Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:33 | By Andy Malt

Blink 182 announce Reading/Leeds warm-up show in London

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Blink 182 have announced that they will play a warm-up show at London’s Brixton Academy on 6 Aug to limber themselves up for their performances at the Reading and Leeds festivals two weeks later.

Asked for a quote for the press release, frontman Mark Hoppus managed to splutter this out: “We’re very excited to preface the Reading and Leeds festivals with this Brixton warm-up date”.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday at 9.30am from here.

Emilie Nicolas to perform in London

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

CMU approved last year, Norwegian singer Emilie Nicolas has continued to gain momentum since last summer with very well received performances at various European showcase festivals. Now, finally, she has announced her first London show. Two of them, in fact.

You’ll be able to see Nicolas perform a headline slot at The Lexington on 16 Jul, followed by a support slot with Chvrches at Somerset House the following night. She’ll also play Latitude on 18 Jul.

The Somerset House show is already sold out, but you can get tickets for The Lexington here.

And here’s a video of Nicolas performing her debut single, ‘Pstereo’, live at Norway’s P3 Gull Awards last year:

Perfume announce Hammersmith Apollo show

Named one of our Artists Of The Year in 2013 for their impressive performance at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire last summer, the step up to the Apollo will hopefully allow for more of the high tech stage set-up they’re known for back in Japan.

Tickets will go on sale at 9am on 4 Jul. Until then, enjoy this only slightly comical trailer for the tour:

Entries open for UK Music Video Awards

Awards Business News

Organisers of the UK Music Video Awards have announced that they are now accepting entries for their 2014 edition, the event’s seventh outing.

Taking place on 10 Nov at the Southbank Centre in London, the ceremony will also mark the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ film.

UKMVA editorial director David Knight told CMU: “This year’s UK Music Video Awards will celebrate the gamut of music video creativity over the past year, and show how music video continues to nurture new talent in every department of filmmaking. The 50th anniversary of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ highlights how the art of music film and video in Britain has a fantastic heritage, which the MVAs does more than anyone to recognise”.

Submissions for the Best Director, New Director, Producer and Commissioner categories are now being accepted at www.ukmva.com until 6 Aug.

ITV to pay Blue to run a bar; James Arthur punched in a bar

And Finally Artist News

Apparently Blue are to act as landboybandlords at a new made-for-TV bar in Ibiza, as part of a show airing on ITV2 ‘soon’. So kind of like a Spanish spin-off of ITV’s short-lived 2003 reality series ‘The Club’. And what a storming TV triumph that was.

Although currently still in early development stages, the show is set to be made by ITV-owned production house Potato, which is already familiar with Blue having financed the band’s big reunion on ‘The Big Reunion’. And again, that all went extremely well in the end, didn’t it?

I’m not certain placing a self-confessed alcoholic in charge of a bar is the greatest idea I’ve ever heard. Nor, for that matter, doing the same with Anthony Costa. Still, hey, that’s showbiz!

Elsewhere in popstars-and-bars-based gossip, James Arthur, the white whale of pop, got a small scratch on his face after having a “Polish bar brawl” in a bar in Poland the other day. Brits abroad hmm, what are they like?

He did say it was “the best”, mind, adding that “boys will be boys”, so let’s try not to cry over it. You can read all about it on the Daily Mail website if you like, or alternatively, if you don’t like, don’t.

Approved: Ballet School

CMU Approved

Following a series of very good singles and EPs over the last couple of years, dream-pop trio Ballet School have announced that they will release their debut album, ‘The Dew Lasts An Hour’, through Bella Union on 1 Sep.

Discussing the sound of the record, vocalist Rosie Blair says: “We’re not a synth band, we’re a guitar band, but one that’s trying to push the boundaries of the traditional set up. We write pop songs. I never thought pop music was a lower form of art. We actively try to play with the model of mainstream pop against what indie is supposed to be and find our own new form. And though I love laptop pop, it’s vital that people witness our energy, that punk lust, when we play live”.

Listen to the 80s wash of new track, ‘Cherish’, here:

Further YouTube deal chatter as leaked contract is published

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

So Digital Music News has published the leaked contact presented by YouTube to the indie labels that has been doing the rounds the last few days because, well, fuck it why not? Let’s all dive in and see what all the fuss has been about shall we? Oh, it’s 32 pages long. Maybe we’ll just assume YouTube are being real bastards and get on with our days?

Actually, Billboard has already listed the five key gripes the indies have with what YouTube is offering the labels if they sign up to its new audio streaming service. Top of the list is money, with the Google subsidiary committing to pay about 65.5% of its audio service revenue to the rights owners (labels and publishers), whereas most of the streaming start-ups are paying closer to 70%.

There’s also the lack of guarantees of revenue that YouTube’s competitors have generally committed to, and a clause that says that if the majors agree to lower rates in the future, the cut will be applied across the board. Plus, YouTube will continue to receive a more favourable deal on its ad-funded video set-up compared to the freemium level of Spotify et al, even though the new service will go head-to-head with the streaming start-ups.

After DMN leaked the contract last night some commentators also noted the clause that possibly outlaws so called ‘windowing’, where labels initially service content to one specific platform on an exclusive basis before rolling it out to everyone. In the main, such exclusives have been offered to download stores, and especially iTunes, much to the annoyance of the streaming sector at large.

Although, YouTube’s windowing clause covers ‘similar’ services, which might mean that an exclusivity deal with iTunes would still be OK, labels just wouldn’t be able to provide Spotify with new releases a month ahead of everyone else. However, where windowing has happened on big releases, it’s usually been driven by management rather than label bosses, with bigger acts often having such controls within their record contract. So labels wouldn’t necessarily be able to provide that commitment anyway.

As much previously reported, many indie labels around the world have dubbed YouTube’s audio streaming contract “highly unfavourable”, arguing that the proposals “undervalue existing rates in the marketplace”. Meanwhile the threat that labels which do not sign up to YouTube’s audio service will also lose the option to directly monetise their videos on the main YouTube platform has been labelled an abuse of the Google firm’s near monopoly in online video in some markets.

Of course a pessimist might wonder whether the YouTube contract, with its low-end offers on pretty much every element of a typical streaming deal, while out of kilter with the current digital music market, might not be a sign of what’s to come.

YouTube, unlike the start-ups, isn’t so keen on taking a hit or accepting extra risk today to fuel growth tomorrow to maximise sale price at an IPO the day after that. It seems certain that once all the surviving start-ups have been bought, the wider streaming sector will start negotiating its risk and rates down. The hope remains that by that point the streamers will have the kind of scale that it’s still worth doing the deal.

But nevertheless, it seems certain the majors received a bunch of sweeteners not included in the leaked contract in order for them to sign up to YouTube’s audio service, which is arguably the real issue here. The start-ups having generally offered the indies more parity with the majors, while the tech and web giants, while often droning on about their “independent spirit”, nearly always schmooze up to the major players first.

And, of course, even if YouTube’s deal is a sign of things to come, that doesn’t alter the fact that trying to force terms on the indies less favourable than those offered to the majors, and less favourable than those offered by all the companies YouTube is now hoping to compete with, by threatening to pull the promotional value and revenue stream of the firm’s existing video site, is on a totally different page to Google’s unofficial “don’t be evil” mantra.

CMU’s new music business talk show live at The Roundhouse TONIGHT

Business News Education & Events Top Stories

This evening CMU and Roundhouse Rising will present the first edition of a new music business news-related chat show, live in the Roundhouse’s Studio Theatre.

Hosted by CMU editor Andy Malt, he will be joined by Music Managers Forum CEO Jon ‘Webbo’ Webster, Cooking Vinyl’s Head Of Digital Marketing Sammy Andrews, Brittney Bean, co-founder of digital music service Songdrop, and CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke.

On the table for discussion are the indie labels’ ongoing battle with YouTube, the addition of streaming stats to the UK singles chart, Amazon Prime Music, the BBC’s new music awards show, when it’s OK to assume that the word “dope” is a legally binding contract (ie, not when you’re trying to licence Beastie Boys music), and One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson’s new job as the boss of a football club.

Malt says of the event: “I’m really excited about this new show, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ve got a brilliant panel for the first edition, who’ll all be able to shed some valuable insight on some of the biggest news stories of the last month, all very much in a CMU style”.

Edited highlights of the show will be made available as a free podcast later this week, but if you want to hear the full discussion (unbroadcastable rants and all), as well as getting involved yourself, you’ll need to come and join us in person tonight.

Tickets are available for £10 from the Roundhouse website now, or on the door this evening – we kick off at 7.30pm (after the football, which will be showing in the bar if you want to see England’s final World Cup game before they come home).

Don’t forget that if you’re a CMU Digest subscriber, you can get 50% off the ticket price now – check last Friday’s email for your discount code.

Man in custody on suspicion of Parklife homicide

Business News Gigs & Festivals Legal Live Business

Police have arrested a 31 year old man in connection with the killing of Robert Hart at this year’s Parklife Weekender.

As previously reported, Hart suffered a “brutal assault” near the main stage of the Heaton Park-based festival earlier this month. He was given CPR at the scene and taken straight to hospital, but sadly died several days later.

Speaking on behalf of Greater Manchester Police, who now have an unnamed man in custody on suspicion of Hart’s homicide, Detective Inspector Richard Eales has stated: “Over the last two weeks, we have received a huge amount support by both the public and the media for the appeal to help find the person responsible. We now have a man in custody but that doesn’t mean the investigation is at an end. We are continuing to investigate and we are renewing our appeal for information or any relevant footage”.

Representing Parklife HQ, which last week advertised a £20,000 reward in exchange for crucial information on the incident, the festival’s director Sacha Lord-Marchionne adds: “We’re delighted someone has been arrested. Robert’s death didn’t just devastate his family, it touched 70,000 people who attended the event. I cannot begin to imagine what his family are going through. I think, as is always the way in Manchester whenever there is a tragedy, the whole community has come together. I want to thank every single person who attended the event for their support. Everyone has been behind it and without their help no doubt we wouldn’t have seen this arrest today”.

Blacker Dread jailed over fake invoice scam

Business News Legal

Reggae producer Blacker Dread, who ran a record store of the same name in Brixton, has been jailed for two and half years for his involvement in a scam that saw £700,000 stolen from a Sutton-based company called IMCD Ltd.

According to this Brixton Blog, the turn of events has led to the closure of Dread’s record shop, which was photographed with a hand-written notice carrying the word “ooops” in the window.

Dread, real name Steve Burnett-Martin, was accused of fraudulently receiving £230,411 from IMCD Ltd via his record store, after a former employee in the accounts department at the Sutton company, Lorna Martin, started processing fake invoices.

Martin also used the scheme to pay monies into her own bank account and those of four other people. The scam ran from September 2011 to August 2012, and the fraudulent payments were only uncovered after Martin had left the company.

According to the Croydon Advertiser, Martin, Burnett-Martin and the four other beneficiaries were all found guilty of money laundering at Croydon Crown Court last month, with Martin also found guilty of theft. The defendants were sentenced on Friday with Burnett-Martin receiving two and half years.

Blacker Dread was also the founder of the Brixton Splash festival, though the Brixton Blog says that he resigned as a director of that event earlier this year.

Dutch piracy group has begun appeal over web-block ruling

Business News Digital Legal

Dutch internet service provider XS4ALL has confirmed to Torrentfreak that the country’s anti-piracy group BREIN has filed its appeal to the Netherlands Supreme Court over the web-blocking of The Pirate Bay in the country.

As previously reported, in 2012, on its second attempt, BREIN secured a web-block injunction against the infamous file-sharing website, ie a court order which told Dutch internet service providers, including XS4All, that they must block their users from accessing the Bay. But, whereas in the UK the net firms have generally accepted and complied with such injunctions, even if a little reluctantly, the Dutch ISPs appealed the web-block ruling, and in January succeeded in the High Court.

BREIN confirmed that it would take the matter to the country’s highest court in February, and, says XS4ALL, legal papers were actually filed in late April. The ISPs have until 5 Sep to respond. The anti-piracy group’s Supreme Court appeal doesn’t deal with new evidence or the original arguments for or against web-blocking, but rather focuses on procedural or legal interpretation failings that may or may not have occurred during the high court hearing.

XS4ALL told Torrentfreak: “The facts as determined by the [High] Court are fixed, the case will not be materially redone and the Supreme Court itself will not perform an investigation. [BREIN] cannot bring more new facts, nor contest the facts. Only the legal criteria which the court has applied will be questioned. If the appeal is successful and the judgement of the lower court is set aside, it may be sufficient to conclude the case. If a new examination of the facts is necessary, the Supreme Court will probably refer back the case to the [High] Court for a full retrial”.

January’s ruling resulted in existing web-blocks against The Pirate Bay being lifted in the Netherlands. As previously reported, web-blocking has become a preferred anti-piracy tool in various territories, and especially the UK, even though critics dispute the effectiveness of such blocks.

US Justice Department calls for dismissal of Insane Clown Posse lawsuit

Artist News Legal

The US Justice Department has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it and the FBI by Insane Clown Posse and a number of their fans.

As previously reported, this story dates back to 2011, when the FBI added ICP fans, dubbed Juggalos, to its list of known criminal gangs. The hip hop duo launched their original lawsuit the following year, and then submitted a second, having hired a new legal team, in January.

They claim that the categorisation is unfair and has had a negative impact on some of their fans, with some having children taken away by the authorities and others being refused entry to the US Army.

According to the Associated Press, a lawyer representing the government, Amy Powell, argued in court yesterday that the group had no grounds to sue, saying that the government is not responsible for how information in the report is used. She added that despite ICP’s claims that the report contravened the first amendment right of their fans, “there is no general right of protection to a social association”.

Powell also pointed out that there is no reference to Juggalos in the latest edition of the report, published last year.

Insane Clown Posse members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, real names Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, did not appear in court yesterday. A decision on whether or not to dismiss the case is expected next month.

Zola Jesus signs to Mute, details new LP

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Releases

Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova, has signed to Mute in time to release her new LP ‘Taiga’, the follow-on to 2011’s ‘Conatus’ and 2013’s ‘Versions’.

With a while still to go until it arrives on 6 Oct, Danilova takes her time in explaining the idea behind its title: “Taiga is the Russian name for the boreal forest. For me it feels very alive… very expansive. It represents a feral, untapped world that could happily exist without us. There are taiga forests in Northern Wisconsin where I was raised, and also in Russia where my ancestors are from, so it also feels very native”.

This is top ‘Taiga’ track ‘Dangerous Days’ and, beneath that, a nice scenic ‘Taiga’ trailer:

Spotify practicing earnings calls ahead of IPO

Business News Digital

Spotify is getting in shape for its rumoured IPO with practice earnings calls, according to Quartz.

Of course, if and when Spotify floats and becomes listed on a New York (probably) stock exchange, management will be obliged to regularly update investors on how the business is doing, how the hell streaming music is ever going to make a profit, and why YouTube is getting preferential rates from some rights owners.

The company reportedly held a “dry run” earnings call in May to discuss second quarter results with a number of investors and representatives of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, amongst others. This apparently resulted in the company’s credit being extended to $200 million, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Quartz reckons the IPO could be coming as early as the autumn of this year.

Amazon Prime Music users stream “tens of millions of songs” in first week

Business News Digital

Amazon Prime

Hey, naysayers, Amazon Prime Music is doing just fine, thank you very much. So what if the biggest record label in the world hasn’t signed up to it, and there’s no new music on there at all.

People like it. They’re holding ‘Amazon Prime Music is just great’ parties. And, according to a press release put out by Amazon yesterday, members of the company’s Prime scheme in the US streamed “tens of millions of songs” during its first week online. It was a long party.

“Prime members across the country have been rockin out this week”, said Amazon’s VP of Digital Music, Steve Boom. Yeah, he really said that. And he continued: “We’re humbled and thrilled to see just how enthusiastically customers have responded to this service. We’re looking forward to continuing to add new artists, albums and playlists so we can keep Prime members singing, dancing, driving, working out and rocking to their favourite music”.

Actually, I mocked Steve a little bit back there, but the most popular playlist on Amazon Prime Music last week was apparently ’50 Great Epic Classic Rock Songs’, while another collection of classic rock came in at three, followed by 80s rock songs at seven and 90s alternative songs at eight. So I guess its users have been rockin out after all.

When it came to single tracks, classic rock didn’t fair quite so well though, with just a couple of songs mooching around the low end of the top ten. Most popular was Pitbull and Kesha’s tour de force, ‘Timber’.

Here’s that top ten in full:

1. Pitbull featuring Ke$ha – Timber
2. John Legend – All Of Me
3. Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers – Get Lucky
4. Paramore – Ain’t It Fun
5. Sara Bareilles – Brave
6. Passenger – Let Her Go
7. Journey – Don’t Stop Believin
8. Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
9. Bruno Mars – Treasure
10. Karmin – Brokenhearted

Pete Wentz ‘expands’ label, confirms new signings

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Pete Wentz has expanded and rebranded his Decaydence label, renaming it DCD2, and also confirmed two new signings. Joining flagship acts – like Panic! At The Disco, Travie McCoy and, obvs, Fall Out Boy – are Denmark band New Politics and Brooklyn electro-pop singer Lolo.

Billing the DCD2 aesthetic as emphasising the different and the diverse, Wentz tells Noisey: “Really it’s about finding music again, and, with rebranding, it’s us saying that it’s not going to be a legacy thing. It’s not going to be the artists that we’ve worked with before. It’s going to be about new music and new art and new ideas”.

He adds re the new signees: “New Politics is a band that we might have worked with before. They could sit in the lane. I think Lolo’s outside of that. She’s interesting and definitely something that’s not in our lane.

And: “And now more than ever, kids are open to listening to different songs that they like. And that’s something we’ve always wanted to embrace. To be able to come back and embrace that is very important”.

Prince road tests new solo album, Eavis confirms Glastonbury talks

Artist News

Prince has played Star Tribune journalist Jon Bream his new solo album – ie not the one he’s releasing with 3rdeyegirl.

In an article for the Tribune, Bream reveals that he was called up after a Bruno Mars gig to hear the new record, which he sat down to listen to in Prince’s Paisley Park studios with the members of 3rdeyegirl and some of Prince’s crew. Though not Prince himself, who joined them via speakerphone.

Discussing the record, Prince said that he felt he’d “finally got something that is a cohesive statement”. Although he didn’t mention a release date, he said that he wanted to be “able to make music and put it out now”. In addition to that, Bream was played new Rita Ora featuring Prince, which the musician reckoned should be available soon, because with Ora “time is money”.

So, that might be something you hear soon, or it might just come to nothing. You never know with Prince, do you? Speaking of which, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has confirmed that he was in talks with Prince to play this year’s festival, but “social media chit-chat” put an end to any hopes of booking him.

“We wanted him to play, and it got to the point where his people were talking to us about him doing it, but before he confirmed he got really upset because he thought we had advertised that he was playing”, Eavis said in a Guardian interview. “We hadn’t, but with social media, rumours get everywhere, and one of those rumours was that Prince was coming. So he didn’t want to do it in the end”.

He added: “All the social media chit-chat now about who might be playing really doesn’t help us. People think we’ve advertised them early, but there’d be no point to us leaking details because the tickets sell out in an hour in October, before the headline acts are announced. People come for what the event means to them, not the headline acts”.

Still, Metallica were on hand to step in at the last minute, which is fortuitous for them. Eavis explained: “Metallica have been trying to play for so long – they ring every year, and they’re so polite about it. ‘We’d love to be there, we’re getting older, can we play it now?’ That sort of thing”.

Metallica sound a bit whiney.

UPDATE 25 Jun 15:00: An earlier version of this article stated that the track recorded with Rita Ora features on the Prince album Bream was played. It is in fact, a Rita Ora track featuring Prince.

Q-Tip discusses solo LP The Last Zulu, Tribe reissues

Artist News Releases

Mr Q-Tip has thrown a bit of light on his forthcoming solo LP ‘The Last Zulu’, and also the imminent 25th anniversary re-release of A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 record ‘Low End Theory’.

Talking as the star of his own hour-long radio doc ‘The Story Of Q-Tip’, which aired recently via BBC Radio 1Xtra, the rapper named David Bowie and Miles Davis as his main inspirations whilst writing ‘The Last Zulu’, which he’s billing as “the evil twin of Tribe”.

The ‘Low End Theory’ reissue, which is due to be announced “soon”, will carry new and unreleased tracks from back in the days it was made, and possibly a take on his original idea for its artwork, a naked painting of Naomi Campbell.

Take a listen to the doc, which features Pharrell, Pharcyde and Nas as talking heads, via this lil link.

Vashti B to release third LP

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases

It’s a rare event that Vashti Bunyan releases an LP, and, well, here one is. Representing only Bunyan’s third record of length in 50 odd years, ‘Heartleap’ is set to be released on 6 Oct via Fat Cap, who dealt with her renaissance LP circa 2005, ‘Lookaftering’.

Vashti is playing some shows around that time, too, which fall as follows:

7 Oct: Birmingham, MAC
8 Oct: London, St Pancras Church
9 Oct: London, St Pancras Church
11 Oct: Farndale, The Band Room
12 Oct: Manchester, St Philip’s Church

Robin Thicke releases first of many odes to estranged wife

And Finally Artist News Releases

When Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ was criticised as being an anthem for rape, the singer denied that it was anything like that, insisting that it was actually a love song to his wife, Paula Patton. Which many people didn’t think was the greatest ever defence.

In February the couple announced that they were splitting up, at which point Thicke got to work writing a new batch of love songs for Patton. Though with titles like ‘Love Can Grow Back’, ‘Forever Love’ and ‘Too Little Too Late’ on his new album ‘Paula’, he seems to have lost that cocky swagger.

Certainly, first single, ‘Get Her Back’, is a downbeat number, labouring the point that Thicke would quite like to reconcile with his estranged wife. In the new video, he appears battered and bruised as text messages saying things like “You drink too much” and “You ruined everything” pop up in front of him, seemingly outlining Patton’s gripes. “I wrote a whole album about you”, another responds, just in case you were still unconvinced that this is something that would actually happen.

It remains to be seen how this works out for him. Probably shouldn’t have had the naked woman wandering around the video though. That might be an issue.

Approved: Lia Ices – Thousand Eyes

CMU Approved

Having given straight-faced folk an earnest whirl via 2011’s ‘Grown Unknown’ LP, Lia Ices is back with a new, light-hearted air to her writing and singing, and a new single, the first sign of her forthcoming long-player ‘Ices’.

The track, a dewy and ethereal synth-pop dream titled ‘Thousand Eyes’, falls in the same (imaginary) ballpark of Air doing Lenny Kravitz’s ‘Fly Away”, only with Ices’ waif-like voice skimming over the top.

Stem the wait for ‘Ices’, which is arriving via Jagjaguwar on 15 Sep, by streaming ‘Thousand Eyes’ right here:

UK singles chart to include plays on streaming services

Business News Digital Top Stories

The Official Charts Company announced this morning that it will begin including streaming data in its compilation of the Official Singles Chart from next month.

On 6 Jul, the Top 40 will include streams for the first time, with 100 streams of a track deemed to be equal to one download or physical release sale. The data that counts towards the chart will be capped at ten streams of any one track by any one person in any one day, so no leaving your favourite song (/latest signing) playing on a loop for hours on end, sorry.

The services that will be providing data to the charts are Spotify, Deezer, Napster, O2 Tracks, Xbox Music, Sony Music Unlimited and Rara, all of which are members of the Entertainment Retailers Association (which owns half the Official Charts Company, though non-members do chart-return elsewhere). So no YouTube, which might seem like an oversight, but I’m sure Rara will balance it out.

The announcement comes as the average number of single track streams in a week reaches 260 million in the UK – up from 100 million in January 2013 and 200 million in January of this year. Two tracks this year – ‘Rather Be’ by Clean Bandit and ‘Waves’ by Mr Probz – have on their own topped 1.5 million UK-based streams in a week.

Official Charts Company boss Martin Talbot commented: “Audio streaming has grown at an extraordinary rate over the past year – and the time is now right to take this important step. The UK’s Official Singles Chart is culturally among the most important and influential in the world. We have been looking at this possibility for some time and now feel comfortable that our methodology is correct and that summer 2014 is the time that we should add audio streams”.

He continued: “The Official Singles Chart is (and always has been) the most trusted and definitive measure of Britain’s music tastes. Just as it has evolved through the years to reflect the most popular music in the UK, from ten-inch to seven-inch, vinyl to cassingles, CD singles to downloads, this is the latest stage of that progression – and will align the Official Singles Chart with the consumption habits of the future”.

In addition to this, record label trade body the BPI announced this morning that it is also to count streaming data toward its Certified Awards Programme – those Platinum, Gold and Silver disc things – for singles. These will use the same criteria as the OCC – so to get a platinum disc for a track with no download or physical release, it would need to clock up 60,000,000 streams in the UK.

BPI chief Geoff Taylor said: “In the same way that the Official Charts are respected around the world as the authoritative measure of UK musical popularity, so too our Certified Awards are widely-recognised as an iconic barometer of an artist’s success. As with the charts, it’s vital they continue to reflect the new ways that fans consume their favourite music. With streaming becoming ever more popular, it’s the right time to ensure this exciting new format is included in the way our awards are compiled”.

Radio 1’s Head Of Music George Ergatoudis, who revealed that this development was not far off at a Radio Academy event in February, said of the changes to the charts: “We are moving from an era of music purchasing to one dominated by music streaming and it is vital that the Official Singles Chart evolves to reflect this”.

He went on: “Radio 1’s young audience continue to download digital singles, but increasingly they’re listening to the music they love on services like Spotify, Deezer, Napster and O2 Tracks, so I strongly support the decision to include streaming data in Radio 1’s Official Chart. It future proofs the Official Singles Chart and helps to guarantee its status as the definitive weekly measure of the UK’s most popular singles”.

The UK record industry joins its counterparts in Germany, Sweden, Norway and America in counting streaming data in their main charts, with the Official Singles Chart also following the commercial radio sector’s Big Top 40, which made the switch last month.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this change affects the singles countdown, though without YouTube on board, it may be a while before we have our own ‘Harlem Shake’ moment.

MPG backs indies in YouTube stand off

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

As the stand off between YouTube and the indie labels continues, the UK music producer community gave its backing to the independent record companies on Friday, with the Music Producers Guild criticising the Google-owned subsidiary’s negotiating tactics as it tries to put its Spotify-competing audio streaming service live.

A spokesman for the trade group said late last week: “With regards to the recent dispute between YouTube and independent labels and the unfavourable terms which YouTube seeks, without negotiation, to impose upon independent record labels, the Music Producers Guild is deeply concerned about Google’s apparent abuse of its monopoly and associated market power and the adverse effect this will have on the wider industry and funds available for innovative and creative content production in the future”.

“Independent record producers everywhere, in common with recording artists, rely upon the income from sales and streaming of music files, the production of which they have been responsible for, often with little or no credit (itself ironic in this digital age). Attempts by international media conglomerates to throttle negotiation and impose unfavourable and unjust terms upon independent record companies, whom they perceive to be ‘small fry’ and thus ‘fair game’, should be opposed at every opportunity”.

Pan-European indie label trade body IMPALA has already reported Google to the European Commission for its negotiating tactics regarding the YouTube streaming service, and its threat to block the indies from the existing YouTube video platform if they don’t sign up to the new audio service. But YouTube told the Financial Times last week that it nevertheless expected those indies not signed up to the new offering to be ‘blocked’ from its video platform in some way in the near future.

EC expected to publish anti-piracy plan next week

Business News Digital Legal

The European Commission is expected to announce a new set of strategies for fighting online piracy next week.

Though, according to Torrentfreak, rather than proposing new legislation at an EU level it is thought the plan will follow the lead of the City Of London Police’s IP Crime Unit in the UK, which has mainly been using existing copyright laws to step up its fight against piracy.

Often by putting pressure on advertising agencies, domain registrars and payment providers to more carefully monitor websites they provide services to. The aim is to cut off websites that prolifically infringe copyright from both their user-base and their revenue streams.

It is thought the EC’s anti-piracy document will have ten proposals in it. It will also set out plans to step up cooperation between anti-piracy authorities across the European Union, and beyond, in a bid to cut off audience and income for piracy operations in as much of the world as possible.

Virtual Jackson performance leads to litigation

Business News Legal Live Business

It often seems like Michael Jackson really did have the golden touch, for the legal profession at least, in that everything he touched turned into litigation. Now even a hologram of Michael Jackson has caused a legal battle, though to be fair it’s not really anything to do with the late king of pop or his estate. But nevertheless, Jackson’s holographic revival at this year’s Billboard Music Awards has resulted in both suit and counter-suit.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the legal battle is between Pulse Evolution, which staged the Jackson routine at the Billboard event, and movie industry entrepreneur Alki David. The latter claims that Pulse, and its Chairman John Textor, utilised without permission patented technology of which he is the exclusive licensee in order to produce the Jackson set. The legal threats kicked off even before the Billboard Music Awards took place, but since then both sides have filed lawsuits.

Though the dispute is slightly more complicated than just ascertaining whether Textor’s company did indeed used patented technology controlled by David, in that the two parties have previous dealings.

David claims that Textor tried to outbid him for the exclusive rights to the technology in question, and then tried to strike up a business partnership to get access to it. And while Pulse calls Musion Das Hologram Limited, the European firm David claims to have a patent licensing deal with, “a defunct company with no assets that had nothing to license in the first place”, it has been working with another European business called Musion Systems Limited, which may or may not be connected.

So far so complicated. In its countersuit, Pulse says that David is a “notorious infringer of intellectual property rights”, and that his allegations against the firm, and claims to be responsible for the technology that allowed the Jackson appearance at the Billboard show, are designed to “divert public and industry attention away from Pulse Entertainment just as the company was being launched”.

Pulse’s lawsuit also takes issue with David’s allegedly frequent references to the effect used in the Jackson spot at the awards show as being a “hologram”, which actually it isn’t.

The legal filing states: “This mischaracterisation of the [Michael Jackson] animation as a hologram highlights David’s complete lack of technical expertise and involvement in the creation and development of the Michael Jackson animation, insofar as the virtual Michael Jackson appearing at the Billboard Award Show was not a hologram at all, rather, it was an animation projected onto a screen”.

And so the dispute continues.

Kids don’t think file-sharing is ‘wrong’, would pay for exclusive content

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers

Perhaps showing that the media and entertainment industries still have some way to go in convincing mainstream consumers to pay for digital content, in a new YouGov survey about half of those questioned said people should be allowed to download content they want for free.

The survey of just over 2500 UK customers (with just over 1900 aged sixteen plus and just over 600 under sixteen) found that legit services offering ad-funded free content were particularly popular, while accessing content from non-legit sources via file-sharing sites or networks is also seen as a cost-saving option. Over a half of adults admitted to file-sharing to save money, while a quarter of those aged 16-24 said it was the only way they could afford to access the content they wanted.

Asked about the ethics of accessing illegal sources of content, of the children surveyed only 16% strongly agreed that doing so was “wrong”, while even less, 7%, equated file-sharing with stealing, despite that being a line often rolled out by the anti-piracy brigade. Meanwhile 60% of the 16-24 year olds surveyed said that companies offering access to unlicensed content, rather than they as content consumers, should be punished for piracy (which in the current climate is a lot more likely anyway).

Asked what would make them pay for content, a fifth of the under 16s said brand new or exclusive content was worth paying for, while 13% said they’d try to pay if they were accessing content from an up-and-coming artist who they wanted to support. Suggesting that the digital music market should adopt a model akin to Netflix, with its exclusive content, combined with Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde’s Flattr platform, with its virtual tip jar.

Commenting on the findings, YouGov Research Director James McCoy told CMU: “Children aged 8-15 are the key adopters of digital technology, and are likely to be more familiar with accessing content without paying. File sharing is most common amongst younger adults; cost and availability are key drivers”.

“Children in this generation have grown up with digital material and are used to having access to what they want, when they want it and for some of the time not paying for it. They do not just listen and watch digital content; they consume it by downloading, file sharing, streaming, making playlists and going on recommendations from friends or contacts via social media”.

“Whilst they appreciate the issues surrounding piracy and illegal downloads, if they can get away with it, then they will. Why change the habit of a lifetime? The challenge for the industry is to find ways to engage with this group to change their mind-set about accessing content and to educate them in a relevant and non-condescending way about the issues surrounding this matter”.

You can find out more about the YouGov survey here.

Amazon to reportedly offer pick-up points at stations via Doddle deal

Business News Deals Digital Retail

Before you all get too excited about streaming stats being added into the single charts, let’s not forget that the albums market is still more physical than it is digital, even if people are buying their CDs via the big bad Amazon.

Anyway, if you’re a commuter who orders stacks of stuff from Amazon, and then worries about it not fitting through your letter box and getting one of those dreaded Royal Mail postcards the necessitates a trip to your local sorting office, which always seems to be situated just this side of hell, well worry no more. Soon you’ll be able to pick up your Amazon purchases from your local railway station. Hurrah.

Yep, Amazon is set to step up its network of physical pick-up points in the UK via an alliance with a company called Doddle, a joint venture between Network Rail and businessman Lloyd Dorfman.

According to Dorfman, from September Doddle will become an official partner of Amazon, allowing customers to opt to pick-up purchases from the mail-order site at their local station. Doddle hopes to eventually have pick-up points in 300 UK railway stations, with London Cannon Street, Woking, Bromley South, Brighton and Chelmsford the first on the list. A pilot store is already running at Milton Keynes station.

Amazon UK was thought to already be in talks with Transport For London about having similar pick-up points at London Underground stations. It’s not clear if a Doddle deal would affect that.

Attitude Is Everything launches Music Without Barriers campaign

Business News Live Business

Live music charity Attitude Is Everything has launched a new campaign this morning, calling on more venues and festivals to sign up to its Charter Of Best Practice for providing better access to deaf and disabled music fans.

The Music Without Barriers campaign is backed by musicians including Robert Smith, Alex Kapranos, Frank Turner, Tom Odell, Alt-J, Slow Club, Anna Calvi, Enter Shikari, and Stealing Sheep, who will be promoting it on their social media accounts today via the hashtag #MusicWithoutBarriers.

Attitude Is Everything CEO Suzanne Bull explained: “Since founding Attitude Is Everything in 2000, we have always found some fantastic support from within the music industry, and particularly among the artist community. So I am delighted that so many musicians and bands are supporting #MusicWithoutBarriers. In those fourteen years, we have proved that improving access need not be expensive. And, more importantly, when the right facilities, policies and information are in place, live music can be opened up to the eleven million disabled people living in the UK and transform their lives for the better”.

One of the venues already signed up to the charity’s best practice charter is East London’s Village Underground. It’s Head Of Commercial Development, Dermot Hurley said: “Attitude is Everything have helped us identify and put in a place number of easy zero cost solutions to help develop our venue offering to a wider audience. Being an old Victorian warehouse, Village Underground is a singular venue with some singular access issues”.

He continued: “Attitude have made sure the access information on our website is easy to find, accurate and that there are always staff on hand to answer any questions. It’s really changed how we operate – our team are now confident in offering assistance throughout the entire customer journey and the Charter has also helped the bottom line, selling more tickets and higher bar sales to disabled people, which makes everyone happy”.

Find more information on the campaign here.

House Of 27 launches digital marketing department

Business News Industry People Marketing & PR

Music PR company House Of 27 has announced the opening of a new social media and digital branding department.

The development means the company now offers a range of extra digital services, from social media channel management, to fan engagement strategy, to “an artist’s entire digital branding”. The new unit will be headed up by new hire Nick Antoniou, who has previously worked in similar roles for Sony Music and EMI.

House Of 27 Director Tasha Anderson told CMU: “Launching this new department feels is a progressive move into the digital community for us. We now offer full integrated projects, ensuring our clients benefit further from our digital campaigns. The exciting new digital branding side means that our new department exceeds just offering standard social media services”.

On Antoniou, she added: “Nick has a unique insight and perspective of the digital world, and is able to educate his digital practices across the project, whether speaking with the artist, label or management. It is a pleasure to welcome him to our team”.

Gerry Goffin 1939-2014

Artist News Obituaries

American lyricist Gerry Goffin, writer of hits like ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’, ‘Up On The Roof’ and ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow?’, died last week at his home in LA, his wife Michele has confirmed. He was 75.

Despite a long and prolific career, he will probably be best remembered for his collaborative partnership with one-time wife Carole King, whom he married in 1959. Goffin and King co-wrote over 50 American top 40 tracks for the likes of James Taylor, The Drifters, The Crystals, Dusty Springfield and The Monkees between 1961-1971, also giving the original ‘Loco-Motion’ (as in Kylie’s ‘Loco-Motion’) to Little Eva in 1962.

Despite divorcing in 1968, the pair’s partnership earned them a place in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987 and 1990 respectively. Their relationship also inspired the acclaimed musical ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Story’, which is playing on Broadway now following its premiere earlier this year.

After his and King’s separation, Goffin went on to co-write Whitney Houston’s ‘Saving All My Love For You’, and ‘Do You Know Where You’re Going To’, the theme from Diana Ross’s film ‘Mahogany’, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Paying her respects to Goffin in a statement, Carole King said: “Gerry Goffin was my first love. He had a profound impact on my life and the rest of the world. Gerry was a good man and a dynamic force, whose words and creative influence will resonate for generations to come. His legacy to me is our two daughters, four grandchildren, and our songs that have touched millions and millions of people, as well as a lifelong friendship. He will be missed by his wonderful wife Michele, his devoted manager, Christine Russell, his five children, and six grandchildren”.

She added: “His words expressed what so many people were feeling but didn’t know how to say. If you want to join his loved ones in honouring him, look at the names of the songwriters under the titles of songs. Among the titles associated with me, you’ll often find Gerry’s name next to mine”.

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:33 | By Andy Malt

Blink 182 have announced that they will play a warm-up show at London’s Brixton Academy on 6 Aug to limber themselves up for their performances at the Reading and Leeds festivals two weeks later.

READ MORE ABOUT: Blink 182

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:32 | By Andy Malt

CMU approved last year, Norwegian singer Emilie Nicolas has continued to gain momentum since last summer with very well received performances at various European showcase festivals. Now, finally, she has announced her first London show. Two of them, in fact.

READ MORE ABOUT: Emilie Nicolas

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:31 | By Andy Malt

J-pop stars Perfume have announced that they will be back in the UK as part of their third world tour later this year. They play the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 12 Nov.

READ MORE ABOUT: Perfume

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:30 | By Andy Malt

Organisers of the UK Music Video Awards have announced that they are now accepting entries for their 2014 edition, the event’s seventh outing.

READ MORE ABOUT: UK Music Video Awards

Wednesday 25 June 2014, 11:29 | By Aly Barchi

Apparently Blue are to act as landboybandlords at a new made-for-TV bar in Ibiza, as part of a show airing on ITV2 ‘soon’. So kind of like a Spanish spin-off of ITV’s short-lived 2003 reality series ‘The Club’. And what a storming TV triumph that was.

READ MORE ABOUT: Blue | ITV | James Arthur

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:37 | By Andy Malt

Following a series of very good singles and EPs over the last couple of years, dream-pop trio Ballet School have announced that they will release their debut album, ‘The Dew Lasts An Hour’, through Bella Union on 1 Sep.

READ MORE ABOUT: Ballet School

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:33 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: YouTube

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:32 | By CMU Editorial

This evening CMU and Roundhouse Rising will present the first edition of a new music business news-related chat show, live in the Roundhouse’s Studio Theatre.

READ MORE ABOUT: Roundhouse Rising

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:31 | By Aly Barchi

Police have arrested a 31 year old man in connection with the killing of Robert Hart at this year’s Parklife Weekender.

READ MORE ABOUT: Parklife Festival | Robert Hart

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:30 | By Chris Cooke

Reggae producer Blacker Dread, who ran a record store of the same name in Brixton, has been jailed for two and half years for his involvement in a scam that saw £700,000 stolen from a Sutton-based company called IMCD Ltd.

READ MORE ABOUT: Blacker Dread | IMCD Ltd | Lorna Martin

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:29 | By Chris Cooke

Dutch internet service provider XS4ALL has confirmed to Torrentfreak that the country’s anti-piracy group BREIN has filed its appeal to the Netherlands Supreme Court over the web-blocking of The Pirate Bay in the country.

READ MORE ABOUT: BREIN | The Pirate Bay | XS4ALL

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:28 | By Andy Malt

The US Justice Department has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it and the FBI by Insane Clown Posse and a number of their fans.

READ MORE ABOUT: FBI | Insane Clown Posse | US Justice Department

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:27 | By Aly Barchi

Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova, has signed to Mute in time to release her new LP ‘Taiga’, the follow-on to 2011’s ‘Conatus’ and 2013’s ‘Versions’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Mute | Zola Jesus

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:26 | By Andy Malt

Spotify is getting in shape for its rumoured IPO with practice earnings calls, according to Quartz.

READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:25 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Amazon | Amazon Prime | Amazon Prime Music

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:24 | By Aly Barchi

Pete Wentz has expanded and rebranded his Decaydence label, renaming it DCD2, and also confirmed two new signings. Joining flagship acts – like Panic! At The Disco, Travie McCoy and, obvs, Fall Out Boy – are Denmark band New Politics and Brooklyn electro-pop singer Lolo.

READ MORE ABOUT: DCD2 | Decaydence | Lolo | New Politics | Pete Wentz

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:23 | By Andy Malt

Prince has played Star Tribune journalist Jon Bream his new solo album – ie not the one he’s releasing with 3rdeyegirl.

READ MORE ABOUT: Glastonbury Festival | Jon Bream | Prince

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:20 | By Aly Barchi

Mr Q-Tip has thrown a bit of light on his forthcoming solo LP ‘The Last Zulu’, and also the imminent 25th anniversary re-release of A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 record ‘Low End Theory’.

READ MORE ABOUT: A Tribe Called Quest | Q-Tip

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:19 | By Aly Barchi

It’s a rare event that Vashti Bunyan releases an LP, and, well, here one is. Representing only Bunyan’s third record of length in 50 odd years, ‘Heartleap’ is set to be released on 6 Oct via Fat Cap, who dealt with her renaissance LP circa 2005, ‘Lookaftering’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Vashti Bunyan

Tuesday 24 June 2014, 11:18 | By Andy Malt

When Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ was criticised as being an anthem for rape, the singer denied that it was anything like that, insisting that it was actually a love song to his wife, Paula Patton. Which many people didn’t think was the greatest ever defence.

READ MORE ABOUT: Robin Thicke

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:32 | By Aly Barchi

Having given straight-faced folk an earnest whirl via 2011’s ‘Grown Unknown’ LP, Lia Ices is back with a new, light-hearted air to her writing and singing, and a new single, the first sign of her forthcoming long-player ‘Ices’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lia Ices

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:23 | By Andy Malt

The Official Charts Company announced this morning that it will begin including streaming data in its compilation of the Official Singles Chart from next month.

READ MORE ABOUT: British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | Official Charts Company | Official Singles Chart

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:22 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Music Producers Guild (MPG) | YouTube

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:21 | By Chris Cooke

The European Commission is expected to announce a new set of strategies for fighting online piracy next week.

READ MORE ABOUT: European Commission

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:19 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Alki David | Pulse Evolution

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:18 | By Chris Cooke

Perhaps showing that the media and entertainment industries still have some way to go in convincing mainstream consumers to pay for digital content, in a new YouGov survey about half of those questioned said people should be allowed to download content they want for free.

READ MORE ABOUT: YouGov

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:17 | By Chris Cooke

Before you all get too excited about streaming stats being added into the single charts, let’s not forget that the albums market is still more physical than it is digital, even if people are buying their CDs via the big bad Amazon.

READ MORE ABOUT: Amazon | DOddle

Monday 23 June 2014, 11:16 | By Andy Malt

Live music charity Attitude Is Everything has launched a new campaign this morning, calling on more venues and festivals to sign up to its Charter Of Best Practice for providing better access to deaf and disabled music fans.

READ MORE ABOUT: Attitude Is Everything