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Friday 22 April 2016, 10:53 | By Chris Cooke
Wireless pledges an operational overhaul in bid to placate locals
Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
Organisers of London’s Wireless Festival have announced a stack of operational changes ahead of this year’s planned event. The announcement follows mounting criticism from residents who live near Finsbury Park – which has hosted Wireless since 2014 – and who are calling on the local council to deny the Live Nation event a licence this year.
Arguing that the Wireless festival causes unacceptable loss of amenity and increases in traffic and noise, and that there were security failings at last year’s event, Friends Of Finsbury Park said last month: “We are not against Wireless Festival, but its sheer size and scale is totally inappropriate for Finsbury Park. We are happy to see events staged which don’t involve the closure of one third of the park in high summer, are more inclusive of the local community, and benefit the park itself”.
With that campaign seemingly gaining momentum, Melvin Benn, boss of Live Nation’s Festival Republic business, which has now taken over responsibility for Wireless, has made moves to try to placate locals and the local authority by promising a restructuring of the event’s operational and security teams for 2016. Festival industry veteran Benn has some experience in placating locals and councils with concerns about music events, so Live Nation will be hoping he is the man to successfully address the Wireless problems.
Benn said yesterday: “We have been working closely with local police and Haringey Council, as well as festival-goers, on a full site improvement plan for Wireless Festival 2016. Our new security strategy will solve issues from last year’s event, which includes the restructuring and management of key areas, specifically site structure and security. This is a new year for Wireless Festival, and we’re confident it’s going to be better than ever”.
A statement from Festival Republic said the new Wireless operational team “includes specialist security teams and new security positions; including security co-ordinator and offsite security roles, adding to the overall site improvement plan”. Meanwhile it noted that the Live Nation subsidiary “specialises in the production of large scale festivals, with Benn also responsible for the production behind Reading and Leeds, Latitude and V Festival, amongst others”.
Wireless isn’t the only event staged by a Live Nation business to be promising an operational revamp following teething problems at a newish site. As much previously reported, DF Concerts’ T In The Park is also hoping new systems and staff will overcome opposition from locals to it using the Strathallan Estate in Perthshire.
READ MORE ABOUT: Wireless Festival
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:52 | By Chris Cooke
PRS announces bands to benefit from speedy touring fund
Artist News Business News Management & Funding
Hey fans of speedy funding schemes, do you want to know which speedy artists got some speedy goodies from the PRS For Music Foundation’s most recent speedy Flash Funding initiative?
As previously reported, the Foundation’s Flash Funding project is a scheme that offers support for new artists with a one-week turnaround from application to decision. Each edition of the initiative has different partners and a specific theme, and this time it was Wigwam Acoustics and the Musicians’ Union getting involved, offering four acts bespoke on-stage monitoring systems worth up to £10,000, plus advice and training on touring, promotional support and an additional £375 for touring costs.
And the successful speedy applications were…
April Towers – to support European and UK dates in May, June and July.
False Advertising – to support upcoming UK dates in April and May.
Flight Brigade – to support tours and festivals across the UK.
John Joseph Brill – Liverpool – to help with upcoming UK dates.
Says the Foundation’s Joseph Frankland: “Congratulations to the four successful artists receiving this latest version of Flash Funding. We received close to 100 applications in 72 hours, which is an incredible response and highlights the need for this type of support for emerging artists in the live sector. I look forward to seeing how this support will transform the live shows of April Towers, False Advertising, Flight Brigade and John Joseph Brill, and make a real impact on their careers”.
READ MORE ABOUT: April Towers | False Advertising | Flight Brigade | John Joseph Brill | PRS Foundation
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:51 | By Chris Cooke
CMU@TGE Previews: Getting more from YouTube
Business News Digital Education & Events The Great Escape 2016
Four weeks today new music festival The Great Escape will be underway, as will CMU Insights @ The Great Escape, the conference that sits at the heart of the convention programme. Unlike most other music industry conferences, CMU@TGE focuses on just four topics, presenting a full day of content around each theme with a mixture of talks, case studies, interviews and debates.
Each day in the CMU Daily in the run up to this year’s Great Escape, Business Editor Chris Cooke will preview a different session, explaining the thinking behind it. First in the line for previewing, the sessions that form the full-day strand ‘What if YouTube actually is the future?’, taking place on the Thursday, 19 May, in Dukes @ Komedia 2…
With YouTube so often the subject of music industry griping these days, it’s easy to forget that, for many artists and labels, Google’s video platform is still a key marketing channel and, for some, a useful extra revenue stream too, particularly when it comes to generating income from music exploited in user-generated content.
Which is why, with the obvious exception of GEMA, many artists, labels, publishers and collecting societies continue to use the YouTube site. And to do deals with the Google company, despite all the griping and the concurrent lobbying efforts to change copyright law so to force YouTube’s hand into signing licensing deals more favourable to the music community.
But are those artists, labels, publishers and collecting societies getting the absolute most out of YouTube, its audience and its technology? Despite – and, actually, because of – the licensing issues and royalty rate disagreements, those who decide that YouTube is still an important channel for them should probably make sure that they are using the platform to its fullest effect. Which is what our CMU@TGE session ‘Getting more from YouTube’ is all about, with three experts set to get on stage and share their insights.
First, the spotlight will fall on Content ID, YouTube’s much discussed content management set-up which enables labels – and via the Melody ID system publishers – to track and manage their recordings and songs as they are uploaded to the video site, choosing to block or monetise that content. Rebecca Lammers from Laika Network knows all the ins and outs of the system, and will be talking us through how it works – and when it works – from both a label and publisher perspective.
Then we’ll look at the power of YouTube as both a marketing platform and a data platform, with Claire Mas from Communion Music Group bringing us up to speed on best practice and current trends when it comes to using YouTube for promotional purposes, and Chloé Julien from BandSquare running you through the analytics the platform offers, just to make sure everyone is tapping all the potential data that is available there.
Whatever your viewpoint on YouTube’s licensing model – safe harbours, mere conduits, value gap and all – it’s almost certainly true that the music industry can’t just ignore the video site, especially when working with new talent, so we might as well get as much out of it as we can. And ‘Getting more from YouTube’ should help with that.
This session takes place at 12.15pm on Thursday 19 May in Dukes@Komedia 2 as part of a whole day focused on YouTube and video online, hosted by Brittney Bean of Tracks2. You will find a full outline of the day here, plus look out for previews of the other sessions taking place as part of the strand in upcoming editions of the CMU Daily.
TGE delegates get access to all of CMU Insights @ The Great Escape and all the other festivities that take place over the three days of the festival – passes are £230 and available here. This year tickets are also available for just the convention side of the proceedings for £100 and those can be bought here.
READ MORE ABOUT: The Great Escape | YouTube
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:49 | By Andy Malt
Prince 1958-2016
Artist News Obituaries
Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park, Minnesota home yesterday. He was 57.
Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1957, he was given the stage name of his jazz musician father. He began playing music at an early age, and signed his first record deal with Warner Bros Records aged nineteen. His then manager Owen Husney managed to negotiate a deal giving the musician unprecedented creative control over his music. This resulted in 1978’s ‘For You’, on which Prince played every instrument and produced the record himself.
The album was not a success critically or commercially. However, the next year’s similarly self-contained follow-up, ‘Prince’, went platinum, spawning hit singles ‘Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’. After this, starting with 1980’s ‘Dirty Mind’, Prince moved into what would become his trademark funk sound with explicitly sexual lyrics.
These lyrics (which he later distanced himself from after becoming a Jehovah’s Witness) reached peak controversy in 1985 when the song ‘Darling Nikki’ reportedly prompted Tipper Gore to set up the Parents Music Resource Center, leading to ‘parental advisory’ stickers being slapped on records considered unsuitable for children.
The song was taken from the soundtrack of ‘Purple Rain’, the movie which assured the already ascendant Prince his position as a superstar. The financial boost from this also allowed him to develop his Paisley Park recording studio, where he was able to better indulge his prolific creativity – as well as the 39 studio albums he did release, it’s thought that at least 26, along with other material, sit in the studio’s vault.
In the 90s, he became increasingly displeased with the control that Warner Bros had over his work. In 1993, he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in protest against the fact that the label owned the rights to his birth name – the media then taking to referring to him as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
The musician then began attempting to fulfil his contractual obligations by quickly releasing new albums, often featuring previously recorded material. This led to a legal battle with the label, which accused him of saturating the market. As a result, Prince generally appeared publicly during this period with the word ‘Slave’ written on his face.
When his Warner contract eventually expired in 2000, he changed his name back to Prince for the next phase of his career. Though it wasn’t the end of the Warner alliance. More recently he repaired his relationship with the mini-major, agreeing to extend his deals on early works with Warner outside the US, though taking control of them domestically himself.
Once outside of major label control for new material, Prince experimented with various distribution models for his records, giving away albums with newspapers and concert tickets, and selling them direct-to-fan online – opening his own digital subscription platform in 2001.
Although he was an early innovator on the internet, he became more famous for his actions to keep his music off it. Any rush to stream his back catalogue in the wake of his death is made more difficult by the fact that he worked hard to keep his music off YouTube and the like, and recently took his records off all streaming services other than Tidal.
Still working prolifically in the studio and as a live performer at the time of his death, and with an autobiography in the works, Prince will be remembered for many reasons. Though overall it will be as an artist who was truly unique in numerous ways for his entire career of almost 40 years.
READ MORE ABOUT: Prince
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:47 | By Chris Cooke
Johnny Marr autobiography due in November
Artist News
That there Johnny Marr has announced that he will publish his autobiography in November. Well, technically a PR working for his publisher did the announcing. But, you know, even the best have a little help when putting their life story down in words.
Says Marr of the book, which is called ‘Set The Boy Free’: “I wanted to convey a feeling of breaking free, that has been a constant throughout my life. A feeling that expresses itself as both escape and discovery. Transcendence. I found it through rock n roll and art and a journey living both in the modern world”.
The autobiography is published in various formats of booky goodness on 3 Nov.
READ MORE ABOUT: Johnny Marr
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:45 | By Chris Cooke
Viet Cong announce new name
Artist News
Even the word’s ‘formerly known as’ seem a little sad today, right? But anyway, the band formerly known as Viet Cong have announced their new name, and it’s Preoccupations.
As previously reported, as Viet Cong became more popular their choice of moniker became more controversial. Admitting they had been “naive about the history of a war in a country we knew very little about”, the Canadian outfit announced last September that they’d find a new band name for their next album. And know they’ve found it.
The band said in a statement: “After finishing our latest record and taking some time off, we are excited to announce that we will be performing and recording as Preoccupations going forward. We will be previewing new material from a forthcoming record in a series of festivals and shows in North America and Europe in the coming months”.
On the past name issues, the band went on: “We apologise to those who were adversely affected by our former band name. This was never anticipated nor our intent. We are artists and not politicians, we understand that the name reflected pain to some individuals and we are happy to change it and move on and focus on our music”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Preoccupations | Viet Cong
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:42 | By Andy Malt
CMU’s One Liners: Katy B, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, M83, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Katy B’s new album ‘Honey’ is out today. Here’s another track from it, ‘Water Rising’.
• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has released ‘Sai & Co’, the bonus track from her upcoming best of compilation. Watch the video here.
• Slowolf and Kimbra have released a live session video for their very good new single ‘White Feathers’.
• Elle Exxe has announced that she will release her debut album, ‘Love Fuelled Hate’, on 9 Sep. While you wait for that, check out new single, ‘Lately’.
• M83 has announced two post-Glastonbury live shows at the Ritz in Manchester on 26 Jun and ABC in Glasgow on 27 Jun.
• Fields Of The Nephilim have announced two London shows this year to mark the summer and winter solstices. They’ll play The Forum on 20 Jun and Shepherds Bush Empire on 21 Dec. Here’s their new single ‘Prophecy’.
READ MORE ABOUT: Elle Exxe | Fields Of The Nephilim | Katy B | Kimbra | Kyary Pamyu Pamyu | M83 | Slowolf
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:39 | By Andy Malt
CMU Beef Of The Week #302: Limp Bizkit fans v Petrol
And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Gigs & Festivals
So, here’s a fun story. Someone announced this week that Limp Bizkit would be playing a secret show at a petrol station in Dayton, Ohio. And because nothing about Limp Bizkit ever seems unusual, people believed it. In fact, despite repeated warnings that no such show would be taking place, many still turned up on Wednesday. Notwithstanding the fact that they were actually a year early.
Over 22,000 people were invited to a Facebook page advertising the event, stating that it was due to take place on 20 Apr 2017, with almost 4000 indicating that they would make the trip. Few seemed to notice that the listing was for next year, rather than this.
Concerned that thousands of rabid nu metal fans were about to descend on their town, Dayton Police Dept issued a warning that there was “no concert at the gas station” happening. Amazingly, this warning managed to look more fake than the show announcement. Fred Durst also warned anyone who asked him about it on Twitter that it was “NOT TRUE” that they would be playing the show (the ‘organisers’ of the ‘show’ then saying that this is what really sparked interest in it).
The petrol station itself even attempted to stave off the tide of interest in the non-gig with this amazing sign, but to no avail.
Come Wednesday night, the petrol station called the police after people began congregating outside – with more arriving as fast as law enforcers could chase them off, with up to 150 standing outside at any one time, according to local news reports. Though they mostly seemed aware that there would be no performance, the draw of seeing what would happen anyway appeared to have been enough.
“I was hoping something fun would go down”, one fan told WHIO News Center 7. “I immediately knew it was a joke. It was pretty obvious”.
Commenting on the havoc they had caused, one of the administrators of the original Facebook event, Andy Rowe told The Daily Beast: “I have never laughed so hard like I have these last two days, yet understood so little about why it’s funny in the first place. I keep asking myself, ‘Why does it seem like the whole world is bent on seeing Limp Bizkit play at this gas station?'”
Anyway, I assume we’re all going to the real show next year, yes? I’ll book a minibus.
READ MORE ABOUT: Limp Bizkit
Friday 22 April 2016, 10:37 | By Paul Vig
Vigsy’s Club Tip: Big Boss Groove at The Social
Club Tip CMU Approved
Ah, The Social. Many a happy time I’ve spent in there, thanks to its cool minimalist feel downstairs and legendary all dayers.
Tomorrow evening sees Michael Barrett and Martin Veal playing the very best in funk, disco, rap and reggae at their Big Boss Groove night down in that basement. It’s in a great central location and entry is free, so get down early to this one.
Saturday 23 Apr, The Social, 5 Little Portland Street, London, W1W 7JD, 7.30pm-1am, free. More info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Martin Veal | Michael Barrett
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:20 | By Chris Cooke
Warner and the indies set to object to Sony taking complete control of Sony/ATV
Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
There was me, just yesterday, bemoaning the lack of a big-sized music industry merger to get my reinforced reporting teeth into, when Sony’s acquisition of the half of Sony/ATV previously owned by Mickey Jackson is yet to get competition regulator approval. How could I forget about that!
So, yes, perhaps unsurprisingly, some of Sony Corp’s competitors are lining up to oppose the entertainment conglom’s grand plan to take complete ownership of the world’s biggest music publisher, bringing said company into full common ownership with the world’s second biggest record company, good old Sony Music Entertainment.
According to Bloomberg, Warner Music has already approached the European Commission, which has to power to block the deal in Europe if it is deemed to breach competition rules by giving Sony too much control of the music licensing market. Sources also suggest that BMG, another key player in music rights of course, especially in Europe, is also considering objecting to the proposed Sony/ATV deal through the European Commission.
The indie music community has also raised concerns, as it usually does when major music industry mergers land on the table. Bloomberg quotes Helen Smith of indie label trade group IMPALA as saying: “It’s difficult to imagine how the Sony/ATV deal could get any kind of green light from the European Commission. Just three years ago the EC effectively set a limit when it already said Sony was too big and had to divest assets”.
That EC ruling occurred when Sony led a consortium of bidders to buy the EMI Music Publishing business, which is now basically run as a subsidiary of Sony/ATV, even though it has multiple owners, and will continue to do so even when Sony takes full ownership of the parent company. It is the combination of the Sony/ATV and EMI catalogues that makes the Sony-controlled publishing business so powerful.
During the big EMI sale, more scrutiny was arguably put on Universal’s purchase of the EMI record company, possibly because Sony was leading a consortium of bidders rather than wholly acquiring the EMI songs itself, making that deal more complicated. Also, on the publishing side, in Continental Europe it is often the collecting societies rather than the publishers that do the big deals with digital service providers, which constrains to an extent the market dominance of individual publishing firms.
The EC did, nevertheless, express some concerns over the market power of the combined Sony/ATV/EMI back in 2012. It remains to be seen if those concerns are now heightened by Sony Corp owning the main Sony/ATV company outright, alongside its Sony Music recorded music business.
No one really expects the EC to block the deal between Sony and the Jackson Estate, but competition regulators could force the offloading of certain catalogues currently controlled by Sony/ATV, which would be good news for those rivals looking to expand their song repertoires with a few bankable hits.
Sony signed a definite agreement with the Jackson estate to acquire its half of Sony/ATV earlier this week, having announced the preliminary deal last month. Fans of music industry mergers of old will remember that, once the deal is formally passed to European regulators for approval, it could clear the transaction within six weeks, or open a more detailed four month investigation to consider market impact and possible remedies.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for the latter – because everyone in music loves a bit of competition law news over their lunch, right?
READ MORE ABOUT: BMG | Sony Music | Sony Music Publishing | Warner Music
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:18 | By Chris Cooke
Aussie labels seek KickassTorrents web-block
Business News Digital Legal
With Australian TV firm Foxtel busy building a blockade around The Pirate Bay, the major record companies are taking on responsibility for constructing a fence around the KickassTorrents compound that would impress even Donald Trump.
The Australian entertainment industry is now capitalising on previously reported new web-blocking laws in the country, which allow content owners to request the courts to force internet service providers to block access to piracy websites.
After Foxtel made the first web-block application in Australia, with usual suspect The Pirate Bay at the top of its target list, this week the Australian Recording Industry Association teamed up with collecting society APRA/AMCOS to file its first web-block request in the country, with Kickass their main priority.
Confirming the web-block bid, APRA chair Jenny Morris told reporters: “Online infringement continues to be a major threat to the sustainability of the Australian music industry. Illegal offshore sites like Kickass Torrents show a complete disrespect for music creators and the value of music”.
She went on: “Australian music fans already have access – for free if they choose – to the world’s repertoire of music via more than 20 legitimate licensed online music services. Blocking access to sites like Kickass Torrents is all about supporting those services and allowing the writers whose songs are available on them to be paid for their work”.
As much previously reported, web-blocking has become a preferred anti-piracy tactic in most of the countries where web-block injunctions are an option, and no more so than in the UK. Though web-blocking is by no means perfect, because a simple Google search will usually tell users how to access blocked sites with just a couple of clicks. Which is why one of the UK record industry’s recent demands of Google was that it automatically de-list any blocked piracy site, and any proxies seeking to circumvent the blockades.
READ MORE ABOUT: KickassTorrents
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:16 | By Andy Malt
Martin Shkreli dropped from Wu-Tang copyright infringement case
Artist News Business News Legal
Martin Shkreli has been dropped from a copyright infringement lawsuit relating to the single copy Wu-Tang Clan album ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’. Which hopefully brings us one step closer to being able to put him back in the ‘Not Music News’ file.
As previously reported, the controversial pharmaceuticals exec bought the lone copy of the album for $2 million last year. Shkreli then showed off his prize to Vice, which revealed that drawings of the group’s members by artist Jason Koza had been used in the album’s artwork. This was not cool, the artist himself subsequently declared, because he had only licensed the drawings for use on the WuDisciples website.
Koza promptly sued Shkreli, Wu-Tang’s RZA, producer Tarik ‘Cilvaringz’ Azzougarh, and the auction site that had sold the record, Paddle8, for the unauthorised use of his work. Shkreli was named in the lawsuit because he had ‘displayed’ the artwork without permission, which seemed like a slightly ropey interpretation of US public display rights at the time. Shkreli legal team then went on to claim that the display was covered by fair use rules anyway.
Shkreli’s lawyer John Wait yesterday confirmed to Billboard that his client’s name had now been dropped from the legal action, saying: “Mr Koza agreed to drop his case against Mr Shkreli on the morning that his opposition to Mr Shkreli’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim was due to be filed in federal court. Mr Shkreli did not agree to any conditions or pay any form of settlement in exchange for being dismissed from the case. In our view it is likely that Mr Koza recognised that he would be unable to maintain an infringement claim against Mr Shkreli in light of the fair use doctrine”.
But Koza’s lawyer Peter Scoolidge then said that the fair use claim was not the reason for dropping Shkreli from his client’s litigation, and suggested that he might be added back in at a later date, adding: “We stipulated to drop the case against Mr Shkreli for the time being because he is apparently indemnified by other parties in the case”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Jason Koza | Martin Shkreli | Wu-Tang Clan
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:13 | By Andy Malt
Shazam For Brands is a thing now
Brands & Merch Business News Digital
Shazam has launched Shazam For Brands, a new thing that will let people wave their phone at stuff they’ve bought and then tweet about it. This is the future you wanted, right?
According to the company, with this latest development in the advertiser side of the Shazam business “brands can now leverage data-driven storytelling to produce their own content”. Woah guys, don’t make it sound like too much fun. The first airing of the new technology recently featured in Coca-Cola’s snappily-titled ‘Share A Coke And A Song’ campaign. Pointing your phone at “Shazam-enabled bottles” allowed people to record lip sync videos for various songs and then tweet them. For some reason.
“We are launching Shazam For Brands because we believe Shazam is uniquely positioned to become the default platform for connecting the mobile world with the real world”, says Shazam’s Chief Revenue Officer Greg Glenday. “This began with music identification, and has allowed us to be the first to occupy invaluable real estate on smartphones around the world. Today’s launch introduces new technology and content tools for brands to utilise data and engagement in a way defined by the very audiences they seek”.
I liked Shazam a lot more when you had to ring it up and it cost £1.50 a pop. There was none of this talk of ‘smartphone real estate’ and ‘audience-defined engagement’ back then. Stupid internet, ruining everything again.
READ MORE ABOUT: Shazam
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:11 | By Andy Malt
BBC Radio 1 and 2 to playlist more UK music
Business News Media
The BBC is to increase the amount of UK talent playlisted on Radios 1 and 2, despite both stations already exceeding current quotas.
This follows a review by the broadcaster, launched due to government criticism that the two stations are not distinct enough from commercial rivals or each other. This, the report found, is not true. In fact, on the first point, the review found that almost 90% of songs played by Radios 1 and 2 are not played by any other station.
The exact new quotas for UK music are still to be drawn up, but the report said that the rules must “ensure that Radio 1 and Radio 2 have a strong commitment to new and UK music, so that a strong proportion of the new music in daytime on Radio 1 and Radio 2 should be from the UK”.
On claims that the two stations are not distinct enough from each other, the report said that around 5% of the music played on one station does also appear on the other. But this crossover is generally down to certain songs appealing to a wide age range.
“Adele, for example, is 27, still within Radio 1’s target age range, but her songs have an almost universal appeal”, said the report. “Ultimately, however, the difference between the two stations is the next track after Adele: On Radio 1 it will often be a cutting edge track from a brand new band; on Radio 2 it is more likely to be a classic 60s or 70s song”.
This review comes ahead of a government white paper on the future of the BBC, due to be published next month, while the Corporation’s Royal Charter is up for renewal later this year, which will outline future funding for the broadcaster. As previously reported, there have been fears over what effect cutting back BBC music services would have on the UK industry, with numerous high profile musicians backing a campaign to protect them.
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | BBC Radio 1 | BBC Radio 2
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:10 | By Chris Cooke
CMU@TGE Previews: YouTube licensing – explained at last!
Business News Digital Education & Events The Great Escape 2016
Four weeks today The Great Escape will be kicking off for another year, presenting 450 bands in 30 venues over three days in Brighton, with 3500 music industry professionals gathering alongside 16,500 festival-goers for the UK’s big annual seaside celebration of new music and the new music industry.
Once again at the heart of the convention programme you will find CMU Insights @ The Great Escape, our annual conference putting the spotlight on the very latest trends and development in the business of music. Unlike most other music industry conferences, CMU@TGE focuses on just four topics, presenting a full day of content around each theme with a mixture of talks, case studies, interviews and debates.
Each day in the CMU Daily in the run up to this year’s Great Escape, Business Editor Chris Cooke will preview a different session, explaining the thinking behind it. And first in the line for previewing, the sessions that form the full-day strand ‘What if YouTube actually is the future?’, taking place on the Thursday, 19 May, in Dukes @ Komedia 2…
YouTube is the devil, or so says Metallica manager Peter Mensch. It’s certainly the talking point that won’t go away, as the majors try their hardest to negotiate more favourable terms from the world’s biggest streaming platform, while concurrently sending their lobbyists to Brussels and Washington in a bid to get copyright law rewritten, so that the safe harbours Google relies on to operate an ‘opt-out’ streaming service may be removed.
We’re not going to settle the big stand-off between the music rights owners and YouTube in a conference room, but we can inform the debate, and that’s what we are going to do at the start of our YouTube and video focused strand at CMU Insights @ The Great Escape next month, with the session ‘YouTube licensing – explained at last!’
We all know the licensing of streaming services is complex. That’s why the Music Managers Forum commissioned us to write the ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ report last year which explains how audio streaming services like Spotify are licensed by record companies, music publishers and collecting societies. But with YouTube, there are some extra complexities, not least because the video platform is multiple things – a streaming platform, a media platform and a user-generated content platform.
My mission in ‘YouTube licensing – explained at last!’ is to try to explain how YouTube is licensed in just 30 minutes, including how Vevo and Warner Music managed channels fit into the mix. I’ll also explain in the simplest possible terms what the safe harbours are all about, just in case any of you have been nodding furiously in meetings that “something must be done” while not really understanding what the hell safe harbours are actually all about.
Then I’ll be talking to three brilliant people with three very different perspectives on the licensing issues around YouTube and video online: Sophie Goossens from law firm August & Debouzy, Stacey Mitsopulos from broadcaster Box Plus and Christina Vaughan from music licensing hub CueSongs.
We’ll start by getting our heads around the safe harbours issue, and understanding the processes underway in Brussels and Washington to review the laws from which YouTube benefits. But more than that, we’ll investigate the other complexities around the licensing of YouTube and similar platforms, and discuss where there are inefficiencies and missed opportunities which may be the fault of the music industry more than big bad Google.
‘YouTube licensing – explained at last!’ takes place at 11am on Thursday 19 May in Dukes@Komedia 2, kickstarting a whole day focused on YouTube and video online, hosted by Brittney Bean of Tracks2. You will find a full outline of the day here, plus look out for previews of the other sessions taking place as part of the strand in upcoming editions of the CMU Daily.
TGE delegates get access to all of CMU Insights @ The Great Escape and all the other festivities that take place over the three days of the festival – passes are £230 and available here. This year tickets are also available for just the convention side of the proceedings for £100 and those can be bought here.
READ MORE ABOUT: The Great Escape | YouTube
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:08 | By Andy Malt
Only known studio footage of Louis Armstrong acquired by museum
Artist News
The Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York has announced that it has acquired the only known footage of the jazz musician in the studio. Professionally shot during the recording of Armstrong’s 1959 album, ‘Satchmo Plays King Oliver’, the 33 minute film was placed in storage by record producer Sid Frey and never used.
“The film has spent the past six decades in private hands or in a storage locker”, the museum’s Executive Director Michael Cogswell tells Associated Press. “Not even the most diligent Armstrong researchers knew it existed”.
The footage was apparently found by someone who bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker, rented by one of Frey’s daughters, Melanie, when their mother died. Attempting to track down lost master tapes, his other daughter Andrea Bass discovered the existence of the film in a chat forum for fans of her father and his company Audio Fidelity.
The museum said yesterday on Facebook that it will post a complete song from the film online tomorrow.
READ MORE ABOUT: Louis Armstrong
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:06 | By Andy Malt
Death From Above 1979 to release live EP recorded at Third Man Records
Artist News Releases
Third Man Records is to release a new Death From Above 1979 live EP tomorrow, featuring a performance in the Jack White-owned label’s Blue Room studio.
“We’ve always been wary of live recording experiences because they can end up so sterile and flat sounding and they hardly ever translate the feeling of the actual show. The feeling of the moment”, say the duo.
“[However] when we were asked to record ‘Live At Third Man Records’ we agreed without hesitation. If there is one person who knows about feeling the moment, it’s Jack White. He’s the patron saint of vibes. We cut two 20 minute long sets straight to acetate. No second chances. Terrifying but alive. Third Man were such phenomenal hosts and the audience went bananas with us. It was such an honour to be a part of. The whole thing was such a rush, it almost feels like a dream”.
“Oh yeah, Mick Jagger was there”, they continue. “Did we mention that we went out to dinner with Jack and Mick after and then went bowling until 3am?”
No, you did not. I’m not sure this information is relevant to your live recording in the slightest, though. Disagreeing, they add: “It’s also worth noting that Jack got the highest score followed by Sebastien. Mick and Jesse tied”.
Nope. But you can listen to ‘Right On Frankenstein’ from the EP here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Death From Above 1979 | Third Man Records
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:04 | By Andy Malt
Deerhoof announce magical new album
Artist News Releases
Deerhoof released a new song called ‘Debut’ earlier this week. Now they’ve announced a whole album, ‘The Magic’, out on 24 Jun, and another song, ‘Plastic Thrills’.
Pondering the title and content of the album, drummer Greg Saunier says: “Maybe it came from the music we liked when we were kids, when music was like magic – before we knew about the industry and before there were rules – sometimes hair metal is the right choice. We all showed up in the mood to sing”.
On the continuing 22 year history of the band, singer and bassist Satomi Matsuzaki adds: “I joined this band a week after I arrived in San Francisco from Japan. I hopped on a Muni bus to have a first meeting with Deerhoof. I got off at a wrong stop. I was lost and confused. They found me on a dark street corner after I called for help from a pay phone. Since then my adventure expanded. Deerhoof is a vehicle with four powered wheels that takes me through forest, desert and buildings. My life is adventure!”
Listen to ‘Plastic Thrills’ here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Deerhoof
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:03 | By Andy Malt
CMU’s One Liners: Bowery Presents, Universal, Sub Pop, more
Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• AEG Live has bought independent promoter Bowery Presents, according to Billboard. The company owns five New York venues, including the Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, as well as promoting shows around the US.
• Universal Music Group Nashville has a new Chief Operating Officer in the form of Mike Harris, who was formerly GM of the major’s US label services unit Caroline. Harris says he “couldn’t be more excited” about his new role chiefly operating Universal’s Nashville business.
• Sub Pop’s publishing business has a brand new Director Of A&R in the form of Gareth Smith, who previously worked at Big Deal Music in LA and before that BMG in London.
• Rihanna put out the video for ‘Needed Me’ yesterday “just because it’s 420”. Also probably because she and director Harmony Korine had gone to the effort of making it.
• Little Mix have released the video for ‘Hair’, featuring Sean Paul. Watch it here.
• Olga Bell has released the second single from her forthcoming new album ‘Tempo’. That’s out on 27 May. Here’s the single, ‘ATA’. You can also catch her live in the UK this June.
• Gaika has released a new mixtape, ‘Security’. Check out the whole thing here, or listen to first single ‘PMVD’ here. You can catch him at Boilerroom tonight too.
• Wooden Arms have released the first track from their debut album, ‘Trick Of The Light’, which is due for release later this year. Listen to ‘Burial’ here.
• Andy Votel will be overseeing a tribute to composer Andrzej Żuławski as part of the Polish Film Festival tomorrow night. The event takes place at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green. More details here.
• Mitski will play a UK show at the Tufnell Park Dome in London on 6 Oct. That’s bloody ages away.
READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Andrzej Żuławski | Andy Votel | Bowery Presents | Gaika | Gareth Smith | Little Mix | Mike Harris | Mitski | Olga Bell | Rihanna | Sean Paul | Sub Pop | Universal Music | Wooden Arms
Thursday 21 April 2016, 10:00 | By Andy Malt
Rich people remain rich, annual study of rich people finds
And Finally Artist News
News just in, rich people are rich. Among musicians, Paul McCartney remains the richest, while Adele is now the richest female musician from the UK to ever live. Macca and his wife Nancy Shevell have added £30 million to their now £760 million fortune in the last year, while Adele has almost doubled hers to £85 million, according to the incoming new Sunday Times Rich List.
Andrew Lloyd-Webber is still number two on the musical rich list with £715 million, and he gets there without cheating by pairing up with a spouse or bandmates. If it weren’t for Shevell’s £150 million stake in her father’s business, Lloyd-Webber would be right out in front. Other dirty cheats in the top ten are U2, who all together take the number three spot by claiming to be one entity, and George Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani Harrison, only one of whom is actually a musician. You people are the worst.
Other non-musicians in the list include Duncan Jones and Iman Abdulmajid, who come in at 29 with their own combined wealth and that which they recently inherited from David Bowie.
Adele actually comes in at number 30 in the overall list, but is again the richest musician under 30 years old. She’s trailed by Ed Sheeran, who apparently now has £45 million in the bank. In third on the youngster musical money bags list are the members of One Direction collectively, despite losing the £30 million apparently owned by Zayn Malik from their total.
I should note too that while Adele is now the UK’s richest ever female musician, she still trails behind Irish singer Enya, who has £91 million burning a hole in her pocket.
Anyway, here’s the overall musical rich list top ten:
1. Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell – £760m
2. Andrew Lloyd-Webber – £715m
3. U2 – £500m
4. Elton John – £280m
5. Mick Jagger – £235m
6. Olivia and Dhani Harrison – £220m
6. Keith Richards – £220m
8. Ringo Starr – £200m
9. Michael Flatley – £198m
10. Sting – £185m
READ MORE ABOUT: Adele | Andrew Lloyd Webber | David Bowie | Ed Sheeran | Enya | George Harrison | One Direction | Paul McCartney | U2 | Zayn Malik
Thursday 21 April 2016, 09:16 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Lyra
CMU Approved
A distinct new voice in pop, Irish musician Lyra emerges with her debut single, ‘Rabbit In The Headlights’ this week. Produced by Rupert Christie, the track shows off a diverse array of vocal styles, which shift and change with the music to great effect.
“I tried to sing differently for so much of my childhood”, says Lyra. “I even tried singing with a British accent! It made me unhappy trying to be something that I wasn’t. Ultimately I learned I couldn’t be anything other than my true self. I wrote this song to help myself and others realise, there’s only one you on this earth – be it”.
Positive message duly dealt, more music is expected soon. But for now, ‘Rabbit In The Headlights’ should be more than enough:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2016 by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Lyra
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:45 | By Chris Cooke
David Lowery’s lawyers demand access to correspondence about Spotify’s mechanical settlement
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
So, more developments in the big battle for sign-ups in the streaming music space. And we don’t mean signing up punters to some £10 a month subscriptions nonsense, no, we’re talking about the real battle for sign-ups here: between the NMPA’s Spotify mechanicals settlement and David Lowery’s Spotify mechanicals class action.
As previously reported, Spotify last month announced a settlement with the US National Music Publishers Association over the streaming service’s failure to pay mechanical royalties to songwriters and publishers according to the terms of the compulsory licence that covers such things Stateside.
Under the deal song rights owners will get any unpaid royalties they are due, a share of a multi-million ‘soz fund’ and a commitment that the streaming service will sort out all of the data issues that have made the payment of US mechanical royalties a right mess across the streaming music sector to date.
The deal followed the filing of two class actions by American songwriters who claim they are owed mechanical royalties by Spotify, the first being led by David Lowery, a musician who has been vocal about artist rights in recent years.
The lawsuits allege that, by failing to comply with the formalities of the aforementioned compulsory licence, the streaming service is liable for copyright infringement, and therefore could be due to pay damages of up to $150,000 per song streamed without licence, which is significantly more than self-published songwriters could expect to see from the damages being paid under the NMPA settlement.
With the lawsuits hoping for class action status, any songwriter whose songs have been streamed without licence by Spotify could benefit from the litigation. However, a condition of signing up to the NMPA negotiated deal is that you don’t then join legal action over this issue, meaning for songwriters it’s either the settlement or the class action. There is a three month deadline for signing up to the former, meaning affected songwriters need to decide pretty damn quickly which route they would rather go.
In a new legal filing, Lowery’s lawyers seem to be claiming that Spotify isn’t playing fair in the race to sign up songwriters. To that end, Team Lowery want to see all the correspondence that has been sent out by the streaming service to potential class members, while asking the court to order that any misleading communications that may or may not have occurred be formally clarified or corrected.
The lawyers go on to say that, in their minds, the core of the Spotify/NMPA settlement is the payment of outstanding mechanicals, which are due to songwriters anyway, even if they don’t give up their right to sue down the line. To that end, the Lowery lawyers reckon, Spotify should have to give their class action a little plug when getting in touch with possibly affected songwriters.
Or, in the words of the legal papers: “Neither Spotify, nor any person acting in concert with Spotify, should be encouraging prospective class members to waive their copyright infringement claims and remedies without providing appropriate information about the pending class lawsuit as well, so that the putative class members may make an informed decision”.
The lawyers also have a good moan about the three-month opt-in period set by the Spotify/NMPA settlement which, as noted, means songwriters need to decide which way to go pretty quickly and – crucially – before the courts have even decided whether or not to actually grant Lowery’s lawsuit class action status.
That fact arguably makes choosing the class action option more risky, as it’s not known if that’s actually an option on the table yet. Which makes the deadline for opting in clever – or sneaky – on Spotify’s part, depending on which side of the table you’re sitting on.
Spotify is yet to respond to the latest legal filing. In its initial response to Lowery’s lawsuit, the streaming firm put most of its efforts into arguing why class action status should be denied.
READ MORE ABOUT: David Lowery | National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) | Spotify
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:43 | By Andy Malt
Kesha called to give filmed deposition on Dr Luke abuse claims
Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Legal
Kesha has been subpoenaed for a filmed deposition in June to discuss her sexual abuse allegations against Dr Luke, reports The Daily Mail.
As much previously reported, Kesha Sebert accuses her long-time musical collaborator Lukasz Gottwald of plying her with drugs and alcohol and raping her as a teenager. He denies all of those allegations, and has sued both the singer and her mother for defamation, saying that the accusations were invented in a bid to force his hand in a contractual dispute.
Earlier this month, Sebert suffered a setback in the legal battle, after much of her case was dismissed in New York. However, there are multiple strands to this litigation, with lawsuits running across three states. This means that the case is far from over.
Gottwald’s legal team have now asked for a filmed deposition, in order to ensure that Sebert’s claims are all recorded under oath. Neither side has yet commented on the news.
Meanwhile, The Game has become the latest artist to come out in support of the singer. Speaking about her situation, he told TMZ: “Let her off the label. Let her do her thing. I don’t understand music and the slave mentality. If the artist is not happy, you should let the artist do their thing”.
When it was pointed out that it has already been ruled in court that she must adhere to her contract with Sony Music, he added: “Fuck that contract. You know what a contract is? A piece of paper that I signed when I was dumb and illiterate to the music business. Then you figure it out, you get smart, you get aware, you realise you signed some bullshit”.
Although her career has largely been placed on hold while the Dr Luke legal battle slowly progresses, Kesha did make a public appearance at last weekend’s Coachella festival, joining Zedd on stage to perform his song ‘True Colors’.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dr Luke | Kemosabe Records | Kesha | Sony Music
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:42 | By Chris Cooke
BMG allies with Warner’s ADA on distribution
Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
So, can I start spreading those totally unsubstantiated Warner/BMG merger rumours again? To be honest, I forgot about my plan to create a WarnerBMG business through gossip. But I do miss the days of major mergers in the music rights sector.
Ah, do you remember the glory days of the EMI downfall? The mounting debts. The unhappy bankers. The big split of the business. The briefings. The biddings. The bitchings. The threats of libel litigation. They were happy happy days.
Anyway, music rights firm BMG has formed an alliance with Warner Music’s label services division ADA, which is mainly a logistics move on the former’s part, but a sizable win for the latter’s all important services business.
The deal will see ADA handle the distribution of much of BMG’s sound recordings, which include the catalogues of seminal indies like Mute, Skint and Sanctuary, as well as the output of frontline labels like Infectious and Vagrant, and any other acts that enter into one of those fashionable artist services deals with the BMG company.
As it has grown its sound recordings interests in recent years, BMG has formed alliances with a variety of distribution partners, some of which will continue to provide services to the firm, including Sony Music, [PIAS], Absolute and GoodToGo. But Warner’s ADA will become the exclusive distribution partner for catalogue and a primary partner for new releases, with more and more tunes being punted their way as the months go by.
The deal was confirmed internally at BMG by CFO Max Dressendörfer, who wrote to staff that “as part of our development, naturally we constantly review all third party supply arrangements and I am delighted to be able to tell you of a substantial overhaul of our supply chain which will speed the route to market for hundreds of thousands of recordings and benefit our artist clients”.
He went on: “The rapid pace of our growth in the past three years has led to our inheriting or acquiring more than 50 digital and physical distribution relationships around the world. This will now gradually fall to a handful as we consolidate with a small number of suppliers”.
“The biggest change is that ADA, Warner Music Group’s independent artist and label services division, who already represent Rise Records, has signed an exclusive global distribution deal for BMG’s catalogue recordings and will be a global partner on frontline releases, with some exceptions”.
Bigging up the deal on Warner’s side was boss man Stephen Cooper who said in an internal memo republished by Music Business Worldwide: “I am delighted to share the news that WMG and ADA have signed a major agreement with BMG, one of the world’s most prominent music companies. ADA Worldwide has entered into an exclusive global distribution deal for BMG’s recorded music catalogue. Further, we will be a global partner for BMG on frontline releases, with some limited exceptions”.
Cooper’s memo concluded: “With BMG’s exciting new albums joining our release schedule, and their impressive catalogue creating some fantastic marketing opportunities, this partnership is an important global priority for ADA and WMG. Thank you, all of you, for making WMG the destination of choice for the best labels and artists. And thank you to everyone around the world who I know will be working hard to make this relationship a huge success”.
READ MORE ABOUT: ADA Worldwide | BMG | Warner Music
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:41 | By Chris Cooke
Warner Bros A&R chief to run label as Miles Leonard focuses on Parlophone
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers
Warner Bros Records UK has its own chief once again, its top exec having had dual roles within the wider Warner UK empire in recent years.
The label’s UK A&R boss Phil Christie has been promoted to the role of President. He basically takes over from Miles Leonard, who has headed up both Warner Bros and Parlophone since Warner acquired the latter back in 2013. Leonard will now focus full time on the Parlophone division.
If you think that rejig underscores Warner Music’s commitment to continually investing in its family of successful frontline labels, well, you have friends in high places. “Christie’s appointment underscores the company’s commitment to continually investing in its family of successful frontline labels”, said the mini-major in a statement yesterday.
“This move marks the first time the Warner Bros Records UK label will have standalone leadership since 2008”, it said. “As well as allowing Miles Leonard, who has occupied the dual role of Chairman for both Parlophone and Warner Bros Records UK for almost three years, to focus on the continued resurgence of Parlophone”.
But enough of these anonymous statements, I hear you grumble, what does overall Warner Music UK chief Max Lousada have to say for himself? “It has always been our goal to build a family of distinctive, independently-minded frontline labels with their own unique cultures and creative identities”, says he. “So I’m delighted that Warner Bros and Parlophone will each return to having sole leadership”.
Leonard has “been instrumental in setting the direction for the future of Warner Bros Records here in the UK”, he added, while “Phil is a really inspiring executive who, throughout his career, has signed some of the UK’s most original acts and who has the energy, ideas and instincts to write the next chapter in the Warner Bros Records story”.
What, he’s got to write a biography of Warner Bros Records too? Good job they are giving the division is own full time chief then.
READ MORE ABOUT: Phil Christie | Warner Bros Records
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:36 | By Chris Cooke
Crowdmix downsizes slightly in marketing team rejig
Business News Digital
Every time I pop out for lunch on Shoreditch High Street I seem to bump into someone consulting for music-orientated social media whatnot thingy Crowdmix but – according to Business Insider – the digital start-up has just downsized about 8% of its approx 160 full-time staffers ahead of the service’s planned launch, which had been tipped for next month.
Though the pre-launch streamlining does seem to be mainly the result of a rejig in the firm’s marketing department ahead of the set-up going live, with new marketing and communication chiefs also hired, and a switch in marketing agencies being used by the LA wing of the social media business.
Confirming some of its marketing team had been let go, a spokesperson for the company told Business Insider: “Since Crowdmix’s inception there has not been a single month where headcount hasn’t moved in both directions. We fully expect this pattern to continue for the foreseeable future, which is in line with a fast growing early stage business”.
On the marketing rejigs, the spokesperson continued: “We have invested in senior, more experienced talent which allows us to be more streamlined and effective in getting us to where we need to be, including Ted Mico as CMO who joined us this month from Mirriad. We have another three experienced exec leaders joining which we will be announcing in due course. We are excited about launching our app this summer”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Crowdmix
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:30 | By Andy Malt
“I am not a quitter”, says AC/DC’s Brian Johnson
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Last month it was announced that AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson would have to bow out of the band’s latest tour for the quite reasonable reason that performing the shows would mean he risked losing his hearing entirely. With Axl Rose now announced as his replacement for the remainder of the tour, Johnson has issued a statement giving further details, insisting that he is “not a quitter”.
Saying that he felt previous press releases from the band had not “sufficiently set out” his hearing issues, he explains: “On 7 Mar, after a series of examinations by leading physicians in the field of hearing loss, I was advised that if I continue to perform at large venues, I risked total deafness. While I was horrified at the reality of the news that day, I had for a time become aware that my partial hearing loss was beginning to interfere with my performance on stage”.
He continues: “I was having difficulty hearing the guitars on stage and because I was not able to hear the other musicians clearly, I feared the quality of my performance could be compromised. In all honesty this was something I could not in good conscience allow. Our fans deserve my performance to be at the highest level, and if for any reason I can’t deliver that level of performance I will not disappoint our fans or embarrass the other members of AC/DC. I am not a quitter and I like to finish what I start, nevertheless, the doctors made it clear to me and my bandmates that I had no choice but to stop performing on stage for the remaining shows and possibly beyond. That was the darkest day of my professional life”.
Having had several more consultations with doctors, it has been confirmed to him that, at least for now, “I will be unable to perform on stage at arena and stadium size venues where the sound levels are beyond my current tolerance, without the risk of substantial hearing loss and possibly total deafness”. Feeling “personally crushed by this development” he says he “cannot imagine going forward without being part of that, but for now I have no choice”.
However, he insists, “I am not retiring. My doctors have told me that I can continue to record in studios and I intend to do that. For the moment, my entire focus is to continue medical treatment to improve my hearing. I am hoping that in time my hearing will improve and allow me to return to live concert performances. While the outcome is uncertain, my attitude is optimistic. Only time will tell”.
As previously reported, Rose will join the band for European dates starting next month. Then, following his summer tour with the reunited Guns N Roses, he and AC/DC will play the postponed US Shows from earlier this year.
READ MORE ABOUT: AC/DC | Axl Rose | Brian Johnson
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:28 | By Andy Malt
Pearl Jam the latest band to boycott North Carolina
Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
The live industry in North Carolina is faces continued uncertainty, as more performers protest against the state’s controversial ‘bathroom bill’, which was recently passed into law. Earlier this week, Pearl Jam pulled out of a show in Raleigh with the “full support” of promoter Live Nation.
As previously reported, Bruce Springsteen cancelled a show in Greensboro, North Carolina earlier this month as a protest against the state’s newly passed Public Facilities Privacy And Security Act, HB2 for short. Also know as the ‘bathroom bill’, the controversial new law dictates that transgender people must use public toilets associated with their birth gender, rather than that with which they now identify.
Acts such as Ringo Starr, Boston and Cirque du Soleil have also cancelled shows in the state, while Mumford & Sons, Cyndi Lauper and Laura Jane Grace have used performances there to raise money for groups fighting to have the law repealed.
Another artist choosing to go ahead with a planned show, Gregg Allman said in a statement earlier this month: “Although we, as a nation, have made progress in many areas, it’s sad and infuriating that some, in 2016, are still working so hard to take the rights away from our brothers and sisters, as in the cases of ‘bathroom laws’ recently passed in North Carolina, discriminating against the LGBT community”.
“I know that North Carolina is a state full of good folks and loyal fans, many of whom are angry about and feel misrepresented by this action”, he continued. “My band and I will continue to play our show as scheduled there, and hope that our music unites people in this challenging time. We stand in solidarity with the LGBT community urging Gov McCrory to listen to the people and reverse this wrong”.
Although echoing those sentiments, Pearl Jam said in a statement this week that they had decided not to go ahead with tonight’s show, saying: “The HB2 law that was recently passed is a despicable piece of legislation that encourages discrimination against an entire group of American citizens. The practical implications are expansive and its negative impact upon basic human rights is profound. We want America to be a place where no one can be turned away from a business because of who they love or fired from their job for who they are”.
“It is for this reason that we must take a stand against prejudice”, they continued, “along with other artists and businesses, and join those in North Carolina who are working to oppose HB2 and repair what is currently unacceptable”.
The band added that they would be donating money to local groups fighting the law, while Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino later tweeted that the band had the “full support” of his company in their decision to cancel the show.
With the short notice of these cancellations, the financial hit to the local live sector will be more significant than a simple boycott of the state at the bookings stage, as outlined in this Billboard piece.
At this point, non-refundable deposits on venues will have been paid, advertising dollars will have been spent by promoters, as well as other operational costs. Technical and venue staff will also lose income, as will the venues themselves and businesses that bank on revenue from passing concert-goers. Whether this holds any sway with North Carolina lawmakers remains to be seen.
READ MORE ABOUT: Gregg Allman | Live Nation | Pearl Jam
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:23 | By Andy Malt
Ivor Novello Awards nominations announced
Artist News Awards Business News
The nominations for this year’s Ivor Novello Awards have been announced. And before we go anywhere, I think you should know that Adele’s name does not feature. It was decided that some other people wrote better songs. I know, what a snub. It’s like she doesn’t automatically have a right to be on the list just because she’s commercially successful.
On the plus side, after the controversy about diversity at the BRITs this year, the Ivors’ Best Contemporary Song category is dominated by rappers, including Skepta and Roots Manuva.
BASCA Chairman Stephen McNeff said of this year’s nominees: “The Ivors were created to celebrate the best in British and Irish songwriting and composing. As we move into our 61st year BASCA is delighted that these nominations reflect the health and diversity of UK music and include a raft of first-time nominees alongside past winners. Congratulations to everyone represented here today”.
And those nominees are:
Best Song Musically And Lyrically
Ed Sheeran and Rudimental – Bloodstream (Written by Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden, Amir Izadkhah, Gary Lightbody, Johnny McDaid, Leon Rolle and Ed Sheeran)
Wolf Alice – Bros (Written by Ellen Rowsell)
Jamie Lawson – Wasn’t Expecting That (Written by Jamie Lawson)
Best Contemporary Song
Snakehips feat Tinashe & Chance The Rapper – All My Friends (Written by James Carter, Oliver Lee, Cass Lowe and Chance The Rapper)
Roots Manuva – Cargo (Written by Fred and Roots Manuva)
Skepta – Shutdown (Written by Ragz Originale and Skepta)
Most Performed Work
James Bay – Hold Back The River (Written by Iain Archer and James Bay)
Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand (Written by Janée ‘Jin Jin’ Bennett, Jess Glynne and Jack Patterson)
Years & Years – King (Written by Michael Goldsworthy, Mark Ralph, Oliver Thornton and Emre Turkmen)
Album Award
Villagers – Darling Arithmetic (Written by Conor O’Brien)
Jamie XX – In Colour (Written by Jamie XX)
Gaz Coombes – Matador (Written by Gaz Coombes)
Best Original Film Score
Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury – Ex_Machina
John Powell – Pan
Cat’s Eyes – The Duke of Burgundy
Best Television Soundtrack
Stuart Earl – And Then There Were None
Edmund Butt – From Darkness
Keefus Ciancia and David Holmes – London Spy
Some other awards will also be handed out on the day to pad the ceremony out. And that ceremony will take place at Grosvenor House in London on 19 May.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ivor Novello Awards
Wednesday 20 April 2016, 10:18 | By Chris Cooke
CMU’s One Liners: Capitol, AXS, Dice, more
Artist News Business News Education & Events Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Universal’s Capitol Music Group in the US has appointed a new Senior Director of A&R in the form of Chris York. He was most recently A&R Director for CMG’s IRS Nashville unit.
• AEG’s tickets business AXS has appointed ticketing industry veteran Gile Bayliss to the role of Business Development Director within its Europe division. “Relatively”, says Bayliss. “Together”, says his new boss Rob Byrne.
• Ticketing app Dice has appointed former Uber and Red Bull marketing man Sam Hancox to the role of Marketing Manager to help “expand and deepen Dice’s offering as it prepares for UK and global expansion”.
• The LA-based Musexpo conference is returning to the UK after a few years without a London edition via a partnership with Music Week. The event will return to the capital’s Millennium Hotel from 18-20 Sep.
• Laura Mvula has released her new single ‘Phenomenal Woman’. Inspired by a poem of the same name by the remarkable Maya Angelou, Laura says of the song: “I wrote this anthem to raise up our women”.
• Róisín Murphy will release her new album, ‘Take Her Up To Monto’, on 8 Jul. Here’s first single ‘Mastermind’.
• Just Jack has released a new single called ‘Alchemist’. It’s taken from new EP ‘Life Lessons’, which is out on 6 May. Watch the video here.
• Deerhoof has released a new song. The new song is called ‘Debut’. It is not their debut, but you should listen to it anyway.
• Joker has announced that he will release a new EP, ‘The Phoenix’, on 6 May. From it, this is ‘No Face’.
• Broods will release their second album, ‘Conscious’, on 24 Jun. Here’s the first single, ‘Free’.
• Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor will play a solo show at Koko in London on 8 May.
• The Levellers are heading out on a UK tour in November and December this year to mark the 25th anniversary of their 1991 album, ‘Levelling The Land’.
READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | AXS | Broods | Capitol | Chris York | Corey Taylor | Deerhoof | Dice | Gile Bayliss | Joker | Just Jack | Laura Mvula | Musexpo | Róisín Murphy | Slipknot | The Levellers | Universal Music
