Wednesday 29 May 2013, 10:58 | By Andy Malt

Lateral MGMT to open US office

Business News Management & Funding

Ninja Tune isn’t the only European music company opening a new office in LA this week. Lateral MGMT, home to artists including Taio Cruz, Paloma Faith and Josh Weller, is setting up shop in the US city, in addition to its existing offices in London and Stockholm.

Christian Wåhlberg, who co-founded the company with Jamie Binns and Jan Carl Adelswård, told Billboard: “With myself, Jamie and Jan Carl travelling to LA a week every month, it seems logical to set up an office there. We’re going to hire an A&R assistant, who’s going to be our eyes and ears on the ground. We’re also employing our own licensing person over there, which is a big business for us, and we’re putting together a small marketing team, to be a good support to the artists and writers we look after, with the labels we work with”.

Eircom to close its music service

Digital

Irish internet service provider Eircom last week quietly revealed that it will shut its streaming and download service MusicHub at the end of June.

No reason was given for shutting the service, which was created as part of an alliance with the Irish record industry that also resulted in the net firm agreeing to operate a three-strikes system, sending our warning letters to suspected file-sharers amongst its customer base with the threat of restricting their net access if they continued to access unlicensed content.

Of course since MusicHub launched in late 2010 the streaming music market in particular has become very competitive, and it’s highly possible Eircom’s own service has struggled to compete with other new entrants into that domain.

Whether the closure of the MusicHub – initially seen as the carrot in the ISP’s label-endorsed crack down on piracy – will also impact on the stick, ie the three-strikes initiative, remains to be seen, though that programme did originate in a legal settlement between the record companies and the net firm.

BBC recommissions The Voice

Media

The BBC’s ‘X-Factor’ rival ‘The Voice’ will return for a third series next year, the broadcaster has announced. The second series is currently airing on BBC One on Saturday nights, and is apparently pulling in around 8.5 million viewers for each episode. So that’s nice.

Controller of Entertainment Commissioning Mark Linsey said: “‘The Voice’ has been a huge success for BBC One. Finding a Saturday night break-out hit is incredibly difficult, but this show hit the ground running and it’s fantastic to ensure its future on the channel”.

Meanwhile Moira Ross, Head Of Entertainment at Wall To Wall, the company which produces the show for the Beeb, and the show’s executive producer, added: “‘The Voice’ is a global format phenomenon and it’s been an extraordinary ride crafting it into a much watched and loved show for BBC One audiences. I’m thrilled to be continuing that journey”.

Olly Murs wants to act

And Finally

Olly Murs had to do some acting in the video for his new single ‘Dear Darlin’, and now he’s caught the bug, he has told Daybreak. That’s the acting bug, not some horrible disease.

He explains: “In this video I’m actually acting! I’ve been doing some angry shots … It’s nice to show a different side of my character. I think that’s what it is [to be] an artist, to show different sides of your personality, and I think my fans have been wanting to see that for a while”.

Though he added: “If I was going to do acting [more seriously], I wouldn’t want … who I am and what I’m doing [to mean I just] I get a job straight away. I’d want to really go to stage school and learn more about it. I think it’s important to walk into a casting or walk into a room with other actors and be able to say that I’ve learnt to do this job, I haven’t just walked into it. I think that’s important because it’s not as easy as people make out, it’s tough”.

Approved: Jon Hopkins

CMU Approved

In recent years, prolific producer Jon Hopkins has worked with Brian Eno, Coldplay and King Creosote – earning a Mercury nomination for his album with the latter, ‘Diamond Mine’. He also released a collection of solo work in the form of a soundtrack to the British sci-fi film ‘Monsters’ in 2010. However, next week he is due to release his fourth solo album proper, ‘Immunity’.

Created using various live sounds – from notes tapped on real acoustic instruments to a recording of water running through pipes in a New York hotel – the music is heavily layered, the first half of the album made up of techno which uses chord sequences designed to tug on the emotions, as the beats pull you to the dancefloor, before dropping into more ambient material leading to the album’s final track, a soft piano-driven piece with indecipherable vocals from Hopkins’ former studio buddy King Creosote.

The video for lead track, ‘Open Eye Signal’, which was debuted last month, provides suitably epic scenery for its eight minutes – the American Midwest stretching out as far as the eye can see as a teenager nonchalantly skateboards through it. Like the track itself, it’s something to get lost in, have a watch here:

Q&A: David Lowery, The Trichordist

Business Interviews

Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter David Lowery has been recording and performing for three decades, initially with his band Camper Van Beethoven, and since 1990 with his second project Cracker as well. In 2011 he also released his first solo album ‘The Palace Guards’. But more recently he has been in the news as much for his opinions on the various shifts that have occurred in the music industry, and on the impact of the web on the artist community, with those views being shared via the blog The Trichordist.

In his commentaries Lowery draws on his experience of economics and running music companies as much as his life as a musician. Although he has covered various issues in his writing, of late Lowery’s strong opinions on the ways big brands and web advertising networks are helping fund unlicensed music websites have stood out. And that is the topic he will be debating in London tonight at the latest MusicTank Think Tank event, this one titled ‘Follow The Money: Can The Business Of Ad-Funded Piracy Be Throttled?’

Ahead of the debate, CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke spoke to Lowery about The Trichordist, the music business in 2013, and why ad-funded piracy is such a big issue.

CC: What motivated you to set up The Trichordist?
DL: It started as a discussion between an informal group of musicians, songwriters, producers, recording engineers, artist managers and indie label folks. Most of those involved wanted to form a content creators’ type union – and that is actually in the works – but a smaller group of us broke off and formed The Trichordist. We just felt there was a real void in the blogosphere for a site that presented the artist’s perspective. It’s also a lot easier to run a blog than a union. We don’t even require consensus. We write what we feel like writing. We never dreamed that we would influence public policy in the US, but it looks like we have done so.

CC: The site’s hashtag is #StopArtistExploitation – who is doing the exploiting you’re trying to stop?
DL: The hashtag is specifically directed at two things. First, ad supported piracy and the entire tech ecosystem that supports it. But also the ‘legitimate’ digital services that use the market failure caused by industrial scale piracy to buy the streaming rights to our songs for a pittance, or to force us into ‘no audit’ licensing deals. “Submit or be torrented” is how one of our fellow indie bands phrased it on Twitter.

CC: You mentioned one of the issues you have been particularly vocal on there, ad-supported piracy, which is what you will be discussing at the MusicTank event tonight. Can you tell us a little more about that area of concern?
DL: There’s basically two parts of the ‘for profit’ web: transactional and subscription sites like Amazon and The New York Times and so on, and then advertising-supported sites and services. With the latter, the name of the game is page views. The more page views, the more valuable your site. Search engines drive page views, so to make money you need your site to appear in as many different searches as possible. A particularly profitable model is to ensure your site comes up when people search things like “Macklemore free MP3 download” or “Macklemore Thift Shop free lyrics”. And that’s exactly what lots of unlicensed music sites do.

But they are only profitable because of the advertisers. And it’s often big companies who are advertising. If I search for Macklemore ‘Thift Shop’ on the unlicensed lyric site www.lyrics007.com, I get ads for Priceline, Nissan, Amazon and, curiously, the Viceroy Hotel in Palm Springs. Though given Macklemore’s pro gay rights stance, that’s probably a well designed keyword selection on the part of the Viceroy. This happens because of the ad exchange networks used by the brands and the unlicensed music sites. Many of the major ad exchanges appear to be involved in serving ads to this particular site – you can see this because if you download the Firebug plug-in for Firefox and highlight a particular ad, it will give you the dynamic HTML code that served the ad in the lower window.

Unlicensed lyric websites are a particular pet peeve of mine, because it is very inexpensive and easy to become licensed when you are running this kind of service. Which illustrates one of the untruths propagated by the tech industry: that the music business/artists/songwriters have blocked any attempts to produce legitimate tech-music businesses.

CC: Google runs one of the biggest ad exchange networks, though this does seem to be the one area of the piracy debate where the web giant seems most willing to engage with the content industries. Is Google fighting this battle with us?
DL: No, not at all. Google’s “fight” is a brilliant piece of PR strategy. Google has something they call the Transparency Report On Copyright Infringement Notices. They maintain this database that in theory should help. But at any time you can find some part of their ad ecosystem serving ads on any number of the top 200 infringing domains. I have hundreds of screenshots with packet logs showing Google’s subsidiary DoubleClick serving ads to these sites.

CC: Is it enough for the brands whose ads appear on file-sharing sites to wheel out the excuse that a middle man is (or several middle men are) to blame?
DL: No, of course not. The ad delivery system has defied the main overarching trend of the internet: disintermediation, or cutting out the middle man. Instead there has been a hyper-intermediation for ad delivery – I’ve counted seven broad layers of intermediation.

Why would Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft want to give other companies a cut of the revenue when they can clearly deliver the ads directly? It makes no sense. Unless you want to insulate yourself from liability of high risk supply and potential RICO (racketeering) prosecution in the US. So basically the major companies set up ‘exchanges’. But if someone set up a database operation in the middle of an open-air heroin and cocaine market in Baltimore and matched buyers and sellers, they would be thrown in jail along with drug dealers.

The truth is many of the major Madison Avenue advertising agencies are complicit in this racket. They want to serve ads on these sites. They could demand the ad exchanges screen their supply better, but they don’t. And why shouldn’t they? They have a financial incentive to sell as many ads as possible whether they are legitimate sites or not.

CC: For artists, the ‘enemy’ was often traditionally the big record companies (certainly once any one artist’s initial deal with a major had gone sour). Are there new enemies in the digital age?
DL: Absolutely there are new enemies. Number one on my list right now are stupid academics with no real world experience that seem to think getting rid of copyright would vanquish “evil” Hollywood and lead to a flowering of culture and some new enlightened age. They remind me of the radical college professors I had back in the early 80s that thought Maoism was a more just and benevolent society. The idea is that somehow artists would be liberated from evil record labels, and never be exploited anymore. There are two obvious problems with this that people with doctorates should be able to see.

First, artists are already liberated from the record labels. And second, if you eliminate copyright, artists would just be exploited by a different set of large companies AND the old ones. Actually, if I was the CEO of Sony and copyright was removed, the rational response – and my duty to shareholders would require it – would be to just stop paying royalties to songwriters. It would be like the 1950s and early 1960s music business, where the artists rarely received royalties, and if they complained the label might buy them a new Cadillac. This actually happened! My mother-in-law worked for Sam Phillips, my father-in-law was a car dealer in Memphis. How do you think they met?

The only reason anybody has to pay songwriters and performers anything is because the artists have a valuable piece of intellectual property called song copyrights. What academics propose is the 1950s music business all over again, except probably without the occasional Cadillac this time.

CC: Do you think enough artists take an interest in issues like this? Do the young artists you teach seem more tuned into these issues than your contemporaries in the artist community – or do artists of all ages like to leave the business side to the businessmen?
DL: Record labels have retrenched so dramatically that most music is now self-released by the artists. Most young artists have to be businessmen. My figures are approximate, but in 2011 about 75,000 new albums were released in the US, and by my back-of-the-envelope reckoning, 800 were released by major labels or their subsidiaries.

And absolutely young artists are aware of this. They have strong opinions about it too, though they are opinions a lot of young artists are nervous about sharing. They fear that if they tell fans that they must pay for their music, because that’s what’s fair, they will suffer a backlash against them from the cybermobs. To paraphrase the pro artists hacktivists at Horse And Cow Society: “It’s like ancient Rome. Bread and circuses for the techno vulgus”.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just look at a group of independent artists from the CMJ college radio charts. Almost all of them are offering some or all of their songs for sale, whether on iTunes, their own website, or via indie aggregators like CD Baby. They clearly prefer people buy their songs.

CC: Aside from piracy, what are the biggest issues artists should be aware of in 2013?
DL: The consolidation of the concert promotion business. Artists are getting a lower share of live revenues because the consolidation of the concert business has allowed concert promoters to tack on all kinds of extra fees from parking to ticket surcharges. The consumer is also getting screwed in this as well.

CC: Given or despite the challenges you document on The Trichordist, do you think it’s harder or easier being a new artist in 2013 compared with when you started out?
DL: It’s easier to make your music and get it out to the world, but it’s much harder to get paid. It’s also much harder to get noticed, given the vast volume of music now released. That latter part I can’t say is a bad thing, because I think in some ways it makes the music scene more diverse and better for the consumer. I am also a consumer of music remember. But it’s more exploitative now than it’s been since the 1960s. Those getting rich off of music are the new digital intermediaries.

CC: Other than your writing and teaching, what other projects have you got coming up?
DL: I’m currently on a UK/European tour with Camper Van Beethoven supporting our new record ‘La Costa Perdida’. But I think the next album I’m gonna make is with Cracker. It appears to be an update of the California/Southwestern country and country rock of the 1970s-1990s. Think an alt country version of the stuff Dwight Yoakam (Bakersfield/LA) and Linda Rondstad (Tucson/LA) did during that time.

“He passed with flying colours”: Jacksons v AEG update

Business News Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal Live Business Top Stories

AEG Live General Counsel Shawn Trell completed his long testimony late last week in the ongoing Jacksons v AEG Live court battle. The Jackson family want AEG to be held liable for the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.

With the Jacksons trying hard to portray AEG management as ruthless and uncaring, and of ignoring Michael’s obvious health issues in Spring 2009 in order to stick to the schedule they’d made for the ill-fated ‘This Is It’ venture, attention late last week turned to the live music giant’s attempts to get insurance for that project.

Insurers had raised various concerns about Jackson’s health when first approached about providing no-show insurance for ‘This Is It’, and Trell had been involved in those discussions. The implication from the Jackson side, of course, was, if insurers were raising these concerns, why weren’t AEG likewise checking up on the singer’s health?

One email from a British insurance broker was revealed in court, in which the broker wrote: “The insurers have specifically requested information on the following: press reports [that] the artist is at various times using a wheelchair, suffering a back injury, lupus, cancer, cosmetic procedures, lung infection, emphysema, chronic gastrointestinal bleeding”.

That email had been sent just hours before Jackson died at his rented home in LA in 2009, bringing the whole ‘This Is It’ project to a halt. At that point AEG had only secured insurance for some of the singer’s O2 London residency, and was trying to convince insurers to provide a policy covering the rest.

But, Trell pointed out, that email didn’t mention Jackson’s dependency on certain prescription drugs, nor his issues with insomnia, the two things that combined to cause the late king of pop’s premature death in 2009, after Dr Conrad Murray negligently administered the anaesthetic propofol to help the singer sleep.

And when the company that had provided the initial round of insurance for ‘This Is It’, Lloyds Of London, had sent in its approved doctor to give Jackson a health check in February 2009, he’d not raised any particular concerns. Trell said that while the Lloyds appointed doctor hadn’t shared specifics about the singer’s health, because of patient confidentiality, he had told him: “Other than a slight case of hayfever, he passed with flying colours”.

Lloyds’ insurance of the ‘This Is It’ venture was subsequently subject to its own litigation, of course, though that was resolved last September.

Trell was finally allowed to stand down from the witness stand before proceedings in the Jacksons v AEG case rested for the weekend, though the live firm will remain under the spotlight when the hearing resumes later today, with AEG exec and long-term Jackson collaborator Paul Gongaware due to testify this week.

Record industry communicator dies

Business News Industry People Top Stories

Terri Anderson, a long-serving corporate communications exec in the UK record industry who held senior comms roles at EMI and trade bodies the BPI and most recently the Association Of Independent Music, died on Friday after losing her battle with cancer.

Paying tribute, Tony Wadsworth, Chairman of the BPI and former boss of EMI UK, told reporters: “Terri’s professional style was low key and understated but her contribution to the industry was at a high level, confident and long term. She tackled the thorniest of issues with good humour and the deft skill of one who knows what they’re talking about. She had a ready smile and was a lovely human being”.

While Alison Wenham, Chair of AIM, added: “There were very few people like Terri in the industry, someone who didn’t seek the limelight, but who made a major difference to all the executives, companies and organisations she served. She had the respect and gratitude of the whole industry”.

Pussy Riot member denied parole

Legal

Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina was denied parole last week, a month after bandmate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was also refused the same. A Russian court said that Alyokhina, who has been on hunger strike, should not be released as she has disobeyed prison authorities and failed to repent for her crime.

As previously reported, three members of the political band were sentenced to two years in jail last August, after being found guilty of ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred’ for performing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral earlier in year. One of the three, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was given a suspended sentence on appeal, but Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were sent to tough prison camps.

Prior to last week’s court hearing, Paul McCartney called on Russian officials to release the two women, saying in a letter: “My personal belief is that further incarceration for Maria will be harmful for her and the situation as a whole, which, of course, is being watched by people all over the world. In the great tradition of fair-mindedness which the Russian people (many of whom are my friends) are famous for, I believe that you granting this request would send a very positive message to all the people who have followed this case”.

The two performers also received support from Peter Gabriel as they fought for parole, though neither musician’s pleas seemingly had any effect.

Stone Temple Pilots go legal in dispute with Weiland

Business News Legal

Stone Temple Pilots have reportedly gone legal in their dispute with former frontman Scott Weiland, filing a lawsuit that apparently attempts to stop the singer from using the band’s name or even performing their songs, which – if true – seems a bit extreme, since he co-wrote most of them.

As previously reported, Weiland was formally fired from Stone Temple Pilots by his bandmates in February, he seemingly finding out via press reports about his bandmates’ Facebook statement. The new lawsuit claims that the Weiland-fronted version of the band, which regrouped in 2008, imploded because he became impossible to work with, was frequently late for shows in 2012, often performed poorly due to drug consumption, and eventually would only communicate with his bandmates via his lawyers or manager.

The dispute has seemingly gone legal now because the band have released a new track with Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington on vocals. In a post on his website last week, Weiland said he hadn’t known that Bennington would be performing with his former band, adding: “To tell you the truth, it took me by surprise. And it hurt. But the band that played last weekend was not Stone Temple Pilots and it was wrong of them to present themselves as that”.

Insisting again that his bandmates didn’t have the power to ‘fire’ him back in February, Weiland’s statement continued: “First of all they don’t have the legal right to call themselves STP because I’m still a member of the band. And more importantly, they don’t have the ethical right to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots because it’s misleading and dishonest to the millions of fans that have followed us for so many years”.

He went on: “When I tour on my own, it’s never as Stone Temple Pilots. It’s as Scott Weiland. The fans deserve to know what they’re getting. Like any band that’s stood the test of time and made music for more than two decades, STP had a special alchemy – the four of us together were greater than any one of us apart. So if my former bandmates want to tour with a new singer, that’s their prerogative. I don’t give a fuck what they call themselves, but it’s not Stone Temple Pilots. And so I say to you, our fans, I’ll see you out there on the road this summer where I’m touring as ‘Scott Weiland’ with my band The Wildabouts”.

But in their lawsuit, Weiland’s ex-bandmates say that it is the former frontman who is mis-using the STP trademark, though their grievances seem to be more about claims being made by his lawyers than any use of the band’s name by Weiland himself. In particular, they allege that Weiland’s lawyers tried to pressure an LA-based radio station to not play the Bennington-featuring STP track ‘Out Of Time’ on the basis doing so would breach their client’s rights.

The lawsuit concludes: “The band endured much strife and lost significant opportunities because of Weiland. Enough is enough. Without relief from the court, Weiland will continue violating STP’s rights, misappropriating STP assets and interfering with the band’s livelihood”.

Former Go-Gos bassist sues ex-bandmates

Business News Legal

Former Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine is suing her ex-bandmates, alleging that they are attempting to screw her out of her share of the money generated by the band’s brand and trademark.

The new wave group, initially active from 1978 to 1985, but who have toured regularly since 1999, announced they were parting ways with Valentine in March, and that she would therefore not appear on their 2013 tour.

In her litigation, Valentine says that all of the group’s business affairs have traditionally been managed via two business entities – Ladyhead LLC and Smith-Pocket Industries, Inc – in which all five members have an equal stake.

But recently, says the lawsuit, the rest of the Go-Gos – so Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey and Gina Schock – have set up a third entity, in which Valentine has no stake. Controlling 80% of Ladyhead LLC, the other four members have then licensed the rights to exploit the Go-Gos brand to the new company, GoGoGo Corp.

The move means that Valentine will only earn from the licence fee the new company pays the old one, while the rest of the group will also profit as shareholders in GoGoGo Corp.

It’s not clear if this restructuring of the group’s companies caused or is the result of Valentine’s departure from the outfit, though it’s clear there have been tensions between the bassist and her bandmates for a while.

Valentine’s lawsuit reckons that the restructuring of the Go-Go’s companies could cost her in excess of a million, and she wants the courts to undo the changes to protect her interests.

Daft Punk re-sign with Imagem

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Daft Punk will continue to be published by Imagem, so that’s nice for everyone. The duo originally signed to the Zomba publishing company back in 1996, it then being acquired by a fledgling Imagem in 2008.

Confirming the latest deal, Imagem UK MD Kim Frankiewicz told CMU: “Daft Punk are a creative force in so many aspects; musically, visually and emotionally. They have been the soundtrack to so many people’s lives; they created a genre and continue to be at the top of the game. [New album] ‘Random Access Memories’ is a seminal body of work”.

Carcass sign to Nuclear Blast

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Veteran extreme metallers Carcass have signed to Nuclear Blast Records, the label announced last week. The band are due to release a new album, ‘Surgical Steel’, in the autumn, their first for quite some time.

Announcing the deal, the band growled in unison: “We are pleased to announce that we have found the perfect home for ‘Surgical Steel’, the first Carcass album for, what, seventeen years?! We’ve inked a deal with Nuclear Blast for our new baby. We have to thank [Nuclear Blast founder] Markus Staiger for his enthusiasm and belief in what he heard, but mostly his ability to take advantage of Jeff [Walker, vocalist] with a bad hangover when he visited the office in Donzdorf to let him be the first to hear the rough mixes”.

They continued: “Nuclear Blast has managed to secure this release despite interest from all the main players in what remains of the metal ‘music industry.’ We’re also looking forward to working with our pals in the US office, who have done favours for us behind the scenes over the last few years”.

Staiger added: “It feels like a dream come true. When Jeff Walker let me listen to the new record, I knew immediately that Carcass had made one of their best albums ever! It is a perfect mixture of ‘Heartwork’ and ‘Necroticism’ with a massive production to boot. The album is without a doubt just as perfect and lethal as surgical steel itself, and exactly what both old and new fans have waited for eagerly all of these years! I am very proud to say, Carcass – welcome to the Nuclear family. It is an honour to work with this legendary metal band”.

BMG signs The Strypes

Deals Gigs & Festivals

BMG Ireland last week announced that it had signed the rather buzzy The Strypes to a new publishing deal, which means the music rights company will represent the Irish four-piece’s song rights as they release their debut album later this year via Universal Music.

The band are also playing quite a few gigs over the next two months either side of an appearance at Glastonbury, with the following UK headline shows…

20 Jun: Bristol Fleece
21 Jun: Islington Academy, Islington (including under 18s matinee)
27 Jun: Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton
10 Jul: Stoke Sugarmill
11 Jul: 53 Degrees, Preston
25 Jul: Oxford Academy

Compilation released in aid of CALM

Releases

Manchester-based Quenched Music last week released a seventeen-track album in aid of CALM, the charity that works to prevent suicide amongst young men, it being the single biggest killer of men under 35 in the UK. The Strokes, Reverend And The Makers and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly are amongst those to have contributed tracks to the initiative.

The record is called ‘Xpress: The Album’, and you’ll find more info and can buy it from the official website xpressofficial.com. Here’s the tracklist…

The Strokes – Trying Your Luck
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – Snap
Black Lights – For You
Tuka feat Maples – You And I
Jun Tzu – The Bridge
The Hyena Kill – Little Jesus Bastard
Byron – Demons
Reverend And The Makers – Noisy Neighbour
King Porter Stomp – The Shuffle
Frazer King – The Witch And Mr Woo
The Cold One Hundred – Special Friends
The Rimes – Fight Fire With Fire
The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now
Stalagmites – Be An Animal
The Minx – Cold Outside
Naymedici – Paddy McGee
Kid British – You Against The World

Ane Brun to release retrospective

Gigs & Festivals Releases

Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun has announced that she will release a retrospective compilation of music to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of her debut album, ‘Spending Time With Morgan’. Entitled ‘Songs 2003-2013’, the record will be released through Balloon Ranger on 10 Jun, and will feature a selection of her best songs, plus live recordings, covers and other rarities.

Discussing her career to date, Brun said: “I kind of told myself early on to continue doing this as long as it gave me pleasure and it still does, more than ever. I’m still fingerpicking in front of my favourite TV series or with my morning coffee, just like I did ten to fifteen years ago. And it still fascinates me, just like it did when I wrote one of my very first songs, ‘Wooden Body’, sometime around the year 2000”.

She’ll also be touring later this year, on these dates:

14 Nov: London, The Forum
15 Nov: Manchester, Ruby Lounge
16 Nov: Dublin, Vicar St
18 Nov: Glasgow, Oran Mor

Now, speaking of covers, as we were, here’s her version of ‘Feeling Good’:

And here’s the full tracklist for the compilation:

CD1
Humming One Of Your Songs
Are They Saying Goodbye?
My Lover Will Go
To Let Myself Go
Temporary Dive
Song No 6 (feat Ron Sexsmith)
Rubber & Soul (feat Teitur)
The Dancer (Live) (PJ Harvey cover)
The Puzzle
The Treehouse Song
Changing Of The Seasons
Gillian
Don’t Leave
True Colors (Cyndi Lauper cover)
Big In Japan (Alphaville cover)

CD2
Ten Seconds – Sketches Version
Lullaby for Grown-Ups – Sketches Version
My Star (Live)
Lift Me (Live feat Sivert Höyem) (Madrugada cover)
The Fall (Live)
Don’t Give Up (Peter Gabriel & The New Blood Orchestra feat Ane Brun)
Do You Remember
These Days
Worship (feat Jose Gonzalez)
One
Oh Love
Undertow
Du Gråter Så Store Tåra (Norwegian Version)
Alfonsina Y El Mar (Ariel Ramírez cover)
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (Arcade Fire cover)
This Voice (2013)
Feeling Good (Nina Simone cover)

Mykki Blanco announces London show

Gigs & Festivals

Much talked about rapper Mykki Blanco will headline Village Underground in London on 10 Jun, before returning a month later for an appearance at Lovebox in July.

Blanco’s debut EP, ‘Better Rubble: The Initiation’, is out now, and available to stream in full via Pitchfork’s streaming thing.

Have yourself a watch of the video for ‘Feeling Special’ now:

Festival line-up update: 2000trees, Chagstock, Kendal Calling

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

Having seemingly not learned their lesson after running a sixteen hour showcase at this year’s Great Escape, the folks from Alcopop! Records have been announced as the latest label to take over the GreenHouse stage for a day at the 2000trees festival in July. Alcopop! will test the ground on the Friday, before Xtra Mile comes in on the Saturday.

Alcopop! boss Jack Clothier told CMU: “We’re massive fans of everything about 2000trees, and it’s lovely that they’ve invited us to get involved with this takeover. Our artists can bring a really beautiful dimension to their sets on occasions like this, and it’s a good place for our friends to come when they have crushing festival hangovers”.

2000trees organiser Andy Rea added: “We’ve brought together the amazing artists from these two great labels to offer something unique to our fans, who have always loved the GreenHouse stage as a place to enjoy acoustic sets in the sunshine – and as Jack says it’s a great way to get over a hangover! We’re thrilled to be spending a fun-filled weekend with everyone and can’t wait for these one-off treats for fans of new and underground British music”.

2000TREES, Upcote Farm, Withington, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, 11-13 Jul: Johnny Foreigner, Stagecoach, My First Tooth, Gunning For Tamar, The Attika State, Jurassic Pop, Side-step DJs, Fitz, El Morgan, Kitten & Bear, Chalk. www.twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk

CHAGSTOCK, Dartmoor, Devon, 19-20 Jul: Mystery Jets, Billy Bragg, Dizraeli And The Small Gods, Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman, Crowns, Lily & Meg, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo, Wille And The Bandits, Crazy Arm, Matthew & Me, Marc O’Reilly, Ferocious Dog, New Crisis, Skinny Dog, Flats & Sharps, Brother & Bones, Aurora Skies. www.chagstock.info

KENDAL CALLING, Lowther Deer Park, Hackthorpe, East Cumbria, 26-28 Jul: Lucy Rose, DJ Yoda, The Twang, Elite Force, Maribou State, 808 State, Richard Norris, Ashley Beedle, North Base, Maths Time Joy, Misty Miller, Champs, Fossil Collective, Rubylux, Sykur, Monster Monster, Wolfie Razmatazz, Heymoonshaker, Birth Of Joy, By The Rivers, More Like Trees, Polaroid 85, Resonators, Tako Lako, Will And The People, Wille And The Bandits, Cherub, Bandeoke, Andy Hunt presents The Breakfast Club, BMX Bandits, Dunwells, The Last Party, Juveniles, Planes, Room Full of Mirrors, Seamus Mcloughlin, Camp Stag, The Righteous Bees, Tomorrow We Sail, Horace B Murphy III & Friends, Cavan Moran, Ocelus, Mikey J, Arnivore!, Roc Vicar, Lancaster Speakeasy DJs, Robin Walker, Marris Chestnut, Tom Woodland, Freear, Chris Flynn, Dr Butlers, Hard And Monkey, Holly Clarke, Kriss Foster, Lazlo Baby, Lumberjack Cowboy, Molly Warburton, Quincey Brown, Poeticat, Taylor And The Mason, The Dead Indians , The Yossarians, Death to the Strange, Carnival Moon, Specs, Papa Guns, The Flat Cap Three, Naymedici, Walk Like Fool Does, Ottersgear, DJ Sister Matic, V J Eefee, Popeye. www.kendalcalling.co.uk

Loeb’s proposal for Sony has opponents

Business News Labels & Publishers

Proposals by US-based hedge fund man Daniel Loeb that Sony Corp should sell a slice of its entertainment business to help fund the restructuring of its struggling consumer electronics divisions have their opponents, insiders say, even though the top guard at the company is considering then.

As previously reported, Loeb’s Third Point fund has a 6.5% stake in Sony Corp, making it one of the firm’s biggest shareholders. He proposed a portion of the Sony music, movie and TV unit be sold to existing shareholders earlier this month, to free up monies to help rescue Sony Corp’s struggling electronics business. And while Sony bosses have previously denied past rumours that they were considering selling some or all of their entertainment assets, last week they admitted they are given Loeb’s plan some consideration.

That said, insiders say that some other significant Sony shareholders, especially those based in Japan, oppose Loeb’s proposal, saying that it is a move that would deliver only short term benefits, and may cause long term harm.

Sony management confirmed it was considering Loeb’s plans last week, ahead of an announcement that the company would also raise funds to help with recovery by issuing $1.5 billion in five year bonds to ordinary Japanese investors next month.

Channel 4 to pilot two new music programmes

Media

Having announced last year plans to launch new music-based programmes into its Friday night schedules, Channel 4 has now confirmed that two new music shows are in development, both of which will appear as pilots later this year.

The first is a music quiz hosted by Nick Grimshaw and going by the utterly abysmal working title of ‘That Music Show’. The other is a magazine programme hosted by Rizzle Kicks (amongst others) which also bears a pretty terrible working title, ‘Smells Like Friday Night’. Before we go any further, let’s sort these names out right now, shall we? Let’s have ‘Grimmy’s Mega Music Showdown’ and ‘Rizzle Kicks The Living Shit Out Of Your Ears’. Look, I never said naming TV shows was my forte. Oh, just forget it.

Carefully sidestepping my suggestions (on account of him never having seen them and almost certainly having no idea who I am), Channel 4’s Music Commissioning Editor Jonathan Rothery said: “We said last year that we wanted to provide a bigger platform for music on Channel 4 and the response from [the indie TV production company community] has been amazing – around 50 companies pitched over one hundred ideas. We’ve chosen these two fresh approaches to take to pilot, with a view to commissioning a full series for later this year”.

Italian football fans boo Psy

And Finally

Italian football fans presumably weren’t amongst the millions logging on to Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ video on YouTube last year. Or if they were, the novelty of the song has worn off somewhat.

Either way, according to reports organisers of the half-time entertainments at the Italian Cup Final this weekend had to turn up the volume when Psy took to the stage to perform his big hit to drown out the boos coming from the terraces.

Poor Psy. With hindsight he should have asked his doppelganger from Cannes to do the gig for him – let the impostor get booed, I say.

CMU Digest – 24 May 2013

Business News Week In Five

The five biggest stories in the music business this week…

01: Global Radio was told to sell stations in seven regions as part of its Real Smooth acquisition. The demands by the UK competition regulator regarding the radio giant’s purchase of what was the Guardian Media Group’s radio business were pretty severe, and mean that Global will likely have to sell on more of the Real and Smooth Radio networks than it’ll be allowed to keep. This means Global could lose out significantly from the whole deal. It remains to be seen if the radio giant will appeal the Commission’s ruling. CMU report | Guardian report

02: Eminem’s publisher Eight Mile Style sued Facebook and its ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, alleging that the social network used music from one of Slim Shady’s tracks, ‘Under The Influence’, without permission for a promotional film shown during a webcast by the firm’s top man Mark Zuckerberg. The publisher also hit out at a letter from W+K’s lawyer accusing Eminem collaborator Dr Dre of himself lifting music from a Michael Jackson song without permission when recording ‘Under The Influence’, with Eight Mile Style’s reps saying that was a ridiculous allegation, not least because Dre didn’t work on that track. CMU report | Courthouse News report

03: Five one time Grooveshark employees were taken off one of the major labels’ lawsuits against the often controversial streaming service, after they signed agreements pledging to never infringe a music copyright again. The lawsuit, led by Universal, accuses Grooveshark of having its staff upload unlicensed content to its own servers. Legal papers listed a number of said employees, but Benjamin Westermann-Clark, Paul Geller, John Ashenden, Chanel Munezero and Nikola Arabadjiev have now all been removed after signing the never-infringe-again agreement. The Grooveshark company and co-founders Sam Tarantino and Josh Greenberg are still named. CMU report | DNM report

04: Sony was considering a proposal to sell off some of its entertainment business. The proposal was made earlier this month by Daniel Loeb, whose hedge fund Third Point now owns 5.6% of Sony Corp. He suggested the Tokyo-based entertainment and electronics firm sell off a slice of its US-headquartered music, movie and TV business to free up funds to speed up the recovery of its flagging electronics division. Although Sony top guard have in the past denied reports that they were considering any such sale, Japanese newspaper Nikkei said this week that they had now begun to give Loeb’s proposals some thought. CMU report | Billboard report

05: It was confirmed 93 Feet East had its licence back. The East London venue was shut following a police raid in January and amidst allegations management had not done enough to combat the trade and consumption on drugs on their premises. But following an appeal hearing at Thames Magistrates Court last week, bosses of the venue have won their licence back and are now free to reopen the club. CMU report | Metro report

On CMU this week, we had a very interesting chat with Emika and got a marvellous playlist from Club 8’s Johan Angergård. Dan Le Sac reported on The Great Escape and wondered why more artists don’t take advantage of such events to ensure they are part of the conversation on the future of the music business, while we approved of Lubomyr Melnyk, Liars, Eye Emma Jedi and Julia Holter.

CMU Beef Of The Week #158: The Jacksons v AEG Live (Part Two)

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Jacksons v AEG Timeline

Well, the Jackson family’s attempt to extract billions of dollars in damages from AEG Live by proving that the company was in some way responsible for the actions of Conrad Murray, the former doctor found guilty of killing Michael Jackson through negligence, continues. And it really is a gift that keeps on giving. I know it’s wrong to be so flippant about a trial that stems from someone’s tragic death, but… wait, no it isn’t, this trial is ridiculous.

So anyway, earlier this month we looked at the level of pedantry that ran through the initial week of proceedings. First there was a squabble between the two sides that led to the judge ruling that only one Jackson sibling would be allowed into the court at any one time – and then only if their mother was present. And second, there was AEG’s lawyer eventually conceding that Michael Jackson was dead, having previously refused to do so on the grounds that if both sides agreed on this, it might help the Jacksons’ case.

This week it’s been all about the sweets – and you know how much we love a confectionary angle to a legal story. On Tuesday, CNN reports, AEG’s lawyers gave a big bag of peppermint sweets to the court’s bailiff to give to the jury, for a little treat between the tedious testimonies. The jury didn’t know that the sweets came from AEG’s legal team, but that didn’t stop The Jackson’s lawyer Brian Panish from complaining about it.

Panish said that if the jury found out who had bought those minty treats for them, that could unfairly swing the trial in AEG’s favour. Because any jury will definitely make a multi-billion dollar decision based on the gift of a handful of boiled sweets.

After some to-ing and fro-ing, a compromise was reached. It was too late to retract the sweets already given (they having been eaten by this point), so it was decided that moving forward either side would be allowed to provide the jury with snacks whenever they wanted to. However, these snacks must always be placed on the bailiff’s desk before the jury arrive in court, so that they can’t know who bought them.

As that’s seemingly what happened in the first place, I’m not sure why they’re suddenly so sure that the jury won’t find out who bought in any snacks. Presumably it means that each side will now feel they have to provide food on a daily basis – so it will be interesting to see if the value and amount of food on offer increases over time, and if in the later weeks of the trial the jury can actually get into the room – either due to gifts blocking the door or their expanding waistlines.

Approved: Groove Odyssey’s House Legends Party at Pacha

Club Tip CMU Approved

Soulful house night Groove Odyssey throws the capital’s biggest Bank Holiday Sunday party, with international headliners DJ Spen, Ralf Gum and soulstress Monique Bingham flying in to deliver exclusive sets, whilst Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B shores up the second room.

Headlining the main room at Pacha for the very first time, or so I’m told, DJ Spen from America’s Quantize Records, best known for his Muthafunkaz smash ‘The Way That You Love Me’, will combine vocal house with the toughest beats. Meanwhile Monique’s live PA should be a stand out moment of the night, while newcomer Sabrina Chyld is also worth checking out, as she performs ‘Moving On’ from the ‘Groove Odyssey Sessions Vol 1’ album.

On top of the internationals, great UK talent like Sean McCabe and DJ Leo will be on the decks, while in room two Jazzie B will be overseeing a night of 80s soul, R&B and boogie. Room 3, meanwhile, is hosted by housefm.net

Sunday 26 May, Pacha, Terminus Place, London SW1V, 10pm-6am, £17.50 in advance or £20 on the door, more info here.

“Does this mean you get to meet the freak?”: Jacksons v AEG update

Business News Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal Live Business Top Stories

An email exchange in which a senior AEG exec referred to the late Michael Jackson as “the freak” was amongst the evidence shown in court this week as AEG Live General Counsel Shawn Trell continued to give testimony.

The Jackson family, of course, are trying to show that AEG Live should be held liable for the 2009 death of the late king of pop because it hired and put pressure on the doctor who was convicted for causing the death of the singer through negligent treatment, Conrad Murray. AEG says that Jackson hired and managed Murray, and that it had no control over the treatment he was dishing out.

Earlier this week, Trell admitted that Murray’s fees were listed in the budgets for Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ venture as a production expense, rather than as an advance to the singer, which contradicted AEG’s past claims regards how the doctor was paid. He also conceded that AEG hadn’t done any background checks into Murray, despite the firm’s President Randy Phillips assuring concerned ‘This Is It’ production team members that they had shortly before Jackson’s death. His colleagues had made mistakes in both cases, Trell said.

In more recent testimony, lawyers for the Jackson family showed an email exchange between Trell and his counterpart at parent company AEG, Ted Fikre. In the emails, from January 2009, Trell tells Fikre that he is due to meet Jackson to get contracts for the ‘This Is It’ project signed.

“Does this mean you get to meet the freak?”, Fikre wrote back to Trell. “Apparently”, the AEG Live attorney responded. “Not sure how I feel about that. Interesting for sure, but kind of creepy”.

In court earlier this week Trell actually spoke positively of his subsequent meeting with Jackson, but that email exchange was, said the Jackson family’s legal team, evidence that AEG executives held the singer in contempt despite going into business with him in 2009.

Jackson lawyer Brian Panish said outside the courtroom: “That email just exemplifies that AEG had no respect for Mr Jackson. All he was was a vehicle to make money and to promote their concert business to catch up to Live Nation”.

AEG’s legal team have, unsurprisingly, played down the significance of the email exchange between two of its in-house lawyers. Resisting the temptation to point out that the use of words like “freak” in reference to Jackson wasn’t exactly uncommon in early 2009, they say that the Jackson team have simply brought the emails to trial to embarrass their client.

Arguing that the correspondence does nothing to prove the Jackson family’s contention that AEG managed and put pressure on Murray, the lawyer leading the live firm’s defence, Marvin S Putnam, told reporters: “We are four weeks into trial and we have yet to hear one piece of substantive evidence”.

System Of A Down not firing Serj Tankian

Artist News

Vocalist Serj Tankian is still part of the System Of A Down line-up, despite anything bassist Shavo Odadjian might have said earlier this week, OK? Don’t worry yourself. Off hiatus since 2011, the band are going to be playing live shows this summer as planned. All four of them. But you might have to wait for a follow-up to their twin 2005 albums ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’.

Earlier this week, Odadjian said via his personal Facebook page: “OK, I’ll come clean. It’s not us … it’s Serj, who doesn’t want to do a new album! So please stop harassing us about it! We are just waiting for SERJ! Now he might hate me for exposing the truth but I had to… sorry folks! We’re trying to get a new album out, it’s just not passing Serj’s RULES! Kinda funny, since we started the band [together] and now he’s holding us back!”

He added: “I’m ready to release [an album] with someone who wants to be the singer of System, [but] not someone we have to beg to be a part of System! So with that in mind, what do you guys [think we] should do? Just remember, he’s been holding us back for seven years so far. Wanna wait another four to five years? Or shall we release a record without Serj? You tell us!”

Odadjian did then say that he’d prefer record with Tankian, if that could be arranged, but the cat was out of the bag. Such uproar was there that later, the band’s official Facebook put out its own statement, saying: “Earlier today, Shavo posted a few statements on his personal Facebook page that do not reflect the sentiments of System Of A Down as a collective band. These were misleading statements that were made during a temporary state of bad judgment on his part alone”.

It continued: “To be clear, the full band line-up of Serj, Daron [Malakian], Shavo and John [Dolmayan] will be performing all scheduled tour dates. With respect to new SOAD music, although we have not agreed on a timetable for a new album, we all believe that having the four of us do it together is the way to be true to the band and our fans”.

So chill out, right?

Arctic Monkeys perform new song

Artist News

The Arctic Monkeys made their first live appearance since last year’s Olympics Opening Ceremony on Wednesday night. Performing at the Majestic Ventura Theater in Ventura, the band even opened their set with a brand new song, entitled ‘Do I Wanna Know?’

Last we heard the band were in the studio “working stuff out”. So now it would seem they’ve worked that stuff out. Or at least one song’s worth of stuff.

Though there’s no release date publicly scheduled for the band’s fourth album – or even that new track – as yet. Which means the question you have to ask yourself now is, do you want to wait to hear this new song through proper channels on a TBA date, or do you want to hear it via a shitty gig recording on YouTube? The answer is that you want to wait. You really should wait. You really shouldn’t watch this video that some idiot filmed:

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu announces second album

Releases

Following her sold out debut London show earlier this year, Japanese popstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has announced details of her second album, ‘The What The!? Collection’ (or ‘Nandakorekushon’). The album will be released in Japan on 26 Jun and sees her work again with Capsule’s Yasutaka Nakata as songwriter and producer.

Announcing the release, Pamyu Pamyu said: “My second album will finally be released! It would make so happy if the picture for the limited edition made you mutter, ‘What the!?’ The CD also has all sorts of songs, from the rock-flavoured ‘Fashion Monster’ to the sparkly alien song ‘Invader Invader’, so please look forward to it! It definitely won’t let you down! I want you all to hear it soon!”

I’m not sure why she thinks the artwork on the limited edition version is more surprising than the standard edition, cos it really isn’t. But anyway, there’s no word if this album (in any form) will receive an official UK release, though, like her debut, ‘Pamyu Pamyu Revolution’, it should at least be available through iTunes.

Watch the video for recent single ‘Invader Invader’ below, a good example of how dubstep sounds have suddenly started, er, invading Japanese pop lately.

And, just for good measure, here’s the album’s tracklist:

Nandakorekushon
Ninja Re Bang Bang
Kimi Ni 100%
Super Scooter Happy
Invader Invader
Mi
Fashion Monster
Saigo No Ice Cream
Noriko To Norio
Furisodation
Kurakura
Otona Na Kodomo

Deerhunter announce UK tour

Gigs & Festivals

Having just released their fifth album, ‘Monomania’, Deerhunter will be over here in the UK (and also Ireland) to play some songs in our nation’s gig venues in October. One of said shows will be as one of the headliners of this year’s multi-venue Sŵn festival in Cardiff on 18 Oct – they being the first of this year’s Sŵn acts to be announced.

Here are all the tour dates for you right now:

11 Oct: Dublin, Vicar Street
12 Oct: Belfast, Empire Music Hall
13 Oct: Glasgow, The Arches
15 Oct: Manchster, Academy 2
16 Oct: Leeds, Stylus
17 Oct: Liverpool, East Village Arts Club
18 Oct: Cardiff, Solus
19 Oct: Brighton, Concorde 2

Emily Wells announces London show

Gigs & Festivals Releases

Recently CMU approved Emily Wells has announced that she will play a one-off show in London next month to celebrate the release of her new album ‘Mama’.

That’ll be available on 3 Jun, the day before the show, courtesy of Partisan Records. The show itself will be at The Water Rats on 4 Jun.

Now have yourself a little listen to new single, ‘Darlin’, which is taken from the album and due out on 27 May:

Wednesday 29 May 2013, 10:58 | By Andy Malt

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