Tuesday 27 May 2014, 11:03 | By CMU Editorial

Festival PR tips shared at The Great Escape, and now in the CMU Digest Report

Business News Education & Events Marketing & PR The Great Escape 2014

The conclusions of CMU’s recent survey of music media about the ways festivals PR themselves are shared in the latest edition of the CMU Digest Report, now on sale, alongside three other papers based on the insight strands presented by CMU at The Great Escape Convention in Brighton earlier this month.

Sam Taylor of CMU Insights presented the top-line findings of the survey at the start of the Festival Business strand at The Great Escape, which included:

1. Give media proper access: Make press accreditation as simple as possible and provide up-front information preferably ahead of public release under embargo. While ticket allocation will be tight, if just a single journalist is allowed in from one publication, they won’t have as good a time, and that might be reflected in the coverage. And remember media today operate on incredibly tight resources and ad revenue generated from your coverage will be unlikely to cover the costs of getting to and being at your event.

2. Provide good facilities: News and feature coverage during the event is arguably most rewarding for both media and festival, but publications need decent facilities onsite to help with this. Providing some refreshments and a smiling face will also make the experience for media more pleasurable. But most importantly, power sockets and really good internet!

3. Partner with us, but be strategic: An increasing number of media are looking to do content partnerships with festivals, where they get special access to line-up news, artists and other information. Though festivals should only look to do a small number of these – and think about which media work best for your event. It isn’t necessarily the magazine or website with the biggest circulation or traffic.

4. Be a true champion of your line-up: Ultimately a media will decide whether to cover a festival based on who is playing. Where possible, keep an eye on what artists on your line-up specific media are already championing and hone in on that.

You will find a more detailed summary of what the editors of various leading music websites told CMU about the ways they approach festival coverage in the Report, which you buy via the CMU Shop here. Or sign up to become a CMU Digest subscriber here and receive this and future reports, plus the weekly CMU Digest email, summarising the biggest stories and events in music each Friday afternoon.

New CMU Insights season kicks off next week

Business News Education & Events

The latest season of CMU Insights training courses kicks off next week, with eight evening seminars over eight weeks providing a concise overview of the music business in 2014, with focuses on music rights, fan engagement and artist deals.

The seminars are led by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke who says: “As I said in my keynote at The Great Escape earlier this month, there’s lots to be optimistic about in the music business in 2014, though the real opportunities lie in building more cohesive businesses around our artists, capitalising on the direct-to-fan relationship to provide more and better products and services to core fanbase, from obsessives to more casual fans”.

He goes on: “To make the most of this, artists increasingly need business partners who understand the wider industry, and specialists who understand how they fit into the wider artist-centric business model. Which is where this programme fits in, whether you are a manager, label, publisher, promoter, marketer or other service provider, over these eight seminars we cover the latest developments in all aspects of the industry and, crucially, explain how everything fits together to build successful artist businesses”.

Tickets are available for each course at £45, or you can get into all eight sessions for £299. Bookings can be made online, with the first session – a concise overview of all the strands of the music business, and the way artists form partnerships with music companies – taking place in East London next Monday, 2 Jun, at 6.30pm.

Big Music Project Competition to hunt down new musical talent

Business News Education & Events

The BPI’s Lottery-funded Big Music Project has announced a talent contest to seek out young musicians from around the UK and get their music heard by “top industry executives”.

Also involved in the project are Global Radio’s Capital and Classic FM brands, as well as youth work charity UK Youth, and the competition will be staged in the run-up to next year’s BRIT Awards, with the grand final taking place during the week of the ceremony next February.

Starting in November this year, The Big Music Project Competition will begin touring thirteen UK towns and cities finding musicians between the ages of fourteen and 24, hitting Belfast, Glasgow, Gateshead, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, St Austell, Portsmouth and London.

As well as getting their music in front of industry folk, the winners of the competition will be given the opportunity to record at Abbey Road Studios and perform at the Albert Hall as part of the Classic FM Live series.

Find more information here.

Jarvis Cocker to focus on songwriting during 6 Music sabbatical

Artist News Media

What with all the radio DJing and Faber editing-at-larging and Pulp reuniting, that there Jarvis Cocker hasn’t had much time to work on his songwriting of late, but that’s the focus for the rest of the year, or so he has told The Guardian. He wants to see if he has “got any interesting songs left to write”.

Confirming he is still “110% committed” to music, the Pulp man said: “Whether it’s to impress girls, or whatever, music is the thing that has become my means of self-expression, so this year I’m taking a break from the radio show to find out if I’ve got any interesting songs left to write or whether I’ve written them all”.

Meanwhile on the Pulp reunion, and the oeuvre he was performing there, he went on: “It was quite good because we had some distance from the songs and we weren’t trying to flog them to people. We spent a lot of time standing in horrible dirty rooms with no heating trying to write songs, flailing around in the dark basically, and somehow in that process we wrote some stuff that still sounds all right. So it was good to realise that we hadn’t wasted all our youth – that we’d done something that had a bit of life and energy in it”.

Macaulay Culkin’s pizza-themed band proves unpopular, despite kazoo solos

And Finally Artist News Gigs & Festivals

The debut UK tour of Macaulay Culkin’s pizza-themed Velvet Undergound covers band, The Pizza Underground, has not been going very well. Gigs in Manchester and Nottingham were both disrupted last week, the former when Culkin stormed off stage when a fan interrupted his kazoo solo.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the band’s show at the city’s Zoo venue as part of the multi-city Dot To Dot festival first started to go wrong as some audiences members threw plastic beer glasses at Culkin.

He later reportedly walked off stage after someone failed to show proper reverence to his playing of the kazoo. Although coaxed back on stage, the show was then cut short due to a stage invasion.

The following night in Nottingham, for another Dot To Dot show, Culkin handed out free pizza to the audience before the band began playing, but they were nonetheless again pelted with plastic beer glasses and booed during their performance, reports The Nottingham Post.

Although a number of people were ejected from the venue, the pelting continued and the band left the stage after just fifteen minutes, when a pizza box hit one of Culkin’s bandmates.

In a statement to the Post about the latter incident, Dot To Dot’s organisers said: “After barnstorming sets at both Dot To Dot Manchester and Dot To Dot Bristol, it’s such a shame that some members of the crowd had to ruin what was set to be an excellent show. A sentiment echoed by the band themselves. Hopefully they’ll get to play in Nottingham again one day soon”.

Approved: Sailor & I – Turn Around

CMU Approved

We all like a bit of Scandinavian pop, don’t we? Luckily, Sweden’s Sailor & I (singer and producer Alexander Sjoedin to his mum) has obliged us by following up last year’s debut single ‘Tough Love’ with an excellent new track that manages the unique trick of sounding hot and summery, whilst remaining imbued with a chilly frostiness at its heart.

‘Turn Around’ – the first song from a new EP of the same name – is built on pulsing synths, post-punk bass and ebullient, swelling strings, whilst clattering percussion that sounds like canons being fired and heartfelt vocals all add to the sense of anthem in waiting. Both a song and a soundscape in its own right, this is lush, expertly crafted pop music that manages to have its cake and eat it.

The EP is released on 30 Jun, but you can have a listen to ‘Turn Around’ right now:

Approved: Simply Salacious at Plan B

Club Tip CMU Approved

Brixton’s Plan B sees househeads Karizma and Atjazz join forces this weekend to showcase their new collaborative venture EXIST.

It’s a tie-up that perhaps seems a little odd on paper – bringing together Northerner Martin Iveson, aka Atjazz, creator of the Derby-based Mantis Records with East Coast US man Khris Klayton – but we’ve heard great things from their appearances at the Amsterdam Dance Event and Southport Weekender, and very much enjoyed their guest spot on Gilles Peterson’s ‘Worldwide’ last year.

Their first London set as EXIST comes as part of Simply Salacious, which is celebrating ten years in the game, and this weekend also includes Magic Number on the bill, plus on the decks Mr Simply Salacious himself Peter Borg, Sy Sez and special guest Ted Lawrence.

Saturday 24 May, 10pm-6am, Plan B, 418 Brixton Road, London SW9, £11 adv 14

Independent labels hit out at YouTube’s “unnecessary and indefensible” negotiating tactics

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

The Worldwide Independent Network, the body that brings together indie label trade groups from across the globe, has now formally gone public with its criticism of YouTube over the way the Google subsidiary is handling negotiations for its planned audio streaming service.

As much previously reported, YouTube has ambitions to go head-to-head with Spotify et al by launching an audio-based music platform that will sit alongside the video-based music content already sitting on its network. First mooted last year, the planned new music service has taken a while to get off the ground, partly because of growing resentment in the music community over the size of the royalties YouTube currently pays when music videos are played on its site.

But it’s thought that the major music companies are nevertheless close to doing a deal with YouTube for its planned audio streaming service. Which means the Google company has now turned its attention to the independent label sector, but – says WIN – the deal on the table is woeful. Though what has really angered the indies is the alleged threat made by the web giant that if the labels don’t sign up to the all-new YouTube music service, their content will be blocked elsewhere on the video platform.

Indie label trade bodies from across the world planned to go public with their anger over YouTube’s negotiating tactics yesterday morning, but the digital firm stepped in at the last minute requesting talks. But as of last night those talks had seemingly not dealt with the key issues, including the threat to block indies from the wider YouTube network if they don’t play ball, a move WIN describes as “unnecessary and indefensible”.

In a statement late last night WIN said: “We have held extensive talks with YouTube at their instigation over the last 24 hours to try and resolve this issue but no progress has been made. WIN’s request for YouTube to rescind the termination letters sent to its members has not as yet been agreed to”.

Meanwhile Alison Wenham, head of the UK’s indie label group AIM and CEO of WIN, added: “Our members are small businesses who rely on a variety of income streams to invest in new talent. They are being told by one of the largest companies in the world to accept terms that are out of step with the marketplace for streaming”.

She goes on: “This is not a fair way to do business. WIN questions any actions by any organisation that would seek to injure and punish innocent labels and musicians – and their innocent fans – in order to pursue its ambitions. We believe, as such, that these actions are unnecessary and indefensible, not to mention commercially questionable and potentially damaging to YouTube itself, given the harm likely to result from this approach”.

“The international independent music trade associations call upon YouTube on behalf of their members to work with them towards an agreement that is fair and equitable for all independent labels. This has uncomfortable echoes of similar behaviour by MTV ten years ago, who chose initially to take a similar approach in undervaluing the independent sector, but who subsequently concluded a deal on fair terms, which lasts to this day. It is for every company to determine their own commercial arrangements, but it is in no one’s interests to see independent artists being undervalued in the digital marketplace”.

It remains to be seen how YouTube responds, and whether they would go through with their threat of taking indie label artists off their platform in a bid to realise their audio ambitions.

“It’s a reminder that they need to be shown how not to be evil”: Indie label reps the world over line up to diss YouTube

Business News Digital Industry People Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Confirming that independent labels the world over are very angry indeed with YouTube over the negotiating tactics it is employing as it attempts to win super-favourable rates in order to take on Spotify et al, reps from indie label trade groups all over the planet issued statements last night. And here they all are…

Helen Smith, Executive Chairman of pan-European group IMPALA: “The proper functioning of the digital market is essential and the EU takes trading practices like these seriously because they destroy competition and innovation. Rather than moving from the ‘disrupter’ to the ‘destroyer’, the real challenge for Google should be to use its muscle to develop a disruptive remuneration system which recognises that 80% of all new releases, which are so important in YouTube’s offer, are generated by independents”.

Rich Bengloff, President of the American Association of Independent Music: “It is unfortunate that a service like YouTube with a worldwide scope appears not to be interested in treating all copyright owner creators equally. This has an effect not just on A2IM’s label members but also upon their artists and the consumer fans of our artists who will lose this form of access to our music. We hope that we can continue discussions with YouTube and ultimately restore and grow our relationship with this very important service”.

Stuart Johnston, President of CIMA in Canada: “We are disappointed with reports of YouTube not negotiating in good faith with independent music labels. We urge YouTube to reconsider its approach, and recognise that independent labels deserve to be treated with more respect. It is in everyone’s best interests for music service providers like YouTube to work with the independent music community to negotiate a deal that is fair, equitable and respectful for all parties involved”.

Luciana Pegorer, Managing Director of ABMI in Brazil: “The independent sector has struggled for decades to have a fair market in which to work. There is no reason for us to, at this point, give to one player privileges that could jeopardise the market health as a whole. This pressure over the labels is insane and will lead nowhere, but to a delay in service launch”.

David Vodicka from AIR in Australia: “We are extremely disappointed at YouTube’s decision to use its market power to unilaterally enforce inferior commercial terms on the independent sector. For a company that has arranged its structure to pay minimal tax in our market, to now see YouTube’s treatment of independent Australian labels who provide so much of its Australian music content so as to further improve their profitability at the sake of local content creators is deeply concerning”.

Scott Muir, Deputy Chair of Independent Music in New Zealand: “It seems obvious that a streaming/subscription service from YouTube is imminent and if the offering does not house the indie sector YouTube is plainly making the claim that this sector holds no value for them. In an age where New Zealand artists spring from the very independent ethos to achieve worldwide acclaim it makes no sense for YouTube to pursue this tactic of exclusion”.

Jérome Roger, General Manager of UPFI in France: “It is regrettable and unacceptable that YouTube tends to abuse its dominant position as a digital channel to impose unfair conditions on independent labels. Further, the threat of blocking or removing their content would have the negative effect of preventing consumers from enjoying a substantial part of the whole music catalogue”.

Joerg Heidemann, VUT in Germany: “We are regretful to hear of pressure being put by YouTube on suppliers who have so far chosen not to sign up to their current contract offer. We may adore new, disruptive business models, but even more we love appropriate, fair, social and artist-valuing remuneration. So dear YouTube – we’d appeal for a move towards a more co-operative understanding and negotiation, working together, not against each other”.

Alexander Hirschenhauser, VTMOE in Austria: “It is deeply disturbing that YouTube so far has not even tried to negotiate deals for their upcoming streaming service with independent labels from Austria. We vehemently protest against YouTube’s policy that is trying to squeeze small labels into deals that are discriminatory. YouTube as one of the world’s leading online services with a significant market power is obliged to offer deals to all interested labels around the world on equal terms and conditions”.

Nuno Saraiva, Vice President of AMAEI in Portugal: “The Portuguese independent music association, hereby asserts its position that any service that utilises music that takes a differentiated approach between major label vs independent content is not only on the wrong ethical path – a file is a file, a song is a song – but also on the wrong side of technological progress and development. It is the vibrant independent music community that drives creativity and growth, and any service that leaves out the independents will ultimately lose out on appealing to an ever-increasing audience. Independent music is the life-blood of the internet. Don’t spill it”.

Kees van Weijen, STOMP in Netherlands: “We want YouTube to reconsider its position in this matter and to work with the independent music sector to agree a fair resolution to this issue. We value and respect what YouTube has to offer to the digital music marketplace and would like that appreciation reciprocated by them so that we can all move forward towards a mutually beneficial solution”.

Kristoffer Rom, Co-Chairman of DUP in Denmark: “DUP represents the Danish independent record labels and we’re appalled that YouTube has issued these individual ultimatums. YouTube’s self-proclaimed role as a ‘a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small’ is little more than hollow branding of a company that in reality is losing touch with the very creators and audience that have bloated the size of the platform into the stratosphere over the years. For a global mastodon like YouTube to further undermine the value of music to a level well below existing streaming services can spread like a virus and destroy the independent recording industry, labels and artists alike”.

Mark Kitkatt, UFI in Spain: “The safe harbour provision of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act dates from 1998. It’s being used to deprive culture workers and creators of their right to withdraw their labour and when you can’t do that – you’re a slave. Spain’s parliament is considering a law which begins to adapt copyright for creators to the new landscape. We couldn’t hope for a better illustration of the problems that need solving than Google’s behaviour at this negotiating table. It’s a reminder that they need to be shown how not to be evil”.

Tapio Korjus, Chairman of IndieCo in Finland: “We find it very odd that YouTube has not contacted Finnish independent labels to negotiate deals for its streaming service, and we object to any proposal by a dominant platform such as YouTube which excludes or unfairly discriminates against independent right holders in Finland”.

Mimi Nguyen, Lang Van in Vietnam: “Independent labels, organisations and even artists themselves are incubators for the new talent of the world that drive creativity and what’s ‘next’ in music. It is through social media platforms such as YouTube that these creatives have the ability to not only survive as artists, but to thrive beyond areas that major labels do not support. By hindering the opportunities for independent artists to be discovered and making unexplored areas of creativity unsearchable, YouTube will contradict its own rule of ethics if it executes its intended plans”.

Chan Kim, Chairman of LIAK in South Korea: “We fully support WIN’s position on YouTube’s recent policy of discrimination against the independent music sector. Independent music needs to receive fair treatment from major global platforms for healthy diversity of music in the world”.

Swedish Supreme Court rejects Pirate Bay founder appeal for second time

Business News Digital Legal

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde’s most recent attempt to have his conviction for copyright infringement quashed has failed.

As much previously reported, Sunde was one of three co-founders of the always controversial file-sharing platform who was found guilty of enabling rampant copyright infringement in a combined civil and criminal case in the Swedish courts. He received a jail sentence and massive damages bill as a result of the trial.

However, Sunde has been fighting the case against him ever since, and so far has avoided any jail time in the process. Though his various appeals have not been successful. An appeal court upheld the original ruling (though amended the penalties), then the Swedish Supreme Court refused to hear the case, then the Swedish authorities knocked back Sunde’s appeal for ‘clemency’, and then the European Court Of Human Rights said it wasn’t a matter on which it had a right to intervene.

After all that, earlier this year Sunde had another stab at the Swedish Supreme Court, with a team of legal academics arguing that the “changing legal climate” in the European Union meant the longterm argument of the Bay’s founders – that they didn’t actually host any infringing content, and shouldn’t be liable for the infringement the Bay enabled others to commit – had a new found credibility.

But, according to local media, the Supreme Court did not agree, stating that there was no new evidence available and therefore there was no need to revisit the case. Responding to the news, Sunde told Torrentfreak: “It doesn’t affect me that much, it’s just more evidence that Sweden has no intention to follow the law or EU-regulations at all”.

Domino signs Bob Moses

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Domino has signed on alt-dance act Bob Moses, a two-man production unit from Canada, and so will be the label to release the pair’s new EP, ‘First To Cry’, on 16 Jun.

Keeping with the crying theme, its lead-off single, ‘I Ain’t Gonna Be The First To Cry’, is available to stream right here:

And if you want to go watch those Bob Moses crybabies live, you can do so on any one of the duo’s forthcoming European tour dates, which include UK showings at Oval Space in London tomorrow, and at The Arches in Glasgow on 31 May.

Universal adds to its global comms team

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Universal Music has poached Warner Music comms SVP Susan Mazo to become its SVP Of Global Communications, heading up philanthropic efforts, major internal and external events and only slightly mysterious “special projects”, as well as supporting the mega-major’s media relations efforts.

Based in New York, she will report into UMG’s Head of Global Communications Will Tanous who told CMU: “Susan is one of the most talented and progressive communications executives with whom I’ve ever worked, and I’m thrilled to welcome her to UMG”.

He went on: “Her creativity, focus and passion for helping artists and the communities in which we operate has made her one of the most thoughtful and impactful executives in music, and I’m confident she will bring tremendous value to helping shape UMG’s communications strategy and leading our philanthropic efforts going forward”.

Vimeo launches ContentID-style system

Business News Digital

YouTube competitor Vimeo is launching a new initiative called Copyright Match, which is similar to its main rival’s ContentID system, designed to help music rights owners monitor and block the use of their audio content within the videos of third parties.

YouTube – for all the dissing it is getting from the music community today – was a pioneer when it came to developing technology that monitors the soundtracks to videos being uploaded to its servers looking for copyright material being used without licence.

In part designed to help YouTube comply with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act which provides protection for tech firms who inadvertently enable others to infringe (though to be fair, ContentID goes some way beyond YouTube’s commitments under American law), if a rights owner sees a third party using its music on the video site, it can either choose to take a cut of the ad money associated with the clip, or have the video blocked.

Vimeo, which has never had aspirations to become an ad-funded network that buys in content, but rather sees itself as a distribution service for video-makers, has been much less proactive in developing tools to help music rights owners seek out unlicensed use of their tracks on its platform. Which has led to long running litigation in the US between the labels and the Vimeo company.

But Copyright Match, developed with Audible Magic, might begin to placating the record industry. Although not as robust, from the music companies’ standpoint, as ContentID – in that it involves the video-maker in the process more, and seems more open to claims of ‘fair use’ – it should make it easier for rights owners to police use of their music on the video site.

Video-makers who find that their work can’t get past Copyright Match because of their soundtracks will be pointed to music that is cheap or free to licence via Vimeo’s own music store or via Audible Magic.

While you might assume Copyright Match is a direct result of the record industry’s long-running legal battle with the video site, when talking about the new venture to Billboard, Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor said that further growth of the company’s video-maker community had promoted the new initiative.

Trainor: “This is a constantly evolving area, in terms of creativity – we really want to educate creators on the boundaries of fair use and the ways in which music and other material can and can’t be used, and offer as many solutions as we can. We want to empower people who want to use music to do so, with full understanding of what’s allowed under the law”.

Samsung confirms Music Hub to close

Business News Digital

Samsung has confirmed that it is winding down its Music Hub platform, just over two years after its original launch.

As previously reported, it looked like the combined download, streaming and digital locker set up was on its way out earlier this year when the phone maker announced a tie up with Slacker Radio in the US, resulting in a new music offer called Milk Music.

After customers were alerted to the fact that Music Hub would be going offline on 1 Jul, Samsung confirmed that it was phasing out the platform, though said it remained “committed” to music via the aforementioned Milk Music and other musical apps and partnerships.

Annie Mac to reveal real lives of Superstar DJs in new Channel 4 series

Business News Media

BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac is to front a rolling Channel 4 show titled ‘Superstar DJs’, in which she’ll meet with and interview, well… them. Confirming the news yesterday, Mac said she’d been pitching the idea since 2012, and had at last got the financial backing to go ahead with it.

Airing in six weeks time, the first ‘Superstar DJ’ in the strobe-light will be Tiesto, to whom she claimed to have had “unrivaled access”, with specials featuring Diplo, David Guetta, Disclosure, Fat Boy Slim and Seth Troxler following on.

In an interview with Pete Tong at this week’s International Music Summit, printed by Music Week, Mac said (making a fair point): “The world of big DJ’s is still quite elusive and weird – Tiesto is one of the richest most famous DJs in the world and yet no one really knows anything about him”.

On the show itself she added: “It’ll give you real access to the lives of these DJs and what they have to go through to get that success. It was important to get a really good variety of DJs, I’m really happy with the variety and I hope people like it”.

Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense to have digital anniversary release

Artist News Releases

Talking Heads’ milestone concert film, the Jonathan Demme-directed ‘Stop Making Sense’, which hasn’t wrinkled yet, despite hitting the big 3-0 this year, is to have its first official digital release in July.

It’s also going to be shown in America over a series of special anniversary screenings, which if British cinemas have any sense, will happen over here at some point too.

In addition, a new birthday edition is available on DVD and BluRay, featuring the original final edit and extended clips of David Byrne et al playing ‘Cities’ and ‘Big Business/I Zimbra’, and audio commentary from the band and Demme.

Here’s the trailer:

Michelle Williams brings in Destinys Child, Solange for new single

Artist News Releases

There’ll be no more of the ‘poor Michelle Williams’ this, ‘poor Michelle Williams’ that, everyone, not now that the R&B/gospel singer has glided oh-so gently back into the spotlight with a new solo single featuring her Destiny’s Child sisters, Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Kelly Rowland. And that on top of her part in America’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ arena spectacular, starring John Lydon, but we don’t speak of that.

Titled ‘Say Yes’, the new single has the DC three AND Beyonce’s real-life sister, Solange, on it, and is said to be an “inspirational gospel record”. And what’s not to love about that combination of things? Though ‘Say Yes’ streams are disappearing off the internet like ‘inspirational gospel’ flies, so I can’t really link to the track. Maybe try Googling it. Or, find your Destiny’s Child fix (via MTV) in several Instagram clips, which catch Michelle, Beyonce and Kelly in the act as they leave the ‘Say Yes’ video shoot.

SFX confirms new series of international beach festivals, Corona SunSets

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

As made official at this year’s International Music Summit in Ibiza, EDM giants SFX Entertainment has announced a new international series of dance festivals on beaches named: Corona SunSets. So kind of like a Tequila Sunrise, only more of a lager-based twilight experience.

The ‘beach’ bit of the idea, by the way, is high on the agenda, since all the festivals will bear a ‘Save The Beach’-style message promoting beach preservation, thanks to a link-in with the Foundation Of Environmental Education’s Blue Flag Initiative. And you thought dance music was all about raving and taking drugs. Shame on you.

As well as SunSet events in Mexico, Canada and Spain, SFX, in alliance with Corona and Beatport, is also throwing a great British beach party on the sands of Weston-Super-Mare on 5 Jul, featuring a Disclosure DJ set, and appearances by Annie Mac, MK, Eats Everything and Sinden. And hey, Bestival has its own stage, too, with B Traits, Kidnap Kid, TCTS, Lxury and Tieks all swinging by.

Limited early bird tickets to the Weston-Super-Mare edition are available here, and an excitable statement from SFX’s CMO Chris Stephenson is available here…

“We’re thrilled to create this new beach concept. At any moment of the day, SunSets has its own special charm. We use Mother Nature’s own magnificent fireball as a natural backdrop for the pivotal moment of the event – the sunset. As shadows grow longer and the sun lights up the evening sky, the music gradually shifts from deep melodic, easy tunes to a more up-tempo beat”.

Spiders From Mars’ Visconti and Woodmansey to play Bowie’s Man Who Sold The World

Artist News Releases

Tony Visconti and Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey, both of David Bowie’s iconic, Ziggy Stardust-era backing band The Spiders From Mars, are to play Bowie’s 1970 LP, arguably his first truly avant garde one, ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, live and in full at a show in London this Autumn. And don’t worry, it’s all Ziggy-approved.

The pair will fill the spaces in the Spiders line-up with a group of ten guest musicians, including Spandau Ballet saxophonist Steve Norman, and Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory. Visconti, producer of most of DB’s albums since 1969 of course, not least his latest, ‘The Next Day’, will play bass on the songs for the first time since ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ was made, whilst Woodmansey is playing drums.

Talking to The Guardian this week, the latter said: “‘The Man Who Sold The World’ was the first album Mick Ronson and I played on, our first even in a proper London studio, yet it never got played live. It was the forerunner of what we could do sound-wise, and we just let rip. We spent three weeks recording it because we were creating the songs as we went”.

He added: “This was the album that showed Bowie trying out things and finding his direction. ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ was his first step into rock n roll. It got critical acclaim, but we never toured it, and in the live shows the album tracks never got touched on. So the idea of being able to go out and finally play some of those great tracks live was just so exciting”.

Gigs & Tours Round-Up: Pharrell, Culture Club, Enter Shikari, The Growlers and Girl Band

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Gigs & Tours Round-Up

Rounding up the latest gig news…

Mr Pharrell ‘four count’ Williams is heaving his big dumb couture hat over from the States later this year, mainly to wear it while he plays twenty live dates in Europe. The ‘Happy’ hit-man is calling it is ‘Dear G I R L’ tour, after his reigning solo LP, so I guess that’s what you could all call it too. The UK shows, of which two exist, are at the Phones 4U Arena in Manchester on 9 Sep, and at London’s O2 on 9 Oct. Tickets have been on sale since 9am this morning so dash over here to get em.

Also, the original line up of Culture Club have just gone and announced, oh, only their first tour in fifteen years. No big deal. The first of the dates, which will feature a special guest in the gracious Ms Alison Moyet, is on 1 Dec at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro, and the last is on 15 Dec at the Bournemouth International Centre. Click here to see details of the shows in between, and click here to see the ‘Karma Chameleon’ video. Oh, go on, do it.

And next, get this: electro-thrash types Enter Shikari have set a single ‘gig’ to get them all lithe and limber pre a trip to Russia and the US, and a streak of festival appearances. The show is on 26 Jun at the Forum in Hatfield, and this is the link to get tickets. The end.

Well not quite the end, actually, because tangle-haired beach bums The Growlers (pictured) have added a short UK stop-over to the far-end of an upcoming tour of Europe. Kicking right off with a show at London’s Oslo on 16 Aug, the fun will go on thanks to slots supporting Fat White Family at the Bristol Fleece (17 Aug), Liverpool’s Kazimier (18 Aug), and the Brighton-based Concorde 2 (19 Aug). And here’s something Growlers-related to look at whilst you’re turning that over in your mind. It’s the aptly road-trip-depicting ‘Change In Your Veins’ video, the track being one off the band’s latest record, ‘Gilded Pleasures’:

Lastly and mostly, it’s approved Dublin four-piece Girl Band, who are in fact all boys. Though they are a band. Aaaanyway, they have a virtual ton of UK shows coming up, starting at Newcastle’s Dog & Parrot on 2 Jun, and winding up following a further seven nationwide dates at The Shacklewell Arms, in London, on 11 Jun. Check the GB Facebook page for all the relevant details, but not before you’ve watched the visuals to go with their invigorating latest single ‘Lawman’ here:

Ivor Novello Awards given out

Artist News Awards

So the ol Ivor Novellos got given away to their respective winners yesterday, and what a glittering occasion it was. So dripping in songwriting ability and artistry, it was practically soaked. Also, Tom Odell came, which was nice. In fact, he was named Songwriter Of The Year, so it was worth his time showing up.

Fleetwood Mac lady Christine McVie was presented with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, whilst Nile Rodgers received the Special International Award. Also, London Grammar won Best Song Musically And Lyrically for their single ‘Strong’, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ latest LP ‘Push The Sky Award’ was deemed deserving of the Album Award. It really was wild.

Here are all the awards and the names of the artists what won them:

Best Contemporary Song: James Blake – Retrograde

Best Song Musically And Lyrically: London Grammar – Strong (Dominic Major, Hannah Reid, Daniel Rothman)

Album Award: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Awar (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis)

PRS For Music Most Performed Work: Passenger – Let Her Go (Mike Rosenberg)

Best Television Soundtrack: Ripper Street (Dominik Sherrer)

Best Original Film Score: The Epic Of Everest (Simon Fisher Turner)

The Ivors Classical Music Award: John McCabe

Songwriter Of The Year: Tom Odell

International Achievement: Mumford & Sons (Ed Dawne, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, Marcus Mumford)

PRS For Music Special International Award: Nile Rodgers

Outstanding Song Collection: The Chemical Brothers (Tom Rowlands, Ed Simons)

PRS For Music Award For Outstanding Contribution To British Music: Jeff Beck

Lifetime Achievement: Christine McVie

The Ivors Inspiration Award: Jerry Dammers

Beef Of The Week #207: The Black Keys v The Black Keys

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

Now, we all know that the good old Black Keys aren’t shy of a little casual beefing from time to time. There was the light post-Grammy beefing with Bieber (well, more the Beliebers), the declaring to Rolling Stone that Jack White “sounds like an asshole”, and the recent reckoning that the new posthumous Michael Jackson album ‘Xscape’ – which happen to be released on the same day as the duo’s new record – was “bullshit”.

Though do take note, all these contentious remarks stem from the same half of The Black Keys, ie drumming man Patrick Carney. Meanwhile his cohort Dan Auerbach has never had anything bad to say about anybody in his entire life. He loves Bieber. And White. And Jackson. And you. So mild mannered is he, in fact, that when he describes his partner in crime’s regular media jibes as “pretty stupid” we know he’s actually really pissed off about it all. Really pissed off.

Well, definitely mildly pissed off. Or not really pissed off at all. One of those. But this is the Beef Of The Week column, so let’s read this quote in a very angry voice.

According to QMI, when asked about some of Carney’s recent disses, Auberbach remarked: “I think they’re pretty stupid sometimes. He generally regrets them after he says them… he’s always been like that. He’s done it a bunch [of times] where he’s said something bad about somebody and then completely regrets it, [and] then runs into that person”.

Asked if he couldn’t just sit the drummer boy down and tell him to keep his mouth shut, Auberbach added: “It doesn’t work… he just doesn’t seem to filter anything”.

Though as the self-declared champions of pop beefing, more power to Carney’s mouth we say. Shut it Auberbach. Bieber doesn’t deserve any Grammys. White is an asshole. And ‘Xscape’ is bullshit.

Approved: Amen Dunes

CMU Approved

Around since 2006, Amen Dunes (who’s just the one mound of a man, Damon McMahon) has released three LPs to date, 2009’s cloistered ‘DIA’, 2011’s farther-reaching ‘Through Donkey Jaw’, and latterly ‘Love’, which coasted in on the wind last week.

A wide, rangy sprawl of labour, loss and longing, ‘Love’ has him curling his tongue around the most forlorn, the most worldly, the most faded, lonely and lovely songs. Though, rather than weighting you down, it more draws you into its cavernous, canyonous world, a world in which bright-burning torchlight tracks like ‘Rocket Flare’ and the woebegone ‘Lonely Richard’ co-exist in easy peace.

And lone wolfish and ‘one-man’ as ‘Love’ can sound, McMahon actually made it with a whole bunch of other musicians, from Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Dave Bryant and Efrim Menuck, to Colin Stetson (on sax), and Iceage’s Elias Bender Ronnenfelt, whose contributions slip, almost unnoticed, in amongst his own.

Amen Dunes plays live tonight at London’s Koko, supporting Mac DeMarco, and comes back to the capital on 3 Jun, to do the same with Wooden Shjips, only at the Electric Ballroom. And he’s appearing at Jabberwocky Festival, again in LDN, at ExCel on 15 Aug, and finally at Liverpool Psych Fest, in Liverpool, on 27 Sep.

Listen to all of ‘Love’ on Spotify now, or just buy it via Sacred Bones, because it’s good.

And this is ‘Love’ song ‘Lilac In Hand’:

Indie labels in talks with YouTube after criticism of the web giant’s negotiating tactics

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Reps for the independent label community are currently locked in negotiations with YouTube over the Google platform’s audio streaming ambitions, following mounting criticism of the web giant’s negotiating tactics.

The growing YouTube backlash in the music sector has been palpable in recent months, to the extent that German collecting society GEMA, long-time critic of the video platform, must be feeling uber-smug around about now.

Although the YouTube video platform is a revenue generator for the labels and publishers, with signed-up rights owners getting a cut of ad revenue, the per-play monies paid by the Google platform are tiny compared to most other streaming set-ups.

Which is irritating for the labels in itself, but all the more so as the other streaming services tell the music rights companies that the dominance of a free-to-access YouTube is hindering their ability to sign up subscribers, especially in the youth market.

Though it is that market dominance – YouTube is by far the biggest streaming music service, and an incredibly important marketing platform for the industry – that has put the labels in a tricky position with regard to any attempts to negotiate up royalty payments. YouTube definitely needs the music content, but then the labels definitely need YouTube.

Though at the recent MusicTank event on the streaming sector it was noted that YouTube’s widely known ambitions to become a fully fledged streaming service, with full-catalogue audio streaming alongside the more haphazardly provided videos, provides an opportunity, in that the balance of power was temporarily tipped in the labels’ favour.

Unless, Beggars Group’s digital supremo Simon Wheeler noted, the majors did deals favourable to them in the short term, allowing YouTube to try to strong-arm everyone else into the party. And while I’m not saying Wheeler is psychic or anything (I guess he’s just seen how the big tech guys do business many times before), you do sense something not altogether unlike that scenario has subsequently occurred.

Certainly the indies are not impressed with the deal that has been put on the table by YouTube for its new streaming platform, nor the ‘take it or leave it’ approach, nor the implication that failing to sign up could result in holdout labels’ content being blocked across the wider YouTube platform. You know, the content that helped Google transform YouTube from the home of cats falling off TVs into the biggest content network in the world.

The indie music community was preparing to go public with its anger and frustration over YouTube’s negotiating tactics overnight – with statements actually going live on some news services in Asia and Australia – but the Google platform stepped in at the last minute in a bid to placate the labels. Though withdrawing any talk of labels’ existing YouTube content being blocked in retaliation for not signing up to the new service will almost certainly be a prerequisite before any placating can begin.

It’s believed talks between YouTube and the indies – which presumably also involves indie label digital rights group Merlin, though it was unable to comment – are now ongoing. It remains to be seen how things progress.

NMPA sues two lyric websites

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

The US music publishing sector’s trade group, the National Music Publishers Association, has confirmed it has begun legal action against two lyric websites which it says continue to prolifically publish lyrics without licence.

Although the online distribution of lyrics online without licences from the music publishers has been an issue for years, the NMPA has ramped up its efforts in this regard of late, targeting in particular those entities that seem to have built pretty good ad-funded businesses around their copyright infringing websites.

Rap Genius was high on the target list last year, but it has subsequently started doing deals with the US publishers, including the NMPA itself. But similar efforts to do deals with some of the other lyric sites have not gone so well, resulting in the litigation against SeekLyrics.com and LyricsTime.com.

Confirming his organisation was now going legal against these two sites, NMPA President David Israelite told reporters: “Litigation is a last step. Our goal is to insure that lyric sites and songwriters become partners through licensing. This is not a campaign against personal blogs, fan sites, or the many websites that provide lyrics legally. We are targeting sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior, which impacts a songwriter’s ability to make a living”.

Transgressive signs Canadian band Alvvays

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Releases

Basically, hazy Canadian five-piece Alvvays are “uber happy” to have signed with Transgressive Records, who’ll release their very first LP over on this side of the Atlantic sea.

Sharing the same name as the band, ‘Alvvays’, which was produced by the most high Chad Vangaalen and mixed by the Sonic Youth-collaborating John Agnello and Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh, is coming out on 21 Jul.

Hear its already-released lead single ‘Archie, Marry Me’, and see its title listed amid the LP’s tracklisting, here:

Adult Diversion
Archie, Marry Me
Ones Who Love You
Next Of Kin
Party Police
The Agency Group
Dives
Atop A Cake
Red Planet

HMV and WH Smith come bottom in high street retailer survey

Business News HMV Timeline Retail

Oh come on people, what happened to all the HMV love that was unleashed when we all thought the disc seller was heading to the high street in the sky?

The entertainment retailer has come third from bottom in a Which? survey of 12,500 shoppers in which they were asked to rate high street chains on various criteria, including overall satisfaction and how likely they were to recommend a store to friends.

HMV were third from bottom in the list of one hundred stores, ahead of only Homebase and one-time music seller WH Smith. Yep, Smiths came bottom; you’d think that with the hipster-led cassette revival, that 1980s-esque shopping experience WH Smiths offers consumers would be back in fashion. That’s probably unfair, I’ve not been in a Smiths in years – but the Catford branch used to be pretty grim.

Anyway, Smiths itself reckons that the nature of Which?’s survey goes against it. The company said in a statement: “This exercise is very misleading as WH Smith does not fit into any of the survey categories, while products like newspapers and magazines are not those that customers would ‘recommend’ a retailer for”.

It went on: “The 104 customers that [specifically] commented on WH Smith in this survey are not reflective of the twelve million customers that visit our stores each week, where our own independent survey of over a thousand customers continues to rate us highly”.

If you’re interested in the three highest scoring retailers, they were Lush, Disney Store and Richer Sounds. Last year’s overall winner, the Apple Store, slipped to thirteenth place. Apple needs to start selling blank cassettes and walkmans to win back those hipsters.

Sony Xperia confirms talent search, giving away a single deal

Brands & Merch Business News

Sony Mobile’s Xperia line has allied with Talenthouse, a website that aims to enable creative collaboration and all that shizzle, for a new talent search for the ‘next big thing’ in pop. Oh yes. One of them.

Open to soloists, bands and musicians of a pop and/or “indie, rock, EDM, hip-hop, R&B or singer-songwriter” persuasion, aged eighteen and over, the online/on-phone competition’s end prize is a “digital single deal” with Sony Music UK, with “options” for an LP release too. So that’s nice.

Acts are invited to upload an original track, via this site, by 8 Jul. Tracks will then be deliberated over by the likes of Epic A&R/co-MD Steven Melrose, Columbia Records’ Head Of Radio Sam Potts and Syco strategist Genevieve Ampaduh, who’ll also advise the overall winner on the various ways to make hits.

A paid-for trip to London, plus promotion and PR for the winning single, are also part of the victory pack. The songs will also be put to a ‘social vote’ amongst the online Talenthouse community, with the most popular act winning a nice round $2000 (or approx £1184).

Now for some words of advice for budding pop stars from Sony A&R man Melrose, who proposes that: “Being smart and understanding what music you make, understanding the market for your music, understanding where that music sits in the bigger picture, if you can understand where you live in your biosphere as an artist and you can make those expectations, you’ve got a chance for a career”.

Potts, meanwhile, adds this: “Persistence is really key. Sometimes when you start out, not everyone gets your music and often it takes sheer drive and determination over a period of time to make people believe in them. Even the biggest artists have had their fair share of no’s early on”.

Back on the competition, David Chapon, Head Of Consumer Engagement at Sony Mobile, says: “There are thousands of music artists and bands out there hungry to have their music heard. If you’ve ever dreamt of securing a record deal, having your music heard by a big audience, and being part of a family of music artists which include many of the world’s best talent, now’s your chance”.

He went on: “This collaboration is powered by Talenthouse, the world’s creative network, which means we are able to discover a high calibre of creatives – in this case music talent – around the world. It gives us a unique opportunity to find a great new music act and give them a record deal with our sister company Sony Music UK as well as offering users of Sony Xperia’s Android app Xperia Lounge exclusive new content”.

Karen Millar launching Hook & Line PR

Business News Marketing & PR Releases

PR lady Karen Millar is leaving her present position at Trail Of Press/Full Time Hobby, and starting a company called Hook & Line.

When she exits Trail Of Press within the next few weeks, she’ll take existing clients Timber Timbre, Smoke Fairies, Samantha Crain, Pinkunoizu, Cancer, Xenia Rubinos and The John Steel Singers with her, also taking on noise cacophonists Talons, an instrumental band based in Hereford, anew.

And talking of promoting Talons, their latest LP, ‘New Topographics’, is released on 4 Aug, so hasten to hear its crash-bangish lead single, aptly-titled ‘The Wild Places’, here:

Former PRS man to head up dance sector’s trade body

Business News Industry People

As the dance music sector’s big IMS event kicked off in Ibiza yesterday, the Association For Electronic Music announced the appointment of its first CEO in the form of Mark Lawrence, formerly Director Of Membership at UK collecting society PRS For Music.

As previously reported, the AFEM launched at MIDEM in 2013 bringing together players from across the music business – including labels, agents, managers, promoters and lawyers – who have a dance music focus. The group’s new CEO will report into co-founders Ben Turner and Kurosh Nasseri.

Confirming the appointment, Turner – also co-founder of IMS – told CMU: “We have defined the mission of AFEM, our founding board members and ambassadors have demonstrated their support. It is now Mark’s responsibility to help us turn AFEM into an effective advocacy body which delivers real benefits to members”.

Lawrence, who worked in banking before joining PRS (or technically MCPS) in 2004, and who led the rights body’s Amplify campaign designed to better connect the society with the dance music community, added: “I am delighted and honoured to have been selected by Ben and Kurosh to run this organisation. AFEM has the opportunity to be something amazing – a global electronic music organisation representing everyone from labels to DJs to promoters to publishers, small or large, young or old. I am committed to turning that vision into reality”.

Tuesday 27 May 2014, 11:03 | By CMU Editorial

READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Digest | Sam Taylor | The Great Escape

Tuesday 27 May 2014, 11:02 | By CMU Editorial

The latest season of CMU Insights training courses kicks off next week, with eight evening seminars over eight weeks providing a concise overview of the music business in 2014, with focuses on music rights, fan engagement and artist deals.

READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights

Tuesday 27 May 2014, 11:01 | By Andy Malt

The BPI’s Lottery-funded Big Music Project has announced a talent contest to seek out young musicians from around the UK and get their music heard by “top industry executives”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Big Music Project | British Phonographic Industry (BPI)

Tuesday 27 May 2014, 11:00 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC Radio 6 Music | Jarvis Cocker

Tuesday 27 May 2014, 10:59 | By Andy Malt

The debut UK tour of Macaulay Culkin’s pizza-themed Velvet Undergound covers band, The Pizza Underground, has not been going very well. Gigs in Manchester and Nottingham were both disrupted last week, the former when Culkin stormed off stage when a fan interrupted his kazoo solo.

READ MORE ABOUT: Macaulay Culkin | The Pizza Underground

Tuesday 27 May 2014, 10:54 | By Marc Samuels

READ MORE ABOUT: Sailor & I

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:10 | By Paul Vig

Brixton’s Plan B sees househeads Karizma and Atjazz join forces this weekend to showcase their new collaborative venture EXIST.

READ MORE ABOUT: EXIST | Simply Salacious

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke

The Worldwide Independent Network, the body that brings together indie label trade groups from across the globe, has now formally gone public with its criticism of YouTube over the way the Google subsidiary is handling negotiations for its planned audio streaming service.

READ MORE ABOUT: Association of Independent Music (AIM) | World Independent Network (WIN) | Worldwide Independent Network | YouTube

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:07 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: YouTube

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:06 | By Chris Cooke

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde’s most recent attempt to have his conviction for copyright infringement quashed has failed.

READ MORE ABOUT: Peter Sunde | The Pirate Bay

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:05 | By Aly Barchi

Domino has signed on alt-dance act Bob Moses, a two-man production unit from Canada, and so will be the label to release the pair’s new EP, ‘First To Cry’, on 16 Jun.

READ MORE ABOUT: Bob Moses | Domino

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:04 | By Chris Cooke

Universal Music has poached Warner Music comms SVP Susan Mazo to become its SVP Of Global Communications, heading up philanthropic efforts, major internal and external events and only slightly mysterious “special projects”, as well as supporting the mega-major’s media relations efforts.

READ MORE ABOUT: Susan Mazo | Universal Music

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:03 | By Chris Cooke

YouTube competitor Vimeo is launching a new initiative called Copyright Match, which is similar to its main rival’s ContentID system, designed to help music rights owners monitor and block the use of their audio content within the videos of third parties.

READ MORE ABOUT: Vimeo

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:02 | By Chris Cooke

Samsung has confirmed that it is winding down its Music Hub platform, just over two years after its original launch.

READ MORE ABOUT: Samsung | Samsung Music Hub

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:01 | By Aly Barchi

BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac is to front a rolling Channel 4 show titled ‘Superstar DJs’, in which she’ll meet with and interview, well… them. Confirming the news yesterday, Mac said she’d been pitching the idea since 2012, and had at last got the financial backing to go ahead with it.

READ MORE ABOUT: Annie Mac | Channel 4 | Superstar DJs

Friday 23 May 2014, 11:00 | By Aly Barchi

Talking Heads’ milestone concert film, the Jonathan Demme-directed ‘Stop Making Sense’, which hasn’t wrinkled yet, despite hitting the big 3-0 this year, is to have its first official digital release in July.

READ MORE ABOUT: Talking Heads

Friday 23 May 2014, 10:59 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Beyonce | Destiny's Child | Kelly Rowland | Michelle Williams | Solange

Friday 23 May 2014, 10:58 | By Aly Barchi

As made official at this year’s International Music Summit in Ibiza, EDM giants SFX Entertainment has announced a new international series of dance festivals on beaches named: Corona SunSets. So kind of like a Tequila Sunrise, only more of a lager-based twilight experience.

READ MORE ABOUT: Beatport | Corona | Corona SunSets | SFX Entertainment

Friday 23 May 2014, 10:57 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: David Bowie | Mike Woodmansey | The Spiders From Mars | Tony Visconti

Friday 23 May 2014, 10:56 | By Aly Barchi

Rounding up the latest gig news…

READ MORE ABOUT: Culture Club | Enter Shikari | Gilla Band | Pharrell Williams | The Growlers

Friday 23 May 2014, 10:55 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Ivor Novello Awards

Friday 23 May 2014, 10:54 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Dan Auerbach | Patrick Carney | The Black Keys

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:19 | By Aly Barchi

Around since 2006, Amen Dunes (who’s just the one mound of a man, Damon McMahon) has released three LPs to date, 2009’s cloistered ‘DIA’, 2011’s farther-reaching ‘Through Donkey Jaw’, and latterly ‘Love’, which coasted in on the wind last week.

READ MORE ABOUT: Amen Dunes

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:18 | By Chris Cooke

Reps for the independent label community are currently locked in negotiations with YouTube over the Google platform’s audio streaming ambitions, following mounting criticism of the web giant’s negotiating tactics.

READ MORE ABOUT: Beggars Group | Google | YouTube

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:17 | By Chris Cooke

The US music publishing sector’s trade group, the National Music Publishers Association, has confirmed it has begun legal action against two lyric websites which it says continue to prolifically publish lyrics without licence.

READ MORE ABOUT: National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA)

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:16 | By Aly Barchi

Basically, hazy Canadian five-piece Alvvays are “uber happy” to have signed with Transgressive Records, who’ll release their very first LP over on this side of the Atlantic sea.

READ MORE ABOUT: Alvvays | Transgressive

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:15 | By Chris Cooke

Oh come on people, what happened to all the HMV love that was unleashed when we all thought the disc seller was heading to the high street in the sky?

READ MORE ABOUT: HMV

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:14 | By Aly Barchi

Sony Mobile’s Xperia line has allied with Talenthouse, a website that aims to enable creative collaboration and all that shizzle, for a new talent search for the ‘next big thing’ in pop. Oh yes. One of them.

READ MORE ABOUT: Sony Music | Sony Xperia | Talenthouse

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:13 | By Aly Barchi

PR lady Karen Millar is leaving her present position at Trail Of Press/Full Time Hobby, and starting a company called Hook & Line.

READ MORE ABOUT: Hook & Line PR | Karen Millar | Talons

Thursday 22 May 2014, 11:12 | By Chris Cooke