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Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:12 | By Andy Malt
Suge Knight and Katt Williams plead not guilty to robbery
Business News Legal
One time hip hop mogul Suge Knight and comedian Katt Williams have both pleaded not guilty to those robbery charges. The two men, as previously reported, are accused of stealing a photographer’s camera last year.
Knight and Williams appeared in an LA court yesterday in order to enter their pleas, which they were having to do for a second time after a judge recently decided that they should stand trial over the incident.
They are accused of taking a camera from photographer Leslie Redden in September 2014, who also says that she was injured in the scuffle. Knight has denied handling the camera, but said that he was angered that Redden was attempting to take photographs of his young son. Williams admits handling the camera, but says that he only did so in an attempt to delete the photographs and was not the person who took it from Redden.
There was some mild drama in the courtroom when Knight, who has been in custody awaiting trial on murder charges since January, held up a birthday message for his son to TV cameras filming the hearing. “If he does it again, I will shackle his hands to a chair”, the judge told his lawyer.
The next hearing in the robbery case was set for 30 Nov.
READ MORE ABOUT: Suge Knight
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:11 | By Chris Cooke
Three Six Zero exec joins direct-to-fan start-up Bkstg
Business News Digital Industry People
Bkstg, the vowel-lite direct-to-fan online-channel-aggregation fan-relationship-management audience-analytic platform – or D2FOCAFRMAA platform, as we in the know call these things – has appointed former Three Six Zero business affairs man James Sealey to the job of VP Business Development.
According to Sealey, speaking about his new gig to Billboard: “One of the things that really hit me is that the market is very much underserved in terms of artists and their managers’ focus on their fans. People are really looking at huge numbers in terms of social networks and how many streams they can aggregate, but they’re not really thinking about who’s behind those numbers – which is ultimately the fan. Bkstg is the first platform that I came into contact with that is addressing the issue of, ‘How do we connect artists and fan in the most direct and profound way?'”
I’m pretty sure it’s actually the 43rd such platform, but then maths has never been my strong point. Though Sealey’s appointment shows that Bkstg is planning on making its service manager-centric, which is possibly a good thing. “He can help us think about what is in the mind of a manager and what is in the heart of an artist – how they’re thinking about their fans”, Bkstg co-founder Erika Nardini told Billboard of the new hire.
As previously reported, Nardini and fellow founder Ran Harnevo raised $20 million in investment earlier this year for their direct-to-fan venture from an assortment of investors, including Sealey’s former employers Three Six Zero.
READ MORE ABOUT: Bkstg | James Sealey | Three Six Zero
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke
Vevo strikes deal with BBC to get Live Lounge footage
Business News Deals Digital Media
Appoint former BBC exec as your new boss. Appoint another former BBC exec as your content chief. Grab yourself a bucket load of BBC content. Well, it’s not quite that easy, but Vevo has certainly become quite ‘beebified’ in recent months. It should watch out, Johnny Whittingdale might try to shut it down.
Anyway, Vevo has done itself a deal with the BBC’s commercial division Worldwide, which will give the Sony/Universal-owned video platform over 200 performances from Radio 1’s ‘Live Lounge’ strand. Which is bloody good news for Radio 1 chief Ben Cooper because, he says, “Vevo is one of my favourite apps”, making this deal “utterly fantastic”.
Meanwhile, says Vevo’s Alex Kisch: “We’re excited to collaborate with BBC Worldwide and BBC Radio 1 to bring such an iconic and unique programme as ‘Live Lounge’ to Vevo’s growing audience. We see this as a tremendous first step in our collaboration as we look to expose Live Lounge’s phenomenal music catalogue and forthcoming performances to new audiences around the world”.
And as for BBC Worldwide’s Director Of Radio And Music Dominic Walker, well, he’s just “delighted” that “we have been able to broker this deal on behalf of the BBC which benefits the BBC, record labels and artists alike”.
Archive footage from the ‘Live Lounge’ will start appearing on Vevo next month.
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | BBC Radio 1 | VEVO
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:08 | By CMU Editorial
Industry events at the Community festival confirmed
Business News Education & Events Gigs & Festivals
Details have been announced of events being organised for music industry people attending the new Shoreditch-based showcase festival Community next week.
As previously reported, the new festival from Live Nation and Festival Republic will present a line-up of new artists in a variety of East London venues, for punters and industry people alike. Community curator Jon Mcildowie explained earlier this year that “Community is an opportunity for us to share the music that we are all excited about and to introduce new artists to the public before anyone else”.
Bookers from festivals the world over will be in attendance, alongside an assortment of other industry types and, in addition to the gigs, a programme of talks, networking and social events will take place for that audience at the Ace Hotel.
It includes three sessions presented by our consultancy unit CMU Insights. CMU MD and Business Editor Chris Cooke will provide an overview of the wider music industry as we head towards 2016, plus we will then lead two conversations.
The first will look at the expanding and evolving role of online playlists in building profile, audience and revenue for new artists; while the second will explore the YouTube universe, the reach and impact of the YouTube stars, and how the music industry could be better connecting with that community.
Full information about the wider festival, and the industry delegate programme, can be found online at www.communityldn.com.
READ MORE ABOUT: Community Festival
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:07 | By Andy Malt
Oxon to release debut EP
Artist News Releases
Former Zulu Winter drummer Guy Henderson has announced the debut EP from his CMU approved solo project Oxon. Titled ‘Stumbling Stones’, the record will be released though his own Chalk Records label on 16 Nov.
“Having finished up with Zulu Winter I felt a new lease of energy to throw into some of my own music”, Henderson tells CMU. “I’d always wanted to get a project going which was more electronic in nature. I built a studio in London with a friend and then started spending lots of late evenings working on developing a sound. I remember having these really productive few winter months, locked away… I was teaching drums for a large part of my time in the studio and then would stay on after to work on my music”.
“My focus was to try to go for a dancefloor sound really”, he continues. “To make club tracks incorporating more of the techno and electronica I listen to. However I think I’ve landed somewhere in the middle of these dance influences mixed with more melodic/song elements from my indie background”.
On finding himself working alone, he adds: “I’ve always enjoyed collaborating and I do miss the spirit of working on an album with so many others involved. But equally it’s been a really important time for me working alone on this. I’ve been enjoying exploring more melodic parts of writing that I wouldn’t usually have considered my strength. In some ways I still approach a lot of the tracks I write as a drummer would. Rhythmical elements are still what interest me the most in compositions. Perhaps it’s also opened up the way I listen to musical influences. At times when I would analyse and dissect a drum track my head’s now focused on composition as a whole”.
Next on the agenda after this release is getting together a live show, before more new music next year. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be moving further into a club sound for the next release”, he says.
From the EP, this is ‘The Hours’:
READ MORE ABOUT: Oxon
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:05 | By Chris Cooke
CMU’s One Liners: Haim, Beverley Knight, Kiiara, more
Artist News Awards Business News Deals Education & Events Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers Live Business One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• So, I had a dream last night that Haim signed to booking agency WME for worldwide representation, then I woke up this morning to the news that Haim had signed to booking agency WME for worldwide representation. Unless that was a dream too.
• Warner label East West has signed Beverley Knight. She’ll release her eighth studio album through the label next year.
• Kiiara, who featured in the Approved column a few months back, has signed to a different wing of the Warner world, the mighty Atlantic.
• Universal Music Publishing has signed buzzy, buzzy American singer songwriter Kacy Hill, because someone has to channel all that buzz or there might be an explosion. I mean, she’s on Kanye’s label for recordings, but he just makes things more combustible.
• Distiller Music is getting itself into the live music game, because why the hell not, I say. John Thompson becomes Operations Director of the indie’s new live division, which will offer a bespoke touring and security service.
• Media Insight Consulting is launching a new conference specifically aimed at music industry execs under 35. Fast Forward will take place in Amsterdam next February. Tickets available here.
• So CeeLo Green is releasing a new album called ‘Heart Blanche’ on 6 Nov and from it, this is ‘Mother May I’.
• Sigma have announced that they will release their debut album, ‘Life’, on 4 Dec. Here’s their current single, ‘Redemption’.
• Remember Allie X? Approved back in April 2014. Well, she’s about to release her first EP in the UK. Titled ‘Catch’ after the Allie X song ‘Catch’, it’ll be out on 13 Nov. And here is the Allie X song ‘Catch’.
• I was just saying yesterday about how Alessia Cara is going to release her debut album next month, and now here’s a new track, ‘Wild Things’.
• Rolo Tomassi have released a new video for ‘The Embers’. Rolo Tomassi remain fucking brilliant.
• Foxes is going to play The Roundhouse in London on 4 Mar. Yes, the bloody Roundhouse! She’s going to be playing a load of other UK tour dates around the same time too.
• Say what you like about the MTV EMAs – call them a pointless, vapid, innocuous, tedious, uninspired shit fest if you must, I won’t stop you, because I’m a famous advocate of free speech (plus I saw a bit of last weekend’s show) – but what you cannot deny is that some people won awards in Milan last Sunday (mainly Justin Bieber) and that next year’s edition will be in Rotterdam.
READ MORE ABOUT: Alessia Cara | Allie X | Atlantic Records | Beverley Knight | Cee-Lo Green | Distiller Music | East West | Endeavor | Foxes | Haim | Kacy Hill | Kiiara | Media Insight Consulting | MTV EMAs | Rolo Tomassi | Sigma | Universal Music Publishing | Warner Music
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 11:01 | By Chris Cooke
Perrie Edwards possibly calls Zayn Malik a “bellend”
And Finally Artist News
Scientific research has so far been inconclusive as to whether or not the “dick” that features in recent Little Mix track ‘Hair’ – something of a ‘break-up anthem’ – is actually that dick Zayn Malik.
Though research from CalTech concluded that the song was written before the former One Direction boy called off his engagement with Little Mixer Perrie Edwards in August. So possibly not.
However, in a new piece of field research from UTV, Edwards has confirmed he was “a bellend”, which makes him part of a dick at least.
It’s not clear whether, in that remark, Edwards was actually talking about the dick who appears in the song ‘Hair’, or that dick Zayn Malik, or that dick Zayn Malick who appears in the song ‘Hair’.
So, that’s that all cleared up then.
READ MORE ABOUT: Little Mix | Perrie Edwards | Zayn Malik
Wednesday 28 October 2015, 10:13 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Frankie Machine
CMU Approved
Thirteen years on from the release of his debut album, Frankie Machine returns this week with his fourth. Not a man who could be called prolific, perhaps, but one whose return is always very welcome.
With a mixture of downbeat delivery and wry humour, his songs always fit so comfortably, like they’ve been with you for years. The ten that make up new album ‘Frankie Machine Has Been Shipwrecked On A Desert Island’ are no different. Simple arrangements and intimate production keep them feeling close.
If you’re new to Frankie Machine, you’ll find his entire back catalogue handily stored on Bandcamp. And to that end, it just remains for me to tell you that you can stream and buy the new album here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Frankie Machine
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 12:07 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Grimes – Flesh Without Blood/Life In The Vivid Dream
CMU Approved
Hey, Grimes is back. That’s nice to know. I mean, we obviously knew she had a new album coming out soon, but now there’s some actual music to listen to. And – good news – it is good.
‘Flesh Without Blood’ sees the musician take a step further towards a mainstream sound without for a moment selling herself out. The leap from last album ‘Visions’ to this is clear: Grimes can achieve a lot on her own in her bedroom, but given access to greater resources, she has the vision to take her songs a lot further. Also, her diction is better now. Which is always a plus.
The beautiful and grotesque new video that marks the start of the final sprint to the album release on 6 Nov is split into two parts (two acts, if you must), with ‘Flesh Without Blood’ and an epilogue of sorts in ‘Life In The Vivid Dream’. Watch here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Grimes
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 12:06 | By Chris Cooke
More web-blocks in Europe: Portugal and Ukraine join the party
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
More fun times for fans of web-blocking now. Over 50 websites have been blocked by internet service providers in Portugal as a result of a voluntary agreement reached between government, the entertainment industry and the net sector’s trade body.
As previously reported, web-blocks are being used in an increasing number of countries in a bid to counter piracy. ISPs are ordered to stop their users from accessing websites deemed by one authority or another to be rampant copyright infringers. The blocks are usually instigated by a court injunction, either as a result of new web-blocking laws or, as in the UK, simply by a specific interpretation of existing copyright rules.
Though in Portugal, where The Pirate Bay was blocked earlier this year, a special process has now been formalised by the country’s Ministry Of Culture and the Association Of Telecommunication Operators, in liaison with reps for the content industries, that will seemingly make web-blocking there even easier.
According to Torrentfreak, over 50 sites were blocked this weekend as a result of the new initiative, including the usual suspects like KickassTorrents and ExtraTorrent. But that’s just the start of it, with hundreds of sites now likely to be blocked in the country, meaning Portugal could soon have more sites blocked than the UK, which has been particularly prolific in the web-blocking domain to date.
Meanwhile, moves are afoot in Ukraine to introduce web-block laws and nice big heavy fines for companies who do not comply with anti-piracy efforts. The new legislation being considered in the country is almost certainly a response to international pressure, especially from the US, to do more to crackdown on copyright infringement, with several piracy ventures – including the aforementioned ExtraTorrent – having bases in Ukraine.
Of course web-blocks are only partly effective, because it’s relatively easy to circumvent the blockades, though rights owners still see them as a key tool in trying to persuade web-users to use legit rather than copyright infringing content platforms online.
READ MORE ABOUT: web-blocking
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 12:04 | By Chris Cooke
Deadmau5 sues original label over remixes
Business News Labels & Publishers Legal
Deadmau5 has sued a former business associate over allegations that she released remixes of his early work without the required permissions.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the producer – real name Joel Zimmerman – worked with Canadian label Play Records about a decade ago while he was starting out. Initially he created remixes for the company, and later signing publishing and management agreements with the firm and its co-founder Melleny Brown (aka Melleny Melody or Melleefresh).
After relocating to London in 2007, Zimmerman switched his management allegiances, and negotiated his way out of his contracts with Brown. That deal saw the producer pay a sum of money to Play Records, while also assigning ownership of some of his early songs and recordings to the company. However, that deal seemingly said that any future remixes of those tracks could not be released without his “prior written consent”.
Now, Zimmerman claims, Play has released new remixes of his early work without his OK, and has plans for future such releases. That, he reckons in a $10 million lawsuit, constitutes breach of contact, as well as infringing his trademarks and moral rights under Canadian copyright law. The former because the defendant allegedly used the artist’s registered marks on its new releases, the latter because the remixes are “not of good technical and commercial quality”.
Play Records is yet to respond.
READ MORE ABOUT: Deadmau5 | Play Records
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 12:02 | By Andy Malt
Radar Music Videos launches sneaky US office
Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers
Radar Music Videos has announced a new partnership with Sneak Attack Media, giving the video director and artist/label matching service a base in the US. New York City, to be precise.
The new North American office will aim to provide faster hook-ups for directors working with budgets of between $800 and $25,000. Label clients in the US include Universal Music, Ultra Music, Wind-Up Records, Tommy Boy Records, Nettwerk Records and Caroline International.
The news is “spiffing”, Radar boss Caroline Bottomley exclusively told CMU in a lengthy dialogue about the deal. She added in a press statement, which we’ll also include because we’re so nice: “Opening our US base is an exciting milestone for us. Both our US clients and US creative numbers are growing. Sneak Attack are the perfect partner, with a reputation for superb service and excellent results. It seems everyone we meet Stateside already knows and respects Marni and her company”.
Sneak Attack’s President, that there mentioned Marni Wandner, added: “We’re big fans of the service Radar provides and the work that comes out of their matchmaking between video creators and artists. We know firsthand how important it is for bands and musicians to have quality video content, so we’re excited to help make those connections happen in the US”.
Her one-word statement on the matter was “awesome”, which does just as well.
READ MORE ABOUT: Radar Music Creatives | Sneak Attack Media
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 12:01 | By Chris Cooke
CISAC releases 2014 collective licensing figures
Business News Labels & Publishers
CISAC, the society of collecting societies, if you can imagine such a thing, has put out its latest pack of stats. And if you can’t believe a whole year has passed since the last time the organisation revealed global figures for the music publishing sector’s collective licensing system, well, that’s because it isn’t. CISAC put out 2013 figures back in February, but now has 2014 stats ready, in a bid to get information out to stakeholders more quickly.
CISAC brings together nearly all of the collecting societies that work for songwriters and music publishers around the world, including those focused on so called performing rights and mechanical rights, and, where they apply, other collectively managed revenue streams like private copy levies. Though not all CISAC-affiliated societies deal in song rights, with some representing creators in the audiovisual, dramatic, literary and visual art domains, so not all the figures relate to songs.
Headline stats this time include the news that in 2014 overall collections were up 2.8% on 2013 – a 5% increase had exchange rates not changed – to 7.9 billion euros. Songs account for 87% of collected monies, and that income was up 2.4% year-on-year.
Unsurprisingly, mechanical rights income, mainly generated when record companies sell CDs and downloads, was down 9% year-on-year, but performing rights revenues were up 3.8%. Streams are usually classified as exploiting both mechanical and performing rights, though often more income is allocated to the latter.
Societies in Europe accounted for 61.3% of collected revenue, while North America was the second largest region, accounting for nearly 17%. The so called BRICS emerging markets accounted for 5% of monies, which is up 11% on the previous year.
Commenting on the latest report, CISAC President Jean-Michel Jarre told reporters: “As I travel the world, I find it very gratifying to be exposed to the wonderful wealth of talent that is out there – especially from younger generations – and I am constantly reminded of creators’ overwhelming expectation to be treated with respect and receive fair remuneration for any use of their works. We creators stand behind our societies as they adapt to new market conditions, and new challenges, to further grow their collections”.
You can download the report here.
READ MORE ABOUT: CISAC
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 12:00 | By Chris Cooke
RCA allies with Dance Anthems host on new label
Business News Deals Industry People Labels & Publishers
Sony Music division RCA UK has announced a new alliance with Radio 1 ‘Dance Anthems’ host Danny Howard and his former Radio 1 colleague Nigel Harding, who departed his music policy role at the BBC station earlier this year. The new dance-focused venture will be called Nothing Else Matters Records, and its first output will be a co-release with Resilience Records of 99 Souls track ‘The Girl Is Mine’.
Confirming the new label, Howard told reporters: “Every day I’m discovering new tracks and extremely talented artists. Aside from supporting them on air and on the dancefloor, I’ve always wanted a way in which I can help even more people hear these incredible sounds. With Nothing Else Matters Records, we will focus on releasing tracks, curating events and representing dance and electronic music as the lifestyle we all live and breathe. We’re extremely proud to kick off with ’99 Souls – The Girl Is Mine’ as the label’s first release. After all, Nothing Else Matters… But The Music”.
Namechecking Sony Music UK boss Jason Iley and RCA chief Colin Barlow, Harding added: “Having really enjoyed working with Danny on his Radio 1 show, I jumped at the chance to work with him on this record label. We share the same passion for dance music as well as the excitement of discovering and breaking new artists. From the moment we met Jason and Colin to discuss our vision for the label we knew we had found the perfect home at RCA. The enthusiasm of the whole team is exactly what we were looking for in a label partner. We couldn’t hope for a better launch than ‘The Girl Is Mine’, a track that totally encapsulates the sound we want for the label: credible dance music with massive appeal”.
And finally Barlow chipped in: “I am delighted to be working with Nigel and Danny. Their knowledge will enhance what’s now become a very exciting A&R team. We at RCA can’t wait to get working with them”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Danny Howard | Nigel Harding | Nothing Else Matters | RCA | Sony Music
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:57 | By Andy Malt
British Library acquires D’Oyly Carte archive
Business News Deals Live Business
The British Library has announced that it has acquired the archive of the Gilbert & Sullivan savoy-opera-producing D’Oyly Carte company, ensuring that the files, scores and books stay in the UK.
The company performed the work of Gilbert & Sullivan for 107 straight years, starting in 1875, before closing in 1982. It reformed in 1988 before closing again in 2003, though in 2013, the company co-produced a performance of ‘The Pirates Of Penzance’ with the Scottish Opera, a partnership it will reprise next year with a staging of ‘The Mikado’.
A statement from the Library’s Curator Of Theatre Archives And Manuscripts, Kathryn Johnson said: “The British Library is delighted to have acquired such an important archive which provides real insight into the development of musical theatre in Britain during the 19th and 20th century. It is the very depth and breadth of the archive, which includes everything from audition books and scores, to costume designs, financial accounts and stage managers’ reports, that makes this archive so significant”.
D’Oyly Carte’s Ian Martin added: “This is excellent news for D’Oyly Carte and for the public, as it means that the archive will remain in the UK, be housed appropriately, conserved and properly catalogued. It also means that it will be accessible once again to the public for research purposes”.
The archive is expected to be accessible to the public by spring 2017.
READ MORE ABOUT: British Library | D'Oyly Carte
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:53 | By Chris Cooke
Tidal gets naming rights of theatre set-up at Barclay Center
Business News Deals Digital Live Business
Hey, Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Pandora, Napster, Rhapsody, YouTube, Vevo, SoundCloud, you lot, with all your users, have you got a venue? Well have you? No. You haven’t. And that’s why you’re all second rate streaming services.
Tidal, now that’s a streaming service. Because it, see, has a venue. Well, it has secured naming rights for a venue. Well, it has secured naming rights for a venue when it’s set up in a certain way. And that, people, is the future. You heard it hear first.
So yes, Tidal has done a deal with the Barclays Center in New York, host to the recent Tidal X 1020 bash, which will see the venue’s smaller (though still significant) theatre configuration rebranded as the Tidal Theatre. Under the deal the streaming service will host its own events in the space, probably with more emerging talent than last week’s all-star concert, which was designed to celebrate Tidal getting itself a million subscribers.
Tidal owner Jay-Z has a long alliance with the Barclays Center, having been a shareholder in the enterprise when it opened, and being the first act to play there in 2012. Tidal actually forged a content partnership with the space earlier this summer, but the naming rights deal has only just been announced.
According to Billboard, the venue’s boss Brett Yomark says the partnership “affords us the opportunity to work with Tidal on emerging artist platforms and showcases, as well as some of their other artists, it doesn’t have to just be emerging artists. As evidenced by [Tidal X 1020] the other night, Tidal, when they want to, can put on some big time events, and we anticipate having quite a few here at Barclays Center”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Barclays Center | Tidal
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:52 | By Andy Malt
Spotify launches In Residence radio-style playlists
Business News Digital
Spotify seems to have quietly launched a sort-of response to Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio station, with a new profile called Spotify In Residence. The profile will seemingly feature radio show/playlist hybrids fronted by a variety of artists.
As noted by Music Ally, the profile currently features four playlists curated by Jungle, Mike Skinner’s Tonga project, Big Narstie and The Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones. Each features a mix of tracks from the Spotify catalogue and pre-recorded spoken sections by the curators.
This makes it similar to Kudos’s Playdio service, which launched in 2010, and Spotify’s own Billy Bragg radio show, which has been running since last year, with an on-demand format rather than the live-to-air Beats 1 approach.
The playlist descriptions suggest that they will be updated monthly. Spotify declined to provide further information.
READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:48 | By Andy Malt
Soundrop launches Playlist Sync
Business News Digital
Soundrop is back, kind of. The team behind the social listening platform, which was shut down last year when Spotify removed third party apps from its software, have this morning launched Playlist Sync. The new service allows users to automatically sync playlists created on Spotify to Deezer and YouTube.
“After we closed the Soundrop app, we were left with a fast-growing playlist brand in Spotify”, the company’s Thomas Ford told CMU. “We wanted to share those playlists in more places, so we borrowed an idea from the original Soundrop app to make our playlists available in YouTube and Deezer. Playlist Sync is an easy-to-use tool that takes the sting out of making your playlists available on multiple platforms and helping curation scale”.
“Streaming is the way of the future”, he continued. “The best way to grow your revenue from streaming is by engaging your listeners, and the best way to keep them engaged is through excellent playlists. Most playlist curation happens manually, so we wanted to see how we could take all of that great work, extend it and make it scale. Playlist Sync will help artists and labels grow their market share – and revenue – wherever listening is monetised”.
Find out more about Playlist Sync here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Soundrop
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:38 | By Andy Malt
Fat White Family announce second album, Songs For Our Mothers
Artist News Releases
Fat White Family have announced that they will release their second album, titled ‘Songs For Our Mothers’, on 22 Jan.
Say the band: “While our first LP might be considered an assault, a spasmodic outpouring of disdain generated by the utter tedium of life when it is found unlivable, ‘Songs For Our Mothers’ is an invitation. It is an invitation, sent by misery, to dance to the beat of human hatred. In it we ask that you take us gently by the hand as we lead you on a journey, a journey that leads us from the blinding white heat of a midday Mediterranean shore, to the embattled boudoir of Ike and Tina Turner, from the clotted grey droll of Dr Harold Shipmans waiting room, to the final hours of the Third Reich in the Berlin bunker”.
So that’s nice. They continue: “It is as much a catalogue of our obsessions as it is a sensual odyssey; sex, drugs, politics, death, the Northern Irish A-lister Sam Neil, it’s all here, all that’s left to do now is breathe it in”.
The first single will be the album’s opening track, ‘Whitest Boy On The Beach’. But that’s not available yet. And they’ll be touring the UK in December. But the dates haven’t been announced for that yet.
Though there is a tracklist for the album. Look! Look!
1. Whitest Boy On The Beach
2. Satisfied
3. Love Is The Crack
4. Duce
5. Lebensraum
6. Hits Hits Hits
7. Tinfoil Deathstar
8. When Shipman Decides
9. We Must Learn To Rise
10. Goodbye Goebbels
READ MORE ABOUT: Fat White Family
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:36 | By Andy Malt
Beastie Boys musical to open in London
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
A Beastie Boys musical is due to open in London next month. And it’s on at the Camden People’s Theatre, so I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt.
Created by artistic directors Simon Maeder and Adam El Hagar, ‘Licensed To Ill’ has been developed with the support of musical comedy duos Abandonman and The Rubberbandits. The result, according to the blurb, is “a new style of theatre that mixes rapping, DJing, physical comedy and even puppetry to create the eclectic, hilarious style that a show about the Beasties deserves”.
The story follows the group through the history of hip hop, as well as their own personal history, to explore the genre and the issues it raises.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beastie Boys
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:31 | By Andy Malt
CMU’s One Liners: Universal, Songs Publishing, U2, more
Artist News Business News Deals Digital Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Universal Music Publishing has appointed Luke McGrellis to the role of VP Creative, reporting to the major publisher’s CEO Jody Gerson. He joins from rival publisher Sony/ATV in London and will now be based in LA.
• Independent publisher Songs has appointed music lawyer David Gold to lead business and legal affairs at its New York office.
• U2 are doing this thing with Apple Music that means there’s this bus at the band’s show where fans can watch a virtual reality video. Here’s a photo of one such fan looking like it is the worst thing that has ever happened to them.
• Prince is having another bash at social media, this time on popular photograph sharing World Wide Website ‘Instragram’. Except he’s calling it Princestagram. You don’t come up with something like that and just put it to one side.
• Sleaford Mods have released a video for ‘Silly Me’.
• Kali Uchis has put a new single up on the SoundCloud called ‘Ridin Around’.
• Alessia Cara has announced that she will release her debut album, titled ‘Know It All’, on 13 Nov. This is extremely exciting news.
• Girl Band have announced that they are cancelling all upcoming tour dates “due to health issues in the band”.
• Mixmag reckons Tribal Gathering might be making a comeback at a New Year event.
READ MORE ABOUT: Alessia Cara | Apple Music | David Gold | Gilla Band | Kali Uchis | Luke McGrellis | Prince | Sleaford Mods | Songs Music Publishing | Tribal Gathering | Universal Music | Us
Tuesday 27 October 2015, 11:27 | By Andy Malt
Adele’s flip phone is romantic, can we all shut up about it now?
And Finally Artist News
“Why is Adele using a flip phone?” That was the question on everybody’s lips last week. Why the fucking fuck is Adele, the world’s wealthiest woman, using a stupid old flip phone in the video for ‘Hello’ and not an iPhone 700. A special iPhone she paid for Apple to make just for her. Apps include teleportation and sending commands to her army of robot slaves.
We know she’s got all of that, but there she is in that video – a video that’s not even in colour – wandering around the woods or something with a motherbloody flip phone. It’s all people could talk about this weekend. I know, I saw it first hand. They even forgot there was a new Adele song. For them, it was just a video of a phone. That’s why she broke some sort of Vevo record, it was because of all the people clicking play again and again and again, unable to believe that Adele – the actual Adele, let’s not forget – was using a flip phone.
Well, director Xavier Dolan explained to People: “It’s just not that big of a deal. It makes me uncomfortable filming iPhones because I feel like I’m shooting an iPhone commercial. And the same thing stands for cars: Drive them! Buy them! But on film, they’re distracting to me. They’re elements that you identify to our reality so much that – whether it’s a short film, a film, a music video – they just hurt the piece’s sensibility and reality, and it’s not as romantic”.
Oh, right. Fine. Well, it’s lucky that no one was distracted by that flip phone then.
READ MORE ABOUT: Adele
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:22 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Thus Owls
CMU Approved
Erika and Simon Angell originally met when touring with Loney Dear and Patrick Wolf respectively. Initially working Thus Owls around their touring schedules, they’ve released three albums since 2010. Over that time their sound has become ever more focussed, with last year’s ‘Turning Rocks’ the most consistent, as if each record had been leading you deeper into a world they were creating.
Their new EP, ‘Black Matter’, is due out through Secret City Records on 6 Nov, with a couple of tracks from it already eked out in recent weeks. The first track released, ‘Turn Up The Volumes’, is slow and sparse, its deliberate pace teasing you with what’s coming next.
The title track, meanwhile, was released last week and is a similarly self-contained mini-drama, though it ups the ante considerably, with ominous guitar lines and stabs of vintage synths providing twists and turns for Erika’s vocals to bounce off.
The duo will play three dates in the UK next month, Oxford’s Academy 2 on 10 Nov, the Islington Assembly Hall in London on 11 Nov, and finally Gorilla in Manchester on 12 Nov.
Listen to ‘Black Matter’ here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Thus Owls
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:21 | By Chris Cooke
AMRA announces global deal with YouTube
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories
AMRA, the US-based collecting society bought and relaunched by Kobalt earlier this year, has announced another (almost) global deal, this time with YouTube.
Kobalt, like the other big four music publishers, often negotiates deals directly with multi-territory digital services for its Anglo-American catalogue. However, these services need to exploit both the mechanical right and performing right elements of the song copyright, and, by convention (outside the US), publishers only control the mechanical rights in their songs, while collecting societies control the performing rights. So, the big five publishers have to work with the societies on these deals, and usually do so by forming a joint venture with one collective management organisation in particular.
Previously Kobalt worked with Swedish society STIM, but switched to AMRA after acquiring the organisation earlier this year. That said, despite its new owner, AMRA is still an autonomous body with its own governance, it remains connected to the network of collecting societies worldwide, and it seeks to work with songwriters and publishers beyond the Kobalt family.
Since relaunching, AMRA has made a big deal about its desire to provide digital services with global licenses, or something pretty close. And while a number of collecting societies are now licensing digital platforms on a multi-territory basis – especially in Europe – AMRA is most vocal on the need for worldwide licensing in the digital space, to ensure maximum efficiency in collecting and processing the many, many micro-payments most streaming set-ups pay.
Or, in the words of AMRA CEO Tomas Ericsson: “Despite the fact that the major DSPs today are all global companies, the music industry traditionally collects its revenue at the local and regional levels. This ‘local’ and ‘regional’ approach creates glaring inefficiencies for all sides: the digital platforms are challenged to clear licenses locally, while the rights holders face an increasingly complex and fragmented collections process, causing needless delays and often inaccurate reporting”.
AMRA announced a global alliance with Apple Music back in August, while today’s new arrangement with the sometimes controversial (in music circles) YouTube covers everywhere but the US and Canada.
Kobalt boss Willard Ahdritz says: “Many creators are missing out on digital revenue without even knowing it. Our relationship with YouTube has always been about creating the most efficient and transparent path for income flow to artists and songwriters. As the largest video platform in the world, YouTube plays a major role in every creator’s career – AMRA’s global deal will help ensure that Kobalt clients are paid as quickly and accurately as possible, as well as help stimulate growth for the whole industry”.
Meanwhile, speaking for YouTube, and providing a new ‘revenues paid stat’ in the process, the Google firm’s Global Director Of Music Partnerships, Christophe Muller, said: “YouTube provides a global platform for anyone – from vloggers to politicians, global brands to small businesses and of course, musicians too – to connect with a global audience. We’ve generated over $2 billion in revenue for the music industry in the last few years alone, and we’ve long worked with Kobalt to help creators get paid. Our deal with AMRA takes this work another step forward to ensure that artists, songwriters, and publishers get the maximum value from YouTube”.
READ MORE ABOUT: AMRA | Kobalt
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:17 | By Chris Cooke
Get It Right From A Genuine Site, will you? Now here’s a mural
Business News Education & Events Media
Hey everybody, don’t worry yourselves about piracy any more will you, because the government’s got it covered.
They’ve just painted the side of a building in Birmingham. And just in case that doesn’t work, they’re going to do the same in Liverpool, Cardiff, Bournemouth and Edinburgh. Why didn’t anyone think of this before? Fifteen years of catastrophic internet piracy just because no one thought to paint the side of a building.
We’re talking about ‘Get It Right From A Genuine Site’ here, the educational initiative stemming from the previously reported Creative Content UK partnership. Via this the entertainment industries and the big internet service providers pledged to educate consumers about copyright and piracy, while at some point also sending out warning letters to web-users suspected of tapping illegal sources of content.
Though few are embracing the mission as enthusiastically as TalkTalk, which has taken its involvement to the next level by giving the world access to its customers’ bank information, so rights owners can just jump in there and grab some cash if they reckon someone has stolen their content (maybe, possibly not). Or was that just another education programme about the importance of getting security right on the net?
Anyway, Get It Right. The mural painting in Birmingham got underway earlier this month, while the anti-piracy campaign officially kicked off this weekend. And just in case funding quirky and interesting art projects mainly gets people into quirky and interesting art, rather than communicating any message about copyright (as happened with the music industry’s equally lacklustre Music Matters campaign a few years back), ‘Get It Right From A Genuine Site’ also has a big fat telly ad, which launched this weekend.
The ad, sensibly, avoids the “if you pirate content you’re basically a car thief” line, opting instead for a “go legit and we’ll keep entertaining you – pirate and there’ll be no more fun times” approach.
That could possibly work, though probably only as part of a wider initiative that has more actual education in it, rather than just street marketing and some ad agency flim flam. For starters, the threat that piracy will kill off all the music, movies and telly shows we love seems a little hollow, given how much piracy there has been in the last two decades, and how much music, film and TV there is today. A little more on why copyright is actually a good thing is therefore probably required, which is a trickier message to deliver.
But, hey, in the meantime the Get it Right website does have a handy list of ‘genuine sites’ users may like to tap for tunes, like Rara.com (now offline), MUZU (creditors meeting held last week) and MySpace (which is still going apparently). So that’s good.
And now here’s culture minister Johnny Whittingdale with a quote: “Copyright is the bedrock of the creative industries, which are worth £76.9 billion to the UK economy. From cutting-edge video games to box-office smashes, the continuing success and availability of our creative industries relies on customers making the right choice to access content legally. I am delighted that rights holders and internet companies have come together under the banner of Creative Content UK to educate consumers about both the need to properly reward creativity, and the threat that online piracy poses”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Creative Content UK | Get It Right From A Genuine Site
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:12 | By Chris Cooke
Jane Dyball appointed permanent CEO of Music Publishers Association
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers
If you, like me, had just assumed that Jane Dyball had taken over the CEO role at the Music Publishers Association on a permanent basis, well, you know what they always say, “when you ‘assume’, you make an ass out of u and me”. Though the people who say that are idiots. And in this case, wrong. Because Jane Dyball is taking over as CEO at the Music Publishers Association on a permanent basis.
Dyball has been leading the MPA-owned copyright bodies MCPS, IMPEL and PMLL since late 2013, and became interim CEO of the MPA itself back in May, following the somewhat sudden departure of previous chief Sarah Osborn. That latter position has now been made permanent, with Dyball taking the job title of CEO of the MPA Group Of Companies, so she doesn’t have to list off four separate CEO roles every time she meets somebody new.
Confirming her new permanent position, Dyball told reporters this morning: “Bringing all four MPA businesses under the same umbrella was a logical move from an operational sense, and I am delighted to go forward as Chief Executive of the entire MPA Group. Following this period of restructuring we will be in position to deliver even greater value to our members and ensure music publishing is better understood both inside the industry and the wider world”.
Meanwhile, newish Chair of the music publishing trade group, Jackie Alway, added: “I am delighted that Jane has agreed to accept this role leading the four MPA group companies. It will ensure a coherent strategy across all areas of our organisation, and the MPA Group is very fortunate to have a CEO with such proven business acumen and industry experience. At such a critical time in our industry’s development it is vital to have the MPA Group in such safe hands. This is a time for originality of thought and courage. Jane is the perfect person for the job”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Jane Dyball | Music Publishers Association (MPA)
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:08 | By Chris Cooke
STAR to produce code for secondary ticketing market
Business News Live Business
The Society Of Ticket Agents And Retailers has announced plans to develop a code of practice for the secondary ticketing market in the UK, with a view to inviting ticket resale firms that sign up to the new rules to become members of the organisation.
As previously reported, the government recently announced a new review of secondary ticketing regulations, after some new rules covering the resale of tickets online were added to the Consumer Rights Act earlier this year. STAR says it had already decided to survey its membership – made up of primary ticket sellers – as to whether it should seek to provide a code for online reselling after the CRA became law.
The ticketing body, which provides a code of practice for primary ticketing agents in a bid to ensure protection for consumers, has considered producing regulations for secondary ticketing sites before, but until now decided not to go that route. Some primary ticketing companies – or at least their event promoting clients – don’t like online touting, though others are in the resale business themselves. And the latest survey of members saw a majority support a new STAR code for secondary ticketing.
Quite what the code will say remains to be seen. It will likely include various consumer guarantees already contained in the terms and conditions of sites like StubHub, Viagogo and Seatwave, but might go further. Proposals already on the table include ensuring that resales are governed by UK law, and providing some sort of seating information.
The latter was a key issue of contention when the Consumer Rights Act was being negotiated earlier this year, because if resellers are forced to provide exact seat or ticket numbers when reselling, anti-resale promoters could more easily cancel those tickets in a bid to counter touting. Too strict conditions on that front would likely mean key players in the secondary ticketing market – who already have their own trade body – would be unlikely to join in.
For now, STAR CEO Jonathan Brown says: “Customers deserve clear information about where they can buy tickets safely. STAR recognises that the UK ticketing industry has rapidly changed in recent years and today’s consumers expect greater levels of choice and protection. They need to know how and where they can buy tickets safely, whether they choose to buy them from the primary or secondary sectors. To increase clarity for ticket buyers, STAR will therefore develop standards of best practice to which we hope resale businesses that take consumer protection seriously will subscribe”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Society Of Ticket Agents And Retailers
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:04 | By Chris Cooke
Shortlist announced for CMU-supported music category at European sponsorship awards
Awards Business News
The European Sponsorship Association last week announced the shortlists for the next edition of its Excellence Awards, which will be presented in London next February.
This includes the finalists for the CMU-supported music sponsorship prize, which will see Barclaycard’s involvement in AEG’s summer concerts in Hyde Park, Tennent’s long-term backing of T In The Park, Electric Ireland’s alliance with Irish festival Electric Picnic, and Jägermeister’s The JägerHaus initiative all competing for the prize.
On the tie up with CMU this year, ESA director Jackie Fast commented: “Music remains a key channel for brands looking to reach and engage their audiences, and each year we see brands, artists, festivals and other music companies employ ever more creative approaches to make their partnerships stand out. We look forward to celebrating some of the best at this year’s Excellence Awards and also sharing them with CMU’s readers”.
Meanwhile, on the wider awards this year, ESA Chairman Karen Earl said: “With nearly a quarter of the entries coming from twelve different newcomers to the Excellence Awards, the industry has given an overwhelmingly positive endorsement of ESA’s decision to overhaul its award categories and better reflect the way sponsorships are being conceived and then activated across Europe. The awards represent the industry ‘gold standard’, recognising and celebrating the best in sponsorship”.
You will find a full list of the nominees this year here. Tickets for the 11 Feb awards ceremony at Café de Paris are on sale here.
READ MORE ABOUT: ESA Excellence Awards | European Sponsorship Association
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:01 | By Chris Cooke
Omnifone announces alliance with Line Music
Business News Deals Digital
UK-based B2B digital music provider Omnifone has announced a deal with Line Music, the music service offered by messaging app Line, which went live in Thailand and Japan earlier this year.
As previously reported, Line Music is one of the first key players to enter the late-to-the-gate streaming market in Japan. Omnifone plans to now “support the expansion of its international catalogue by millions of tracks”.
Confirming the new deal, Omnifone CEO Jeff Hughes said this morning: “With global messenger giant Line Corporation at the helm, Line Music has established itself as one of the front runners in the music subscription market. We’re delighted to be working with Line Music to support its continued growth”.
Meanwhile the firm’s co-founder Phil Sant added: “We do the vital undifferentiated heavy-lifting, the music industry technology infrastructure that allows our partners to focus on the things that add value to them; the exciting features that enable them to grow their services more quickly”.
Meanwhile Line Music chief Jun Masuda said: “Working with a UK-based global music service provider will help us to enrich our popular music service with a whole host of new international artists for our users to enjoy. We’re thrilled to be working with Omnifone’s licensing team”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Line Music | Omnifone
Monday 26 October 2015, 12:00 | By Andy Malt
Joe Moss 1943-2015
Business News Obituaries
The Smiths’ first manager Joe Moss has died from cancer aged 72. The news was announced via a statement on Johnny Marr’s website, whose solo career Moss had continued to manage.
Moss stepped down as The Smiths’ manager in 1983, just as they were preparing for their first US tour. Staying in the music industry by promoting shows at Manchester’s Night & Day Café, he returned to management in 1998 with the group Marion, and took on Marr as a solo artist in 1999 until his death.
“Joe was a one off, an amazing person and totally unique”, said Marr. “He started looking after me when I was seventeen; it was Joe who put the idea in my head to go and knock on Morrissey’s door. He invested his time and money in us when no one else wanted to know, and his belief in us kept us going. Without him there wouldn’t have been any Smiths. He was an original beatnik and a true bohemian, respected by all. Everyone who met him loved him; he can never be replaced”.
Moss is survived by his wife Sarah and five children David, Rachael, Ivan, Stella and Edie.
READ MORE ABOUT: Joe Moss | Johnny Marr | The Smiths
