila’ hitmakers Terrorvision. www.beardedtheory.co.uk

PINKPOP, Landgraaf, The Netherlands, 26-28 May: Making their first non-US outing since 2007, venerable Seattle outfit Soundgarden are to join closing headliners Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band on the Pinkpop bill as it stands so far. www.pinkpop.nl

ROCK AM RING, Nurburgring, Germany, 1-3 Jun: Linkin Park and Soundgarden lead a list of acts just announced for Germany’s raucous Rock AM Ring, which shares the same line-up as its Nurnberg-based twin, Rock Im Park (www.rock-im-park.com). Also booked for both festivals: MIA, Kasabian, Gossip, Marilyn Manson, Tenacious D, Skrillex, Motorhead and Enter Shikari. www.rock-am-ring.com/en/

Justin Bieber sells scent as solution to “lame holiday swag”

Brands & Merch

Justin Bieber has appeared in a new promotional video for his perfume brand Someday. In it, he lounges in a leather chair like a junior Bond villain, and rails a bit about made-up seasonal affliction ‘LHS’, or ‘Lame Holiday Swag’. Or as we might say, ‘Rubbish Christmas Presents’.

Addressing his message – as in his ‘Dear Dad’ missive – to fathers of his teengirl fans, Bieber claims: “Lame Holiday Swag can seriously affect your daughter this year. Symptoms can include a lame face, dry mouth, and hysteria caused from uncool swag. But there is hope, it’s called Someday”.

Since Justin seems to be exhibiting at least two of those symptoms in the LHS promo, I recommend he cure himself by buying up every bottle of Someday, thus also putting a stop to this dad-bothering once and for all. Perhaps he could fill his swimming pool with the perfume, and dive right in. He can swim, right?

Anyway, here’s the clip in question:

Irish three-strikes halted, but web-blocking now on the agenda

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal

Mixed fortunes for the Irish record industry today. The three-strike style anti-file-sharing system being operated by Eircom has been halted on privacy grounds, but word has it the Irish government will introduce some new anti-piracy measures in the new year, including good old fashioned web-blocking.

As much previously reported, Eircom, Ireland’s biggest internet service provider, voluntarily agreed to instigate a so called ‘graduated response’ system for combating file-sharing as part of an out of court agreement between the net provider and the big record companies in Ireland. It means the ISP will send out warning letters to suspected file-sharers, with the threat of disabling their net connections if they continue to access unlicensed sources of content. The Irish labels pledged to try and persuade or pressure Eircom’s competitors into introducing a similar system, but so far without success.

And now the Eircom scheme might close too after Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner ordered the whole thing be halted on the grounds it breaches people’s online privacy rights. The DPC raised privacy concerns about three-strikes once before, though those were rejected in a court case between the record industry and another ISP called UPC.

However, the DPC then launched a full investigation into Eircom’s three-strikes earlier this year after it was revealed that 300 warning letters had been sent by mistake to innocent web users. And it seems that as a result of that investigation the DPC has now called for a halt to three-strikes in Ireland.

But that news comes at the same time as reports that the Irish government will launch new legislative proposals in the new year to help rights owners combat online piracy, in particular introducing a system to enable content companies to force ISPs to block websites that exist primarily to infringe – yes, that old thing.

There have been various rumours during 2011 that the Irish government was about to publish proposals for anti-piracy measures, none of which came to much, though these latest reports seem more credible.

So, I suppose, you win some you lose some.

MySpace launches new music player

Digital

MySpace has debuted its first major new product since the flagging social media site was bought by Specific Media earlier this year, a new music player with enhanced recommendations and search flim flam. As previously reported, the site’s newish owner is expected to totally reinvent MySpace as an entirely music-based service next year.

Perhaps more interestingly, MySpace has also announced it is making its streaming music offer available via Facebook, with integration with its one time rival similar to that instigated by Spotify, MOG and Rdio earlier this year. Specific Media’s Chris Vanderhook told Billboard: “This is a natural partnership. Because of the users they have and the integrations with Spotify, Mog and Rdio, it makes sense to open up our catalogue to their users”.

MySpace has operated an on-demand streaming service for some time, of course, initially operating under the separate MySpace Music brand, though after a lacklustre launch you got the impression the web firm – under its previous owners News Corp – chose to hide the service to an extent because of the costs of running a free to access on-demand streaming platform.

But Vanderhook seems convinced the MySpace streaming music service is the way to turn round the fortunes of the flagging website, frequently noting that MySpace has direct (if generally outdated) links to hundreds of thousands of self-releasing artists as well as deals with the big content owners.

Of course, given MySpace Music doesn’t currently charge a subscription fee, and adverts are on screen rather than between songs, that does possibly give the company competitive advantage, especially among the family of content providers hooked into Facebook. And especially if this time the player actually works. Though whether Specific could afford to maintain that service if it was to become really popular remains to be seen, there is still some scepticism that a streaming platform totally funded by advertising could ever truly add up once licensing fees are paid.

Welsh artists call off strike, for now

Business News Media

Welsh language musicians have called off their three day strike one day in, saying that a change to the agenda of a meeting to discuss their dispute with the BBC and PRS in January has placated them for the time being.

As previously reported, Welsh language artists and labels have hit out at recent changes to the way royalties are paid for songs played on Welsh language radio station BBC Cymru, which they say have radically reduced the fees labels and artists get from airplay on the station, impacting on the viability of artists recording in the language.

In protest, the Welsh Music Publishers And Composers Alliance requested BBC Cymru refrain from playing its members’ music from yesterday to tomorrow. The request had no legal basis because the Beeb is covered by a blanket licence from PRS, but station bosses said they’d try to comply for one of the three strike days.

As it was, the Alliance announced it was postponing its strike yesterday. Representatives will now meet with both the Beeb and PRS For Music on 12 Jan, with the “economic value” of payments made to Welsh language artists by the BBC via PRS on the agenda for discussion.

Arguably the Alliance’s dispute is more with its collecting society, the PRS, than it is with the Beeb, though the agreement it is unhappy with is specifically between the collecting society and the broadcaster. It now remains to be seen if the matter can be resolved in the new year. Pob lwc.

Tupac’s former manager comments on sex tape

And Finally

Tupac Shakur’s former manager Leila Steinberg has commented on the late rapper’s sex tape, which, as previously reported, was sold to a private collector last week.

Steinberg told XXL: “He taped a lot. He taped intimate moments that maybe were for himself that he never thought would be public. I’m sure that he documented and recorded way more than anyone will ever know. So that’s why we’ll continue to see things [like this] pop up. I don’t think that ‘Pac [had] an understanding that anything you tape can one day become public”.

She added that although the Shakur estate had previously threatened legal action when it looked like the tape might be sold to a pornographer, she believed that the rapper’s family had been involved in the final sale. “I’m sure that there would not be anything exploited that wasn’t agreed upon by the estate”, she said. “They’re pretty powerful and in control of what gets released and approved, so I would think that they were involved”.

But she was keen to stress that this brief private moment caught on tape was not what the rapper was all about. She concluded: “His number one priority over sex tapes, over personal gratification, more than anything else, was to bring light and attention to really transitioning the state of economics in this country. And that he’d be a vessel and a vehicle to change things and to see balance on the planet”.

CMU Artists Of The Year 2011: PJ Harvey

Artists Of The Year

It was apparent from the first listen of PJ Harvey’s eighth album, ‘Let England Shake’, that it was going to be one of the year’s best, and one that would dominate December’s end of year lists. Released in February, it has since swept up numerous accolades, including Harvey’s second Mercury Prize win, recognised for its brilliant songwriting and the sheer amount of work that went into making it.

Harvey, as you’ll know doubt have read countless times already, worked on the album for over two years, but much of that time was spent researching the wars past and present which make up the subject matter of its lyrics. And that those words were as relevant when ‘Let England Shake’ was finally released as when she was first moved to write them by news images of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, only shows what a necessary album it was, linking the horrors of wars together in a timeline as a reminder of what never changes.

But ‘Let England Shake’ is not a political album, or even a protest album, as such. Judgement is always left to the listener. Harvey takes on a neutral role, allowing the voices of the characters that embody her songs to tell their stories. They’re stories that often deal in graphic imagery, but also focus heavily on the emotional effect of war. ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ opens with the line “I’ve seen and done things I want to forget” and speaks of seeing “soldiers fall like lumps of meat” and “arms and legs … in the trees”, but amongst this drops in that this person is “longing to see a woman’s face”.

The amount of work and attention to lyrical detail that went into this album is undoubtedly part of what has drawn so much praise to it, but what is also striking is that almost 20 years after the release of her debut album ‘Dry’, Harvey is as creative and innovative as she has ever been. ‘Let England Shake’ doesn’t sound like anything she has ever done before. It’s as if she started again from scratch. In fact, she almost did, choosing to write much of the album on an instrument she hadn’t used before (the autoharp), changing her singing voice, and recording in a more fluid and less regimented style than on previous records.

Just prior to setting up in a Dorset church for five weeks to record the album in April 2010, Harvey appeared on BBC One’s ‘The Andrew Marr Show’ to perform the album’s title track. Still in demo form, it was a full minute shorter than the final version, and was performed on the autoharp with only a loop culled from a version of ‘Istanbul (Not Constantinople)’ for backing. Although removed in the finished recording, the stunted swing of that strange loop can still be heard in its rhythm.

That demo may have had slightly more conventional sounds beaten into it during recording, but there are plenty of other elements that still divide opinion, even amongst the album’s most fervent proponents. Most notable is the cavalry horn that tears through what is one of the album’s otherwise most perfect songs, ‘The Glorious Land’. Completely detached from the music, many of those who were given preview copies assumed it was some sort of anti-piracy tool that would be removed from the retail version.

Some questioned why Harvey would wilfully vandalise such a brilliant song. But in the context of the album, it seems only fitting that the sound of war should storm across it without regard for what else might be happening at the time. And despite this distraction, it’s still impossible not to hear one of the album’s bleakest lyrics: “What is the glorious fruit of our land?/Its fruit is deformed children/What is the glorious fruit of our land?/Its fruit is orphaned children”.

Which pulls us back to the central themes of the album, fittingly after I tried to get away from them. Harvey has said that she didn’t want this to be a preachy album, and it’s not, but it’s impossible to listen and not be drawn into the words she sings so vividly. It may not be an overtly political record, but it’s an album influenced by something deeply political and even if you attempt to be a passive listener, something – perhaps a chorus, or just one line – will grab you and force you to think. You don’t hear albums that are completely impossible to ignore very often, even after a year of regular listening, because they are near impossible to write.

This feeling was reflected in live performances following the album’s release. On one side of the stage, the band stood together with their equipment pushed up around them in a semi-circle, looking like three friends just enjoying playing together. On the other side of the stage stood Harvey, dressed in a long black (or sometimes white) dress and headdress, alone, holding that autoharp with nothing but a black backdrop behind her, almost swallowing her. It was almost as if she didn’t want to be associated with what could be seen as the fun part of performance while she delivered those lyrics. Sure, the band could get on with enjoying themselves over there, but she was going to stand over here, pretty much motionless, and get on with it.

When she wasn’t performing, a collection of short films created by war photographer Seamus Murphy toured various UK festivals this summer. Further exploring the themes of the album, England and Englishness, the films were recently released on DVD, but can also be viewed on YouTube here. You can watch the video for ‘The Glorious Land’ below.

Find more of CMU’s ten Artists Of The Year here.

Five Day Forecast – w/c 19 Dec 2011

CMU Planner

It’s Christmas this week. This actual week. But there is still work to be done, like putting together the final Five Day Forecast column of 2011. As precisely nothing is happening this week apart from Christmas parties, I thought I’d use it to tell you about some upcoming CMU-related stuff. There’s also one exciting new project I’m not allowed to tell you about just yet, so stay tuned for that in the new year.

01: CMU Review Of The Year. This Friday there will be no CMU Daily, but we’re not shirking our responsibilities and putting our feet up. In place of the Daily, you’ll receive our Review Of The Year, a look back at the biggest artist, music business, media and internet stories of 2011. As well as that, we’ll have a playlist featuring all ten of our Artists Of The Year.

02: The Great Escape 2012. CMU will be programming the Great Escape convention in Brighton again this May. In fact, we’ve already started, and have got some exciting announcements about speakers coming up in the new year. Look out for that, they are exciting. Of course, you could just take my word for it and book your tickets right now. That can be done at www.escapegreat.com.

03: CMU Podcast. The last CMU podcast of the year went out last week, but in January it will be back and will turn one year old too. It’s been a lot of fun doing the podcast over the last twelve months, and hopefully it’s developed into something both informative and fun. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can listen back through the archive here and subscribe to automatically receive it every week via iTunes here.

04: CMU Training. Since launching CMU Training in 2010 our courses have gone from strength to strength and become very popular across the music industry and beyond. As a result, we’ll be stepping up the frequency of our three courses in 2012, and our sister training company UnLimited Insights will be launching a line of courses for PR people too. Look out for an email on all that later this week.

05: Other UnLimited websites. In the new year, CMU will have two more sister websites for you to enjoy. First up, PR news and tips bulletin esPResso, published by UnLimited for PR recruitment experts Unicorn Jobs, is getting a fully fledged website all of its own. It’s been in beta for a couple of months now, and goes properly live over the Christmas break, providing news, tips, links and views on PR, media, communications and marketing. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for This Week In London, UnLimited’s new culture new website for the capital, with news, tips and talk on all things art, comedy theatre and music. Look out for links to both in the Daily in the new year.

And don’t forget, we’ll be running through the last three of our Artists Of The Year on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Who’s left? Take a look at who we’ve announced so far and see if you can guess.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

HMV publishes gloomy figures, set for first ever year end loss

Business News HMV Timeline Live Business Retail Top Stories

More gloomy numbers are coming out of HMV today, which seems set to report its first ever annual loss, or at least that’s what most analysts are now predicting based on the entertainment retailer’s half-year figures.

Sales are down 17.6% so far this year, and 13.2% year on year in the last seven weeks, the most important part of the year for any retailer. And, while a statement insisted that the company still enjoys the support of its bankers and has adequate resources to continue trading for the foreseeable future, it admitted that “the economic environment and trading circumstances create material uncertainties which may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern [long term]”.

Gloomy reading indeed. Having sold off both its Waterstones chain and Canadian division to raise funds earlier this year, speculation is now rising that HMV boss Simon Fox may be forced to sell off some of the assets he bought, when first in the CEO’s chair, as part of his original plan to rescue the retail firm by diversifying its operations. As previously reported, it has already been speculated that might include selling HMV’s 50% stake in 7Digital, while today’s report admitted a strategic review of the HMV Live division – aka the MAMA Group – is under way, which might lead to a sale.

It’s thought HMV execs will meet with key suppliers today to keep them on side despite the gloomy financials. Bosses are likely to stress the good performance of the big Christmas bestsellers, DVDs in particular, and the potential of Fox’s grand plan to sell more gadgets through the HMV shops (which is certainly good for turnover if not profit).

Of course, despite widespread concerns about the future of the HMV empire, its key suppliers will remain supportive to an extent, the major record companies in particular recognising HMV stores are their last big presence on the high street. Some have even speculated Universal might step in to buy the company, though that does seem unlikely, especially given Universal’s ongoing EMI purchase.

But what are the City types making of all this. Well, analysts have been down on retail, and especially entertainment retail, for ages now, and see announcements like this as verification of those concerns. Philip Dorgan of investment bank Panmure Gordon told the Telegraph: “It’s not looking too good for HMV. It’s a shame because the staff are doing a good job, but they have been dealt a terrible hand. They are being picked off by the supermarkets and the internet. Anything you can buy from HMV you can buy cheaper or more conveniently elsewhere. It is high up on my list of [potential] Christmas casualties”.

Welsh language artists go on strike

Business News Media Top Stories

Welsh-language musicians are on strike. Or, rather, they have called on the BBC’s Welsh language radio station BBC Radio Cymru to stop playing their music in an ongoing dispute over royalties.

The Welsh Music Publishers And Composers Alliance accuses the Beeb of reworking the way royalties are calculated so that the money paid out to the writers and performers of tracks played on the Welsh language station are now much less. They are staging a three day strike this week, starting today, and have asked BBC Cymru to not play there music during that time period.

Commenting on the impact of recent changes in royalty levels, Dafydd Roberts, CEO of Welsh language record company Sain, told The Guardian: “It is certain to lead to a significant reduction in the production of new Welsh musical works”.

It’s tricky for the BBC, which is facing big pressures to cut costs across the board. The Corporation also argues that royalty levels are ultimately set by PRS For Music, and that the BBC in Wales has been working hard, talking to both the collecting society and local artists, to find a solution.

Radio Cymru bosses have said they will try to respect the wishes of those artists affiliated with the Alliance today, though are likely to return to normal output tomorrow and on Wednesday. Of course as it operates under a collective licence from PRS the BBC is not actually legally obliged to respect the Alliance’s protest.

Spector appeals murder conviction to Supreme Court

Legal

Phil Spector is having another go at appealing his 2009 murder conviction, this time taking his case to the US Supreme Court. The legendary producer is in jail, of course, for killing one time actress Lana Clarkson at his Californian home in 2003. He has always maintained that she killed herself.

Spector’s appeal centres on allegations about the conduct of Judge Larry Paul Fidler during the producer’s court case, in particular comments he made about an expert witness, which, Spector’s lawyers say, stopped their client from getting a fair trial.

Etta James’s leukaemia incurable

Artist News

The doctor caring for soul legend Etta James has said that the singer’s chronic leukaemia has been confirmed as incurable and that she is now very ill. Urging the singer’s fans to pray for James, she added that while said fans knew her patient had been sick for some time they didn’t realise “just how sick”.

Dr Elaine James, who isn’t related to the singer, was speaking after a conservatorship hearing in California to discuss the management of James’s $1 million estate, and expenditure on the singer’s healthcare.

As previously reported, James’s son has previously raised concerns about his mother’s medical treatment, and her husband Artis Mills’ management of her financial affairs.

PJ Harvey tops HMV’s poll of polls

Artist News

Hopefully distracting at least some attention from those disappointing sales figures, HMV has released its annual poll of polls, working out which records have come up most frequently in the end of year music round ups published by various British media. And the overall record of the year according to this polling? Well, PJ Harvey’s ‘Let England Shake’, obviously.

Look, here’s HMV Music Manager John Hirst saying words: “It’s not a great surprise that Polly should come out on top of this year’s polls, particularly after already winning the Mercury Prize. Musically it’s untouchable, combining deceptively simple songwriting with sublime musicianship and sparse production to great effect. It’s perhaps also appropriate, in some of the most politically charged times in recent memory, that a protest album should be so recognised as a great work”.

But what other albums have been getting year-end approval from multiple media sources? Well, look here, HMV have only gone and published a full Poll Of Polls top 50, which we have very kindly reproduced below.

1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
3. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
4. Radiohead – King Of Limbs
5. tUnE-yArDs – Whokill
6. Wild Beasts – Smother
7. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
8. James Blake – James Blake
9. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

10. Horrors – Skying
11. Adele – 21
12. Destroyer – Kaputt
13. Real Estate – Days
14. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
15. Gillian Welch – Harrow And The Harvest
16. Bjork – Biophilia
17. Washed Out – Within and Without
18. Girls – Father, Son And The Holy Ghost
19. Mastodon – The Hunter
20. Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch The Throne

21. Frank Ocean – Ultra Nostalgia
22. Wilco – The Whole Love
23. War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
24. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
25. Metronomy – English Riviera
26. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
27. Florence And The Machine – Ceremonials
28. The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
29. Iceage – New Brigade
30. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

31. SBTRKT – SBTRKT
32. Drake – Take Care
33. Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire
34. Yuck – Yuck
35. Antlers – Burst Apart
36. White Denim – D
37. Josh T Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen
38. St Vincent – Strange Mercy
39. King Creosote and John Hopkins – Diamond Mine
40. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

41. M83 – Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
42. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
43. Feist – Metals
44. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
45. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
46. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
47. Beirut – Rip Tide
48. Panda Bear – Tomboy
49. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
50. The Black Keys – El Camino

Researchers to present hit record formula

Business News

Can science predict whether a song will be a hit or not? No, but it’s always fun when it tries. And researchers from the University Of Bristol will this week present a paper which they say includes a formula that will predict whether a tune will be a hit or miss.

The researchers looked at the top 40 singles from the past 50 years and examined factors such as tempo, time signature, song duration, loudness and harmonic simplicity. They say they now have a formula which will predict with 60% accuracy whether a song will chart, and whether or not it will go top five.

The researchers say: “The equation works by looking at all the UK hits for a certain time and measuring their audio features. [Though] musical tastes evolve, which means our ‘hit potential equation’ needs to evolve as well. Indeed, we have found the hit potential of a song depends on the era. This may be due to the varying dominant music style, culture and environment”.

Brian Wilson to rejoin Beach Boys

Artist News

After years of speculation, and the odd denial from Mike Love, The Beach Boys have announced that they will reunite with Brian Wilson to tour and record a new album to mark their 50th anniversary.

As previously reported, US entertainment journalist Robin Leech claimed in June 2010 that Love had told him such a reunion was in the pipeline, but then Love himself issued a statement denying there were any plans for Brian Wilson to join him on a Beach Boys tour. Then the following month another founder member of the group, Al Jardine, seemingly told reporters that a reunion involving him, Love and Wilson was being considered for the 50th anniversary of the band, prompting Love to issue another denial that there were any plans on the table, though he did admit there had been “a conversation”.

In May of this year, Brian Wilson himself confirmed that he was considering a reunion, telling BBC 6music: “I’m considering it. I don’t know yet but I’m considering it. Nothing’s really holding me back. I just don’t know if I want to be around those guys you know. They’re zany guys. They’re crazy”.

Then on Friday, it was finally announced that the surviving members of that band will indeed reunite next year. So far only one show has been confirmed, with the band to be one of the headline acts at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which is due to take place from 27 Apr to 6 May.

Confirming the news, Wilson said last week: “This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again”.

Love added: “We got together at Capitol Records and re-recorded ‘Do It Again’. Brian and I wrote that song, which went to number one in Great Britain, Australia and elsewhere some 44 years ago. Brian paid me a compliment saying: ‘How can a guy sound that great so many years later?’ Later on, while working out some harmonies on a new song Brian had written, I got a chance to return the compliment”.

He continued: “Music has been the unifying and harmonising fact of life in our family since childhood. It has been a huge blessing that we have been able to share with the world. Wouldn’t it be nice to do it again? Absolutely!”

Grinderman drummer comments on split

Artist News

Grinderman drummer Jim Scalvunos has spoken to FasterLouder about the band’s recent announcement at Australia’s Meredith Music Festival that they are splitting up (as much as four men who still play together in another band can split up).

As previously reported, at the end of the band’s set frontman Nick Cave said: “That’s it for Grinderman. It’s over. See you all in another ten years when we’ll be even older and uglier”.

Asked if Cave’s announcement was a surprise, Sclavunos said: “No, not at all. I knew months in advance that it was going to be our last show as Grinderman. Was there any looking back? No, because the very next day I was going into the studio and start production on a new band’s [Teenage Mother’s] album. What happened at Meredith was more a bye-bye than an announcement. An announcement would be like a press release, but who knows what will happen in five or ten years time. My crystal ball is a bit low on batteries at the moment so I can’t predict what the future of Grinderman is – if there is a future”.

He added that there were now plans for another stint of activity with Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, which possibly means we can look forward to the follow-up to 2008’s ‘Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!’ album. Read more of Sclavunos’ comments here.

Arcade Fire release interactive video

Releases

Arcade Fire have once again worked with director Vincent Morrisset on an interactive video, this time for ‘The Suburbs’ standout, ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’. It follows Régine Chassagne of the band as she flounces free-spiritedly about a town populated by a beige-clad plebeian mob.

Featuring movable scenes that react to mouse-clicks (as used in the band’s previous collaboration with Morrisset on 2007’s ‘Neon Bible’), the ‘Sprawl’ video can also be connected to a webcam, thus letting the viewer control on-screen actions with their own movements. It’s all very innovative, as is Regine’s dancing.

You can give the interactive version a spin here. And if all else – even this teaser featuring the band’s personal invitation to dance – fails, watch the ‘traditional’ take below.

Sleigh Bells stream new song

Releases

Following a release announcement and tracklisting from their new album, ‘Reign Of Terror’, the trickle of Sleigh Bells exclusives continues with a stream of the LP’s lead single ‘Born To Lose’.

The track, a double-time tumble of mangled riffs and singer Alexis Krauss’ brattish sigh, will feature in second place on the album, which is out on Valentines Day 2012. Stream ‘Born To Lose’ here:

Gil Scott-Heron memoirs due in new year

Artist News

Memoirs attributed to late hip hop pioneer Gil Scott-Heron are to be published next year, it’s been announced.

Canongate will release ‘The Last Holiday’, which charts Heron and Stevie Wonder’s 1980 ‘Hotter Than July’ tour, in early January. Heron, a passionate civil rights activist, organised the outing to garner public support for a federal holiday in honour of Martin Luther King. It is thought that the memoirs will be made available just before King’s birthday on 15 Jan, now a recognised US holiday of course (or thereabouts, next year’s Martin Luther King Day is actually on 16 Jan).

Canongate have previewed a chapter in which Heron remembers first hearing the news of John Lennon’s assassination after a show with Wonder in Oakland, California. You can download both the audio and text versions of the extract here.

Dry The River announce tour

Gigs & Festivals

Having sold out a show at London’s XOYO as part of Q’s Sessions, alt-rock quintet Dry The River are to further promote their debut album, ‘Shallow Bed’, with a lengthy live outing. With the band’s previously reported LP due out via Sony/RCA/Victor on 5 Mar, the tour will run as follows:

17 Apr: Nottingham, Bodega
18 Apr: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
19 Apr: Manchester, Academy
21 Apr: Aberdeen, Café Drummond
22 Apr: Glasgow, King Tut’s
23 Apr: Belfast, Limelight
24 Apr: Cork, Cyprus Avenue
25 Apr: Dublin, Whelans
27 Apr: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
28 Apr: Newcastle, The Cluny
30 Apr: Bristol, Fleece
2 May: London, Electric Ballroom
12 May: Norwich, Arts Centre

Festival line-up update – 19 Dec 2011

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

RHTYHM FESTIVALS, Mansion House, Old Warden Park, Bedforshire, 24-26 Aug: Now offering day tickets as well as a full weekend ticket (for the cash strapped, presumably), next year’s triple-barrelled Rhythm bill is so far set to host Hawkwind, Ken Boothe, The Damned, David Rodigan, The Beat and The Slackers. www.rhythmfestival.com

BY:LARM, various venues, Oslo, Norway, 16-18 Feb: Sweden’s Loney Dear and I Break Horses square up to Sondre Lerche and Mirror Lakes amidst by:Larm’s penultimate line-up announcement. Also brimming with Scandinavian promise on the overall bill are Rubik, Simian Ghost, and previously announced acts Cody, IGNUG, and Rebecca & Fiona. www.bylarm.no

Anti-piracy delays: SOPA, Sinde Law and DEA

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal

Despite tough talking on both sides of the debate outside Congress, discussions in the House Of Representatives last week on America’s Stop Online Piracy Act were typically tedious. As previously reported, SOPA has got a lot of coverage in the US. The act has parallels with legislation elsewhere in the world, providing a high speed system for rights owners to force copyright infringing websites offline. Opponents claim it’s a move that will let big business censor the internet.

Last week’s meeting discussed various issues around the Act, and considered proposed amendments to it. Many of the proposals were voted down, though revisions to protect websites that inadvertently host infringing content – so, a SOPA equivalent of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbour clauses – were supported.

Despite most people expecting the House Judiciary Committee to reach some kind of conclusion regards the Act by Friday, in the end it was a agreed to reconvene this coming Wednesday to continue discussions, a delay which many of those who oppose the Act saw as a victory. It’s actually quite hard to assess the mood of the actual lawmakers on this one, though the anti side of the debate certainly delivered the best voxpops last week with their predictions of sinister online censorship should SOPA become law.

Elsewhere in the world, plans for a similar web-blocking system in Spain have been delayed as the country’s outgoing government confirmed it wouldn’t be able to put live its anti-piracy system before stepping down from power, despite the so called Sinde Law that set out a web-blocking process passing through the country’s parliament earlier this year.

Like SOPA, the Sinde Law had many vocal opponents, some of whom now hope that the failure of the current Spanish government to get the web-blocking system live before losing power might severely hinder the new anti-piracy measures. But the copyright industries are hoping that it’s just a temporary setback, and Spain’s incoming government will take over where the outgoing leaders left off.

Back in the UK, the web-blocking provisions in the Digital Economy Act were, of course, put on permanent hold pending further parliamentary consideration, the British government prioritising three-strikes (though not even that is live yet). In an interview with The Observer this weekend, Sony Music UK chief Nick Gatfield expressed frustration that web-blocking had been put on the back burner during legislative efforts to crack down on piracy over here.

He told the paper: “Broadband businesses are being built on the back of illegal file-sharing. As high-speed broadband becomes ubiquitous the problem is going to get bigger and bigger. We need site-blocking, and it’s an incredibly spurious argument for the ISPs to say that they can’t do it because they can do it and they do do it”.

Of course, while the web-blocking provisions of the DEA are on permanent hold, following the Newzbin ruling earlier this year, web-blocking injunctions can be achieved under current copyright law, albeit via a somewhat slower judicial process. The BPI has been trying to use that ruling to pressure British ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay, though from what we hear the net providers aren’t playing ball, and it remains to be seen whether the record label trade body will actually go to court to secure Newzbin-style injunctions.

Former EMI A&R boss on the Terra Firma era

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Talking of The Observer’s interview with Nick Gatfield, if you got a moment with the newish boss of Sony Music UK you’d obviously use the opportunity to ask him about his last job, as A&R Supremo at EMI when it was being run by the Terra Firma twonks who caused such turmoil. And that’s exactly what interviewer James Robinson did.

Says a smiling Gatfield: “It was an interesting experience but not one I’d want to repeat. You had a private equity group and on top of that, people with ‘fast moving consumer goods’ type backgrounds trying to manage the business as if it was a production line of inanimate products. Taking someone out of Procter & Gamble and putting them in a music company – it’s just an uncomfortable fit. Your ‘product’ is human beings who have opinions”.

Illustrating that set up with a nice example, he continues: “I remember someone at Terra Firma asking why the [release date for the] Gorillaz album had slipped. I said: ‘Well, you know, Damon [Albarn]’s not ready’, and he said: ‘But it’s on the release schedule'”.

As for Terra Firma’s ambitious/arrogant/deluded (delete as you wish) top twonk Guy Hands, Gatfield continued: “I will give Guy a huge amount of credit because I think some of his instincts were fairly sound [but] the business to him was far more complex than he thought it would be. You’re dealing with the psychology of running a creative business”.

Anyway, Robinson’s interview with Gatfield is this week’s compulsory reading.

Celador buys Midwest Radio

Media

The acquisitive Celador Radio Broadcasting, one of the UK’s smaller commercial radio operators, but one that is growing, has added another station to its portfolio, by buying Somerset and Dorset based Midwest Radio.

Midwest Radio, which began life as two separate stations, Ivel FM and Vale FM, was previously owned by a totally independent company, whose Chairman, Paul Roberts, told Radio Today: “We are very pleased with the sale of Midwest Radio to Celador. They have a great passion for radio, as does everyone based at Midwest. We wish the whole team good luck in their future broadcasting”.

It’s not clear what Celador plans to do with the station, ie whether it will remain as Midwest Radio, or rebrand as a Breeze station. Although not all Celador stations use that name, the company has been building something of a Breeze network in the South and Southwest.

Harry McFly wins Strictly

And Finally

So, you probably know this already, but we reported on McFly bassist Dougie winning ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’, so we probably ought to cover McFly drummer Harry winning ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. McFly quickly responded by announcing they were adding four new dates to their spring 2012 tour, in York, Birmingham, London and Manchester. And why the devil not?

Shakur sex tape goes to private collector

And Finally

The sex tape allegedly featuring the late Tupac Shakur has been sold to a private collector, according to a US report. As previously reported, it emerged in October that porn companies were bidding for ownership of the tape, which supposedly shows Shakur receiving oral sex in 1991. The late rapper’s estate threatened to sue anyone who tried to use the recording commercially, though it wasn’t entirely clear on what grounds.

But such a case is now unlikely to go to court, as the man currently in possession of the video has, according to TMZ, decided that all porn kings are “parasites” and he has therefore sold the tape to an individual rather than an adult entertainment company. An individual who collects hip hop sex tapes presumably.

Company designs “Amy Winehouse tribute lamp”

And Finally

Oh dear. If you’re one of those people who thinks Amy Winehouse’s Christmas-convenient posthumous LP ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures’ is bordering on distasteful, you probably won’t like what I’m about to tell you.

So. Portuguese lighting company Delightfull are at this moment marketing a signature ‘Amy’ lamp in tribute to the late songstress, modelling its shape on her infamous beehive and silhouette. Available both in standard floor and reading sizes (“perfect to enjoy with your favourite book”), the lamp-makers say this: “Inspired by what makes her unique, ‘Amy’ is a tribute to the great British singer and songwriter”. Words fail.

Editor’s Letter: A quick look back at the year behind us

CMU Weekly Editor's Letter

This is it then, the end of the year. Well, it is for my Editor’s Letter, anyway. There’s actually quite a bit more to come from CMU before we all rush off for Christmas. But this will be my last Friday afternoon missive until 2012, when I promise to return with more opinions, analysis and general moaning.

It’s been quite a year for music. Not one but two major labels were sold off, in the case of Warner Music quite unexpectedly, EMI not so much. Yet more streaming services launched, while Spotify’s dominance became more ingrained, leading it to a very close relationship with Facebook, and making it a target for increased amounts of criticism over the amount of money such services pay to artists.

Spotify wasn’t the only service to draw fire though, the Grooveshark controversey grew as Universal stepped up its campaign of litigation in a bid to to drive it offline. Though the most vocal critics were actually in the artist community, as an increasing number of self-releasing artists claimed that it was impossible to get their music taken out of the user-uploaded Grooveshark catalogue, even when they asked for tracks to be removed again and again. Patronising form emails saying that “your fans” must have re-uploaded tracks didn’t help.

As Grooveshark’s supposed takedown system is what theoretically protects it from liability for copyright infringement, frequent exposure of just how shoddy that system is doesn’t help their case. Though this is a grey area, and arguably even a shoddy takedown system allows protection under American’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act – a fact that is increasingly pissing off both artists and labels, both in the context of Grooveshark, and more generally.

Major mergers, the growth of streaming music, and digital copyright debates, they all continued this year, though the music story that 2011 will probably most be remembered for is the sad death of Amy Winehouse in July. It was news that was hugely shocking when it happened and that has continued to dominate in the subsequent five months. For someone whose career in music was relatively short, she certainly made a strong impact on the world, for good or bad.

You can hear more discussion about this year’s biggest music news stories on this week’s CMU podcast alongside a little chatter about this weeks events, look out for it at www.theCMUwebsite.com/podcast over the weekend. And, if retrospectives are what you want, keep an eye on your inbox next Friday when, in place of your usual CMU Daily, you’ll receive our annual Review Of The Year.

Though it’s not all over just yet – there are still four more editions of CMU Daily to come this year, with all the latest news, gossip and information from the music industry, plus our final three Artists Of The Year. But as this is the last Editor’s Letter, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Normal CMU service will then resume in January.

IN THE NEWS
Nothing says Christmas like a bitter legal battle, so it’s lucky there are a few of them about. In ongoing litigation news, it was announced that Sony Music and Warner Music had joined Universal’s latest lawsuit against Grooveshark, in which they accuse the streaming service’s staff (rather than users) of uploading large amounts of unlicensed music to the website.

But the big legal news of the week was altogether more bizarre. File transfer service MegaUpload last weekend released the video for a song which featured various big name artists (including Will.i.am, Chris Brown and Macy Gray) singing the virtues of the website. Shortly afterwards, it was replaced on YouTube with a message saying that it had been removed due to a copyright infringement claim by Universal. MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom (not his real name) responded angrily, insisting his company had permission from all artists involved and owned all copyright in the track. He promptly launched a lawsuit against Universal for improper use of the aforementioned Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

It makes a change, a file-sharing company suing a major, but when Universal was asked to justify its actions by a judge, the plot thickened further. Universal said it had not improperly used the DMCA, because it had not used the DMCA at all. Rather, it had asked YouTube to remove the video under a separate contract it has with the video site, allowing it to have any video it doesn’t like removed. Whether or not this actually gets Universal off the hook remains to be seen, but claims of allowing large companies to censor the internet could be more embarrassing for YouTube and its parent company Google.

Elsewhere, Madonna signed a new deal with Universal/Interscope to release albums recorded under her 360 degree deal with Live Nation, iTunes Match quietly launched outside the US, and former music industry exec John Atterberry died after a man began randomly shooting pedestrians in LA.

FEATURES AND NEW MUSIC
We continued our Artists Of The Year rundown this week, unveiling Beyonce, Wiley and Emika at three more of our favourite artists of 2011. Meanwhile, CMU clubbing columnist Vigsy picked the third of his tips for New Year’s Eve parties, this time The Vinyl Touch at London’s Rhythm Factory.

One of those artists of the year, Wiley, released a Christmas song this week, which is a bit of a standout amongst the deluge of such things we’ve had recently. From the song we also learnt that Wiley doesn’t eat raisin cake on the grounds that it’s all hassle. He would also like you to dance with Shirley.

Less Christmassy, but still new, we heard two new songs from The National, plus watched new videos from Major Lazer, Fucked Up, and The Darcys, the latter of which is a sci-fi epic in three minutes. Featuring members of Coldplay, Mew and A-ha, Apparatjik also announced that they would collaborate with fans to complete their second album.

PODCAST
I already mentioned it further up, but it can’t hurt to do so again. This week’s podcast sees Chris and I discuss MegaUpload’s silly song and Madonna’s new record deal. Plus, we look back through some of the big stories of 2011. You’ll be able to stream and download that here at some point over the weekend.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

CMU Weekly Podcast – Friday 16 Dec 2011

Setlist

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review the week in music and the music business, including the Mega Song and Madonna signing to Universal, plus a very quick review of the music year. Get the CMU Weekly Podcast every Friday by signing up via iTunes or RSS.

Approved: New Year’s Eve party tips

Club Tip CMU Approved

The most stressful party of the festive period, beyond trying to decide what to get for that one impossible to please family member, is where you should celebrate the new year. New Year’s Eve is the biggest party of the year, and you may already be entertaining the idea of just staying at home, rather than trying to navigate all of the many possibilities. Well, stop! CMU’s clubbing columnist Vigsy has already done all the trawling for you, and he’s found the best three parties on offer.

Ano Novo no Guanabara
Every year, Guanabara hosts a lively New Year’s Eve party, with an authentic Brazilian theme where the guests wear white, eat twelve grapes at midnight to bring good luck for each month of the new year, and wear ‘ribbons’ of Senhor do Bomfim to assure yet more good fortune. And two hours later we do it again – with a live transmission from Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Lost at Plastic People
Plastic People will host a sixteen hour long party put on by one of London’s premiere techno nights, Lost. Headlining is the massive Detroit star that is Juan Atkins. He’ll be backed up by Chris Carrier and Lost resident/Cosmic Records head honcho Steve Bicknell. Also in the mix will be Tomoki Tamura, Eightbitrate, Toru, Jon Bengry and Leon Clarkson.

The Vinyl Touch at Rhythm Factory
Here’s, my final instalment of New Year’s Eve club tips. And this one will provide a simple but solid line up guaranteed to rock in the new year, with original old school legend Shut Up & Dance, Aquasky, EZ Rollers and a whole host more. It will be a big event and I like the Rhythm Factory – it always has a good vibe, and with this line up that will be particularly true this Hogmanay.

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:46 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Bearded Theory | Pinkpop | Rock AM Ring

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:41 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:38 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Eircom | File-Sharing | Three-Strikes

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:35 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: MySpace | Specific Media

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:33 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC Radio Cymru | PRS For Music | Wales | WMPCA

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:30 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Leila Steinberg | Tupc Shakur

Tuesday 20 December 2011, 11:28 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: PJ Harvey

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:23 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT:

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:22 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: HMV | MAMA Group | Simon Fox | Waterstones

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:17 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC Radio Cymru | PRS For Music | Wales | WMPCA

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:11 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Phil Spector

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:09 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Etta James

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:06 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: HMV | PJ Harvey

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:04 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: University Of Bristol

Monday 19 December 2011, 12:00 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Brian Wilson | The Beach Boys

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:59 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Grinderman | Jim Scalvunos | Nick Cave

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:57 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Arcade Fire

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:55 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Sleigh Bells

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:52 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Gil Scott-Heron

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:49 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Dry The River

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:48 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: by:Larm | Rhythm Festival

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:43 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: DEA | Piracy | Sinde Law | SOPA | Stop Online Piracy Act

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:32 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Nick Gatfield | Sony Music UK

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:26 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Celador Radio | Midwest Radio

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:21 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Harry Judd | McFly

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:19 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Tupac Shakur

Monday 19 December 2011, 11:18 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Amy Winehouse

Friday 16 December 2011, 17:08 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT:

Friday 16 December 2011, 16:00 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Live Nation | Madonna | Mega Song | MegaUpload | Universal Music

Friday 16 December 2011, 12:00 | By Paul Vig

READ MORE ABOUT: New Year's Eve 2011