Friday 26 October 2012, 12:37 | By Andy Malt

CMU Beef Of The Week #133: Neil Young v Bono

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

We’ve been a little spoiled for possible beefs this week. There was Jake Bugg’s hilarious claim that his music is better than “that ‘X-Factor shit”; a man suing Justin Bieber over bizarre allegations the pop teen stole his credit card to pay for penis enlargement surgery; HMV’s attempt to eradicate from its stores anyone who might look like they work in a record shop; Noel Gallagher’s loaded compliment to Beady Eye; and Lee Ryan’s epic departure from Twitter. In the end though, one tweet from Neil Young amused us enough to rise to the top of the list.

Three little words was all it took: “Who is Bono?”

See, when he’s not banging on about his studio quality digital audio company Pono and its ridiculous triangular music players, he’s quite funny. It seems a shame to give this any context, but I guess we should.

Taking part in a Twitter Q&A with fans Young was asked which new bands he rates, to which he responded that he likes Foster The People. Puzzled by this, another fan asked: “What do you like about Foster The People? Bono said he likes them, too… it is surprising two super stars like them”.

It’s not that surprising that two famous people, out of all the famous people in the world, might both like a popular band, but whatever. This drew Young’s succinct response, which failed to answer the question at all. Let’s look at it again: “Who is Bono?”

It’s the brevity I enjoy. Actually, brevity was a feature of the whole Q&A, which made it hard to tell if Young was really that into it. Many of his answers came back simply “yes”, “no” or “maybe”, though a deadpan humour did emerge when asked if he would forgive someone for passing out at one of his concerts (“First you must forgive yourself”), how someone should prepare for their first Crazy Horse show (“Bring oats”), what he’s currently reading (“It wasn’t that good… so I stopped reading it”), and the meaning of the title of his new album ‘Psychedelic Pill’ (“It is a pill that induces psychedelia”).

He also found time to call a fan a “sad bastard” and closed the Q&A by asking himself a question (which he failed to answer properly). Maybe the fact that the aforementioned Pono player is a shape that’s impossible to put in your pocket is just some deadpan gag we’ve all failed to get. It’s seems like the most likely explanation. Rumours that Pono is named after the noise people make when they laugh while thinking about Bono are as yet unconfirmed.

Approved: Simian Mobile Disco and WANG present Delicatessen at Fire

Club Tip CMU Approved

Simian Mobile Disco and underground party masters WANG join forces to bring you a gargantuan line up. Joining SMD (who will deliver what is billed as an ‘exclusive London live show’) will be Rebuild, aka A Guy Called Gerald and Graham Massey, aka two-thirds of the original 808 State line up – for me, this is the reunion we should be talking about this year! The two dance music pioneers will take to the stage together once more, armed with just a collection of classic Roland hardware machines. Expect to be bleeped into acid house paradise.

Tactical support comes from Exit boss and all round talent dBridge, plus BNJNM, Mark E, Radioactive Man, Alexander Robotnick and Wang’s head honcho Electro Elvis. All in all, what a line up! Plus this venue has recently had a major refit with a thumping Void soundsystem and LED dancefloor installed. Could be one of the best nights of the year.

Saturday 27 Oct, Fire, South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, SW8, 11pm – 6am, £15 in advance, info at www.firelondon.net

First round bids in for EMI Publishing catalogues on the block

Business News EMI Sale Timeline Labels & Publishers Top Stories

BMG, Primary Wave and the G2 Investment Group are all first-round bidders for the EMI publishing catalogues that are on the block as part of the Sony-led acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, according to the New York Post.

As previously reported, in April this year the European Commission gave its approval to the Sony-led bid to buy the EMI music publishing company subject to the divestment of a small number of EMI’s publishing assets, namely the Virgin and Famous UK catalogues, which include songs by Tears For Fears, Culture Club, Bryan Ferry, Devo and Duffy.

Sony’s EMI Music Publishing acquisition subsequently went ahead in late June after getting US regulator approval, and conversations with up to twenty possible bidders for the Virgin/Famous catalogues began last month.

According to the Post, BMG, which lost out to Sony in the bidding for the EMI publishing business outright last year, has now submitted an offer for the two catalogues back on the block, as expected. As have US-based music company Primary Wave, which came into being through the acquisition of a stake in the Kurt Cobain catalogue in 2006, and New York-based finance firm G2 Investment Group.

The Post reckons offers have also been submitted by Toronto-based indie publisher Ole and Paris-based Because Music, and that further bidders may enter the race in the second round, which kicks off on Monday, including Saban Capital Group, Guggenheim Partners and Warner Music Group.

Specifics about individual deals are not known, of course, though sources have valued the catalogues between $130 million and $150 million. The sale is being overseen by lawyer John Branca, one of the executors of the Michael Jackson estate, which, of course, owns half of the Sony music publishing business Sony/ATV.

Because the bid for EMI Music Publishing involved other investors in addition to Sony and the Jackson Estate, technically the former EMI division remains a standalone entity, though in terms of day-to-day operations it has been merged with the Sony/ATV business.

Conrad Murray could be out of jail by Christmas

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal

Conrad Murray, the doctor jailed for causing the death of Michael Jackson through negligence, could be out of jail by Christmas, his lawyer has claimed.

The former medic is currently serving a four year prison sentence in LA after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The judge who heard Murray’s trial was severe in his summing up of the case after the jury delivered its guilty verdict, claiming the doctor had never shown any remorse for his actions and should therefore serve as long a prison sentence as the law allowed.

However, it was speculated from the start that Murray, who still claims he is innocent of the involuntary manslaughter charges, would actually serve the majority of his prison term under house arrest, because of overcrowding in the Californian prison system.

The Sun quotes Valerie Wass, who is now seemingly representing Murray, as saying: “I hope Conrad may be allowed to come home for Christmas. It is ridiculous he has been in there for a year. He is not dangerous, violent or the type you need to take off the streets to punish him. They have already stripped him of his medical license and it is a waste of everybody’s time and money to have him in there”.

Axl Rose would vote for Obama if he could be bothered

Artist News

Axl Rose has endorsed Barrack Obama for a second term as president of the United States, though he says he probably won’t bother voting because everyone in California agrees with him.

Appearing on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, the Guns N Roses frontman said: “I’m in California, and it usually leans democratic, and that’s usually where I’m leaning anyway. I’m not helping, but I would lean Democrat. I would lean Obama”.

Democracy at work there. Come on Axl, if California told you to jump of a cliff would you assume that it was going to do it anyway and not bother? Wait, sorry, I’m not sure that works.

Well, whatever, you can go and watch Axl saying those words here, or below you can watch a really terrible ‘unplugged’ version of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ that Rose delivered at a recent charity concert. It’s hard to choose the worst bit of this video, but I think it’s probably when Axl tries to wiggle…

Kylie manager to be honoured at A&M awards

Awards Business News Management & Funding

The Music Managers Forum has announced that Terry Blamey, the long-time manager of Kylie Minogue, will be presented with the Peter Grant Award, a lifetime achievement type prize, at the upcoming Spotify-supported Artist & Manager Awards.

Originally from Melbourne, Blamey has worked with many artists, as both manager and agent, over his four decades in the business, though is best known for having guided Minogue’s career for over 25 years. Confirming the award, MMF CEO Jon Webster told CMU: “We are delighted to give this award to Terry Blamey in recognition of his skills guiding the career of pop icon Kylie Minogue for 25 years. Pop stars often come and go but the few greats transcend time”.

The A&M Awards take place on 27 Nov in London, info at www.amawards.org

Elizabeth Taylor tops Forbes dead rich poll

Artist News

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson may have been friends in life, but there will be tensions this morning in the celebrity tent of whatever form of heaven you believe in. Of course, you might not believe there is a heaven at all, though for the purposes of this story it would be convenient if you did.

If it helps, just imagine the questions God must be asking of former Pope John Paul II about that papal knighthood that was dished out to Jimmy Savile in 1990. I mean, even by the Catholic Church’s standards, here was man you certainly didn’t want at your party.

Anyway, Taylor and Jackson. The relatively recently dead Hollywood star has knocked the slightly more dead king of pop off Forbes magazine’s annual dead rich poll, her estate having amassed no less than $210 million in the last year, though mainly because of the one-off sale of jewellery, costumes and property.

The former acting star did have a 10% stake in all her movies, so the estate will continue to earn considerable sums long term, though may well not outperform the incredibly lucrative Jackson estate beyond this year, which came in second in the latest dead rich poll by generating $145 million in the last twelve months.

Elvis, once the undisputed king of the deads when it came to posthumous earnings, now has to make do with third place. Though one would hope he and Bob Marley are too busy kicking the shit out Jimmy Savile to notice. See atheists, believing in heaven can be fun.

1. Dame Elizabeth Taylor ($210 million)
2. Michael Jackson ($145 million)
3. Elvis Presley ($55 million)
4. Charles Schulz ($37 million)
5. Bob Marley ($17 million)
6. John Lennon ($12 million)
7. Marilyn Monroe ($10 million)
7. Albert Einstein ($10 million)
9. Dr Seuss ($9 million)
10. Steve McQueen ($8 million)
10. Bettie Page ($8 million)
12. Richard Rogers ($6 million)
13. George Harrison ($5.5 million)

Scissor Sisters taking indefinite kiki break

Artist News

Scissor Sisters are taking a James Blunt-style ‘indefinite hiatus’ from being a band, and say they have no intentions to record any new LPs.

Marking the finale of the glam-pop quartet’s British tour at London’s Roundhouse this past Wednesday night, when Jake Shears said: “This will be the last time we will play in London for quite some time”. His fellow bandmates then confirmed the hiatus to Gigwise backstage. Though Shears subsequently tweeted: “Thank you London for all your love. And don’t worry, we’re not going away forever. We’ll be back before you know it. With bells on”. Which doesn’t sound like someone fully committed to an ‘indefinite hiatus’ to me.

Perhaps he was alluding to solo projects, or very long term plans. Either way, I’m sure the SS will still be having a kiki:

Blink 182 end Interscope deal

Business News Labels & Publishers

Blink 182 are no longer signed to Universal’s Interscope division and will release their currently in production new album independently.

The band’s Tom Delonge announced this news in not quite so many words via Instagram, captioning a photo of Mel Gibson in ‘Braveheart’ with the message: “Freedom! Blink as of today, is now an independent artist!”

Keen announcers of things via photographs shared on social networks, bassist Mark Hoppus previously posted a photo of a computer screen showing Logic recording software to his Google+ profile back in August to announce that the band were working on that new album.

Christopher Owens details post-Girls solo debut

Releases

Ex-Girls boy Christopher Owens has just unveiled a brand new solo LP entitled ‘Lysandre’. It’s named after a girl he fell in love with at a French music festival, and will be released via Turnstile on 14 Jan 2013.

But it’s not just about that love affair, oh no, it’s also – quotes Owens – “a coming of age story, a road trip story”. Like ‘On The Road’, or something.

Anyway. Stream the above montage featuring the record’s first two tracks, ‘Lysandre’s Theme’ and ‘Here We Go’, as an intro to this tracklisting:

Lysandre’s Theme
Here We Go
New York City
A Broken Heart
Here We Go Again
Riviera Rock
Love Is In The Ear Of The Listener
Lysandre
Everywhere You Knew
Closing Theme
Part Of Me (Lysandre’s Epilogue)

Angel Haze gives away free mixtape

Releases

Angel Haze has just released a ‘Classick’ free mixtape, so titled because it is classic and sick at the same time.

It features six new (and occasionally pretty brutal, ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ in particular) takes on tracks by Eminem, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu and the like, and is available to download via this Haze-approved Live Mixtapes player:

Peaking Lights releasing re-dubbed Lucifer LP

Releases

Marital alt-pop couple Peaking Lights are going to release a dub version of their quite-dub-to-begin-with sophomore LP ‘Lucifer’, and they really don’t care who knows it. In fact, they’d rather like you all know its release date, which is 10 Dec via Weird World.

The band’s Aaron Coyes, author of the new dub edits, says: “Before ‘Lucifer’ even had a song written or a name to it we had the ‘light bulb skull rattle’ that we had to do a dub for whatever was to come out of the studio sessions”.

He continued: “We have always loved the challenge of approaching the music we make from a new angle, and although the dub aspect to the music we make may be there in structure [already], this is the first time we have laid it down by playing as the engineers”.

Preview featured track ‘My Heart Dubs 4 U’ now:

Paul Weller, Miles Kane to play Crisis charity concert

Gigs & Festivals

Paul Weller will headline a live ‘Crisis Presents’ gala to benefit homelessness charity Crisis. The Modfather’s style admirer Miles Kane and a tba special guest are also playing, while Ben Elton will act as host. It’s all happening at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on 19 Dec, and tickets are on sale now, so please buy a pair.

Weller, who also performed at the event this time last year, says: “I’m looking forward to getting on stage for Crisis again – these are really tough times and we need organisations like Crisis now more than ever”.

Crisis CEO Leslie Morphy adds: “Those who buy a ticket to see the gig will help Crisis At Christmas care for thousands of homeless people during the festive week in warmth and comfort, and give our Christmas guests the opportunity to access year-round Crisis services, bringing hope for a better year ahead. With homelessness rising, this support is ever more vital”.

Mencap Little Noise sessions add Jessie Ware, Karin Park, Olly Murs

Gigs & Festivals

Cancer charity Mencap has added Jessie Ware, Amy Macdonald, Olly Murs and Swedish popstar Karin Park (and others) to the roster set to play across its six November Little Noise Sessions.

Murs headlines the first show on 20 Nov, appearing – as will all artists – at St John-at-Hackney Church in London. Details of this and other dates via www.littlenoisesessions.org.uk

MusicTank to focus on ticketing

Business News Education & Events Live Business

As AEG enters the ticketing market, and the secondary ticketing debate continues, MusicTank will throw the focus on all things tickets with its final Think Tank event for 2012.

The event will include two panel debates, one looking at innovations in the primary ticketing market, and the other at the continued issues around resale services, both involving artists, managers and promoters, and ticketing experts. Aline Renet of French live industry body PRODISS will keynote the secondary ticketing session, while We Got Tickets founder Dave Newton will lead the innovation panel.

MusicTank Chair Keith Harris will moderate, and he told CMU regards the secondary ticketing element of the event: “Four years ago when MusicTank first took on this issue, the alarm bells were ringing, but the government and the industry hit snooze. Now it’s definitely time to wake up and get to work on solving this problem, before it’s too late”.

This will all take place in London on 5 Dec from 5.30pm-9pm. Info via this link.

Warner/Chappell appoints new Nashville chief

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Warner Music’s publishing business, Warner/Chappell, has appointed a new Exec VP for its Nashville division in the form of Ben Vaughn. He joins the Warner publishing enterprise from the EMI publishing business, joining Jon Platt, who himself left EMI earlier this year and joined Warner/Chappell last month. Vaughn will report to Platt in this new job, which is a new role within the Warner publishing unit.

Platt told reporters: “Ben’s incredible track record of songwriter development speaks for itself. His A&R vision, leadership skills and business instincts have made him one of Nashville’s most dynamic and influential executives. I have worked closely with Ben for years and I’ve no doubt he is the perfect fit for Warner/Chappell and its mission to be the first-choice home for the world’s most extraordinary songwriters”.

LoveLive to boost label relationships with new appointment

Business News Industry People Media

LoveLive, the London agency that creates music content for brands, broadcasters and music clients, has created the role of Label Account Director, to enhance its relationships with record companies, and appointed former EMI exec Ben Bleet into the post. Bleet has most recently run his own brand partnerships business Howling Monkey.

LoveLive boss man Richard Cohen told CMU: “The creation of this role is an important part of our strategic growth plan. By working with the labels at the conception stage, we will be more effective and efficient in delivering our full breadth of services and expertise to each project. Ben is well known and respected across the industry and will bring a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm to the role. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge of the music sector and a reputation for delivering consistently excellent results. We are thrilled to welcome him to the LoveLive team”.

While Bleet added: “LoveLive is one of the most exciting and innovative companies in the industry today and its growth over the last few years has been nothing short of phenomenal. The last year alone has seen the company launch its own consumer offer as a trusted partner of YouTube. Having secured one of the unique licenses to live stream, LoveLive have already worked with some fantastic brands and artists. I’m delighted to be joining at such an exciting time in the company’s development”.

Believe appoints new US label relations man

Business News Labels & Publishers

Independent digital distributor Believe has appointed a new Head Of Label Relations for its US office in New York, in the form of Shane German, who previously had a label relations role at SoundExchange, the American royalties body that collects monies from online broadcasters for the owners of sound recording copyrights.

In his new role, German will report into Believe’s Head Of Sales & New Business Lee Morrison, who told CMU: “Having known Shane for the last couple of years I know his understanding and passion for the independent sector is second to none. He joins Believe as part of the expansion of our services in North America and will be a key member in growing our US offices. I look forward to working with him to secure our place as the world’s largest fully independent digital distributor”.

Hadopi has its budget cut

Digital

As expected, the French government body that oversees three-strikes in the country, Hadopi, has had its budget cut, though the cutbacks are possibly not as radical as some expected.

That said, the unit, which already has responsibilities for helping the music and movie industries protect their copyrights online, will also start working with the gaming sector on piracy issues, meaning in real terms the cutbacks are more than the two million euros that appears in the spreadsheets.

Set up to administer the controversial three-strikes system made law in France in 2009, which hasn’t been as draconian in terms of disconnecting file-sharers as was originally planned, Hadopi’s position was thrown into doubt earlier this year when the country’s new culture minister said the whole trios-strikes initiative was “unwieldy, uneconomic and ultimately ineffective”.

According to a French government report, summarised by Ars Technica, Hadopi’s annual budget has been cut to eight million euros, having been 11.4 million euros in 2011.

Still no iTunes 11, but reports of iStream continue

Digital

Apple reps said yesterday that the company is “looking forward” to launching its all new iTunes, first previewed last month, though didn’t say for certain when it would go live.

iTunes 11 was (and still is on the Apple website) billed to launch this month, and many expected it to go live during Apple’s product preview press event earlier this week, but in the end it wasn’t mentioned. It remains to be seen if the revamped software becomes available in the next week, though you might have thought the company’s reps would have been more specific yesterday if that was still the plan.

The earnings call also made no reference of plans for an Apple streaming service, even though rumours of such a thing continue to persist, and more strongly so than with past ‘iStream is coming’ gossip. Various media now cite US label sources as saying Apple bosses are indeed in the process of negotiating rights for an ad-funded streaming platform, though the labels are hesitant.

Apple is notorious for not wanting to spend its own money on its music ventures beyond the development of technology, and while it may be generous when it comes to sharing ad revenues, the record companies are used to attractive advances when doing these kinds of deals.

Nevertheless, when Bloomberg published a report on those negotiations yesterday, predicting a launch of iStream in the first quarter of 2013, the share price of publicly listed interactive radio service Pandora took another hit, as it did the last time Apple’s streaming ambitions were reported by the financial press.

Apple entering the market, even if its service is more of the ‘interactive radio’ Pandora kind than the fully-on-demand Spotify model, would shake-up the emerging streaming sector for certain. And, of course, they are not the only major player with ambitions in that space, streaming being the key new component of Microsoft’s latest music venture, Xbox Music, which will be fully integrated with the new Windows8 operating system launched yesterday.

Taylor Swift’s album not on streaming services, but is available with pizza

Brands & Merch Digital

Taylor Swift’s new album ‘Red’ is out this week, but not via streaming services where it won’t, according to Rhapsody, be available for “several months”. This, apparently, is due to the fact the boss of her label Big Machine Media, Scott Borchetta, is distrustful of such things, and even the delayed release is quite a compromise on his part.

Borchetta recently told Billboard: “I personally struggle with that model – and I don’t think that it should be free. We’ve spoken with the services, and spoken with Spotify in particular … We just haven’t hit on the right model that works for us. I don’t have thousands and thousands of albums and hundreds and hundreds of artists, I have a finite artist roster and finite number of releases. If you’re a big battleship like Sony or Universal and have tens of thousands of masters, that income stream makes sense at a big corporation. It doesn’t make sense to a small record company”.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about his compromise position, ie making some content available to the streaming platforms, but not new releases, he added “We’re not putting the brand new releases on Spotify. Why shouldn’t we learn from the movie business? They have theatrical releases, cable releases. There are certain tiers. If we just throw out everything we have, we’re done”.

Yeah, imagine if people were able to listen to your music when they wanted, what an awful world that would be. Though, of course, Taylor Swift’s album is freely available via user-upload streaming services like YouTube and Grooveshark (takedown notices permitting), and the myriad completely unlicensed sharing services online, so anyone who wants the album without visiting iTunes or a CD seller can quite happily go and listen to it right now.

Of course, some people – artists and business folk alike – criticise streaming services with any freemium components on the basis such things “devalue music”. Presumably that’s not an argument Borchetta’s going with though, as he’s apparently quite happy for people to buy the new Taylor Swift album as a sundry item when ordering a pizza. Yes indeed, US residents buying a pizza from Papa John’s can currently add a CD copy of ‘Red’ to their order for just $13. Seriously.

Calling Big Machine’s policy on streaming short sighted, Rhapsody’s Senior Director Of Content Programming Garrett Kamps wrote in a blog post: “We believe the cumulative impact of [repeated streams] over [a number of] years will outweigh and outlast the impact of a single download. We believe that the model of access over ownership provides a level of convenience and accessibility that facilitates an unprecedented degree of music discovery – encouraging you to experience artists and genres you’d never knew to be so amazing, to engage with music you might never have heard of, let alone actually heard, were it not so effortless to do so. Most of all, we believe that more people listening to more music more frequently is better for everyone. We believe that, we want Taylor and artists like her to believe that, and if there’s anything standing in the way, then we want to figure out a way to get past it”.

Then again, I do really like pizza.

Timberlake and Biel’s wedding guests entertained with video of homeless people

And Finally

Hey, remember when rumours about Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel getting married were in the news at least once a week? Well, they only went and actually got married last week. Lovely. The couple flew on a private jet to a resort in Italy where rooms cost over £600 a night. Fancy.

During the reception, as is tradition, messages from people who were unable to attend were delivered. In this case though, the messages, delivered via a video put together by Timberlake’s friend estate agent Justin Huchel, were from random homeless people, buskers and transsexuals back in the couple’s home city of LA. Hilarious! What a load of idiots who can’t even afford to hire a private jet to go to a wedding they weren’t invited to.

The video was uncovered by Gawker, which posted a 20 second snippet of it yesterday, though the site was forced to take it down after Hutchel’s lawyer threatened legal action, saying: “Mr Huchel made [the] video to be used and exhibited privately at Justin Timberlake’s wedding as a private joke without Mr Timberlake’s knowledge”.

Well, it’s good that everyone still has a sense of humour about it now that the story’s out. Otherwise it might look like Huchel and his celebrity friends were aware that the video was a pretty awful thing to do. Hahahahahahaha.

Q&A Feature: Behind the label

Business Interviews

On 29 Oct the Association Of Independent Music will stage the second Independent Music Awards, celebrating the bests artists, albums and songs unleashed by the indie label community in the last twelve months, and the people behind the scenes that make the indie music sector such a vibrant place. In the two weeks running up to the 2012 awards, CMU will be chatting to six such people – all nominees at this year’s awards – the label bosses at six of our favourite independent record companies.

Simon Raymonde – Bella Union
Simon Raymonde founded the Bella Union record label with this Cocteau Twins bandmate Robin Guthrie in 1997. Although the original intention was to release the band’s own music through the new company, the group split up shortly afterwards, so its first release was Raymonde’s solo album, ‘Blame Someone Else’.

Jack Clothier – Alcopop! Records
Alcopop! Records was founded in 2006 by Jack Clothier and Kevin Douch (the latter also founder of the Big Scary Monsters label). Initially launched as a singles club, the company has gone on to sign bands including Johnny Foreigner, Stagecoach, Sam Isaac and Ute, while its compilation series ‘Alcopopular!’ has been called “the coolest compilation ever” by NME.

Marcus Scott – Hyperdub
The Hyperdub label was founded in 2004 by producer Steve Goodman, aka Kode9, and its first release was a single by Goodman himself. Highly influential in the development of dubstep, Hyperdub subsequently worked on early releases with a number of influential producers in the genre, and has branched out into the wider realms of electronic music too.

Sam Dyson – Distiller Music Group
Founded by Sam Dyson in 2009, Distiller Records released music by artists like Sound Of Guns, White Belt Yellow Tag, Losers and Sparrow And The Workshop in its first year, and signing Funeral For A Friend the next. The company also owns a recording studio where many of its artists work, and has expanded into management and publishing too.

Chris Goss – Hospital Records
London-based drum n bass label Hospital Records was launched by Tony Colman and Chris Goss in 1996, with the company’s initial releases coming from their own projects. Following the success of the latter’s debut album, ‘Pull The Plug’, in 1999 the label began to expand and sign other artists, including Landslide, Danny Byrd and High Contrast.

Simon Morley – Pink Mist and Blood & Biscuits
Indie label collective Pink Mist was formed by Big Scary Monsters, Holy Roar and Blood & Biscuits in late 2010, bringing Tangled Talk on board last year. As well as allowing the labels to share resources in order to reduce costs, they also use the alliance to co-operate on releases where bigger budgets are required.

Stay tuned for more interviews right here next week, and also check out last year’s interview with Beggars Group chief Martin Mills.

Q&A: Simon Morley, Pink Mist and Blood & Biscuits

Business Interviews Labels & Publishers

Indie label collective Pink Mist was formed by Big Scary Monsters, Holy Roar and Blood & Biscuits in late 2010, bringing Tangled Talk on board last year. As well as allowing the labels to share resources in order to reduce costs, they also use the alliance to co-operate on releases where bigger budgets are required.

Among the artists labels in the group have worked with are Gallows, Rolo Tomassi, Will Haven, Pulled Apart By Horses, Three Trapped Tigers and Sleep Party People.

In the run up to this year’s AIM Independent Music Awards – where Pink Mist is nominated in the Best Small Label category – CMU’s Chris Cooke spoke to Blood & Biscuits’ Simon Morley about how the collective came together, how it’s developing and what the future holds.

CC: When and why did you decide to form Pink Mist?
SM: It’s an idea Kev (BSM), Alex (HR) and I had been talking about for a while, maybe a couple of years. But we actually decided to put it into action at the end of 2010. Then we invited Andrej (TT) into the fold as the fourth label last year. Why? We were all doing a similar thing in slightly different musical areas, we were all friends, and figured it’d make sense to all pull in the same direction. Even if it didn’t step up what we were doing, it’d be more fun!

CC: Running a small label can be a solitary affair at times, how has having people around you who understand the ups and downs affected the way you work?
SM: You know how learning from you own mistakes is one of the best ways to learn? Well imagine how many mistakes the four of us can make combined! So much learning! It’s great to have people around to bounce ideas off. Everyone is pretty inventive with how they do things, so it keeps you thinking. Equally, it’s just as important to have people there to say “that idea is terrible, whatever you do, do NOT do that”!

CC: Has the alliance had a significant effect on the way the three labels work, and what projects you are able to take on?
SM: Structurally yes, we’ve got a system in place now where we put our distribution through the same channels, and use the same manufacturer, merch companies etc. Also, as Pink Mist, we have moved into gig promotion and have a central website, both of which are a big part of the project. Around the same time we invited Tangled Talk into the collective, we also got our friends Ross and Suzy involved to run those extra elements.

So in the last year we’ve put on shows in London by Ceremony, Retox, Cerebral Ballzy, Joyce Manor, Mission Of Burma, Basement, Title Fight, Milk Music, Make Do & Mend, Set Your Goals, Native, Zechs Marquise, Tera Melos, Metz and Onelinedrawing. Pretty sweet! You can check out the new music site and upcoming shows at www.pinkmist.co.uk

CC: Where do you see Pink Mist going from here, would you consider bringing more labels into the mix?
SM: We want to grow all aspects of what we’re doing. Each label has had their biggest year so far in 2012, and between us we’ve released records by Will Haven, Minus The Bear, Tall Ships, Last Witness, Three Trapped Tigers, Sleep Party People, Listener and lots of others.

We just need to make sure we’re growing at a manageable rate and not over stretching ourselves. We’ve always been thinking about taking in more labels, though at the moment there’s some boring admin reasons why we can’t, but once they’re sorted it’ll be partytime!

CC: How do the Pink Mist labels choose which artists to work with? And how does that change with projects funded by more than one label in the group?
SM: I think each label has it’s own identity which is essentially governed by the owner’s taste. Naturally there is cross over between all of us, so occasionally if there is a band which does sit nicely in between two labels, and both labels are passionate enough about the record, have enough space in their release schedule, and the money to back it, then BINGO!

All of us have done co-releases with the other labels in Pink Mist. Actually, I haven’t done one with Andrej, maybe that’ll change next year!

CC: There’s lots of talk of labels working with artists on a bigger range of projects than in the past. Is that something you are doing, or might do in the future?
SM: I used to be dead against it because, to me, it looked like labels panicking about record sales and blindly grabbing every potential revenue stream from an artist to cover themselves. But if both parties can benefit from a label getting involved with publishing, live, merch, then that’s fine. I just think bands need to be really careful with what they’re giving away. At the moment, we’re good with records and a bit of merch. We’ll see how we develop in other areas before taking the next step.

CC: As the boss of an independent label, how do you feel about the big major music companies, Sony and Universal, getting even bigger via the EMI sale. Does that kind of thing have any impact on you?
SM: It’s terrible and it’s depressing, but it’s no surprise. It’s big business, I don’t even know if it’s anything to do with music. Realistically it probably doesn’t affect us that much at all. But in general a huge corporation monopolising what is supposedly a creative industry is never good is it? Fuck em.

CC: What are your thoughts on digital – do you embrace every new digital platform going, or do any digital business models bother you?
SM: Luckily we have an excellent digital distributor who handles all of that for us. They’re a French company called Believe Digital. They make an educated call on what’s worth embracing! I know that the majority of our digital sales still come through iTunes though. Like, 85%.

CC: What’s the hardest thing about running an independent label in 2012?
SM: It’s gonna be an obvious answer I’m afraid. It’s hard to sell a decent amount of records, and we’re competing with people with a lot more money than us!

CC: And what’s the best thing?
SM: The good times! We have so many of them. I’m having one right now! We get to work with music we love and we don’t have a boss. Everyone hates their boss right? Well you should, because they hate you!

CC: What are your proudest achievements to date?
SM: The AIM Award nomination is probably the best joint achievement. Also, the Tall Ships album came out last week and they sold out XOYO on Monday. Three Trapped Tigers sold out The Garage last year. It’s great to work with bands from day one and see them playing to big crowds and getting the recognition they deserve.

CC: Are there any other labels or label chiefs – past or present – that you particularly admire?
SM: I think we all have labels we admire from years past and there are probably too many to mention, but Nigel and Wez at Full Time Hobby are my personal heroes.

Read more interviews with indie label bosses conducted in the run-up to the 2012 AIM Independent Music Awards here.

Approved: Feathers

CMU Approved

Relocating from New York to Austin, Texas last year, Anastasia Dimou left behind her former band Cruel Black Dove and began work on a new solo project, Feathers. Taking cues from the late 80s Depeche Mode version of pop (particularly on ‘Soft’), she’s quickly pulled together a strong collection of songs. These will form her debut album, which is due for release by ATP Recordings later this year.

Various tracks can be found on the SoundCloud profile of her management company SKH Music, but the centrepiece is ‘Land Of The Innocent’, an urgent, harmony-heavy track with a great chorus that envelopes you within Dimou’s sonic world. The track is available to stream and download via the player below, and you can get yourself a further track, a remix of ‘Dream Song’ by Maya Postepski of Trust and Austra, by giving the Feathers Facebook page a like.

Jeff Price discusses his sacking from TuneCore

Digital Top Stories

The former boss of independent digital distribution business TuneCore has spoken in pretty candid terms about his surprise departure from the company earlier this year. Jeff Price, the always very vocal co-founder of TuneCore was very much seen as the frontman for the digital business, but in August he was pushed out of the firm, a few months after his co-founder Peter Wells had also been told his services were no longer required.

And in a lengthy interview with Digital Music News, Price now confirms the exit was far from amicable, claiming he was forced out by Gill Cogan, a partner at one of TuneCore’s early investors Opus Capital, and a board member of the digital distributor as part of that deal. His sacking seemingly followed growing tensions about certain board decisions that were made at the start of the year.

Price says: “At the beginning of 2012, there were certain things that occurred internally at TuneCore that I didn’t expect or authorise. It was these actions that, in my opinion, severely jeopardised TuneCore’s existence. I can’t comment further as to the specifics but I can say a number of months later I was terminated ‘without cause’ by Gill on behalf of the board”.

Adding that his dispute with the TuneCore board had now become rather personal, he added: “No specific reason was provided [for my sacking. Then] last week, almost four months after being fired, TuneCore’s lawyers implied that if I sued, they would respond by making absurd and Kafkaesque claims about me. I can’t believe things have gotten this stupid”.

Price, who still has a 13% stake in the digital distributor, says that he is not aware of a new CEO being appointed since his sacking, and he therefore feels the company now has a total lack of direction. And that his efforts to provide advice to the board, or to find a buyer to buy out those board members that had problems with his leadership, have been rejected.

Conceding no one is irreplaceable, even a high profile founder of a high profile start-up, Price added “someone needs to tell me how that company is worth more now with me gone than with me there, because I don’t see it. No one should be irreplaceable, but couldn’t there have been another way to have done it, or a transition or something? Was this the best way? How is the company worth more today than it was when I was still there? Cause I don’t understand it”.

Although saying he is constrained to an extent about what he can say by contractual terms, Price is still typical open about his experiences and opinions in the full interview, which you can read on the Digital Music News site. As previously reported, Price is now consulting for Canadian collecting society SOCAN.

Irish ISP says temporary Pirate Bay blocking result of testing

Digital Top Stories

There’s some confusion in Ireland about why internet service provider UPC was blocking access by its customers to The Pirate Bay at the start of the week, after the net firm posted a notice saying it had put a block in place after receiving a court order, but then removed the block and said no such court order had ever existed.

Pirate Bay-using UPC customers first noticed that access to the infamous file-sharing site had been blocked on Monday. According to the BBC, instead of the TPB home page, they saw a notice that said the site had been blocked by the net firm as a result of a court order following legal action by the Irish Recorded Music Association.

But subsequently the net firm said that no block against The Pirate Bay was actually in place on its networks, either voluntarily or as a result of a court order, adding that the web-block notice customers were seeing at the start of the week was probably as a result of tests being carried out on the UPC networks. The net firm said in a statement: “Periodically testing is carried out across our European network, which may have been observed by Irish customers”.

Like most ISPs in Europe, UPC has resisted efforts to make it police piracy on the net, in particular fighting the Irish record industry when it tried to make the internet provider adopt the three-strikes system voluntarily introduced by its competitor Eircom. UPC was also expected to lobby against plans by the Irish government to introduce some kind of web-block injunction system.

IRMA declined to comment on the temporary blockade that occurred on the UPC networks against The Pirate Bay, though it is an advocate of such blocks being introduced in the country. IRMA’s UK counterpart the BPI, of course, successfully won court injunctions to force the big British ISPs to block the Bay earlier this year, and is currently preparing action to try and get blocks against Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents.

Opponents of the web-block system argue that such blockades do not work, because any block is circumventable if you know what you are doing.

New Beethoven work identified

AEG asks judge to ban leaked emails from Jackson legal battle

Business News Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal Live Business

Lawyers for AEG have been in court this week in the US trying to persuade a judge to ban published emails between execs at the live firm about the fated Michael Jackson ‘This Is It’ residency from being presented as part of a legal battle between the company and the Jackson family.

As much previously reported, Katherine Jackson, mother of Michael, is suing AEG for damages over the death of her son, on the basis the company hired Dr Conrad Murray, the medic jailed for causing the late king of pop’s premature death through negligence. AEG counters that Jackson himself appointed and managed Murray, so it cannot be held liable for the doctor’s actions.

Last month the LA Times published a batch of emails from early 2009 between AEG staff, and personnel working on preparations for the ‘This Is It’ show, which expressed concerns about Jackson’s mental and physical well-being, many of which ran contrary to the live firm’s official statements at the time.

AEG has accused someone linked to the Jackson family of leaking the emails, which the firm says it provided to the Jacksons in relation to the wrongful-death lawsuit. According to CNN, AEG’s lawyer Marvin Putnam told the LA court this week: “It is clear that only one entity could have done it”.

The leaking of the emails was arguably damaging for AEG, because the live firm was in a separate legal battle, since settled, with insurers Lloyds Of London, over the insurance policy for the ‘This Is It’ venture. Lloyds said that AEG misrepresented Jackson’s state of health when taking out an insurance policy, a claim never tested in court, but which the emails possibly showed to be at least partly true.

Putnam wants Judge Yvette Palazuelos to punish the Jacksons for allegedly passing confidential documents related to their case to a newspaper by banning them from using the emails when the Jacksons v AEG legal battle gets to court.

But the Jacksons deny any wrongdoing, saying no one associated with the family passed any documents to the LA Times. Countering Putnam this week, various legal reps for the Jackson clan argued that their clients had no interest in leaking the emails (because they portrayed Michael in a bad light, and the Jackson Estate is also fighting Lloyds for an insurance pay out). One even proposed that AEG might have leaked the emails themselves to make the Jackson family look bad.

In heated exchanges, one Jackson rep, Kevin Boyle, alleged that Putnam had claimed Jackson’s ten year old son Blanket may have been behind the leak. Boyle exclaimed: “What’s the idea, that Blanket Jackson got some documents and copied them and somehow walked them from Calabasas to [LA Times reporter] Harriet Ryan?”

Ryan says she won’t reveal her sources regards the Jackson story, though Howard Mann, an occasional business associate of Katherine Jackson, has admitted to providing some materials to the LA Times journalist. But either way, the Jackson legal team insist there has been no wrong doing on their part, concluding that AEG has manufactured this whole sideshow to delay the main wrongful death lawsuit case from getting to court.

Quite why AEG would want such a delay isn’t clear, but these complications have indeed led to the court hearing on Jacksons v AEG to be delayed until next April.

Bieber stole credit card to pay for penis enlargement, claims Selena Gomez’s ‘father’

Legal

Ah, another one of these then. A man claiming to be ‘the father of Selena Gomez’ has launched a lawsuit against Justin Bieber on various grounds, including that the singer stole the man’s credit card in order to pay for penis enlargement surgery. He also says that Bieber’s mentor Usher sodomised him with a firework while playing Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’.

TMZ reports that the man states in court papers: “Bieber has cost me $426.78 and never paid me back. This money was used as abortion money because Justin Bieber got my daughter Selena pregnant in my bedroom, on my Canadian bear rug”.

He continues: “[Bieber] gave Selena an STD and Bieber stole my credit card to buy him and Sean P-Ditty [sic] Combs cocaine to use in drug free school zones. Bieber also got a penis enlargement with my stolen American Express card”.

On Usher, he writes: “Usher Raymond came to my house on the forth of July 2012 and sodomized me with a firework and lit it inside my anal area while blaring Kate Perry [sic] firework song in my ear drums”.

All of which makes for amusing reading on one level, though when you see this kind of litigation cropping up in the American court system time and time again, you do sometimes start to worry about mental healthcare provision Stateside. But, hey, there’s an election coming up over there soon, and I’m sure everyone will vote in a manner that will improve all that. Maybe. Oh god.

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:37 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Bono | Neil Young

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:36 | By Paul Vig

READ MORE ABOUT: Simian Mobile Disco | WANG

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:34 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: BMG | EC | EMI | EMI Music Publishing | G2 Investment Group | Primary Wave | Sony Music

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:33 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Conrad Murray | Michael Jackson

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:32 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Axl Rose | Barrack Obama

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:31 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Artist And Manager Awards | Kylie Minogue | Music Managers Forum (MMF) | Terry Blamey

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:30 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Elizabeth Taylor | Forbes | Forbes Rich List | Michael Jackson

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:29 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Scissor Sisters

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:28 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Blink 182 | Interscope | Universal Music

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:27 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Christopher Owens

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:26 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Angel Haze

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:25 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Peaking Lights

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:24 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Crisis | Miles Kane | Paul Weller

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:23 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Jessie Ware | Little Noise Sessions | Mencap

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:22 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: MusicTank

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:21 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Ben Vaughn | Warner Chappell | Warner Music

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:20 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Ben Bleet | LoveLive

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:19 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Believe | Shane German

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:18 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Hadopi | Three-Strikes

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:17 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | iStream | iTunes

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:16 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Big Machine | Rhapsody | Scott Borchetta | Taylor Swift

Friday 26 October 2012, 12:15 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Timberlake

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:19 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: AIM Independent Music Awards | Alcopop! Records | Association of Independent Music (AIM) | Bella Union | Blood & Biscuits | Distiller Music | Hospital Records | Hyperdub | Pink Mist

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:14 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: AIM Independent Music Awards | Blood & Biscuits | Pink Mist | Simon Morley

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:13 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Feathers

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:12 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Gill Cogan | Jeff Price | Opus Capital | TuneCore

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:11 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) | ISPs | The Pirate Bay | UPC

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:10 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Ludwig van Beethoven

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:09 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Conrad Murray | Katherine Jackson | Michael Jackson

Thursday 25 October 2012, 12:08 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber | Selena Gomez | Usher