Tuesday 29 July 2014, 11:00 | By Andy Malt

Merlin reduces admin fees for second year running

Business News Labels & Publishers

Indie label digital rights rep Merlin has announced it is lowering its administration fees on commercial deals by 17% this year, following a 50% reduction last year.

The non-profit organisation will now charge a 2.5% rate, or 3.25% for members not affiliated to local trade bodies. Fees for obtaining settlements and recoveries from infringing services will remain the same.

Merlin CEO Charles Caldas said: “It is very satisfying to be able to announce another reduction in these fees after the 50% reduction we made in 2013, and we trust that this further underlines our commitment to continuing to deliver the maximum possible value to our members via our activities”.

Eventbrite hires former Twitter exec as new VP of Product

Business News Industry People Live Business

Ticketing firm Eventbrite has announced Laurent Sellier as its new Vice President Of Product. Sellier has previously worked for Amazon and most recently Twitter.

Says Eventbrite CEO Kevin Hartz: “There are few people in the world that has the depth and breadth of experience we are looking for as we build our discovery product and round out Eventbrite as the global marketplace for live experiences. Laurent’s passion for Eventbrite combined with the wealth of experience he brings from Twitter and Amazon in discovery, mobile, social, consumer and marketplace businesses is unmatched, and we are thrilled to have him lead our worldwide product strategy”.

Sellier added: “Being at the nexus of technology, mobile and events, Eventbrite has a unique opportunity to connect people around the world to great live experiences. Eventbrite’s traction on the organiser side of the business has been extraordinary, and I’m thrilled to be on board to build a robust attendee discovery product, and bring to life the events marketplace that is waiting to happen on Eventbrite”.

The company has also recently hired April Chang as VP Of Consumer Engineering and David Good as Director Of Discovery Engineering.

Apple buys “Pandora-for-talk-radio”

Business News Digital

It’s all about the curation, isn’t it? Apple has reportedly made another purchase to ramp up its curated content services, having bought the Beats business earlier this year, in no small part to take control of the curation-heavy Beats streaming music set-up.

According to Re/Code, The latest purchase is an app called Swell, dubbed by some as “Pandora-for-talk-radio”. The Swell iOS app taps into podcasts and other spoken word downloads on the net, providing users with a stream of speech content that in theory suits their interests.

Having raised $7.2 million to date, Swell had a loyal following, though it seems unlikely the firm’s relatively modest user base is of interest to Apple. Rather it will likely incorporate Swell’s functionality into its own platform, presumably replacing the not especially well received Apple podcast app.

In related news, Apple’s big Beats deal has just got the green lights from competition regulators in Europe who said the acquisition didn’t raise any concerns.

MPG founder Bob Hine dies

Business News Industry People

Music Producers Guild founder Bob Hine has died, the trade body announced yesterday. He had been receiving treatment for cancer.

Co-founder Robin Millar said in a statement; “I am very sad to hear the news that the inimitable, unstoppable and unforgettable force of nature that was Bob is no longer with us. His absolute passion for standards and quality in the music he loved drove his mission to make record production into a recognised and definable profession”.

He continued: “Without Bob’s tireless persuasion and energy there would be no Music Producers Guild. There would be no studio producer courses at universities. There would be no standards in recording quality, mixing quality, mastering quality, music carrier quality. He is simply one of the most important figures in professional music recording of the last 50 years. A charming, funny, witty, persuasive man with no ego and the only person I actually enjoyed being bullied by! Fondly remembered and sadly missed”.

Hine’s funeral is due to take place next week, on 5 Aug.

Unlocking The Truth to star in new documentary

Artist News

New kids on the tender-aged metal block Unlocking The Truth have added a new film, tracing their rapid rise to fame, to their empire.

Its production co, SeeThink, will build on its previously-shot short doc charting UTT’s early (as in, slightly earlier than the present) days, this time collaborating with Black Label Media to “go further into the band’s story” in the TBA new feature, following the trio on a trip to LA to sign that record deal with Sony Music’s Cherry Party.

Black Label partner Molly Smith says of the untitled short film that inspired the new, longer movie: “The eighth graders are honest and sincere and represent individuality and incredible talent for their age. The piece spoke to us, as it has a great message about being yourself and following your dreams, regardless of the hurdles one must overcome”.

The movie’s director Luke Meyer adds: “These three boys are coming of age at the exact moment their band is being introduced to the entire world. This film is a picture of that unique moment”.

Van Morrison to publish lyrics in new book

Artist News Releases

The first ever collection of lyrics by Mr Van ‘the man’ Morrison is hitting book shops later this year. Or rather it’s doing so in various forms, at various oft-high prices. More on that in a bit.

Titled ‘Lit Up Inside’, it’s edited by Van M, and will compile selected lines and rhymes from one third(ish) of his songs from his 50 years in showbiz. Ian Rankin is writing a foreword as I type this now.

As well as the standard hardback print (£14.99), the book comes in a limited edition (£150), which is signed, bound in a cloth-covered clipcase, and wrapped in brown paper.

Oh, and there’s a signed deluxe package (£500), which comes pinned with a print of a page of hand-written lyrics, and is bound in calfskin, and has a ribbon marker and lots of other fancy shit with an apparent value of £500. I guess baby cows are expensive to flay.

Whichever version fans prefer to spend their cash on, all three are released on 2 Oct.

Pulled Apart By Horses draw blood

Artist News Releases

Pulled Apart By Horses will release their third album, an album that is called ‘Blood’, on 1 Sep. It’ll be released by Sony/RED.

To celebrate/promote this fact, the band have released a new video, which they created to illustrate one of the album’s songs, ‘Lizard Baby’. I’m not sure if it’s a song about a baby lizard, or if it’s missing a comma and should be the exclamation, “Lizard, baby!” Like if you wanted your significant other to either look at or avoid a lizard. Maybe watching the video will explain, though if it’s the latter then people should just use proper grammar in the first place.

Here’s the video, let’s see what the answer is:

Well, I’m still none the wiser, but Tom Hudson does sing “attention” quite a lot in the chorus, so I think it must be the dropped comma. Take note, bands. This is just another embarrassing titling error, like Monster Magnet’s ‘Monolithic Baby’. Still, it was quite a colourful video, wasn’t it?

Talking about the video, Hudson said: “The glaringly colourful video for ‘Lizard Baby’ is a visual juxtaposition of us playing, as we love to do, with some weird and wonderful ideas we came up with when collaborating with director Stephen Agnew”.

And seeing as the band love to play so much, they’ve arranged it so that they can do some playing in August. They’re going to fund this by making people pay to come and watch. It’s a very clever idea, and I hope it catches on.

Here are the dates when you can become involved with this ‘playing in front of people’ project:

18 Aug: Coventry, Kasbah
19 Aug: Nottingham, Bodega
20 Aug: Liverpool, East Village Arts Club

Azealia Banks releases new Broke With Expensive taste track

Artist News Releases

At long, long, long, long, long last, it looks like Azealia ‘free at last’ Banks’ long, long, long, long-awaited (then less awaited, then barely awaited) first LP, ‘Broke With Expensive Taste’, is nearing pay dirt. Yeah, that’s right, it’s being released on… erm, well there isn’t an official release date assigned to it yet.

And yet! There is a new single titled ‘Heavy Metal And Reflective’, AND a real live trailer for ‘Broke…’, all of which means this LP is still a thing, a real, tangible thing and not a figment of Azealia Banks’ imagination. The album, so we are told, is being self-released by Banks, Universal having let her take it with her (or thrown it out of the door after her, possibly) when her deal was terminated.

Anyway, this is ‘Heavy Metal And Reflective’, which is actually not bad (in fact, it’s really great), and also the ‘Broke’ trailer, in that order:

Julia Holter to get orchestral at the Barbican

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Avant-garde pop lady Mlle Julia Holter is popping over to the Barbican in London for a special orchestral show featuring Berlin ensemble s t a r g a z e, who play in the style of this.

Appearing on 29 Nov, Holter and the band will play chamber arrangements of tracks from the three LPs she has released to date: ‘Tragedy’, ‘Ekstasis’ and last year’s resplendently weird ‘Loud City Song’.

Bathe in the glow of Jules’ cover of Dionne Warwick’s ‘Don’t Make Me Over’, which is released as a single this week, below, and maybe get Barbican tickets afterwards via this link.

Marmozets and Lonely The Brave to co-headline Big Cheese Tour

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Punk/metal/rock magazine Big Cheese is laying on a totally grate (soz) triad of bands on its 2014 UK tour so… deal with it.

Co-headlining the dates, which range from 1-16 Oct, are Cambridge-based Lonely The Brave and angular Yorks band Marmozets, with grunge pushers Allusondrugs supporting on all shows.

Lonely The Brave’s Mo claims to be “absolutely stoked to be on this tour with a band that we’ve been fans of for ages. Can’t wait to share a stage with them every night”.

Marmozets add their piece, saying: “After Warped Tour in the US we’re unbelievably excited to be back touring in the UK with the excellent Lonely The Brave and our friends Allusondrugs. They’re both great bands and this is not a tour you want to miss! It’s gonna be loud, heavy and chaotic. Can’t wait for everyone to hear the tracks from the new album. See you there!”

And this closing note from Allusondrugs: “We are absolutely thrilled to be a part of this tour. We love Big Cheese Magazine, the line-up is amazing and it’s going to be a pleasure to play alongside our friends Marmozets and Lonely The Brave”.

Details and tickets are here, and here are the listings:

1 Oct: Manchester, Deaf Institute
2 Oct: Glasgow, King Tuts
3 Oct: Liverpool, Academy 2
4 Oct: Cardiff, Cf10
6 Oct: Brighton, Komedia
8 Oct: Tunbridge Wells Forum
9 Oct: Southampton, Talking Heads
10 Oct: London, Scala
11 Oct: Nottingham, Rock City Basement
13 Oct: Sheffield Corporation
14 Oct: Newcastle, Academy 2
15 Oct: Birmingham, Academy 3
16 Oct: Norwich Open

Approved: FaltyDL

CMU Approved

Brooklyn resident Drew Lustman is FaltyDL. Heavily influenced by acid house and breakbeat, his 2011 album ‘You Stand Uncertain’ is his benchmark work, and while the 2012 release ‘Hardcourage’ was less good, Lustman is back on form with ‘In The Wild’.

His second LP for Ninja Tune sees the DL back in the zone melding beats to rhythms. His nod to old school proto-jungle abounds, and his encapsulation of this particular genre is sublime.

He covers many styles, as per usual, and gets almost classical at times with the majesty of ‘Antilles Part Two’, and the ethereal ‘Grief’, and ‘Dos Gardenias’ shows yet another string to his bow.

A diverse, interesting and thought-provoking album. And a very welcome return from this New Yorker. But let’s let the music do the talking with this jazz-infused quality number:

Damon Albarn performs for robots

And Finally Artist News

Damon Albarn played to an audience of 50 at Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo last week. Sadly, he couldn’t pull in quite enough humans, so the numbers were made up by a couple of androids.

OK, yes, I think having robots there was intentional, not a ticketing issue. It seemingly had something to do with Albarn’s solo album, ‘Everyday Robots’. Watching along with their human counterparts were the life-like Otonaroid and “more abstract” Telenoid.

And before you’re all like, “Hey, those seats could have been filled by proper humans”, just remember that sort of talk is what will kickstart the inevitable robot uprising. Also, they seemed to enjoy it. Otonaroid, at least, apparently danced and hummed along, which is probably more than could be said for some of the humans.

Speaking to The Creators Project, Albarn said: “It was interesting performing alongside the androids. While they definitely look artificial up close, when seen at a distance they look like normal people. They’re fake, but they’re also real. I mean, they’re definitely there. But, I don’t think the fact that robots are completely alien will ever change. So in that sense technology is perhaps a bit melancholic”.

See photos from the performance here.

US official suggests providing unlicensed streams become a felony

Business News Digital Legal Top Stories

An official from the US Department Of Justice last week told Congress that the penalty for operating an illegal streaming operation should be reclassified from the current misdemeanour level to a felony, because infringing streaming sites are becoming one of the most serious threats to the copyright industries.

It’s worth noting that David Bitkower, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DoJ’s Criminal Division, was talking about the criminal dimension of copyright, where the state prosecutes rather than affected copyright owners pursuing civil litigation. Generally copyright infringement only becomes a crime when pursued on an industrial level for profit, so traditionally it applied to the CD bootlegging factories.

In the digital domain, those operating unlicensed download or streaming platforms for profit might fall into this category too. Though, as seen in countless cases over the last fifteen years, it may be less clear cut when the online operator facilitates rather than undertakes the infringing activity. Meanwhile in the US, even when infringement is considered a criminal matter, there has been a distinction between download and streaming set-ups.

The distinction stems from how copyright law defines streaming, which has been a moot point since streaming services started to go mainstream. American criminal law, it seems, deems that streaming services exploit the ‘performance right’ of the copyright, rather than the true copy or mechanical right, which download stores undeniably utilise. Of course, mechanical copies do also occur in the streaming process, albeit temporarily.

Anyway, US copyright law treats the infringement of performance rights as only a misdemeanour, but mechanical rights as a felony. However, as sites selling advertising and subscriptions around infringing streaming content become a major issue for the copyright industries, Bitkower reckons the more serious level of crime should be applied to streaming as well.

Or so he told the House Judiciary Committee in Washington last week, according to Billboard.

Join CMU live at The Roundhouse tomorrow night

Business News Education & Events Top Stories

The biggest news stories in the music industry month just gone will be discussed live by CMU Editor Andy Malt and a panel of guests tomorrow night.

Taking place at The Roundhouse in London, producer Dan Le Sac, Sentric Music’s Simon Pursehouse and Digital Music Trends host Andrea Leonelli will discuss topics such as the indie labels’ Fair Digital Deals Declaration, the collapse of the Global Rights Database, Vulfpeck’s silent album scoring $20,000 from Spotify and more.

Malt says: “It’s been yet another eventful month in the music industry, and we’ve got a great panel to discuss it all. Once again, all my guests come from very different areas of the industry, which should make for some great debate”.

Highlights of the event will be available as a podcast latest this week, but to hear the full discussion and have a say yourself, you’ll need to join us live at The Roundhouse at 7.30pm tomorrow night.

Tickets are available now for £10 – or £5 to CMU Digest subscribers (check last Friday’s email from your discount code). Book here now.

Peter Sunde says prison bosses must let him speak to file-sharing priest

Business News Digital Legal

So, Peter Sunde, one time spokesman for The Pirate Bay, which he co-founded, has found another reason to complain about his current incarceration, this time on religious grounds. Well, quasi-religious grounds anywhere but Sweden, which, alas, is where he’s currently locked up.

As much previously reported, Sunde is currently in jail after being found guilty of enabling rampant copyright infringement, through his involvement in the Bay, in the Swedish courts back in 2009. He evaded prison for a while by pursuing every possible appeals option, and once those were exhausted simply by avoiding Sweden. But then earlier this year Swedish police caught up with him in the country and threw him in the slammer.

Sunde has previously complained that the prison he’s in, the mid-level security facility Västervik Norra, is too severe given the nature of his crime. Which is probably true, though given the lengths he went to in order to avoid his jail time, perhaps the powers that be fear there is a risk Sunde would try to flee a low-security prison.

His latest complaint, though, relates to the prison authority’s inability to arrange a meeting between him and a representative of the Church Of Kopimism, which is a club for fans of free Lady Gaga tracks and ‘Glee’ downloads masquerading as a religion. Except in Sweden it has actually been recognised as a religious group, meaning Sunde’s demands to liaise with a rep from the ‘church’ are legit.

Prison bosses say they don’t have a minister from Sunde’s church on hand to meet him, but he’s bounced back with a demand that they set up a Skype call with one instead. According to Torrentfreak, he wrote in a letter to the authorities: “The board of spiritual care doesn’t have any representative for the Kopimist faith with whom they cooperate and therefore the Prison And Probation Service should provide permission for electronic contact with representatives from the Kopimist faith to believers”.

It’s not clear how genuine Sunde is being in these prison correspondences, or whether he’s just playing with the system, he having been known to issue rather playful statements during his stint as the Bay’s media man. Either way, he’s ensuring nothing remains dull about the ongoing Pirate Bay saga.

Sony proposes settlement to PSN hack litigation

Business News Digital Legal

Remember that time when Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked in a major way? Remember? Go on, that time. Yeah, that’s right, that time.

Anyway, the hack that forced the PSN and Sony’s streaming music platform offline, as hackers helped themselves to the personal information of the service’s customers, occurred back in 2011. But litigation relating to the downtime data grab – which didn’t include credit card numbers – is ongoing.

And last week Sony proposed a $15 million settlement to the class action lawsuit that emerged from the various bits of litigation against Sony over the hack.

According to The Register, the firm will mainly compensate affected customers with freebies, including a free game from a list of fourteen, three months of the PlayStation Plus service gratis and, for those locked out of what is now Music Unlimited during the hack, a month’s free membership. Though those who can prove that personal information such as passwords was stolen during the hacking may also be eligible for a cash payment of up to $2500.

There will be some limits on how many people can claim the freebies and cash, and perhaps most importantly Sony will not specifically accept any responsibility for the collapse of their gaming and entertainment network, presumably to prevent any further litigation being pursued citing this settlement as precedent.

A US judge will now have to approve the proposed settlement before any customers who qualify under the terms of the original class action can claim their free stuff.

Kanye West wins Coinye West case by default

Business News Digital Legal

So, a postscript to the short-lived Coinye West story from the start of the year, when a bunch of pranksters announced they were launching a new Bitcoin-style virtual currency that lightly mocked Mr Kanye West.

He promptly called in his lawyers, who issued a cease and desist, and, after a brief dabbling with an alternative name and logo, Coinye West went offline. But the litigation West’s lawyers filed continued.

And last week a judge ruled in West’s favour by default, because only four of the defendants listed on the lawsuit ever responded, and those all reached out-of-court settlements and were removed from the litigation. Quite what this now means for the ten other defendants who failed to make a case isn’t clear.

Ryan Tedder and Pharrell sign to Azoff’s new performing rights agency

Business News Labels & Publishers

So, let’s throw this into the ongoing US collective licensing debate shall we?

It’s emerged that both Ryan Tedder and Pharrell Williams have signed up to a new performing rights body called Global Music Rights, which is part of the new entertainment company set up by one time Live Nation chief Irving Azoff.

And, according to a Billboard report, it seems that by allying with GMR, Tedder and Williams will leave collecting society ASCAP, instead allowing Azoff’s new agency to represent them in the performance right licensing game.

GMR will presumably operate a little like SESAC, the smallest of the performing right organisations in the US which, unlike BMI and ASCAP, is a commercial venture. Like SESAC, it seems likely GMR will sign up a small number of significant pop songwriters, making it hard for broadcasters and other public performance licensees not to sign up for a licence, in order to utilise a small but important catalogue of songs.

Most of the artists managed by Azoff’s own management agency are expected to participate in GMR, though Tedder and Williams are with Azoff’s former business for management, Live Nation’s Front Line.

Quite how GMR will work, licence and collect isn’t entirely clear just yet. Though its launch comes at a time when collective licensing in America is up for review, with rights owners reckoning the rules governing BMI and ASCAP are outdated, and some threatening to withdraw from the collecting societies completely if the Department Of Justice doesn’t change the rules. Though the UK management community has questioned whether that is really an option.

New bosses for Universal’s UK catalogue division

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

“When is Universal UK going to get round to promoting Richard Hinkley and David Rowe to the roles of joint MDs of Universal Music Catalogue”, I think we’ve all asked at some point these past few years. Well, people, the time is now. Right now. This very minute. Well, 1 Sep. Though they’re announcing it right now.

“But what the hell”, you’re now asking. “What about the marvellous Karen Simmonds who’s been running Universal Music Catalogue so well these past few years?” Though I’m not sure that concern is genuine, given how keen you were for Hinkley and Rowe to be promoted in the last paragraph.

But fear not, Simmonds has chosen to stand down and take a break from this big bad business of sound. Says Simmonds to CMU: “I am sad to leave behind so many wonderful people, particularly at such an exciting time for the business. But equally, I’m looking forward to my new life which for the first time in many years won’t be dictated by a release schedule!”

And here’s Universal UK big cheese David Joseph with the finale quote you’ll probably all ignore: “Anyone who knows Karen knows that music is not her only passion and it isn’t the biggest surprise that the wilds of western Wales have lured her away from us. Karen has made an immeasurable contribution to our business and we will miss her greatly. Karen built an exceptional team at UMC and we are fortunate that she is handing over to two such able successors as Richard Hinkley and David Rowe”.

Universal’s Globe announces new composer alliance for ad sector

Business News Labels & Publishers

A new venture from Universal Music UK’s content and commercial partnership division Globe is set to “redefine the creation of music for advertising”. Which is exciting isn’t it? You’re all excited right? So exciting.

Basically Globe is putting together a team of leading composers, including David Arnold, Ilan Eshkeri, Joby Talbot and Dickon Hinchcliffe, and offering their music making services to the advertising sector, utilising the Globe sync team’s ad agency relationships. Collaborations with artists signed to Universal UK labels and record releases via the mega major’s Decca division are also expected to emerge from the new venture. Good times.

Says Globe boss Marc Robinson: “We are bringing the very best film composers into this space with the full support and release mechanism of a label. As the creative bar is being raised in advertising and branded content, we want to ensure we can deliver across all areas of recorded music. Having worked across and released some of the UK films best score soundtracks, Decca is the perfect home to also release the music that would accompany these campaigns”.

Ozzy Osbourne releasing mad solo compilation

Artist News Releases

The Dark Lord Ozzy Osbourne is to cap off a life in rock with a life-in-rock-spanning compilation (that’s solo, not Sabbath) titled ‘Memoirs Of A Madman’, which I’m still disappointed isn’t a book.

I’m also disappointed that it doesn’t have ‘Changes’, his collaboration with offspring Kelly, on it. Still, what it does have is the following, startling, tracklisting:

Crazy Train
Mr Crowley
Flying High Again
Over The Mountain
Bark At The Moon
The Ultimate Sin
Miracle Man
No More Tears (edit)
Mama, I’m Coming Home
Road To Nowhere
Perry Mason
I Just Want You
Gets Me Through
Dreamer
I Don’t Wanna Stop
Life Won’t Wait
Let Me Hear You Scream

A nod (clearly) to Mr O’s 1981 LP ‘Diary Of A Madman’, ‘Memoirs’ is to be released in various combinations, both vinyl and not, on 6 Oct, nicely in time to act as the score to many a trick-or-treating trip/seance/Satantic sacrificial party. How nice.

This is a trailer to go with the thing

Light In The Attic releasing ‘lost’ Lewis LP

Artist News Releases

Light In The Attic, a label specialising in ‘Sugarman’-style subradar or ‘lost’ vinyl, has named its latest release as ‘Romantic Times’, the ‘lost’ 1985 LP by fame-evading alt-pop artist Lewis, seen here as his (potentially not real) alias Lewis Baloue.

It’s the follow-on to Lewis’s first disc, 1983’s privately-pressed ‘L’Amour’, which LITA released earlier this year, promising to pay royalties from sales to anyone able to prove they were the real Lewis. No one came forward.

‘Romantic Times’ will arrive, mixed and mastered via a sealed (and super-rare) original copy, on 17 Nov. The few details there are to find re Lewis, and the LP, are here and here.

And here, as features on Lewis’s ‘L’amour’, is ‘Cool Night In Paris’:

Franz Ferdinand tell Late Night Tales via new mix LP

Artist News Releases

Oh look, it’s art-rock Archdukes Franz Ferdinand, back after a slight gap, and bearing news of a new compilation they’ve made as part of the ‘Late Night Tales’ series. It’s a pretty fine selection, as it happens, featuring a mix of tracks by the likes of R Stevie Moore, Can, Serge Gainsbourg, Oneohtrix Point Never and the CMU approved Liminanas.

Along rarer lines are Carrie Cleveland’s DIY take on go-to Northern Soul classic ‘Love Will Set You Free’, a trippy interpretation of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ by Cologne techno mensch Justus Köhncke, and, as is Late Night Tales tradition, a special commission by hosts Franz Ferdinand, who’ve done a cover of Jonathan Halper’s anti-hit ‘Leaving My Old Life Behind’.

And as a finale, Alex Kapranos reads a short story he’s written titled ‘Defibrillator’.

First, mind, here’s FF’s Paul Thompson with a not-so-short intro to the origins of the mix: “When we first got the band together I made Alex a tape for his car, an old Merc estate that we spent a lot of time in, going to and from rehearsal spaces and gigs. All of our gear and the four of us could (almost) comfortably fit inside”.

He continued: “It was all stuff I was listening to at the time, Dr Alimantado, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Plaid, Johnny Dangerous amongst others. An eclectic mix or completely random and disjointed depending on your outlook, it was representative of all our individual idiosyncrasies that merged to form the sound of the band, although I wasn’t aware of this at the time”.

And continued: “With this mix we tried to a similar thing, all of us selected the tunes, based on what we listen to on tour together and at home alone, any sustained moods or flows that occur are purely accidental”

And continued: “Oh yeah, the Merc estate got totalled and towed away with the tape still in the player”.

Finally, stand by for a sampler of all 20 tracks on the compilation, and a list of those tracks, aka a tracklisting, last of all.

Franz Ferdinand – Leaving My Old Life Behind
R Stevie Moore – I’m Only Sleeping
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Eighteen Is Over The Hill
Sandy Nelson – Let There Be Drums
Life Without Buildings – New Town
Can – Connection
The Liminanas – The Darkside
Ian Dury – Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 3
Disco Dub Band – For The Love Of Money
Zapp – More Bounce To The Ounce
Serge Gainsbourg – Requiem Pour Un Con
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – Disco Devil
James Brown – King Heroin
Carrie Cleveland – Love Will Set You Free
Paul McCartney & Wings – Nineteen Hundred & Eighty Five
Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead
Oneohtrix Point Never – Zebra
Justus Köhncke – Old Man
American Spring – Sweet Mountain
Alex Kapranos – Defibrillator (Spoken Word)

Against Me! to headline winter shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Rock nonconformists Against Me! have confirmed the listings for a big ol live trip they’re taking come November. The icing on the cake of the year in which the band released their biggest-selling LP yet, ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’, the British headline shows go like this:

13 Nov: Bristol, Bierkeller
14 Nov: Birmingham, Academy 2
15 Nov: Glasgow, King Tut’s
16 Nov: Leeds, Cockpit
17 Nov: Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
18 Nov: Manchester, Academy 2
19 Nov: London, Electric Ballroom

Whilst tickets to the dates go on sale 28 Jul, this clip for Against Me!’s new single ‘Drinking With The Jocks’ is free to view right away:

Approved: Lost Midas

CMU Approved

Lost Midas is the moniker for Boston born Jason Trikakis, now a resident of LA, who releases his debut LP on Tru Thoughts, ‘Off The Course’, this week. As a drummer leaning towards hip hop, he has now turned producer, citing as influences artists as varied as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Claude Debussy, Boards Of Canada and J Dilla.

‘Off The Course’ is meant to be a sonic guided tour of his home city since 2011. How this fits is perhaps slightly obtuse, but meanings and mantras aside, this is a well-crafted slab of beat heavy music with lush synth layering. He covers bases from dancefloor to almost slightly art house pop, but with certain aplomb.

On the harder side of the album, ‘Dream Of Me’ shows some frantic beats, and ‘It Is’ brings you back to London’s broken beat scene down at The Co-Op. But there are also the softer options of the singles, ‘Head Games’ and ‘Love Undone’.

It’s a great first offering, Trikakis is definitely an artist to keep an eye on. Check out this live studio version of new single ‘Head Games’, which features vocals from Audris:

Stop the N-Dubz reunion rumours, says Fazer

And Finally Artist News

So, you may have seen reports lately that made claims about an N-Dubz reunion. It has been said that they’ll “start recording in the second half of next year” and that they will “definitely be writing new material”. I hope you weren’t too excited, because none of that is true.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Fazer from the group said of the reunion last week: “Nah, that’s not in the question right now, that’s just rumours. There’s been no conversations between the three of us about reforming anything at the moment. I’m fully focused on my solo stuff right now and that’s all that matters”.

So that’s that. You shouldn’t trust whoever said those things about the reunion. Who was that again? Oh yeah, it was that Fazer from N-Dubz. Well, unless the Daily Mail was making it up.

Live Nation reportedly considering overhaul of management assets

Business News Live Business Top Stories

Rumour has it Live Nation will restructure its artist management business, with Madonna and U2 manager Guy Oseary set to head up a more cohesive new division.

As previously reported, late last year Oseary merged his management firm with that of long-term U2 manager Paul McGuinness, with the former running the shop and the latter taking more of a backseat role. At the same time the merger was confirmed it was announced that the new talent management venture was allied to Live Nation.

The live music major is a prolific player in the artist management space through its loosely grouped Artist Nation division. The core of that business came with the Ticketmaster acquisition, the ticketing firm having previously acquired Irving Azoff’s Front Line management company. Various other deals over the years mean a number of other management agencies around the world are also owned, part-owned or linked to the live firm.

Though it can be tricky working out exactly which agencies are affiliated with the company, because the Artist Nation side of Live Nation, originally set up to manage the firm’s mega-bucks 360 degree partnerships with Jay-Z, Madonna, Shakira and Nickelback, became something of a miscellaneous branch of the company, holding its various interests in management and other artist service businesses.

According to HitsDailyDouble, Live Nation now plans to tidy up its management assets, with Oseary at the top of a new division. How integrated that division will be remains to be seen; it’s not clear if Live Nation Management will then sign artists directly, or if it will be more of a formalised parent company sitting above the group’s existing management agencies, which would continue to operate autonomously. Either way, it is thought the management side of Live Nation’s Jay-Z joint venture Roc Nation would remain separate.

A number of other senior artist managers are said to be involved in the restructuring, include Ron Laffitte, Larry Rudolph and Gee Roberson, probably best known for managing Pharrell, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj respectively. And HDD also reports that, in addition to absorbing management companies already owned or part-owned by Live Nation, Oseary’s new division may be on the look out for some new strategic acquisitions too.

Tulisa found guilty over blogger assault

Artist News Legal

You win some, you lose some, I guess. Following the spectacular collapse of the drugs case against Tulisa Contostavlos earlier this week, after a judge questioned the testimony of the Sun journalist whose sting had led to the drugs charges, the N-Dubz star has not faired so well in her other court dealings.

As previously reported, celebrity blogger Vas J Morgan claimed that Contostavlos attacked him while in a “drunken and angry state” as he was leaving last year’s V Festival. Her assistant Gareth Varey was also accused of using threatening behaviour.

The N-Dubber said that Morgan had a vendetta against her relating to a time she’d had him removed from the VIP area of a London club, while her lawyers questioned whether the blogger had been injured at all, because the main evidence was since deleted photographs.

But it seems that the judge found Morgan’s case more convincing, with Contostavlos found guilty this morning and ordered to pay at £200 fine. Varey though, last seen apologising for claiming to Sun hacks he knew Simon Cowell was gay, was cleared of his charges.

Chubby Checker settles with HP over the Chubby Checker

Brands & Merch Business News Legal

Chubby Checker has settled with Hewlett-Packard in the previously reported dispute over the IT firm selling, for a short-time, a penis size estimating app in its proprietary app store.

The Chubby Checker – as in the app, not ‘The Twist’ star – estimated penis size based on shoe size, a useless methodology which might be why the app was reportedly only downloaded 84 times before a cease and desist from Chubby Checker – ‘The Twist’ star, not the dick app – resulted in it being removed from sale.

Nevertheless, Checker sued for mega-bucks, claiming the app had resulted in “irreparable damage and harm” to his reputation and brand. It seemed like an ambitious lawsuit from the start, though it was interesting in that it tested whether an app store operator could be liable for infringements by the app makers whose products it sells.

But no court hearing will now take place as the two parties have reached an undisclosed settlement, crucially without HP accepting any liability, thus ensuring no informal precedent is set.

Duran Duran issue statement on fanclub lawsuit

Business News Legal

Duran Duran have issued a statement regarding their lawsuit against WorldWide Fan Clubs, the company which had, until recently, been running its official fanclub.

The band said via their website: “Duran Duran value and respect their many fans around the world and feel compelled to correct the media’s misrepresentation of its lawsuit against Worldwide Fan Clubs, Inc. The band emphatically states that the lawsuit is not against its loyal fans but simply seeks to protect its rights against the company that formerly managed its fan club”.

I don’t think anyone did say they were suing their fans. Why would they do that? Sure, most headlines said that the band were suing “their fanclub”, but it would be quite a stretch to assume that meant that they were taking its members to count.

As previously reported, the band are suing WorldWide for breach of contract, accusing the company of failing to provide proper accounts and not paying the full 75% of profits to the band, as agreed when they partnered in 2010.

The statement from the band added: “Duran Duran have now brought their official fan community in-house and continue to make every effort to provide the highest level of service”.

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 11:00 | By Andy Malt

Indie label digital rights rep Merlin has announced it is lowering its administration fees on commercial deals by 17% this year, following a 50% reduction last year.

READ MORE ABOUT: Merlin

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:59 | By Andy Malt

Ticketing firm Eventbrite has announced Laurent Sellier as its new Vice President Of Product. Sellier has previously worked for Amazon and most recently Twitter.

READ MORE ABOUT: Eventbrite | Laurent Sellier

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:58 | By Chris Cooke

It’s all about the curation, isn’t it? Apple has reportedly made another purchase to ramp up its curated content services, having bought the Beats business earlier this year, in no small part to take control of the curation-heavy Beats streaming music set-up.

READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | iTunes | Swell

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:57 | By Andy Malt

Music Producers Guild founder Bob Hine has died, the trade body announced yesterday. He had been receiving treatment for cancer.

READ MORE ABOUT: Bob Hine | Music Producers Guild (MPG)

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:56 | By Aly Barchi

New kids on the tender-aged metal block Unlocking The Truth have added a new film, tracing their rapid rise to fame, to their empire.

READ MORE ABOUT: Unlocking The Truth

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:55 | By Aly Barchi

The first ever collection of lyrics by Mr Van ‘the man’ Morrison is hitting book shops later this year. Or rather it’s doing so in various forms, at various oft-high prices. More on that in a bit.

READ MORE ABOUT: Van Morrison

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:54 | By Andy Malt

Pulled Apart By Horses will release their third album, an album that is called ‘Blood’, on 1 Sep. It’ll be released by Sony/RED.

READ MORE ABOUT: Pulled Apart By Horses

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:53 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Azealia Banks

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:52 | By Aly Barchi

Avant-garde pop lady Mlle Julia Holter is popping over to the Barbican in London for a special orchestral show featuring Berlin ensemble s t a r g a z e, who play in the style of this.

READ MORE ABOUT: Julia Holter

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:51 | By Aly Barchi

Punk/metal/rock magazine Big Cheese is laying on a totally grate (soz) triad of bands on its 2014 UK tour so… deal with it.

READ MORE ABOUT: Allusondrugs | Big Cheese | Lonely The Brave | Marmozets

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:51 | By Paul Vig

Brooklyn resident Drew Lustman is FaltyDL. Heavily influenced by acid house and breakbeat, his 2011 album ‘You Stand Uncertain’ is his benchmark work, and while the 2012 release ‘Hardcourage’ was less good, Lustman is back on form with ‘In The Wild’.

READ MORE ABOUT: FaltyDL

Tuesday 29 July 2014, 10:49 | By Andy Malt

Damon Albarn played to an audience of 50 at Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo last week. Sadly, he couldn’t pull in quite enough humans, so the numbers were made up by a couple of androids.

READ MORE ABOUT: Damon Albarn

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:53 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: David Bitkower | US Department Of Justice

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:52 | By CMU Editorial

The biggest news stories in the music industry month just gone will be discussed live by CMU Editor Andy Malt and a panel of guests tomorrow night.

READ MORE ABOUT: Andrea Leonelli | Andy Malt | CMU Podcast | Dan Le Sac | Simon Pursehouse | The Roundhouse

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:51 | By Chris Cooke

So, Peter Sunde, one time spokesman for The Pirate Bay, which he co-founded, has found another reason to complain about his current incarceration, this time on religious grounds. Well, quasi-religious grounds anywhere but Sweden, which, alas, is where he’s currently locked up.

READ MORE ABOUT: Peter Sunde | The Pirate Bay

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:50 | By Chris Cooke

Remember that time when Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked in a major way? Remember? Go on, that time. Yeah, that’s right, that time.

READ MORE ABOUT: PlayStation Network | Sony Corp

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:49 | By Chris Cooke

So, a postscript to the short-lived Coinye West story from the start of the year, when a bunch of pranksters announced they were launching a new Bitcoin-style virtual currency that lightly mocked Mr Kanye West.

READ MORE ABOUT: Coinye West | Kanye West

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:48 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Global Music Rights (GMR) | Irving Azoff | Pharrell Williams | Ryan Tedder

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:47 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: David Rowe | Karen Simmonds | Richard Hinkley | Universal Music

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:46 | By Chris Cooke

A new venture from Universal Music UK’s content and commercial partnership division Globe is set to “redefine the creation of music for advertising”. Which is exciting isn’t it? You’re all excited right? So exciting.

READ MORE ABOUT: Globe | Universal Music

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:45 | By Aly Barchi

The Dark Lord Ozzy Osbourne is to cap off a life in rock with a life-in-rock-spanning compilation (that’s solo, not Sabbath) titled ‘Memoirs Of A Madman’, which I’m still disappointed isn’t a book.

READ MORE ABOUT: Ozzy Osbourne

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:44 | By Aly Barchi

Light In The Attic, a label specialising in ‘Sugarman’-style subradar or ‘lost’ vinyl, has named its latest release as ‘Romantic Times’, the ‘lost’ 1985 LP by fame-evading alt-pop artist Lewis, seen here as his (potentially not real) alias Lewis Baloue.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lewis | Light In The Attic

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:43 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Franz Ferdinand | Late Night Tales

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:42 | By Aly Barchi

Rock nonconformists Against Me! have confirmed the listings for a big ol live trip they’re taking come November. The icing on the cake of the year in which the band released their biggest-selling LP yet, ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’, the British headline shows go like this:

READ MORE ABOUT: Against Me!

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:41 | By Paul Vig

READ MORE ABOUT: Lost Midas

Monday 28 July 2014, 10:41 | By Andy Malt

So, you may have seen reports lately that made claims about an N-Dubz reunion. It has been said that they’ll “start recording in the second half of next year” and that they will “definitely be writing new material”. I hope you weren’t too excited, because none of that is true.

READ MORE ABOUT: Fazer | N-Dubz

Friday 25 July 2014, 13:04 | By Chris Cooke

Rumour has it Live Nation will restructure its artist management business, with Madonna and U2 manager Guy Oseary set to head up a more cohesive new division.

READ MORE ABOUT: Artist Nation | Guy Oseary | Live Nation

Friday 25 July 2014, 13:03 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Tulisa Contostavlos | Vas J Morgan

Friday 25 July 2014, 13:02 | By Chris Cooke

Chubby Checker has settled with Hewlett-Packard in the previously reported dispute over the IT firm selling, for a short-time, a penis size estimating app in its proprietary app store.

READ MORE ABOUT: Chubby Checker | Hewlett-Packard