Monday 28 September 2015, 10:42 | By Andy Malt

Channel 4 to launch new “multi-platform” music show

Business News Media

Channel 4

Somethin Else has confirmed it is making a new music show for Channel 4 titled ‘Best Before’. The production company said it was “thrilled” to announce the “multi-platform collaboration [that] will work across a daily updated blog site, social media, Channel 4 platforms and linear TV”.

The main TV show will be a series of six 30 minute mixes, each compiled by “a respected musical curator”, with the one rule being that all featured tracks must have been released in the last 30 days. Because, as we all know, after that time music goes a bit stinky. “Its aim is to promote the freshest new releases from the likes of Radiohead to future superstars”, said Somethin Else in a statement.

The first episode will be broadcast in 11 Nov, and will be accompanied by daily content on the broadcaster’s on-demand service All4.

Drake discusses ghostwriter accusations

Artist News

Drake

Drake has commented on those accusations that he uses ghostwriters, which you might remember were made by Meek Mill earlier this year. And his response is basically, ‘Yeah, and?”

Discussing ‘reference tracks’ that were recorded for him by other rappers, some of which were leaked during the dispute, Drake told Fader: “I need, sometimes, individuals to spark an idea so that I can take off running. I don’t mind that. And those recordings… they are what they are. And you can use your own judgment on what they mean to you. There’s not necessarily a context to them. And I don’t know if I’m really here to even clarify it for you”.

He added that if Meek Mill’s various rambles on this issue had sparked a wider conversation about originality in hip hop – him being far from the only rapper to use ghostwriters from time to time – he’s happy with that. “If I have to be the vessel for this conversation to be brought up – you know, God forbid we start talking about writing and references and who takes what from where – I’m OK with it being me”.

Read the full interview with Drake here.

Pope releases prog-rock single

Artist News Releases

Pope Francis

The Pope – you know, like the actual Catholic pope – is releasing an album later this year, featuring excerpts from some of his speeches set to music, and everything from prog-rock to Gregorian chant.

Released by Believe Digital, the album is titled ‘Wake Up!’ and will be released on 27 Nov. The first track to be released from it leans more towards prog, which I guess fits its title, ‘Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!’ The Pope’s, er, vocals were recorded live in South Korea last year.

The album’s producer and artistic director Don Giulio Neroni told Rolling Stone: “For many years, I’ve been the producer and the artistic director of albums by the Pope. I had the honour to work with John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis”.

He goes on: “As in the past, for this album too, I tried to be strongly faithful to the pastoral and personality of Pope Francis: the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality. For this reason, the voice of Pope Francis in ‘Wake Up!’ dialogues music. And contemporary music (rock, pop, Latin etc) dialogues with the Christian tradition of sacred hymns”.

Listen to ‘Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!’ here:

CMU’s One Liners: She Shreds, Janet Jackson, Corey Taylor, more

And Finally Artist News Business News Education & Events One Liners Releases

Babymetal

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Female-focussed guitar magazine She Shreds has launched a new website featuring tutorials and articles from its print counterpart.

• Fred Bolza from Sony Music, Karen Pearson from Folded Wing, Victoria Campoamor from Google Play, Chris Meehan from Sentric, Phil Barton from Sister Ray and Sammy Andrews from Cooking Vinyl are amongst the speakers just added to the line-up for this year’s Music Futures Conference, which takes place in Gateshead on 12 Nov. More info here.

• Would you like to hear a new Babymetal track? I will hurt you if you say no.

• Rae Sremmurd have released a video for ‘Come Get Her’. Line-dancing and rap, together at last.

• Janet Jackson has released a new track, titled ‘Burnitup!’, which features Missy Elliott. “Unbelievable”, said Elliott. “Natural”, countered Jackson.

• If that Sam Smith’s Bond theme isn’t to your taste, indie band Spectres have recorded one of their own. This is ‘Spectre’.

• Team Me have just released a new song called ‘June’. “The song is about someone turning loopy, and how scary and fucked up it can be for everyone involved”, says Marius Hagen, slightly insensitively.

• Having recently announced that he is to appear in an episode of QI’s spin-off podcast, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor is infiltrating another British institution. He will provide the scream of monster Fisher King in this week’s episode of ‘Doctor Who’.

Sam Smith’s Bond theme “no number one single” says Sam Smith

And Finally Artist News Releases

Sam Smith

It’s not a number one single. And the vocals aren’t up to scratch. Just two of the comments levelled at Sam Smith’s James Bond theme, ‘Writing’s On The Wall’, when it was unveiled last week. And that was just from Smith himself.

It’s fair to say that opinion was split by the song. Actually, if you went by my Twitter feed alone, it was universally hated. But I only follow people who don’t like anything.

Appearing on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show for the big first play of the track, Smith told Nick Grimshaw: “I don’t think it’s a number one-friendly song, if you know what I mean. Who knows, but I don’t think it will be at all. I’m not looking for that”.

Asked if there was anything about the track he wasn’t happy with, he said: “I’m never ever happy with my vocals”. But then he’s previously said that the vocals on the track are from the original demo he recorded just after writing the song. So it’s not like there wasn’t time to change them. If I was as cynical as the people I follow on Twitter, I might say he was lying again.

If you fancy, you can have a little listen to ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ over on Spotify.

Trends: The ads sector in focus – Five take-aways from Resilient Music’s research

Brands & Merch CMU Trends Labels & Publishers

623resilientsync

Music rights procurement consultancy Resilient Music recently put the spotlight on the advertising and branded content side of sync, surveying brands, ad agencies, rights owners and artist managers about the way licensees and licensors work together, how each side views the sync sector, and where the opportunities to do better business lie.

The results of that survey are being published through a series of blogs on Resilient’s own website. But CMU got a sneak preview, and here we present our five key take-aways from the research.

1. Music remains a key tool for consumer engagement
A good starting point for the music rights industry, Resilient’s respondents on the brand and agency side generally agreed that music continues to play an important role in advertising and branded content activity.

Creative agencies were asked to rank how important music was to their clients on a scale of one to ten: 12.5% of respondents went with ten, while a further 50% went with eight or nine. Meanwhile respondents added that “music is the priority for engagement”, that it “is a central part of all our branded communications”, and that the right music “keeps the brand authentic and gives it an additional layer of emotive creative”.

As Resilient notes, results like this will add to the demands often made by music rights owners that brands should allocate bigger budgets to the music components of their campaigns. Though any one brand’s spending on music will always depend to an extent on how flexible they are on which specific songs and recordings they use, because flexibility on that front will always strengthen the negotiating hand of the brand when the sync deal is done.

2. Brands and rights owners could be involved earlier in the creative process
Resilient says that brands often complain that their creative agencies come to the table relatively late in the day with a single-track recommendation for the adverts that they have been developing. Aside from the brand possibly wanting to be involved in the final music selection process, this also weakens their negotiating hand on the licensing side, because the rights owner can exploit both the fact that the brand has few alternatives and that it needs the deal to be done quickly.

Some of those agencies Resilient surveyed admitted that they tended to present clients with single track options relatively late in the day, though explained that this was, in part, because final music selection was influenced by the creative process itself; one agency noted that it would use a placeholder track earlier on in the process to communicate the mood of the commercial, but would likely make a final recommendation on what music to use much later in the creative process, once other elements of the campaign were in place.

Though other agencies insisted that – while their creatives might have a preference – they would normally provide clients with two or three alternatives on the music front, and that conversations about musical direction could sometimes start much earlier in the creative process, though even then actual decisions on tracks were unlikely until the editing stage.

Either way, there is probably room for improvement here. As Resilient states: “The advertising trade press frequently talk about brands’ increasing desire for a collaborative approach to campaign creation. With this in mind, a collaborative approach to music selection would be helpful; with a move away from the single track recommendation – typical of an ‘agency knows best’ mind set – to one in which the brand is exposed to a range of music options and is actively involved in setting the musical direction”.

As mentioned above, to some extent it is in the rights holders’ interest for creative agencies to give their clients limited musical options relatively late in the day, because it often enables labels and publishers to negotiate higher fees.

Though some rights holders would also like to be involved in the creative process earlier, especially if working with newer talent and new music, even though doing so might ultimately reduce the fees the label or publisher commands.

One publisher told Resilient: “I think there should be much more communication. Music is integral to a campaign and should never be an afterthought. Bringing in a publisher or label to advise in the early stages of the creative not only ensures extra care for a campaign, but the fees are often a lot better if the artist feels they have invested in the project”.

3. Re-records are a fact of life and can be good for publishers
It’s no secret that in sync, publishers ultimately have a stronger negotiating hand than labels, because a licensee can always commission a new recording of the song that they have set their heart on, providing the publisher would allow such a thing. And of all the strands of the sync sector, advertisers are probably most likely to commission a re-record.

Labels would obviously prefer the original or more famous recordings that they control to be used, but, as one of the record companies Resilient spoke to said, “there’s not much we can do” if a brand decides to go the re-record route and the relevant publishers green light that proposal.

Many on the publishing side are very open to re-records, not least because it provides the licensee with a little more flexibility budget wise which can result in a higher fee for publisher and songwriter. Or, at least, songs a licensee could never afford if both publishing and master rights had to be licensed might now be a viable option. Though there may still be creative considerations about the new recording and how it represents the song.

As for the labels, will they come down on the price for master rights when the ‘re-record’ word is mentioned? Some of Resilient’s respondents insisted “no”. “We won’t be threatened into agreeing to a low fee because the client is considering an inferior re-record”, said one. “We are as competitive as we can be when negotiating, but by the same token we cannot undervalue classic recordings”, said another.

Though some, especially smaller labels did seem to be more flexible on fees if re-records were an option, while some said that they might offer to work with the brand on the re-record itself to secure some business.

4. Fees are going up for online video
Resilient notes that “our experience has been that sync fees for online video have dramatically risen in the past few years, especially for bought online media. The music publishers seem to be leading the charge, especially one of the majors”. And the research seems to back that observation up, ie as online video consumption increases so do the sync fees rights owners demand, though some said that TV advertising would still always attract a premium charge.

Meanwhile, others noted that the fees labels and publishers demand varies according to the kind of online video, and where the videos will be streamed, and that licensees should be clear on this to secure the best deal. Said one: “If it’s YouTube only, it’s a lot less expensive than bought online media. Clients need to be clear about this when asking for rights, and geo-blocking is becoming increasingly important, especially where a brand is a multinational global brand even if they say it’s UK focussed only”.

5. Brands want simpler licensing, obviously
It’s no surprise at all that brands would like music licensing to be simpler – every licensee of music would like the process to be simpler – though it’s always interesting to consider specific gripes, and whether labels, publishers and/or collecting societies could actually address those issues.

The music rights industry knows it should be better at licensing – and that revenue is currently lost to the overly complex system – but at the same time licensees just requesting global combined-rights fixed-rate blanket licenses, as they are prone to do, isn’t going to result in any quick fix. Although some frustrations simply come down to attitude, licensees don’t always feel like they are being treated as a customer, when that’s clearly what they are.

But, as Reslient writes, some of this is down to balance of power. “Our brand clients often complain that some music rights owners don’t behave like their other service providers; ie they don’t fully embrace that they’re a supplier serving their customer in return for a fee. Of course rights owners have a monopolistic position in relation to their assets; if a brand wants to license a particular song, it can only be licensed from the particular music publisher who owns it. And this fact changes the dynamic in the buyer/seller relationship”.

While that dynamic may enable rights owners to be more demanding in the deal making, with so much effort now being put into sync within the music business, perhaps labels and publishers could be putting more resource into client management, so brands do still ultimately feel like valued customers. Some already are, of course, and maybe they’re gaining competitive advantage as a result.

INFO: The infographic at the top of this article come from a much bigger infographic published by Resilient and available here. You can read Resilient’s own analysis of its research here.

Trends: Meet the supervisors

Brands & Merch CMU Trends Labels & Publishers

Sync Blobs

In the last decade or so, the small community of music supervisors that control what tracks and songs appear in movies, adverts, television shows and games have become a much sought after bunch, as labels, publishers, artists and songwriters have increasingly understood the revenue and promotional potential of appearing in the right kind of audio-visual content.

But how do the supervisors interact with the music industry? How do they find out about new music and pick which tracks to synchronise? And how much is driven by creative considerations and how much by the commercials of any one sync deal? We spoke to six supervisors from across the film, TV, gaming and ad industries to get their take on the sync sector in 2015.

THE PITCHING PROCESS
When it comes to the way the music industry should pitch artists, tracks and songs to the sync sector, supervisors talk in very similar terms to journalists and radio programmers when they are asked how they like to be ‘PRed’ or ‘plugged’ to. And like media contacts, not all supervisors have the same preferences when it comes to the pitching process, meaning – as with PR and plugging – personal relationships with key decision makers, and knowledge of their individual preferences, are a key part of the process.

“A quick MP3 download link in an email is ideal”, says Lisa Hart of Big Sync Music, about how she likes to receive new tracks from rights owners. “WAVs take up too much space, and if I have to log into a website to access your music, I’m less likely to download the tracks. Some key facts about the particular artist or catalogue you represent are always interesting, for example, telling me if any of the tracks you are sending over haven’t been released yet”.

Independent supervisor Iain Cooke also has some logistical advice: “If you’re sending links, make sure they are open ended, I might not get round to checking your tracks out for a few weeks, so you don’t want the links to have expired by then”. Meanwhile, on what to pitch, Cooke says to pick the tracks that will really stand out, “resist the urge to send me 20 or 30 tracks straight off, better to deal in bitesize chunks at the start and build up if there is interest. Send me your most hauntingly beautiful song, something that will stop me in my tracks and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end”.

Again in parallel with media contacts, supervisors talk a lot about rights owners targeting their approach, so they only pitch tracks that are relevant to each sync person’s projects. Of course, that means knowing what those projects are, but people who target pitches – rather than blanket sending every pitch to every contact – are more likely to have their emails read.

“Do your research. Hook me in with something relevant to the film projects I’m working on, all of which should be listed on IMDB”, says Gary Welch at Eyehear. While trailer specialist Will Quiney of Vamanos Music and Empire Design advises: “I don’t work in TV, so I don’t need tracks that bubble under a scene, I need dynamic sounding music that is very emotive and full on”.

Quiney also says that he’s happy for rights owners to suggest what kind of projects any one track might be best suited before, while back on practicalities he advises that labels and publishers double check metadata attached to a music file before sending it over. “Metadata should be totally self-explanatory, including contact details. I don’t have time to change artist names, and you risk being lost in my library of music if things aren’t clearly labelled”.

What about sending physical rather than digital copies of music? “When we’re given vinyl or CDs, that always stands out to me”, says Danny Kelleher at Laced Music. Welch agrees: “I’ll listen to most stuff on physical formats, because people have taken the trouble to send it, and the sound quality is usually better. Anyone can send music digitally, and due to the high volume coming in, it’s impossible to listen to everything”. For both Kelleher and Welch, then, physical may get you to the front of the queue.

Personalised emails also make an impact, and that includes artists and songwriters contacting supervisors directly; which is also part of the relationship building process. Says Cooke: “It’s great when a songwriter or artist whose work I’ve used before gets in touch with their brand new material, straight out of the studio. I always say send me the music as early as possible. It can be a demo and unmastered, just get it on the supervisor’s radar early. Some of the TV and film projects I work on are put together nine months to a year before transmission, so getting music as upfront as possible helps keep the music sounding fresh”.

Which is good advice. Though opinion is divided on whether demos are sufficient. Quiney counters: “As a rule, never send unmastered or unfinished tracks or demos. Even if you’re a big artist, if the audio is not sounding the best it can, when it goes up against other tracks it will have less impact”.

Hart stresses the importance of being honest when pitching, about both a track’s suitability for a project and how easy it will be to access the rights. “When I send out a brief, I prefer the rights holders to be completely forthcoming. If they have nothing in their catalogue that works, just let me know”. Then next time, when the rights owner does have something that its, the supervisor will be much more likely to take notice.

And, of course, as with any pitching role, getting the balance between being persistent but not irritating is key. Says Welch: “Constant emails interrupt your workflow … people checking in for an update to see what you’re working on does become a bit of a nightmare when you’re busy”. And Quiney: “Some people phone in the evenings to ask if I’ve listened to their music. This is not appreciated!”

THE SELECTION PROCESS
While there are best practice rules to follow when it comes to the pitching process, as for how supervisors pick any one track for any one sync, the consensus is “it depends on the project”. Which possibly isn’t so helpful, given the supervisors also want you to target pitches to individual projects, how are you meant to know what’s appropriate? But there are some general rules about what works depending on the kind of sync.

“On a drama programme like ‘Peaky Blinders’, the script is key”, says Amelia Hartley from TV producers Tiger Aspect and Endemol. “On programmes like that, we choose key tracks to highlight key scenes. Whereas on unscripted entertainment shows, the music is often added to up the pace and add excitement”. So some assumptions about what music will work can be made based on programme genre.

In film too, subject matter can obviously be everything, depending on the movie. Welch: “A lot of the films I’ve worked on recently are period pieces, which means you are immediately looking at back catalogue over new music. For example, ‘Northern Soul’ is set in the 1970s and needed an authentic soundtrack, while the Raymond Briggs autobiographical animation ‘Ethel And Ernest’ started in 1920s and finished in 1970, influencing musical choices”.

When it comes to film, the way music is selected for a trailer often differs from the movie itself, the trailer being more akin to advertising. As Quiney explains, “trailers often present a heightened version of the actual movie, and we’re trying to push the audience’s emotive buttons, so that you have an immediate exciting, or moving, or uplifting, or quirky feel, depending on the film”. And the music very much helps in that process.

How much of a free reign a supervisor actually has also varies from project to project. Kelleher admits that “the majority of games developers have a very strong idea of what music they’re looking for, and if they have a specific song or playlist in mind, we will just take care of the negotiations and paperwork”.

Though, even where a director or developer has strong opinions on soundtrack, budget can also play a role in what can and cannot be synced into a project, and that’s where the supervisors can play an important role.

Kelleher recalls: “We recently had a project with a limited budget, but the client knew exactly the type of music they were looking for. Unfortunately a lot of their selections were unrealistic so we had to find alternatives. We approached our contacts at publishers, labels and management companies and ended up with nearly 100 tracks for the client to choose from, all on brief and within budget”.

Which brings us to the supervisor’s ongoing challenge of balancing creative and commercial considerations when selecting tracks – what works best versus what a production can realistically afford, especially where direct deals need to be made with rights owners so no standard rates apply.

Most supervisors say that they begin the process with predominantly creative considerations, ie what works best for the project artistically. Says Hart: “A creative idea can stem from anywhere, so I tend to initially look for the right track for each project, before considering whether I will be able to clear it or license it on budget”. Once the creative juices are flowing, that’s when budget considerations are applied.

Though when actually suggesting tracks to a director or client, that’s where managing expectations is a key part of the role. As Welch says: “It’s important to be on top of both commercial and creative considerations unless you’ve got an endless pot of money. More often than not, I will only suggest things that are workable within the budget. And you’ve got to consider that across the whole project, a film might feature 30 tracks, but just one might spike the budget”.

Cooke adds: “The process always begins with finding the right song for the sequence. But of course you do your due diligence before putting songs forward, and you are going to be wary of tracks that look like they have rights holders all over the place, or by huge acts that you know are going to be expensive to license. But you can always pick up the phone and make a quick call to see if something is likely to be a viable option”.

It’s no secret that a song controlled by many different publishers, as a result of it being created through the collaboration of multiple songwriters, is more challenging to license for sync, unless a blanket licence applies, as with TV in the UK.

There has been some talk in the music rights community about the value of one-stop-shop licensing in the sync market place, and that deals are more likely if a rights owner can provide not just all the publishing, but the master rights too, what are sometimes referred to as a 200% licences, in that it covers both the song and recording copyright.

There were mixed opinions amongst our supervisors as to how important a one-stop-shop really is. Quiney observed that “the golden rule for me is that getting the song that’s right creatively comes first and licensing issues second. To be honest, I rarely know with a song I’m reaching out for whether it will be clearable in one deal, of course it helps and saves time, but isn’t usually the first consideration”.

In TV, where blanket licences applies, it’s even less of a concern. “Obviously the one-stop-shop is a nice simple model”, says Hartley, “but I am used to masters and publishing being licensed separately, so to be able to clear 200% in on go isn’t a massive pull for me. On UK projects, my main concern is that rights holders are PPL and PRS members”.

Indeed, readily available information about what deals are required and who controls the rights seemed to be a higher priority for our supervisors to the one-stop-shop. “I appreciate it when people who are upfront and honest about what they can clear”, Quiney says. “And it’s even better if the master rights holder can tell me which publishers control the song and who I need to speak to there”.

THE SYNC INDUSTRY
It’s no secret that the music publishers and especially record labels have stepped up their sync operations in recent years, and when songwriters and artists sign publishing and record deals, the ability of their corporate partners to secure sync deals is now often a key consideration.

While it was perhaps true in the past that sync-savvy independents were more proactive in this domain than the majors, that’s not necessarily the case anymore. “As revenues from other areas of the industry have declined, sync has become much more important to all players and this is reflected in bigger sync teams”, says Hartley. And Hart adds: “I actually get more mailouts and tracks pitched by the majors than I do independents, though the bigger players have such big catalogues, it can be difficult for them to promote and pitch everything”.

“Obviously with their bigger artists – so, something like the Queen catalogue – the majors don’t really need to do much pushing to secure syncs”, says Quiney. “But I do get emails from the majors, and sometimes they do actually pitch bigger name tracks too. Universal did a recent Amy Winehouse compilation push around the release of the biopic, and when David Bowie had an exhibition on at the V&A the rights holders did a bit of extra promotion around his catalogue”.

Though when it comes to brand new tracks, the majors sometimes lose out because of a paranoia over new releases being leaked. “That makes their lead times shorter”, Cooke notes, which can impact on the number of opportunities available.

On the flipside, however, more conventional marketing and promotions can influence the supervisors, especially with new talent, and the majors generally have bigger budgets. Cooke again: “Building a great buzz online, in the press and on radio, or having a strong live touring presence, is also going to feed into the overall awareness around an act or release, so it’s not simply about having a sync dept”.

While in-house sync teams should be in the pitching game, as we said, it is also about labels and publishers building relationships with the supervisors. “When labels or publishers pitch, it can be a little down to luck, as in luck with the timing”, Cooke says. “Sometimes rights owners just happen to pitch the right kind of track to the right supervisor just at the right moment, when that supervisor has a specific requirement the pitched song meets”. But having good relationships in place means that supervisors will contact labels or publishers direct when relevant briefs come in.

Given the time and place thing, a good pitch by a rights owner doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate sync, but some supervisors have their own system for storing tracks they like for when the right project comes their way.

Says Hart: “When a new brief comes in, I tend to look first at my own playlists, where I have tucked away music pitched in the past by labels and publishers – or artists direct – and see if there is anything suitable”.

The supervisor may use those playlists to inform the brief they receive in the first place. Hartley explained how she will share one or more of her playlists with producers or directors to “start the dialogue on what kind of music they are looking for, and we’ll keep that up until we are all agreed on a feel for the project”.

WHERE DOES PRODUCTION MUSIC FIT IN?
Production music – as opposed to commercially released songs and recordings – is part of the mix for most of our supervisors, especially with classical and orchestral music which, for various reasons, can be expensive to licence via the labels.

Says Quiney: “Production music is really helpful when you need a piece of classical music. Various libraries have good quality recordings of particular pieces that I can licence for a minimal amount compared to commercial releases. This is especially helpful on comedy films or with animated or children’s films”.

Meanwhile Cooke notes that “the quality of production music has increased massively in the last five years, partly because many producers now have incredible set-ups at home where they can make quality music in a quick and cost-effective way”. And production music can help a project come in on budget, he adds. “If a song only plays in the background, so doesn’t need to be recognisable, using production music can be really helpful when you are on a tight budget”.

Even in TV – where in the UK sync is covered by PPL and PRS blanket licences – production music is a useful option for producers looking at distribution beyond the UK, and especially in the US where direct deals are required. Says Hartley: “If a programme is going to be exploited very widely and the budget is not very big, then we will use tracks from production music libraries rather than licensing commercial releases”.

CONCLUSION
Whether label, publisher, artist or songwriter, building relationships with the supervisor community can open up all sorts of sync opportunities. Though the personalised approach is always going to be most effective, and that can be time consuming and resource heavy, which is why artists and songwriters may look to their labels and publishers to do the legwork. That said most of our supervisors stressed that individual musicians could also get in touch and – with a bit of right time right place good fortune – a deal may be forthcoming.

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Trends: Sync licensing – A beginner’s guide

Brands & Merch CMU Trends Labels & Publishers

Film Slate

While sync has long been a key part of the business for music publishers, we’ve seen record companies really up their game in this domain in the last fifteen years since CD sales went into decline. Although, overall, sync is still a relatively small part of the recorded music business, many labels keen to diversify their operations are now much more proactive in seeking licensing deals with the TV, film, gaming and advertising sectors which wish to synchronise music to their video output.

Given publishers remain active in the sync space too, and with many music rights companies owning both label and music publishing businesses, you might expect this to be the one area where both sides of the music rights industry would work together.

And some labels and publishers in common ownership have made some moves in this direction, some by encouraging songwriting artists to sign ‘combined rights’ deals. But sync licensing nevertheless remains complex, with rights frequently fragmented so that licensees have to locate and negotiate with multiple stakeholders for each track they use.

Here we review how sync licensing works, in the UK and beyond, and explain why the complexities exist, and how that fact has created an opportunity for middle-man agencies. We also look at how sync deals are done and the variables that influence the fees a licensee may pay.

RECORDING V PUBLISHING RIGHTS
The music industry controls and exploits a number of different kinds of intellectual property, with the key music rights being the copyright in songs (lyrics and musical compositions) and the separate copyright in sound recordings.

Although many artists create both songs and recordings, the music industry generally deals with the two sets of rights separately, with the music publishers dealing in song or ‘publishing’ rights, and the record industry in recording or ‘master’ rights.

This is important for the sync market, because many ads, films, TV shows and games are looking to use existing recordings of songs, which means they need to do at least two deals, one with a publisher to cover the publishing rights, and one with a record company to cover the master rights.

200% LICENSING
As mentioned above, there have been some moves in the music industry to try to offer sync clients combined song and recording licences, what are often called 200% licences, because they cover 100% of the publishing rights and 100% of the master rights.

Some reckon that offering such one-stop-shop licences is sufficiently attractive to sync licensees that it can give rights owners a competitive advantage over those publishers or labels only able to licence the song or the recording. Though the supervisors we spoke to seemed divided on how important and therefore how attractive 200% deals really are.

The challenge for the music industry in this domain is that, by convention, artists who write most of their own material usually do separate deals for their song and recording rights, working with a publisher and a label that are not in common ownership.

Splitting rights across two deals and two business partners has, for various reasons, usually been seen as best practice amongst the managers and lawyers who advise musical talent.

When music rights companies merge, artists may find that their recording and song rights end up being controlled by one corporate entity, though even then the label and publishing divisions of music firms tend to work autonomously.

But some efforts have been made by some rights owners, where song and recording catalogues cross over, to foster more joined-up thinking when it comes to sync.

Meanwhile some music firms are now encouraging new artists to sign ‘combined-rights deals’ to begin with, usually citing increased sync opportunities as a reason to do so. And some smaller and niche indies have been insisting on such arrangements for sometime. But in the main, combined rights deals remain the exception rather than the rule, meaning that 200% sync licences are far from the norm.

CO-OWNERSHIP
A further complication in trying to offer one-stop-shop sync deals is that copyrights can be and frequently are co-owned. Actually, master rights are more often than not controlled by one record company, but song rights are frequently split between multiple publishers, simply because collaboration is so common in songwriting and each collaborator will usually get a stake in the copyright of any song they help create.

If those songwriters are signed to different publishers, which they often are, multiple publishers will now control a stake in the copyright. Sync licensees looking to clear use of that song will therefore have to negotiate separate deals with each publisher. And any one of those publishers may scupper the deal, either by asking for too much money or simply by refusing to license.

In theory, under US copyright law each stakeholder publisher can actually negotiate a licence that covers 100% of the publishing rights in the song, providing they share any revenue with the other stakeholders pro-rata. Though industry courtesy and side agreements between songwriters means this often doesn’t happen, meaning American sync licensees must negotiate separate deals with multiple publishers just like their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

MECHANICAL RIGHTS v PERFORMING RIGHTS
Copyright provides the owner of a piece of protected content with a number of controls over how their content is used, and while these controls vary from copyright system to copyright system, they commonly include the reproduction, distribution, rental, adaptation, performance and communication controls.

In the music industry it is common to group the reproduction and distribution controls together and call them the ‘mechanical’ or ‘dubbing’ rights, and to group the public performance and communication controls together and call them the ‘performing’ or ‘neighbouring’ rights.

Sometimes, and especially in publishing, these different elements of the copyright are licensed differently and separately.

This is important in sync because, if you intend to synchronise a track to a TV programme, say, you are exploiting both the mechanical/dubbing rights and the performing/neighbouring rights, the former when you synchronise the track to the video, the latter when the programme is broadcast.

You may be able to cover both the mechanical and performing rights in your sync contract with a rights owner, or you might only cover the mechanical rights in the initial deal, and will then require a second licence to perform or communicate the advert, programme or film to the public. Label sync deals often cover both elements, while publisher sync deals often do not.

IDENTIFYING OWNERS
So, a licensee looking to secure the rights to sync a track may need separate deals to cover recording and publishing rights, multiple deals to cover the publishing rights, and separate deals to cover mechanical and performing rights.

It is also not always so easy to work out who, exactly, you need to do these deals with, because there is no central database of copyright ownership. Unlike other kinds of intellectual property, copyright is not usually registered with any statutory body, and while databases of copyright owners exist within the industry, they are never wholly complete, and often not publicly available.

Often it is easier to identify sound recording owners, because websites like Amazon normally list which record label released any one album or track. Of course, the owners of sound recordings can change over time; a label doesn’t necessarily own the rights in a recording worldwide; and you might need to know that Columbia is a subsidiary of Sony Music, but there is usually some information online as a starting point.

Publisher information can be harder to come by. It will usually be provided in the small print on an album, though that may require finding a physical copy of the release. Many publishers are now better at providing lists of the songwriters and songs that they represent, and some have special portals aimed at the sync market. Though a little detective work may still be required to work out each and every stakeholder that will need to be dealt with in order to secure a sync licence.

COLLECTIVE LICENSING: TV SYNC
Sometimes the music industry licenses directly – so that licensee and label or publisher negotiate and agree a bespoke deal – and sometimes the music industry licenses collectively, whereby all or most rights owners appoint a collecting society (otherwise known as a ‘performing rights organisation’ or ‘collective management organisation’) to licence on their behalf.

Where collective licensing occurs, generally the collecting society agrees terms with groups of licensees and then provides so called blanket licences at industry-standard rates, so that a licensee can make use of all or any songs or recordings in the society’s repertoire, paying either a set rate per usage or some kind of revenue share arrangement.

Most sync deals are, at least in part, negotiated directly, so that producers and advertisers have to negotiate direct deals with any labels or publishers which have a stake in the recordings or songs they wish to use. The big exception, however, is television, which in some countries – the UK included – can be licensed through the collective licensing system. In the UK that means PPL representing the record industry’s rights and PRS For Music the publishing sector’s catalogue.

As mentioned above, a TV sync exploits both the mechanical and performing rights of the song copyright, and in the UK those respective elements of the copyright are actually controlled by separate collecting societies, MCPS and PRS respectively. However, the two societies both appoint PRS For Music – a subsidiary of the PRS – to represent their rights, so both elements of the publishing rights can be secured under one licence.

Participation in the TV sync blanket license is compulsory for PPL, PRS and MCPS members (ie rights owners, artists and songwriters), so any UK-based TV broadcaster that has such a licence can make use of all and any recordings and songs represented by the UK societies. That is a large selection of music including many hits and big name artists and songwriters.

However, it’s not every song and every recording, and whereas concert promoters and radio stations operating under similar blanket licences often assume that their PPL/PRS licences mean they can make use of pretty much any song or any recording (even though for them too there will be gaps in the repertoire their licence covers), generally licensees in TV sync need to be more careful about what songs and recordings are not, for one reason or another, covered.

The other thing to remember in TV sync is that even though a blanket licence may cover broadcast in a programme maker’s home territory, directly negotiated licences may be required if the show is aired elsewhere, especially the US. And while both PPL and PRS offer licences for DVD release, there are opt-outs for rights owners in this domain, so direct deals may be required for some recordings and songs for any future DVD distribution.

COLLECTIVE LICENSING: PERFORMING RIGHTS
Although collective licensing only really applies to TV in the sync domain, the music publishers’ collecting societies do actually get involved in other kinds of sync, but only usually on the performing rights side.

Which is to say, whereas labels, when dealing directly, will usually provide both mechanical rights (or ‘dubbing rights’ as they would call them) and performing rights in the one deal, publishers may only provide the mechanical rights (or ‘synchronisation rights’ as they would likely call them) in the initial agreement.

Additional performing rights fees would then need to be paid each time the resulting film or advert is screened, broadcasted or communicated, usually at industry-standard rates set by the local collecting society.

The reason for the split is that, by convention, songwriters often directly appoint collecting societies to represent some elements of their song rights – and especially the performing rights – so that their publisher only has a share in those revenue streams, rather than full-on control (in many cases these elements are actually assigned to the society). This convention means that publishers cannot license the performing rights in songs in their catalogue without involving the collecting society.

THE SYNC SECTOR
Because securing music rights can be so challenging – what with the song/recording and mechanical/performing splits before you even get to the issue of co-ownership – this has created an opportunity for those willing to navigate the complicated world of music rights, in that they can charge sync licensees to secure all the rights they need.

Although the growing number of agencies that sit between sync licensees and the music community – while in many ways capitalising on the complications of music licensing – still need to make their ultimate clients aware of the complexities and challenges, because it can be easy to over-promise to a budding sync licensee, when you know that there are actually several variables that can scupper a deal on the rights owner’s side.

THE DEAL
Once a sync licensee – or their representative – has worked out who they need to do deals with, the negotiations begin. Where blanket licenses are used, a collecting society will usually have pre-agreed rates that will be the same oblivious of what song or recording is used. But with directly negotiated sync, the value of deals can vary hugely according to an assortment of variables.

This includes the kind of film, advert or game that wants to use the music; the kind of budget such a project commands; the perceived fame and profile of the songs, tracks, artists and songwriters involved in the deal; the promotional value of the sync (this is generally of more interest to labels than publishers); whether the licensee wants any exclusivity (which is particularly common in ad syncs); and how important a certain song or track is to a project (if rights owners reckon their song or recording is key, then they will exploit this to increase the fee).

Other considerations will include the territories, formats and time-periods covered by the deal, how the song or recording will actually be used, and whether the licensee will need to pay any additional royalties down the line, mainly the additional performing rights royalties that will be due on the screening, broadcast or communication on synced songs.

Although each rights owner with a stake in a track will negotiate its own deal with the licensee, each stakeholder will usually be keen to ensure that they secure the same value from the arrangement as all the other stakeholders, so that the recording and publishing rights generate more or less the same sum of money, and each of the publishers receive the same rate pro-rata according to their stake in the song.

This can be achieved through so called ‘most favoured nation’ clauses inserted into sync contracts, which basically say that if any other stakeholder involved in the deal secures a higher rate, then the other stakeholders get the same rates pro-rata. It means that if you are one of the first stakeholders to do the deal, you don’t lose out if another stakeholder subsequently secures a better rate.

Labels will often seek to secure the same value from a sync deal as the publishers who control the accompanying song rights – employing most favoured nations in order to do so – though there are some variables here. For example, if the song is much more famous than the artist performing it. And ultimately the publisher has a stronger negotiating hand, because the licensee can always re-record the song, providing the publisher would allow such a thing (a singer-songwriter might insist that only their version is used). Ad agencies are perhaps most likely to commission a new recording.

It is, of course, much easier to commission a new recording than it is to commission a ‘new version’ of a song. Agencies do exist to create ‘sound-a-like’ songs – or ‘style-a-like’ songs if you want to be more diplomatic – where the rights to a specific song cannot be secured, though such commissions are a grey area in copyright terms (when does inspiration become infringement?) and can result in PR headaches for the advertiser if the original artist or songwriter hit out at the brand for going down this route.

ARTIST RIGHTS
Although songwriters and artists routinely assign the copyright in their songs and recordings to publishers and labels (respectively), they will usually retain certain contractual rights in relation to their work.

The most prominent contractual rights relate to the songwriter and artist’s right to share in revenue generated by their songs and recordings, but they may also include a right to consultation and/or vetoes over how their work is used. Sync is a common domain where these latter rights exist, meaning artists and songwriters may be able to veto a sync deal. This right may be subject to the artist being “reasonable”, but could also be at the act’s absolute discretion.

Generally speaking, labels and publishers want to do the deal if the right price can be agreed, because they are in the business of exploiting copyright and need to drive revenues. Artists and songwriters, however, may reject a deal on ethical or reputation grounds.

As other sound recording revenues have declined, most artists and songwriters do recognise the value of sync. Some actively seek such opportunities and will choose labels and publishers to work with based on their ability to secure sync deals. But that doesn’t mean they won’t refuse to allow their music to be used by brands or productions that they don’t want to be associated with if their contracts allow them to. There are examples of big-name artist turning down million dollar contracts.

Even where an artist or songwriter doesn’t have a veto right, if the sync could be in any way contentious it is worth ensuring that they are nevertheless happy with the deal, because you don’t want to PR headache of the creator hitting out at the sync once it has gone public.

OTHER OPTIONS
For licensees on tight budgets – or simply unable to license the music they require – there are some other options, including original commissions, public domain works and production music.

Original commissions aren’t necessarily cheaper, depending on who you commission and the scale of the project, but they can be easier to manage from a rights point of view. Although the producer needs to be clear what they are buying – in rights terms – from the composer they engage.

Public domain works are songs and recordings where the copyright has expired, meaning that anyone can now exploit those works without the permission of the original creators or rights owners. These works can be synced without doing any deal or paying any fees.

However, copyright lasts for a long time – 50-95 years from release for recordings, and life of creator plus up to 70 years for the songs, depending on country – so most songs and recordings from at least the latter half of the 20th century are still in copyright, especially if your film, advert, programme or game will be distributed globally and therefore into territories with the longer copyright terms.

It’s also important to remember that while the recording copyright might have expired, the song may still be in copyright, so the publishing rights will still need to be negotiated. Or, with classical music that is out of copyright, the recording you’ve set your heart on may still be in copyright. Also, when a piece of music is rearranged, or a recording remixed (or maybe even just remastered), a new copyright is created, so you have to be certain you are using the version of a song or recording that is out of copyright. (Though, on the flipside, if you then rearrange the original song for the purposes of your production, you create a new copyright that you will own).

PRODUCTION MUSIC
Perhaps the most useful other option to syncing commercially released recordings is using so called production music, which is often designed with sync in mind and as a result is much easier to license.

Sometimes commissioned specifically for undefined future sync requirements, or other times music that was commissioned for TV or film and has subsequently been made available for others to use, production music can usually be licensed through one deal which covers both recording and publishing rights.

Production music libraries, which are more often allied with music publishers, despite providing finished recordings, are usually set up with film, TV, advertising and gaming clients in mind, and often provide tools to navigate their catalogues according to specific requirements and budget. Production music libraries can be particularly useful for classical music, which can be expensive to license from labels, and is not so easy to re-record.

Although licensing production music is generally quicker and cheaper, it is still important to be clear on what rights come with the specific licence.

Depending on how the production music company works, and the composers and musicians it works with, separate performing right royalties may still be due whenever the finished film, programme or advert is screened, broadcast or communicated, and these would be paid through the local collective licensing system at industry standard rates.

Some TV and film production companies now have their own internal production music libraries, where they store musical works commissioned for past projects on which they secured all the rights, and which can now be used for other projects with minimum hassle or spend.

Indeed, some production companies make those libraries available to third parties, and become part of the production music industry in the process. Though producers need to ensure that they have the rights to do all of this when they agree terms with any composers and musicians during the initial commission process.

Vigsy’s Club Tip: Deep Into Soul at The Prince Of Wales

Club Tip CMU Approved

Terry Hunter

Deep Into Soul’s terrace parties have gone down very well over the summer, and the finale at the Prince Of Wales in Brixton looks set not to disappoint. Headlined by the icon that is Terry Hunter from Chicago, the bill also includes NYC’s DJ Spinna and some nu-disco from one of my faves, Mr Dave Lee, aka Joey Negro.

High-octane house will also flow from Rhemi as the evening progresses, whereas jazzy and soulful afternoon vibes will be provided by DJ Bones and David Bailey. Plus, the Afro house UK movement comes in the form of Shaun Ashby, Les Rebelles Aluku and DJ Fiddla.

It’s a twelve hour session. Get there early.

Saturday 26 Sep. The Prince Of Wales, 467 Brixton Road, London, SW9 8HH, 5pm – 5am, £17+. More info here.

Kim Dotcom extradition hearing finally underway

Business News Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

MegaUpload

More than three and half years after the US authorities took controversial file-transfer service MegaUpload offline, the extradition hearing of its founder Kim Dotcom and three other men involved in running the company finally kicked off yesterday after a multitude of delays. Indeed, had the Mega men’s attorneys got their way, the whole thing would have been postponed again this week, maybe even into next year.

That request for further postponement was denied, and so things have finally cranked into action as American prosecutors try to extradite Dotcom et al from their current home in New Zealand over to the States to face allegations of money laundering, racketeering and rampant copyright infringement in relation to their former enterprise.

“In the long prelude to this hearing much has been said about the novelty and technicality of the case”, said Christine Gordon, speaking for the US government in the Auckland District Court. But don’t be fooled, she went on, according to the New Zealand Herald. “When distractions are stripped away, it boils down to a simple scheme of fraud”, she said.

Embellishing a little, Gordon ran through the key allegations against the MegaUpload men, most of which first emerged shortly after the 2012 raid on their operations. Dotcom and his team made millions from advertisers and subscriptions, even though most of the traffic on their site was people accessing illegally uploaded content.

Not only that, but the firm allegedly had a scheme that rewarded users for driving traffic to the website, which basically meant uploading unlicensed music, movies and TV shows. But at the same time MegaUpload told copyright owners they were complying with obligations under US law to remove infringing material.

Acknowledging the much moaned about problem with the takedown systems that user-upload websites provide copyright owners – that users just re-upload the same content as soon as it’s been removed – Gordon said that, with the MegaUpload operation, you had “the incredible spectacle of processing takedown notices while at the same time paying many of those same repeat offenders”.

The former MegaUpload chiefs, of course, will claim that their operation – like those of other file-transfer platforms and video sharing sites like YouTube – was protected by the safe harbours of American copyright law, which say that, provided you do the takedown thing, you can’t be held liable for your users uploading infringing content. Even if your takedown system is pretty ropey, for the reasons Gordon explained.

The prosecution’s rep said that MegaUpload was different because it was rewarding the infringers who provided it with a steady stream of illegal files, ensuring taken down content wasn’t down for long. She also cited various correspondence between the accused which allegedly acknowledged the illegality of their operation, adding that the MegaUpload team “sometimes enjoyed the fact they were making money by breaking the law”.

Among the online comments Gordon cited was Dotcom urging his colleagues not to log chats because there is “too much shit in there” and “at some point a judge will be convinced about how evil we are – then we’re in trouble”.

Meanwhile one of his colleagues predicted the firm’s operations may be shut down, expressing surprise it hadn’t happened sooner, and adding: “If copyright holders would really know how big our business is they’d surely try to do something against it. They have no idea we are making millions in profit every month”.

So, plenty to be getting on with, though – of course – the purpose of this hearing is to decide whether the allegations against Dotcom et al are covered by the extradition treaty between New Zealand and the USA. The MegaUpload team are sure to provide plenty of arguments as to why they are not, before even tackling the allegations under US law.

The extradition hearing is expected to last for about four weeks.

Man arrested over fatal SXSW car crash pleads not guilty to murder

Business News Gigs & Festivals Legal

SXSW

The man accused of murder in relation to the car crash incident that killed four people at the 2014 edition of the South By South West festival in Austin, Texas yesterday entered a not guilty plea as his trial approaches.

Rashad Owens is accused of being intoxicated when he drove his car into a crowd of people at SXSW last year, killing four and injuring more than 20 others. He is also accused of driving down a street which was closed at the time while fleeing from police.

He faces one court of capital murder and four counts of murder, plus 24 counts of aggravated assault. Following a brief appearance in Travis County District Court yesterday, Owens will now reappear for a final pre-trial hearing on 15 Oct, with jury selection for his trial then set to begin on 26 Oct.

Universal partners with ad agency on new label

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Universal Music

Universal Music is partnering with ad agency BETC to launch a new Paris-based label to be called Pop Records, with the agency’s VP Fabrice Brovelli and Creative Music Director Christophe Caurret very much involved in running the new operation.

If you’re even starting to wonder why, well, here’s BETC co-founder Remi Babinet: “A modern ad agency should be able to offer a lot more than just consulting and traditional campaigns. It should be a media company, a producer and an audience generator in itself”.

See, that’s why. Bet you feel foolish for asking now, don’t you?

BETC is owned by communications group Havas, which has other alliances with Universal, most likely because the two companies have a shareholder in common in the form of the Bolloré Group, which has stakes in both Universal Music’s parent company Vivendi – where Vincent Bolloré is Chairman – and the Havas business.

Bucks Music announces alliance with Play Records

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Bucks Music Group

Independent publisher Bucks Music has announced an alliance with dance label Play Records to represent the firm’s publishing interests worldwide, which includes over a thousand works, some from that Deadmau5 fella.

Confirming the new alliance with Play Records – originally a Toronto operation which opened a London HQ last year – Bucks A&R Manager Harri Davies told reporters: “Play have a solid catalogue of works of which we will now be able to clear all master and publishing rights as a one stop shop – we look forward to working with them”.

Meanwhile the label’s founders Melleny Melody and Zachary Spider Brown Smith said in one of those joint statements: “We’re looking forward to a long and prosperous collaborative, creative working relationship with Bucks”.

Channel 4 would like to make feature-length docs with music icons

Business News Media

Channel 4

With both Warner Music and Universal Music now having ambitions in the music movie domain, Channel 4 has also expressed an interest in doing more popstar-based documentaries and biopics – well, “biopics by stealth” to be precise, whatever that means – and as a result it is seeking “music icons” to work with.

We know this because the broadcaster’s Music Commissioning Editor Jonny Rothery has been chatting about getting more music-orientated programmes into primetime on the network, and, according to Broadcast, said: “We’ve got some really good rock docs that are working in primetime and now we’re increasingly looking for more access to music icons”.

Explaining, he added: “Not just talking heads, we’re speaking to two or three really big music icons about spending proper time with them, doing biopic by stealth, with great archive and performance. Sometimes you don’t always get the most out of them by sitting them down with a director. And we wouldn’t do it with music stars that are quite saturated: Katy Perry might not be right, but being theoretical, Noel Gallagher or Elton John might be”.

Rothery is in part inspired by the recent ‘Amy’ film, on which Channel 4’s movie division was co-producer along with Universal Music. “I’d love to do more feature-length stories”, he admitted. “There’s a great story running through these films so it’s not something you can necessarily tell in a C4 hour”.

Vladimir Putin calls Elton John (really this time)

Artist News

Elton John

Vladimir Putin has called up Elton John on the telephone to organise a meeting. For real this time. However, unlike those pranksters, he seems to have been a little vague on when such a meeting might actually happen.

As previously reported, while in Ukraine speaking to business leaders and the country’s president about gay rights in the country, John gave an interview to the BBC restating his desire to have a similar meeting with Putin. Not long afterwards, John announced on Instagram that he’d just been on the phone with the Russian president. However, a denial from the Kremlin quickly followed, and it all turned out to have been an apparently hilarious practical joke instigated by some Russian TV presenters.

Refuting that any call had been made after the singer’s Instagram post, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov nonetheless said that, had they been aware that John wanted to meet his boss, the Kremlin would have been happy to accommodate him. And yesterday Peskov told reporters that they were now starting to get somewhere, saying: “Putin phoned him. He said: ‘I know some guys played a trick on you on the phone, but don’t get offended. They are harmless people, though that of course does not justify what they did'”.

John has not been quite so quick on the Instagram trigger this time, but it does seem that this is a genuine offer to meet and discuss Russia’s attitudes to the LGBT community.

John Lydon claims he was “banned” from BBC radio in 1978 for speaking out against Jimmy Savile

Artist News Media

John Lydon

John Lydon has said that he was “banned” from BBC radio in 1978, after saying in an interview that Jimmy Savile was “into all sorts of seediness”.

Speaking to Piers Morgan in an interview to be aired tonight on ITV show ‘Life Stories’, or so The Guardian reports, Lydon says that “we all knew about [Savile] but we’re not allowed to talk about it”.

“I’m very, very bitter that the likes of Savile and the rest of them were allowed to continue”, he continued. “I did my bit, I said what I had to. But they didn’t air that. I found myself banned from BBC radio for quite a while, for my contentious behaviour. They wouldn’t state this directly; there’d be other excuses”.

“Weren’t I right?” he added. “I think most kids wanted to go on ‘Top Of The Pops’ but we all knew what that cigar muncher was up to”.

The scale of child abuse carried out by Savile only became truly apparent after his death, of course. The revelations sparked police investigation Operation Yewtree, which has led to arrests and some convictions against other radio and television presenters.

Sia releases single originally written for Adele

Artist News Releases

Sia

Sia has released a new single, ‘Alive’, a song originally written for Adele. It is taken from her upcoming new album, ‘This Is Acting’, which is made up entirely of songs initially intended to be performed by other artists.

“It’s about Adele’s life, so I now sing a song from Adele’s perspective”, says Sia of the track. “This is the first song from this new project. I’m calling it ‘This Is Acting’ because they are songs I was writing for other people, so I didn’t go into it thinking, ‘This is something I would say’. It’s more like play-acting. It’s fun”.

Adele, as previously mentioned, is rumoured to be releasing her new album in November. Like Sia, Damon Albarn also contributed to the record, though he also thinks his work won’t appear on the finished release. He told The Sun earlier this month: “Will she use any of [my] stuff? I don’t think so. Let’s wait and see. The thing is, she’s very insecure. And she doesn’t need to be, she’s still so young”. He added that all of her new material was “very middle of the road”, which probably won’t help with that insecurity.

Back back to Sia. Listen to ‘Alive’ here:

Barbican to host Lee Hazelwood tribute show

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Lee Hazlewood

The Barbican will next month host a night of music by songwriter Lee Hazelwood, who died in 2007. Among a line-up of artists performing songs such as ‘These Boots Were Made For Walkin’ and ‘Some Velvet Morning’ are Mark Lanegan, Fran Healy, Caitlin Rose and Matthew E White.

The event, taking place on 25 Oct and titled ‘Love And Other Crimes: The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood’, is curated by musician Ed Harcourt and Wyndham Wallace, Hazelwood’s manager in the last years of his life. Wallace also published a biography earlier this year, ‘Lee, Myself & I: Inside The Very Special World Of Lee Hazlewood’.

Speaking to CMU, Wallace explains how the idea for the show came about: “I live in Berlin, and I got a message out of the blue from Chris Sharp at The Barbican in November last year. I’d not seen him for many, many years and when he said he was coming to the city we decided to meet for brunch. He asked me what I’d been up to, and, as I told him about ‘Lee, Myself & I’, I suddenly thought of asking if he’d be interested in putting on a tribute show. He liked the idea, and soon afterwards I talked to Ed Harcourt about acting as co-curator and musical director. But the idea itself was pretty spontaneous”.

As for what Hazlewood himself might make if it, he added: “He might perhaps squirm at the attention, but deep down he’d probably be loving it, and would be fascinated by how the ‘young kids’ delivered his songs”.

Those “young kids” will be a band made up of Harcourt, Polar Bear’s Tom Herbert, Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Romeo Stodart from The Magic Numbers, and Portishead’s Adrian Utley. They will be joined by vocalists Duke Garwood, Joe Gideon, Lawrence, Flo Morrissey, Josh T Pearson, Gemma Ray, Patrick Watson, Kathryn Williams, and the aforementioned Lanegan, Healy, Rose and White.

Read more from Wallace here on his association with Hazelwood and putting this show together, and book tickets for the show here.

CMU Beef Of The Week #275: Morrissey v the UK, David Cameron, and erotic fiction

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers Releases

Morrissey

Well, it’s been quite a week in the world of Morrissey, hasn’t it? It’s hard to know where to begin. How about we start with the news that straddles last week as well as this week – the former Smiths frontman’s last ever show in the UK ever ever ever. That’s right, people. Morrissey will never play in the UK again. If you’ve never been to one of his shows and you have no passport, you have zero chance of ever seeing him play. It’s no use crying about it, he’s gone, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it now.

Well, I suppose there is one group of people who could do something about it, but they all seem pretty reluctant. Who are those people? Anyone with the power to give Morrissey a new record contract, that’s who.

Tooting on his internet trumpet, the True To You website, ahead of his two very recent London gigs, the singer explained: “There is absolutely no way that we can generate any interest from record labels in the United Kingdom, therefore the imminent two nights at Hammersmith are likely to be our final ever UK shows. We are obsessively grateful for all interest and loyalty from our audience – throughout 28 years – but without new releases, there is no point in any additional touring”.

No point at all. Imagine playing live in a place where you only had a back catalogue of 38 band and solo studio, live and compilation albums to sell. Everyone’s already got them. Every single one. Even that last one that was withdrawn from sale because he fell out so badly with his then label, resulting in him being unable to convince any others to work with him.

So, it’s bye bye Morrissey. But just because he won’t come and play his songs for us, that doesn’t mean we’ll never hear from him again. He will remain, I’m sure, a man always quick with a statement for any given situation. And therefore a Beef Of The Week regular.

This week, he was right there when news broke that Prime Minister David Cameron had allegedly once put his penis in the mouth of the severed head of a pig. I think we’re all smart enough to see that this particular allegation is a power play, exploiting the knowledge that the furthest anyone is likely to go in defence of the PM is to say that he “probably” didn’t do it. That seed of doubt’s always going to be there though, isn’t it?

And so, on the off-chance that a) he did it and b) he ever admits it, animal rights group PETA and Morrissey published a statement telling Cameron that if he had “performed a sexual act on a dead pig while at Oxford University, then it shows a callousness and complete lack of empathy entirely unbefitting a man in his position, and he should resign”.

I don’t know, he’s shown callousness and a lack of empathy plenty of times before and he just got re-elected. Who knows, maybe in 2020 he’ll decide he would actually like a third term in office and win a landslide victory based on a one policy campaign of dead pig fucking. Stranger things may or may not have happened.

Sorry, we’ve strayed off the point here a bit. We were talking about Morrissey. Morrissey as a mouthpiece, I believe. Now, as I alluded to above, that statement on David Cameron was really penned by PETA, he just posted it online. What we really need is Morrissey in his own words.

We’ve already had that, of course, with last year’s autobiography, ‘Autobiography’. So now we have to settle for the next best thing, demon-possessed sports relay teams in Morrissey’s own words. That’s right, Moz has written a novel. And that is genuinely what the novel is about.

Look, here’s Morrissey’s first novel in Morrissey’s own words: “The theme is demonology, the left-handed path of black magic. It is about a sports relay team in 1970s America who accidentally kill a wretch who, in esoteric language, might be known as a Fetch, a discarnate entity in physical form. He appears, though, as an omen of the immediate deaths of each member of the relay team. He is a life force of a devil incarnate, yet in his astral shell he is one phase removed from life. The wretch begins a banishing ritual of the four main characters, and therefore his own death at the beginning of the book is illusory”.

Amazingly, the subject matter is not the main thing that has caught people’s attention about this book project. More, they have been discussing the affront to erotic fiction that appears within its pages.

Here are actual words that a man wrote down and then had published in an actual book, via The Guardian: “Eliza and Ezra rolled together into the one giggling snowball of full-figured copulation, screaming and shouting as they playfully bit and pulled at each other in a dangerous and clamorous rollercoaster coil of sexually violent rotation with Eliza’s breasts barrel-rolled across Ezra’s howling mouth and the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation extenuating his excitement as it smacked its way into every muscle of Eliza’s body except for the otherwise central zone”.

Bulbous salutations, one and all.

Q&A: Wyndham Wallace on his Lee Hazlewood tribute show at The Barbican

Artist Interviews Business News

Lee Hazlewood

Wyndham Wallace discusses putting together the upcoming Lee Hazlewood tributes show at The Barbican in London, ‘Love And Other Crimes: The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood’.

How did you come to work with Lee Hazlewood?
I met Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth in late 1998, and he revealed that he was talking to Lee about re-issuing some of his records on his label, Smells Like Records. I was running City Slang’s UK office at the time, but also did PR on a freelance basis for a number of other acts, so offered my services.

Some months later, much to my surprise, Steve called me and asked if I was still available to take on the job. Naturally I leapt at the chance: Lee had been a hero of mine for some years, ever since I first heard ‘Cowboy In Sweden’, which was such a memorable experience that I describe it early in my book about my friendship with Lee”.

When did the idea come up for this show?
I live in Berlin, and I got a message out of the blue from Chris Sharp at The Barbican in November last year. I’d not seen him for many, many years – certainly not since he’d left 4AD Records – and when he said he was coming to the city we decided to meet for brunch. He asked me what I’d been up to, and, as I told him about ‘Lee, Myself & I’, I suddenly thought of asking if he’d be interested in putting on a tribute show. He liked the idea, and soon afterwards I talked to Ed Harcourt about acting as co-curator and musical director. But the idea itself was pretty spontaneous.

How easy was it to pull together the line-up?
Actually, I’d not expected it to be quite so difficult. We approached quite a few artists who were going to be on tour, or in the studio, or who would have family commitments in late October. I actually got a little paranoid about it at one stage!

Then the next issue was that, once we’d started to get people on board, I had to figure out an overall aesthetic to the show and pursue the next round of artists with that in mind. I was keen to highlight the breadth of Lee’s songwriting, and not just go for the obvious candidates. But some people were on board within moments.

I approached Matthew E White after his show in Berlin earlier this year as he was walking to the merch table and just said, “Are you a fan of Lee Hazlewood?” And when he immediately said he was, I asked if he’d like to be part of the event. It took him less than a second to say yes. Flo Morrissey, too, was especially eager to take part, and of course Ed Harcourt, who was on board before I’d even had a chance to finish my invitation!

Overall, it’s been a lot of work, but really, really enjoyable work, and even some of the people who declined the invitation sent me some lovely messages. I still wish I could have talked Mark Hollis into playing, though. And, of course, that Lee was here to see it.

What do you think Lee would think of the show?
In 1999, there was a show in New York at the Liars Lounge, where various local artists sang his songs, including a young Martha Wainwright. I wasn’t there, but I heard he was rather dreading it, and then got so caught up in the fun that he ended up celebrating with liberal quantities of Chivas and declaring his love for everyone involved.

Also, when I put together ‘Total Lee!’, a tribute album, in 2002, I sat with him as he listened to it for the first time, and I could tell he was baffled by some of the arrangements, but deeply flattered by the collection as a whole. So I’d suspect his reaction to this show would be the same. He might perhaps squirm at the attention, but deep down he’d probably be loving it, and fascinated by how the “young kids” delivered his songs.

CMU Podcast: Happy Birthday, The Charts, Deezer, Ryan Adams

Artist News Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Live Business Releases Setlist

Warner/Chappell

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review the week in music and the music business, including the ruling that ‘Happy Birthday’ is out of copyright in the US, record sales at gigs being included in album chart data, Deezer beating Spotify to become the first European streaming service to announce an IPO, and the fate of Father John Misty’s covers of Ryan Adams’ covers of Taylor Swift. The CMU Podcast is sponsored by 7digital.

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Stories discussed this week

• Judge rules Warner/Chappell does not control Happy Birthday
• Gig venue record sales to be included in the charts
• Deezer plans IPO on Paris stock exchange by the end of the year
• Father John Misty deletes Taylor Swift covers at request of Lou Reed

CMU Approved

• Benjamin Damage
• Fort Lean
• Ringo Deathstarr
• Yullippe

What we didn’t have time to talk about

• Recent market trends confirmed in latest RIAA stats, but “fair rates” now issue number one
• Kim Dotcom extradition hearing finally underway
• Record industry’s next big piracy challenge could be a P2P-fed streaming service
• Viet Cong will change name for second album
• Morrissey says tonight’s London show will be his last in the UK

Please subscribe, rate, review and share the show once you’ve listened!

Approved: Yullippe

CMU Approved

Yullippe

Producer Yullippe released her second album ‘Lys’ last month, an eight track collection of dark industrial techno that creeps and crunches its way into your head. Tracks like ‘Black Moon’ and ‘4’ showcase a sound that shrouds beauty behind murky production.

The album, for reasons I have failed to ascertain, is credited to Yullippe In France on its cover artwork. Maybe it’s part of a series of thematic musical travelogues. I have just learned that there is a river in France called Lys, once popular with early 20th Century artists but now polluted by increased industrial activity. Which seems appropriate.

Listen to the full album on Bandcamp here, or check out title track ‘Lys’ below.

Johan Johansson to be culled from Spotify after ‘making available’ test case win

Business News Digital Digital Royalties Timeline Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

Johan Johansson

Another interesting development in the world of performer rights today with the news that Johan Johansson – perhaps best known for his songwriting and drumming with Swedish punk band KSMB – has won in a legal battle with record label MNW over the distribution of his recordings on Spotify.

The dispute is seemingly another test case on the so called making available right and the performer controls provided by copyright law. MNW owns the copyright in the sound recordings at the heart of this case, but Johansson argues that this doesn’t mean the label has the automatic right to provide said tracks to streaming services like Spotify.

Under European law, artists are provided with certain controls over recordings on which they appear even when – and indeed especially when – they do not own the copyright in said recordings.

It means that a label, as the usual copyright owner, needs to get permission from the artist to exploit a recording, whether it is copying or distributing or renting out or adapting or performing or communicating the track. These permissions will customarily be provided under a featured artist’s record deal and any session musician’s individual contracts.

However, in the 1990s both copyright owners and recording artists were provided with a new copyright control called ‘making available’, which was designed to ensure that the music industry could control the distribution of its content online. Copyright law can be rather vague on when, exactly, the making available right is exploited – as opposed, say, to the traditional ‘communication right’ that covers traditional broadcast and some online radio and TV services – but the record industry says that making available is in play with both downloads and on-demand streaming.

Here is the point: both labels and artists were given the making available control in the 1990s. Which has posed the question, do labels need to go to every artist whose contract pre-dated that development and ask for specific permission to exploit the making available control, or can they just assume that permission was provided by existing record contracts, which possibly had vague clauses talking about “all and any performer controls”? If the labels did need new permission from artists, that would provide an opportunity for said artists to negotiate better terms on digital income.

Most labels did not go and get that specific new permission, insisting they didn’t need to. But a number of heritage artists have cried foul on this issue, with the first key dispute to get to court involving Finnish band Hurriganes earlier this year. They won legal action on the making available issue against Universal, though in that case the actual contract being disputed had been lost, meaning there were other elements at play in the judgement.

But now, according to Swedish news site ETC, Johansson has also scored a win in his case against MNW in a district court ruling. Whereas the Hurriganes case focused on iTunes, this one dealt with streaming services, and mainly Spotify. The immediate result of the ruling will likely be MNW having to remove recordings featuring Johansson from the streaming platform, though what the musician wants is for the label to negotiate new terms to exploit his making available control.

We are still to work out the specifics of this new ruling and, crucially, whether it sets a precedent in Sweden or beyond. But Johansson, who was backed by the Swedish musicians union on this, says he pursued the case for the benefit of the wider music community, so he’ll be hoping his apparent win will have a much bigger impact across the record industry. We’ll have to wait and see if it does.

50 Cent sues former TV consultant

Business News Legal Media

50 Cent

50 Cent is suing a TV consultant who, the rapper claims, acted as his agent and collected fees without permission on an aborted reality TV project with E!.

The legal action, filed in Connecticut’s federal bankruptcy court, claims that Andrew Jameson and the rapper had initially worked together, but that Jameson continued to negotiate and agree terms on the TV show after their relationship had ended.

According to New York Daily News, the lawsuit says that the rapper was “appalled” to learn that Jameson had suggested that a “young white girl” should be included in the show to make it more sellable. It also accuses him of sending “an inappropriate and highly offensive text to an officer of G-Unit in connection with that suggestion”.

50 Cent later told E! Entertainment that he did not want to go ahead with the project, but was told that Jameson had already agreed terms and taken a fee. The rapper refused to go ahead anyway, which, says the lawsuit, “severely damaged” his relationship with E! and its parent company NBC Universal.

The rapper wants $810,000 in damages, but Jameson’s lawyer Eric George countered to NYDN: “In fact, Andrew is the one owed money – several months of unpaid salary plus a percentage of future revenues – and he’s filed arbitration to collect it”.

As previously reported, 50 Cent recently filed for bankruptcy protection after being ordered to pay $5 million in damages to Lastonia Leviston for the 2010 leak of a sextape featuring her and a former boyfriend. With punitive damages still to be ruled upon at that point, Leviston’s lawyers successfully lobbied to stop the rapper’s bankruptcy claim from halting or delaying proceedings. He was then ordered to pay a further $2 million.

RIAA boss speaks out against compulsory licences and safe harbours

Business News Digital Industry People Labels & Publishers

RIAA

When the Recording Industry Association Of America published its latest round of stats earlier this week, we noted how music industry trade groups are now concluding such reports not with “piracy is evil, fix piracy” calls to government, but instead by calling out the “value gap”.

This is the new buzz term music industry execs are using when moaning about digital services that exploit the so called ‘safe harbours’ of copyright law – so YouTube and SoundCloud – or those that benefit from compulsory licences and/or court-set royalties, which in the US means Pandora et al.

There is a “value gap”, say labels and publishers, because consumption of music is up, but income remains flat. Or because those services with the most users (the free ones) are paying way less to rights owners than those with much smaller user-bases (the paid-for ones).

Of course, as SoundCloud chief Alexander Ljung recently mused, the future of digital music is almost certainly a combination of freemium and premium, with users of the latter contributing much more cash to the business. Most labels and publishers would probably concede that is true, though they feel that the current value – to the industry – of free platforms is set, not by the market, but by those services exploiting safe harbours or compulsory licences.

And if you don’t believe me, just read this op ed piece by the boss of the aforementioned RIAA, in response to a recent article on the perceived value of music. The reasons for the “value gap”, says Cary Sherman, “is the flawed licensing regime in which we have to operate”.

He embellishes, though without mentioning the traditional-service-to-diss Pandora, and instead focusing on other beneficiaries of America’s compulsory licences, and the country’s unusual copyright situation regards traditional radio. Writes the RIAA chief: “Government-set licensing has enabled services like Sirius XM to use music at below-market rates, based on a decades-old subsidy that has long outlived its purpose”.

“Even worse, under current law, AM/FM radio broadcasters pay absolutely nothing for the sound recordings they use to draw listeners and generate billions of dollars in revenue. In a marketplace that values innovation, it’s ironic that it’s the legacy technologies enjoying government-granted economic benefits and competitive advantage”.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, oh Lord, what about safe harbours? Referring to recent leaks of the new Dre album that was only meant to be available via Apple, Sherman says: “Copyright law provides a ‘notice and takedown’ system theoretically intended to deal with such theft. In exchange for a legal ‘safe harbour’ from liability, online service providers must deal with instances of theft occurring on their site or network when notified”.

“Unfortunately, while the system worked when isolated incidents of infringement occurred on largely static web pages – as was the case when the law was passed in 1998 – it is largely useless in the current world where illegal links that are taken down re-appear instantaneously. The result is a never-ending game that is both costly and increasingly pointless. Compounding the harm is that some major online music distributors are taking advantage of this flawed system”.

Hmm, I wonder who that could be? “Record companies are presented with a Hobson’s choice: accept below-market deals or play that game of whack-a-mole. The notice and takedown system – intended as a reasonable enforcement mechanism – has instead been subverted into a discount licensing system where copyright owners and artists are paid far less than their creativity is worth”.

So to conclude, in my words this time: “Compulsory licences and safe harbours are evil, fix compulsory licences and safe harbours”.

Read Sherman’s full article here.

Keith Harris to leave PPL

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Keith Harris

Popular music industry figure Keith Harris is departing the UK record industry’s collecting society PPL, where he has been Director Of Performer Affairs since 2006, though he will continue to consult for the rights organisation.

Harris joined PPL after its merger with PAMRA and AURA, separate societies that previously handled the performer equitable remuneration bit of sound recording performing rights. As a result of that merger, the UK now had one organisation to collect and distribute performing right royalties on behalf of labels, featured artists and session musicians. That being something of an innovation, one of Harris’s jobs was to convince performers this was a good idea. And nearly ten years on, that particular task is done.

“It has been a good and exciting nine years”, Harris said, confirming his departure from the Director Of Performer Affairs role. “But I feel that the job that I was originally brought in to do has come to a positive end, with performers now totally integrated into PPL”.

PPL Chair Fran Nevrkla, who was the body’s CEO at the time of Harris’s appointment, and who will also step down from his current role at the organisation at the end of the year, added: “I was delighted when nine years ago, Keith let me persuade him to join PPL in a new role of Director Of Performer Affairs. As far as I was concerned, he was the only ideal candidate for the job and his contribution over the years has been enormous. Keith is a remarkable individual, a real team player and a true gentleman. He is a pleasure to work with and I thank him for all his sterling work and for his friendship”.

So that’s nice isn’t it? But do we have time for one more quote? Okay, current PPL CEO Peter Leathem, but be quick: “Keith has been a very good friend and colleague and has played a key role in turning PPL from a collective management organisation that worked for record companies into one that also works for performers. I am delighted that Keith believes that his original role has now run its course in light of what has been achieved for performers at PPL, but am also delighted that Keith will continue to work for PPL as a consultant”.

Bit long that, to be honest Pete. But hey, we’ll forgive you. Harris already has other projects beyond PPL, of course, including chairing MusicTank and repping Stevie Wonder.

Spotify bigs up its freemium service to the ad sector

Business News Digital

Spotify

With freemium streaming services still under pressure from the music industry, as artists, labels, songwriters and publishers continue to criticise the royalties they pay out compared to premium subscription set-ups, one possible solution – other than seeking to shut all the free platforms down – is to try and maximise the ad revenues such music channels bring in: labels and publishers, after all, ultimately have a revenue share arrangement with most streaming companies.

When Spotify first launched, the labels were busy chattering about the potential for the music industry to grab a decent slice of the advertising dollar, which may well be why they agreed to licence the service’s since controversial freemium level in the first place.

For it’s part, in the early days Spotify used to speak about its freemium and premium offers as being complementary services; sure, they’d try to upsell premium via freemium, but the latter would also be a standalone revenue generating business. In more recent years, however, with most ads on Spotify Free seeming to be from either the service itself or one of the company’s label partners, the freemium channel has been much more spun as a marketing tool, a necessary evil to sell more £10 a month subscriptions.

But couldn’t the internet’s freebie music services be paying more money into labels and publishers just by selling more advertising? Or maybe the same amount of ads but at a higher rate? That, of course, requires there to be more demand from the advertising world, which is likely the motivation behind a new study commissioned by Spotify called ‘The New Audio’. It explores how the streaming service’s freemium audience compares to that of traditional radio, in terms of demographics and engagement.

The Europe-focused study by market research types TNS involved over 20,000 consumers in ten countries in May and June this year. One key metric provided is ‘incremental reach’, looking at the consumers brands can reach via Spotify that would not be reached via traditional radio. In the UK, that ‘incremental reach’ is 14% in relation to Heart and Capital, and 15% in relation to Kiss. And among those trendy 15-34 year olds, overall incremental reach is a cool 21%. Good times.

Possibly to boost the research’s credibility, the report does show that the reach and impact of Spotify freemium does vary from country to country – it is less impressive in Germany, for example – though in many markets the TNS stats provide bragging points for the streaming firm. And although the report itself isn’t this explicit, the whole exercise seems to be Spotify saying to brands “see your radio advertising budget, you should chuck some of that our way”.

Or, in the more diplomatic words of the company’s Director of Sales UK David Cooper: “This TNS study aims to help media buyers understand the quantity and quality of the Spotify audience, and the extent to which Spotify can complement and extend a broadcast media buy. By identifying when and where Spotify reaches an audience that does not engage with radio, we hope to improve both media buyers’ understanding of the audio market, and to grow the audio market as a whole”.

Fans of charts can download the report from Spotify’s site for brands.

Pandora has now paid out over $1.5 billion

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers

Pandora

So, Pandora, the streaming service everyone loves to hate – apart from the 80 million people who use it – has now paid out $1.5 billion to the music industry. “So stop all your fucking moaning music types”, the streaming company didn’t say. Though I’m sure it wanted to.

Of course, having just past its tenth birthday, Pandora has been going much longer than most other streaming services, and with younger Spotify recently boasting it had now paid double that sum over to the music community, some might see this latest brag from the US-based personalised radio service as just further proof it’s getting too favourable a deal on royalties because of the compulsory licence it gets to use in its home and primary market.

But CEO Brian McAndrews was having none of that. He told reporters of the $1.5 billion milestone: “I am proud of our enormous royalty contributions, and our progress on building on a broader vision for the future of music. We are very passionate about our mission to help artists find their audience and help listeners find their music – music they love, that moves them, that they personally connect with – and we are achieving significant momentum”.

Pessimists might find hope in the fact that $500 million of those royalties came in during the last year. Though probably not. They are pessimists after all.

Collect Records severs ties with drug ‘price-gouger’ Martin Shkreli

Business News Labels & Publishers

Collect Records

Punk and hardcore record company Collect Records has ended its relationship with key backer Martin Shkreli, after several bands threatened to leave the label’s roster due to the association.

It emerged that Shkreli was funding the company after the hedge fund manager made headlines over a report that he had bought the rights to Daraprim, a medication used in AIDS and cancer treatment, and increased the price by 5000%.

The label was founded by Thursday frontman Geoff Rickley in 2009, and seemingly accepted an offer of investment from Shkreli last year. The two men first met when Shkreli bought a guitar from Rickley and explained that he was a big fan of his band.

“He sort of asked me if I was able to scale up and ‘do it right’, and would I be interested in growing the label”, Rickley told Noisey of their initial meeting. “My thoughts were that if I could do it my way, at my pace, and with bands that I believed in, I would definitely be interested. This was the start of our relationship, and he chose to be a silent partner in Collect going forward. He has never asked to see the bottom line and there has never been any check and balance with him. His only goal was to further my vision”.

“There were no red flags at that time”, he added. “I genuinely enjoyed his company, and I was just excited for the opportunity to work with him and to have someone who believed in my vision for the future”.

After the news of Shkreli’s ‘price gouging’ broke, Dominic Palermo, the frontman of one of the label’s bands, Nothing, wrote on Facebook: “I was approached by Geoff Rickley about a year ago now, about how he was starting a label. He said he really believed in Nothing and the music we were creating”.

He went on: “We were told of a backer who was an old Thursday fan that wanted to give back to the music and arts, but literally didn’t even know his name until last night. After Geoff told me his plans I really believed in him. He’s a great guy and he, like me, had no idea what kind of monster was funding the label and soon to be album. And like he has helped me with my problems in the past few months, I plan on helping him in anyway I can as well, through this all”.

He added: “I’m not sure what the next step is here for us, as we’re contractually attached to this person, but I had to share my revulsion with you all as the future is not quite foreseeable”. A further update yesterday expressed continued uncertainty about Nothing’s future with the label.

Hether Fortune of Wax Idols, another Collect band, said that they were “horrified” to learn that Shrekli “essentially donates money to the label”, adding: “I personally 100% am NOT FUCKING OK with this guy and his business tactics … [but] I love Collect Records. Geoff Rickly is an incredible person who I’ve known and admired since I was thirteen years old. I stand behind him and know that he would never willingly put himself OR me into a situation like this had he been aware of what was really going on. We are going to handle this”.

Another label mate, Creepoid, were more certain about how to proceed, saying: “As long as Shkreli is involved with Collect Records, directly or indirectly, we cannot be”. A sentiment that Sick Feeling agreed with, telling Fader: “One thing is clear; as long as he has a part in the label, we, Sick Feeling, cannot. Our experience with Geoff, Norm, and Shaun has been nothing but positive, however, we cannot continue to work with Collect as long as Martin Shkreli has any part in it”.

Seemingly faced with a choice between its financial backer and its bands, Collect ultimately decided to part company with the former, with Rickly saying in a statement to Pitchfork yesterday: “Today, Collect Records – with the support and encouragement of all of our artists – have agreed to fully sever our relationship with Martin Shkreli, effective immediately”.

He added: “For my part, I’ve always strived to make Collect a place that was so liberal, encouraging, and artist-friendly that no one would ever walk away from us willingly, though to do so at any time would be very easy. To that end, I hope that our bands continue to believe in our guidance and passion. Any of them that have had an incurable crisis of confidence will be allowed to leave with nothing but the kind of encouragement that we’ve built our label on”.

Exactly what all this means for bands on the label and their future releases – now there is no backing from a wealthy patron – is unclear. But for the moment the label will focus on its next release, the debut album from No Devotion, Rickly’s own band with the former members of Lostprophets, which comes out tomorrow.

Disclosure disclose live dates

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Disclosure

Disclosure have announced some UK tour dates, which I’m sure is news you will be interested in. I know how much you like Disclosure. That’s why I decided to tell you about them. The tour dates, I mean. Obviously you already know who Disclosure are, on account of you being such a big fan.

I’m sure you’ll also be aware that they have a new album called ‘Caracal’ coming out on Friday. Not least because I have mentioned it more than once previously. But have you heard their mini-mix of tracks from that record? Oh, you have? Man, you really are a fan. I was trying to trick you there, but you really showed me. I’ll just leave the mini-mix here anyway.

Meanwhile, tickets for these tour dates are going to go on general sale 2 Oct. But there’s a pre-sale that starts on 30 Sep through Dice that you’ll probably want to get in on, given what a big fan you are.

These are the dates, by the way. Lazy bastards are only doing four, and two are in the same place:

26 Nov: Glasgow, SSE Hydro
28 Nov: Manchester Central
1 Dec: London, Alexandra Palace
2 Dec: London, Alexandra Palace

Monday 28 September 2015, 10:42 | By Andy Malt

Somethin Else has confirmed it is making a new music show for Channel 4 titled ‘Best Before’. The production company said it was “thrilled” to announce the “multi-platform collaboration [that] will work across a daily updated blog site, social media, Channel 4 platforms and linear TV”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Channel 4 | Somethin Else

Monday 28 September 2015, 10:40 | By Andy Malt

Drake has commented on those accusations that he uses ghostwriters, which you might remember were made by Meek Mill earlier this year. And his response is basically, ‘Yeah, and?”

READ MORE ABOUT: Drake

Monday 28 September 2015, 10:38 | By Andy Malt

The Pope – you know, like the actual Catholic pope – is releasing an album later this year, featuring excerpts from some of his speeches set to music, and everything from prog-rock to Gregorian chant.

READ MORE ABOUT: Pope Francis

Monday 28 September 2015, 10:29 | By Andy Malt

Other notable announcements and developments today…

READ MORE ABOUT: Babymetal | Corey Taylor | Janet Jackson | Missy Elliott | Music Futures Conference | Rae Sremmurd | Sam Smith | She Shreds | Slipknot | Spectres | Team Me

Monday 28 September 2015, 10:25 | By Andy Malt

It’s not a number one single. And the vocals aren’t up to scratch. Just two of the comments levelled at Sam Smith’s James Bond theme, ‘Writing’s On The Wall’, when it was unveiled last week. And that was just from Smith himself.

READ MORE ABOUT: Sam Smith

Sunday 27 September 2015, 15:56 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Resilient Music | sync

Sunday 27 September 2015, 14:14 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Big Sync Music | Empire Design | Endemol | Eyehear | Laced Music | sync | Tiger Aspect | Vamanos Music

Sunday 27 September 2015, 14:07 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: sync

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:15 | By Paul Vig

READ MORE ABOUT: Terry Hunter

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:12 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Kim Dotcom | MegaUpload

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:11 | By Chris Cooke

The man accused of murder in relation to the car crash incident that killed four people at the 2014 edition of the South By South West festival in Austin, Texas yesterday entered a not guilty plea as his trial approaches.

READ MORE ABOUT: Rashad Charjuan Owens | SXSW

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke

Universal Music is partnering with ad agency BETC to launch a new Paris-based label to be called Pop Records, with the agency’s VP Fabrice Brovelli and Creative Music Director Christophe Caurret very much involved in running the new operation.

READ MORE ABOUT: BETC | Pop Records | Universal Music

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:06 | By Chris Cooke

Independent publisher Bucks Music has announced an alliance with dance label Play Records to represent the firm’s publishing interests worldwide, which includes over a thousand works, some from that Deadmau5 fella.

READ MORE ABOUT: Bucks Music | Play Records

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:04 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Channel 4

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:03 | By Andy Malt

Vladimir Putin has called up Elton John on the telephone to organise a meeting. For real this time. However, unlike those pranksters, he seems to have been a little vague on when such a meeting might actually happen.

READ MORE ABOUT: Elton John | Vladimir Putin

Friday 25 September 2015, 11:01 | By Andy Malt

John Lydon has said that he was “banned” from BBC radio in 1978, after saying in an interview that Jimmy Savile was “into all sorts of seediness”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Jimmy Savile | John Lydon

Friday 25 September 2015, 10:59 | By Andy Malt

Sia has released a new single, ‘Alive’, a song originally written for Adele. It is taken from her upcoming new album, ‘This Is Acting’, which is made up entirely of songs initially intended to be performed by other artists.

READ MORE ABOUT: Adele | Damon Albarn | Sia

Friday 25 September 2015, 10:56 | By Andy Malt

The Barbican will next month host a night of music by songwriter Lee Hazelwood, who died in 2007. Among a line-up of artists performing songs such as ‘These Boots Were Made For Walkin’ and ‘Some Velvet Morning’ are Mark Lanegan, Fran Healy, Caitlin Rose and Matthew E White.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lee Hazlewood

Friday 25 September 2015, 10:53 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: David Cameron | Morrissey

Friday 25 September 2015, 10:29 | By Andy Malt

Wyndham Wallace discusses putting together the upcoming Lee Hazlewood tributes show at The Barbican in London, ‘Love And Other Crimes: The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lee Hazlewood | Wyndham Wallace

Friday 25 September 2015, 09:14 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Deezer | Father John Misty | Good Morning To You Productions Corp | Lightning Live | Official Charts Company | Ryan Adams | Taylor Swift | Warner Chappell

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:18 | By Andy Malt

Producer Yullippe released her second album ‘Lys’ last month, an eight track collection of dark industrial techno that creeps and crunches its way into your head. Tracks like ‘Black Moon’ and ‘4’ showcase a sound that shrouds beauty behind murky production.

READ MORE ABOUT: Yullippe

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:17 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Johan Johansson | KSMB | MNW | Spotify

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:16 | By Andy Malt

50 Cent is suing a TV consultant who, the rapper claims, acted as his agent and collected fees without permission on an aborted reality TV project with E!.

READ MORE ABOUT: 50 Cent | Andrew Jameson

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:14 | By Chris Cooke

When the Recording Industry Association Of America published its latest round of stats earlier this week, we noted how music industry trade groups are now concluding such reports not with “piracy is evil, fix piracy” calls to government, but instead by calling out the “value gap”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cary Sherman | Recordings Industry Association Of America (RIAA)

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:12 | By Andy Malt

Popular music industry figure Keith Harris is departing the UK record industry’s collecting society PPL, where he has been Director Of Performer Affairs since 2006, though he will continue to consult for the rights organisation.

READ MORE ABOUT: Keith Harris | PPL

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:06 | By Chris Cooke

So, Pandora, the streaming service everyone loves to hate – apart from the 80 million people who use it – has now paid out $1.5 billion to the music industry. “So stop all your fucking moaning music types”, the streaming company didn’t say. Though I’m sure it wanted to.

READ MORE ABOUT: Pandora

Thursday 24 September 2015, 11:03 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Collect Records | Martin Shkreli

Thursday 24 September 2015, 10:57 | By Andy Malt

Disclosure have announced some UK tour dates, which I’m sure is news you will be interested in. I know how much you like Disclosure. That’s why I decided to tell you about them. The tour dates, I mean. Obviously you already know who Disclosure are, on account of you being such a big fan.

READ MORE ABOUT: Disclosure