Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:46 | By CMU Editorial

Beach House add new shows

Gigs & Festivals

Alt-pop duo Beach House, whose present ‘Frightened Eyes’ tour began last night in Glasgow, have also vowed to play a pair of extra London-based dates in spring 2013.

The band will thus appear across two successive nights at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire on 25 and 26 Mar in prolonged promotion of their new LP ‘Bloom’. Tickets go on sale tomorrow via www.beachhousebaltimore.com/tour

Christopher Owens to play solo LP in London

Gigs & Festivals

Girl-gone-solo Christopher Owens has just shared specifics of a new European mini-tour, as features but one British stop at St Giles’ Church in London on 10 Dec.

But what he may lack in choice of dates, he’ll compensate for in content, and will be playing his debut LP ‘Lysandre’ in its entirety at the show.

Tickets available now via this link.

Gaga manager to launch Pop Water

Brands & Merch

One line that has often been used in recent years at music business debates where the question of “how do we compete with free?” has been raised, is “well look at water, that’s free from the tap, yet people still buy expensive bottled water products”. Of course that sort of ignores the bill from Thames Water that lands on my door mat once a year, though possibly there’s still a workable analogy here: I pay five pounds a month to Spotify or my internet service provider for a basic music service, but I’ll still spend more money with the music industry for more convenience or a better product.

Anyway, whatever, if anyone wants to know what the music industry can learn from water sellers, or indeed the other way round, look no further than Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter, who has teamed up with photographer Terry Richardson to launch his own flavoured water brand, Pop Water. And this will be a soft drink with music in its DNA, apparently, which is scientifically impossible I think, but hey, presumably this liquid will be Gaga-approved, and that’s good enough for me.

With a soft-launch planned for the New Year in the US, Carter told Billboard: “We noticed none of the [soft drinks] brands had music in their DNA. We felt we could build something with relevance to music and pop culture if we built something from scratch. Whether it’s flying to Kentucky with food scientists or flying around the world sourcing the packaging, the last two years has been an education for us in the beverage space”.

Though Carter hopes that it won’t just be Pop Water’s pop credentials that will make the new brand a success. The drink will be, he says, a healthy alternative to those evil syrupy cola drinks. Noting a recent rule in New York banning the sale of mega-cups of fizzy drinks in restaurants and cinemas, Carter added: “We see what’s happening in New York with Mayor Bloomberg and this consciousness throughout the country where people want to get healthier, looking for alternatives. When we saw what was happening with Subway and how they completely disrupted McDonald’s… it’s a bigger movement than what we expected”.

As storm passes, US live industry works out long-term impact of Sandy

Business News Live Business

Needless to say, as America’s East Coast, and especially New York City, locked down in the middle of the night as the particularly strong Hurricane Sandy hit the mainland, bringing with it 99mph winds and widespread coastal flooding, few would have been thinking about the Journey concert they’d got tickets for tonight. But as the storm moves on and blows out, and the flooded rivers subside, the US live industry will be counting the costs as well as its blessings.

Obviously gigs due to take place in New York, and other towns and cities hit by Sandy, were cancelled last night and tonight as the hurricane approached, though the extent of impact the storm will ultimately have on the entertainment industry won’t be clear until the scale of damage to venues and public transport infrastructure is clear, and the timescales for restoring power to the large areas currently without electricity are known (overnight the Empire State Building was seemingly pretty much the only building in Manhattan where back-up power was still operational, making for a very spooky skyline). It will also take some time for air travel across the US to get back to normal after the shutdown of airports down the East Coast.

Asked about the impact of the then approaching storm, AEG Live President Randy Phillips told Billboard yesterday: “A major weather occurrence like Sandy is, obviously, disruptive both in the daily lives of the communities we work in and the clients we tour. It will have an impact on our budgets and earnings – if even in the short term, since we average a couple of hundred shows a week in those markets that have had to hunker down while the storm passes through”.

Paul Bassman of entertainment insurance firm Doodson also confirmed to Billboard that he’d had many clients calling in the last 48 hours about their cover for storm-caused cancellations. Not every venue and promoter will be covered for storm-related losses, and while most artist contracts will not require fees be paid when extreme weather causes cancellations, any promoter canning or postponing events will incur losses. The likes of AEG and Live Nation have contingency for such occurrences in their wider budges, though some smaller players may not.

So the impact of Sandy on the live industry will take some time to assess; not least because there’ll be much more pressing matters for all those affected by the storm in the immediate future.

Structure of combined Universal/EMI Nashville confirmed

Business News EMI Sale Timeline Industry People Labels & Publishers

Following the news that Universal had last week merged its Nashville division with that of EMI, one of the first big consolidations since the mega-major’s acquisition of the EMI record company was approved by regulators last month, details abut the newly combined unit have emerged.

The UMG Nashville division will have four units, two taking Universal brands and two EMI names – Capital Records, Mercury Records, MCA Records and EMI Records. Each imprint will have its own marketing and radio promotions teams, with back office functions like sales and finance being handled at a UMG Nashville level.

The division will headed by CEO Mike Dungan, who pre-empted the Universal/EMI merger by switching from the top job at Capitol Nashville to Universal’s equivalent division back in February. His top team will have a combination of Universal and former EMI staffers, with Tom Becci as COO, Brian Wright as cross-label VP A&R, Cindy Mabe as cross-label VP Of Marketing, and Royce Risser as cross label VP Of Promotions.

Billboard says about fifteen people will be let go as part of the merger of Universal/EMI’s Nashville operations, slightly more than originally thought. As previously reported, Universal’s US distribution division has also been merged with its EMI counterpart, leading to around 50 job losses, mainly thought not exclusively on the EMI side.

Sony digital VP heads to Amazon

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers

Sony Music’s New York-based Executive VP of Global Digital Business Michael Paull has taken a new job at Amazon, after four years with the major label, which he joined from Fox in 2008. In his new role he will be Amazon’s VP Of Content Acquisition & Business Development, according to All Things D, though quite what area of Amazon’s operations he will be focused on isn’t yet clear.

Proper appointments

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

UK-based independent music group Proper, probably best known for its distribution business, has announced a number of new appointments.

First, Aaron Black, formerly Head Of IT for Proper Music Distribution, becomes Technical Director for the Group, while Esther Tewkesbury has been promoted to the role of GM Product & Marketing within Proper Music Distribution.

Second, Tony Engle and Rob Hutchison have both stepped down from the Proper Music Group board, the latter to focus on his role within the firm’s wholesale team. At the same time Joe Cokell, a former CEO of one-time indie Sanctuary Records, joins the company’s board as a Non-Executive Director.

Confirming all this, the Group’s founder and Chairman, Malcolm Mills, told CMU: “2013 will be the 25th anniversary of me starting the company and this dynamic board of directors gives me great confidence for the future. There’s never been an easy time for business, but they will keep us in good shape to withstand the greater pressures and challenges that are in store for everyone”.

Edwyn Collins joins eMusic’s takeover programme

Digital

He having been handed the Outstanding Contribution gong at last night’s AIM Independent Music Awards, digital music service eMusic has announced that Edwyn Collins is its Contributing Editor this week, meaning users of the subscription-based download service will have access to an in-depth interview with the man himself, plus access to artists and tracks he is recommending.

Collins is the latest artist to take part in eMusic’s Takeover programme, following the likes of Bjork, Steve Lamacq and John Lydon. eMusic Europe MD Madeleine Milne told CMU: “We’re incredibly excited to have Edwyn Collins as honorary contributing editor of eMusic to celebrate his Outstanding Contribution To Music AIM Award. Both Edwyn and eMusic are passionate about discovering and sharing new and independent music from the UK. Our takeover series will continue to bring members closer to those artists who really define the genre they represent”.

Read an interview with Collins as part of the takeover here.

Kroeger brands Whibley a non-celebrity over ‘Chavril’ Halloween costume

And Finally

So, Avril Lavigne’s ridiculously-named past and present significant others, specifically her ex-husband Deryck Whibley and new fiancée Chad Kroeger, have been trading also-ridiculous slurs via the internet, and it’s all very silly.

It all began with a photo of Whibley and his post-Lavigne girlfriend Ari Cooper, who cross-dressed as Chavril/Krovigne for Halloween. It’s hilarious, by the way, as you’ll see via TMZ.

Anyway. Nickelback ‘Rockstar’ Chad’s also-hilarious reaction was to imply via Twitter that Sum 41’s Whibley wasn’t famous. Haha. Ahahahaha. The end.

Eddy Says: I can feel the love in this room

Eddy Says

Tonight the second annual Independent Music Awards, organised by the Association Of Independent Music, takes place in London. The ceremony will recognise both people both on the artist and business sides of the indie equation who have gone above and beyond to push non-major label music forward. Eddy will be there to present the Album Of The Year award, and here are the thoughts running through his mind as he prepares to take the stage.

Tonight is the AIM Awards, Oscar Night for Independent music, and I’m going. The invite says “dress to impress”. I have an insane McQueen gingham suit I bought in the January sales – to get a laugh at weddings, so I’m tempted to throw that on and claim I read “dress to confuse” on mine.

I’m honoured to have been asked to present the award for Album Of The Year, and the whole thing has got me thinking about independent music, and I want to try to raise a smile from those involved in it, with not just my amusing suit.

When music made ship-loads of money, it was a breeding ground for the worst kinds of people. The kind of people that money attracts. The proverbial sharks and jackals that Hunter S Thompson described so eloquently. But now the easy money has gone and people have to actually work hard for their living, the business of music has become a very different place. If you’re in it. You have to be in it for LOVE.

Independent music has never been better, never stronger, or more varied. I remember the days when you could count the independent labels on your fingers. Now almost every DJ has a label.

Almost every producer of music, or manager has a label. Almost every label has another label, and soon almost every youth brand will have a label. It’s open season. But the saturation at the precise time that an mp3 has become almost valueless, has given rise to a new breed of musical entrepreneur:

The labour of love.

Nay.

The label of love.

Because it’s so hard to make a fast buck from music, the people that are STILL in it, are in it for the right reasons, and because the new blood are coming into it so savvy, so aware, and with such realistic expectations, we have a business full of hard working, hustling, creative, supportive, nurturing people who LOVE what they do.

It’s infectious. Every week I get so much music, and while I concede there’s a lot of rubbish in there, the general quality level is absurdly high, and the vast majority of it comes from INDEPENDENT LABELS.

Of course the majors are onto them, they have to go where the money is, so the guys with their fingers on the pulse, like Black Butter, are finding themselves with big backing from the behemoths, and of course that’s great, and helps to make underground artists into ones that can headline festivals.

Now just stop and have a think about what’s out there, the lay of the land right now…

We still have the big independents, like XL, PIAS, Mute, 4AD, Infectious, Ministry Of Sound even, still dazzling with their signing and supporting of brilliant left-of-centre music and really connecting with their ‘customers’.

We still have the amazing heritage labels that make our music industry the coolest in the world, R&S, Warp, Heavenly, Mo Wax (in mothballs but considering a comeback next year).

We still have the boutique labels that continue to inspire, Ninja Tune, Big Dada, Wall Of Sound, Skint, Breakbeat Kaos, all of these names make people like us dewey eyed with nostalgia, for astonishing records in the past, and they’re still there, scouting, signing, nurturing and releasing great music today.

There are some incredible DJ labels out there too, the ones that started with a producer being positive, pro-active and making their own springboard. Ram, Hospital, Viper, all colossal in drum n bass, plus Never Say Die, Tempa, Dub Police, MTA, Don’t Play, Circus, Blood Music, Cheap Thrills, all leading the way in EDM.

We have indie labels like Cooking Vinyl who are adept at taking a band, with a bigger profile, that’s been chewed up and spat out by a major, and giving them a new, often better lease of life.

Then there are the little gems, that make the UK music culture so rich and so colourful, from Civil to Rinse, from Smokin Sessions to Bad Life, or from Toolroom to Tru Thoughts.

I’m sorry I can’t list them all, I’d be here all day… suffice to say that if you run, own, work at or support an independent label in this day and age, then you have my undying respect. You deserve a medal, a knighthood, a peerage in my world. You are a fucking HERO and if you’re there at the AIM Awards tonight, I would like it very much if you raise your glass to yourself, to each other, and have a well deserved drink, because you deserve it more than any other business people in the UK right now.

Check out CMU interviews with the bosses of six indie labels up for awards tonight – Bella Union, Alcopop!, Hyperdub, Distiller, Hospital and Pink Mist – here.

Eddy x

Eddy’s upcoming DJ sets:

14 Nov: Birmingham, Institute (supporting DJ Fresh)
15 Nov: London, Queen Of Hoxton
16 Nov: Hatfield, The Forum (supporting DJ Fresh)
17 Nov: The Big Reunion (Skegness, Butlins Skyline)
20 Nov: Bristol, Academy (supporting DJ Fresh)
24 Nov: The Big Reunion (Skegness, Butlins Skyline)

Losers upcoming gigs:

30 Nov: Reading, Sub 89 (supporting Jack Beats)

CMU Planner – w/c 29 Oct 2012

CMU Planner

Mercury Prize

A round up of music and music business events happening in the next seven days…

Mercury Prize. The Mercury Prize will be handed out to one lucky winner this Thursday. Who could it be? I reckon Richard Hawley should win for recognition of his work with The Longpigs. They really were a great band and didn’t get enough recognition back in the day. I know the Mercury is supposed to be for a specific album, but come on, it’s not like Elbow actually won it for ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’, is it? Sometimes they have to give it to someone who should have had it ages ago. Oh, and Hawley’s ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ album is actually pretty good too, which is just a bonus.

MOBOs. Following the Mercury, the MOBO Awards will take place in Liverpool this coming Saturday. Leading the nominations is Emeli Sandé with five nods, followed by Labrinth, Plan B and Rita Ora with four each, and Ed Sheeran with three. AlunaGeorge are up for Best Newcomer too – we’d quite like to see them win that.

AIM Independent Music Awards. Before the Mercury and MOBOs there’s another awards ceremony this week. This very evening, in fact. The AIM Independent Music Awards will be honouring artists and labels in the indie sector for the second year. If you missed our interviews with nominated indie label bosses over the last two weeks, you can catch up with them all right here.

Kickstarter UK launch. Kickstarter will go live in the UK this Wednesday, and creatives or entrepreneurs looking for financial support for new projects can register with the service now. Previously non-US based individuals wanting to use the crowd-sourcing website needed a partner or company based in America, but now us Brits can use the service without that extra hassle. Could you be the next Amanda Palmer? Maybe you could.

Grooveshark launching artist profiles. This Thursday, Grooveshark will launch its new artist profiles, which aim to get musicians on board by allowing them to collect cash donations via micropayments service Flattr. It will be interesting to see whether any artists embrace that new element of Grooveshark. The introduction of the monetised artist profiles is presumably part of the controversial digital firm’s bid to present itself as a champion of artists, despite its various legal disputes with the ‘big bad major music companies’.

New releases. It’s less than two months until Christmas now, a fact marked by the release of Cee Lo Green‘s Christmas album, which you can purchase from today. If you fancy something a little less festive, try the new album from Ital Tek, or even the new mini-album from Lowell. Singles-wise, you can get the first of a new series from My Chemical Romance featuring tracks from an album they shelved because they thought it was rubbish, plus new shortform releases from The Joy Formidable, LCMDF and Brian McFadden.

Gigs. The number of gigs and tours happening at the moment is still ridiculous, amongst the artists playing one-off shows or kicking off tours this week are Jack White, Tinchy Stryder, Alt-J, Robyn, The Joy Formidable, DOOM, Efterklang, Dry The River, Spiritualized, Four Tet, Kate Nash, Polica, Maximo Park, Here We Go Magic, Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster, Twin Shadow, Tame Impala, Opossom, Two Gallants, How To Dress Well, Halls and Ratking.

Approved: Sharon Van Etten – Tell Me

CMU Approved

On 12 Nov, Jagjaguwar will re-release a deluxe two-disc edition of Sharon Van Etten’s third LP ‘Tramp’, pairing each original track with its predating studio demo. The set also features sleeve notes transcribed from Van Etten’s diary, a hand drawn self portrait, and – since it’s a special occasion – an extra demo titled ‘Tell Me’.

Crowning a year strewn with deserved praise for ‘Tramp’s real and credible lyrical candour, ‘Tell Me’ flaunts its frailty like a badge, keeping back the artless pain in Van Etten’s voice – the way it pleads and pierces, falters at the top-note tremolo – in a whorl of acoustic guitar strums.

Hear ‘Tell Me’, and also view the unnerving video for Sharon’s new single ‘Magic Chords’, just here:

Universal EMI lay-offs begin

Business News EMI Sale Timeline Industry People Labels & Publishers Top Stories

And so it begins. The first strand of the recently merged Universal/EMI to feel the impact of the merger is distribution in the US, where 50 staff have been let go.

According to Billboard, Universal merged EMI’s American distribution division with its own late last week, resulting in 50 redundancies, most from the former EMI Music Services unit. Insiders have told reporters that they’ve been informed there could be further job cuts to come in distribution in the next three months, though a senior Universal exec has denied those reports.

Some EMI distribution staff will move to new roles within the equivalent Universal Music department, mainly to manage the distribution of releases by Capitol, the main EMI label stateside which now operates as a division of the mega-major, and releases from which will be handled by Universal Music Group Distribution moving forward. That includes Joan Kane, Saul Shapiro, David Miller and Dominic Pandiscia, the latter formerly the head of what was EMI Music Services in North America.

In addition to the cuts in distribution, the EMI and Universal Nashville divisions were also merged last week, resulting in around ten further redundancies.

Confirming the cuts, Universal said in a statement: “Following our acquisition of EMI Recorded Music, UMG will be expanding key creative areas as part of our ongoing integration. While this restructuring will unfortunately result in some redundancies, it is essential to UMG becoming an even more agile and efficient company, not just for this year or the next, but for years to come. Our goal is to maximise the resources available for reinvestment in our labels so they can do what they do best: develop and promote artists, increase the output of new music and expand opportunities for digital innovation”.

Universal top man Lucian Grainge promised the major’s parent company Vivendi that he could find £100 million in cost savings by combining the Universal and EMI businesses, and remains committed to that pledge despite the mega-major having to sell off over half of EMI’s assets in Europe. Meaning plenty more of these kinds of announcements are expected in the next few months, though in Europe there is the added complication of the sell-off of those units being divested as part of Universal’s deal with European competition regulators.

Mega v2 to launch exactly one year after v1’s shutdown

Digital MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

Ever the showman, Kim ‘Dotcom’ Schmitz has announced that his new digital venture, to be known simply as Mega, will go live on 19 Jan 2013, a year to the day since the American authorities took the internet maverick’s original business, MegaUpload, offline amidst allegations of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering.

As previously reported, Mega will be an enhanced version of MegaUpload, the controversial file-transfer and video-sharing platform that the music and movie industries accused of being a massive hub for piracy.

However, any files uploaded to the new Mega digital locker will be automatically encrypted, with a unique unlock key provided to the user, which – Dotcom and his associates reckon – will protect them from any liability for contributory copyright infringement, because the Mega company will have no way of knowing what files are being stored on its servers, and so will not be able to control the distribution of infringing material over its networks.

Mega will also be based outside the US, and in multiple locations in different territories. It was because most of the MegaUpload servers were stored in facilities in the States that the American authorities were able to so swiftly and resolutely take the original Mega service offline when they launched their criminal action at the start of the year.

Dotcom had previously indicated that the all-new Mega would go live this year, though announced this weekend that “the new Mega will launch exactly one year after the raid”. Assuming it does, that will mean Mega v2 is up and running before the US’s attempt to extradite Dotcom and three other former Mega execs from New Zealand has reached the courts there. Even if that was successful, it could then take years for the criminal case to reach a court in America.

It’s thought Dotcom wants to expand the range of services the new Mega offers, and the extra add-ons may include Megabox, the direct-to-fan platform he has also been developing. Whether the new venture can ever reach the scale of the original MegaUpload remains to be seen.

While Dotcom says he has investors lined up, some potential backers will be wary of investing while the criminal case against the original Mega company is ongoing. Plus the encryption system will arguably make it harder for users to use the Mega network to access free music and movie files stored in other users’ digital lockers, and the music and movie industries would argue that it was that easily accessible free content, rather than any of the technical services the platform offered, that made the original MegaUpload such a big hit.

Either way, 19 Jan 2013 could be interesting.

Gary Glitter arrested as part of Savile investigation

Legal

One-time popstar Gary Glitter was arrested this weekend and questioned by police investigating the child abuse allegations made against the late Jimmy Savile.

As of late last week, police confirmed they were pursuing 400 lines of enquiry relating to a possible 300 abuse victims of Savile, who died a year ago today. Victims across the country, mainly female, though some male too, have come forward to make allegations about the DJ and TV star after the screening of an ITV documentary at the start of the month, in which a handful of women first publicly claimed to have been sexually abused by Savile when they were young teenagers.

With allegations that some of the abuse happened on BBC premises, and with the embarrassment that the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ canned its own investigation into sex abuse allegations against Savile late last year, just before the Beeb aired tribute shows to its former star, the Corporation has also launched two independent investigations into its handling of allegations against the DJ, both recent and in the past.

Hospitals where Savile fund-raised and also, seemingly, abused young girls, are also likely to investigate past management decisions regards the presenter’s access to patients, while two charities set up in the star’s name have been wound down. Even family members of Savile are now talking to the media about their disgust regards their relation’s conduct.

Since the Savile scandal erupted, it’s been clear others were likely to be investigated as police responded to allegations against the former DJ, with allegations reportedly also being made against other stars and behind-the-scenes players from the both broadcasting and music industries who were linked to Savile in his hey day in the 1970s.

And Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, was always high up the list of contenders for arrest, given that Karin Ward, one of the first women to go public about Savile’s abuse of her and others at the former Duncroft Approved School For Girls in Surrey, alleged in an interview with the BBC that she had once seen the former popstar having sex with another school girl in Savile’s dressing room at the BBC.

Gadd’s pop career, of course, all but came to an end when he was jailed for four months in 1999 for downloading thousands of images of child abuse to his PC (notably, as he fell out favour, one of the few media personalities to defend Gadd’s actions was Savile). He subsequently fled the country, eventually residing in Vietnam, where he served more time in jail over allegations of sexual abuse of minors, though initial charges of child rape, which would have resulted in the death penalty, were dropped. After completing his jail term, the former glam rocker was deported back to the UK.

Gadd has always denied any wrongdoing in the various child abuse allegations made against him, and denies the latest allegations too. He was bailed until mid-December after being questioned in a London police station yesterday.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that a man “in his 60s” had been arrested yesterday as part of Operation Yewtree, the Met’s investigation into the plethora of claims against Savile. On Gadd’s arrest, the police spokesman said: “The man, from London, was arrested at approximately 7.15am on suspicion of sexual offences. The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed ‘Savile and others'”.

According to the Mirror, “many more people” will be quizzed in the coming days regards the allegations against Savile and others said to have abused teenagers with him. Mark Williams-Thomas, the former police detective who led the ITV News investigation into claims against the late star, has reportedly said some of those that face child abuse claims related to the Savile scandal are “people of significant standing”.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the pop courts, Gadd’s estranged son Paul was among the latest batch of celebrities to begin legal proceedings against News International last week, over allegations journalists at the News Of The World hacked his voicemail in the year’s following his father’s conviction for downloading images of child abuse.

The News Corp-owned newspaper publisher is still facing mountains of legal action relating to phone hacking undertaken by staff at the now defunct Sunday paper, though in PR terms some of the heat has been taken off the company as its rival, Trinity Mirror, faced, for the first time, its own litigation over allegations of phone hacking last week.

Britney’s mum repeats allegations against her daughter’s former ‘manager’

Business News Legal

Britney Spears’ mum Lynne repeated allegations against her daughter’s one-time manager in court on Friday as Sam Lutfi’s legal action against the Spears family continued.

As previously reported, Lutfi, who was very close to Britney Spears during her very public mental breakdown in 2007/8, is suing his former friend’s family over allegations Lynne defamed him in a 2008 book, that Britney’s father Jamie assaulted him the same year, and that he is due a cut of the popstar’s earnings from that time because he worked as her manager.

Mrs Spears told the courts on Friday that Lutfi himself admitted to her in January 2008 to crushing drugs into her daughter’s food and disabling the pop star’s phone lines during her breakdown. She says Lutfi claimed he was feeding her daughter drugs in a bid to help her sleep. The Spears parents blame Lutfi for worsening their daughter’s mental well-being during that time, by cutting her off from friends and family and making her more dependent on drugs. Lutfi maintains he was trying to help Britney overcome both her drug addition and inner demons.

Although conceding that she was already estranged from her daughter when Lutfi entered Britney’s life, and admitting that she didn’t contact police over her fears regards his caring for her daughter, she says that she became increasingly worried the more Lutfi seemed to control Britney’s life.

As previously reported, the Spears family deny both Lutfi’s defamation and assault allegations, while claiming that the claimant did not have a legitimate management contract with Britney, and did not fulfil any of the roles you would expect a manager to handle, so has no legitimate claim over the popstar’s earnings from that time.

Britney herself will not testify at the court case, and insiders say friends and family are trying to stop the pop star, who has since overcome her personal issues and begun to rebuild her pop career, from reading coverage of it, to save her from having to relive the events of 2007 and 2008.

Agreement reached regarding Houston estate

Artist News Legal

Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown has reportedly reached an agreement with her grandmother and aunt regards getting access to her late mother’s assets.

As previously reported, Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston and sister-in-law Marion Houston, as executor’s of the singer’s estate, filed legal papers earlier this month requesting that the courts restructure the way in which Bobbi Kristina will gain access to her mother’s fortune, fearing that the teenager may “waste her assets” and be subject to “undue influence” if given access to too many funds in one go.

But, according to TMZ, the older Houstons have now had the case dismissed after seemingly reaching a deal with Bobbi Kristina herself regards a pay-out plan.

Whitney died in an LA hotel room in February.

4Music 2012 Video Honours Awards to air next month

Awards Media

4Music has announced its third annual Video Honours Awards, the nominees for which will be unveiled via six Miquita Oliver-fronted shows over the next two weeks (in fact, the nominations for Best Boy were announced on Saturday). A two hour results show will then air on 24 Nov, with votes being collected via 4music.com until midnight on 16 Nov.

Dave Young, Programming Director at Box TV, told CMU: “The 4Music Video Honours Awards have proven to be a massive success in their first two years. They received excellent viewing and voting figures, and saw One Direction receive their first ever award. We are excited to see what other fresh new talent 4Music can honour with a gong”.

He added: “2012 has been all about the new talent, with the likes of Conor Maynard’s number one debut album and Emili Sandé bursting onto the global music stage at the Olympics. It’s also been a successful year for the girls; Cheryl made a comeback, and Rihanna, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj dominated the charts. This year’s awards are set to be the toughest yet”.

Madonna is best selling female artist ever in UK

Artist News

The UK music charts are 60 years old next month, and to celebrate the Official Charts Company has provided us with a list of the ten best selling female acts in British chart history (based on single sales). Madonna leads by quite a margin, though a much younger pop lady, Ms Robyn Rihanna Fenty, comes in second, and could, the OCC reckons, overtake Madge in a couple of years time.

Here’s the list (based on total UK single sales as of this weekend as listed by OCC below, with best selling single to date in brackets)…

1. Madonna – 17.8m (Into The Groove)
2. Rihanna – 11.4m (We Found Love)
3. Kylie Minogue – 10.2m (Can’t Get You Out Of My Head)
4. Whitney Houston – 8.5m (I Will Always Love You)
5. Lady Gaga – 7.329m (Poker Face)
6. Britney Spears – 7.324m (Baby One More Time)
7. Beyonce – 6.9m (If I Were A Boy)
8. Celine Dion – 6.7m (My Heart Will Go On)
9. Mariah Carey – 6.62m (All I Want For Xmas Is You)
10. Olivia Newton John – 6.61m (You’re The One That I Want)

NOTE: This story amended at 3pm on 29 Oct to correct some errors.

Solange to release EP

Releases

CMU approved alt-diva Solange Knowles is releasing an EP, you all (well, she’s calling it an EP, there’s seven tracks). She’s doing it digitally via Terrible Records on 27 Nov.

‘True’, as she’s titled it, has been supervised in-studio by Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes – who has co-writing credits on all seven of its tracks – and Charli XCX/Sky Ferreira collaborator Ariel Reichstadt.

And this is what its cover ‘art’ looks like, I mean really.

Tracklisting:

Losing You
Some Things Never Seem To Fucking Work
Locked In Closets
Lovers In The Parking Lot
Don’t Let Me Down
Look Good With Trouble
Bad Girls

In the meantime, this is the B-side to the recent single release of ‘True’ track ‘Losing You’. It’s ‘Sleep In The Park’:

Foals detail “dirtier, swampier” LP

Releases

Yannis Philippakis’s baroque cardigan has loudly proclaimed release details of the band’s third LP ‘Holy Fire’. Apparently, it sounds “dirtier, swampier, and more booty shaking” than their last one, 2010’s Mercury-nominated ‘Total Life Forever’, a claim we’ll all be able to make sense of when it’s made available on 11 Feb 2013. Or maybe at their previously mentioned November/December live shows where, as it turns out, they will have a new record to pre-promote.

John Talabot and Pional score Spanish marathon

Releases

I hadn’t realised that composing soundtracks to marathons was a ‘thing’, but then again, and much as I hate to remember it, I guess Muse’s OTT Olympics theme was a similar concept.

Anyway. Continental Europeans being much more measured in their sonic sensibilities than Muse, Spanish house DJs John Talabot and Pional – who also collaborated on Talabot’s ‘fIn’ LP track ‘Destiny’ – have released an official single to be played to participants in Valencia’s Divina Pastora Marathon.

‘Brave’ will be broadcast at the race’s critical 22 mile mark as a means of “giving all the runners a sonic push when they’re running the final metres”. Keep pace with Talabot and Pional’s ‘Braves’ via this Fact-created SoundCloud player:

Robbie Williams to switch on Oxford Street Christmas lights

Gigs & Festivals

Love-or-hate popstar Robbie Williams is pressing an ‘on’ button wired to Oxford Street’s Marmite-sponsored Christmas lights a week today, coincidentally the same day his new album is out. He’s also going to sing live, as are Leona Lewis and boyband Lawson. But unlike Robbie, Leona and Lawson aren’t allowed to touch the light switch.

The Heart FM-hosted concert/switch-on is ticketed, with free tickets being given out via the London-outpost of the station this week.

This is Robbie’s pretty unimaginative switching-on-the-lights quote: “Oxford Street is a fantastic place to do your Christmas shopping and it’s great to be part of the celebrations. I can’t believe I am turning on the lights! ‘Take The Crown’ is released on the same day – 5 Nov – and I’m looking forward to performing for the amazing crowds on London’s Oxford Street”.

Tom Vek, Charli XCX, Breton playing Fred Perry party

Gigs & Festivals

Tom Vek is making a rare live appearance as headliner of a Fred Perry Sub-Sonic night at London’s Garage on 21 Nov. He’ll share a stage (not at the same time) with Charli XCX, Breton and Coves, so therein is represented a genre to suit anyone at all.

Tickets are selling fast at this link.

Tru Thoughts taking over London Koko

Gigs & Festivals

A convoy of artists signed to Brighton-based imprint Tru Thoughts, as features Quantic, Hidden Orchestra, Anchorsong, Zed Bias and Wrongtom Meets Deemas J, will play a special Soundcrash-hosted label night at London’s Koko next year.

Says Tru Thoughts boss Robert Luis of the occasion: “As an independent label trying to push new and creative music it is great to get all the artists together in a nice big venue and showcase the different sounds that we support. These Koko events bring the acts to a diverse and passionate audience who love a good party and appreciate artists that push their own unique musical agenda”.

So that’s a lot to take in, but you have until 23 Feb 2013 – the night it’s all happening – to do so. Info here.

Festival line-up additions – 29 Oct 2012

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

BEARDED THEORY, Kedleston Hall Park, Derby, 17-19 May 2013: Reverend And The Makers, Seth Lakeman, Asian Dub Foundation, Levellers, The Farm, Goldblade, Ezio, New Groove Formation, Karine Polwart, The Bee Keepers, Life & Times Of Brothers Hogg, Fat Cue, Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons, Eighteen Nightmares In The Lux. www.beardedtheory.co.uk

BUGGED OUT WEEKENDER, Butlins Resort, Bognor Regis, 18-20 Jan 2013: Chemical Brothers (DJ set). www.buggedoutweekender.net

DESERTFEST, various venues, Camden, London, 26-28 Apr 2013: Dozer, Pagan Altar, Wo Fat, Belzebong, Low Rider, Ramesses. thedesertfest.com/london

Universal UK chief to speak at radio conference

Business News Education & Events Labels & Publishers Media

Universal UK top man David Joseph will be interviewed by Lauren Laverne at this year’s Radio Festival, the big convention for radio types that will take place in Salford next month. The 6music presenter will question the Universal Music chief about how the mega-major’s UK division views the role of radio now and in the future as a medium for getting music to the masses.

Confirming the booking, Absolute Radio’s Clive Dickens, in his guise as Chair of the Radio Festival, told reporters: “I have known David for over fifteen years and I’m thrilled he has agreed to share his unique experience for the first time at this year’s Radio Festival. He has been at the centre of the music industry during its biggest period of change and evolution and has unrivalled in-depth knowledge of this highly creative market. His appearance will provide a rare opportunity for delegates to listen to his thoughts and get the inside track on one of Europe’s leading music content companies”.

White Fence talks new label, names first release

Business News Labels & Publishers Releases

To reiterate the above headline, Tim Presley of the excellent lo-fi-ites White Fence has started his own label. The first physical release by that label, Birth Records, will be songwriter Jessica Pratt’s debut LP, a quite beautiful track from which you can hear now:

Presley, who established the label specifically to have others appreciate Pratt’s “classic sounding” voice, says: “Her music feels like I have found a lost LP of an old forgotten mystical folk singer, that feeling of discovering a record all by myself: Without the help of friends or the internet. Like Stevie Nicks singing over David Crosby demos, with the intimacy of a Sibylle Baier. I am in love with it. So much, that I saved up and threw all my money to get it into this world. I actually care about it, no matter which way the winds blow”.

Ah, that is nice. Details via birthrcrds.com

Yoko didn’t cause The Beatles split, says Macca

And Finally

Yoko Ono was not responsible for causing The Beatles to split, whatever past histories of rock n roll may have otherwise led you to believe. Or so says Paul McCartney, in a new interview with David Frost to be broadcast by Al Jazeera’s UK channel next month.

McCartney says that it was Lennon’s changing view on the world, and on his creative output, that ultimately led to him wanting to end The Beatles in 1969, rather than any tensions caused directly by his relationship with Ono. He tells Frost in the interview: “She certainly didn’t break the group up – I don’t think you can blame her for anything”.

Ono did have a big influence on Lennon’s changing outlook, of course, though that in turn enabled some of his subsequent solo work to be conceived, McCartney reckons, including his former collaborator’s most famous solo track ‘Imagine’. Macca adds: “When Yoko came along, part of her attraction was her avant garde side, her view of things. She showed him another way to be, which was very attractive to him”.

CMU Digest – 26 Oct 2012

Business News Week In Five

The five biggest stories in the music business this week…

01: First round bids were in for the EMI publishing catalogues set for divestment, according to the New York Post. The Sony-led consortium that bought the EMI publishing company earlier this year agreed to sell off the Virgin and Famous US catalogues, worth between $130m and $150m, in order to get European regulator approval for their acquisition. The Post says BMG, Primary Wave, G2 Investment Group, Ole and Because Music have all submitted bids, and that more parties may join the race when a second round of bidding kicks off next week. CMU report | New York Post report

02: The MAMA Group took a stake in All Tomorrows’ Parties. The festivals and venue operator, still part of the HMV Group for the time being, bought 50% of the ATP business, which was relaunched by its founders in July after a difficult year for the UK festivals sector forced their original company into administration. The MAMA team will help further develop the ATP brand in the UK and beyond, while the ATP promoters will also get involved in other MAMA ventures including Lovebox and The Great Escape. CMU report | NME report

03: AEG confirmed the roll out of AXS.com in the UK. The live promoter launched its own ticketing platform in the US last year, in response to its existing ticketing provider, Ticketmaster, merging with its main rival Live Nation in 2010. It will arrive in the UK as a primary ticket seller for events at the AEG-operated O2 dome, beginning with two Girls Aloud dates, presumably with plans to become a fully-fledged player in the UK ticketing market. CMU report | Pollstar report

04: It was revealed that the BPI plans to try to block three more file-sharing websites. The record industry trade body has written to all the major UK internet service providers requesting they block access to Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents on copyright grounds. No one expects any ISP to comply, but the letters indicate that legal action to secure injunctions forcing web-blocks against all three sites is on the agenda. The BPI successfully got web blocks put in place against The Pirate Bay earlier this year. Meanwhile in Ireland this week, it looked like the BPI’s Irish counterpart had won a similar injunction against the Bay, but then ISP UPC said its customers had temporarily lost access to the controversial file-sharing site because of tests on its network and not because of any injunction. BPI story | UPC story

05: AEG asked that leaked emails be withdrawn from its legal battle with the Jackson family. The live giant accuses people linked to the Jacksons of leaking embarrassing emails between the firm’s employees and associates, dating from 2009, to the LA Times, which showed concerns and problems AEG staff had regards Michael Jackson, who at that point was preparing for his ill-fated ‘This Is It’ residency in London. The concerns in the emails ran contrary to AEG’s official statements at the time. The Jacksons are suing AEG, claiming the live firm is jointly liable for the late king of pop’s death as employers of the doctor the criminal justice system said caused the singer’s demise. AEG says Jackson himself appointed and managed the negligent medic. The leaked emails were seemingly shared with the Jacksons as part of preparation for that legal battle, and AEG says that the family broke the rules by making them public, and therefore the correspondences should not now be submissible as evidence when the case finally gets to court. The Jacksons deny leaking the mails. CMU report | CNN report

On CMU this week, we continued to prepare for the independent sector’s big awards show on Monday by chatting to three inspirational indie label leaders, Sam Dyson from Distiller, Chris Goss from Hospital and Simon Morley from Pink Mist and Blood & Biscuits. Approved were Talk Normal, Bleeding Heart Narrative, Chromatics and Feathers.

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:46 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Beach House

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:45 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Christopher Owens

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:44 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Lady Gaga | Pop Water | Terry Richardson | Troy Carter

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:43 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Doodson | Hurricane Sandy | Paul Bassman | Randy Phillips

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:42 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Capital Records | EMI | MCA Records | Mercury Records | Mike Dungan | Universal Music

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:41 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Amazon | Michael Paull

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:40 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Aaron Black | Esther Tewkesbury | Proper Music | Rob Hutchison | Tony Engle

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:39 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Edwyn Collins | eMusic

Tuesday 30 October 2012, 11:38 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Avril Lavigne | Chad Kroeger | Deryck Whibley

Monday 29 October 2012, 15:03 | By Eddy Temple-Morris

READ MORE ABOUT: AIM Independent Music Awards | Association of Independent Music (AIM) | Eddy Temple Morris

Monday 29 October 2012, 12:00 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: AIM Independent Music Awards | Grooveshark | Kickstarter | Mercury Prize | MOBO Awards

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:59 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Sharon Van Etten

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:58 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: EMI | Lucian Grainge | Universal Music | Vivendi

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:57 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Kim Dotcom | Mega | MegaUpload

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:56 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | Gary Glitter | Jimmy Savile

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:55 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Britney Spears | Lynn Spears | Sam Lutfi

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:54 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Bobbi Kristina Brown | Cissy Houston | Whitney Houston

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:53 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: 4music | 4Music Video Honours Awards

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:52 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Madonna | Official Charts Company

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:51 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Solange Knowles

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:50 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Foals

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:49 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: John Talabot | Pional

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:48 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Robbie Williams

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:47 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Breton | Charli XCX | Coves | Fred Perry | Tom Vek

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:46 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Tru Thoughts

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:45 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Bearded Theory | Bugged Out Weekender | Desertfest

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:44 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: David Joseph | Lauren Laverne | Radio Festival | Universal Music

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:43 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Birth Records | White Fence

Monday 29 October 2012, 11:42 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: John Lennon | Paul McCartney | The Beatles | Yoko Ono

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:37 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | ATP | AXS | British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | EMI | EMI Music Publishing | MAMA Group | Michael Jackson