Thursday 26 May 2016, 09:54 | By

Bataclan survivor writes response to Jesse Hughes

Artist News

Eagles Of Death Metal

A survivor of the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris last November, Ismael El Iraki, has written a response to recent comments made by Eagles Of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes.

As previously reported, Hughes was interviewed by a right wing website last week about the attack in which 90 members of the audience at an Eagles Of Death Metal show in the Parisian venue were killed. Despite having previously apologised for comments accusing the venue’s security guards of having prior knowledge of the attack, he reiterated those claims again, saying that he was sure at least some of the attackers were in the venue earlier in the day.

He told the website he had noticed a security guard, who he claims he later realised was one of the attackers, staring at a friend earlier in the day. At the time, he said, he “just chalked it up to Arab envy”, adding that he believes “when a Muslim sees a cocky American dude with tattoos, he stares at him”.

Writing his response, El Iraki said: “So you say the security crew was in on it and was warning every Arab they saw … I happen to be an Arab and to look very much like one. I got a big black curly beard and the skin tone to match it. I also happen to live and breathe rock n roll”.

“I could not look more Muslim if I tried”, he continued. “But apparently, the big bad Muslim conspiracy missed me. Damn, they forgot to warn me. They also forgot to warn Djamila, and all the other Arabs who got shot and killed that very night. They forgot to warn my fellow Moroccan Amin, who was shot that very night. Apparently, a few weeks later, they also forgot to warn Leila, another fellow Moroccan, who got killed in the Ouagadougou attack. Silly international Muslim conspiracy. They really cannot do any job well”.

“You say Islam is the problem”, he wrote. “I say: All you fucking bigots and your fairytale shit stories are the problem. Racism and refusal to recognise one another as complex human beings is the problem. Reducing others to what you think you know is the problem”.

“You saw those guys”, he concluded. “Those marble-eye, brainwashed, horrible assassin motherfuckers were unable to even recognise a fellow human face. Dude, don’t be like that. Just don’t. Don’t imagine that you are facing that awful fundamentalist deathwave alone. Because this is the world we live in now, and we’re all in this shit together. Muslims and Arabs are caught up in it with you, they face dying a random, stupid death like you”.

Read Ismael El Iraki’s full letter to Jesse Hughes here.

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Thursday 26 May 2016, 09:52 | By

Jay-Z raps response to Beyonce’s Lemonade

Artist News Releases

Jay-Z

Right, everyone can relax. Jay-Z has responded to ‘Lemonade’. Not with his own album, as had been rumoured. Or on a joint album with Beyonce, which had also been mooted. No, with a verse on someone else’s remix.

Appearing on Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s ‘All The Way Up’ remix, he raps: “You know you made it when the fact your marriage made it is worth millions. Lemonade is a popular drink, and it still is. Survival of the littest”.

So, I think that clears everything up. You can listen for yourself on Tidal, if you want. Which I’m assuming you don’t.

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Thursday 26 May 2016, 09:51 | By

Brian May and Paul McCartney go VR

Artist News Digital

Paul McCartney

Virtual reality is our future. And that future is being ushered in by Brian May and Paul McCartney. Obviously. Who else?

May has actually been working in the field for a number of years now with his London Stereoscopic Company, and next month is due to launch a £25 OWL Virtual Reality Kit, which looks a bit like a Viewmaster with a smartphone in it.

“Virtual reality has already taken the technology world by storm, and most of the virtual reality devices you’ll find will be things that surround your eyes, like the Google Cardboard thing, like the Oculus Rift”, said May at a launch event, according to Music Ally.

“That’s how people thought this particular reproduction of virtual reality should be experienced. But people get fatigued quickly from these things, and they get annoyed because they can’t reach in to get to their phone controls. I quickly realised [the OWL] was in some ways a better way of viewing virtual reality”.

You’ll be able to get your hands on the OWL next month, but if you’ve already got a virtual reality set up, right now you can watch the first two parts of a new six part Paul McCartney documentary series, in VR! Each episode sees the former Beatle discuss memories and anecdotes, as well as sharing archive and never before seen footage, all in VR, in the run up to the release of his new compilation, ‘Pure McCartney’.

“It is an honour to be part of such a tremendously talented team of artists, tasked with documenting the thinking of this great man, in order to bring his fans a new means of experiencing some of his greatest songs”, says director Tony Kaye. “His musical genius is now on display for the world in an entirely new light”.

The first episodes – ‘Coming Up’ and ‘Dance Tonight’ – are available to watch now on virtual reality video site Jaunt.

In other virtual reality news, what claims to be the first dedicated music VR platform – MelodyVR – will officially launch later this year with a catalogue of performances from artists including Skepta, Annie Mac, Fall Out Boy and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Keeping with the theme of old rockers getting in on the act, The Who’s Roger Daltrey says of working with MelodyVR: “In the olden days, 1971, Pete Townshend wrote a science fiction musical called ‘Lifehouse’ about a future where people didn’t have to leave the home to get real life experiences from outside their four walls, we thought he was mad! But he proved to be right. MelodyVR have managed to bring this to life”.

Here’s to never going outside again…

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Thursday 26 May 2016, 09:48 | By

CMU’s One Liners: Secondary ticketing review, Robert Plant, Elektra, more

Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business One Liners Releases

Ticket touts

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• The government’s report on secondary ticketing is out – as is a summary of its consumer survey – so go read for yourself, and look out for a summary in tomorrow’s CMU Daily.

• Robert Plant has cancelled his appearance at Guy Garvey’s Meltdown festival in London next month, as it now clashes with Led Zeppelin’s plagiarism trial over accusations that they stole parts of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ from another act.

• Warner Music is launching its Elektra brand in France, and has nabbed Julien Creuzard from Universal’s French division to run it. But what will Elektra France set out to achieve? “To attract and produce exceptional musical talent”, that’s what. Controversial.

• Lonny Olinick is now SVP Strategic Business Development at Kobalt, so do please all update your rolodexes. He will report into Kobalt boss Willard Ahdritz and is tasked with ensuring the firm “continues to drive transformational change within the music industry”. My very favourite kind of change.

• Management firm Three Six Zero has promoted Tiffany Yo to the role of VP Digital Innovation. She was previously Head Of Digital at the firm and will now, finally, have a job title that allows her to innovate. Good.

• Pond frontman Nicholas Allbrook has released a video for new single ‘A Fool There Was’. His new solo album ‘Pure Gardiya’ is out tomorrow.

• Noah Kin has put out a new video for ‘The Void’. He’s playing The Jazz Café tomorrow night too.

• McFly have postponed their June tour dates to September, after drummer Harry Judd sustained acute disc herniation at C6/7 level. I don’t really know what that means, but it sounds bad. “I’ve honestly tried everything to make it work, but I’d never want to do a tour where I wouldn’t be able to give you guys the 110% performance you deserve every night”. Pedants might want to point out here that it is impossible to give 110% ever, acute disc herniation at C6/7 level or not.

• Labrinth will play a one-off show to warm up for the festival season at the Oval Space in London 1 Jun.

• Caro Emerald has announced a sizeable UK tour for March and April next year. Take a look at the dates here.

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Thursday 26 May 2016, 09:44 | By

Birmingham tram named after Ozzy Osbourne unveiled

And Finally Artist News

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne is in Birmingham right now as we publish this to formally unveil a new tram bearing his name. Rock n roll… ing stock. Ha ha!

“It’s a great honour to have a new tram named after me”, says Osbourne in a statement. “I’m proud to be a Brummie and this means so much”.

Osbourne is appearing at the Corporation Street tram stop for the naming ceremony. The tram will run on the city’s newly extended tram line, which is expected to begin carrying passengers next week, after driver training has been completed.

Trams were reintroduced to Birmingham city centre after 60 years last December, three days after Osbourne’s 67th birthday. No, those two things aren’t actually connected, but I felt like we hadn’t had enough tram facts and needed to crowbar something in to round this story off. Now I have. Bye.

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Thursday 26 May 2016, 08:43 | By

Approved: Effie

CMU Approved

Effie

Something of a music industry veteran already despite only being in her early 20s, Effie has laid some pretty solid groundwork before fully launching her pop career. Having worked with artists such as Lemar, Ghetts, FOOR, O’D and others, as well as releasing her own EP ‘Conquer’ in 2014, she’s now preparing for a run of solo releases this year, starting with new single ‘Pressure’.

The first single from a new EP, ‘Pressure’ is a well-crafted production and an instantly ear-grabbing song. On it she creates just the right balance of laidback cool and wall-shaking drama. Currently also working on the new Ghetts album, alongside producer Rude Kid, there’s plenty more to come from Effie.

Start with ‘Pressure’ here.

Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2016 by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:47 | By

David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick’s Spotify lawsuits combined

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

Spotify

I think we all know there’s going to be quite a bit of consolidation in the streaming music market in the near future, so it seems appropriate that there’s been a bit of consolidation in the streaming music litigation domain too. Who doesn’t love a merger?

So, yes, the two big mechanical royalty lawsuits fired against Spotify in the US back in December and January are now one combined action co-headlined by David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick.

You all know the story by now: streams exploit the mechanical as well as performing rights in songs, no industry-wide mechanical rights collecting society in the US, so operate under the compulsory licence, but have to alert songwriters, don’t know who the songwriters are, hire the publishing sector’s Harry Fox Agency to deal with it, doesn’t work, mechanicals go unpaid, songwriters sue, we’ll have $350 million in damages please thank you very much.

Both Lowery and Ferrick want class action status for their lawsuits, which would mean any affected songwriters could claim damages if the two cases prevailed in court. Spotify is trying to stop the cases getting that class action status, while concurrently trying to sign up as many independent publishers and songwriters as possible to a settlement agreed with America’s National Music Publishers Association, which forbids signatories from joining Lowery or Ferrick’s legal claims.

Having the Lowery and Ferrick cases – which were remarkably similar – merged simplifies things for Team Spotify to a point. And the Californian judge overseeing the cases says that she now expects Spotify to file motions to dismiss the combined case and/or move the litigation to New York.

And so the whole messy mess continues.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:46 | By

eBay announces worldwide StubHub expansion through Ticketbis purchase

Business News Deals Digital Live Business

StubHub

eBay has announced a significant expansion of its StubHub secondary ticketing company through the acquisition of rival Ticketbis. The purchase will give StubHub a far greater international reach, Ticketbis being available in 47 countries, compared to StubHub’s current four.

“In a world where the richest moments in life are becoming less about the things people have and more about the experiences they have to share, the acquisition of Ticketbis will allow us to connect millions more people with inspiring events”, says StubHub president Scott Cutler. “The only boundary to an incredible experience is access, and this acquisition will enable StubHub to offer more events on a global basis to fans and event-goers around the world, and to help them discover new ways to enrich their lives”.

I know you have to self-aggrandise a bit in any press statement, but bloody hell Scott. Let’s see what Ticketbis co-founder Ander Michelena has to say.

“StubHub’s extensive assets will add tremendous value for ticketing patrons and sellers worldwide, especially as we continue our expansion into nascent markets”, nods Michelena. “Together, the StubHub and Ticketbis marketplaces represent tremendous value and opportunity for fans around the world to experience the events they love, whenever and wherever they are. We are THRILLED to be a part of the eBay family, and we look forward to continuing our innovation in ticketing as part of the StubHub brand”.

A bit better, thanks. And what a tremendously rich moment this really is. Though news of the Ticketbis deal comes as the UK government prepares to publish its latest report on the ever controversial secondary ticketing market. It also follows that new Which? research which criticised a number of secondary ticketing websites, including StubHub, for not adhering to newish UK laws on the reselling of tickets.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:44 | By

SFX creditor objects to Flavorus sale

Business News Legal Live Business

SFX Entertainment

Well, dance music firm SFX’s continued attempts to sell off key assets to bring in some much needed cash as it goes through the bankruptcy process are still not going particularly well. The auction of its Beatport business was suspended and the digital music service stripped back to just its download store earlier this month. And now a creditor is attempting to block the sale of ticketing outfit Flavorus.

Acquired back in 2014, Flavorus was used to sell tickets to key SFX events. The sale of the company was announced last month, but now one of SFX’s creditors, cloud computing firm Salesforce, has objected to the sale, asking for a court order to ensure that it will receive monies owed if and when a sale goes through.

Salesforce is owed over $200,000 and is also demanding that a further $125,000 be paid out of any loot secured by a Flavorus sale to cover what it’s due on the rest of its contract, which is due to run until February next year, reports IQ. If Salesforce’s request is granted, it could pose a problem for SFX as it seeks to sell off other assets, as the Salesforce debt is far from the largest outstanding on the dance music company’s books, and other creditors could make similar moves, especially where debts are linked to specific SFX businesses.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:42 | By

20 staff go in Vice News revamp

Business News Media

Vice

Vice Media has laid off about 20 of its journalists, mainly in the US, although three London-based staffers and two foreign correspondents are also for the chop.

According to The Guardian, the cuts are part of a revamp of Vice’s news operation, which follows the decision to give former Bloomberg hack Josh Tyrangiel – originally hired to develop a daily Vice TV show in the US – a new role overseeing the youth media firm’s wider news output. Despite yesterday’s cuts, it is thought that Vice will continue to grow its news team, by introducing new roles and bases in Hong Kong and San Francisco.

The company has received heavy financial backing from both venture capitalists and traditional media players in recent years, making it a significant player in the online media space, and a full-on competitor to traditional news providers. Vice also continues to expand in terms of output, presumably hoping that scale will boost advertising and sponsorship income to a level that can assure long-term success.

This week’s job cuts follow tensions in Vice’s London HQ between management and some writers over the firm’s refusal to recognise the UK’s National Union Of Journalists as an official representative of its editorial staff.

One staff member who supported NUJ recognition told The Guardian last night: “These redundancies are shocking and an insult to the multi-award winning workers who have put so much into making Vice News a success. The total lack of transparency and consultation also raises serious questions about the company’s recent pretence at staff engagement, while failing to recognise the desire of many staff to unionise”.

Elsewhere in media cutbacks news, The Telegraph axed a number of senior editorial staff yesterday, including Deputy Editor Liz Hunt, while Sky News announced it is shutting down the US version of its website which launched four years ago.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:39 | By

Paul McCartney discusses depression after Beatles split

Artist News Media

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has spoken about the depression he experienced after The Beatles split up in 1970. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s ‘Mastertapes’ series, he said that he turned to drink to cope.

“It was difficult to know what to do after The Beatles. How do you follow that? I was depressed. You would be. You were breaking from your lifelong friends. So I took to the bevvies … I took to a wee dram. It was great at first, then suddenly I wasn’t having a good time. I was far gone. It was Linda who said, ‘You’ve got to get it together’ and that led to [forming] Wings. I liked the idea of a band. I wanted to go back to square one”.

As previously reported, the topic of how the music industry cares (or doesn’t) for the mental well-being of its artists and those behind the scenes was discussed in detail at last week’s CMU Insights @ The Great Escape conference.

The music industry could and should be a world leader in occupational health provision, but a 40 year old story about Paul McCartney still seems all too familiar. An initial step towards overcoming those failings is research being carried out by Help Musicians UK and the University Of Westminster into the mental health of artists and music business professionals, more information on which here.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:38 | By

Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie diagnosed with terminal brain cancer

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

The Tragically Hip

Frontman of The Tragically Hip Gord Downie has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the band revealed in a statement yesterday. Alongside this, they announced that they will head out on tour this summer because it “feels like the right thing to do”.

“A few months ago, in December, Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer”, said the band. “Since then, obviously, he’s endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard. In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we’ve been standing by him. So after 30-some years together as The Tragically Hip, thousands of shows, and hundreds of tours… we’ve decided to do another one. This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us”.

The dates are yet to be announced, but the band say that they are “going to dig deep, and try to make this our best tour yet”.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:35 | By

Neil Young’s perfectly happy for Donald Trump to use his music after all

Artist News

Donald Trump & Neil Young

Right, so despite all that shouting and lengthy statement giving a year ago, Neil Young now says he’s not bothered if Donald Trump uses ‘Rockin In The Free World’ at his campaign rallies. Which means we’ll have to update our list.

In a new interview with Reuters, Young says that he was just miffed that Trump hadn’t asked first before using the song last year. “The fact that I said I was for Bernie Sanders and then he didn’t ask me to use ‘Rockin In The Free World’ doesn’t mean that he can’t use it”, he said.

“He actually got a licence to use it [from ASCAP]”, he continued. “I mean, he said he did and I believe him. So I’ve got nothing against him. You know, once the music goes out, everybody can use it for anything. But if the artist who made it is saying you never spoke to them, if that means something to you, you probably will stop playing it. And it meant something to Donald and he stopped“.

Trump didn’t so much get a specific licence for Young’s song as use the blanket licence available from collecting societies for such events, but whatever. You heard the man, you can use his songs for anything you like, so long as you mention it to him first. I can foresee no instance where that policy might become problematic.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:30 | By

Wild Beasts announce new album

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases

Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts are releasing a new album, which is good news, I think. Maybe you do too. Come, take my hand and we can walk through this news story about it together.

The album is called ‘Boy King’ and will be out on 5 Aug. It sees them getting “back to being pissed off”, says the band’s Tom Fleming. “After five records there had to be an element of ‘what the fuck?'” adds Hayden Thorpe.

“It became apparent that that guitar almost became the character within the songs, that phallic character, the all-conquering male”, Thorpe continues. “I’m letting my inner Byron fully out, I thought I’d tucked him away, but he came screaming back like the Incredible Hulk. I think ‘Boy King’ is an apocalyptic record. It’s about swimming in the abyss. When you think about sex, you’ve got to think about death, they’re one and the same”.

Are they? Oh well, have a little taste of what all of that might sound like on first single ‘Get My Bang’:

Tour dates? Yes, there are tour dates:

28 Sep: Bristol, Motion
29 Sep: Oxford, Academy
30 Sep: Margate, Dreamland
1 Oct: Sheffield, The Foundry
3 Oct: Cambridge, The Junction
4 Oct: London, The Roundhouse
7 Oct: Newcastle, Northumbria Uni
8 Oct: Glasgow, QMU
9 Oct: Manchester, Academy

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:25 | By

CMU’s One Liners: Wireless Festival, Warner Music, Mercury Prize, more

Artist News Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Legal One Liners Releases

Wireless Festival

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• The High Court last week agreed to hear the arguments of the Friends Of Finsbury Park group who, as previously reported, are seeking to stop Live Nation’s Wireless festival from taking place in the North London park this summer. Judges will review Haringey Council’s decision to allow the festival to go ahead.

• Warner Music UK has just launched The Firepit, which, in case you wondered, is “a creative content division, innovation centre and state of the art recording studio supporting Warner Music’s artists, labels and partners”. It will also “incubate emerging technologies”. And why not, I say. Those emerging technologies could do with some incubating.

• The Orchard has confirmed that Lucy Blair, formerly with Motive Unknown, is the distribution firm’s new Director of International Sales & Marketing, while Nikoo Sadr, formerly with Music Ally, joins as Manager of Interactive Marketing. “Innovate”, said Orchard COO Colleen Theis.

• Universal Music’s recently revamped Verve Label Group in the US has hired former radio man Graham Parker to be president of the classical labels now sitting under the Verve banner. He will report into both newly appointed Verve boss Danny Bennett and the mega-major’s CEO of Global Classics Dickon Stainer.

• Jpnsgrls will release their new album ‘Divorce’ on 22 Jul. Check out the brilliant brand new one-shot music video for ‘Oh My God’ here.

• Alicia Keys will play Village Underground in London on Thursday. Like, tomorrow night. “Oh, but that will be sold out now”, you’re thinking. No, tickets also go on sale tomorrow. Be here at 9am.

• Allie X has announced her second ever London show. It will take place at Oslo in Hackney on 13 Jul.

• Label people! The deadline to enter this year’s Mercury Prize is this Friday at 6pm. Albums released by a British or Irish artist between 26 Sep 2015 and 29 Jul 2016 are eligible. Sign up to receive further details of how to enter here.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 09:17 | By

Justin Bieber questions the value of “hollow” awards shows

And Finally Artist News Awards

Justin Bieber

Awards shows are “hollow” and “fake”. Not my words, people. The words of Justin Bieber. I would have gone with “fucking stupid”, “pointless”, and “one of the most ridiculous things humans have ever created”.

Bieber is much nicer than me though, which is why he didn’t say that. He’s the nicest. He should win a prize for being so nice. Although he probably wouldn’t enjoy receiving it, so maybe I’ll just keep it for myself. Bad luck, Bieber. He was commenting on all this specifically after others noted that he looked less than THRILLED to be at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.

“I don’t know about these award shows”, he wrote on Instagram. “I don’t feel good when I’m there nor after. I try to think of it as a celebration but can’t help feeling like people are rating and grading my performance. A lot of people in the audience there to be seem worried about how much camera time they will get or who they can network with. When I’m doing a regular show I feel they are there for the right reasons and to strictly have a good time! But these award shows seem so hollow”.

He continued: “I get the premise is to award people for their accomplishments, but is it really? Because when I look in the audience I see a bunch of fake smiles so that when the camera hits them they look happy. Sure there are people truly proud of others so I don’t want to knock them I’m just looking at the vast majority. I just think to myself, if I’m living my purpose I want the reward to be fulfilment”.

Noting that he recognises that he is in a “privileged and honoured” position to be considered for awards at all, he added: “In these settings I can’t feel the recognition. There’s an authenticity missing that I crave! And I wonder, does anybody else?”

It’s almost like awards are really just events set up to make money for the organisers and it’s mostly irrelevant who takes the awards home.

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Wednesday 25 May 2016, 08:46 | By

Approved: The Fin

CMU Approved

The Fin

Fresh from a well-received show at this year’s Great Escape, The Fin have just a couple more UK gigs left before they head home and leave new EP ‘Through The Deep’ to do the talking.

Oceanic themes run throughout the EP, both lyrically and musically. Waves of synths wash across the record, while swirling, reverb-heavy guitars create its undercurrent.

Frontman Yuto Uchino’s vocals are then carried by each, gently pushed forward to the shore, all of which can be heard in the title track ‘Through The Deep’, ‘Divers’ and the newly released opening track ‘White Breath’.

The EP is due out on 3 Jun, and you can catch the band at the Tooting Tram & Social in London on 26 Jun and The Edge Of The Wedge in Portsmouth on Friday night.

Listen to ‘White Breath’ here:

Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2016 by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:39 | By

Massive growth but increased losses at Spotify – when will it go into profit?

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Spotify

So, with more and more record labels now declaring streaming as their single biggest revenue stream; and with that really meaning subscription streaming; and with that, in many markets, really meaning Spotify; how the hell is everything going over there at Spotify HQ?

Good question, and a timely question, because the uber-streaming-firm has just filed its latest financial report in Luxembourg. Of course, we already knew that the company had seen rapid growth in userbase in 2015 – with both premium and freemium user numbers growing fast, despite Apple’s arrival into the streaming market – but what about the moolah?

Well, the streaming business saw its revenues surge by 80% in 2015 to a neat €1.95 billion. The vast majority of this income came from paying subscribers, with premium revenues up 78% to €1.74 billion, though ad income actually grew faster, by 98% to €196 million. Nevertheless, the smaller premium subscriber base is still very much subsidising all of those users on the free ride.

Still, what growth! That’s good right? And you know what else were up? Net losses. That’s what. From €162 million in 2014 to €173 million in 2015. So that’s fun, isn’t it? Of course it’s no surprise that Spotify is still loss-making, given that pretty much everyone in the streaming music game is losing money, plus we knew just how much extra cash Spotify had been raising as it ramps up for the IPO that is now expected next year.

The minimum guarantees based on users and usage that Spotify must pay to the labels, music publishers and collecting societies under its licensing agreements are in no small part behind those losses, the firm’s liabilities to the music industry still significantly higher than they would be under the basic revenue share arrangement that sits at the heart of its licensing deals with the music rights owners.

Carrying all those freemium users in the hope that they’ll upgrade at some point is another big cost, and Spotify became more proactive in its marketing efforts last year, partly in a bid to take its service to more mainstream consumers, and partly to counter new competition from Apple (and, to an extent, Google and Amazon).

The company also continues with its expensive policy of aggressive growth worldwide, moving into new territories while concurrently trying to go mainstream in existing markets.

Spotify, and its competitors, have to pursue these aggressive growth strategies because they have business models that all about scale. “We believe our model supports profitability at scale”, said Spotify once again in its latest financial filing, in a bid to put a positive spin on the mounting losses.

Of course, the big unknown remains just how much scale Spotify needs to become a viable business long term. Despite nearly doubling its ad income last year, Spotify is really in the premium subscriptions game. How many premium subscribers does it need – bearing in mind the value of a subscriber varies from market to market – and are there that many subscribers out there, at all, and in face of competition from the cash pile that is Apple?

Says Spotify: “We believe we will generate substantial revenues as our reach expands and that, at scale, our margins will improve. We will therefore continue to invest relentlessly in our product and marketing initiatives to accelerate reach”.

With streaming now the single biggest revenue generator for many labels, and that revenue stream basically reliant on a handful of currently loss-making services, whether or not Spotify can go into profit is a serious concern. Because if not, the record industry could become wholly reliant on data and device businesses for which music is a means to an end and which could, at any time, decide there are easier ways to gather data and flog devices.

With download sales now in steep decline, it could be argued that artists and labels should themselves be more proactively encouraging their fans to sign up to paid for streaming platforms, and not just whichever service paid them for an exclusive. And perhaps the industry at large should be employing consumer PR to talk up the paid for options, rather than relying on corporate PR to bad mouth the freebie platforms.

Because while it’s true that there are plenty of tedious investor types who are set to profit handsomely from a successful Spotify, the music industry itself has the most to gain from at least a few of the premium subscription services going into profit and, more importantly, the most to lose if they fail. Because if they do all fail the traditional record industry is, to use an economics term, fucked.

Talking of loss-leading marketing efforts, Spotify has announced it is upgrading its family plan to match those of its rivals, so more family members can have accounts on the streaming platform without increasing the monthly family rate fee. More users, more streams, no more money – it’s a winning formula!

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:37 | By

Russian ministers consider search engines’ role in beefing up web-blocking

Business News Digital Legal

Web Block

In amongst all the bluster around bloody YouTube, the music industry’s continued frustration with the Google search engine routinely linking through to piracy sites that have been deemed copyright infringers in the courts doesn’t tend to get so much attention, despite the case for legislative intervention surely being much more clear cut on that one.

Though legislative intervention may be incoming, in Russia of all places, where the government is considering ways to beef up web-blocking measures it introduced a few years back. As in other countries, the problem with web-blocking – whereby internet service providers are ordered to block access to websites deemed to be rampant copyright infringers by the courts – is that as soon as a site’s URL is blocked, proxies appear online that allow users to circumvent the blockades, and these are usually easily found on search engines.

Russian ministers are considering various ways to overcome this issue, and that includes putting new obligations on search engines to play ball where courts have ordered ISPs to act against piracy sites. Draft legislation now includes proposals that would allow rights owners to seek injunctions forcing search engines to stop listing and linking to proxies and web pages that exist to help people circumvent anti-piracy web-blocks.

Of course, none of these proposed measures are a panacea; those who really want to will always find their way around any web-blocks, or will just adopt newer forms of piracy that current web-block practices aren’t set up to deal with. Though, forcing search engines to comply as best they can with the ISP’s web-block orders would definitely increase the efficiency of web-blocking to a point.

All of which means it will be interesting to see what new web-blocking measures actually make it into Russian copyright law, whether it has any impact, and whether it is subsequently adopted elsewhere.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:35 | By

Pan-European song rights hub ICE announces first licensing deal

Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers

ICE

It’s funny how you’re allowed to like Google Play Music, but any indication that you once said “hello” in something nearing a polite fashion to anyone in anyway associated with YouTube or Google Search is a big fat no-no.

I mean, I get that Google Play Music is the web giant’s one music service built around the licensing model liked by the music rights sector, but it is still owned by Google. So it’s got to be evil, right? I bet the whole Google Play Music venture is some sort of clever cover-up for a sinister conspiracy that exists solely to fuck over artists. You mark my words. One day it’ll get some users, and then the shit will really hit the fan.

Anyway, ICE – the super duper new songs licensing hub set up by European collecting societies PRS, STIM and GEMA – has announced its first licensing deal, and it’s only with the not-at-all-evil Google Play Music.

It means that the Google music service is licensed to exploit song copyrights represented by all three collecting societies under one deal. ICE will also process consumption data and royalties on behalf of all three societies (and more to come) reducing the workload of the rather laborious way in which song royalties are calculated in the streaming domain.

“This agreement with Google Play Music is evidence of the significant progress made by ICE, which follows five years investment and development by its three European collective management organisation shareholders” says ICE. And who are we to argue? I mean, I could argue if I wanted to. I could argue anything if I wanted. But I’m tired. And I might accidently diss Google Play Music in the process, and I worry some shadowy figures would disappear me.

So let’s just hear what PRS boss – and CEO of ICE Services – Robert Ashcroft has to say: “We are proud to have been able to work together with Google Play Music to launch the first ICE Services online music licence. ICE will make a major contribution to the Digital Single Market by simplifying pan-European licensing for digital music service providers and maximising value for rightsholders. We are delighted to mark the beginning of a revolution in the online market”.

Meanwhile, over at Google, Victoria Campoamor (who also has YouTube under her remit, but don’t tell anyone that), says: “We are honoured to have been selected as the pilot digital service and are pleased to be the first licensee to sign an agreement with ICE. We look forward to building a constructive relationship with ICE and to the realisation of operational efficiencies from the new platform and its benefits to composers and publishers”.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:33 | By

Secondary ticketing sites routinely offering tickets unlawfully, Which? reports

Business News Legal Live Business

Ticket touts

Some of the biggest secondary ticketing sites are routinely listing tickets unlawfully in the UK, according to new Which? research. It says GetMeIn!, Seatwave, StubHub and Viagogo all offer music and theatre tickets for sale without adhering to the rules laid out in the previously reported Consumer Rights Act, which introduced some light regulation of the ticket resale sites last October.

Which? sampled 200 listings for a variety of shows, including Beyonce’s ‘Formation’ tour. The organisation found that information on the face value of tickets, seating information, and restrictions were regularly not being provided, despite such information now being required by law when tickets are resold.

In response, StubHub said that “there are instances where sellers may not have access to this information at the time of listing, as some primary vendors do not provide this at the time of purchase”.

However, when posing as a seller, Which? found that some sites are simply not displaying information that has actually been provided to them. Viagogo, for example, makes it mandatory for sellers to input the exact face value cost, but then does not always display this figure.

Seating information may sometimes be unavailable at the time of purchase, though there is also a fear that if this information is made available then some promoters and artists will cancel those tickets. No listings that Which? checked on Viagogo had a seat number, while none of the other sites also failed to provide them on all listings. And none made it mandatory for sellers to providing seating details where tickets are locked to specific seats.

Viagogo also failed to list whether there were any restrictions on tickets being resold and, unlike the other three sites investigated, didn’t make it mandatory for sellers to say whether or not any restrictions applied.

“We’ve found evidence of tickets being sold unlawfully”, commented Which? Director Of Policy And Campaigns Alex Neill. “This means people will struggle to find basic information on tickets, such as face value and seat location. It is clear the protections put in place by the Consumer Rights Act aren’t being followed by some of the biggest players in the market, and no action is being taken against them. The government must crack down on bad practice so that people know what they’re buying and don’t get ripped off”.

Specifically, Which? is calling on the government to clarify that it is the secondary sites, rather than individual sellers, who are responsible for ensuring that the required information is displayed, something that has been of much debate since the Consumer Rights Act became law.

The research comes ahead of the publication of the results of the government’s latest review of the secondary ticketing market, which is due this week.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:32 | By

RZA and Interpol’s Paul Banks release first track from new collaboration Banks & Steelz

Artist News Releases

Banks & Steelz

Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Interpol’s Paul Banks have announced a new musical collaboration, calling themselves Banks & Steelz. It might seem like RZA has put a bit more thought into coming up with a name for the new project, though given that he’s gone by the name Bobby Steels in the past, I think they should both be marked down for lack of effort here.

It’s not like they haven’t had time to think of a name, either. They’ve been working on music together for three years. Back in 2013, RZA told Rolling Stone: “My manager came to me and said, ‘Who do you want to do an album with?’ I said, ‘Well, Paul just has an energy about him. I think if we put our sandwich together it will be great’. Me and Paul, we play chess together and just hang out. We went to the studio and we started writing songs and they sound very, very different than what I do, but very unique and very peculiar”.

Those differences meant that the collaborative album took a while to complete, so at least some effort has been put in there. I guess that’s what matters most. And they’ve now released their first track together, ‘Love & War’, of which RZA says: “For love sometimes we find ourselves at war and the combatants may do anything to win. For me love is worth fighting for, as long as love is not lost”.

Here’s the video for the track, which also has Ghostface Killah on it:

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:27 | By

Adele releases Send My Love (To Your New Lover) video

Artist News Releases

Adele

Adele’s ‘Send My Love (To Your New Lover)’ video came out yesterday. You may well be one of the 1.5 million people who’ve already watched it. You might not though. Statistically, it’s more likely that you aren’t. That’s just maths. And that is why I’m not going to accept your claims that I am late reporting on this.

Anyway, this video, it’s directed by Patrick Daughters, who’s done stuff for Feist, Muse and Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the past. His idea for the video is apparently taken from the line in the song, “We’ve gotta let go of all of our ghosts”.

“Ghosts in this case are versions of ourselves that remain stuck at particular point in the past”, he explains. “So when Adele sings about letting go of all of our ghosts, I picture other versions of her that are in a different place than where she is now”.

It’s lucky he explained that before I watched the video, otherwise I’d have thought he’d just discovered a new effect on his editing software and gone a bit over the top with it.

Here’s the video, which you are very likely to be watching for the first time here:

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:25 | By

Shabazz Palaces for released Third Man live album

Artist News Releases

Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces are to release a live album through Third Man next month. The record was recorded live at Third Man’s Nashville studio last year.

Says Third Man’s Ben Swank: “Shabazz Palaces’ obstinately original oeuvre emanates from a fully formed higher conscious, they plant their flag in the outermost realms of the hip hop global soundscape where vibrations throb into beat-heavy explorations, chrome covered constellations of higher reveries each offering its own sonic boom”.

No, that really is what he said. I never promised it would make sense. Anyway, here’s the performance of ‘Youlogy’ from the record:

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:21 | By

Tom Odell. Tour.

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Tom Odell

Tom Odell. Tom Odell. Tom Odell. He’s going on tour. Tom Odell is. Going on. Tour. A tour of many places. Places in Europe. But I’m going to focus on the dates in the UK. Please do not take this as a political comment, it’s just a longstanding editorial policy. Actually, there’s a date in Ireland as well, and I’m listing that, making these actually British Isles dates, which gets me off the referendum commenting hook. What referendum? Who knows? Anyway, Tom Odell. He’s going on tour.

Dates of the Tom Odell tour:

1 Nov: Dublin, Olympia Theatre
2 Nov: Belfast, The Limelight
4 Nov: Brighton, Brighton Centre
5 Nov: Plymouth, Pavilions
6 Nov: Swindon, Oasis Centre
8 Nov: Leeds, Academy
9 Nov: Manchester, Apollo
12 Nov: Birmingham, Academy
13 Nov: London, Brixton Academy

Those are the dates on which Tom Odell will play shows in the UK and Ireland. Tom Odell.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:18 | By

CMU’s One Liners: BPI Sync Mission, Brapp, Jayonce, more

Artist News Business News Digital Education & Events Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases

BPI

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Nine artists and composers have received Arts Council funding to perform and/or pitch their music at the BPI, MPA & UKTI Sync Junket, sorry, I mean Mission to LA next month. Performers: C Duncan, Jones, Lonelady, Stealth. Composers: AIM, Neil Davidge, Oly Ralfe, Richard Anthony Jay, Samuel Clarke. “Outstanding cohort”, says ACE’s Helen Sprott.

• A new music social networking app (no, not that one) has partnered with the Boom Bap Festival. Brapp aims to link rappers and vocalists to producers, and will be sourcing artists to perform on the hip hop festival’s main stage this year.

• First Jay-Z was rumoured to be preparing a response album to Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’. Now the word is that they’re recording a joint album to answer questions about “Becky with the good hair”. A short press release would do, guys.

• This is what Kanye West was up to in 1997.

• Hey! Ariana Grande has released the video for ‘Into You’.

• Not only that, Alicia Keys has released a video for ‘In Common’ now.

• And Loyle Carner has released a video for ‘Stars & Shards’.

• Meanwhile, Elle Exxe has released a video for new single, ‘Lately’, and also announced a live ‘Exxtravaganzza’ at The Old Queens Head in London on 6 Jul.

• Breaking the cycle, The Julie Ruin don’t have a video, but they have put a new track called ‘I’m Done’ on SoundCloud.

• The Julie Ruin might be done, but I’m not because Yoni & Geti, aka Yoni Wolf and Serengeti, have released a video for their track ‘Madeleine’.

• Madness? Well, Madness have announced a UK arena tour at the end of the year.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 10:07 | By

Kelis’ milkshake lie finally unearthed

And Finally Artist News

Kelis

Kelis once claimed that her “milkshakes” had the power to bring “all” of the “boys” to the “yard”. Now, what constitutes “all” in this statement is something that could be debated until the end of time. But it should not be, because it turns out that Kelis may never have even made one milkshake, let alone milkshakes plural.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made a milkshake”, she admitted to the Guardian. “I made a smoothie the other day that was really good – protein powder, spinach, orange, and crushed ice with a little bit of honey and coconut water. I’ll make you a Kelis smoothie next time you come over”.

Too fucking late, Kelis. Don’t try to fob us off with your “smoothies”, whatever that’s supposed to mean. This is big. This is earth-shattering. I wouldn’t be surprised if it now turned out that Kelis doesn’t even own a yard. Or if she does – or did – that it wouldn’t even be of a size to comfortably accommodate anything like all of the boys.

I should probably state at this stage that I have entirely forgotten what is and isn’t a metaphor in any of this. That is how much Kelis’s web of lies has affected me.

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Tuesday 24 May 2016, 09:33 | By

Approved: Vessels – Are You Trending?

CMU Approved

Vessels

Vessels are no strangers to this column, but it’s always worth taking a look in to see what they’re doing because their sound is an ever-changing thing. The band they are today is completely different to the band who played a thing we used to do called CMU Social about eight years ago (for clarity, it is actually the same band, is that more clear? I’m not sure).

New single ‘Are You Trending?’ sees them fully transition into the five-man live techno outfit they’ve been evolving into over the last few years. And, as ever, the latest shift in their sound is exciting and refreshing, with a track that builds into something well beyond initial expectations. There may be a weight of expectation on the quality of their music, but sonically it seems they can go wherever they want.

Listen to ‘Are You Trending?’ here:

Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2016 by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.

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Monday 23 May 2016, 10:59 | By

Adele’s rumoured Sony deal could be worth £90 million

Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Adele

There has been plenty of chitter chatter in recent weeks to the effect that Adele is in serious talks to sign with Sony Music. Now one of those pesky sources at the major label has told The Sun that a deal is very close to being signed, and it will be worth £90 million, making it the highest value record deal signed by a British artist to date.

Though, of course, the specifics of what that £90 million constitutes, and what revenues the singer is sharing with the major to unlock the deal, are as yet far from clear.

Adele has worked with Beggars label XL to date, though the indie struck up a partnership with Sony Music to help with marketing and distribution in the US, so the singer has an existing relationship with the major. She became a free agent record-deal-wise after the release of her most recent album, and it was known Sony was keen to exploit its existing alliance to try to get the exclusive rights to Adele’s future recordings.

“We have secured the biggest music star in a generation”, said the anonymous Sony Music source to The Sun. “This is massive. Adele’s deal with her original label XL expired and we’d an existing relationship with her in America. The deal is being worked on by our Columbia label in the US, but is worth £90 million and gives Sony the rights to release her future music exclusively around the world”.

With that kind of investment, Sony will be hoping that Adele can retain her phenomenal worldwide success with future albums. The signing would see the major get another top level UK artist on its roster, having recently signed Robbie Williams via its UK division. Though Universal Music is likely to get Harry Styles for his solo career now that Sony-signed One Direction are no more – sorry, definitely “on hiatus” – so there can be some bragging at the other end of Kensington High Street too.

The rumours of Adele’s new record deal follow the singer’s win last week at the Ivor Novello songwriter awards, where she was declared Songwriter Of The Year, providing her with a nice gong to plonk on the top of all that cash.

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Monday 23 May 2016, 10:57 | By

The Pirate Bay returns to its original .org domain

Business News Digital

The Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay’s world tour of domain names is complete, with the notorious piracy hub having now done a full loop and arrived back at its original .org web address.

As much previously reported, the Bay has used domain names registered in numerous countries as its main address in recent years. It switched from the .org domain to thepiratebay.se in 2012, fearing that the US authorities – which had then only recently shut down MegaUpload and seized its web addresses – might seize the Bay’s .org address. The piracy site originated in Sweden of course, so the .se domain made sense.

Then Swedish authorities began legal proceedings to seize the .se domain, prompting the Bay to jump to an assortment of other domains, starting in 2013. But somewhat ironically, representatives from the entertainment industry and/or local law enforcement generally did a good job of urging pretty much every domain registry outside of Sweden to speedily shutdown any domain containing the words ‘pirate’ and ‘bay’, while back in Sweden attempts to seize thepiratebay.se got caught up in all sorts of tedious legal wranglings. So eventually The Pirate Bay made .se its primary web address once again.

But, as previously reported, earlier this month an appeals court in Sweden upheld a lower court’s ruling that said that the country’s domain registry Punkt SE should hand over the thepiratebay.se domain to the authorities. The whole matter could as yet be appealed to Sweden’s Supreme Court, though Team Bay are seemingly concerned that domain seizure could now be imminent.

And so they have made good old thepiratebay.org their primary domain once more. Which may or may not motivate the American entertainment industry, or the feds, to seek to grab that domain too. But, with everything having now come circle, Torrentfreak has done a little recap of the various domain registries the Bay visited along the way.

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