Tuesday 29 January 2013, 12:31 | By

PRS alliance with Nordics on mechanicals now fully launched

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Network Of Music Partners

An alliance between UK publishing rights collecting society PRS For Music and the Nordic Copyright Bureau, which represents the mechanical rights of publishers in the Nordic and Baltic region, has been named the Network Of Music Partners, or NMP.

The joint venture, a standalone entity headquartered in Copenhagen but with a base in London, is now handling so called recorded media royalties (so, royalties paid to publishers via the collective licensing system by labels releasing recordings of songs) in nine countries.

For PRS, which transferred some staff, IT and assets over to NMP last year, the new alliance provides access to new systems developed by NCB for the management of core mechanical royalties (which technically go through the MCPS side of the PRS operation in the UK). PRS says that – with the mechanical royalties revenue stream in decline as record sales slide – alliances such of this are a better way for the society to deliver efficiencies to its members.

NMP is now led by MD Karsten Dyhrberg Nielsen, who told CMU: “We’re especially pleased with the success NMP has had in its first year. The company is providing an excellent and enhanced service to all of its customers, enabling consolidation, shared investment and reduced costs. 2013 will be the year for growth and we’re actively talking to new partners to see what NMP can do for them”.

Meanwhile, PRS CEO Robert Ashcroft, added: “In a declining physical market it is essential for us to work with a partner for recorded media processing. Updating our own infrastructure and systems independently would have been prohibitively expensive for our members. NMP has enabled us to improve our offering and deliver vital royalty money to our membership. We are now in a position to grow this business, rather than manage its decline”.

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Tuesday 29 January 2013, 12:30 | By

Eventim alliance with SMG Europe goes live

Business News Deals Live Business

Eventim

Eventim UK, the British division of ticketing firm CTS Eventim, has announced that a new partnership with arena and venue operators SMG Europe has gone live, with Eventim’s ticketing system now operational in SMG arenas in Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds, and at the Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre in Newcastle and The Whitley Bay Playhouse.

Confirming the new alliance, SMG Europe MD John Sutherland told CMU: “The five year deal with Eventim brings a new focus to our ticketing services. The new platform allows us to respond quicker and more efficiently to the requirements of promoters and the general public. Eventim also has some exciting new ticketing initiatives in the pipeline”.

Meanwhile Eventim UK’s Nick Blackburn added: “During the lead up period to implementation we have reviewed business processes and further enhanced our state of the art technology. The relationship with SMG is very important to us and a real stepping stone in our determination to grow our business in the UK”.

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Tuesday 29 January 2013, 12:29 | By

Rdio announces free streaming option in UK

Digital

Rdio

Rdio has announced this morning that new users in the UK (and elsewhere) will be able to use the service for free for up to six months, ad-free.

Listening time will be limited to a set number of hours each month (how many Rdio isn’t clear on) and mobile access is not included in the trial, though otherwise it will be pretty much the same as a basic paid account. The free option has been live in the US for some time, and, including the UK, this morning was rolled out to fourteen more countries.

Spotify has proven, of course, that some sort of freemium service is a great way to upsell premium packages. Despite introducing various listening limitations in the past, Spotify currently relies on ad irritations persuading free users to upgrade. Of course, with Rdio’s albeit limited freemium offer being ad-free, some of those Spotify freemium users may be tempted to switch to the alternative freebie service in the short-term.

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Tuesday 29 January 2013, 12:28 | By

MIDEM announcements: Webdoc, Nokia, Samsung, Soundrop

Digital

MIDEM

Hey, digital announcements from MIDEM fans, here’s a round up of some digitally-focused announcements that have come out of Cannes in the last 48 hours. So grab yourself a ten euro mouthful of Evian, and consume this lot…

London-based start-up Webdoc, which provides social-media style tools for labels and artists, has rebranded as Urturn and announced a new service called Expression, designed to help users monitor and promote user-generated content from across the social networks. Says co-founder Vincent Borel: “Everyone was saying engagement is the new metric, but how do we measure engagement and how do we get artists engaged? We set out to measure content creation – who was creating content around a particular artist, around a particular topic, and getting the viral word-of-mouth out”.

Next up, Nokia. You know, Nokia. Oh, come on, you remember Nokia. It was the cool option when a mobile purchase was “hmm, Motorola or Nokia”. Had that really shit download service called Comes With Music? Ah yes, there you go. Well, the phone maker’s latest play in the music space – in some markets – is Nokia Music, a free-to-use interactive-radio-style streaming service for Nokia Lumia owners. Well, now there’s also Nokia Music+, a premium option which offers more track skipping, offline play and other gubbins. Says Nokia’s VP Entertainment Jyrki Rosenberg: “By removing barriers like adverts and sign-ins, Nokia Music makes it easy for users to discover and enjoy music on the go. Nokia Music+ now provides increased control over the listening experience at half the cost of many third party services”.

Next up is Samsung, which has revealed ambitions to make its previously reported Music Hub service – currently an enticement to buy the consumer electronics giant’s devices – accessible beyond Samsung’s own gadgets. According to The Next Web, which spoke to the company’s TJ Kang ahead of his MIDEM appearance, Samsung recognises that consumers want to be able to access their music service of choice from multiple devices, and if their smartphone, tablet and laptop are all from different manufacturers, with just one a Samsung product, that makes Music Hub as it currently stands less attractive. It’s early days on the device-expansion ambition so far, though with Music Hub accessible on certain Samsung phones via an Android app, presumably expanding the music service to other Android devices wouldn’t be so tricky.

And finally, ‘social listening’ service Soundrop has launched a new Facebook app, meaning users will no longer need a Spotify account to use the service. The Facebook based ‘rooms’ – essentially collaborative playlists – will draw on YouTube and VEVO for music, though playlists, track voting and chat will also be mirrored within the existing Spotify app.

Soundrop CEO Inge Andre Sandvik told CMU: “We’re excited to make Soundrop available in the main place where artists connect with their fans. Whether you want to use VEVO and YouTube or Spotify as your music service, Soundrop has you covered. We streamed more than 500 million tracks last year in Spotify, and now we’re excited to help artists accelerate their video traffic by bringing our same addictive social music service to Facebook”.

At launch, artists running ‘rooms’ via their Facebook pages include Owl City, Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, ABBA, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Devlin and Delphic, many of whom will be chatting to fans as they listen to their music in the next few days.

And that’s enough MIDEM updates for now. My mouth’s getting dry, and I can’t justify another fifteen euro shot of cola.

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Tuesday 29 January 2013, 12:27 | By

Bieber shares romantic heartbreak through lovely lyrics

And Finally

Justin Bieber

On-off-on-off pop pairing Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are now off, apparently. But worry not pop romance fans, because the Biebster has written a song for us all about his love for his ex. So that’s something to look forward to.

Speaking about his split from Gomez, and the frequent media and online speculation about the couple, the pop star told Billboard: “I’m not in the happiest place that I’ve ever been. I’m trying to get through what I’m going through… I have my really close friends to cheer me up and keep me going… There’s so many rumours. People say I call Selena every day and she won’t pick up the phone or I’m chasing her down, and these are all fake stories. I don’t go on blogs or anything like that [but] I hear things. People tell me if something happens on the Internet. It gets back to me, definitely”.

Confirming that he’d written a new ballad about his ex, which you can listen to here, Bieber revealed that the track is called ‘Nothing Like Us’ and includes the lines “Gave you everything, Everything I had to give, girl, why would you push me away?” and the possibly short-sighted lyrics: “Nothing can ever, ever replace you, Nothing can make me feel like you do”.

Talking of pop couplings, back in the UK, The Sun assures us One Direction’s Zayn Malik has spent the night with his girlfriend, Little Mixer Perrie Edwards, despite the tab revealing his infidelities this weekend just gone. So that’s nice.

1D don’t really write their own songs, but perhaps one of their songwriting team could help Malik also express his recent romantic stresses through some beautiful lyrics. Maybe: “I shagged a waitress, while you were gigging in Hull, but now I’m back in bed with you, that’s what makes you beautiful”.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:40 | By

CMU Planner – w/c 28 Jan 2013

CMU Planner

MIDEM

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

MIDEM. It’s still going and showing no sign of stopping. Well, OK, it’ll stop tomorrow, but until then, anything could happen! Not literally. Anyway, today is ‘Visionary Monday’ at MIDEM, where you’ll get to see the likes of Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus, Robert Scoble and more speak. And look out for a summary of key MIDEM announcements in tomorrow’s CMU Daily.

MusicTank live music course. The 2013 edition of MusicTank’s live music training course kicks off on Tuesday. Once again led by Andy Inglis, the programme will include guest speakers Dave Newton of WeGotTickets, Ruth Barlow of Beggars Group, Carina Jirsch of Schoneberg Concerts, and more.

MTV Brand New For 2013 winner announced. I know, you thought it had already been decided who was going to be big this year, but bringing up the rear after the pundit-led BRITs Critics’ Choice and BBC Sound Of 2013 is the punter-voted MTV Brand New, which will on Friday announce the winner of the public vote from the shortlist announced last year.

Super Bowl. America’s annual TV advertising extravaganza takes place this Sunday, and will see Beyonce providing the musical entertainment. Does this mean a live Destiny’s Child reunion too? Who knows, maybe. Will she lip-sync? Who knows, maybe. Can I think of anything else to say about this? No.

New releases. Speaking of Destiny’s Child, just in case you thought me mentioning a reunion was completely random, they have a new greatest hits compilation out today, which features their first new song for eight years. It’s almost timed too perfectly for Super Bowl weekend, isn’t it? Also out this week are new albums from Cult Of Luna, Local Natives, Adam Green & Binki Shapiro, Ducktails and The History Of Apple Pie. There’s also new No Pain In Pop compilation ‘The Bedroom Club II’ and the latest EP from Flux Pavilion.

Gigs. Well, while Little Mix and Plan B both head out on arena tours, back in London Jane Birkin will be performing songs by her late ex-partner Serge Gainsbourg at Cadogan Hall, and Enter Shikari will play a free show at the 100 Club. Also touring this week are Dinosaur Jr, The History of Apple Pie, Indians, METZ, Men Without Hats and Thurston Moore, who brings with him jazz-folk great Michael Chapman as a travelling buddy.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:39 | By

Approved: Kitty Pryde

CMU Approved

Kitty Pryde

Kitty Pryde, or Kitty as she’s apparently now known, became the postergirl for so called ‘Tumblrcore’ last year. For those of you punching you desk at the sight of such a word, just remember that if we’re all going to bang on about new generations of artists finding new ways to share their music, we can’t get annoyed when they do just that. No matter how utterly infuriating the title given to any new trend is.

Anyway, the world is full of meaningless genre titles, so what does one more hurt? Let’s talk about Kitty now. She’s a female, white, middle class, teenage rapper, all of which, in various combinations, rubs some people up the wrong way. But last year’s ‘Haha, I’m Sorry’ EP, while rough around the edges, showcased someone with a talent worth nurturing. And, if this Noisey documentary is anything to go by, it’s all something that has come about organically, rather than being forced. Pryde also seems pretty self-aware, despite the twin whirlwinds of praise and derision that spin around her.

Earlier this month she previewed a clip of ‘Dead Island’, a track from her new EP, ‘DAISY Rage’, and then last week the first full track from that extra-play – ‘RREAM’ – appeared on Noisey’s SoundCloud profile. Featuring a Grant-produced beat (he previously being responsible for ‘Haha, I’m Sorry’ track, ‘Give Me Scabies’), it sees her rapping lines in her idiosyncratic style.

‘DAISY Rage’ is due to hit the internet this Thursday, and you can listen to ‘RREAM’ here:

 

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:38 | By

Over 230 die in Brazilian club fire

Business News Live Business Top Stories

Club Kiss

At least 233 people have died in a horrific nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, in the country’s Southern-most region of Rio Grande do Sul. Echoing the fire that occurred at a Great White gig in Rhode Island in 2003, in which 100 fans and the band’s guitarist died, it is thought this weekend’s tragedy most likely occurred after a band set off pyrotechnics of some description.

Eyewitnesses recall seeing the ceiling above the stage at the Kiss Club catching fire after flares were lit by the band. The fire then quickly spread throughout the venue as a packed audience tried to escape the flames. Reports suggest only one small exit was open at the time contributing to the high death toll, with fire fighters having to demolish a wall to rescue those trapped inside.

It is also thought that toxic fumes from burning fixtures inside the venue may have contributed to the problem, disorientating those trying to escape the venue. Firefighters reportedly found in the region of 50 bodies in the club’s toilets, and it’s thought some clubbers mistook doors to the toilet facilities for an emergency exit.

Although reports vary regards the number of victims in the fire, the BBC reports that Brazilian authorities have published the names of 230 of those who died, while three further bodes are still to be identified. A further hundred or so clubbers are still receiving hospital treatment. It is thought the club was hosting an event for local university students, and therefore most of those killed were in their late teens.

Speaking to BBC Brasil, Sergeant Arthur Rigue from the local fire department, said: “I never witnessed a tragedy like this in my whole career. These people are so young… There were many bodies piled up in various parts of the place. Some were in the toilet. They died of asphyxiation”.

In the wake of the tragedy, Brazilian officials announced that they were postponing a ceremony due to take place in the city’s capital to mark the fact it is now 500 days until the 2014 football World Cup, while Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has cut short a visit to Chile to fly to Santa Maria.

The fire and large death toll is likely to throw a new spotlight on the use of pyrotechnics in smaller venues not really equipped to accommodate such effects, and the responsibilities of venue owners, tour managers and artists themselves to be aware of such risks. Since the high profile club fire in Rhode Island in 2003, similar tragedies have occurred in Buenos Aires, Bangkok and the Russian city of Perm.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:37 | By

Martin Mills calls for more support for rights owners from tech-giant-obsessed political class

Awards Business News Education & Events Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Martin Mills

Beggars chief Martin Mills was yesterday presented with an Icon award by Billboard at the MIDEM conference in Cannes.

And after eighteen months in which Mills has so often been the highest profile critic of the major music companies – and in particular the two EMI acquisitions that made Universal and Sony ever more dominant in the wider music rights business – this time the Beggars boss used his moment in the spotlight to discuss those areas where he is in agreement with his bigger rivals.

Although criticising the “predatory behaviour” of the majors, and expressing concerns at Sony/ATV/EMI’s recent decision to licence Pandora in the US directly rather than via the collective licensing system (a dominant rights owner using its size to secure a better deal than everyone else, Mills reckons), the latest Billboard icon told his audience: “I want to address the lack of support that governments, politicians and bureaucrats worldwide show to the creative industries”.

He added: “Many [in governmental and political circles] pay lip service to the value and importance of the creative economy, but most fail to match that with their actions. Creative industries are built upon strong and defendable intellectual property rights, and without that they will inevitably wither and fail. It is impossible to make the investments to produce new creative goods without the security that ownership of them is protected. Yet governments are seduced daily by elements of the new technology industry into diluting and compromising that security”.

Admitting that rights owners – especially the bigger ones – have made various mistakes in the way they licence online content services in the last fifteen years, and that the music rights industry still needed to work harder on developing better cross-territory licences, he continued: “I don’t believe that the present day music industry is a reluctant licensor”.

And, he added, “we do not need to have control of our rights taken away from us, to be forced to licence that in which we have invested at uneconomic prices, to simply allow huge tech firms to make even huger profits”. Yes, music companies needed tech companies just like tech companies need content, but “as someone who invests in music – and when I looked at the numbers a few years ago we had written off £25 million in unrecouped advances to artists over the years – it makes me fume when politicians cosy up to the big techs at our cost and spout philosophically about the needs of the modern world, about us being dinosaurs, and about music’s irresistible urge to be liberated and free”.

“All in life needs balance and vision, and the likes of [European digital commissioner] Neelie Kroos miss that point. When businesses make money out of music, music rights owners must have the right to a fair share of that income”. Noting also that the music industry pumps a lot more into the tax system than many of the tech giants putting pressure on rights owners, Mills concluded: “I’m incensed about the discrimination and the lack of understanding with which those like us who spend their lives creating art that brings people joy, can get treated by those in power. I very much hope that we can all be a part of changing that, because unless we do, the ladder we climbed will not be there for those who follow us”.

Elsewhere at MIDEM yesterday, U2 manager Paul McGuinness, who last year used his Cannes contribution to hit out at Google for failing to stop infringing content from appearing high up in its web searches, returned to that topic once more. According to Music Ally, he told the industry shindig: “I don’t want to engage in Google-bashing, but there is a sense of unease across Europe, across the world, about Google. Google have been making encouraging noises about restricting illegal sites or directions to illegal sites for acquiring music. The noises are very encouraging, but I’d like to see some action. It’s as simple as that”.

Read Mills full speech on the Billboard website, and Music Ally’s full report on McGuinness’s comments here.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:36 | By

MPG announces new standard for embedding ISRCs into WAVs

Digital Top Stories

MPG

The UK’s Music Producers Guild has announced the launch of a new standard for the embedding of International Standard Recording Codes – the code used to uniquely identify any one sound recording – into WAV files.

It is hoped that the adoption of this standard, created in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union, will simplify the reporting of the use of tracks by broadcasters, and the distribution of broadcast royalties. The system would also ensure that ISRCs are carried through the digital aggregation process, and could power a global database containing credit information associated with a track, hopefully overcoming a digital music gripe particularly important to the producer and sound engineer community, shoddy crediting (which, arguably, is a violation of a creator’s moral rights in some copyright systems).

The MPG is planning a launch presentation to outline its new standard, and is calling on labels, rights administrators, artists and managers, broadcasters and industry trade groups to get behind the initiative. More when we get it.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:35 | By

Morrissey hospitalised as Joyce talks Smiths reunion interest

Artist News

morrissey

Morrissey was hospitalised in Detroit on Friday with a suspected bladder infection, causing a number of shows on the singer’s US tour to be cancelled. A Thursday night show had already been pulled, seemingly because of illness in his band, and a Friday night gig in Minneapolis and Saturday show in Chicago were also pulled once Morrissey himself had been diagnosed with the bladder condition. It’s not yet clear when the singer will be able to resume with his American tour.

Though while he’s in his hospital bed, Mozza will be able to contemplate recent comments from his former bandmate Mike Joyce who apparently told The Sun he’d be rather up for a Smiths reunion. As previously reported, following the customary Smiths reunion rumours that circulated last year, heightened by the return of fellow Mancunian reunion hold outs The Stone Roses, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr denied they had any interest to revisit their old band.

But Joyce told The Sun: “It would sound great. I’m a better player than I was. Morrissey’s voice is still incredible, Johnny is playing great. With the equipment and PA systems 30 years on, if we got up on stage and played, it would sound incredible. A promoter asked me, ‘Why don’t you just do it? It would make millions of people happy’. I said, ‘You’re asking the wrong man’. I don’t think about it every day. But if they asked me, I’d probably say yes. If you put everyone in the same room, it’s amazing how things can turn around”.

Hmm, we might have to take Joyce’s name off The Smiths’ recent CMU Artists Of The Year trophy.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:33 | By

Sony reportedly signing Daft Punk

Business News Labels & Publishers

Daft Punk

According to Billboard, Sony Music is close to signing Daft Punk via its Columbia Records division. The French dance duo have previously released all their artist albums via EMI, with their most recent work, the soundtrack to the ‘Tron: Legacy’ movie, coming out via Disney’s label.

If the reports are true, it would be a good signing for a major clearly keen to boost its electronic and dance music credentials, having recently signed up Depeche Mode and taken a stake in New York-based EDM label Ultra Music. Presumably Columbia would release the long mooted new Daft Punk longer player, reportedly featuring Chic’s Nile Rodgers, which most people now expect to be released this spring.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:32 | By

RCA signs X-Factor finalist Jahmene Douglas

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Jahmene Douglas

Sony Music has signed up another finalist from last year’s ‘X-Factor’ talent irritant, in the form of Jahmene Douglas, having already done deals with Union J and Ella Henderson as well as show winner James Arthur. Douglas has signed to Sony’s RCA division.

Says Douglas: “I’m so excited about signing to RCA. They have such a rich heritage of amazing artists. [Label boss] Colin Barlow and his team share my vision of being a timeless artist and I can’t wait to start recording my first album. Let the journey begin!”

That journey will begin with a jaunt round the UK on the ‘X-Factor Live Tour’, before settling down in a studio to record some tunes like. Good times.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:31 | By

The Slow Show sign Rough Trade Publishing deal

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

The Slow Show

Rough Trade Publishing has signed up new Manchester-based band The Slow Show to a publishing deal, which will include sync representation.

Confirming the deal, Cathi Gibson, MD of Rough Trade Publishing, which is independent from both the label and record store business of the same name, told CMU: “[The Slow Show] have great sync potential and their original sound and writing is grabbing deserved attention. Their material will shortly be made available on Rough Trade’s specialist [sync] site rough-cuts.com”.

The band’s manager JC Caddy added: “The band are delighted to sign with Rough Trade Publishing in what is a very credible and exciting partnership and where the emphasis is on quality not quantity”.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:30 | By

Downtown Publishing signs deal with Ono

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Yoko Ono

Fresh from splitting off from its sister record label business, Downtown Music Publishing announced a deal late last week with Yoko Ono that will see the independent administrate the song rights belonging to both Lenono Music and Ono Music, which together include John Lennon’s solo catalogue and Ono’s own complete output. EMI Music Publishing previously represented the works.

Confirming the deal, DMP President Justin Kalifowitz told reporters: “We are both honoured and humbled to represent the iconic songs of John and Yoko. We look forward to creating new opportunities that will expand the reach of their timeless music and message”.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:29 | By

Kobalt signs publishing deal with Lady Antebellum

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Lady Antebellum

Kobalt’s US division last week signed a worldwide administration deal with country pop trio Lady Antebellum. The publisher will provide creative, sync and administration services for some of the trio’s catalogue, as well as the songs penned by the band on their upcoming new album.

Kobalt’s Senior VP Whitney Daane told CMU: “It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with such unique individual and collective talent as Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott. As songwriters, they each bring their own creative vision for Lady Antebellum. Their collaboration has created one of country music’s top bands, and they are truly a global ambassador for the format. We are honoured that Lady Antebellum has chosen Kobalt and look forward to being a part of their ongoing and future success”.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:28 | By

Bonobo shares LP details, new track, live dates

Releases

Bonobo

Ninja Tune-signed Bonobo has just signalled a 1 Apr release for his first LP since 2010’s ‘Black Sands’.

Characterised as a “stride forward” for the Brighton DJ, ‘The North Borders’ has already given out its first track, one titled ‘Cirrus’, for free listening via this video:

Meanwhile, 250 twelve-inch vinyls featuring another brand new track will also be appearing via Bonobo and co’s White Label Competition in various record shops at various times in the near future. As well as the new track, each record will also carry a unique code that – when logged at bonobomusic.com – could win the owner a “top secret grand prize”.

Bonobo is also going to be playing a trail of international live dates, the first of six British shows being at London’s Roundhouse on 18 May. That is all.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:27 | By

British Sea Power back with new LP, Machineries Of Joy

Gigs & Festivals Releases

British Sea Power

British Sea Power are, as the headline says, back. And since they’re back, they may as well release an LP, and that’s just what they’re doing via their fifth studio set ‘Machineries Of Joy’.

I’m quite fond of that title, as is in-band vocalist Yan, who says: “We’d like to think the album is warm and restorative. Various things are touched on in the words – Franciscan monks, ketamine, French female bodybuilders turned erotic movie stars. The world often seems a mad, hysterical place at the moment. You can’t really be oblivious to that”.

Yeah, totally. Now that we’ve all faced that reality, it might be nice to face this tour itinerary:

4 Apr: Exeter, Phoenix
5 Apr: Birmingham, Library
6 Apr: Newcastle, University
7 Apr: Glasgow, Oran Mor
9 Apr: Leeds, Met University
10 Apr: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
11 Apr: Manchester, Gorilla
14 Apr: Cardiff, Coal Exchange
15 Apr: Portsmouth, Wedgewood
16 Apr: Norwich, Waterfront
17 Apr: London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:26 | By

Kilo Kish to tour

Gigs & Festivals Releases

Kilo Kish

Hyped ‘experimental rap’ type Kilo Kish has just published a list of new PAs to go with ‘K+’, the mixtape she’s releasing on 7 Feb. I say ‘mixtape’, it’s really (apparently) a “collaborative multimedia project” featuring guest MCs like Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt and The Internet, rapper/actor Childish Gambino and A$AP Mob character A$AP Ferg.

This is ‘Creepwave’, her collaboration with Flatbush Zombies:

Kilo Kish, who’s also something of a ‘James Franco’ (aka a polymath) in that she’s a designer, model and “21st century artist”, says this of ‘K+’: “My songs include layers of sound spanning from at-home demos to professional studio recordings. This is in an attempt to purposely highlight our imperfections and reject the finality of ‘the finished product’. We are all always working and making changes and my project represents this elementary idea”.

Ah. Anyway, those live PAs I was just talking about:

9 Mar: Manchester, Night & Day
10 Mar: Newcastle, Think Tank
11 Mar: Glasgow, Arches
12 Mar: Leeds, Brundenell
14 Mar: Nottingham, Bodega
15 Mar: London, Great Suffolk Street Warehouse
16 Mar: Brighton, Audio

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:25 | By

Ryan Hemsworth lists first euro dates

Gigs & Festivals

Ryan Hemsworth

CMU Approved DJ and remix artist Ryan Hemsworth is stopping at several places as part of his first European tour. Four of those, being in Britain as they are, are especially relevant, and look like this when in a list:

1 Feb: London, Birthdays
5 Feb: Southampton, Unit
6 Feb: Dublin, The Button Factory
7 Feb: Brighton, The Jazz Palace

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:24 | By

Festival line-up update – 28 Jan 2013

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

Coachella

Okay, so… Coachella. The twice-as-nice American alt-pop party has disclosed its 2013 artist listings in one go, dividing its headline credits between The Stone Roses, Blur, The xx, The Postal Service, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lou Reed, New Order, Vampire Weekend, Wu-Tang Clan, Sigur Rós, Spiritualized, Franz Ferdinand and Tame Impala – who’d be doing the same (headlining, that is) at any other festival – are consigned to the slightly lesser ranks amid a vast live programme.

Talking of Tame Impala, they (alongside Biffy Clyro and Twin Shadow) are new to the bill at Primavera Sound’s Portuguese parallel, Optimus Alive!, and so join Depeche Mode, Kings Of Leon and Green Day.

Not talking of Tame Impala at all, Kentish-rock-festival-in-a-zoo Hevy has confirmed it’ll host an exceedingly rare live appearance by punk fossils Black Flag. They’ll be back in Britain for the first time in thirty years (as original line-up Black Flag), give or take, to give their only GB performance of the year. So, that’s significant.

Also new – and not quite as significant – in Euro FLUUs is a post-festival set by Rihanna at Poland’s Heineken-sponsored Open’er. Whilst she isn’t involved in the official 3-6 Jul event, she’ll play a “special extra show” that’s free to those owning four-day tickets, or an even £93 to all other humans. So, that’s nice.

And now it’s time to move over to itemised additions to the above plus Shropshire pop do Osfest, Bristol’s cool and castle-adjacent Love Saves The Day, and the beyond-retro Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul…

COACHELLA, Empire Polo Club, California, USA, 12-14 Apr/19-21 Apr: The Stone Roses, Blur, The xx, The Postal Service, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, Lou Reed, Jurassic 5, Grinderman, Sigur Rós, Vampire Weekend, Social Distortion, Wu-Tang Clan, Pretty Lights, Eric Prydz, Tame Impala, New Order, Hot Chip, Grizzly Bear, Knife Party, Benny Benassi, Two Door Cinema Club, Bassnectar, Dog Blood (Skrillex & Boys Noize), Moby, Descendents, Yeasayer, Franz Ferdinand, Violent Femmes, Simian Mobile Disco, Spiritualized, How to Destroy Angels , Passion Pit, Tegan & Sara, Band Of Horses, Beach House, Metric, Local Natives, Of Monsters and Men, Infected Mushroom, Japandroids, Divine Fits, Stars, Johnny Marr, Puscifer, Cafe Tacvba, Portugal. The Man, The Make-Up, Bat For Lashes, Richie Hawtin, Major Lazer, Fedde Le Grand, Dropkick Murphys, Foals, Ben Howard, 2 Chainz, Janelle Monae, Danny Brown, Wild Nothing, Booka Shade, Bingo Players, Allen Stone, El-P, The Selecter, Pusha T, Kill The Noise, The Evens, Biffy Clyro, Theophilus London, Baauer, Zane Lowe, Trash Talk, Birdy Nam Nam, Action Bronson, Jason Bentley, The Wombats, Guards, Mona, Savages, Shovels & Rope, Hueratron, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Reignwolf, Cassy, 3Ball MTV, Kids These Days, The 2 Bears, The Couloris, Luciano, Wolfgang Gartner, Nicky Romero, Modestep, Tommy Trash, Thomas Gold, Shouting Matches, Dillon Francis, Four Tet, Aesop Rock, Alt-J, Jello Biafra And The Quantanamo School of Medicine, TNGHT, Jake Bugg, Earl Sweatshirt, Polica, Sparks, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Purity Ring, Lee Scratch Perry, DaM-FunK, DJ Harvey, Jamie XX, Seth Troxler, Youth Lagoon, Deathfix, C2C, Beardyman, Lord Huron, Palma Violets, 10 Echo, Skinny Lister, The Neighborhood, Sam XL Pure Filth Sound, The Lumineers, Dead Can Dance, La Roux, James Blake, Excision, Grimes, The Gaslight Anthem, The Faint, Hardwell, Paul Oakenfold, Dinosaur Jr, Raider Klan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Roni Size, The Airborne Toxic Event, Father John Misty, Tanlines, Rodriguez, Alex Clare, Paul Kalkbrenner, Jessie Ware, Loco Dice, Jamie Jones, The Three o’Clock, Disclosure, Mimosa, Cloud Nothings, Parov Stelar, Julio Bashmore, Thee Oh Sees, Dub FX, Maya Jane Coles, Jeff The Brotherhood, Smith Westerns, Dirtyphonics, Joris Voorn, Hanni El Khatib, Danny Arila, Ghost, DIIV, Little Green Cars, Mord Fustang, James McCartney, Unicorn Kid, Robert DeLong, White Arrows, Deap Vally, Wild Belle, Adrian Lux, Ladies Night. www.coachella.com

HEVY, Port Lympne Animal Park, Kent, 2-4 Aug: Black Flag. www.hevy.co.uk

LOVE SAVES THE DAY, Castle Park, Bristol, 25 May: AlunaGeorge, Âme, Applebottom, Baby Malc, Bicep, Bondax, Bonobo – Live, Breakage, Bromley, Christophe & Lukas, Crazy P – Live, Crump & Keady, Deetron, Dismantle, Dubious & A.Quake, Dusky, Eats Everything, Eton Messy DJs, Feel The Real, Futureboogie DJs, Jackmaster, Jay-L, Joy Orbison, Jus Now, Marco Bernardi, Maxxi Soundsystem, Mickey Pearce, Monki, Mr Scruff, Outboxx, Paleman, Roses Gabor, Rudimental, Seth Troxler, Shanti, Shy FX, Sly-One, The Other Tribe, Tom Rio & Dan Wild, Waifs And Strays. lovesavestheday.org

MOSTLY JAZZ, FUNK & SOUL FESTIVAL, Moseley Park, Birmingham, 5-7 Jul: Chic feat Nile Rodgers. mostlyjazz.co.uk

HEINEKEN OPEN’ER, Gdynia, Poland, 3-6 Jul: Rihanna. opener.pl/en

OPTIMUS ALIVE!, Lisbon, Portugal, 12-14 Jul: Biffy Clyro, Tame Impala, Twin Shadow. www.optimusalive.com

OSFEST – BREAK FOR THE BORDER, Oswestry Showground, Shropshire, 24-26 May: JLS. www.osfest.co.uk

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:23 | By

Controversial prank call radio show replaced on Sydney’s 2Day FM

Media

2day FM

The Australian radio station caught up in the prank call scandal late last year has replaced the show on which the spoof call was made, but says that its presenters, Michael ‘MC’ Christian and Mel Grieg, are still on the payroll.

Christian and Grieg have been on leave ever since one of the nurses that appeared in their pre-recorded call, made to the London hospital that was at the time caring for Kate Middleton, died by suicide just days after the controversial prank became a global news event.

While the exact circumstances around nurse Jacintha Saldana’s death remain unknown, the incident threw the spotlight on radio pranksters who pick their victims at random, while the DJs and 2day FM were heavily criticised for not clearing the pre-recorded item with the London hospital before airing it.

Since Saldana’s death in mid-December, 2day FM has aired a basic music-heavy fill-in programme in Christian and Grieg’s old slot. But now a new programme is being launched in that spot in the schedule, though station owners Southern Cross Austereo have said that both Christian and Grieg will return to the airwaves at some point in the future.

The media firm’s CEO Rhys Holleran told reporters: “We look forward to Mel and MC returning to work when the time is right, in roles that make full use of their talents. We will discuss future roles with them when they are ready”.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 12:22 | By

One Direction’s Malik meets with Little Mix girlfriend after Sun’s kiss and tell exposé

And Finally

Zayn Malik

Pity poor Harry Styles. First he lost his status as ‘most talked about British Harry’ after his namesake royal gave that “yeah, I kill people sometimes” interview. And now he’s not even leading for the title of ‘most talked about pop shagger’ or even ‘most talked about One Direction love rat’ (and this despite the “Styles to attend same awards ceremony as recent ex Taylor Swift” stories doing the rounds ahead of this weekend’s NRJ Awards in Cannes). No, today both those titles belong to a certain Zayn Malik, supposedly hooked up with Little Mixer Perrie Edwards, but also the subject of the kiss and tell that was splashed across the front of yesterday’s Sun.

According to the tab, Malik recently had a one night stand with “Aussie beauty” Courtney Webb after he told the kiss-and-teller in the making, who found herself at a party at the star’s London home, that he was single.

He then bedded Webb underneath a large picture of Edwards, one quarter of fellow ‘X-Factor’ alumnus Little Mix, hung on the wall above his bed. In The Sun’s article Webb provides a ‘Cribs’ style overview of the pop star’s house and a couple of snaps of the 1D-er sleeping in his bed (presumably to verify the story) before declaring: “He’s an absolute shit. How dare he – not only to me but to Perrie?”

Recalling her early-hours meeting with the popster, she continues: “He was a really nice guy. We were talking about music and playing songs on his iPad. He even gave me a maroon jumper when I was cold. He was drinking vodka and we were having a laugh. I asked him if he had a girlfriend, and he said he didn’t. He said he wanted to enjoy being 20”.

Later, she adds, “Zayn cornered me, looked me in the eyes and said, ‘You’re so hot, you’re so fit, you’re really beautiful. Wow!’ I was taken aback. He kept giving me these looks across the room, a look I translated as ‘come to bed eyes’. I knew where this was going. He just said, ‘Let’s chill in my room’. We sat on his bed and before I could even say anything he started snogging my face off, kissing me passionately. It just snowballed from there. We fooled around then had sex. It was amazing”.

Though Webb admits that she slowly learned about Malik’s relationship with Edwards while still at his home (mainly by spotting some of his girlfriend’s belongings), but says that when she questioned him about the Little Mixer, the 1D star said “don’t worry about her, she’s on tour”. And so the night continued to its climax.

With The Sun story hitting the web this weekend, Malik returned from the NRJ Awards and headed straight to Nottingham, where Little Mix were due to play a show last night, seemingly in a bid to save his relationship with his fellow popstar. The couple left Edwards’ hotel “looking tense”, reports the tabloid. Meanwhile, Styles is presumably plotting his bid to regain some of that lost kudos. Maybe re-hook up with Taylor Swift and then immediately cheat on her with a Sun-reading waitress. Before heading to Afghanistan to take out the enemy with some well practiced pop moves.

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Monday 28 January 2013, 11:46 | By

Sigur Rós keyboardist leaves, as band preview new LP

Artist News

Sigur Ros

It’s all change at Sigur Rós HQ, as they lose keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson but gain a new track towards their seventh studio LP.

Frontman Jonsi et al shared those and other such truths whilst talking to fans via this Reddit dialogue, saying that Sveinsson’s leaving the band had been “on a good note” but that he had wanted to go “for some time”, adding: “He said he spent half his life in the band and it was time to do something different”.

The band also revealed that they’d started making a follow-on to 2012’s ‘Valtari’, adding that they are going to carry that on between the various live dates they’re playing in the coming months.

This segment of a weird and distinctly un-Sigur Rós-like new track, tagged ‘sr7’ (aka Sigur Rós seven), is listenable in the mean time:

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Friday 25 January 2013, 12:42 | By

CMU Digest – 25 Jan 2013

Business News Week In Five

HMV

The five biggest stories in the music business this week…

01: The HMV administration continued to go through the motions. While up to 50 parties have reportedly expressed an interest in acquiring HMV assets since the entertainment retailer was put into administration ten days ago, restructuring specialists Hilco is favourite to takeover much of the retail firm. It bought up most of HMV’s debts this week, basically giving it control of the business, while the Hilco bid to buy the retailer as a going concern is backed by the major music and DVD companies. Though Hilco is likely to only want about half of HMV’s stores, with Game and various fashion chains and supermarkets lining up to take over the remaining HMV shop units. Elsewhere, G-A-Y founder Jeremy Joseph announced he had bought HMV out of his company. The G-A-Y franchise, with its club brand, bars and Heaven venue, was the only bit of the former HMV Live division not sold in 2011. CMU reports

02: Sony bought into US EDM independent Ultra Music. A sign that the corporate end of the American music industry reckons there is still plenty of cash to be made from the recent rise of dance music Stateside, Sony Music invested in New York-based Ultra Music, while the founder of that label, Patrick Moxey, became Sony’s global President Of Electronic Music. CMU report | FT report

03: YouTube said ‘Gangnam Style’ had generated $8 million in ad revenues in six months. Google revealed the figure in a financial briefing this week. Psy’s web phenomenon has been watched 1.23 billion times on YouTube since being uploaded last summer. The $8 million in revenues from that many views suggests advertisers started paying a premium to appear alongside the novelty track once it gained global attention. It’s not clear how much of that $8 million will be passed to Psy and his label/publisher. Last year it was estimated the Korean singer and his business partners would make about that amount out of the track, though that estimate included download sales and sync deals as well as YouTube revenues. CMU report | Telegraph report

04: Live Nation announced Olympic Parks deal, as Barclaycard was confirmed as sponsor for AEG’s Hyde Park activity. Having ended its partnership with the Royal Parks last year, Live Nation will move its London-based festivals, including Wireless and Hard Rock Calling, east to the site of last year’s London games, as part of a deal with the London Legacy Development Corporation. Meanwhile AEG Live, which has taken over the Hyde Park franchise, announced that its activity there this summer will be called British Summer Time, will be sponsored by former Wireless backer Barclaycard, and will be headlined by Bon Jovi. Oh, and apparently they’ve sorted out the noise issues that dogged Live Nation’s activity in the park in recent years. Live Nation report | AEG report

05: Mega launched last weekend, though was criticised for its sluggishness and security issues. That said, the new file-transfer service from Kim Dotcom, launched a year after the US authorities shutdown his original business MegaUpload amidst piracy allegations, generated a lot of interest, and signed-up plenty of users. The slow running of the service was due to that large number of sign-ups, Dotcom said. Mega boasts that it automatically encrypts files uploaded to the service, providing security and privacy for users, and arguably protecting the new business from copyright infringement claims. Though tech experts said the auto-encrypted files were easily hackable, while lawyers were divided on whether user’s files being locked would reduce Mega’s responsibility for stopping infringement on its network. CMU report | Ars Technica report

On CMU this week, we chatted to Ritzy Bryan from The Joy Formidable, Flux Pavilion did us a playlist, and Eddy TM asked for your help. Approved were Seeräuber Jenny, Cult Of Luna, Parquet Courts and Kate Boy.

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Friday 25 January 2013, 12:41 | By

CMU Beef Of The Week #142: Bunny Wailer v Snoop Dogg

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

Snoop Dogg

When Snoop Dogg held a press conference back in July to announce that he was leaving hip hop behind and reinventing himself as a reggae artist called Snoop Lion, I don’t think anyone actually took him at his word. Still, he forged ahead telling people that he was a Rastafarian now, and occasionally people remembered to call him Snoop Lion, rather than Snoop Dogg. And now there’s a forthcoming album, ‘Reincarnated’, and a documentary about its making (featuring Snoop and Diplo visiting Jamaica) to sell, so the Snoop Lion project continues. Though not, if Bunny Wailer gets him way.

Alongside Bob Marley, of course, Bunny Wailer was a founder member of The Wailers, who brought the idea of Rastafarianism to a global audience. So, when he says that Snoop has engaged in “outright fraudulent use of the Rastafari community’s personalities and symbolism”, he’d probably know. He adds that Snoop has failed to meet “contractual, moral and verbal commitments”.

Those agreements, it seems, are with the Ethio-Africa Diaspora Union Millennium Council, an organisation which represents various churches within the Rastfarian religion and seeks to ensure that it is properly represented worldwide.

The group has reportedly written a lengthy letter to Snoop threatening legal action if he doesn’t stop using the name ‘Lion’. They are also demanding “financial and moral support” and an apology for spreading the idea that “smoking weed and loving Bob Marley and reggae music is … what defines the Rastafari indigenous culture”.

Here’s the trailer for ‘Reincarnation’, if you want to see what all the fuss is about:

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Friday 25 January 2013, 12:40 | By

Approved: Mixmag Live presents Boys Noize at Village Underground

Club Tip CMU Approved

Boys Noize

For its first live event of 2013, Mixmag is bringing German electro producer Alex Ridha, aka Boys Noize, and a selection of artists from his Boys Noize Recordings label to East London venue Village Underground tonight.

Still promoting his excellent ‘Out Of The Black’ album, Ridha will, of course, headline the event, and will no doubt bring down the roof. But loosening the rafters for him will be DIM – himself an electro heavy hitter – and BNR’s latest signing, SCNTST, who, while still in his teens, make an impressive blend of electro and techno. According to the BNR website, SCNTST “has been to a club only one time [before] – and hated it”. I’m sure this time will be better.

As well as entry to the club, tickets get you an exclusive Boys Noize mix CD and a copy of the latest Mixmag when you arrive. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Friday 25 Jan, Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, London, EC2A 3PQ, 8pm – 4am, £16, more info via this link.

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Friday 25 January 2013, 12:39 | By

WH Smith not interested in capitalising on HMV’s demise

Business News HMV Timeline Retail Top Stories

WH Smith

You sometimes forget that, back in the heyday of the CD, in many British towns WH Smith was one of the most important music sellers.

But the books, stationery, news and entertainment retailer has been busy downsizing its CD and DVD departments for a decade now, so that such products now account for just 1-2% of the retailer’s sales, compared to 25% just eight years ago. And the company says it has no plans to restore its CD or DVD operations if HMV disappears from the high street.

Asked whether she saw the likely streamlining and possible collapse of the HMV retail chain as an opportunity to expand her own company’s entertainment retail operations, WH Smith CEO Kate Swann gave the Financial Times a resounding “no”.

She told the paper: “[Entertainment retail] just isn’t profitable. HMV were the last man standing … pretty much everybody went because nobody could make any money out of it. You can’t create a proposition which customers find attractive and make money with the current structure of the market. If there was some way we could change that structure and could create something which is attractive to customers, and you could make some money, yes, that would be our reason to reconsider it. Otherwise no”.

WH Smith’s own future was in doubt ten years ago, though under Swann’s leadership the firm has regained some stability, partly through cost efficiencies, and partly through focusing on more profitable product lines, hence the move away from entertainment. Sales were down at the company’s shops in the last quarter, though it is still set to make pre-tax profits in the region of £105 million for the current financial year.

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Friday 25 January 2013, 12:38 | By

Joseph buys HMV out of G-A-Y

Business News Deals EMI Sale Timeline Live Business Top Stories

HMV

The founder of the G-A-Y franchise, Jeremy Joseph, has revealed that he has put his own home on the line to regain control of his business, which includes the original clubbing brand, the G-A-Y labelled bars and London venue Heaven. HMV was a major shareholder in the G-A-Y company as a result of its 2010 acquisition of the MAMA Group.

Joseph originally went into business with Mean Fiddler to grow the G-A-Y business, it then also operating the now gone London Astoria venue, which was the original home of the G-A-Y club night. MAMA’s acquisition of Mean Fiddler’s non-festivals business in 2007 brought G-A-Y into the MAMA Group fold, resulting in further expansion, before HMV became the parent company three years later.

HMV then announced its intent to sell its live division just over a year ago, subsequently entering into two deals last year, one with AEG and Eventim regarding flagship venue the Hammersmith Apollo, and another with MAMA co-founder Dean James regarding much of the rest of the company. However, G-A-Y was not part of either of those deals.

With the HMV Group now in administration, Joseph needed to get a deal done quickly to buy back his profitable company. After initially pursuing a possible new business partnership, a plan that ran aground for various reasons, the promoter subsequently secured funding from Metro Bank, though with the loan secured on his own home and other business interests. While that deal has seemingly been done just in time, when HMV called in the administrators last week Joseph says he was forced to withdraw money from his own bank account to keep G-A-Y operating last weekend.

Thanking his various business partners to date for helping him expand the G-A-Y business, before charting the various challenges he has faced in the last year in a bid to exercise his contractual right to buy HMV out of his company, Joseph wrote on Facebook yesterday: “As luck would have it, a friend suggested a new bank and after looking at G-A-Y accounts, they gave a yes to lending me personally millions – and I do mean millions – so thanks to Metro Bank, I was given the chance to take the biggest risk of my life and give G-A-Y a new future”.

Admitting HMV’s administration had added even more pressure, he continued: “In a time of recession and with so many companies going into administration, was this the right time to take the biggest risk of my life, borrow millions of pounds, and put my home and company up as a guarantee? Well on Tuesday I signed my life away, I’ve taken my biggest risk, going it alone, no more business partners, just me, if this goes wrong, I lose everything. But risks are there to be taken, I have a responsibility to the 200 people that G-A-Y employs, I have a responsibility to the customers who have been loyal to G-A-Y and I have a responsibility to all those people who believe in me and have backed me”.

He concluded: “So the announcement is that I have completed the deal in buying HMV’s shares in G-A-Y and with the shares I already own, G-A-Y is 100% owned by me: that’s the brand, the bars and Heaven. And with the team who work at G-A-Y, this is the beginning of a brand new era”.

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Friday 25 January 2013, 12:37 | By

IMPALA reveals indie album of year shortlist

Awards

IMPALA

Pan-European indie labels trade body IMPALA yesterday announced the shortlist for the third edition of its European Independent Album Of The Year Award. And look, here is that very list for you all…

Afterhours – Padania (Germi)
Alt-J – An Awesome Wave (Infectious)
Compact Disco – Sound Of Our Hearts (CLS)
Cro – Raop (Chimperator)
Django Django – Django Django (Because Music)
El Perro Del Mar – Pale Fire (Ingrid)
Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood Of Colour (Ambush Reality)
First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar (Wichita)
Frenkie – Troyanac (Menart)
John Talabot – Fin (Permanent Vacation)
Jukka Poika – Yhdestä Puusta (Suomen Musiikki)
Kaizers Orchestra – Violeta Violeta Vol III (Petroleum Records)
The Kyteman Orchestra – The Kyteman Orchestra (Kytopia)
Libar – Libar (Menart)
Netsky – 2 (Hospital Records)
Norberto Lobo – Mel Azul (Mbari)
Shaka Ponk – The Geeks and The Jerkin’ Socks (Tôt ou Tard / Wagram)
The xx – Coexist (XL Recordings)

IMPALA board members now have four weeks to vote for their overall favourite. Meanwhile, IMPALA Exec Chair Helen Smith told CMU: “The shortlist demonstrates the diversity of independent music throughout Europe. The judges, using entirely open criteria, will choose quite simply the album they believe is the most exceptional of the year”.

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