Friday 27 June 2014, 12:18 | By Aly Barchi

Oscars board adjusts music rules

Awards Business News

Bosses at the grand ol Oscars have changed the rules regarding music-type categories in order that campaigning for votes is made fairer, this following a disqualification in the ‘Original Song’ stakes earlier this year.

The decision will mean that members of the Oscar-organising Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences may no longer contact voters to promote a song, nor will they be allowed to attend live performances of an eligible song, unless it’s at a relevant film screening.

It comes in light of the discovery ahead of the 2014 Oscars that ex Academy governor Bruce Broughton had sent a mass email to 70 of the organisation’s 240-man music-voting pool highlighting ‘Alone Yet Not Alone’, the track he’d co-written for a Christian-faith movie of the same name, which made it into the shortlist for Best Original Song.

Having disqualified the track, the Academy said Broughton had compromised “the integrity of the voting process” and “taken advantage of information that few other potential nominees are privy to”.

CMU Beef Of The Week #212: The Queen v Eminem

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

So it’s official, whilst Her Maj was rather generous to the music community with her annual round of birthday honours earlier this month, sometimes Queen Liz has to put her foot down when it comes to pandering to the pop fraternity. And having that cheeky potty-mouthed rap boy Eminem shouting his cheeky potty-mouthed rap all over the play-park next to her main London pad, that is a step too far.

So yes, the Queen vetoed plans for Slim Shady to play in Hyde Park this summer. Well, technically the Royal Parks organisation vetoed plans for Eminem to headline AEG Live’s British Summer Time festival this year, citing a requirement to protect the ears of Hyde Park’s users and neighbours. But what neighbour matters more than our glorious head of state, with Buck House just around the corner?

That Royal Parks bosses had vetoed a BST gig for Eminem was rumoured when the rapper announced his Wembley dates last month, but the whole affair has been confirmed via a Freedom Of Information request filed by the Daily Mirror, which has now seen correspondence between AEG, the Royal Parks organisation, and even the offices of Boris Johnson, who was asked to intervene.

In one email discussing AEG’s proposed line-up, Royal Parks CEO Linda Lennon wrote: “This artist flagged risks across the board. In particular in respect of our public reputation. The nature of any act with potential for lyrics to be deemed offensive and/or unsuitable language being audible within the park as a whole, let alone the surrounding residential areas, is unacceptable”.

Of course, with Pete Doherty and Ozzy Osbourne on the BST bill this year, the festival isn’t without stars who have courted some controversy back in the day, though it does seem to be Eminem’s lyrics that have concerned Lennon. Maybe it’s the misogyny and homophobia the rapper has been accused of including in his raps over the years. Or maybe just the swear words.

AEG’s Jim King countered Lennon’s letter by noting that “only a very small amount of [Eminem’s] repertoire has been deemed by some commentators to be controversial. Claims of homophobia are consistently denied. [And] I don’t want to split hairs but I do question how easy it is for any offensive lyrics to be heard and actually understood outside of our event site”.

But the Royal Parks had spoken. I mean, little Prince George, with his super-human hearing, could be having a little play in the Buck House gardens, resulting in our future king’s first words being “Shady will fucking kill you”.

There was a glimmer of hope in the BST camp that London mayor Boris Johnson might stick up for Slim Shady and rescue the day. Though his chief of staff responded to a request for intervention as follows: “Until receipt of both emails I had no knowledge of Eminem and his style of music and still do not”.

Still, while the British establishment may be refusing to embrace Shady and all his offensive raps, Eminem himself seems quite pleased with the snub. Responding to the rumours last month he said: “I heard that I wasn’t going to be approved to play in Hyde Park and it made me even more excited to play in London this summer. The easiest way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it. Thanks to the Royal Parks for making it all possible… for Wembley”.

But don’t be fooled by that happy talk at all Maam. I’ve heard it said that “Shady will fucking kill you”. I’d send him to the Tower forthwith.

Approved: Jungle Splash presents We Love Jungle at Brixton Jamm

Club Tip CMU Approved

Ladies and gentlemen, get thee off your backsides watching the BBC’s Glastonbury streams, and get yourselves down to Brixton Jamm for some classic jungle and jungle dub.

It’s “THE REAL DEAL” says the blurb, in capital letters and everything. And with DJ Brockie, Bryan Gee, Digital Niyabinghi, Randall, Uncle Dugs, Potential Bad Boy and Marvellous Cain all on the bill I think it might just be. Plus there’s a bit of roots, dub and dancehall on the side.

Saturday 28 Jun, Brixton Jamm, 261 Brixton Road, London, SW9, 10pm-6am, £10, more info here.

ERA chief hits out at failing music licensing framework

Business News Digital Legal Retail Top Stories

The boss of the Entertainment Retailers Association hit out at music licensing processes yesterday, arguing that music rights owners were still trying to apply licensing frameworks from the CD era to the digital domain, which was putting an unnecessary strain on the emerging digital market, and doing a disservice to the artists and songwriters which the copyright system is ultimately designed to benefit.

Speaking at the Music 4.5 IP & Licensing event in London, ERA chief Kim Bayley admitted that in the past her organisation had never been especially vocal on copyright licensing matters, because in the CD era it wasn’t something that concerned retailers. But with ERA now also representing the majority of the digital music services in the UK, including most of the streaming platforms, licensing is an issue for the group’s membership.

Fragmentation of rights between labels and publishers, and on the publishing side between ‘mechanical’ and ‘performance’ rights, the limitations of territory-specific collecting societies in the publishing domain, problems in identifying copyright ownership, the time it takes big rights owners to consider and embrace new business models, and the advance-and-equity demands made on start-ups were all cited as issues for the digital sector. A sector without which, Bayley argued, the music rights industry at large would not be seeing its slow return to growth.

While stressing that her members were passionate supporters of intellectual property – as owners of their own copyrights, trademarks and patents, not to mention operators of services which rely on copyright material, and which need piracy to be constrained as much as the labels and publishers – Bayley said that ERA could not agree with the view often expressed by the music rights owners that the copyright system is working in the digital age.

In her speech, published in full on the ERA site, Bayley presented her top ten frustrations:

1. Does it really make sense that while in the physical world publishing rights are accounted for in the cost of a CD, in a digital world services need to secure three separate licences?

2. Does it really make sense that in a supposed Single European Market digital services are obliged to deal with over 30 different licensing bodies to secure publishing rights alone?

3. Why is it that songwriters have to fund the costs of all these different collection societies – can it really make sense that five collecting societies alone cost half a billion dollars to run?

4. Does it make sense that while almost all digital services account monthly, it can take literally years for the money to reach the artist?

5. Why is there an apparently arbitrary allocation of the publishing rights between performance and mechanicals in different territories?

6. Is it right that a digital store in one territory is prevented from selling to consumers in another territory?

7. Can it be right that licensing bodies are unable or unwilling to provide details of precisely which rights they control and therefore services are obliged to provide all their data to every licensor?

8. Or that licensing bodies cannot guarantee that the right artists are being paid once the services hand over payment?

9. It surely is not helpful that copyright owners have no obligation to respond to licensing requests at all, or can string out negotiations to literally years, by which time the market has moved on.

10. And it definitely does not help that the need to have a comprehensive set of licences gives a perverse incentive to licensors to be the last to strike a deal.

Of course bosses at labels and publishers have, for several years now, internally conceded that the music licensing system needs an overhaul, particularly at the lower end of the market, and the limitations of collective licensing – traditionally single territory-based – in a world where all digital services aspire to be global has been regularly discussed too. But Bayley argues that too little is being done to actually tackle these issues, to the detriment of all.

She told the Music 4.5 audience: “Let me be clear once again, this is not an attack on copyright. It is an attack on inefficiencies which work to the detriment of the creators it is meant to protect and the consumers who wish to pay for their music. Copyright law must change and adapt. And coupled with changing copyright law, licensing needs to be simplified and inefficiencies removed”.

She concluded: “We are friends of the music industry. We want the music industry to prosper. But ERA’s members believe that too often the industry holds on to practices, to ways of working, to organisations which are no longer appropriate for the digital age. We believe change is need for the benefit of consumers, of the digital services doing so much to invest in the future of music – and ultimately for the artists and songwriters who create the music we all love”.

Weatherley publishes Follow The Money piracy report

Business News Digital Legal Top Stories

Mike Weatherley MP, in his guise as IP Adviser to David Cameron, has published his ‘Follow The Money’ report, which puts the focus in the battle against online piracy on cutting off the revenue streams of websites that primarily exist to enable others to infringe copyright. Weatherley has been stressing the importance of this approach for some time.

Launching his report yesterday, Weatherley told CMU: “Following the money is the key to shutting down the vast majority of websites that host illegal material. This report explores a number of issues surrounding the piracy debate and I hope that it will spur further discussion both in the UK and, given the international nature of this problem, in other countries across the world”.

He went on: “As the Intellectual Property Adviser to the Prime Minister, I feel that it is my role to highlight just how damaging piracy is to the UK economy. It is paramount that we curb advertising revenue that is going to pirates who are, in turn, seriously damaging our creative industries”.

In his report, Weatherley proposes that work be done to investigate if an advertising monitoring system could be created to help brands (whose online advertising is often handled by ad networks once, twice or thrice removed from the actual advertiser) and rights owners to better monitor what ads are appearing on piracy websites.

Some advertisers don’t realise their banners are appearing on such sites, and such a monitoring system would help them act to ensure their ads are removed. For those advertisers which don’t care (often online operators themselves), the Intellectual Property Office and City Of London Police IP Crime Unit should consider if new laws are needed, Weatherley added.

The IP Crime Unit, which Weatherly again says should have its future funding assured in the new report, welcomed the MP’s findings. Steve Head, Head Of Economic Crime at City Of London Police, said: “Disrupting revenue to pirate websites is vital to combating online intellectual property piracy and I therefore welcome the recommendations in Mike Weatherley’s report. We must take the profit out of this type of criminality and where legitimate companies, such as payment providers, are facilitating that profit they must be held to account if they fail to act”.

Meanwhile David Cameron, taking time off from apologising for appointing criminals to his own inner sanctum, also welcomed the new paper, and said the government would consider its recommendations closely. He told reporters: “Mike Weatherley’s ‘Follow The Money’ discussion paper is an interesting addition to this important area of work and the government will look at it closely”.

He went on: “It is encouraging that creative industries are building a stronger relationship with our enforcement bodies, such as the new national Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit that the government has established. Intellectual Property is an important property right that contributes enormously to our economy”.

Sony faces copyright claim over Pitbull and Ke$ha hit

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Sony Music is in hot ‘copyright dispute’ water over bad taste pop playboy Pitbull and Ke$ha’s chart hit ‘Timber’.

Songwriting trio Lee Oskar, Keri Oskar and Greg Errico claim the track features harmonica bars that are “identical” to those in ‘San Francisco Bay’, their song circa 1978, and are seeking $3m (approx £1.78m) in damages.

Whilst neither Pitbull nor Ke$ha are listed as defendants, the suit notes “copious use” of the ‘San Franciso Bay’ riff in ‘Timber’, alleging that Paul Harrington, who plays harmonica on Pitbull’s track, was told to copy Oskar’s notes “so that the harmonica lines in ‘Timber’ would have an identical texture and sound”.

It concedes that Pitbull’s label Sony might have obtained a license from another party to emulate the track, but if so Oskar, Oskar and Errico weren’t asked to authorise it, nor have they been paid anything in light of the ‘Timber’ release.

Wild Sound allies with Proper on distribution

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Acoustic folk label Wild Sound, established in 2012 by Polly Paulusma to release her own material after parting company with One Little Indian, but now also releasing music from the likes of Maz O’Connor, Stylusboy, Harry Harris and From The Woods, has announced a distribution deal with Proper.

Wild Sound works with its artists on crowdfunding campaigns, offering favourable label/artist splits on the profits, and moving forward Proper will provide both digital and physical distribution of its artists’ music.

Confirming the deal, Paulusma told CMU: “I agonised over distribution and which choice to make. It took me about a year – and many helpful conversations including with other distributors and my wonderful trade body AIM – to realise that, as with many things you over think, the answer is obvious: Wild Sound simply has to work with Proper. Just look at their roster, Richard Thompson, David Gray, Band of Horses, Eddi Reader… the list goes on. It’s our spiritual home”.

She added: “I was busy developing my own relationships with record shops and shipping bits and pieces of stock – and I hope those conversations will continue – but with the signing of folk artist Maz O’Connor we really need to bring on the help of a heavyweight and ramp it up. We believe Proper can help us to grow so that we will be able to invest in more amazing upcoming acoustic folk and roots artists”.

Kobalt hires new neighbouring rights expert to help expand global collections network

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Kobalt Neighbouring Rights has appointed Hanna Grzeszczyk, previously with Rights Agency Ltd, to the role of Senior Director Of Administration.

Heading up the firm’s administration team, her initial focus will be on putting in place systems for collecting the company’s artist and label clients ‘neighbouring right’ (so public performance) royalties in territories where collections have not been prolific in the past.

Confirming the appointment, KNR MD Ann Tausis told CMU: “We’re very happy to have Hanna join KNR. Her extensive knowledge of the neighbouring rights sector will be a great asset as we expand our activities into new territories, as well as in our existing relationships with collection societies. Her appointment will ensure that we continue to be very strong on the administration side”.

Grzeszczyk herself added: “I am very excited to be part of KNR, and welcome the opportunity to work closely with Ann, Hans [van Berkel, Exec Chairman] and the rest of the team. Ann’s considerable experience and knowledge of the music business has helped KNR to grow rapidly in the past year, whilst Hans has always been seen by the neighbouring rights world as one of the key people who have helped to shape the sector”.

New Creative Director at production music agency Altitude

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Production music agency Altitude Music, which provides original composition, sound design and music supervision services as well as library music to media and brands, has appointed a new Creative Director in Matt Kaleda. Formerly Creative Director at Ninja Tune’s publishing arm Just Isn’t Music, Kaleda has fifteen years experience in sync, music supervision and publishing.

Confirming the appointment, a spokesperson for Altitude told CMU: “The music and media landscape is changing, convenience, speed and quality are what it is all about. What Matt will bring to the table is his solid experience and skills as well as a strong vision for what clients need in 2014 and beyond. We are really excited to welcome him aboard”.

Meanwhile Kaleda himself added: “Altitude Music is a great fit for me as they work across the board – studio services, music supervision, bespoke composition, sound design, not forgetting their solid production music library. The full service music agency model that Altitude is building is definitely the way forward, we share a vision of how to take the business to the next level and it was a no brainer for me to get on board”.

Big Day Out cancelled for 2015 as C3 Presents takes complete ownership

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Big Day Out, the Australasian touring festival, and probably one of the highest profile Southern Hemisphere festivals over the years, will not return in 2015, and its long-term future seems far from assured.

The news follows a deal that seemingly makes US-based Lollapalooza-maker C3 Presents the sole owner of Big Day Out, it having bought out co-owner AJ Maddah (and having already acquired half the event from Vivian Lees back in 2011). Following much speculation about the future of the festival, it put out a statement yesterday saying: “While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015”.

After rumours of the 2014 editions of the festival having made multi-million dollar losses due to poor ticket sales, promoters had already confirmed that there would be no Perth date in 2015. Then the operators of the event’s other sites started to confirm to local media that no dates had been confirmed for next year there either. It also seems that most of the staffers who have worked on the festival in recent years have now departed the Big Day Out company.

Quite what the future might hold beyond 2015 isn’t clear, though it seems unlikely any statement on that will be made anytime soon.

T In The Park move confirmed

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

DF Concerts has confirmed that its T In The Park festival will move to a new site following this year’s event.

As previously reported, an article in The Scotsman this week broke the news of the impending move, which it said came after “substantial concern” was raised over a major oil pipeline below the site in Balado, Kinross, where the festival has been held since 1997.

T In The Park yesterday confirmed its new site for 2015 as Strathallan Castle in Perthshire, saying in a statement: “We’ve decided to relocate because there were lots of restrictions at Balado with regard to what parts of the site we can use and this made it difficult for us to plan ahead. Strathallan Castle will provide us with many more options for the layout of the site”.

Speaking to the BBC, T CEO Geoff Ellis said: “We’ve had eighteen tremendous years at Balado, but now we’re moving on to pastures new – this time with a castle overlooking the site. We already loved Strathallan Castle and had been hoping to host an event there for many years. When it became clear we’d need to leave Balado to safeguard the future of the festival, we became very excited about the prospect of Strathallan becoming the new home for T In The Park. We thought it would be perfect, and it is”.

The festival’s website also notes that, while it expects to maintain the same 85,000 capacity in 2015, there will be room for possible expansion at the new site at a later date.

The final T In The Park at the Balado site will take place from 11-13 Jul.

Tony Blackburn now working for six radio stations

Business News Industry People Media

Tony Blackburn has announced two new radio shows that he’ll be presenting which, according to Radio Today, who have been busy doing the maths, means he now presents seven weekly shows for six different radio stations.

The veteran radio DJ, celebrating 50 years in the game, has just taken on an additional slot at BBC Radio Berkshire and has announced a new weekly show for BBC 3CR. The two new shows will actually air at the same time on Sunday morning, despite the former being an oldies show and the latter a new soul music programme.

Blackburn already has a Friday morning show on BBC Berkshire, plus presents weekly spots on Radio 2, BBC London, KMFM and Magic AM.

Amnesty apologises for unauthorised Iggy Pop photo in anti-torture campaign

Artist News

The Belgian branch of Amnesty International has apologised to Iggy Pop after it used an unauthorised picture of him in a recent campaign.

The photograph of the singer’s face was photoshopped to make it appear that he had been severely beaten. Underneath was a supposed quote from the singer, “L’avenir du rock n roll, c’est Justin Bieber” – or, “Justin Bieber is the future of rock n roll”.

The charity said in a statement: “To generate awareness about our campaign against torture, Amnesty International Belgium’s French speaking section used an image of Iggy Pop without his authorisation. Even though we acted in good faith, we would like to apologise to Iggy Pop for having done so”.

It added that the message of the campaign, which aimed to illustrate that “a man who is tortured will say anything in order to escape this awfulness”, had been missed by some people. As a result, it concluded: “We would therefore also like to make it clear that the statement attributed to Iggy Pop that he believes Justin Bieber is the future of rock and roll does not represent Iggy Pop’s personal opinion but was part of the creative process for this campaign and was intended to be ironic”.

The statement also apologised for the use of a photograph of the Dalai Lama on another poster.

Karen O details flirty solo LP

Artist News Releases

Ms Karen O has confirmed the title of her fancying-boys-inspired first solo LP ‘Crush Songs’. She’s going to release it on 8 Sep via a new label deal with Julian Casablancas’ Cult Records, the same Cult Records that allied with Kobalt Label Services this very week. As illustrated here, it’ll be available pre its general release via a limited signed vinyl pressing in a “sunburst” shade, replete with hand written lyrics and scribbles by O.

Kaz says of the “intimate” and “lo fi”-billed album, which actually dates back to 2006: “When I was 27 I crushed a lot. I wasn’t sure I’d ever fall in love again. These songs were written and recorded in private around this time. They are the soundtrack to what was an ever continuing love crusade. I hope they keep you company on yours”.

Cult founder Casablancas adds with pride: “So excited, lucky and proud to be involved with such a classic album – I just wanna listen to it all day. Karen is an all-time great”.

The Weeknd releases nw singl

Artist News Releases

R&B creeper Abel ‘The Weeknd XO’ Tesfaye has released a new track, his first this year.

Titled ‘Often’, it represents Tesfaye’s first real Weeknd emergence since his 2013 LP ‘Kissland’, excepting remixes of Ty Diolla $ign’s ‘Or Nah’ and Beyonce’s ‘Drunk In Love’.

Anyway, it’s available free via t’internet, which is nice. Get it here:

Terje and Hemsworth to play XOYO second birthday shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

London-based place-to-go-and-watch-shows XOYO, which celebrates two years of life this summer, is throwing its own two-night birthday party soon in order, say its owners, to “showcase the DJs and artists we hold dear”.

Todd Terje leads a bill on 15 Aug, featuring Isaac Tichauer, Maquis Hawkes and Kiwi; whilst Oneman DJs on 22 Aug are joined by Cashmere Cat, Ryan Hemsworth and Kutmah. Cool, right?

Get tickets this Friday (so, tomorrow) at www.xoyo.co.uk

Approved: This Will Destroy You

CMU Approved

Instrumental rock quartet This Will Destroy You have just announced that they will release their fourth album, ‘Another Language’, though Suicide Squeeze on 15 Sep.

Ahead of the release, they’ll be in the UK to headline the ArcTanGent festival on 29 Aug, before heading out on a brief UK tour, which includes stops in Glasgow, Manchester, Brighton and, on 3 Sep, a show at The Scala in London.

New track ‘Dustism’ is a beautiful juxtaposition of sounds, with laidback guitars kicked forwards by an aggressive cymbal to start, before switching into an Elliott-esque mid-section and on to the wall of sound crescendo. Take a listen here:

Future announces future tour

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Rapper and babydaddy-of-Ciara Future is cruising over to the UK (on a plane) this winter to play some shows in support of his dope AND at the same time moving latest LP, ‘Honest’.

Look upon the listings for the shows (tickets on sale this Friday) and the new clip for Future’s ‘Honest’ bonus track ‘Side Effects’, as follows:

2 Nov: Birmingham Institute
3 Nov: Manchester, Ritz
5 Nov: London, IndigO2

Darius happy with outcome of his lovely life

And Finally Artist News

Darius Campbell (née Danesh) has said that he does regret turning down a record contract with Simon Cowell, after appearing on the ‘Popstars’ and ‘Pop Idol’ telly talent shows.

Having recently starred in West End musical ‘From Here To Eternity’, Campbell (who changed his name from Danesh in 2010) is now working on a new album, his first since 2004’s ‘Live Twice’.

Speaking to Hello about his thinking when he apparently turned down Cowell’s offer all those years ago, he said: “All I cared about was getting a record deal and releasing songs I’d written. When Simon Cowell offered me a contract and I turned it down, it seemed like the obvious thing to do”.

He continued: “I understand why people thought I was mad to do it, but if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have [had] a number one with ‘Colourblind’. I would just have been doing covers and then nobody would have heard of me ever again. I’m so lucky to be able to do what I love without having to beat to the drum of having someone else telling you what to wear and how to act”.

Speaking about his current studio work, he explained: “I’m working on my third album right now, between London and Los Angeles. The music is inspired by an older era, somewhere between Bruno Mars and Lana Del Rey”.

Ah, do you remember the old Bruno Mars and Lana Del Rey era? They were happier times, really.

Music Publishers’ Association backs indies in YouTube dispute

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

The UK’s Music Publishers’ Association is the latest music industry trade body to back the indie label community in their battle with YouTube over the terms being offered by the Google subsidiary for its planned audio streaming service.

As much previously reported, indie label trade groups worldwide have criticised YouTube for offering what they consider to be inferior terms regarding the new audio set-up. And even more so for threatening to take away full access to the firm’s popular video platform from the indies if they don’t play ball over the new service.

UK record label trade body the BPI, which reps both indies and the majors, who have signed up to the new YouTube service, has backed the independent community’s stance, and yesterday the MPA also confirmed its support at the music publishing sector trade group’s annual general meeting in London.

MPA CEO Sarah Osborn said: “If companies such as Google are now acting in the role of cultural gatekeepers, whether by accident or by design, they must bear some responsibility to not act against the interests of the creators upon whose labour large parts of their business are built”.

Elsewhere at the AGM, Chris Butler was re-elected unopposed to the role of MPA Chairman.

Julian Casablancas’s Cult Records does label services deal with Kobalt

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Releases

Kobalt Label Services has announced a new deal with Cult Records, the label set up by Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas. The company will provide product management, physical and digital distribution, marketing and sync licensing services across multiple releases.

The first release under the partnership will be Casablancas’s new solo album ‘Tyranny’, which he’s putting out under the name Julian Casablancas And The Voidz in September. Other artists signed to the label include, Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr, The Virgins, Har Mar Superstar, Cerebral Ballzy and Rey Pila.

Announcing the deal, Kobalt Music Group President Richard Sanders told CMU: “All of us at Kobalt are looking forward to helping Julian and his team at Cult Records find the largest possible audience for their artists”.

Meanwhile, with his new album is set for release on 23 Sep, Casablancas says of the inspiration for the record: “Tyranny has come in many forms throughout history. Now, the good of business is put above anything else, as corporations have become the new ruling body. Most decisions seem to be made like ones of a medieval king: whatever makes profit while ignoring and repressing the truth about whatever suffering it may cause (like pop music, for that matter)”.

Just to reiterate, that quote relates to Casablancas’ new album specifically, not his new business arrangements.

View some sort of preview video for the album here:

New Vivendi chair confirms content acquisition strategy

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

French billionaire Vincent Bollore stood up as Chairman of Universal Music parent Vivendi at the firm’s AGM yesterday, the 5% shareholder in the group having slowly increased his influence in the board room in recent years.

Bollore confirmed that Vivendi’s priority is now content, it having divested itself of its flagging telecoms business. The group’s two main assets are now Universal and French TV firm Canal+, though it also owns Brazilian broadband company GVT and some other smaller businesses, such as ticketing companies Digitick and See Tickets.

The French group is expected to expand its assets in the content industries in the coming year, though Bollore promised shareholders that he wouldn’t let any acquisition spree prevent dividend payments from being made. It is thought that any purchases will be outside of music, Universal already being the world’s biggest music rights player, though there maybe TV industry purchases to expand Canal+ beyond France.

Outgoing chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou will become Honorary President and have an advisory role, with a focus on looking at how the different Vivendi businesses can better work together. Speaking at the AGM, Fourtou also discussed Vivendi’s slow withdrawal from gaming powerhouse Activision, in which it once owned a controlling stake. The divestment of the gaming firm possibly seems counterintuitive given the group’s mission in recent years to focus on its media and entertainment businesses.

According to Billboard, Fourtou said that while Activision was on “the cutting edge of technology” and “a jewel”, much of the firm’s success was based on just two titles, ‘World Of Warcraft’ and ‘Call Of Duty’, which the Vivendi board thought made it a “fragile” business. He also admitted that the original attraction of Activision for Vivendi was the ‘Guitar Hero’ franchise, massive when it bought into the gaming business, but a product that fell out of fashion incredibly quickly.

The outgoing Vivendi Chair also admitted that he and his board were sensitive to having control of a company whose cash cow was the sometimes controversial ‘Call Of Duty’ franchise. According to Billboard, he said: “Every single time there were massacres in Sweden, Norway, the United States, the killers were people who had been spending a lot of time playing [our two biggest] games, especially ‘Call Of Duty’. Supervisory board members just as you felt it was really a problem having this kind of business activity in our company”.

Which is interesting, business leaders with a conscience, who knew? Though their cash cow on the music side last year was ‘Blurred Lines’, so misogyny millions are fair game presumably.

PPL and PRS put out music licensing video intro guide for businesses

Business News Labels & Publishers

Want to hear Lauren Laverne explain the music licensing process, the difference between collective licensing bodies PPL and PRS, and why playing music in your work place is a damn good thing to do?

Well you, my good reader, are about to be on the receiving end of an extraordinary stroke of good fortune. Because she’s only gone and made a video doing just that. Because Lauren Laverne, and this is no secret, is a lady who loves licensing. Hence her DJ name Lauren ‘Licensing Loving Lady’ Laverne

Says DJ L-LLL-L: “PPL collects and distributes royalties on behalf of performers and record companies for the use of their recorded music. PRS For Music collects and distributes royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers, for the use of their musical compositions and lyrics”.

She goes on: “By obtaining licences from PPL and PRS for Music, you can enjoy the benefits of using music in your business without having to seek permission individually from all these thousands of people – who in turn get the opportunity to be paid fairly for their work”.

Fans of music licensing explanations can check out the PPL/PRS-commissioned video here. Though it’s really aimed at business owners who play music in their cafes, bars, stores, offices or workspaces, and is part of the collecting societies’ mission to make the licensing of music easier to understand.

T In The Park, One Love Festival both moving house

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Scottish pop/rock festival T In The Park is set to move to a new site for its 2015 edition. T’s present base in Balado, Kinross, where the event has taken place every year since 1997, sits above a major oil pipeline which is apparently causing its organisers DF Concerts ongoing problems.

This year’s T In The Park will still go ahead at the Balado location on 11-13 Jul, despite “substantial concern”, reports The Scotsman, expressed by local health and safety executives. Nearby Stirling and Loch Lomond are being tipped as potentials for the new site, which will apparently be officially revealed later today.

Also on the move, though not because of any dodgy oil pipes, but rather to “absorb growth”, is this year’s One Love. The reggae-weekender-with-camping-facilities, which is happening between 15-17 Aug, is setting off for a new, bigger address at Springfield Farm in Milton Keynes, only ten mins drive away from its old post at Stockwell Farm.

A confirmation on the One Love site states: “At Stockwell Farm (our old venue) we were really struggling with where to put everything and everybody! So we came to the conclusion that a change of site would be necessary to see the festival grow and protect the future of the genre”.

Beatport CEO stands down

Business News Digital Industry People

The CEO of EDM-focused download store Beatport is stepping down, it’s been confirmed. Matthew Adell saw the digital firm through its acquisition by EDM powerhouse SFX last year, and the subsequent downsizing that occurred as the company was integrated with the other digital operations of the Robert FX Sillerman-led business.

Confirming that Adell was now stepping down, an SFX spokesperson told Billboard: “His vision and dedication has helped make Beatport the company it is today, and we wish him well in all his future endeavours”.

Meanwhile Lloyd Starr, who will remain as COO of Beatport, but will seemingly head up the operation moving forward, said: “I’m humbled by this opportunity to lead the evolution of Beatport into what is going to be an exciting future. I’m looking forward to working with Beatport’s suppliers, partners, customers, and fans to continue offering the quality experience they’ve come to expect”.

Adell will retain a consulting role to both Beatport and SFX, because why not?

US launch date set for 7digital-allied mobile streaming service

Business News Digital

7digital yesterday announced that the new mobile music service it is helping to power, for ROK Mobile, will go live in the US on 4 Jul. So let’s hope there’s plenty of indie label content in there, that being Independence Day and all. Well, at least some Will Smith tunes.

7digital announced its alliance with the then fledgling ROK Mobile venture just over a year ago. Confirming the London-based digital content provider’s role in the new business, ROK Mobile’s Jonathan Kendrick told CMU: “7digital’s mission to simplify access to the world’s music is complementary to our philosophy of supplying users with access to music everywhere they go via our wireless service for one simple price”.

He went on: “ROK’s music service is an essential part of our offering. We needed partners in the space that understand how to handle the demand. 7digital’s API provided us with the flexibility to innovate quickly and collaborate easily with other partners so that our music service can deliver a next generation experience to our customers”.

Meanwhile Simon Cole, now CEO of the all new funky and very publicly listed 7digital, added: “We are proud to be working with ROK; their music streaming app fills a gap in the marketplace, and we are pleased to be innovating alongside them. The face of the digital music industry is changing fast, and by working with forward looking companies like ROK, we will stay ahead of the crowd”.

Frank Turner to write tour memoir

Artist News

Frank Turner has signed a deal with publisher Headline to write a memoir of his life on tour. Starting with his final gig with hardcore band Million Dead, the book will track Turner’s solo career and his touring escapades, including playing at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012.

Says Turner: “It took some persuading for me to think about writing a book of any kind, but in the end I realised that I have spent a pretty unusual amount of time touring hard in the last few years, and I have a fair few stories to tell, and maybe even a tiny smidgen of wisdom to impart to people starting out on the same path. Plus I come from a family of yarn-spinners, and I can run my mouth, so it makes sense”.

The book is scheduled to come out next spring.

Rustie confirms new LP, latter London show

Artist News Releases

Glasgow man Rustie is back in a big way with info on his first LP since 2011’s ‘Glass Swords’. ‘Green Language’, which is derived from old Norse term for ‘the perfect knowledge’, is its name, and “speaking directly to your emotions without your mind interfering with the message” (says Rustie) is its game.

“Written and recorded at 4am to the sound of birdsong in a remote location in his native Scotland, influenced by nature, birds and sunrise”, add his team, the disc will make its way into shops via Warp on 25 Aug, featuring bit-parts from Danny Brown, D Double E and Redinho, and mixed traces of trance, MBV, Scottish electronica and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

All that will be made apparent, in the ‘live’ sense, on 18 Sep, which is the date Rustie plays London’s Oval Space. Get tickets to see the show here, and listen in on lead ‘Green Language’ track ‘Raptor’ here:

Underworld to mark 20th anniversary of debut album with re-issue and live show

Artist News Releases

Underworld have announced a 20th anniversary re-issue of their debut LP, ‘dubnobasswithmyheadman’, as well as a special one-off live performance to go with it.

Remastered by the band’s Rick Smith at Abbey Road, the release will also come with a wealth of demos, remixes and other previously unreleased bonus material. Five discs’ worth, if you fancy forking out for the ‘super deluxe’ CD edition.

It will be out on 6 Oct. And then later the same week, on 11 Oct, Underworld will play the record in full at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Tickets for that will be on sale on 2 Jul.

Approved: Bea

CMU Approved

Bea lives in the Netherlands. She is 22. Her website is bea1991.info, and her email address, to which you might like to direct any questions, is [email protected].

Ummm so you might’ve guessed that there isn’t a great deal of ‘info’ on Bea in the public domain right now. There really isn’t. But who cares for info anyway? Especially when there is, in the absence of facts, Bea’s new single ‘Safe Ground’ instead, an ultra-fine fabric of rhythmic trip hop with her crisp, clean-lined voice at its centre point.

Also for your consideration is earlier Bea track ‘Breadwinner’, a lax-paced and stonily impassive synth-pop grind in the style of MØ in a dark mood.

Make do with both songs, which are A* brilliant by the way, now:

Friday 27 June 2014, 12:18 | By Aly Barchi

Bosses at the grand ol Oscars have changed the rules regarding music-type categories in order that campaigning for votes is made fairer, this following a disqualification in the ‘Original Song’ stakes earlier this year.

READ MORE ABOUT: The Oscars

Friday 27 June 2014, 12:17 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Eminem | Royal Parks

Friday 27 June 2014, 12:00 | By Paul Vig

Ladies and gentlemen, get thee off your backsides watching the BBC’s Glastonbury streams, and get yourselves down to Brixton Jamm for some classic jungle and jungle dub.

READ MORE ABOUT: DJ Brockie

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:10 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) | Kim Bayley

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: David Cameron | Mike Weatherley

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:08 | By Aly Barchi

Sony Music is in hot ‘copyright dispute’ water over bad taste pop playboy Pitbull and Ke$ha’s chart hit ‘Timber’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lee Oskar | Pitbull | Sony Music

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:07 | By Chris Cooke

Acoustic folk label Wild Sound, established in 2012 by Polly Paulusma to release her own material after parting company with One Little Indian, but now also releasing music from the likes of Maz O’Connor, Stylusboy, Harry Harris and From The Woods, has announced a distribution deal with Proper.

READ MORE ABOUT: Polly Paulusma | Proper Music | Wild Sound

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:06 | By Chris Cooke

Kobalt Neighbouring Rights has appointed Hanna Grzeszczyk, previously with Rights Agency Ltd, to the role of Senior Director Of Administration.

READ MORE ABOUT: Hanna Grzeszczyk | Kobalt

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:05 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Altitude Music | Matt Kaleda

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:04 | By Chris Cooke

Big Day Out, the Australasian touring festival, and probably one of the highest profile Southern Hemisphere festivals over the years, will not return in 2015, and its long-term future seems far from assured.

READ MORE ABOUT: Big Day Out

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:03 | By Andy Malt

DF Concerts has confirmed that its T In The Park festival will move to a new site following this year’s event.

READ MORE ABOUT: DF Concerts | T In The Park

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:02 | By Chris Cooke

Tony Blackburn has announced two new radio shows that he’ll be presenting which, according to Radio Today, who have been busy doing the maths, means he now presents seven weekly shows for six different radio stations.

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC 3CR | BBC Radio Berkshire | Tony Blackburn

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:01 | By Andy Malt

The Belgian branch of Amnesty International has apologised to Iggy Pop after it used an unauthorised picture of him in a recent campaign.

READ MORE ABOUT: Amnesty International | Iggy Pop

Thursday 26 June 2014, 11:00 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Cult Records | Karen O

Thursday 26 June 2014, 10:59 | By Aly Barchi

R&B creeper Abel ‘The Weeknd XO’ Tesfaye has released a new track, his first this year.

READ MORE ABOUT: The Weeknd

Thursday 26 June 2014, 10:58 | By Aly Barchi

London-based place-to-go-and-watch-shows XOYO, which celebrates two years of life this summer, is throwing its own two-night birthday party soon in order, say its owners, to “showcase the DJs and artists we hold dear”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Oneman | Ryan Hemsworth | Todd Terje | XOYO

Thursday 26 June 2014, 10:57 | By Andy Malt

Instrumental rock quartet This Will Destroy You have just announced that they will release their fourth album, ‘Another Language’, though Suicide Squeeze on 15 Sep.

READ MORE ABOUT: This Will Destroy You

Thursday 26 June 2014, 10:57 | By Aly Barchi

Rapper and babydaddy-of-Ciara Future is cruising over to the UK (on a plane) this winter to play some shows in support of his dope AND at the same time moving latest LP, ‘Honest’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Future

Thursday 26 June 2014, 10:56 | By Andy Malt

Darius Campbell (née Danesh) has said that he does regret turning down a record contract with Simon Cowell, after appearing on the ‘Popstars’ and ‘Pop Idol’ telly talent shows.

READ MORE ABOUT: Darius

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:43 | By Chris Cooke

The UK’s Music Publishers’ Association is the latest music industry trade body to back the indie label community in their battle with YouTube over the terms being offered by the Google subsidiary for its planned audio streaming service.

READ MORE ABOUT: Music Publishers Association (MPA) | YouTube

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:42 | By Andy Malt

Kobalt Label Services has announced a new deal with Cult Records, the label set up by Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas. The company will provide product management, physical and digital distribution, marketing and sync licensing services across multiple releases.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cult Records | Julian Casablancas | Kobalt

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:41 | By Chris Cooke

French billionaire Vincent Bollore stood up as Chairman of Universal Music parent Vivendi at the firm’s AGM yesterday, the 5% shareholder in the group having slowly increased his influence in the board room in recent years.

READ MORE ABOUT: Jean-René Fourtou | Vincent Bolloré | Vivendi

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:40 | By Chris Cooke

Want to hear Lauren Laverne explain the music licensing process, the difference between collective licensing bodies PPL and PRS, and why playing music in your work place is a damn good thing to do?

READ MORE ABOUT: Lauren Laverne | PPL | PRS For Music

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:39 | By Aly Barchi

Scottish pop/rock festival T In The Park is set to move to a new site for its 2015 edition. T’s present base in Balado, Kinross, where the event has taken place every year since 1997, sits above a major oil pipeline which is apparently causing its organisers DF Concerts ongoing problems.

READ MORE ABOUT: T In The Park

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:38 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Beatport | Matthew Adell | SFX Entertainment

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:37 | By Chris Cooke

7digital yesterday announced that the new mobile music service it is helping to power, for ROK Mobile, will go live in the US on 4 Jul. So let’s hope there’s plenty of indie label content in there, that being Independence Day and all. Well, at least some Will Smith tunes.

READ MORE ABOUT: 7digital | ROK Mobile

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:36 | By Andy Malt

Frank Turner has signed a deal with publisher Headline to write a memoir of his life on tour. Starting with his final gig with hardcore band Million Dead, the book will track Turner’s solo career and his touring escapades, including playing at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012.

READ MORE ABOUT: Frank Turner

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:35 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Rustie

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:34 | By Andy Malt

Underworld have announced a 20th anniversary re-issue of their debut LP, ‘dubnobasswithmyheadman’, as well as a special one-off live performance to go with it.

READ MORE ABOUT: Underworld