Friday 27 January 2012, 11:50 | By CMU Editorial

Fatdrop restructures pricing

Digital

Digital promo distribution service Fatdrop has announced a restructuring of its pricing, which the company hopes will attract more high volume users, such as large PR agencies, distribution companies and major labels. The changes went live yesterday, with all packages including a number of standard features, including anti-piracy searches and watermarking.

The suggestion that major labels will take on the Fatdrop system is possibly optimistic, with EMI and Sony already using their own bespoke promo platforms, but at least there’s hope that one day PlayMPE, which Warner and Universal still use for digital promos, will die the death it so deserves. And a few less indie labels using Push Media Promotion wouldn’t go amiss either.

More information here.

Rihanna backs TV fashion contest

Media

R&B starlet Rihanna is to co-produce and feature in a new television programme aiming to discover fresh fashion design talent.

Aspiring young creatives will compete to make outfits for famous guest figures, the competition’s ultimate honour being the chance to design a stage outfit for Rihanna to wear during her headlining set at this year’s Wireless Festival.

The untitled show will be broadcast on Sky Living over ten weeks, with solo Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts confirmed to present.

Says Rihanna of the venture: “I am excited to follow in the journey of our contestants and see how their individuality influences their efforts during the course of the show”.

So, anything goes. Although no ‘Fuck You’-emblazoned brothel creepers please, we’re British.

Styles/Flack over again as One Direction head Stateside

And Finally

Not that we’re following the Harry Styles/Caroline Flack romance, of course. We’re far too busy considering serious matters of intellectual property and competition law to notice what those two are up to. But we did previously note rumours that Flack had left Styles all sad and lonely on New Year’s Eve by going on holiday without him, leading to speculation one of planet pop’s odder tie ups was over.

So we possibly ought to report the ying story to that yang report, ie latest tabloid revelations that now Styles has told his older woman it’s time to cool things down, while he heads to the US as part of his group One Direction’s ambitions to break America.

Since reports it was seventeen year old 1D boy Styles left weeping when his 32 year old supposed girlfriend, ‘Xtra-Factor’ host Flack, headed off on a two week holiday without him, the odd couple were meant to be properly back together, with the pop boy taking the telly woman back to Cheshire to meet his mother.

But now, with One Direction heading off for a two month stint in the US (albeit with a quick return for some BRITs shenanigans), apparently Styles has told Flack he’s not ready for a long distance relationship so they should bring their brief dalliance to an end.

Says one of those sources to the Mirror: “He’s going off to America in a couple of days and he wants to be able to commit fully to making the band a success in the States. They’ll be back for the Brits, but all in all they’ll be away for two months. It’s a long time to be apart especially with so much going on. Harry’s young. He’s just not ready for a long-distance relationship. He really likes Caroline and he doesn’t want to hurt her. But he doesn’t want to be tied down”.

Flack, apparently, is upset, but the split was basically amicable. So that’s lovely. If that could be the end of this relationship for good that would be great, I’m sort of ever regretting bring it up in the CMU Daily – but you know how we like closure on a story once it’s been raised. Which reminds me, whatever happened to Mariah Yeater’s Bieber baby claims – must do some final digging on that one.

Talking of closure on 1D stories, Harry Styles recently responded to those previously reported rumours that a full frontal photo of the pop teen had emerged online, complete with conveniently obscured face. Despite fans identifying various reasons why the naked pic must be the 1D singer, a spokesman for the band quickly denied it was the pop star.

Styles himself reconfirmed that fact recently, though added that if it pleased his fans to believe the well-endowed guy in the photo was him, well, that’s fine. Styles told NOW: “Fair play to the guy whoever he is. I don’t mind people thinking it’s me! But it’s not, that’s official”.

So there you go, consider those matters closed.

CMU Beef Of The Week #95: MegaUpload special

And Finally Beef Of The Week

There have been a few contenders for Beef Of The Week this week, but when it came down to it, nothing was quite as entertaining as the last seven days in the world of MegaUpload. I’m not 100% sure that an international operation, involving various law enforcement agencies, to arrest a group of men and shut down their company can strictly be referred to as a ‘beef’, but let’s go with it anyway.

So, anyway, as support for legislation in the US aiming to create new powers to block copyright infringing websites waned in Congress after a week of protest online, the US showed it could shut down such a website anyway. Although it should be noted that in this case MegaUpload had many of its servers based in America and its executives are accused of more serious crimes than just copyright infringement, both helping justify such a dramatic swoop.

The jewel in the crown was the arrest of MegaUpload founder Kim ‘Dotcom’ Schmitz, upon whom police swooped at his New Zealand mansion. Aside from the scale and suddenness of the action, it’s Schmitz who elevates this above your usual tedious copyright case. Whenever he’s spoken in the past, the German entrepreneur and convicted criminal has seemed larger than life, but as more details about his glamorous lifestyle, paid for by the millions of dollars he’s earned from the Mega empire, were revealed, it became apparent quite how much this is true. For one thing, he’s 6’7″ and weighs 21.5 stone. For another, he has a penchant for private jets, bubble baths and celebrities, not to mention the interesting array of number plates on his fleet of cars.

His size was the reason his lawyers argued he should be allowed out on bail pending his extradition to the US – he isn’t, they argued, the kind of guy who can sneak through customs – but the judge refused anyway, fearing Schmitz would use criminal connections to smuggle himself back to Germany, where extradition would be more difficult. Two of his associates were bailed though, with a third due to have a decision made today.

With all this going on, MegaUpload dropped a lawsuit against Universal over the previously reported YouTube takedown of the file-transfer company’s all-star promotional song and video, and it was revealed that Schmitz was also preparing for the release of his debut album, which is being worked on by LA-based production company Beets & Produce as we speak.

Perhaps most interesting of all, however, was the affect the swoop on MegaUpload had on other file-sharing websites, some of which limited their services in various ways following the arrests. Filesonic and Fileserver seemingly went furthest, blocking users from doing anything other than uploading and downloading content form their own accounts. How long this will last and what effect it will have long term is not yet clear – although the RIAA is confident that it will boost legit services, Torrentfreak reports that unlicensed sites which have not scaled back their operations are enjoying the boom in users.

Playlist: Pulled Apart By Horses

CMU Playlists

Formed in 2007, Pulled Apart By Horses released their eponymous debut album through Transgressive Records in 2010, having made a name for themselves with their frenetic live shows.

Their second album, ‘Tough Love’, is out this week, and fans can preview it via a Facebook app – which gives access to a full stream for seven days. The band will also play a launch party at London’s Barfly venue this Saturday, with a full UK tour planned for February.

We asked guitarist James Brown to put together a playlist for us, giving an insight into some of his favourite songs and biggest influences. Brown said of his choices: “This here playlist is a mixture of sounds and songs that influenced me, helped me sleep, helped me wake and were generally being played on repeat around the time of recording our new album. I guess it’s like a little piece of me from around that time really. An artefact? Nah, it’s not that special”.

JAMES BROWN’S TEN
Click here to listen to James’ playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about their choices.

01 Foals – Total Life Forever
Yep, still listening to this album and this title track. It’s got some huge hooks and is utterly infectious stuff.

02 Fugazi – Arpeggiator
I’ve never tired of this track. It’s an instrumental guitar scaling orgasm. If you like to play guitar you’ll love this tune.

03 The Breeders – Cannonball
The bass and guitar lines in this stride up and down my side each time I hear it and I always want to steal its parts when writing. I’m still sat on my hands though.

04 Interpol – Obstacle 1
Bursting guitars from start to finish here. Again I can hear tones and sounds in Interpol on our new record in places. Fabulous band.

05 Death From Above 1979 – Blood On Our Hands
Still makes me foam at the mouth and if I played bass then I think every song would sound like this. Lucky I don’t play bass.

06 Sleigh Bells – Infinity Guitars
BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG GUITARS!

07 The Jesus Lizard – Fly On The Wall
I listened to this quite a lot while in the studio on my laptop. Didn’t get much sleep at night, think this could be why.

08 That Fucking Tank – Keanu Reef
I think all of us were bang into this track when the album came out. I can hear bits of this in some of the stuff I wrote that didn’t make the album and some bits that did. You really should just listen to this. Riff off.

09 Radiohead – Little By Little
A song that helps me sleep at night. Simple as.

10 Foo Fighters – Rope
The one single that came out last year that I wish we had written.

Approved: Miike Snow feat Lykke Li – Black Tin Box

CMU Approved

A luminous communion between twin Scandinavian flames now, in the form of a pre-emptive preview of Miike Snow’s second LP ‘Happy To You’. First preview track ‘Black Tin Box’, with a guest appearance by Lykke Li, is propped and propelled by an insistent percussive will; it moves through swathes of writhing synth scales, frosted steel pans, and phrasings weighted with black symbolism; even absorbing a glacial strings arrangement in what proves a truly radiant final sequence.

The Swedish trio find a worthy counterpart in countrywoman Lykke Li – also co-founder of the band’s and Peter, Bjorn and John’s INGRID label – whose role is so well integrated as to bypass that jarring, deliberately ostentatious quality that defines too many music cameos. Plus, it’s Lykke Li.

With ‘Happy To You’ set for release on 26 Mar, unwrap ‘Black Tin Box’ here:

Beyond Oblivion files for bankruptcy protection

Digital Legal Top Stories

Beyond Oblivion, the failed digital music start-up that shut up shop over Christmas, has applied for bankruptcy protection in the US, saying it has debts in the $100 million to $500 million bracket.

The company’s Chapter 11 filing with the New York bankruptcy courts estimates that the firm’s assets – presumably including the intellectual property in its never-to-be-launched digital content platform, which it seems to think it can sell – are worth somewhere between $1 million and $10 million.

As previously reported, Beyond Oblivion – which began trading as Boinc towards the end of its life – was an ambitious plan led by British entrepreneur Adam Kidron to provide an all-you-can-eat music download and sharing service which would appear free to the user. Revenue would be generated by selling the software that was required for the free downloads to work, preferably to mobile networks, and phone and PC manufacturers, who would bundle the fee in with their products, masking the real cost to the consumer.

The venture, which secured in the region of $87 million in financing, including backing from News Corp, the Wellcome Trust and US bank Allen & Co, relied on convincing both the music companies and tech industries about the value of the product.

While the former would get 70-90% of the revenue, there were risks, given the per-play royalty would vary depending on how often a user used the service during the lifetime of their Boinc-ified device, and the labels remain nervous that any unproven new business model may have a detrimental impact on the now maturing iTunes-style download market. Nevertheless, last October it was reported that both Sony and Warner had signed up, though rumour had it only after Boinc committed to multi-million dollar guarantees.

But, of course, that was only two of the four majors, and there was no word on Merlin, representing the bigger independents. Plus, while we were told a tech partner was close to being announced, no announcement came, and there was speculation that mobile handset and tablet computer manufacturers were concerned about the cost of bundling Boinc into their devices (thought to be around $60 per device), especially in a market where many companies are competing on price.

Whatever, over the Christmas break it was announced that Beyond Oblivion, whose launch had been pushed back more than once, would never go live, with projected costs making the venture unviable. It’s not clear how much of the $87 million start-up capital was used, at least half of it was conditional on meeting certain targets, which may or may not have been met. Though it seems debts exceed that total investment by some margin.

According to Reuters, the two biggest creditors to the defunct Boinc are the aforementioned Sony and Warner who, it seems, had indeed agreed to licence the service. Reports suggest both are owed in the region of $50 million each, which were presumably advances the labels had demanded before providing their music to the company. Quite why, given the service never went live, these advances are seemingly still payable isn’t clear, though it seems unlikely the majors will ever see their money.

Among the other reported creditors is Vice magazine, which was seemingly hired to help market the Boinc brand, certainly the still-to-launch digital music service had been associated with at least one party staged by the media company.

It’s thought Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp pumped over $10 million into the failed venture, which by the multi-billion dollar conglom’s standards is small money, although involvement in another failed digital business is embarrassing for the media firm, following the high profile crash of its biggest digital investment to date – MySpace – and the very slow uptake to its biggest in-house digital creation, iPad-only magazine The Daily. It seems likely News Corp will now focus on building digital subscription services around its existing content and entertainment brands.

Whether Boinc’s creditors will see any return from the sale of the company’s assets, remains to be seen.

Two MegaUpload associates bailed

Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

Two associates of MegaUpload founder Kim Schmitz have been bailed by the New Zealand courts.

As previously reported, four men were arrested in New Zealand last week at the request of the US authorities in connection to their involvement in running the various Mega companies. Top man Schmitz was denied bail on Wednesday amidst fears he might use alleged criminal connections to flee the country if let out of prison, most likely to return to his home country of Germany where it would be much harder for the US to extradite him.

Schmitz’s three associates asked to have their bail applications heard separately, and earlier today two of them were let our of jail, the judge hearing the case saying the flee risk was minimal, and he was confident electronic tagging could mitigate that risk. Letting Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato out of jail, judge David McNaughton said: “I am satisfied that the risk of flight here is minimal and such risk as remains can be met by the imposition of strict bail conditions including electronic monitoring”.

A decision on the fourth man, Mathias Ortman, was postponed until tomorrow, pending further submissions from his legal people. Lawyers speaking for Schmitz’s associates insisted that, unlike the Mega company’s larger than life founder, there was nothing to suggest they had hidden stashes of money or alternative identities they could employ.

The US is now working to extradite all four men back to the States where they are accused of copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering. If found guilty, experts reckon they could each face up to 20 years in jail, though some have claimed online that technically their sentences could be anything up to 50 years. Quite how long the extradition process will take is unclear, though it could be a long drawn out process.

In related news, the Dutch police have confirmed that they also arrested a man in connection to the Mega enterprise last week. Prosecutors in New Zealand said earlier this week that two other Mega associates had been arrested in Europe. Dutch authorities confirmed they had taken an Estonian man into custody, with the US naming the accused as Andrus Nomm. The American authorities will now have to try and extradite him too.

But what about poor old Schmitz, still locked up in his New Zealand prison cell without his Mega mates for company? Well, he could always focus his mental energies onto his music. Because yes, while Schmitz may have relied on other people’s musical output to build his multi-million dollar Mega empire, word has it he has his own music ambitions, and has been working with LA-based production company Beets & Produce on an album. His partners on the project are reportedly continuing with the venture as we speak, meaning Schmitz’s musical offerings could be released even while he is in jail, which would be very hip hop.

Perhaps his old mate Swizz Beatz could have a word with Universal Music and see if it’d release the record. After all, the arrest and any future court battle makes for some great publicity for anyone with recordings to sell.

Perfume Genius ad deemed “non family-safe” by YouTube

Digital Top Stories

A fifteen second advertisement created by Matador Records for ‘Put Your Back N 2 It’, the forthcoming second album from Seattle-based piano playing indie type Perfume Genius, aka Mike Hadreas, has been rejected by YouTube on the basis that it is “non family-safe”.

Both YouTube and its parent company Google declined to feature the clip, which shows a semi-clothed embrace between Hadreas and gay porn actor Arpad Miklos, issuing to Matador the following statement regarding their rules on ‘Adult Image/Video Content’: “Any ads that contain non family safe material are disapproved. I noted to the team that the people in the video are not entirely unclothed, but the overall feeling of the video is one of a more adult nature, including promoting mature sexual themes and what appears to be nude content. As such, the video is non family-safe. In order to have this video ad approved, you will need to bring it into compliance with our policy”.

Team Matador say they have contacted YouTube/Google asking what could be done to bring the video in line with policy regulations, but as yet have received no response. The label also raises the pertinent point that ‘All Waters’, the Perfume Genius song accompanying the advert, was inspired by Hadreas’s feelings on “internalised homophobia” and his “self-consciousness about gay public displays of affection”, making the web giant’s decision all the more ironic.

The clinch in question recalls a very similar one featured in this trailer for Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born To Die’, the full-length version of which, I seem to remember, featured pretty overt tones of sexual sadism, violence and suicide. All, naturally, were deemed family-safe themes by YouTube.

You can view the supposedly offensive Perfume Genius clip on Vimeo here:

Louis Walsh accuser jailed

Legal

The man who falsely accused Louis Walsh of sexual assault last June has been jailed for six months in relation to the untrue allegations he made against the ‘X-Factor’ star.

Leonard Watters told the police he was groped by Walsh in the toilets at a Dublin nightclub. But less than a week later he admitted he had lied about the incident, and was himself promptly arrested for wasting police time. He faced those charges in court this week, with District Court Judge Dermot Dempsey saying: “The public must be protected from this type of untrue, unfounded allegations. He put the injured party through a lot of pain and anguish”.

Since the allegations were made, Walsh has said that the ordeal of being accused of such a crime had a major impact on his life, and has “affected his personality forever”.

Etta James’ family ended feud before her death

Legal

Etta James’ sons say they settled their differences with the late singer’s husband shortly prior to their mother’s death.

As previously reported, James’s two children, Donto and Sametto, disagreed with their mother’s husband, Artis Mills, over the healthcare provisions put in place for the singer. There was also disagreements about Mills having access to his wife’s fortune to help pay for her medical treatment, and Donto in particular aired those concerns in court hearings about the ailing singer’s affairs.

However, he says he ending his feud with James’ long-time husband, who is not his father, prior to her death, telling the National Enquirer: “We actually worked things out the day before Momma died. I think she would have been very happy”.

A private funeral and public memorial service are due to take place for James in LA on Saturday.

Mick Jagger pulls out of Davos summit

Artist News

Mick Jagger has pulled out of an event at this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland after accusing David Cameron of attempting to use him as a “political football”.

Jagger was due to appear at an event hosted by Cameron intended to promote Britain. Other public figures involved include inventor of the internet Tim Berners-Lee and model Lily Cole. Following the announcement of his involvement, some media coverage suggested that Jagger was confirming a political allegiance to the Conservative Party.

However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, Jagger said: “During my career I have always eschewed party politics and came to Davos as a guest, as I thought it would be stimulating. I have always been interested in economics and world events. I now find myself being used as a political football and there has been a lot of comment about my political allegiances which are inaccurate. I think it’s best I decline the invitation to the key event and curtail my visit”.

A Downing Street source told The Guardian: “Clearly we are disappointed that Sir Mick doesn’t feel he can support a non-political event that promotes Britain. At no point was there ever any suggestion that Sir Mick was a Conservative. He understandably wishes to remain apolitical. This is not a political event. This is simply an event that promotes British creativity abroad”.

MIA plans single, video, album

Releases

Hip hop type MIA has revealed she’s releasing a new single. Well, sort of new.

Entitled ‘Bad Girls’, the track is in fact a rework of one originally featured on her 2010 ‘Vicki Leekx’ mixtape. The good-as-new version, as produced by top pop maestro Danja (Madonna, Justin Timberlake), will premiere on Pitchfork on 30 Jan prior to a proper release the following day.

Also to have its first play on Pitchfork, this time on 3 Feb, is an accompanying video that has been created by Romain Gavras, the French director also responsible for the controversial concept in MIA’s ‘Born Free’ promo.

Pitchfork has also confirmed MIA will release a studio album at some point during the summer.

Saint Etienne return with single, news of LP

Releases

Alt-pop outfit Saint Etienne, who’ve been largely dormant in terms of new recordings (bar the odd single) since the release of their 2005 LP ‘Tales From Turnpike House’, have heralded a return to full-length form with new track ‘Tonight’, a forerunner to the outfit’s in-development new album.

Having worked on the song with Xenomania producer Tim Powell, Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley has this to say of the band’s as-yet unscheduled eighth studio record: “The whole album is about the power of pop, how it affects and shapes your life. People talk about the problem of landfill indie, but there’s so much landfill pop around at the moment – we’re trying to do something about it”.

‘Tonight’ is available for free download on the band’s official site or you can stream it here:

Poliça confirm debut album

Releases

CMU Approved act Poliça, who specialise in silken, R&B-tinged electronica, have at last appointed a UK release date for their debut album ‘Give You The Ghost’. Crafted by vocalist Channy Leanagh and producer Ryan Olson as an extension of their existing part in soft-core collective Gayngs, it’s out by way of Memphis Industries on 23 Apr.

You can download a complimentary copy of the band’s first single ‘Lay Your Cards Out’, as also endorsed by Jay-Z on his Life + Times website, here:

Blood Red Shoes announce LP, tour

Gigs & Festivals

Having garnered praise across the two albums they’ve released to date, Brighton alt twosome Blood Red Shoes, aka Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell, have readied a sequel in new long player ‘In Time To Voices’. Due out via V2/Co-Operative Music on 26 Mar, it was recorded in Liverpool with co-producer Mike Crossey (Foals, Arctic Monkeys)

Says singer/guitarist Laura-Mary: “With this album we totally threw out the rulebook of how we write and record. We feel like a totally different band now. We feel like we’re shooting for the stars”.

The duo will embark on a rigorous regional run surrounding the album’s release, live dates for which are listed below.

Meanwhile, here’s a chill blast of new single ‘Cold’, which comes out on 19 Mar:

27 Apr: Brighton, Concorde 2
28 Apr: Porstmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
29 Apr: Oxford, Academy 2
1 May: Bristol, Trinity
2 May: Norwich, Waterfront
3 May: London, Heaven
4 May: Birmingham, Library
5 May: Manchester, Academy 2
7 May: Liverpool, Zanzibar
8 May: Newcastle, Cluny
9 May: Aberdeen, Tunnels
10 May: Glasgow, King Tut’s
12 May: Leeds, The Cockpit
13 May: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms

City Showcase launch new creative event in central London

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Organisers of the annual West End-based new music festival City Showcase yesterday announced the launch of a new Central London event to be called the Soho Flea Market.

The aim is to “bring together London’s creative talent”, including artists, designers, film-makers, web developers and musicians, for a day of selling, performing and showcasing on Dean Street in Soho. The project, involving various Soho businesses, will also raise money for the Terrence Higgins Trust.

Confirming the new event, City Showcase Founding Director Nanette Rigg told CMU: “We are proud of our track record for helping and supporting new talent in the field of music and are delighted to be able to extend our work to be able to showcase all creative talent in one of London’s most iconic streets”.

Meanwhile Karim Ladak of Potassium, who will help select the creatives who present at the street party, said: “We’re inviting London’s creative community to come together for one special day in May where we‚’ll celebrate the capital’s diverse talent in a unique and fun way that also supports up and coming artists”.

More info at www.sohofleamarket.com. The main City Showcase music event, now sub-titled ‘Spotlight London’, will take place in the autumn this year.

Festival line-up update – 26 Jan 2012

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

80S REWIND, Temple Island Meadows, Henley On Thames, 17-19 Aug: New arrivals at Rewind’s nostalgia-laden party are acts including The Bangles, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Kool & The Gang, Heather Small, Grandmaster Flash and Right Said Fred. They’ll all play on Saturday, while Sunday’s line-up presents Lightning Seeds, Tony Hadley, Marc Almond, Midge Ure and T’Pau. www.rewindfestival.com

HIT THE DECK, various venues, Nottingham, 22 Apr: A recent announcement decrees that Cancer Bats, Rolo Tomassi, Bat Sabbath and Verses will accompany the previously confirmed likes of Kids In Glass Houses, Deaf Havana, The Wonder Years, Blackstorm and Every Avenue on Hit The Deck’s one-day programme. www.hitthedeckfestival.com

WYCHWOOD FESTIVAL, Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire, 8-10 Jun: Headliners Bellowhead take the fore in a raft of new additions to the Wychwood roster, with the folk ensemble joined by the worldly likes of The Cuban Brothers, Thrill Collins, Juju, Howard Marks and The Magic Tombolinos. The bill as it stands also features James, The Fisherman’s Friends, Dhol Foundation, The Roving Crows and Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman. www.wychwoodfestival.com

AIF stages safety conference

Business News Education & Events

The Association Of Independent Festivals will stage a one day conference on 3 Feb on ‘Structural And Crowd Safety’ which, following tragedies at events in Europe and the US last year caused by extreme weather conditions, will look at how better outdoor structures and emergency planning procedures can reduce the dangers of strong winds and heavy storms on festival sites.

Among the experts sharing their knowledge will be Chris Kemp from Bucks University’s International Centre for Crowd Management & Safety Studies; Simon James from The Event Safety Shop; Andy Yates from Webb Yates Engineers; and Richard Bryan from the Bearded Theory Festival.

The full day event will take place at the Royal Festival Hall. Details here.

Ne-Yo to head up Motown A&R team

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

R&B type Ne-Yo is giving up his day job at Def Jam to become Senior VP of A&R at another Universal subsidiary, Motown, which, as previously reported, has been having an executive rejig of late. Ne-Yo will also release his fifth album via the label later this year, which presumably means he’s in charge of telling himself if his new songs aren’t good enough. I hope he’s not too hard on himself.

Barry Weiss, the Universal chief who oversees Island Def Jam, Motown and Universal Republic, told Billboard: “His track record of success at Def Jam will always be a benchmark. But this move to Motown will provide new and inspiring challenges for Ne-Yo as both an artist and a key member of the new senior management team that is taking form at the label in 2012”.

Ne-Yo added: “I’m honoured that I’ve been given such a prestigious title and trusted with such responsibility; though terrified because I know that I’ll be playing this role in the fashion of one of my career role models, Mr Smokey Robinson – these are big shoes to fill. But trust me, I can handle it”.

As well as preparing a new album and overseeing Motown’s A&R department, Ne-Yo will also co-star in new film ‘Red Tails’ later this year, and appear on the US version of TV talent show ‘The Voice’ as a mentor.

Three new labels launch

Business News Labels & Publishers

News now of three new independent record labels launching. Well, two launching, and one relaunching, if you want to be pedantic about these things. Bloody pedants.

Anyway, first up, Garbage are launching their own label, to be called STUNVOLUME. The new venture will release the band’s upcoming new album, though with distribution handled by various partners, most of them Universal subsidiaries (Co-operative Music in Europe, Asia and Latin America, Fontana in the US, and Universal direct in Canada), but also Sony in Japan and the distribution division of their original label, Mushroom’s Liberator, in Australia. The new self-released record will be Garbage’s fifth album, and their first since 2005’s ‘Bleed Like Me’, which was released by Warner, it having acquired the UK division of Mushroom a couple of years earlier.

Second up, Matt Sweeney and Michael Mercer, who both previously worked for Domino Records, have teamed up to launch a new dance and electronic music label to be called Glyph. James Cator, a digital marketing exec for Eagle Rock and DJ/club promoter is also involved in the new venture, which is planning a series of singles and EPs in the coming months, starting off with ‘Morning Mountain’ from young German producer Simon Schilling, aka Essáy. The founders say the label will look to discover and champion “the freshest production talent from around the world, taking in everything from blissful ambience to dubstep infused electronica and beyond”. More at www.glyphrec.com.

And finally former singles-only label Cool For Cats has announced a relaunch after a long break as a brand new ‘digital club’, which will make a free track from a new artist available each month via the outfit’s Bandcamp store. The first release is a track by Mercy called ‘Sleepwalker’. The people behind the label say: “After a couple of years spent organising regular parties at the Old Blue Last and DJing at various events across the UK, Cool For Cats regrouped and came up with the solution to all its problems: if free music is what people want free music is what Cool For Cats will give them!” Presumably participating artists benefit from the new venture’s marketing expertise, though what the company’s commercial model is long term isn’t clear.

Rhapsody enters European market via Napster acquisition, though keeps Napster name for now

Digital

Following its acquisition of the Napster company in the US last year, Rhapsody has formally taken over the international branch of the old Napster business, giving it a foothold in the European market for the first time.

The move will mean Napster users in the UK and Germany will be migrated over to the Rhapsody platform in March, though for the time being the service will still use the Napster name over here, meaning the brand – once attached to the legendary P2P service, but since 2003 to a somewhat lacklustre if legit subscription music service – will live on. In the US the Napster platform was totally rolled into Rhapsody, so that the Napster name is no longer used there.

In the short term the move should not affect the operations of Napster in the UK and Germany, with staffers there becoming Rhapsody employees.

Rhapsody boss John Irwin told reporters: “The acquisition of Napster and its subscriber base in the UK and Germany gives us an ideal entry to the European market. Through the benefit of scale, the strength of our editorial programming and strategic partnerships, we can now bring the Napster service to even more consumers on a variety of platforms”.

Apple most valuable company again, for a few hours, after record revenues revealed

Digital

Apple was temporarily the most valuable company in the world again yesterday as the IT firm’s share price shot up following the announcement the company had revenues of $46.3 billion in its fourth quarter, a record for the firm, more than Wall Street expected, and seemingly proof the business can prosper without Steve Jobs leading the shop.

In the final three months of the last year the company sold over 37 million iPhones, nearly 15.5 million iPads, over five million Mac computers and 15.4 million iPods. Only the latter – surely soon to be a legacy device – saw year on year sales fall, iPhone sales were up 128% and iPad sales 111%.

Apple has been the biggest company based on market cap (share price multiplied by number of shares) before, but lost the crown to Exxon Mobil. For a few hours yesterday it reclaimed the title, only to see the oil giant take the accolade back by close of play. Though Apple also reclaimed the title of biggest smartphone provider in the US, and looks likely to hang on to that honour for a little longer.

Several people noted that Apple made substantially bigger revenues in one quarter than the whole digital music industry made in 2011 – $46.3 billion versus $5.2billion. Though the content industries do share in some of Apple’s good fortune, in that $1.7 billion of the IT giant’s revenues came from the iTunes store, making it the download platform’s highest earning quarter ever. Of course that includes film and TV content and app sales too, though music still makes up a healthy proportion of iTunes’ sales, while iTunes still makes up the majority of the music industry’s digital income in many territories.

Cowell to launch new talent show for DJs

Digital

So, here’s some news that I’m sure will brighten up everyone’s day: Simon Cowell is developing a new telly talent show a la ‘X-Factor’ to seek out “the world’s greatest DJs” and “capture the incredible rise of the DJ phenomena”. Told you you’d be pleased.

Still unnamed, Cowell’s Syco, a division of Sony of course, has apparently spent the last year working on the show as a joint venture with fellow production company Overbrook, which is owned by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Only Pinkett seems to have worked on the show directly, though. This is possibly why she and Smith are now separated.

Sony Pictures Television will also be involved in bringing the format to the screen, though broadcast partners in the UK and US are yet to be announced.

Simon Cowell said in a statement yesterday: “We have been working on this show for over a year and we wanted to partner with the right people. As soon as I met Jada and Miguel from Overbrook, I knew they would be our ideal partners. DJs are the new rock stars, it feels like the right time to make this show”.

Jada Pinkett-Smith added: “This show will comb the world to find a new breed of talent. I am happy to be creating it alongside Simon Cowell, the Sony team, and my partner Miguel Melendez, on behalf of the Overbrook family”.

Disney takes Joy Division inspired Mickey t-shirt off sale

And Finally

Disney has stopped selling a Mickey Mouse t-shirt that mimicked the famous cover artwork of the 1979 Joy Division album ‘Unknown Pleasures’.

The album used the image of a waveform showing successive pulses from the first pulsating star ever discovered, and was based on an image in the ‘Cambridge Encyclopaedia Of Astronomy’. Wobbles in the waveform gave the impression of a mountain range. For its new t-shirt, Disney added its own wobbles so that the famous Mickey Mouse silhouette could be seen in the waves.

On sale at Disney’s theme parks as well as on the entertainment giant’s website, the blurb for the ‘Waves Mickey Mouse Tee’ admitted the Joy Division album artwork, rather than the Cambridge Encyclopaedia, was the inspiration for the t-shirt design, describing the product thus: “Inspired by the iconic sleeve of Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ album, this Waves Mickey Mouse Tee incorporates Mickey’s image within the graphic of the pulse of a star. That’s appropriate given few stars have made bigger waves than Mickey!”

But the Twitterati, as they are prone to do, did not respond well to the t-shirt once attention was thrown in its direction yesterday, and by end of play Disney management had stopped selling the tee pending a review. A rep told reporters: “As soon as we became aware there could be an issue, we pulled it from our shelves and our online store to review the situation further”.

But Joy Division alumni Peter Hook didn’t seem too bothered by the Disney tribute to his band’s record, despite confirming that, as far as he knew, there’d been no official endorsement from the band. He told the LA Times: “I take it as a compliment. If I had a pound for every time someone bootlegged Joy Division, I’d be as rich as Disney. But it’s interesting in a kitsch way. It’s this cross between something very adult and this well-known image of childhood”.

Q&A: Busdriver

Artist Interviews

Busdriver

Regan Farquhar, aka Busdriver, began rapping at an early age, releasing his first album with a group called 4/29 when he was just thirteen. From there, he began attending workshops for aspiring musicians at The Good Life Café in LA, and later the Project Blowed open mic workshops which grew out of them. Here he began to develop his trademark style, first heard when he guested on various tracks, before he released his debut album as Busdriver, ‘Memoirs Of The Elephant Man’ in 2001.

His smart, funny lyrics and distinct delivery broke through to a wider audience with the 2002 follow-up, ‘Temporary Forever’, and yet further when he signed to Big Dada for his fourth LP, ‘Cosmic Cleavage’ in 2004. A second Big Dada album, the brilliant ‘Fear Of A Black Tangent’, followed, before Busdriver moved to Epitaph for 2007’s ‘RainKillOvercoat’ and 2009’s ‘Jhelli Beam’.

Over the years, Farquhar has collaborated with numerous other artists, including Daedelus, Abstract Rude, Boom Bip and Z-Trip. And in 2010 he formed a band, Physical Forms, with The Mae Shi’s John Byron, releasing a split single with Deerhoof the same year.

Next month Busdriver releases his latest album, ‘Beaus$Eros’, which was produced by Belgian producer Loden, via the label Fake Four. CMU Editor Andy Malt caught up with Farquhar to find out more.

AM: When did you first start making music?
BD: When I was thirteen. I was in a silly rap group. We were like a conscious Kriss-Kross without the charisma. Luckily, I discovered the Good Life Cafe after the group disbanded. I was fourteen by then.

AM: At what point did the distinct style you’re known for now emerge? Was it a style you consciously worked on?
BD: By the time Project Blowed had started in late 1994, I had some idea as to what I wanted to do. Years of performing, recording and experimenting further informed the approaches, but the key inspiration was from my mentor Chu Chu. He was the primary host of The Good Life and a bit of a rap savant. We would session all the time in his Mom’s attic in South Central LA. He managed to stress the importance of the exact kind of bebop jazz that I needed to inform the styles that I was looking for.

AM: How would you say you’ve developed since your debut album?
BD: I’m less afraid. More in command. And unfortunately too self-aware… If I wanted to be the best rhymer in the world for a year I could do it. The key word is ‘if’ though.

AM: When did you start writing ‘Beaus$Eros’?
BD: Immediately after ‘Jhelli Beam’ was released in 2009.

AM: Did you have a clear vision for the new album before you started, both sonically and lyrically? In some ways it seems like your most ‘pop’ release – particularly ‘Kiss Me Back To Life’ – but at the same time it’s very experimental.
BD: It took six months of recording for me to firmly understand what was the proper direction. Loden and I were dabbling with more playful songwriting at first. But when we stumbled upon ‘Utilitarian Uses Of Love’ we started to hear the world that we wanted this album to inhabit. My personal problems had begun bleeding into the work and melody took on a new weight in the vocals. It was very organic. It required us to be a lot more patient than I had been in years, but it ultimately paid off.

AM: Talking of Loden, how did you come to collaborate on the album?
BD: I forget. It feels like I met him a lifetime ago. It was most likely through Mush Records. He put out a couple of records on that label a few years ago.

AM: What was the recording process? Was it a case of firing files back and forth online or did you get together?
BD: During the year and a half that we worked on the album we never met. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I saw him briefly in Brussels. But aside from that we hadn’t spoken, Skyped or sexted. It was all via email. All through the exchange of ideas in the form of beats, wav files and rough mixes. The process was incredibly pure.

AM: How did that process differ from how you’ve worked in the past? What would be your preferred method of recording?
BD: I spent less time over-thinking lyrics, more time trusting my instincts. The textures and vocal layering were all very important. I’d never spent so much time focusing on my bridges, but this time around those became super important. The bridges for ‘Bon Bon Fire’, ‘Utilitarian Uses Of Love’ and ‘Picking Band Names’ all took up most of the focus at a certain point in those songs’ production.
The scale of the songs just seemed larger. The methodology behind it this record has become my favourite way to get songs done. I just feel that the sense of accomplishment is far greater than what I’d experienced in a while.

AM: How did Physical Forms come about? Was it a weird adjustment working as part of a band and switching to singing rather than rapping?
BD: Jeff Byron from the Mae Shi reached out to me one day. He said that he wanted to do some recording, but more importantly he opened up about his fight with his hulking drug and alcohol addiction. A musical endeavour seemed like the best way to strengthen his recovery in his eyes… so we started a band. I quietly learned tons about pop/rock song composition and how to deliver heavily layered vocal parts over the course of our first two weeks of all night sessions. I welcomed the opportunity to exist in his universe. The first six months were really fantastic. We made a lot of colourfully irresponsible songs.

AM: Has that informed or changed the way you work on your solo material?
BD: The Physical Forms debut is ‘Beaus$Eros’ sister album for me. They both represent different facets of a singular happening in me. At least from my perspective.

AM: And when will that album be out?
BD: We’ll release our record this year. Soon after ‘Beaus$Eros’.

AM: It’s now more than a decade since you released your debut album, how has the industry changed in that time? Do you think it’s easier or harder to get your music out there now?
BD: It’s way easier to put music out in 2012 (almost effortless), but very difficult to be heard and quite impossible to actually “sell” any of that music. The industry that I arrived in with my breakthrough album ‘Temporary Forever’ doesn’t resemble the current climate at all.

It feels like the amount of prep and market-based knowhow required to reach an audience today has all but lapped how much people spend developing actual musical directions. That being said, there are a lot of great artists breaking through right now. I just have no idea how people fund these acts. The field is so fiercely competitive! Everyone’s content is flying through the air in thick flocks of labelled folders hoping to find a place on your desktop. It’s all a bit maddening.

AM: Do you have any plans to play live in the UK?
BD: Yep. In April hopefully.

AM: Which other artists are you listening to at the moment?
BD: Sonnymoon tUnE-yArDs, Dark Time Sunshine, The Weeknd, Freestyle Fellowship, VerBS, Etta James, Phillip Glass (always)… and other stuff that can’t find anyone responsible for.

AM: What else have you got coming up in 2012?
BD: The Physical Forms album will be released, probably mid year. I’m working on an EP with Del The Funky Homosapien, which I am writing for right now. There is also an EP that I’m producing for a Los Angeles rapper friend of mine. And I don’t know what else – it’s just January so I’m sure other things will present themselves.

Approved: A Whisper In The Noise

CMU Approved

A Whisper In The Noise’s first album, 2002’s ‘Through The Ides Of March’, was written in the music room of the now abandoned school the project’s driving force, West Thordson, had learned to play in as a child. Also living there at the time, he was inspired by the loneliness of the building’s empty corridors, creating tense songs built with layers of electric and classical instruments.

For the fourth album, ‘To Forget’, which is due out via Exile On Mainstream on 27 Feb, A Whisper In The Noise became a duo with the addition of violinist Sonja Larson, who had been a member of Thordson’s live band on and off for a number of years. Now benefiting from both additional violin and vocals courtesy of Larson, the new songs are slower but warmer in sound, with a more cinematic feel.

Listen to album track ‘Your Hand’ here:

MegaUpload founder Schmitz refused bail

Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

MegaUpload founder Kim Schmitz has been denied bail, and will now stay in custody in New Zealand until at least 22 Feb as the US authorities go through the motions of extraditing him.

As previously reported, after his arrest last week in New Zealand in relation to various allegations made against him by the US in regards to the Mega business empire, Schmitz’s lawyers applied for bail, claiming their client had so far complied with the authorities, that his passport had been seized and bank accounts frozen, and that his distinctive appearance (ie size) would make it hard for him to sneak past customs. But prosecutors said Schmitz had a history of evading criminal charges, adding that they feared he may have passports and bank accounts the US authorities have not yet seized, which could aid his escape from the criminal justice system.

The judge hearing the bail application, David McNaughton, initially told the court he needed more time to consider Schmitz’s case, which he said was particularly complicated. But yesterday the judge sided with the prosecution, saying that “with sufficient determination and financial resources, flight risk remains a real and significant possibility which I cannot discount and bail is declined”.

McNaughton added that the presence of unlicensed firearms at the property where Schmitz was staying suggested criminal connections, who could possibly aid an escape from the country, and that Schmitz would be highly motivated to attempt a return to his home country of Germany, because it would be much harder for America to extradite him from there – the Germans, as a general rule, will resist any efforts to force them to hand over one of their own citizens to a foreign criminal justice system.

Schmitz’s lawyer immediately announced his intent to appeal the decision. The Mega man’s legal reps also re-stated that their client is innocent of all the charges made against him by the US authorities – of commercial copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering – while also claiming Schmitz was in ill health, suffering from diabetes, hypertension and a slipped disc.

The other three Mega associates arrested in New Zealand last week were also remanded in custody, with each requesting separate hearings to present arguments in favour of bail.

Web shifts in the wake of the Mega arrests

Digital MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

Since the arrests of various MegaUpload execs last week, the websites of some copyright owners, and their trade bodies, are still very wobbly following a wave of retaliatory hacktivist attacks.

However, some other sites of dubious legality have also curtailed their operations – in one way or another – as a result of the American authorities swooping on the Mega management team. Those sites, including Filesonic, Fileserver, VideoBB, VideoZer, FileJungle, FilePost, UploadStation and Uploaded.to, also allow file-transfer services, and have also been accused by content companies of enabling mass copyright infringement, and of doing too little to stop the use of their platforms to share unlicensed content.

Filesonic and Fileserver have probably gone furthest, putting blocks in place that mean users can now only download content they themselves uploaded. This means that the platform can only be used to make back-ups of content, or to move digital files from one device to another, and users cannot make public links to their content available or access other peoples uploads. It’s not clear if this is a temporary or permanent change, but many of those who have paid subscription fees to the two companies for file-sharing services will not be pleased.

Presumably management at both Filesonic and Fileserver fear also being targeted with criminal action if they are seen to be profiting from copyright infringement – being sued by rights owners is one thing, but being arrested and facing jail time quite another (five years for copyright crimes, though other charges made against Team Mega could result in 20 year jail terms).

There are parallels with what happened after the landmark Supreme Court ruling against Grokster in 2005, which caused several other American P2P file-sharing providers (though notably not LimeWire) to go offline almost immediately, amidst fears the owners and financial backers of such technology could also be sued for millions. Though this time around, not only are the stakes higher – it’s criminal rather than civil action – the impact goes beyond the US, given Mega was a Hong Kong-based company, and its executives were outside the United States when arrested.

That said, jurisdiction is still an issue – the US courts and authorities were in a better position to act against Mega because it had a key server base within the States. Sites with no operations of any kind within the USA may feel they are safe from a Mega-style swoop, though some of the file-transfer sites tweaking their operations this weekend focused on blocking users from America, and ending alliances with partners and resellers there, to put further distance between their set ups and the jurisdiction of the American courts.

The shut down of the Mega sites completely, coupled with the impact of the Mega swoop on other file-transfer services, is likely to immediately boost legitimate online content services, or so says the Recording Industry Association Of America, which responded to the action against Schmitz et al in a blog post. Although you probably can’t see at the moment because the trade body’s website is down again amidst ongoing hacktivist action. But the Association’s data chief, Joshua P Friedlander, said that, while he knew a portion of Mega users would find other unlicensed sources of content, web trends following the closure of LimeWire in 2010 suggest some, maybe many, will be forced to try out legit digital content platforms, and they might like what they see.

Citing post-LimeWire digital stats, Friedlander writes: “So where did those [LimeWire] users go? There’s good data that shows many turned to legal services. In 2010, digital album sales grew 13% while digital tracks only grew 1% according to The Nielsen Company, and many suggested that rapid growth in download sales was finished. But in 2011 [after LimeWire’s demise], digital sales rebounded, with digital album sales up 19% and digital tracks up 8% versus the prior year. [And] when Billboard looked at the data after the LimeWire shutdown it said ‘The spike in sales was immediate, notieable and lasting’. Collectively, this evidence strongly suggests that the shutdown of illegal sites helps create a thriving and diverse digital marketplace”.

Which is all lovely. Though, of course, the owners of file-transfer sites are not totally wrong when they insist that their services have legitimate uses, allowing users to store, distribute and share content they themselves own. And while it may be true that for some, maybe many, of these file-transfer platforms, the vast majority of users are accessing illegal content, what about those who do not?

There is a real demand for web platforms that allow users to share their own content with others, and while the Mega companies may have been dodgy in a number of ways, what about those file-transfer firms who have legit intents, but who may inadvertently enable some infringement? Of course that brings you back to the concerns stressed by opponents to the American web-blocking proposals in SOPA and PIPA last week – will basically legit services be lost in collateral damage?

Meanwhile some MegaUpload users are asking what happens to legit content they had uploaded to the Mega company servers, which are now offline? The Spanish branch of the Pirate Party has already announced its intent to pursue a civil action against the US authorities, who they believe have breached Spanish law by “misappropriating personal data” when they seized Mega’s servers. Supporting this action, the UK branch of the Pirate Party noted yesterday: “Much of the apparently infringing content held at MegaUpload is still available via other means, so closing the site has not had any serious impact on piracy. On the other hand, millions of archives stored entirely legitimately by private individuals and organisations are now offline – and this clearly causes significant personal and economic damage”.

Finally in Mega news for today, while hacking group Anonymous has been leading the hack-attacks against the US government and big copyright owners in the wake of the Mega arrests, it yesterday denied involvement in a project called Anonyupload.com, which reportedly plans to buy server space and to set up a service to replace MegaUpload. The venture is looking for donations to fund the purchase of server space in Russia, outside the jurisdiction of the US courts (though PayPal has shut down its account, so it’s not clear how donations can be made).

Despite seemingly being associated with the Anonymous movement by name, organisers of Anonyupload.com have admitted there is no official link, while some of those involved in Anonymous have warned the Mega-replacement project could be a scam mainly aiming to get cash off those who feel angry about the Mega-empire’s demise. However, Anonyupload.com subsequently denied it was a scam via Twitter, adding that any funds raised would be used to fund shared server space.

Only two songs nominated for Oscars this time

Awards

One of the more surprising things about yesterday’s Oscar nominations is that only two people are up for the Best Original Song award – Sergio Mendes for ‘Real In Rio’ from ‘Rio’ and Bret McKenzie, one half of ‘Flight Of The Conchords’, for his song ‘Man Or Muppet’ from the new Muppets movie.

Eligible songs from Elton John, Lady Gaga, Mary J Blige, Elvis Costello, Chris Cornell, Zooey Deschanel and Will.i.am all missed out on nominations because of the way this Oscar shortlist is worked out – members of the Academy’s music branch are asked to rate all eligible songs out of ten, and only those which get an average mark of 8.25 or more get nominated. Usually that means a shortlist of four or five tracks, but this year’s it’s only two.

Of course that means favourable odds for both Sergio and Bret. Commenting on his song and nomination, McKenzie told MTV: “I woke up to the phone ringing non-stop, so then I picked up my phone and saw the news. I was very excited. I don’t sound it, but I am very excited. I was amazed there were only two nominees. It seems unusual, but it’s grea because the odds are 50-50. The only thing that would be better, I guess, would be if there was only one nomination”.

On the nominated song, he continued: “I really wanted [this song] to be hilarious and beautiful, and I feel like we got that combination. It’s sincere but ridiculous. The idea of children singing the song at school cracks me up. The night we recorded it, we had a few drinks and [‘The Muppets’ co-writer and star] Jason Segel was predicting we’d get together at the Oscars, but he was joking. [Though maybe] that guy can see the future”.

In the Oscar’s Original Score category this year there are only four contenders, though that’s because John Williams has been nominated twice (it’s the seventh time that has happened). Following last year’s win for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s electronic score for ‘The Social Network’, all the nominated scores this time are more traditional orchestral affairs, Reznor and Ross’s most recent soundtrack, for ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, not appearing on the noms.

Williams is shortlisted for ‘The Adventures Of Tintin’ and ‘War Horse’, while also in the running are Ludovic Bource for ‘The Artist’, Alberto Iglesias for ‘Tinker Tailor Solider Spy’, and Howard Shore for ‘Hugo’.

The 2012 Academy Awards will be presented on 26 Feb.

Friday 27 January 2012, 11:50 | By CMU Editorial

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