Friday 26 September 2014, 11:53 | By Andy Malt

Pornhub launches record label, songwriting competition

Business News Labels & Publishers

So, Pornhub’s latest, highly successful ruse to get publications outside the adult entertainment industry to write about it is to launch a record label and song competition. And look, even I’m writing about it, like a big idiot.

The company yesterday launched the Pornhub Song Search Contest, which is apparently a step towards formalising the use of its website as a means of showcasing music videos. Everyone from FaltyDL to Xiu Xiu has used the service to preview new videos – some SFW, some… not. Coolio also hooked up with the company recently to create and premiere his new song, ‘Take It To The Hub’.

Although all songs penned for the competition must, like Coolio’s, be Pornhub-themed, the company’s Vice President Corey Price insists via Billboard that “we’re looking for acts that aren’t necessarily porn-focused. We’re an ad-based network looking for content that appeals to our demographic. Mature lyrics for an adult audience; no boybands or teen pop, for instance”.

The winner of the competition will win $5000 and assistance making a video for their song, which is then guaranteed at least 500,000 views on the website. However, they won’t necessarily be granted a place on the new record label, which is currently little more than a logo on a web page and a dream.

“A&R is a work in progress”, Pornhub PR guy Matt Blake tells Billboard. “Right now it’s all about forming relationships and understanding how this all works. We’re focused on distributing through the platform and digital sales”.

So, there you go. We’ve tried everything else, so now it’s porn’s turn to ‘The Saviour Of The Music Industry’.

Viagogo appoints new music partnership chief

Business News Industry People Live Business

Viagogo, the “world’s largest ticket marketplace” says this here press release, so Toutsville Central then, has a brand new exec to oversee music partnerships worldwide, and that new exec is Carole MacDonald, formerly off of EMI.

Says MacDonald: “Viagogo is pioneering new ways to do things in music that can benefit everybody. There are valuable opportunities for rights owners, management and talent and I will be discussing these in my meetings with the industry over the coming months”.

Meanwhile the ticketing platform’s Head Of Business Development Cris Miller added: “We value our partnerships with the music industry and Carole will be developing both our existing partnerships and new opportunities. We’re delighted to have her on board and look forward to forging even closer working relationships with the industry”.

The live sector and artist community has a love/hate relationship with the secondary ticketing market, of course. Some reckoning the resale of tickets should be banned, highly regulated or made impossible through e-ticketing, while others have embraced platforms like Viagogo, EDM powerhouse SFX being one of the most recent live music players to announce a formal alliance with the secondary ticketing company.

Shazam losses up as it moves into other domains

Business News Digital

Shazam posted losses of £5.8 million for the second half of 2013, compared to losses of just under £2 million for the previous twelve months.

Analysing the figures, Music Ally notes that from July 2012 to June 2013 the music identification tech provider reported revenues of £31 million, with the £2 million losses. But for the second half of 2013, while six month revenues were in line with the previous year at £16.9 million, losses were significantly up pro rata.

It’s no secret that Shazam, an early player in music apps, has been pursing ambitious growth in the last couple of years, most notably into the TV and advertising domain, and therefore it’s not entirely surprising losses are rising while revenues stay constant.

That revenues were pretty much level in the second half of 2013 compared to the first, despite the service seemingly continuing to grow its user base, may be a sign that one of the firm’s key revenue streams to date, the small commission it makes when tracks identified by its app are then bought from iTunes, is levelling out, in line with the wider download market.

Of course, given that download income looks likely to slide in the coming years – and given that the mechanic for earning by sending users to listen to tracks on a streaming service of their choice is less clear – Shazam’s move into other domains which could open up other revenues is probably a sound one. Even if it’s costly in the short term.

Will.i.am reveals his car, didn’t know ex-BFF Cheryl was even married

Brands & Merch Business News

Futuristic pop super-genius, tastemaking brand architect and tireless entrepreneur Will.i.am showed the new Lexus he’d ‘designed’ to the world for the first time on Wednesday night. Taking place in Paris, the big reveal revealed… well, an expensive silver car essentially.

Engineered by i.am and a team of real mechanics to appeal to “younger, urban and more design-oriented customers”, the snappily-titled NX 200t F SPORT has cool features like “the ability to capture panoramic photographs and video footage whilst driving”, which surely won’t distract anyone from the task of actually driving. There are additional cool features I won’t detail right now because, hey, this isn’t a car advert.

So anyway, does anyone care what Will.i.am had to say on joining Lexus in its inexplicably-named ‘Striking Angles’ promo initiative? Anyone at all?

Well he said this: “When I found out Lexus wanted me to be involved in the ‘Striking Angles’ campaign, my first thought was, can I design a car with you? I’m honoured to be launching my bespoke Lexus NX F SPORT in Paris – this car is super fresh and incorporates my personal style. My point of view is the best kind of design will encourage other people to interpret that design”.

In other news, Will was so caught up with designing his big silver camera-car that he didn’t realise his one-time best friend and collaborator Cheryl Tweedy-Cole-Fernandez-Versini had married again. Still, as he said this week via the Daily Mail, he nevertheless thinks it’s “dope” that she and that French man are happily wed.

Documentary about proto-punk band Death receives London premiere

Artist News Education & Events

The very first Doc N Roll music documentary film festival opened last night with the London premiere of ‘A Band Called Death’ – the tale of an all-black proto-punk band formed by three brothers in Detroit in 1973.

The film begins with the band’s formation, when they were inspired to stop playing funk and switch to rock after seeing The Who perform live. Then follows years of rejection, for playing fast and loud rock n roll in Motown’s city, for being black, and (perhaps most of all) for being called Death – though when Arista boss Clive Davis offered the band a lucrative record deal on the condition that they choose another moniker, it was they who did the rejecting.

They forged ahead for several years, but the band eventually ground to a halt. Two of the brothers, Dannis and Bobby Hackney, formed a reasonably successful reggae band and Death was largely forgotten about – to the point that their children had no idea the band had ever existed – until 30 years later they discovered that their one single release had become a sought after record, selling for as much as $800 a time.

Appearing at a post-screening Q&A, via Skype from Vermont, Bobby told the audience: “At that time Dannis and I were kind of like deer in the headlights. You’ve gotta realise, in 2007 we had been playing reggae music for almost 20 years and we had got to the point where we were thinking, ‘What are we gonna do now?’ And then in 2008 we find out that this whole ‘Death discovery’ has taken place not only in America but in other parts of the world”.

Sadly, his other brother (and band leader) David did not live to see Death finally achieve success – Drag City releasing their debut album, ‘For All The World To See’, 35 years after it was recorded.

Commenting on the making of the film, and the emotions making it brought up for the two surviving band members, Bobby said: “We didn’t know where it was going. We thought [what became the film] was going to be a video – maybe a music video, maybe something for public access. Then, as we got deeper into the movie, we really started to have those feelings that we were stepping outside of ourselves. Some of the things that we had to recall were some painful things, and some of them were very, very joyous things too”.

He added that until that time, the brothers had believed that “Death is gonna be one of the greatest rock n roll stories that only we know about”.

Listen to an interview with Doc N Roll Festival Director Colm Forde about the festival and ‘A Band Called Death’ (courtesy of CMU’s sister magazine This Week London) here, and watch a trailer for the film here:

Wiley confirms LP (again)

Artist News Releases

That silly billy Wiley has revealed the first single from his “final solo” (he claimed yesterday) LP ‘Snakes And Ladders’, the album which he decided to bin and then totally re-record earlier this year. It still doesn’t have a release date yet though, so… sorry.

But there is a video for the track, which is titled ‘On A Level’. The clip is directed by Wiley’s grime peer Skepta, and features scenes like this, lots of crew love, and loads of shots of what may or may not be Wiley’s actual porch.

Watch it now:

CMU’s One Liners: Amazon, MIDEM, Neil Young and more

Artist News Business News Digital Education & Events Industry People One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Urban Outfitters is the “number one seller” of vinyl in the world according to… well, Urban Outfitters mainly. I suppose with over 400 stores worldwide, the company has way more shops than any other vinyl seller I can think of. It’s hard to work out how many units it sells, but “number one seller” could just mean highest number of vinyl aisles.

• Amazon’s VP of Digital Music And Video in the US, Bill Carr, is to leave the company by the year’s end. A rep for Carr, who joined the Amazon fam fifteen years ago, has told the WSJ that he has “other plans” but “nothing to share now”.

• Danae Ringelmann, co-founder of crowdfunding site Indiegogo, is going to give the first keynote speech at next year’s France-based music biz tradeshow MIDEM. And guess what, she’s going to talk all-things crowdfunding. Duh.

• Eligible singleton Neil Young has announced an LP titled ‘Storeytone’, which is supposed to come out in November. It has him singing against a big old 92-piece orchestra; talking of which, this is a just-shared orchestral take of Young’s world-saving song ‘Who’s Gonna Stand Up’, which won’t go on ‘Storeytone’.

• Angel Haze has added several rapped verses to a new JRMX remix of The Saturdays’ latest single ‘808’ because, why not? Stream it here.

• The brilliant Jon Hopkins has detailed a new EP that ‘reinterprets’ tracks from his 2013 LP ‘Immunity’. ‘Asleep Versions’ will arrive on 10 Nov, and here is a trailer teasing its contents.

• Punks-on-the-up Sleaford Mods have a new Chris Tarrant-inspired EP on the way, titled ‘Tiswas’. It consists of four new studio tracks called ‘Bunch Of Cunts’, ‘The Mail Don’t Fail’, ‘The Demon’ and ‘6 Horseman (The Brixtons)’ plus title song ‘Tiswas’, which was originally on the band’s ‘Divide And Exit’ LP. Cop it via Invada Records on 24 Nov.

CMU Beef Of The Week #225: Brody Dalle v Jennifer Lopez & Iggy Azalea

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

It’s a good thing that we’re still talking about the problem of sexism and misogyny in music. Definitely. Though it’s a bit depressing that the starting point for these conversations generally remains the same. Music videos, eh? What are they like?

The latest music video to spark off a big old hoo-hah is a remix of ‘Booty’ by Jennifer Lopez, which replaces rap farmer Pitbull with the multi-accented Iggy Azalea. The central premise of the song is that there is a woman in a club who has somehow procured a “big booty”, and that that this is something that an unnamed man would like to obtain. In the original, that man turns out to be Pitbull, who states that he would like to put the booty in his car.

With Pitbull out of the picture, the video for the new version of the track was released last week, featuring the scantily-clad Lopez and Azelea ensuring that the world knows that they are both the owners of buttocks. The video is pretty forensic in its research of this fact.

And, hey, guess what? Some people thought that wasn’t OK. Punk musician Brody Dalle was one such person. Upon seeing the video, she tweeted: “I think J-Lo and Iggy Azalea have lost their heads up each other’s big butts. I’m trying to understand what the point of their horrendous video is but I can’t find one. The song is a piece of crap that was written by waaay too many people, including a well know woman beater [Chris Brown]”.

That is, of course, her opinion. And it’s not one shared by everyone. Some people think it’s just a fun song. Others think that it’s empowering for women. And one fan tweeted Dalle to tell her that she had “inspired lots of girl hate and slut and body shaming” with her tweets on the subject.

Switching to Facebook to respond, Dalle began: “Slut shaming? Body shaming? Girl hating? Please don’t assign incorrect motives to my tweets. It is you who is implying they are ‘sluts’, not me. The definition for slut is ‘a woman who has many casual partners’. Since when did being scantily-clad come to mean having many casual partners?”

She continued: “I don’t like the word slut, I don’t use the word slut, that word is not in my vernacular. If a woman has many casual partners, it is none of my business. I have absolutely no problem with what women do with their bodies in their private lives. Women should feel [as] free as men do to sleep with whomever they want to as long as it’s consensual and with out being labeled a slut. That would be equality (a girl can dream). The trendy term ‘slut shaming’ is inadvertently calling scantily-dressed women ‘sluts’. We should all stop using it”.

She added that her real problem was “the conflicting message [the video is] sending to our impressionable young girls and boys”, saying: “How are the lyrics ‘give him what he asks for’ empowering to women? How? How is spreading your bottom apart and singing ‘give him what he asks for’ empowering at all?”

It’s probably worth noting that the lyric specifically informs women that they should “give him what he asks for” because it is his birthday. Or maybe it’s not worth noting. Let’s move on.

Continuing on the subject of empowerment, Dalle writes: “J-Lo and Iggy may feel empowered by their bodies and that’s fine, their bodies ARE powerful, beautiful and life giving. But they are so much more than just their bodies. They may feel that using their bodies is the only currency they have in order to stay popular and on the top. It has become a contest of who gets the most hits on YouTube and Vevo and who can take it the furthest, not about the quality of their songs and the messages they are sending. And why? To make lots of money and to line the pockets of the big machines, regardless of who that affects”.

Yay capitalism! Dalle added that it was “ludicrous” to suggest that she shouldn’t voice an opinion on something she strongly believes in. And of course that works both ways. So I’m sure everyone will be pleased to learn that the person whose tweets prompted Dalle’s post has now received so much abuse on Twitter for her own opinions that she’s shut down her account. Well done, everyone. You’ve totally cracked how debate works.

But, hey, let’s not focus all our depression on music. This is a world where #Gamergate not only started but continues to exist weeks later; where some newspapers focused on what Emma Watson was wearing – and as it turned out, hoax picture-leak threats against the actress – rather than the content of the inspirational equality speech she gave; and where Fox News anchors think it’s OK to refer to female fighter pilots as “boobs on the ground” – even though that doesn’t make any sense at all.

Approved: Anushka

CMU Approved

Anushka is/are Brighton-based Victoria Port and Max Wheeler, and ‘Broken Circuit’ is the record the pair released earlier this year via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings.

In many ways, ‘Circuit’ is totally not a ‘fashionable’ LP. It isn’t cold, or impassive, or especially ‘hard to get’; nor is it deliberately abstract, or iced over with the off-time drill-bit beats that so many of the acts on labels like, say, Fade To Mind, Hyperdub, or PC Music have made the fixed traits of their ‘aesthetic’. It hasn’t Banks’ modish blankness, or Kelela’s chilly sensuality, or Sophie‘s erm… whatever that thing is that Sophie has.

Instead, tracks like the wistful, day-dreaming ‘Never Can Decide’ and sweet-as-pie ‘I Have Love 4 U’ are warm, immediate, and heart-on-sleeve-happy, even; setting Port’s treacly, Erykah Badu-ish cadence as the melting middle to Wheeler’s ‘new classic’-style arrangements.

In short, ‘Broken Circuit’ is a rare case of a vocalist and producer working 100% in sync with each other and, probably more importantly, the kind of album that’s good to play all the way through, any day. Like now, for instance. It really is that simple.

Catch Anushka live when they play a line of shows (listings and tickets here) starting this Saturday (27 Sep) at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.

And this is last-but-one ‘Broken Circuit’ track ‘Mansions’:

City Of London Police commander celebrates PIPCU, calls for more global collaboration on tackling IP crime

Business News Legal Top Stories

The City Of London Police’s National Coordinator For Economic Crime, Steve Head, has bigged up his force’s IP Crime Unit, or PIPCU, and called for more co-operation worldwide to tackle intellectual property crime.

Head spoke at the snappily named International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference in Vietnam, an event co-hosted by Interpol (not the band, obviously), and told delegates from around the world about the work PIPCU has been doing, both in the UK and beyond, since the specialist unit was launched a year ago.

Listing in particular successes achieved in targeting individuals and groups who profit from copyright and other IP infringement online, Head urged other countries around the world to consider specialist IP crime teams, who could collaborate to target online infringing operations which usually transcend borders.

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Head said: “PIPCU is a pioneer in the way it is tackling intellectual property crime, moving away from traditional policing methods to embrace new and innovative initiatives to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks responsible for causing huge damage to legitimate businesses”.

He went on: “This work includes close collaboration with private sector organisations inadvertently supporting IP crime either through advertising or allowing payment provision on websites that are providing illegal access to copyrighted material. At the International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference I urged delegates to support and engage with PIPCU and to look at its strategy for policing IP crime as a potential way forward for themselves and partner agencies”.

High Court refuses Ukulele Orchestra’s Ukulele Orchestra injunction request

Business News Legal

The High Court has refused to grant the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain an injunction against the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra ahead of pending trademark litigation.

The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain, based in the UK, claims that the more recently formed United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, based in Germany, will cause confusion for consumers when the latter group begins its first tour of the UK next month. Moreover, they reckon the German outfit are infringing their trademark.

A trial to consider the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain’s trademark claim is yet to receive a start date. However, with the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra’s tour due to begin in a matter of weeks, the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain sought to gain an injunction against the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, barring them from performing in the UK, while the trademark litigation is still waiting to go ahead.

But the judge hearing the case said that the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain had launched its case too late in the day to allow for an injunction to be granted. Doing so now would force the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra to cancel an already booked tour, costing them tens of thousands of pounds.

Speaking outside the court, Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain founder George Hinchliffe told the BBC: “We have issued proceedings against a German-based musical group for registered trademark infringement. However the court didn’t grant [an initial] injunction. It’s really not a policy of ours to comment upon litigation while it’s still going through the courts. And we’re a bit busy at the moment as we’re just about to start a tour of China”.

I hope you followed all that. A court is expected to decide whether or not you did later this year or in early 2015.

Sony/ATV announces new joint venture to provide one-stop-shop licence for Europe

Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers

Pan-European music licensing, that’s never confusing is it? Sony/ATV, PRS and GEMA are set to build on the success of CELAS and PAECOL by launching SOLAR to administer digital licensing for Sony/ATV and EMI. Like I said, not at all confusing.

This is basically a follow-on from the acquisition of the EMI music publishing business by a Sony-led consortium in 2012, that basically brought the former under the control of the latter, creating a music publishing powerhouse.

Both Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing had arrangements in Europe that meant their respective Anglo-American catalogues could be licensed by digital services on a multi-territory basis through a single license. These arrangements were designed to overcome one of the weaknesses of the collective licensing system that the publishers initially relied on to handle digital service licensing, which is that any one collecting society was usually only empowered to licence music-using businesses in its home market.

Sony/ATV offered a one-stop-shop licence via PAECOL, a subsidiary of the German music publishing sector’s collecting society GEMA, while EMI uses CELAS, a JV between GEMA and UK society PRS For Music. New venture SOLAR involves Sony/ATV/EMI, GEMA and PRS, and replaces the previous set-ups.

Confirming all this, Sony/ATV top man Marty Bandier told reporters: “This agreement not only builds on our already successful relationships with PRS For Music and GEMA, but makes the licensing process in Europe more straight-forward as services will now have only one place to go for both Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing repertoire. It is also great news for our songwriters as we look to continue to facilitate licensing in this rapidly-evolving and expanding sector”.

‘Cursed’ Hop Farm Festival discontinued

Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Live Business

It’s all gone a bit non-idyllic down on the (hop) farm right now, kids, with the news that Kent’s ‘new’ Hop Farm Music Festival – ie not Vince Power’s ‘old’ event of the same name – has been shelved.

Confirming he was discontinuing the event for good, the organiser of this year’s Hop Farm music event, man-who-isn’t-Vince-Power Neil Butkeraitis, described the Paddock Wood-based site as “cursed ground” in an interview with Kent Online this week, adding: “I’m absolutely gutted”.

Butkeraitis resigned as director of Hop Farm Music Festival Ltd earlier this month, citing financial disagreements behind the scenes at the fest. The company, which ran the event for the first and only time earlier this year, has also gone into liquidation, with the possibility of a number of Butkeraitis’s other companies being taken down with it. Double gutted.

He tells Kent Online: “In ten years in the industry this has never happened to me. The event was delivered under our £3 million budget – what didn’t stick up was ticket sales but the festival was part of a three year plan for the site. Even though everyone locally enjoyed the festival and we had some big acts lined-up for next year, now three of my companies look like they will go into liquidation”.

So, that’s where the new ex-Hop Farm Festival boss is at, what about the old ex-Hop Farm Festival boss? Well, as previously reported, Power vacated the Hop Farm site last year after the 2013 edition of his festival there was cancelled due to bad ticket sales. Power did initially say that he would relaunch the event at an alternative site, weirdly planning to still call it the Hop Farm Music Festival, though that plan never came to fruition.

In addition to that, as was reported last month, Power was hit with a High Court injunction recently banning him from staging live music events in the UK until he settles a dispute with PRS For Music over the fact previous editions of the Hop Farm event seemingly went ahead without the required licence from the collecting society.

Cat Stevens cancels New York show over local ticketing regulations

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Cat Stevens – or Yusuf Islam if you prefer – has cancelled a show in New York, basically in protest at local laws governing ticketing which, he reckons, helps the touts, resulting in tickets for his show trading at vastly marked up prices online.

As previously reported, while some states in the US have considered measures to regulate the resale of tickets by touts, especially online, others have got themselves more bothered about so called paperless ticketing, which the live sector sees as a solution for combatting the rise of the touts.

The aim of paperless ticketing is to remove the physical ticket from the equation, making it harder for tickets to change hands on the touting market. Punters gain access to a venue either via an e-ticket on their mobile phone or, more commonly to date (because smartphone usage wasn’t universal), by showing or swiping the credit card with which a ticket was bought. Ticketmaster has a paperless ticket system of the latter kind.

But some consumer rights people have raised issues with the credit-card-ticket-based system. What happens if the credit card holder, having bought tickets for a bunch of friends too, can’t make the gig? What if a parent wants to buy tickets for a child? What about people who don’t have credit cards? Said concerns have led to some US states banning promoters from only selling paperless tickets for shows.

Though if a show isn’t entirely ticketed with the paperless option, it means touting can continue. Which is what has seemingly happened for Islam’s New York show, State law there being down on paperless ticketing. Having been told that tickets for his gig were now being sold for “extortionate” prices by touts, he’s decided to call off the show.

Islam told fans: “I have been a longtime supporter of paperless tickets to my shows worldwide and avoiding scalpers [touts]. Unfortunately NY has a state law that requires all tickets sold for shows in NYC to be paper, enabling them to be bought and sold at inflated prices”.

So there you go New York, want a bit of Cat Stevens in you, then sort out your ticketing laws.

Sohn calls out Audi for ‘borrowing’ from one of his songs

Brands & Merch Business News

Brit synth-pop artist Sohn is all mad at car maker Audi for, in his words, “borrowing” from one of his original tracks in an ad, and not crediting him.

Sohn, real name Chris Taylor, claims Audi has ripped off his song ‘Lessons’ on a clip promoting its A3 Sportback model.

Tweeting at the brand earlier this week, he said: “Feels like you may have ‘borrowed’ from one of my tunes… can I ‘borrow’ one of your cars?”. Audi didn’t get back to him. Shocker.

Hear for yourself. This is ‘Lesson’, which is taken from Sohn’s first LP ‘Tremors’:

And this is the Audi ad, which certainly seems quite similar:

Jason Orange leaves Take That

Artist News

Jason Orange has quit Take That. Boom, there you go, that’s your news story. No real dramas here, he’s just bored of being in a bankable man band, and who can blame him?

Coming up, long rambling quotes about being sad and thankful and how great and what a shame and this and that and is it lunch time yet? Oh, and the customary Gary Barlow tax joke. That’s something to look forward to.

Says Jason Orange: “I want to start by saying how proud I am of what we have achieved together over the years. However, at a band meeting last week I confirmed to Mark, Gary and Howard that I do not wish to commit to recording and promoting a new album. I have spent some of the best years of my life with Take That and I’d like to thank everyone who has been a part of my journey, including my bandmates, who I feel are like brothers to me. Most especially my gratitude goes to all of the good and kind, beautiful and ever-loyal fans of the band, without whom none of this could have been possible. Thank you”.

Says Jason Orange some more: “At the end of the ‘Progress’ tour I began to question whether it might be the right time for me to not continue on with Take That. At the start of this year, and with my full knowledge and blessing the guys began writing new material. There have been no fallings out, only a decision on my part that I no longer wish to do this. I know how much Mark, Gary and Howard enjoy writing and making music, and they know that they have my full support and encouragement to continue on with what is to be another chapter for the band”.

Says remaining That-ers Gary and Mark and Howard: “This is a sad day for us. Jason leaving is a huge loss both professionally and even more so personally. We first became aware of Jason’s reservations a couple of years ago but had hoped that by giving him the desired time and space he may begin to feel differently. This has not been the case and we now have to accept and fully respect his decision which we know hasn’t been an easy one. Jason’s energy and belief in what this band could achieve has made it what it is today, and we’ll forever be grateful for his enthusiasm, dedication and inspiration over the years”.

And now for the Gary Barlow tax joke. “Gary Barlow, what a sanctimonious money-grabbing cunt”. Thank you, I’m here all week.

The Horrors’ horror at Labour party song pick

Artist News

It wouldn’t be the political party conference season without a band getting annoyed at their music being used to soundtrack one of these events, would it? It’s generally being played alongside Conservative politicians that gets bands distancing themselves fastest (Primal Scream so quick off the mark that they once did so without actually being played), but this week it’s Labour and The Horrors going head-to-head.

‘I See You’ from the band’s latest album, ‘Luminous’, was played while party members waited for Ed Miliband to get up on stage and do his thing on Tuesday. Something the world was alerted to by Buzzfeed’s Siraj Datoo, who for some reason was live-tweeting the conference’s soundtrack.

In a series of since-deleted posts on Twitter, the band’s Tom Cowan responded: “Fuck’s sake, leave it out Ed. Keep your outdated political ideologies away from us. Our colour isn’t red, it isn’t blue, it’s black”.

Black, of course, is a colour often chosen by fascist parties. But I don’t think that’s what he meant.

Venues used for party conferences are generally covered by blanket licences, which mean that whoever is using the venue can play whatever music they like – so long as the artists/songwriters are registered with collecting societies PPL/PRS – without first gaining specific permission. And that’s why these things keep happening. See you same time next year!

AC/DC announce first album without Malcolm Young

Artist News Releases

AC/DC have announced that they will release a new album, ‘Rock Or Bust’, in December. And it will be their first ever without any input from guitarist Malcolm Young.

As previously reported, the band announced earlier this year that Young was taking a break from the band due to ill health. In his place is his nephew, Stevie Young, who performed on the album and will join the band on tour.

Seemingly confirming that Young’s departure is now permanent, the band said in a statement: “Unfortunately, due to the nature of Malcolm’s condition, he will not be returning to the band. AC/DC will undertake a world tour in support of ‘Rock Or Bust’ in 2015. Stevie Young, nephew of founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, plays rhythm guitar on ‘Rock or Bust’ and will accompany the band on tour”.

‘Produced by Brendan O’Brien, ‘Rock Or Bust’ will be released on 1 Dec.

Idris Elba releasing Mandela-inspired LP feat James Blake and Mumford

Artist News Releases

Actor, singer, rapper and DJ Idris Elba has enticed the likes of James Blake, Mr Hudson and Mumford & Sons Ltd to feature on a new Nelson Mandela-inspired LP he’s made.

Elba felt driven to write ‘Mi Mandela’ whilst researching the late South African premier in order to play him in not-all-that-good-but-still-admirable 2013 film ‘Long Walk To Freedom’.

Enlightening fans a bit in a trailer clip for the LP, he says: “I wanted to understand what music Mandela liked, and so in that journey I discovered the roots of South African music. At the time I had a studio in the apartment I was staying in; a little keyboard, a laptop, and as an experiment to myself I vowed to keep making music”.

Vow intact, the eleven-track ‘Mi Mandela’ will be released on 24 Nov. Cody ChesnuTT, George The Poet, Nothembi Mkhwebane and South African vocal band Mahotella Queens are also on it, as is Maverick Sabre, who is all over its forthcoming first single, ‘You Give Me Love’.

In additional news, Elba has co-created a very special Christmas single with Noel Fielding and Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno, aka ‘the lads’. And apparently it’s a hit!

Explaining what the hell they were thinking via NME earlier this week, he said: “I get this call from the lads and they’re like, ‘Oi, do you want to rap on a Christmas song? I went to this studio down in Notting Hill somewhere and they played it to me. I’m telling you now, it’s a hit. Serge did this sort of funky, 70s, slow disco groove and Noel this singing-rap thing”.

Terrific. And then?

Well, then Elba “rolled in there without a rap prepared, so I write a quick Christmas rap. I went to see Kasabian at the iTunes Festival last week and Serge said it would come out this Christmas. It’s a big tune”.

Well, let’s just wait and see about that, shall we? While you put up the tinsel, here’s Elba’s 2011 solo classic, ‘Private Garden’, to set the festive mood:

London’s first ever music documentary festival starts tonight

Artist News Education & Events Gigs & Festivals

London’s first ever music documentary festival kicks off at the Hackney Picturehouse this evening, with a four day programme of films – both classics and newer pictures – documenting a number of music greats.

Doc N Roll Festival co-founder Colm Forde spoke to CMU’s sister magazine ThisWeek London, and explained the motivation for the new event. He said: “Other festivals have music documentaries within them, but our angle was to stage an event that concentrates exclusively on the genre. It’s quite strange – given the heritage of this city in terms of musical output, I’d say it’s second to none – and yet there hasn’t been a festival specifically focused on music documentaries here before”.

He continued: “We were mainly inspired by a music film festival in Barcelona called In-Edit, which I attended when I was staying there. The idea of doing our own event, initially in Dublin and later in London, has been brewing for a while, though we only made the actual decision to do this earlier this year”.

Introducing the first ever Doc N Roll Festival programme, Forde continues: “We’ve hooked up with Julien Temple, an iconic director in this particular genre of course, who made his name with Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols way back when, and our programme includes a retrospective of his work. That includes a particular favourite of mine, the Dr Feelgood film ‘Oil City Confidential’, plus his Joe Strummer profile ‘The Future’s Been Written’, and the film he put together with the BFI, which uses footage from their archives to document the influence immigrant communities, and especially people from the Caribbean, have had on culture in London”.

And as for what makes a good music documentary, while the music itself is important, Forde reckons that the personality of the subjects is also key. “The people in these films all have electric personalities, and we get to see the trial and tribulations they went through, how they ended up where they are, what kind of climax and anti-climax they had in their career”.

Forde chats more about the Doc N Roll Festival on this week’s ThisWeek London Podcast, hosted by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke, which also features snippets from and information about theatre, musical and cabaret shows happening in London this week. Check the podcast out here.

CMU’s One Liners: Iceland, Aston, Hackman and more

Artist News Deals Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Iceland has been announced as the focus country for next year’s Eurosonic Noorderslag festival, which takes place on 14-17 Jan. Acts so far confirmed to perform at the event are Kaleo, Kiasmos, Samaris, and the CMU approved Rökkurró. Full details here.

• Backflipping ex-JLS pipsqueak Aston Merrygold (pictured) is officially ‘ridin solo’ nowadays, having recently signed a deal with Warner Bros. He confirmed it via an Instagram post yesterday, to which was stapled the longest caption OF ALL TIME. Merry Christmas!

• Now-trio Portico, who by the way play live at London’s Islington Assembly Hall on 4 Dec, have signed to Ninja Tune in order to release a new LP one day. So hip hip yay for that. This is a track from said LP, titled ‘Living Fields’.

• The Rumer lady is back after a lil break, and all set and ready to go ahead with releasing a new solo record entitled ‘Into Colour’. This here is lead single ‘Dangerous’ ahead of the big LP release on 10 Nov.

• Approved symphonic pop artiste Lydia Ainsworth is streaming her excellent next LP, ‘Right From Real’, on the internet pre its release next week. Dive into it via this link.

• Ms Marika Hackman of folkish pop fame has detailed her first LP, ‘We Slept At Last’, which will be available in the world “in February 2015”. Go on and watch a live clip of Hackman singing one of its songs, ‘Cinammon’, now.

• Gloomy-lord-of-movie-scores Trent Reznor has previewed a set of excerpts to his gloomy ‘Gone Girl’ score. Listen to them here.

Britney launches lingerie collection

And Finally Artist News Brands & Merch

Britney Spears has announced a new range of affordable lingerie. Britney’s Budget Bras would be the obvious name to give the collection, but instead she’s gone with The Intimate Britney Spears. Missed opportunity.

At a launch event at London’s Hotel Café Royal this week, Spears said that she would most like to see Kate Middleton and Gwen Stefani wearing her underwear. So that’s nice. She added that her personal favourite piece in the collection is one called ‘Buttercup’, due to the “variety of beiges”. And if ever there’s a phrase that will have things flying off the shelves, its “variety of beiges”.

Anyway, onto this whole thing with the Duchess of Cambridge. Said Spears: “I would love to see Kate wear my underwear designs. That would be splendid! I’m going to send her one of every piece, so she’ll have plenty to choose from”.

Its not just for pregnant princesses though, CEO of manufacturer Claus Walther Jensen hastened to add, screaming: “We are thrilled to build a global intimate apparel brand with Britney that will offer affordable luxury for every woman. With our expertise in quality and sizing, and Britney’s vision for the collection, we are confident there is something for everyone to love”.

Britney also added: “I think the sexiest item is probably ‘Cherry’ because it’s red and it really stands out, it’s very elaborate and I think it’s pretty promiscuous”.

Can an inanimate object be promiscuous? Am I being too pedantic? After all, the whole range is apparently inspired by “silk, silhouettes and promises”, according to this video:

Approved: Andy Stott

CMU Approved

The release of Andy Stott’s third album, ‘Luxury Problems’, in 2012 was something of a breakthrough point for him, earning high acclaim and broader attention. The result of several years of development, under the guidance of the Modern Love label, the record saw him combine his dusty electronic productions with the voice of opera singer (and his childhood piano teacher) Alison Skidmore.

Having released one album already this year, a collaboration with Demdike Stare’s Miles Whittaker under the moniker Millie & Andrea, he’s now back under his own name again, announcing the follow-up to ‘Luxury Problems’ this week. Due for release on 17 Nov, and titled ‘Faith In Strangers’, the album again includes contributions from Skidmore, as well as euphonium from Kim Holly Thorpe.

But, of course, the centre of it all is Stott’s finely crafted production, cutting up his collaborators’ input and weaving it into his own world, where you’re warmly welcomed one moment and coldly shoved aside the next. Listening at times feels voyeuristic, as on ‘Violence’, the first track from ‘Faith In Strangers’, which is an aggressively beautiful introduction to the record.

Pre-1972 copyright ruling goes in favour of music community, but does it set any precedent?

Business News Digital Legal Top Stories

OK, America’s pre-1972 copyright thing. Big development. Possibly. A court in California has found in favour of Flo & Eddie in their lawsuit against Sirius XM satellite radio. But what does that flippin well mean?

First, a very quick recap. Federal copyright law in the US says that satellite and online radio services – a category which would include both Sirius and Pandora – are obliged to pay royalties to the record labels for any recordings they play, though the labels are in turn obliged to licence their content to such services via the SoundExchange collective licensing system, unless the broadcaster/webcaster opts to do a direct deal.

It’s a significant bit of law because in the US, unlike Europe, traditional AM/FM radio stations are not obliged to pay any royalties to the labels, however many records they play (though they do have to pay the music publishers to cover the separate copyrights in the lyrics and musical compositions).

However, federal copyright law only directly applies to sound recordings that came into being after 1972. Records from before that date, including the still rather valuable 1950s/1960s rock n roll catalogues, are protected by state copyright law.

Which has posed two questions: do any recent innovations in federal law extend to state copyrights, and if not, what exactly does state copyright law say about satellite and online radio? Alas, ageing state laws say nothing specifically about satellite or online services, so everything is open to interpretation.

Sirius and, latterly, Pandora have interpreted the situation to the effect that they are not obliged to licence or pay for recordings that pre-date 1972. But unsurprisingly, given SoundExchange reckons satellite/online royalties due on recordings from this era could top $60 million a year, the record industry does not agree. And both SoundExchange and the major labels have begun litigation on the issue in different state jurisdictions.

As did Flo & Eddie, aka Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, aka the two vocalists with American rock band The Turtles, a band whose heyday predates 1972. The duo has actually sued Sirius in three different states, the case in California coming first. And earlier this week a summary judgement found in the musicians’ favour, ruling that Sirius had indeed violated state copyright law by playing Turtles tracks without permission.

Lawyers for Flo & Eddie claimed that Sirius had actually violated two elements of the duo’s sound recording copyrights, firstly by copying the recordings and secondly by then instigating a public performance of them. The judge hearing the case said that the former claim would need to go to trial, but that she was ruling in favour of the plaintiffs on the latter, Sirius having been unable to deny it instigated public performances of Flo & Eddie’s recordings, and therefore relying on legal interpretation rather than disputing any facts. A hearing to assess damages for Flo & Eddie is now scheduled for next month.

Although Sirius could still appeal both this week’s ruling and any damages it is ordered to pay, the ruling could set a significant precedent, in that labels and artists in control of pre-1972 recordings could now push for royalties from Sirius, Pandora et al, both for past and future airplay. The satellite and online radio providers could also be obliged to negotiate licences for playing 1950s and 1960s records moving forward; it would be interesting to see if that would simply be handled by SoundExchange, or if any labels would argue for direct deals.

Of course, this ruling only applies to Californian law, cases in Florida and New York are pending. Though satellite and online services operate US-wide. Service providers could argue for a metric that means they only have to pay a sound recording royalty based on users in California, or work out a way to vary their services in the state, though reaching a deal with SoundExchange and/or the labels might be easier.

Though this ruling far from settles the matter of pre-1972 sound recording copyrights. Appeals will almost certainly follow plus, as Billboard pointed out yesterday, in a concurrent lawsuit between the majors and Sirius in California, a different judge has previously indicated she was erring towards the satellite broadcaster’s arguments. It remains to be seen whether that judge now feels obliged to follow this week’s ruling.

So, this judgement could have narrower implications than it first seems, or a wider impact. Indeed, some wonder if it will now force a re-evaluation of the public performance of pre-1972 sound recordings in California by all broadcasters. Which, should they ultimately lose this fight, would be a silver lining for Sirius and Pandora, who have long moaned about the fact AM/FM radio services, with whom they compete, have such an advantage when it comes to royalty commitments.

Dave Lee Travis found guilty of indecent assault

Business News Industry People Legal Media

Presenter Dave Lee Travis, real name David Griffin, was found guilty of one count of indecent assault at Southwark Crown Court yesterday. He was found not guilty of another indecent assault, and cleared of a separate accusation of sexual assault after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

As previously reported, Griffin was acquitted on twelve sexual offence charges in February this year, but was ordered to face retrial on two charges on which the original jury failed to reach a verdict.

In April he was then charged over an additional indecent assault against a researcher on ‘The Mrs Merton Show’ in 1995. It was this charge on which he was found guilty yesterday.

In a statement, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Jenny Hopkins said: “David Griffin, also known as Dave Lee Travis, indecently assaulted a young woman by touching her in a way that was not only deeply invasive but also against the law. We thank the jury for their careful consideration in this case and we respect all the verdicts of the court today”.

She added: “The prosecution of sexual offences is often difficult and complex, perhaps even more so when the allegations are from some years ago. We will continue to consider cases and, wherever there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest, we will work with police to build strong cases which can be put before the court”.

Griffin will be sentenced on Friday, and was warned by the judge yesterday that he could face a custodial sentence.

Rod Stewart sued for allegedly breaking fan’s nose with football kick

Artist News Legal

Given that Rod Stewart is famous for kicking footballs into his audience at any given opportunity, it’s a wonder he hasn’t faced legal action for causing a football-hitting-an-audience-member-based injury before. Oh, hang on, he did that time he broke an artist’s finger, if I remember rightly.

Anyway, Stewart is facing a new lawsuit after one of his on-stage football kicks allegedly broke a fan’s nose. According to PageSix.com, Mostafa Kashe’s lawsuit targets both Stewart and his promoter AEG Live after one of the singer’s balls smashed into his face at a Las Vegas show. Stewart kicked the football off the stage with “sufficient force so as to potentially injure a patron” says the lawsuit.

Kashe is seeking damages in excess of $10,000.

New appointments at Three Six Zero

Business News Industry People Management & Funding

EDM management hub and Roc Nation ally Three Six Zero has announced some new appointments, according to Music Week.

Universal Music business and legal affairs man Arif Mahmud joins the London-based company as UK General Manager, while existing staff members Matt Vines and Phil Sales have been promoted, and now both enjoy the job title VP UK Artist Management.

Meanwhile the group’s COO, James Sealey, will be relocating to the firm’s LA office to run worldwide operations.

Confirming the changes, Three Six Zero Co-Founder Mark Gillespie said: “We’ve got a great team across the UK and US now supporting our artists. Everything we do is to make it possible for them to take their music to new audiences and their talent in new directions”.

XXL to stop magazine, live on as digital brand

Business News Media

Only a week or so on from Vibe mag getting binned by its newish owner SpinMedia, another American urban music media brand, XXL, is to cease producing its printed magazine following a take-over by Townsquare Media. Active since 1997, XXL will go digital-only following a final issue released next month.

As previously reported, Townsquare looks to be a company on the rise, having previously acquired a trio of niche sites – The Boot, The Boombox and Noisecreep – from a down-sizing AOL back in 2013.

Speaking to The New York Post, Townsquare’s Chief Content Officer Bill Wilson, an ex-AOL President himself, confirmed he was keeping on eleven staffers from the XXL team, adding: “We think XXL has strong potential in both the digital and live events market”, adding that the title might well re-appear in print again via occasional special issues.

Ben Harris, President of original XXL owners Harris Publications, told The NY Post: “We incubated something digitally, but the Townsquare people can take it to the next level with their digital expertise”.

He added: “I don’t think it is a cost-cutting thing. I think it is an opportunity for Townsquare to do more with the franchise”.

Dre tops Forbes hip hop rich list after Beats deal

Artist News

So, Dr Dre has topped the latest Forbes hip hop rich list, him taking the top spot from Sean ‘Diddy Whatnot’ Combs with annual earnings between June 2013 and June this year so massive (estimated at $620 million) that they are bigger than any twelve month earnings the magazine has ever documented for a musician, and exceed the annual earnings of all the other 24 listed wealthy hip hoppers put together.

And all for putting his name to some shitty headphones. I bet those other hip hop stars are kicking themselves for focusing on their rapping and producing and performing and making quality music. Stop recording records people, find yourself some techies (and a Jimmy Iovine), launch a business selling silly looking headphones to idiots, sell it to Apple for $3 billion, impress the guys at Forbes. Easy.

Though looking like paupers next to Dre, other money-loving hip hoppers high up Forbes’ latest poll are Combs, Jay-Z, Drake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Now let’s all do a little rap about how hard it is on the streets.

Manic Street Preachers to re-open The Holy Bible via anniversary shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

The Manic Street Preachers will re-present their 1994 LP ‘The Holy Bible’ – which basic maths dictates is 20 years old this year – by playing it live and (for the first time) from start to finish over seven quite historical shows in December.

The idea for the live dates came when the band began rehearsing select ‘Holy Bible’ tracks for an episode of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Mastertapes’ series, airing in November. Only they won’t be able to swear in that, because it’s Radio 4.

Interviewed by The Quietus this week, Manics man James Dean Bradfield said: “With the Radio 4 ‘Mastertapes’ sessions, we’ve had a problem trying to come up with the list of stuff we’re going to play, because we started rehearsing ‘Yes’, and then, y’know, of course [we thought], ‘Oh, here we go, I can’t sing that lyric. You’ve got ‘cock’ all the way through the lyric… ‘You want a girl so tear off his cock””.

And it almost goes without saying that that kind of thing isn’t particularly Radio 4-suitable. Still, at least with the December dates, he can get as explicit as he likes.

Thinking back to the Manics as they were at the time they made the LP, JDB adds: “I suppose it was a take-no-prisoners kind of vibe, we didn’t care that everything was at stake, even our record contract… we just didn’t care about anything. We just felt that it was really important just to be very myopic and single-minded about everything”.

And contrasting that with today’s ‘vibe’, he says: “I would say that I’m still essentially the same person, but it’s hard to have that sense of myopia and indestructibility when you’re 45. I’ve got to know that I can be as bloody-minded as I was. I know it sounds woefully pretentious… like some bullshit actor fishing for compliments from his agent – ‘I’m not sure if I can play Lear!’ It does spook me out a bit, but I just really want to know that I can do it justice”.

So I guess we’ll all have to wait until December to see if he can. Here are the listings:

8 Dec: Glasgow, Barrowlands
10/11 Dec: Manchester, Albert Hall
13 Dec: Dublin, Olympia Theatre
15/16/17 Dec: London, Roundhouse

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:53 | By Andy Malt

So, Pornhub’s latest, highly successful ruse to get publications outside the adult entertainment industry to write about it is to launch a record label and song competition. And look, even I’m writing about it, like a big idiot.

READ MORE ABOUT: Pornhub

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:52 | By Chris Cooke

Viagogo, the “world’s largest ticket marketplace” says this here press release, so Toutsville Central then, has a brand new exec to oversee music partnerships worldwide, and that new exec is Carole MacDonald, formerly off of EMI.

READ MORE ABOUT: Carole MacDonald | Viagogo

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:51 | By Chris Cooke

Shazam posted losses of £5.8 million for the second half of 2013, compared to losses of just under £2 million for the previous twelve months.

READ MORE ABOUT: Shazam

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:50 | By Aly Barchi

Futuristic pop super-genius, tastemaking brand architect and tireless entrepreneur Will.i.am showed the new Lexus he’d ‘designed’ to the world for the first time on Wednesday night. Taking place in Paris, the big reveal revealed… well, an expensive silver car essentially.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lexus | Will.i.am

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:49 | By Andy Malt

The very first Doc N Roll music documentary film festival opened last night with the London premiere of ‘A Band Called Death’ – the tale of an all-black proto-punk band formed by three brothers in Detroit in 1973.

READ MORE ABOUT: Death | Doc N Roll Festival

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:48 | By Aly Barchi

That silly billy Wiley has revealed the first single from his “final solo” (he claimed yesterday) LP ‘Snakes And Ladders’, the album which he decided to bin and then totally re-record earlier this year. It still doesn’t have a release date yet though, so… sorry.

READ MORE ABOUT: Wiley

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:46 | By Aly Barchi

Other notable announcements and developments today…

READ MORE ABOUT: Amazon | Bill Carr | Danae Ringelmann | Jon Hopkins | MIDEM | Neil Young | Sleaford Mods | Urban Outfitters

Friday 26 September 2014, 11:45 | By Andy Malt

It’s a good thing that we’re still talking about the problem of sexism and misogyny in music. Definitely. Though it’s a bit depressing that the starting point for these conversations generally remains the same. Music videos, eh? What are they like?

READ MORE ABOUT: Brody Dalle | Iggy Azalea | Jennifer Lopez

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:28 | By Aly Barchi

Anushka is/are Brighton-based Victoria Port and Max Wheeler, and ‘Broken Circuit’ is the record the pair released earlier this year via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings.

READ MORE ABOUT: Anushka

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:27 | By Chris Cooke

The City Of London Police’s National Coordinator For Economic Crime, Steve Head, has bigged up his force’s IP Crime Unit, or PIPCU, and called for more co-operation worldwide to tackle intellectual property crime.

READ MORE ABOUT: City Of London Police | PIPCU | Steve Head

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:26 | By Andy Malt

The High Court has refused to grant the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain an injunction against the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra ahead of pending trademark litigation.

READ MORE ABOUT: Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain | United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:25 | By Chris Cooke

Pan-European music licensing, that’s never confusing is it? Sony/ATV, PRS and GEMA are set to build on the success of CELAS and PAECOL by launching SOLAR to administer digital licensing for Sony/ATV and EMI. Like I said, not at all confusing.

READ MORE ABOUT: GEMA | PRS For Music | Solar | Sony Music Publishing

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:24 | By Aly Barchi

It’s all gone a bit non-idyllic down on the (hop) farm right now, kids, with the news that Kent’s ‘new’ Hop Farm Music Festival – ie not Vince Power’s ‘old’ event of the same name – has been shelved.

READ MORE ABOUT: Hop Farm Music Festival | Neil Butkeraitis | Vicne Power

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:23 | By Chris Cooke

Cat Stevens – or Yusuf Islam if you prefer – has cancelled a show in New York, basically in protest at local laws governing ticketing which, he reckons, helps the touts, resulting in tickets for his show trading at vastly marked up prices online.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cat Stevens

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:22 | By Aly Barchi

Brit synth-pop artist Sohn is all mad at car maker Audi for, in his words, “borrowing” from one of his original tracks in an ad, and not crediting him.

READ MORE ABOUT: Audi | SOHN

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:21 | By Chris Cooke

Jason Orange has quit Take That. Boom, there you go, that’s your news story. No real dramas here, he’s just bored of being in a bankable man band, and who can blame him?

READ MORE ABOUT: Jason Orange | Take That

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:20 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: The Horrors

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:19 | By Andy Malt

AC/DC have announced that they will release a new album, ‘Rock Or Bust’, in December. And it will be their first ever without any input from guitarist Malcolm Young.

READ MORE ABOUT: AC/DC | Malcolm Young

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:18 | By Andy Malt

Actor, singer, rapper and DJ Idris Elba has enticed the likes of James Blake, Mr Hudson and Mumford & Sons Ltd to feature on a new Nelson Mandela-inspired LP he’s made.

READ MORE ABOUT: Idris Elba | James Blake | Maverick Sabre

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:17 | By Chris Cooke

London’s first ever music documentary festival kicks off at the Hackney Picturehouse this evening, with a four day programme of films – both classics and newer pictures – documenting a number of music greats.

READ MORE ABOUT: Doc N Roll Festival

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:16 | By Aly Barchi

Other notable announcements and developments today…

READ MORE ABOUT: Aston Merrygold | Eurosonic Noorderslag | Lydia Ainsworth | Marika Hackman | Portico | Rumer | Trent Reznor

Thursday 25 September 2014, 11:14 | By Andy Malt

Britney Spears has announced a new range of affordable lingerie. Britney’s Budget Bras would be the obvious name to give the collection, but instead she’s gone with The Intimate Britney Spears. Missed opportunity.

READ MORE ABOUT: Britney Spears

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 11:10 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Andy Stott

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 11:00 | By Chris Cooke

OK, America’s pre-1972 copyright thing. Big development. Possibly. A court in California has found in favour of Flo & Eddie in their lawsuit against Sirius XM satellite radio. But what does that flippin well mean?

READ MORE ABOUT: Flo & Eddie | SiriusXM

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 10:59 | By Andy Malt

Presenter Dave Lee Travis, real name David Griffin, was found guilty of one count of indecent assault at Southwark Crown Court yesterday. He was found not guilty of another indecent assault, and cleared of a separate accusation of sexual assault after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

READ MORE ABOUT: Dave Lee Travis

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 10:58 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Rod Stewart

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 10:57 | By Chris Cooke

EDM management hub and Roc Nation ally Three Six Zero has announced some new appointments, according to Music Week.

READ MORE ABOUT: Arif Mahmud | Matt Vines | Phil Sales | Three Six Zero

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 10:56 | By Aly Barchi

READ MORE ABOUT: Bill Wilson | Townsquare Media | XXL