Wednesday 30 October 2013, 11:58 | By Aly Barchi

Release round-up: Avril Lavigne, Planningtorock, Justin Timberlake and Savages

Artist News Release Round-Up Releases

Rounding up the latest release news…

Avril Lavigne and Marilyn Manson have made a collaborative fright-night track together titled ‘Bad Girl’. Inappropriate in all kinds of ways, it’s taken off Lavigne’s forthcoming LP, which is streaming in its terrible entirety via the Mirror. ‘Avril Lavigne’ (the album), which also includes ‘Let Me Go’, her duet with husband Chad Kroeger, comes out on Monday.

Moving swiftly on, pop iconoclast Planningtorock (pictured), aka Berlin-based artist Jam Rostron, is rolling out an album called ‘All Love’s Legal’ in 2014, this via her label, Human Level. Made on the brink of a “creative crisis”, it finds her shining a light on themes of gender and identity, as in lead track ‘Welcome’, Rostron’s self-directed clip for which you can view here.

Next it’s to a twice-as-nice helping of very different videos, the first being Justin Timberlake‘s boxing-free clip for his ’20/20 Experience’ single ‘TKO (Total Knock Out)’. A fun fact about it is that its star is Elvis’s granddaughter Riley Keough, so that’s nice. Watch it here:

And finally, it’s noir-rock girls Savages‘ new vision for ‘Marshal Dear’, an offshoot of their first and only LP ‘Silence Yourself’. Whilst it features not a single Elvis Presley relative, it is based on scene in Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopian WW2 novel ‘Slaughterhouse Five’, which is basically the same thing. Have a peek:

Gigs & Tours round-up: Wild Beasts, Drake, Max Richter and Speedy Ortiz

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Gigs & Tours Round-Up

So, indie warblers Wild Beasts have just listed five new November shows, presumably in the run-up to sharing new music. The first of the dates is at Liverpool Academy on 26 Nov, whilst the final one is at Norwich Arts Centre on 30 Nov. Details are here.

Casting a bit further out than that time-wise, Drake has pitched a series of arena appearances, all falling in March 2014. Celebrating his new LP, ‘Nothing Was The Same’, and featuring The Weeknd, they’ll take place between 11 and 25 Mar. Specifics will be available via this here site.

Acclaimed contemporary composer Max Richter is to play a single show at the Barbican in London. Slotting in with the deluxe vinyl reissue of Richter’s debut LP, ‘Memoryhouse’, out 27 Jan, the live date falls on 24 Jan. Find info here.

Also touring in 2014 are US indie firebrands Speedy Ortiz, who’ll play six shows in mid February. Toting their well-liked first LP ‘Major Arcana’, the band start off at the Birmingham Hare And Hound on 13 Feb, with Joanna Gruesome for company.

Listings and ‘Major Arcana’ slides are live via Bandcamp.

Lou Bega is not dead

And Finally Artist News

Phew. For a moment there I thought the world of music had lost two of its most treasured Lou men in the same week. But good news people, Lou Bega isn’t dead.

But that apparently hasn’t stopped a group of people who [a] remember that the man who sang ‘Mambo No 5’ was called Lou Bega, and [b] read a misprint in a newspaper report of Lou Reed’s death last weekend, from paying tribute to the not at all late German musician.

Confirming that one as yet unidentified journalist had got their musical Lou’s mixed up on Monday, Bega wrote on Facebook earlier this week: “RIP Lou Reed, the genius who took walks on the wild side. PS: I have been receiving tons of condolences because of a journalist confusing our identities”.

So, glad that’s settled. Though I’m still looking for the “collaboration with Lulu” the Metro noted had been a feature of the latter part of Reed’s career in its report on his death at the start of the week.

R Kelly impersonator was in fact R Kelly, apparently

And Finally Artist News

The identity of the R Kelly impersonator who appeared in the singer’s place at a performance in Louisiana at the weekend has been revealed. The faker was, in fact, noted R&B lothario R Kelly. Or so a rep for the singer has told Pitchfork.

As previously reported, fans who attended the event said that three hours after the performance was scheduled to start, some guy got up and lip synced badly to a few of Kelly’s songs. Promoter Cedric Johnson was then quoted as saying he had been “duped” into booking a fake, though he later denied ever making that claim and instead said the show’s publicity had never actually promised an R Kelly performance.

Anyway, in an unexpected twist, a rep for singer has now insisted that the man on stage was the real R Kelly. In an update to its report on the story, Pitchfork writes: “A representative for R Kelly reached out to us, saying the person at the event was indeed R Kelly. They also note that the event was billed as featuring an ‘appearance’ from R Kelly, not as a full concert”.

Which probably won’t do much to placate the fans demanding a refund. Though at least those angry gig-goers can rest assured that, whether or not it was Kelly on stage, the event was still a relative success compared to some of the singer’s appearances.

Approved: Charan Po Rantan

CMU Approved

Amongst the many acts playing at last week’s Tokyo International Music Market one of the real standouts was klezmer duo Charan Po Rantan (the previously mentioned Shishido Kavka, I should probably add, also turned out to be as brilliant as I’d hoped).

Now, I realise that Japanese klezmer music might not be the easiest sell, but singer Momo Matsunaga and her accordion-playing older sister Koharu won over any doubters quickly during their three song set at their daytime showcase.

In fact, opening a four band line-up in a brightly lit hotel function room, the pair put in such a strong performance – Momo using empty seats as stepping stones to sing into the faces of unsuspecting attendees – that you had to feel sorry for every single one of the other bands following them.

The pair released their latest album, ‘Futae No Rasen’ (‘Double Spiral’), in Japan earlier this year. Now keen to find a wider audience further afield, I’m crossing my fingers for a London show in a venue more befitting their energetic and highly visual performance soon.

For now, check out the video for a track taken from that last album, ‘Last Supper’:

Conrad Murray is out of jail

Artist News Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal Top Stories

Conrad Murray, the former doctor jailed for causing the death of Michael Jackson through negligent treatment, was released from jail yesterday after serving nearly two years of a four-year sentence. According to reports, a change in Californian law allowed his jail time to be cut down significantly, though when he was convicted it was actually predicted he’d be freed much sooner because of overcrowding in the state’s jail system.

Confirming he was out of prison, Murray’s legal rep Valerie Wass told reporters, simply, that her client was “elated to be out of there”. Murray, who continues to proclaim his innocence, despite admitting to giving Jackson daily doses of the surgical anaesthetic propofol as a cure for insomnia, a practice condemned by pretty much any doctor asked, complained at various points about his treatment in jail.

The ex-doc, who previously practiced medicine in three American states, no longer has a licence to practice, though recent reports suggested he planned to appeal to the medical board in at least one of the states where he previously worked. He is also still appealing his 2011 conviction, and while the appeal court has questioned the value of revisiting the case, Wass said that a successful appeal hearing could lead to a cut in Murray’s wider sentence and help him repair his shattered reputation.

In the short term, though, Wass said her client planned to spend time with his girlfriend and children. She confirmed the ex-medic had done quite a bit of writing while in prison, but said she didn’t know whether he planned to publish any of it. Murray has given some media interviews about his involvement in Jackson’s 2009 death, but never formally testified, in either his criminal trial or the Jackson family v AEG court battle.

Gaming sector reckons new approaches rather than three-strikes will combat piracy

Business News Legal

Although 60% of the UK’s game developers admit that piracy is a problem for their business, only 10% reckon that stricter enforcement of their intellectual property rights is a way to deal with the challenge, which puts the gaming sector at odds with the music and movie industries, which continue to put pressure on government to expand anti-piracy measures.

According to The Guardian, 87% of British gaming companies surveyed by their trade body TIGA said that new business models were the best approach to combat piracy, while 40% agreed that more educational initiatives explaining why copyright is good and piracy bad were also desirable.

But perhaps most interestingly, nearly three quarters of those questioned were against measures that could lead to persistent online pirates having their net connections slowed down or even suspended. As previously reported, those sanctions have been floated as possible final penalties in the ‘graduated response’ system for combating piracy that was set out in the 2010 Digital Economy Act but which has never actually been enacted.

Reps for the music and movie industries continue to lobby government to kick start the DEA measures, which would begin with the mailing of warning letters to suspected file-sharers, but the TIGA research suggests that the gaming sector isn’t interested in participating in the three-strikes party.

TIGA boss Dr Richard Wilson told reporters: “TIGA’s survey shows that many games businesses continue to find the most effective response to the problem of piracy is to adopt new business models, such as subscription-based services and free-to-play games. UK developers are taking the initiative to deal with the issue of piracy and are looking for new ways of delivering content and communicating directly with their consumers”.

For all the litigation and lobbying pursued by the music and movie sectors in the last fifteen years in a bid to combat online piracy, much of it achieving short-term successes, there are many in the music community who also reckon the long-term solution is better legit music services and decent copyright education beyond the generally woeful major label-led Music Matters-style marketing campaigns.

vKontakte wins a copyright case

Business News Digital Legal

In an interesting turn of events, and one that won’t be welcomed by the music industry, Russian social networking firm vKontakte has won its latest legal battle with a local music rights company.

Facebook clone vKontakte – or vk.com – is the big player in the social networking space in Russia, and has come under criticism from both local and international music companies for allowing users to share music files across its networks.

With Russian copyright laws traditionally unhelpful to rights owners fighting file-sharing, the firm initially got away with the “it’s our users not us” defence, but more recently the country’s courts have got stricter on piracy, most notably in vKontakte’s legal battle with SBA/Gala last year, where the social networking company was deemed liable for the copyright infringement it enabled.

Since then the firm has reportedly become more proactive in removing copyright infringing files uploaded by its users to its servers (though the boss of indie-label-serving anti-piracy firm Muso told CMU that he’d always found vk.com helpful in this regard). Meanwhile the company is reportedly in talks with the majors and other music firms about launching some sort of legit music service.

But nevertheless, in a separate legal squabble between vKontakte and music business Soyuz, a St Petersburg court has ruled that the social networking set-up was not liable for its users uploading recordings owned by the music company without permission, noting that no vKontakte employees were involved in the infringement and the firm couldn’t be expected to monitor everything uploaded to its servers.

The ruling seems to be in conflict with the decision in the SBA case, and perhaps suggests that the clarity the music industry hoped it had secured in Russian law regards the liabilities of technology providers for the piracy they enable is not so clear after all. Though regarding vKontakte itself, the company’s current ambitions to make itself the Russian Spotify probably means it will continue to court the labels.

Universal parent close to deal to take complete ownership of TV business

Business News Labels & Publishers Media

Universal Music parent company Vivendi has reached a deal to take complete ownership of its telly business Canal+, according to French media reports.

As previously reported, Vivendi, which in recent years has had interests in both content and telecommunications, is busy restructuring, dumping the latter part of its business and focusing on the former. Though the restructuring has also involved selling off all but a minority stake in arguably its most successful content company, the Activision gaming firm.

With its French TV business Canal+, however, an opposite approach has been pursued, with Vivendi buying out the subsidiary’s minority shareholder Lagardere, rather than selling the rest of the company to it. Lagardere has actually been keen to bail on Canal+ for a while, though relations between it and Vivendi have been tense – and at one point litigious – so the deal has taken a while to be agreed.

According to French newspaper Les Echos, Vivendi will likely pay about a billion euros for Lagardere’s 20% of Canal+, though a final price is still being agreed, with Vivendi pushing for 900 million euros, Legardere something just over 1.1 billion. Even at Vivendi’s valuation, analysts seem to think the arrangement is a better deal for Legardere, questioning future growth of the TV business in an increasingly competitive market.

With the concurrent plan to float its main telecoms business SFR, Vivendi chiefs seem set on a future built around two wholly owned content businesses, Universal Music and Canal Plus, possibly using the booty from its Activision and SFR sales to buy further content assets.

Malaysia bans Ke$ha

Business News Live Business

Ke$ha is the latest artist to cancel a concert in Malaysia after the authorities there said her show would “hurt cultural and religious sensitivies”. She had been due to play a show in the nation’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

Despite consenting to tone down her ‘suggestive’ lyrics and costumes in line with the Muslim country’s strict rules on such things, Ke$ha was forbidden from appearing, she says, under threat of “imprisonment”, a claim that’s since been denied by the concert’s promoters, Livescape.

Tweeting on Saturday, when the show was meant to take place, Ke$ha said: “To be clear. I did NOT cancel. I was not allowed to play. And then I was going to play anyways and was threatened with imprisonment”.

In response, Livescape’s head of PR, Jason Kong, told Malaysian paper The Star: “We told her we would advise against it because the authority will shut down the show. I don’t know where the imprisonment came from. I don’t think anyone from the government was in touch with her. I think it was a tweet of frustration”.

Western artists often have to alter the content of their live shows when they perform in Malaysia so as not to anger more militant groups in the Muslim country, and Beyonce is among the stars to have previously cancelled shows there after running into problems with the authorities.

Lou Reed 1942-2013

Artist News Obituaries

Lou Reed

Lou Reed died on Sunday at his home in New York, following several bouts of ill health relating to liver failure this year, and a liver transplant back in May. He was 71.

Born in New York in 1942, Reed began playing guitar while at school and after attending Syracuse University, where he studied film directing, creative writing and journalism (the latter either ironic or understandable, considering his noted contempt for journalists), he became a songwriter and session musician for novelty record label Pickwick Records. Here he met John Cale, with whom he formed the band which would become The Velvet Underground.

After coming to the attention of Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground became the house band at the artist’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable events in the late 60s. Under Warhol’s guidance, model and singer Nico was added to the line-up of the group – though the title of their debut album, ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’, suggested the resistance to this.

The album was not a great commercial success on its release, but has gone on to be one of the most influential rock albums of all time – Brian Eno famously said that everyone who bought a copy had gone on to form a band.

Reed left The Velvet Underground in 1970, ahead of the release of the group’s fourth album, ‘Loaded’. After a brief stint working at his father’s accountancy firm, he recorded his first solo album, ‘Lou Reed’, which consisted mainly of songs originally recorded by his former band for the ‘Loaded’ record. However, it was with his second solo effort, the David Bowie and Mick Ronson produced ‘Transformer’, that his solo career really took off, the album featuring two of his best known songs, ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ and ‘Perfect Day’.

Following the critical and commercial success of ‘Transformer’, Reed grew more experimental, first with ‘Berlin’, a concept album about two heroin addicts in love, and then ‘Metal Machine Music’, a double album of feedback. The latter was largely met with derision and confusion, along with some acclaim (which grew retrospectively). When Reed worked on another controversial project, his 2011 collaboration with Metallica, ‘Lulu’, he told USA Today: “I don’t have any fans left. After ‘Metal Machine Music’, they all fled. Who cares? I’m essentially in this for the fun of it”.

Turning out to be his final release, and one he claimed was the best album he (or anyone else) had ever recorded, it bookends a career which was never predictable. Although many would perhaps not wish ‘Lulu’ to be his final work, it seems fitting for him to go out on a record that challenged both him and, even more so, his audience.

Meanwhile, after Reed’s wife Laurie Anderson revealed in an interview with The Times earlier this year that he had undergone a liver transplant, he issued a statement in June saying: “I am a triumph of modern medicine, physics and chemistry. I am bigger and stronger than ever”.

Reed did then return to public life later that month, performing at the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity, but was hospitalised again shortly afterwards with dehydration.

Following the announcement of his death, many former collaborators and friends paid tribute to Reed, with John Cale saying: “The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet… I’ve lost my ‘school-yard buddy'”.

Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie receiving cancer treatment

Artist News

Fleetwood Mac bassist and co-founder John McVie has been diagnosed with cancer, leading the band to cancel their entire tour of New Zealand and Australia while he receives treatment.

A post on Fleetwood Mac’s Facebook page informing fans of the situation reads: “We are sorry to not be able to play these Australian and New Zealand dates. We hope our Australian and New Zealand fans, as well as Fleetwood Mac fans everywhere, will join us in wishing John and his family all the best”.

The band are still scheduled to perform at a show in Las Vegas on 30 Dec.

David Bowie to release new Next Day video/songs this week

Artist News Releases

So guess what everyone, David Bowie is going to give us all the gift of new sound AND vision this week, in the form of a video for the James Murphy remix of his track ‘Love Is Lost’, and also three extra new tracks, all featuring on the extended re-release of Bowie’s Mercury Music Prize-nominated newest LP, ‘The Next Day’.

The video will be unveiled during the Mercury Prize ceremony on Wednesday, and uploaded to Vevo on 1 Nov. The tracks, meanwhile, titled ‘Atomica’, ‘Born In A UFO’, and ‘Like A Rocket Man’, will premiere via BBC 6music, Radio 2, and Absolute Radio respectively on 30 Oct.

Stay entertained in the interim by listening to Murphy’s ‘Hello Steve Reich’ mix of ‘Love Is Lost’.

Release round-up: Justin Bieber, Mogwai and Mastodon

Artist News Release Round-Up Releases

Rounding up the latest release news…

Oh lord, Justin Bieber has released a proudly Craig David-esque new song as part of his trial-and-error #MusicMondays series, whereby he releases a new track every Mo… well, you get the idea. Ever wondered what it’d sound like if UK garage ate itself? Wonder no more:

Moving far, far away from J-Beebs’, it’s on now to zombie horrorcore Scots Mogwai, who’ve ‘done’ a new LP titled ‘Rave Tapes’. Recorded at the band’s ‘Castle Of Doom’ studio in Glasgow, it’ll see the light of day on 20 Jan 2014. Preview its third track ‘Remurdered’ here:

Warner Bros is releasing a new live DVD recounting a show Mastodon played at the Brixton Academy in London, England, last Feb. ‘Mastodon Live At Brixton’, as they’ve opted to name it, is due out on 10 Dec, in both audio-only and audio-plus-video formats. Find details and a set list here.

Arcade Fire confirm November shows as The Reflektors

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Arcade Fire have announced a bunch of shows in support of their um… ‘multi-faceted’ new LP, ‘Reflektor’.

The band, disguised as The Reflektors, will perform at London’s Roundhouse on 11 and 12 Nov, Glasgow’s Barrowlands on 15 and 16 Nov, and at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom on 27 Nov.

Tickets to all shows will go on sale this Friday. And this is The Reflektors’ new lyric video, ‘Afterlife’:

Gigs & tours round-up: Azealia Banks, Miley Cyrus and Ty Segall

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Gigs & Tours Round-Up

Azealia ‘this is my bottom’ Banks is to tour the UK in March 2014, by which time she might actually have released her astronomically tardy debut LP, ‘Broke With Expensive Taste’. Probably not, though. She’ll play four shows in all, starting on 25 Mar at the Glasgow Academy, and stopping on 29 Mar at London’s Brixton Academy, which is rescheduled from a cancelled date on 30 Nov. Listings are here, and the clip for Azealia’s new single ‘ATM Jam’ – which apparently she is so ‘over’ – is here:

Taking a little ‘Miley‘ time now (not for long, I promise), we have not-tour-news of the ‘Do My Thang’ star’s tour, which hasn’t actually been announced yet. All anyone knows is that she’s gooooing on tooooooour in 2014. To know more as and when it becomes public knowledge, sign up to a Miley news bulletin here.

Finally, Ty Segall (pictured) is headlining the Scala in London on 2 Dec, taking the top spot on a billing also featuring the brilliant White Fence. Ty plays behind his new LP, ‘Sleeper’, whilst White Fence, aka Tim Presley, shows up in honour of his album ‘Cyclops Reap’. Reap details and tickets here.

UK Music Video Awards presented

Awards Business News

It was the UK Music Video Awards in London last night, with a plethora of gongs dished out to the creators of music video joy.

Commenting on this year’s bash, the award show’s Editorial Director David Knight told CMU: “In a year where some pop videos have courted notoriety, this year’s UK Music Video Awards has highlighted the true range of creativity that can come out of the process of adding visuals to music. It was also wonderful to bestow our Icon Award on Julien Temple, a director who was courting controversy with his work over 30 years ago with the Sex Pistols, and is still adding to the language of music and film today”.

And the winners…

UK Awards
Best Pop Video: Alex Courtès for Willy Moon – Yeah Yeah
Best Dance Video: Josh Cole for Rudimental – Not Giving In
Best Rock/Indie Video: Ninan Doff for Darwin Deez – Free (The Editorial Me)
Best Alternative Video: BISON for London Grammar – Wasting My Young Years
Best Urban Video: Ian & Cooper for Joel Compass – Back To Me

International Awards
Best Pop Video: Melina Matsoukas for Solange Knowles – Losing You
Best Dance Video: Fleur & Manu for Gesaffelstein – Pursuit
Best Rock/Indie Video: Megaforce for Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Sacrilege
Best Alternative Video: Kahlil Joseph for Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes
Best Urban Video: Andreas Nilsson for 2 Chainz feat Kanye West – Birthday Song

Budget Project Awards
Best Pop Video: Zaiba Jabbar for Tiny Dancer – Who Am I
Best Dance Video: Ola Martin Fjeld for Pixel – Call Me
Best Rock/Indie Video: Stevie Russell for Kodaline – All I Want
Best Alternative Video: Fleur & Manu for Connan Mockasin – Faking Jazz Together
Best Urban Video: LAMAR+NIK for Lushlife – Magnolia

Best Art Direction & Design: CANADA for Phoenix – Trying To Be Cool
Best Styling: Angela Esteban Librero for DJ Fresh vs Diplo feat Dominque Young Unique – Earthquake
Best Choreography: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for Sigur Ros – Valtari
Best Cinematography: Steve Annis for Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal
Best Colour Grade: Aubrey Woodiwiss for Foals – Late Night
Best Animation: Tom Jobbins for Hiatus feat Shura – We Can Be Ghosts Now
Best Editing: Sophie Fourdrinoy for Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Sacrilege
Best Visual Effects: Mathematic Paris for Gesaffelstein – Pursuit

Best Live Coverage: Dick Carruthers for Led Zeppelin – Celebration Day
Best Music Ad: Powster for Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon
Best Interactive Video: Moniker for Do Not Touch – Kilo by Light Light
Video Of The Year: Kahlil Joseph for Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes

Best Director: Megaforce
Best New Director: Andrew Thomas Huang
Best Producer: Liz Kessler
Best Commissioner: Dan Curwin
Best New Video Artist: Naughty Boy feat Sam Smith for La La La

The Icon Award: Julien Temple

Britney Spears singles played to deter sea-pirates

And Finally Artist News

Britney Jean Spears’ pop hits are broadcast by naval officers to ward off Somali pirates, it’s been ‘confirmed’ (paha!).

Talking to Metro, merchant navy officer Rachel Owens, who patrols supertankers off the east coast of Africa, said: “Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most. These guys can’t stand Western culture or music, making Britney’s hits perfect. As soon as the pirates get a blast of Britney, they move on as quickly as they can”.

Steven Jones of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry adds: “Pirates will go to any lengths to avoid or try to overcome the music. I’d imagine using Justin Bieber would be against the Geneva Convention”.

All this is good publicity, or at least just publicity, for Britney Jean’s new LP, ‘Britney Jean’, which is being released on 3 Dec. In your face, pirates:

Man masquerades as R Kelly

And Finally Artist News

A person pretending to be R Kelly tried to pull a DOOM-style stunt at a concert in Louisiana over the weekend, impersonating the R&B singer on stage (not very well, it seems) until he was found out by show-goers with eyes.

After reports that the unknown man had taken to the stage three hours after a promised R Kelly set was due to start, only to badly lip sync to some of the singer’s songs, the gig’s promoter Cedric Johnson was quoted as apologising, and claiming that he had been “duped” into booking the man thinking he was getting the real Kelly.

Though since then, Johnson has seemingly denied that he ever made that claim, adding that no R Kelly performance was ever billed for the show, with only a public appearance by the R&B star promised. And, Johnson seems to now claim, the real singer was in the building at some point during the night. .

R Kelly HQ was too busy posting things like this to comment.

Approved: The Oscillation

CMU Approved

Owing a lot to Can, MBV and all the other forefathers of stormy psych dins, krautrock group The Oscillation released their new LP ‘From Tomorrow’, the most recent of three, last month. In it, they show a flair for teasing finesse, and fineness, from the knotted copses of drone-noise that are common to all their songs.

The band play a special AV set at London’s Shacklewell Arms on 24 Nov, leading an all-day bill also featuring Theo Verney and Purson, this as part of good looking five-day fest The Trip: Sonic Delirium (21-26 Nov). In the meantime, find your way into ‘From Tomorrow’ track ‘Corridor Part I’ and its imaginatively titled other half, ‘Corridor Part II’:

<a href="http://theoscillation.bandcamp.com/album/from-tomorrow">From Tomorrow by The Oscillation</a>

Music world pays tribute as Lou Reed dies

Artist News Top Stories

Tributes aplenty have been made overnight for the late great Lou Reed, who died this weekend aged 71. The Velvet Underground frontman’s literary agent confirmed to the Associated Press yesterday that Reed had died from a “liver-related ailment”, adding that he had not been well “for a few months”.

As previously reported, it was confirmed in June that Reed had had a liver transplant earlier this year, resulting in the cancellation of his set at Coachella. And although the singer songwriter told reporters the operation had been very successful, he was admitted to hospital for further treatment in July.

Leading the tributes online was Reed’s former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale, who said simply “The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet… I’ve lost my ‘school-yard buddy'”. Meanwhile another former collaborator, David Bowie, said via his Facebook page, simply, “He was a master”.

Producer Brian Eno used his short online tribute to note that Reed’s influence went far beyond the modest commercial success of either Velvet Underground or his solo work, saying: “The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band”.

Quincy Jones sues over posthumous Michael Jackson releases

Business News Legal

Presumably having noted the recent conclusion of the Jacksons v AEG legal battle, and aware that there have to be at least four bits of litigation involving Michael Jackson working their way through the US courts at any one time, Quincy Jones has stepped forward with a ten million dollar lawsuit. Good times.

Jones – the producer, of course, on what some might call the “decent bit” of the late king of pop’s solo oeuvre – is suing Sony Music and the MJJ Productions company, the latter now controlled by the Michael Jackson Estate, over various ventures that have utilised the singer’s catalogue since his death in 2009.

And that includes the ‘This Is It’ film and accompanying soundtrack, the 25th anniversary edition of ‘Bad’ and the two Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil productions. The latter played no small part in ensuring Jackson was declared the most profitable dead celeb of the last year by Forbes magazine last week.

The litigation says that, through the various posthumous Jackson projects, the estate and Sony Music, which released, via its Epic label, most of the singer’s solo albums, including the three the legendary producer oversaw, breached agreements dating from 1978 and 1985 that gave Jones the first option to remix or remaster the records he produced.

He also reckons that Sony and the Estate constructed complicated deals for some of the projects, especially the ‘This Is It’ film and soundtrack, designed to filter more money to MJJ Productions rather than Sony, and in doing so cutting him out of some of the royalties he is due via his contract with the major as producer on ‘Off The Wall’, ‘Thriller’ and ‘Bad’.

Confirming that matters were now going legal, the producer’s attorney told reporters: “Quincy has been frustrated with these matters for a number of years, felt he was not making any progress and needed to take more formal action”.

For its part, the Michael Jackson Estate has denied any wrong-doing. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, its legal rep Howard Weitzman said the estate was “saddened to learn that Quincy Jones has filed a lawsuit seeking money from Michael’s estate. To the best of its knowledge, Mr Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael”.

Digital royalties dispute is brewing in Europe too

Business News Digital Digital Royalties Timeline Labels & Publishers Legal

The digital royalties debate could soon go legal in Europe, according to a report in The Guardian. A number of Swedish artists are reportedly threatening to sue Universal Music and Warner Music if they don’t agree to more favourable splits on digital and especially streaming royalties, the latter already being a primary rather than periphery revenue stream for the record industry in Sweden of course.

As much previously reported, this is an issue that has already gone legal several times over in the US. Record contracts that pre-date iTunes obviously make no reference to digital music services, which poses questions regards the labels’ right to distribute recordings digitally and, more importantly, on the share of the money generated they should pass back to artists.

Most classic record contracts gave artists a much bigger cut of “licensing” or “other” revenue as opposed to “record sales” income, partly because the label took less risk in generating that money, and partly because until recently non-record sale money was a very small part of the pie. The question with digital income, which comes from “licensing deals” agreed with the digital firms, is should artists be getting the bigger or smaller royalty share. In the main the majors have gone with the latter.

Various lawsuits have been rumbling on for sometime on this issue Stateside, though the landmark case is that between Eminem collaborators FBT Productions and Universal Music, regards the producers’ cut on the early Slim Shady catalogue. The claimants prevailed and forced the mega-major into paying them a higher cut of digital income. Numerous lawsuits are now pending that will test whether that precedent should apply across the board.

But what about in Europe? Various managers of heritage artists over here who earn from their catalogue, but who haven’t renegotiated their legacy deals since the arrival of iTunes, have been watching the American cases very closely.

And now, according to Helienne Lindvall in her latest piece for The Guardian, “a number of Swedish artists are threatening to sue Universal and Warner Music over the paltry royalties they get from people streaming their music”. And, citing Swedish Musicians’ Union lawyer Per Herrey, she adds: “If record labels don’t agree to increase the share of the royalties distributed to artists from services such as Spotify, the artists will start demanding that their music is removed from the service”.

While Universal Music in the US has insisted that the FBT Productions case doesn’t set a general precedent regards artist royalties, behind the scenes Sony Music has been negotiating with affected artists. It remains to be seen how this pans out in Europe, though if further cases go in the artists’ favour in the US, European acts are going to be pushing for a new deal on digital income too.

Imagem sign publishing deal with Madness

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Independent publisher Imagem has announced a new worldwide deal with Madness covering the publishing rights in three of the band’s more recent albums, 1999’s ‘Wonderful’, 2009’s ‘The Liberty Of Norton Folgate’ and last year’s ‘Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da’.

Confirming the deal, Imagem UK MD Kim Frankiewicz told CMU: “Madness are a fantastically British band; since the late 70s they’ve provided a sonic narrative to British culture. We’re absolutely delighted to be working with them moving forward, and also representing the last three albums from their stellar catalogue”.

Meanwhile Madness manager Hugh Gadsdon added: “Imagem are an exciting, relatively new company, who over the last five years have demonstrated an energy and ambition which we could not ignore and wanted to be part of. The Madness team are looking forward to working closely with Kim and Imagem, as the band continue to tour globally and record great new music”.

Live Nation acquires controlling stake in Voodoo Fest

Business News Live Business

Ahead of its fifteenth anniversary edition this coming weekend, it was confirmed last week that American festival the Voodoo Music & Arts Experience, more commonly known as Voodoo Fest, has been acquired by live giant Live Nation.

Earlier this year it was widely reported that Robert Sillerman’s new SFX business was taking a slice of the Voodoo Fest company – and indeed Sillerman himself discussed the deal in an interview – but as it turns out, that transaction never took place.

Stephen Rehage, founder of the annual New Orleans event, always timed to coincide to Halloween (more or less), will join Live Nation as part of the new deal to oversee other US festivals controlled by the live firm, and also input on other acquisitions in the festival market.

He told reporters: “I am grateful for the opportunity to join the Live Nation team. Our outlooks on the festival market are aligned and we look to grow the Live Nation festival roster over the coming years”.

Meanwhile Live Nation exec Bob Roux added: “Stephen has built a remarkable brand and I’m looking forward to working with him to continue to enhance Voodoo and the other Live Nation festivals in the US”.

O2 announces ARTPOP alliance with Gaga

Brands & Merch Business News

Lady Gaga has teamed up with useless phone network O2 to give impatient British Little Monsters the opportunity to hear the pop lady’s new album a whole six days before it’s released – news, I’m sure you’ll all agree, that is so exciting fireworks will likely erupt across the nation as the exclusive preview occurs.

The ‘ARTPOP’ preview will be available on 5 Nov via the previously reported O2 Tracks streaming service, which offers users a limited catalogue of pop content in return for a lower-than-standard subscription rate. O2 Tracks, of course, is available to mobile-users on all networks, though I think only O2 4G customers will also get access to an exclusive eight minute video offering some very special Gaga shit.

Confirming the Gaga exclusive promotion, which will also include an ad campaign featuring the pop star, O2’s Head Of Brand Shadi Halliwell told CMU: “At O2 we’ve got a longstanding history of offering customers exclusive benefits and experiences, and we’re proud to extend our priority strategy to offer O2 Tracks customers the opportunity to be amongst the first people to experience the most highly anticipated album of 2013. We’re also going a step further by giving all O2 4G customers exclusive access to exciting new video content – enough to make any Lady Gaga fans heart sing”.

Meanwhile Chris Elrin from Gaga’s label Polydor added: “This is what brand and music partnerships are all about. Artist, record company and brand working collaboratively and most importantly creatively together. O2 were great at working together with us and Lady Gaga to deliver a fantastic campaign giving fans the opportunity to access the album ahead of release”.

And as for the Lady herself, well she put on her best frock and declared: “I’m so happy that O2 Tracks is bringing ‘ARTPOP’ to everyone in the UK a week early. I hope that all of the UK Monsters love it as much as I do!”

Metallica to play Coke Zero show in Antarctica

Artist News Brands & Merch Gigs & Festivals

It looks like Charlie Simpson is about to lose his ‘world’s coldest gig’ Guinness World Record to Metallica, who’ve confirmed they’re off to Antarctica for a Coca-Cola Zero-sponsored show.

In a contest open only to those living in Latin America, fans will be able to bid to watch the band play live in a “dome” near the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini on 8 Dec. The set will be transmitted via headphones, with no amplification, which Metallica say is a “first”.

They add: “After over 30 years as a band, we have been unbelievably fortunate to visit just about every corner of the earth… except for one. That is all about to change as we are set to travel to Antarctica, the only continent that Metallica has never played on until now! Pack up those warm clothes and we’ll see you at the bottom of the planet!”

Apparently, the Coke-enabled show will be streamed live, but only to drinkers/fans in Latin America, though international fans will be able to see a sugar-free recording “at a later date”.

Twitter’s music app likely to be incorporated into main platform

Business News Digital

Reports that Twitter’s music recommendation app is about to be axed may have been exaggerated, or at least they only told half the story.

According to Billboard, rumours last week that Twitter Music was about to be shut down, having failed to generate the kind of usage expected after the service’s much hyped launch back in April, likely originated in plans at the social networking firm to actually integrate the music discovery set-up into the main Twitter platform.

That Twitter’s little music recommendations play sat outside the micro-blogging platform’s main eco-system was a major weakness of the service, though the motivation to address that issue is possibly being driven by the commercial side of the social media company.

It is thought themed channels will soon be integrated into the official Twitter platform and apps around TV, movies and music in a bid to enable more targeted advertising.

The Box rebrands

Business News Media

Good news for fans of new logos and bland music television, The Box has a new image and onscreen branding as of today. Such treats, and with 58 days still to go til Christmas!

Explains Box TV’s Marketing Director Melissa Pine: “As the most mature and forward thinking of our network of brands, the rebrand continues to connect with our ever demanding 16-24 audience who may not have grown up with The Box, without alienating core fans”.

Good news for the “core fans” then, who were very close to being alienated there I think. Adds the channel’s Art Director Francois Cassin: “The biggest challenge for us was to successfully combine a wealth of brand heritage with a new, cutting edge approach. I believe the new logo and channel identity does exactly that”.

Louis Walsh ‘might stay’ on X-Factor

Business News Media

Louis Walsh has threatened to stay on as a judge on ‘The X-Factor’. This despite him saying earlier this year that he planned to leave after the show’s present series. And the fact that ‘The X-Factor’ sucks.

Talking on Jonathan Ross’s ITV chat show, which aired on Saturday night, Walsh said: “Well, I said I was leaving. But I’m having so much fun this year I might stay”.

And he might be the only one to do so, since current mentors Gary Barlow and Sharon Osbourne have both confirmed they’ll quit once this year’s ‘X’ wraps. Osbourne, meanwhile, wrote in her autobiography ‘Unbreakable’ that fourth judge Nicole Scherzinger was also considering other options. So who knows? And more importantly, who cares?

Wednesday 30 October 2013, 11:58 | By Aly Barchi

Rounding up the latest release news…

READ MORE ABOUT: Avril Lavigne | Justin Timberlake | Planningtorock | Savages

Wednesday 30 October 2013, 11:57 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Drake | Max Richter | Speedy Ortiz | Wild Beasts

Wednesday 30 October 2013, 11:56 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Lou Bega | Lou Reed

Wednesday 30 October 2013, 11:55 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: R Kelly

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:48 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Charan Po Rantan

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:47 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Conrad Murray | Michael Jackson

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:46 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Digital Economy Act 2010 | TIGA

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:45 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Soyuz | vKontakte

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:44 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Canal+ | Lagardere | Universal Music | Vivendi

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:43 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Kesha

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:42 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Lou Reed

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:41 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Fleetwood Mac | John McVie

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:40 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: David Bowie

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:39 | By Aly Barchi

Rounding up the latest release news…

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber | Mastodon | Mogwai

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:38 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Arcade Fire

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:37 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Azealia Banks | Miley Cyrus | Ty Segall | White Fence

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:36 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: UK Music Video Awards

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:35 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Britney Spears

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 11:34 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: R Kelly

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:41 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: The Oscillation

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:40 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Lou Reed

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:39 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Michael Jackson | MJJ Productions company | Quincy Jones | Sony Music

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:38 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: FBT Productions | Universal Music | Warner Music

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:37 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Imagem | Madness

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:36 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Live Nation | Stephen Rehage | Voodoo Fest

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:35 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Lady Gaga | O2

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:34 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Coca-Cola | Metallica

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:33 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Twitter

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:32 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: The Box

Monday 28 October 2013, 12:31 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Louis Walsh | X-Factor