Monday 23 May 2016, 10:56 | By Chris Cooke

NMPA confirms deal with mix distributor Dubset

Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers

The National Music Publishers’ Association in the US last week announced a deal with the company behind Dubset, the service that wants to distribute unofficial mixes to streaming services.

As previously reported, Dubset has a technology which tries to work out what songs and recordings are contained within any one mix, and it is now trying to sort out licences with rights owners whose works it may identify.

The aim being to enable services like Spotify and Apple Music to carry unofficial mixes, like those more traditionally found on SoundCloud and Mixcloud, but with everyone earning royalties, including the remixer. The company announced an alliance with Apple Music back in March.

The deal with the NMPA provides a template for US independent publishers and songwriters who are interested in collaborating with the new venture, setting out how they would be paid if their songs are ever included in a Dubset-distributed mix.

The NMPA’s General Counsel Danielle Aguirre said of the deal last week: “We are excited to see that Dubset has made great advances in identifying and licensing compositions contained within mix content. It is a massive category that can now be unlocked and offered by the world’s largest music services and I’m THRILLED that our publishers and songwriters will be the beneficiaries of a new and important royalty stream”.

Speaking for Dubset, Bob Barbiere added: “The amount of new mix content distributed daily is estimated to be fifteen times as large as that of traditional music. Due to complexities associated with identification, and cross-clearance of copyright protected works used within mixes, music services were not able to offer it to consumers. Dubset’s technology solves that problem and enables us to clear and deliver this enormous high-demand category of content to music services globally generating new royalties to publishers and other rights holders”.

READ MORE ABOUT: National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA)

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:44 | By Chris Cooke

Help Musicians UK launches research exploring mental health in the music community

Artist News Business News The Great Escape 2016

Music industry charity Help Musicians UK launched a new campaign and a significant research project focused on mental health during the CMU Insights conference at The Great Escape on Friday.

The launch came as CMU Editor Andy Malt led a number of interviews and discussions on how the music industry could and should better support its people – both on and off the stage – if and when they face mental health challenges.

Help Musicians UK has teamed up with the University Of Westminster to explore in more detail how the peculiarities of the music industry can have a negative impact on the mental health of those working in it, while investigating initiatives the industry could endorse and fund that could tackle some of the issues.

Launching the new research in Brighton, Help Musicians UK boss Richard Robinson said: “Today’s announcement represents a huge milestone for mental health in the music industry as well as new strategic direction for HMUK as the independent voice for musicians. Help Musicians UK want to build a robust and effective service for those musicians with mental health issues – but we know we have to listen and be part of the conversation. It is all too easy to suggest solutions but we believe our academic study will do more. We want to build sustainable solutions”.

The research begins with a survey that everyone working in music is encouraged to fill out. You will find the survey here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Help Musicians | The Great Escape

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:42 | By Chris Cooke

Japanese popstar in critical condition after fan knife attack

Artist News

Japanese popstar Mayu Tomita is in a critical condition after being attacked outside a concert venue where she was due to appear in Tokyo this weekend.

Tomita suffered nearly two dozen wounds to her neck and chest after a man claiming to be a fan of the singer attacked her with a knife. It is thought Tomita had made a complaint to police about 27 year old Tomohiro Iwazaki last month after he started posting obsessive comments about her on social media.

According to local media reports, after being arrested Iwazaki said that he confronted Tomita about a present he had sent her but which had been returned, and he became violent because he wasn’t happy with her response. He is quoted as telling police: “I ambushed her at the station and asked her [about the gift]. I lost my temper and stabbed her many times because she didn’t clearly answer”.

The attack has drawn parallels to the incident in 2014 when two members of J-pop group AKB48 were attacked by a man brandishing a saw at a meet-and-greet for fans.

READ MORE ABOUT: Mayu Tomita

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:37 | By Chris Cooke

Calvin Harris cancels two gigs after car crash

Artist News

Calvin Harris was forced to cancel two sets this weekend after being involved in a car crash in LA. Harris was a passenger in a Cadillac that collided with a Volkswagen Beetle on Friday night.

The producer/DJ seemingly escaped with relatively minor injuries, though was taken to a local hospital for treatment to a cut on his nose. One of the passengers in the other vehicle suffered a broken pelvis, having seemingly not been wearing a seatbelt, and being thrown from the car on impact as a result.

Confirming that Harris was having to cancel two appearances this weekend as a result of the accident, a spokesman for the producer said: “[Calvin’s] transport was involved in a collision this evening on the way to the airport. As a result he will be unable to perform at Omnia tonight. He has been examined by doctors and told to rest for a few days”.

Harris had also been due to appear at the Hangout festival in Alabama on Saturday, and the festival said on Twitter: “Calvin Harris is unable to perform tonight. All of us at Hangout wish him and everyone involved in last night’s collision a speedy recovery”. Meanwhile Panic! At The Disco, who were moved up the bill to fill Harris’s headline slot, said: “Wishing all involved in last night’s accident a speedy recovery and hope we do you proud, Calvin”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Calvin Harris

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:31 | By Chris Cooke

Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza dies after collapsing on stage

Artist News

Drummer Nick Menza, best known for his time with Megadeth in the 1990s, died this weekend, aged 51, after collapsing on stage.

Menza was performing with his current band Ohm when he collapsed three songs into the outfit’s set at a venue in California. Paramedics were unable to revive the musician once they were on the scene. The band’s manager Steve Bauer later told CNN: “The group’s bassist texted me last night after it happened. We are all still in shock”.

Paying tribute on Facebook, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine said that the words “shocked, devastated, and saddened don’t begin to describe my feelings”.

He continued: “Originally a tech for the band, Nick soon displayed such talent and personality, it didn’t take long for us to realise he belonged on stage with us, behind the kit. As a player, Nick had a very powerful jazzy flair, unpredictable and always entertaining. And as great a drummer as he was, the time spent with him as a person, a bandmate, and a friend was even more fun”.

On his contacts with Menza following the drummer’s departure from Megadeth in 1998, Mustaine added: “There were several times we discussed him coming back to the band, but for various reasons it never came together. We’ve been in touch all along, he had come out to our shows recently, and he had remained a great friend, a true professional and a larger than life personality”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Megadeth | Nick Menza

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:26 | By Andy Malt

Beastie Boys founder John Berry dies

Artist News

Founder member of Beastie Boys John Berry has died, aged 52. He had been living with frontal lobe dementia, which recently worsened, his father told Rolling Stone.

Berry, who was credited with coming up with the group’s name, founded Beastie Boys as a hardcore punk band with Michael Diamond while at school. They were later joined by Adam Yauch, who died in 2012, and future Luscious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach, releasing their debut EP, ‘Polly Wog Stew’, in 1982.

Shortly after the release Berry left the band and was replaced by Adam Horovitz. Their next single was 1983’s ‘Cooky Puss’, which saw them move into hip hop and the musical direction for which they would become known.

After leaving the group, Berry played guitar in a number of bands, including Even Worse, Big Fat Love, Highway Stars and Bourbon Deluxe. He was later diagnosed with frontal lobe (or frontotemporal) dementia, a rare form of early onset dementia which typically begins between the ages of 45 to 65 and is caused by the shrinking of the frontal lobes, affecting personality, behaviour and language comprehension.

READ MORE ABOUT: Beastie Boys | John Berry

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:22 | By Andy Malt

French festivals drop Eagles Of Death Metal following comments on Bataclan attack

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Eagles Of Death Metal have been dropped from the line-ups of two French festivals after frontman Jesse Hughes again claimed that security guards at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris were complicit in the terror attacks at the venue last November, which left 90 people dead.

In an interview with Fox News in March, Hughes claimed that a number of security staff at the venue had not shown up to work at the band’s performance that night in order for attackers to take their place. He later apologised on Facebook, saying that he had made “absurd accusations” in the interview.

However, in a new interview with right wing website Taki’s Magazine he reiterated those accusations, saying: “I got in a lot of trouble for saying that. [But] I know for sure that [the attackers] were in there early. I remember them staring at my buddy. I just chalked it up to Arab envy. You know what I mean? When a Muslim sees a cocky American dude with tattoos, he stares at him. I realised later it was [subsequently arrested attacker Salah] Abdeslam and he was staring at my buddy because they thought he was a threat. There’s no denying the terrorists were already inside, and they had to get in somehow. During the shooting I went outside and the backstage door was propped open. How did that happen?”

Following the publication of the interview, Eagles Of Death Metal were dropped from the Rock En Seine and Cabaret Vert festivals. In a statement, organisers of both festivals said: “Being in total disagreement with Jesse Hugues’ recent allegations given in an interview with an American media, both Cabaret Vert and Rock En Seine festivals have decided to cancel the band’s performance. We thank you for your understanding”.

Since the attacks last year, Hughes has also been criticised for saying that audience members would have been safer in the venue if they had all been allowed to carry guns.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cabaret Vert | Eagles Of Death Metal | Rock En Seine

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:19 | By Chris Cooke

RHCP’s Flea disses modern rock music, and modern rock industry

And Finally Artist News

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and tedious old man Flea has been dissing modern rock music while guesting on Sirius XM’s Pearl Jam Radio, hosted by Pearl Jam guitarist and tedious old man Mike McCready.

Alternative Nation notes that Flea says of those pesky 1990s: “I just remember being so excited that we were playing with [Pearl Jam] and with Smashing Pumpkins, because it was just an exciting time for rock music. A lot of times, especially recently, I look at rock music as kind of a dead form in a lot of ways. Nothing to take away from us and [Pearl Jam], because obviously I believe we’re relevant bands that come with a real energy”.

Well of course, totally relevant, who’d ever say otherwise? Though wanna know why rock music is dead now? It’s the bloody industry, innit? Everyone’s too business savvy.

“When we were kids”, he Fleas on, “when I said I want to be in a rock band and that’s what I’m doing for my life, that’s what I was going to do, no question. You’d get: ‘You are a fucking lunatic, you are crazy. You’re never going to get a decent job in your life. What are you doing? You’re ruining your life’. I was like fuck it, I don’t care, this is what I want to do, this means everything to me, I found a home. I’ve been a weird, neurotic, loner kid all my life, I was always the kid you called fag in high school, punk rock gave me a home”.

“But nowadays, you decide you want to be in a rock band it’s like, ‘Oh great, let’s get you an image consultant, and a lawyer, and a manager, and let’s see what we can do here”, he adds. “It’s a great money making opportunity for you, junior'”.

Not sure which careers officer he’s referring to there, but anyway, aspiring rock stars, stop being savvy about the business of music and you too could make music like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. And how joyous would that be?

READ MORE ABOUT: Feal | Mike McCready | Pearl Jam | Red Hot Chili Peppers

Monday 23 May 2016, 10:11 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Moonface & Siinai

CMU Approved

Moonface and Siinai reprise their 2012 collaboration on ‘Heartbreaking Bravery’ with a second album released on 3 Jun, ‘My Best Human Face’.

They released the record’s first single, ‘Risto’s Riff’, earlier this year, a fun, off-centre rock track bristling with nervous energy and restrained anger. As the unveiling of the full album draws closer, they now return with another track, ‘Them Call Themselves Old Punks’.

Again the song manages to be angry and abstract, this time beginning quietly tense, and slowly building to a chorus brought to life by grinding guitars, a descending keyboard line and a choir singing the hook line, “There’s nothing punk about that”.

You can catch Moonface & Siinai in London at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on 27 Jun. Tickets here.

Listen to ‘Them Call Themselves Old Punks’ here:

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: Moonface | Siinai

Monday 23 May 2016, 09:00 | By Chris Cooke

CMU Digest 23.05.16: Facebook, BPI, Kesha, MegaUpload, Pandora, vKontakte

CMU Digest

The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…

Facebook was talking to the record labels about getting licences for the music contained in user-generated content uploaded to the social network, according to the New York Post. As video becomes ever more central to the Facebook proposition, the social media firm needs to think about licences to cover the music some users include in their videos, YouTube-style. Though these initial talks seemingly centre on licensing small catalogues of music for use in a new tool called Slideshow. Warner is already involved in the pilot. [READ MORE]

UK record industry trade group the BPI launched its Music Market Review, tracking the British recorded music sector in 2015. It confirmed lots of what we already knew – downloads were down loads, CDs were declining but less rapidly, streaming was booming. It also revealed that UK artists achieved a 17.1% share of the global albums market last year. Free video platforms – aka YouTube – saw consumption rise by 88%, but the revenues they generated for labels grew by just 0.4%. Value gap and all that. [READ MORE]

There was more bad press for Dr Luke and his companies after it emerged that his Sony Music label Kemosabe had withdrawn permission for Kesha – who is still contracted to the imprint – to perform at this weekend’s Billboard Music Awards. The label made that decision after rumours Kesha would use her performance to highlight her ongoing legal battle with Luke. It then changed its mind again and OKed the singer’s set after getting assurances those rumours were, in fact, false. [READ MORE]

The servers formally used by controversial file-transfer platform MegaUpload were back in the spotlight. Said servers have been sitting in warehouses ever since the US government shut MegaUpload down in 2012. In a new legal filing it was revealed that one server hosting firm sitting on old MegaUpload machines has said those hard drives are now starting to fail and data is being lost. MegaUpload’s lawyers want the US government to start paying for both the storage and the upkeep of those servers. [READ MORE]

One of Pandora’s major shareholders – hedge fund Corvex Management – publicly criticised the personalised radio firm in a letter to its Chairman that was also published. Key criticisms were of the recent surprise return of Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren to the CEO role, and the fact the digital music set-up isn’t more proactively considering a sale of the loss-making company, which would give its shareholders a speedy pay day. [READ MORE]

Universal continued its legal battle with vKontakte. While Sony Music and Warner Music have now done deals with the often controversial Russian social network and are participating in its new subscription music app, Universal Music filed another appeal in its ongoing legal action against the social media firm. At one point all three majors were suing vKontakte, arguing that the company should be held liable for the rampant copyright infringement that occurs over its networks. [READ MORE]

READ MORE ABOUT: British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | Dr Luke | Facebook | Kesha | MegaUpload | Pandora | vKontakte

Friday 20 May 2016, 13:00 | By Andy Malt

BPI announces big increases for UK music market in 2015, lays into YouTube for ruining everything

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

UK record industry trade group BPI has launched its Music Market Review, tracking the British recorded music sector in 2015, which shows that UK artists achieved a 17.1% share of the global albums market last year. And, as is now the tradition, the BPI celebrated by giving YouTube a bit of a kicking.

A quick summary of the top line stats. While there was a decline of 3.9% in the CD market, and 13.5% with downloads, other revenue streams were up. Cause for celebration. Audio streaming was up 82% in terms of consumption, with a 69% increase in revenue. Vinyl continued to revive, passing two million sales, the highest for 21 years. Oh and then there was video streaming. Freebie video streaming was the best of all. That was up 88% in 2015. Consumption wise. Although revenue from ad-funded platforms only grew 0.4%.

And it’s all the fault of the bloody YouTube, isn’t it? Bloody, bloody YouTube. When will it all end? When the music industry convinces the politicians to rewrite safe harbour laws? Oh yeah, like that will ever happen.

“It is hugely encouraging that demand for British music is so strong at home and abroad thanks to our brilliant artists and the continual innovation and investment of our record labels”, says BPI chief Geoff Taylor. “Yet the fact that sales revenues dipped in a record year for British music shows clearly that something is fundamentally broken in the music market, so that artists and the labels that invest in them no longer benefit fairly from growing demand”.

He continues: “Instead, dominant tech platforms like YouTube are able to abuse liability protections as royalty havens, dictating terms so they can grab the value from music for themselves, at the expense of artists. The long-term consequences of this will be serious, reducing investment in new music, making it difficult for most artists to earn a living, and undermining the growth of more innovative services like Spotify and Apple Music that pay more fairly for the music they use”.

Continuing to put the boot in, he concluded: “In 2015, UK fans streamed almost twice as many music videos as the year before; tens of billions more views. Yet artists and labels did not benefit from the increased demand for what they created. This is wrong. Music is precious – it’s not a commodity to be strip-mined for big data. And as we’ve seen time and again in the digital market, where music goes first, the rest of the content sector will follow. This problem requires urgent action by the EU, and our government needs to take the lead in making sure it is tackled”.

YouTube, of course, would presumably argue that it is paying lots of money into the music industry, with over $3 billion already distributed. And the firm’s Candice Morrissey did just that at CMU Insights @ The Great Escape yesterday. She also argued that the platform had invested further time and money in offering studio space and advice for creators on how to make more engaging content.

And for some artists, YouTube is the key outlet for their work. Singer-songwriter Hannah Trigwell, also appearing at the CMU Insights YouTube strand yesterday, said that the “label model world is now broken. We’re in a track by track world where engagement is crucial, where context and narrative is important. The labels will tell you, you can’t go abroad until you break your own country. We just go global. That’s the reach of a platform-based audience”.

That approach is not going to work for every artist of course, and applies mainly to new talent, plus even for the most successful YouTube stars, their main source of income is not actually YouTube itself. However, it is true that the music industry would struggle to build a global marketing and fan engagement platform as successful as YouTube if it was to try.

Which isn’t to say that the record industry’s argument that YouTube is exploiting a bit of law that was never meant for it is wrong. But that doesn’t mean changing that bit of law will solve all the problems, and at the same time, it’s important not to ignore the opportunities.

READ MORE ABOUT: British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | YouTube

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:55 | By Andy Malt

Universal launches classical-and-jazz-focussed Verve Music Group

Business News Labels & Publishers

Universal Music has announced the formation of a new Verve Label Group, comprising the Verve label and some of the major’s classical music units, like Deutsche Grammophon, Decca Records, Decca Classics, Mercury Classics and ECM. The new US-based group will be led by Danny Bennett, son and manager of Tony Bennett.

“Universal Music is home to the largest and most historically relevant jazz and classical recordings”, says Bennett Jr. “It’s a tremendous honour, and I am humbled to be chosen to lead the newly formed Verve Label Group. I’m indebted to David Foster for leading the iconic Verve label and I look forward to working with him on many future productions. Additionally, I offer my profound appreciation to Lucian Grange and Michele Anthony for this amazing opportunity”.

Verve will relocate to New York, where it was originally founded. There Bennett aims to bring greater awareness of Universal’s jazz and classical catalogues, while developing new acts too.

READ MORE ABOUT: Universal Music | Verve Label Group

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:53 | By Andy Malt

Hourly car insurance app launches with focus on festival season

Business News Digital Live Business

A new app offering car insurance by the hour, Cuvva, has launched at The Great Escape, with a view to helping festival goers to travel to events using friends’ cars which may otherwise being going unused.

The app was launched by avid festival fan Freddy Macnamara, who found it difficult to get around the country from rural Scotland, where he was living. “Setting up Cuvva was really just solving my own problem”, he tells CMU. “I wanted to be able to drive other people’s cars with minimum hassle whilst knowing that I was fully insured”.

On why he’s chosen to focus on travelling to music festivals with his car insurance venture, he says: “Based on our research, people will typically spend somewhere around £150-200 renting cars to go to festivals. With Cuvva, you are looking at spending somewhere between £20 and £40 for the insurance, even if you’d like to make a generous contribution to your mate for borrowing the car, that’s a pretty big saving”.

“Also, we’re aware that if you are tired at the end of the festival, it’s often nice to have someone to share the driving with”, he adds. “With Cuvva, with a few clicks you can have a friend helping with driving and covered under fully comp insurance”.

Find out more about Cuvva here. And read more of our conversation with Freddy Macnamara here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cuvva

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:51 | By Andy Malt

Supreme Court upholds press injunction hiding identity of celeb couple in threesome story

Business News Legal Media

The UK’s Supreme Court yesterday upheld an injunction preventing the British press from reporting on a celebrity who was involved in an extra-marital threesome. The court said that there was no public interest in the person and their partner being named in the press. Although that’s mainly because everyone knows who it is already.

“There is no public interest (however much it may be of interest to some members of the public) in publishing kiss-and-tell stories or criticisms of private sexual conduct, simply because the persons involved are well-known”, said Supreme Court judge Lord Mance, according to Reuters.

He added that while there may be criticisms of the fact that the British press is being barred from reporting a story that has been widely reported elsewhere, “if parliament takes the view that the courts have not adapted the law to fit current realities, then, of course, it can change the law”.

As well as this, it was ruled that while the identity of the people in the story may be available online already, the rush by all of British newspapers to report on them if the injunction were lifted would be far more damaging to them and their two young children.

READ MORE ABOUT: Supreme Court

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:50 | By Andy Malt

Charity five-a-side tournament Indie Music Cup returns in June

Business News Education & Events

Following its inaugural outing last year, music industry charity five-a-side football tournament the Indie Music Cup returns next month – renamed from the Indie Label Cup to reflect the expanded number of teams competing.

This year the event will raise money for Medecins Sans Frontieres, with teams from Resident Advisor, Domino, Boiler Room Ladies, Bella Union, PRS For Music, Last FM, Heavenly, 4AD, Mixmag, Secretly United, Bonafide, Transgressive, Mute, The Vinyl Factory, Ninja Tune and R&S all competing.

“It’s great that so many companies in the music industry are coming together to support the work of MSF”, says James Kliffen, the charity’s Head Of Fundraising. “A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this tournament happen. We’re an independently funded organisation and so depend on this kind of generous support from members of the public, in order to carry out our life saving work. MSF provides emergency assistance to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics and natural or man-made disasters without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion and gender or political affiliation”.

The tournament takes place on 4 Jun, with DJ sets from Throwing Shade and others in addition to the football. Find out more about the event here, and donate money here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Indie Music Cup

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:49 | By Andy Malt

Wiley to publish autobiography in November

Artist News

Wiley is set to publish his autobiography on 3 Nov. Write that date in your diary.

“In this his first official autobiography he will give fans unprecedented insight into his life and the birth of the music scene that transformed London urban culture”, says the book’s blurb. Which is the sort of thing blurbs usually say.

Posting a picture of the contract with Hodder & Stoughton for the book, Wiley’s manager John Woolf said on Instagram: “Very happy to have closed this deal today. For the past nine years I have worked alongside Wiley. The word ‘genius’ gets thrown around a lot but Wiley truly is one”.

“Together we have sold millions of records and toured every inch of the globe. I’m grateful to have played a small role in such an amazing story. Also been through every emotion and crazy experience possible. I’m excited for everyone to read and see the story of this true musical icon I’m proud to call my client and friend”.

As well as this, Wiley also has a new album ‘Godfather’ in September, plus a film based on his life is apparently in the works.

READ MORE ABOUT: Wiley

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:47 | By Andy Malt

Billy Bragg and Joe Henry travel the US by train for new album

Artist News Releases

Billy Bragg and Joe Henry have teamed up for a new album, ‘Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad’. The record is made up of covers of railway-themed songs by various artists, recorded along a 65 hour journey across the US on the Texas Eagle railroad service.

Songs on the album were originally made famous by artists including Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Hank Williams, The Carter Family and more. Over 2728 miles, Bragg and Henry jumped off the train to record in stations along the way as the train stopped to pick up passengers. They finished up at Union Station in LA for a performance of Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Early Morning Rain’ at 4.30am.

“Railroad songs provided the bedrock of American popular music, from Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman, to Lead Belly, whose repertoire provided several of the songs for this project”, says Bragg. “In this country, Lonnie Donegan’s 1956 hit ‘Rock Island Line’ sparked the skiffle craze, inspiring a generation of British teens to pick up guitars and form the groups that invaded America in the 60s, from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin”.

He continues: “Growing up in the UK, I’d always been aware of this tradition but when I travelled to the US, I was surprised to find how few people look to the railroad as a means of transport. With this project, we wanted to explore the transformative power that the coming of the railroad had on the lives of ordinary people by taking these songs back to the places that inspired their creation. Traveling on the train and recording the songs as we went allowed us to both visit places that were important 125 years ago when the lines were laid, but to also explore the viability of the railroad as a means of transport in the 21st century”.

Henry, who also produced Bragg’s last album ‘Tooth & Nail’, adds: “The emergence of the railroad in America boasted of our might and sprawling enormity, yet signalled a deep desire for close community, connectivity. The songs that grew out of and alongside this innovation remain to tell this story of collective national character”.

The album is due for released on 23 Sep and the pair will tour the UK in November, performing songs from it. Full tracklist and dates here:

1. Rock Island Line – Traditional (Recorded by Lead Belly, Lonnie Donegan)
2. The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore – Jean Ritchie
3. The Midnight Special – Traditional (Lead Belly)
4. Railroad Bill – Traditional (Riley Puckett)
5. Lonesome Whistle – Hank Williams
6. KC Moan – Traditional (The Memphis Jug Band)
7. Waiting For A Train – Jimmie Rodgers
8. In The Pines – Traditional (Lead Belly, The Louvin Brothers)
9. Gentle On My Mind – John Hartford (Glenn Campbell, Aretha Franklin)
10. Hobo’s Lullaby – Goebel Reeves (Woody Guthrie)
11. Railroading On The Great Divide – Sara Carter (The Carter Family)
12. John Henry – Traditional (Doc Watson)
13. Early Morning Rain – Gordon Lightfoot

7 Nov: London, Union Chapel
8 Nov: London, Union Chapel
9 Nov: Canterbury, The Marlowe Theatre
10 Nov: Brighton, St George’s Church
12 Nov: Portsmouth, New Theatre Royal
13 Nov: Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre
14 Nov: Guildford, G Live
15 Nov: Bury St Edmunds, The Apex
17 Nov: Nottingham, Playhouse
18 Nov: Manchester, The Royal Northern College of Music
19 Nov: Lincoln, The Engine Shed

READ MORE ABOUT: Billy Bragg | Joe Henry

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:45 | By Andy Malt

Amanda Palmer to release album with father Jack

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases

Amanda Palmer is set to release an album with her father, semi-professional choral singer Jack Palmer, this summer. Titled ‘You Got Me Singing’, the album sees the pair covering songs by artists such as Leonard Cohen, Sinead O’Connor and John Grant.

“The main inspiration behind this record was to share songs and time with my dad”, says Amanda, who was separated from her father when she was less than a year old. “It was a really good reason to spend healing time together, sharing our musical histories, all poetically punctuated by the fact that I was seven months pregnant when we recorded”.

“I believe nothing is more powerful than love, and that nothing expresses it better than singing”, adds Jack. “It was one of Amanda’s songs that began healing our fractured relationship. Years later, I hope the love that went into this project will perhaps touch listeners in the same way”.

Ahead of the album release on 15 Jul, Amanda and Jack will also perform a one-off UK show in London at Koko on 3 Jun.

Here’s the tracklist for the album:

1. You Got Me Singing (Leonard Cohen)
2. Wynken, Blynken And Nod (Lucy & Carly Simon)
3. Again (Melanie)
4. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (Richard Thompson)
5. Louise Was Not Half Bad (Tom T Hall)
6. Black Boys on Mopeds (Sinead O’Connor)
7. All I Could Do (Kimya Dawson)
8. In The Heat Of The Summer (Phil Ochs)
9. Pink Emerson Radio (Kathleen Edwards)
10. Skye Boat Song (traditional)
11. Glacier (John Grant)
12. I Love You So Much (Noah Britton)

Oh, and here’s a video for ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning’:

READ MORE ABOUT: Amanda Palmer | Jack Palmer

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:38 | By Andy Malt

Kemosabe backtracks on Kesha awards performance block

Artist News Awards Business News

Kesha will now perform at this Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards, after Dr Luke’s Kemosabe Records reversed a decision to block her from doing so.

As previously reported, Kemosabe withdrew its permission for the singer to appear at the event, after TMZ reported that she was planning to use it to stage a “statement performance”, which would make “direct references” to her legal battle with Dr Luke that “might even include images of him”.

“Kesha’s performance on the Billboard Music Awards was always approved, in good faith”, said Kemosabe in a statement last night. “Approval was only suspended when Kemosabe learned Kesha was to use the performance as a platform to discuss the litigation”.

It continued: “Now that Kemosabe has obtained assurances, that it is relying upon, from Kesha, her representatives and [Billboard Music Award producer] Dick Clark Productions that neither Kesha nor her supporters will use the performance as such a platform, the approval has been restored”.

In an Instagram post prior to permission being granted again, Kesha said that she had been planning to pay tribute to Bob Dylan and never intended to reference Dr Luke.

READ MORE ABOUT: Dr Luke | Kemosabe Records | Kesha

Friday 20 May 2016, 12:32 | By Andy Malt

CMU Beef Of The Week #306: Avril Lavigne v E! Online

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Media

US research firm Public Policy Polling recently published some entirely legitimate research showing that Nickelback are no longer the thing that most people hate out of all the things in the world. A survey showed that people now think slightly more of the band than they do Donald Trump.

In fact this research, which is entirely legitimate research, as I said before, found that the only thing people like less than Trump are haemorrhoids and cockroaches. Hipsters, used car salesmen, traffic jams and root canal surgery are all more positively thought of than Donald Trump. And also, to begin to bring this back around to the point, Nickelback. Also, lice. Lice came out way better than either.

Because this research was entirely legitimate, many news outlets reported on it with glee. But instead of focussing on how unpopular popular presidential candidate Donald Trump is, they wrote about Nickelback and how everyone would rather do jury duty than listen to them.

Picking on an E! Online article published under the headline “Justice for Nickelback: Poll Reveals People Actually Dislike One Thing More Than the Rock Band”, frontman Chad Kroeger’s estranged wife Avril Lavigne weighed in on Twitter.

“Hey E! Online and everyone writing these articles… grow up”, she wrote. “This is extremely rude and uncalled for”.

I’m not sure why she was so angry at news organisations reporting on SCIENCE. But apparently she was. And she quickly came back with some legitimate research of her own.

“Nickelback is one of the of the highest selling rock bands of the past two decades selling more than 50 million albums worldwide”, she insisted. “SEVENTEEN NUMBER ONE HIT SINGLES! What an epic accomplishment! Nickelback is adored by millions worldwide! I’ve seen their sold out shows!”

“I’ve seen their sold out shows” does sound a bit like the classic playground lie “You can ask my mum”. But it’s true, Nickelback have managed to get a lot of people to part with money. And when all those people would actually rather be receiving root canal surgery from a hipster used car salesman covered in lice, that is quite an accomplishment.

“Enough is enough”, she concluded. “You can’t live a positive life with a negative mind”.

She failed to back that statement up with any legitimate research though, so I’m not sure it can be proven. The one thing we do know is that if Nickelback were running to be US president right now, everyone would be very slightly happier. Fact.

READ MORE ABOUT: Avril Lavigne | E! Online | Nickelback

Friday 20 May 2016, 09:06 | By Paul Vig

Vigsy’s Club Tip: Max Graef and Glenn Astro at The Great Escape

Club Tip CMU Approved

The Great Escape’s late night Late Escape festival strand will put a focus on the electronic and dance world tonight and tomorrow in Brighton.

Headlining a Ninja Tune-hosted night, German duo Max Graef and Glenn Astro will be previewing their rather good brand new jazz-influenced beat-laden album ‘The Yard Work Simulator’, and bringing some disco-tinged house choons and off kilter downtempo excursions to the festival.

Production duo Letherette will present a mix of psychedelic electronics with soul snippets and house beats, while Throwing Shade will kick things off with some more laidback pop.

This night will be open to festival-goers subject to capacity, a small allocation of tickets will also be sold separately to guarantee entry, separate tickets will cost £8 and are now on sale.

Friday 20 May, Patterns, 10 Marine Parade, BN2 1TL, Brighton, free/£8, 10pm-4am. More info here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Max Graef & Glenn Astro | The Great Escape

Friday 20 May 2016, 08:54 | By Andy Malt

Q&A: Freddy Macnamara, Cuvva

Business Interviews

A new app offering car insurance by the hour, Cuvva, has launched at The Great Escape, with a view to helping festival goers to travel using friends’ cars which may otherwise being going unused.

The app was launched by avid festival fan Freddy Macnamara, who found it difficult to get around the country from rural Scotland, where he was living.

CMU’s Andy Malt spoke to Macnamara to find out more.

AM: What prompted you to set up Cuvva?
FM: Growing up in rural Scotland meant getting around was always difficult for me. There were very few buses available, but at the same time, there would be friends’ cars about that I couldn’t drive – existing temporary car insurance took the best part of an hour’s call to set up, and was too expensive.

Setting up Cuvva was really just solving my own problem. I wanted to be able to drive other people’s cars with minimum hassle whilst knowing that I was fully insured.

With Cuvva we have made it possible to book car insurance in a matter of clicks, or seconds – sign up, enter your license details and take a photo of the car, and you are ready to book hourly, on demand car insurance by the hour. Typically from as little as £7.

We’re taking the principles of Uber, but for car insurance.

AM: What were the main challenges in getting it to market?
FM: It took over a year of conversations with insurance companies and getting rejected over ten times before we found an insurance company that would provide a policy for us.

The insurance industry has barely changed since 1897 when the first car insurance policy was taken out, and is very resistant to change. There are a lot of vested interests to protect, and there is a bit of suspicion shown towards new entrants.

Creating an app with a great user experience has required a huge amount of effort from our team, we’ve worked hard constantly listening to our users and their ideas and adding in new features based on their requests.

AM: Why have you chosen to focus on travel to festivals at launch?
FM: I’m an avid festival-goer myself and know how difficult it can be for people to get there when they don’t have their own car.

Hiring a rental car, or a car from a car club normally works out too expensive, but if you can borrow a car from a mate, even if you give them some money, and pay an additional £20-40 for the return insurance, it generally works out pretty reasonably.

Also, we’re aware that if you are tired at the end of the festival, it’s often nice to have someone to share the driving with. With Cuvva, with a few clicks you can have a friend helping with driving and covered under fully comp insurance.

AM: How does the cost of Cuvva compare to hiring a car to get to and from a festival?
FM: Based on our research, people will typically spend somewhere around £150-200 renting cars to go to festivals. With Cuvva, you are looking at spending somewhere between £20 and £40 for the insurance, even if you’d like to make a generous contribution to your mate for borrowing the car, that’s a pretty big saving.

AM: What other key situations do you see Cuvva being used for?
FM: At the moment, we are speaking to independent car dealerships. We’ve realised that a lot of them don’t offer drive home insurance, and car sales tends to be slowed down whilst the customer is sorting out car insurance.

We have a few quite exciting products in the pipeline – we’ll be organising a feature called the ‘social garage’ so that you can see which of your Facebook friends have cars available for you to borrow.

As well as that, we will be shortly announcing a flexible insurance for your own car, but that’s pretty much all that I can say on that matter for the moment!

Find out more about Cuvva here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cuvva

Thursday 19 May 2016, 10:23 | By Andy Malt

MegaUpload data potentially lost as aging hard drives fail, say lawyers

Business News Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

Hey, it’s nearly four and a half years since US authorities took down MegaUpload and began proceedings to extradite key execs, including big boss Kim Dotcom, from New Zealand. And yet still pretty much nothing has happened since then, except for some big legal bills being run up. In fact, everything’s taking so long that the hard drives that hold the defunct website’s old data are now starting to fail.

One of the controversial file-transfer platform’s former hosting companies which was ordered to keep hold of data from the service after it was shutdown has apparently warned that half of the hard drives storing those files are now unreadable.

As previously reported, when the US authorities took MegaUpload offline in 2012 users of the service lost access to files they were storing on the company’s servers without warning. A lot of it was copyright infringing music and movies, but not all of it, and some people lost access to content they themselves had created.

MegaUpload actually rented server space from other companies, which were left with disconnected hard disks full of content after the shutdown, and nobody paying them to continue storing the files those servers contained.

A debate then ensued as to what should happen to those servers, and whether those who had used MegaUpload for legit purposes should and could get their files back. Although the courts were sympathetic with customers caught in the crossfire, the US government, and the music and movie industries which are suing the ex-MegaUpload business, weren’t very helpful when it came to finding a way to reconnect users with their non-infringing content.

Having already got a cross section of data it reckoned supported its case against MegaUpload, the US government hasn’t been especially bothered about working out what to do with the rest of the files held on those servers. While, as well as claiming to want to reunite former users with their lost files, MegaUpload lawyers reckon that the legit data could support the case that the site was a perfectly legal service that some used to transfer illegal files, rather than a hub designed for rampant piracy.

In 2013, it emerged that one of MegaUpload’s old server hosts, Dutch web storage firm Leaseweb, had already wiped the servers it had been renting to Dotcome et al, while US firm Carpathia, which held the bulk of the data, last year requested permission to wipe its servers and put them back into use, after a change of ownership.

Meanwhile, in a new legal filing to the Virginia court overseeing those two civil cases brought against MegaUpload by the music and movie industries, reports TorrentFreak, both sides report that data is potentially being lost at a third hosting company, Cogent, because lack of use is causing hard drives to degrade.

“Recently, the parties have each been advised by Cogent that it has been unable to read eight of the sixteen computer hard drives on which the Megaupload cached data have been stored”, says MegaUpload’s filing. “Without the assistance of a computer forensic expert, however, Cogent cannot confirm that the data remains extant and uncorrupted”.

MegaUpload’s lawyers are asking the court to order the US government to foot the bill for preserving the data, if possible. They state that it has an obligation to do so, in order to prove that evidence pulled off the servers to support the case against MegaUpload was not cherry-picked and represents a fair picture of what was being stored.

As well as claiming that it is the US government’s responsibility to pay for this, the lawyers also note that the freezing of assets while the case against MegaUpload’s execs continues means that they cannot afford to do it themselves.

The court is yet to issue a ruling.

READ MORE ABOUT: MegaUpload

Thursday 19 May 2016, 10:08 | By Andy Malt

Maroon 5 guitarist takes plea deal in cocaine possession case

Artist News Legal

Maroon 5 guitarist Mickey Madden has accepted a plea deal over cocaine possession charges, following an arrest in New York back in January.

Johnson was allegedly seen passing cocaine to movie producer Bingo Gubelmann outside St Dymphna’s bar in the city’s East Village on 21 Jan. Both men were arrested. The guitarist’s lawyer told New York Daily News earlier this week that his client had never touched any drugs and it was basically all Gubelmann’s fault. Though accepting the plea deal means that argument will never have to be presented in court.

In order to avoid trial, Johnson agreed to carry out one day of community service. Accepting a similar deal, Gubelmann agreed to spend a day in a drug treatment centre. Both men’s cases have now been adjourned for six months, and will be dismissed entirely if they do as they have agreed and avoid being arrested in that time.

READ MORE ABOUT: Maroon 5 | Mickey Madden

Thursday 19 May 2016, 10:03 | By Andy Malt

!K7 expands management division, announces rebrand

Business News Labels & Publishers Management & Funding

!K7 Records has announced that it is expanding its management division, and rebranding the company as !K7 Music to reflect this evolution of what it does.

“As the company has grown and matured we realised that we could offer artists a full palate of services by leveraging the existing infrastructure of !K7”, says CEO Horst Weidenmuller. “We now have four dedicated staff entirely focused on the management roster and it’s a constantly growing area of !K7’s business”.

DJ, producer and founder of AUS Music Will Saul recently joined the management division, developing his own roster of electronic acts, including DJ Tennis, Bwana, Marquis Hawkes and Portable. Other acts managed by the company include Tricky, Mykki Blanco, Brandt Brauer Frick and Luca D’Alberto.

READ MORE ABOUT: !K7

Thursday 19 May 2016, 09:11 | By Andy Malt

Hatsune Miku models for Vogue

Artist News Brands & Merch Digital

Hatsune Miku has appeared in the latest issue of Vogue modelling clothes designed by Givenchy’s artistic director Riccardo Tisci. Which is pretty good going for someone who doesn’t actually exist.

The J-pop star began life as the mascot for vocal generation software Vocaloid, and has gone on to perform live in hologram form, pulling songs from a catalogue of thousands created by the programme’s users. Her most high profile moment to date was supporting Lady Gaga on her 2014 US tour.

“She’s so cool”, Riccardo told Vogue. “It’s insane – Japan is 20, 30 years ahead of the rest of us. She is a travel guide to the future”.

“The collaboration with Vogue was a new and exciting challenge for us”, added Guillaume Devigne of Crypton Future Media, the company behind Vocaloid and Hatsune Miku.

“Haute-couture is an unfamiliar territory for us, so we worked hard to design this CG composite featuring an exquisite Miku whom Vogue could identify with, while making sure we didn’t aim for realism. No one wanted the photo to look like a model cos-playing as Miku. It had to be Miku wearing a Givenchy dress”.

Read more and see an image from the photoshoot here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Hatsune Miku

Thursday 19 May 2016, 09:06 | By Andy Malt

Major Pandora shareholder expresses concern over streaming service’s “costly and uncertain business plan”

Business News Digital

Pandora’s largest shareholder Corvex Management has written to the digital music firm’s chairman Jim Feuille expressing dismay that the streaming service hasn’t been sold already. Won’t at least one deluded fucker bid to buy this nonsense?

“We have become increasingly concerned that the company may be pursuing a costly and uncertain business plan, without a thorough evaluation of all shareholder value-maximising alternatives”, says the hedge fund’s Managing Partner Keith Meister in the letter, also filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We urge the company to immediately engage an independent investment bank with a fresh perspective and without any prior history of advising the company to advise on a value maximisation process – including the execution of a sales process – and to evaluate the results against other options including the risk-adjusted value of continuing to operate on a standalone basis”.

Meister adds that Corvex was “surprised” at the recent return of Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren to the CEO role, adding that “Mr Westergren’s public statements after his appointment as CEO appear to indicate a ‘business as usual’ approach at best, while at worst they suggest an unwillingness to consider a sale regardless of the price offered to shareholders or the cost and uncertainty inherent in a standalone business plan”.

The hedge fund has decided to air these views publicly, he added, because of a “growing concern that management and the board of directors no longer appear willing to consider all paths to maximise shareholder value”.

Corvex currently owns almost 10% of Pandora’s shares. Read the letter in full here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Corvex Management | Pandora

Thursday 19 May 2016, 09:05 | By Andy Malt

Kobalt launches iOS data pump

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers

That Kobalt has launched its very own iOS app, which will allow its publishing clients to check all that lovely data the company likes to pump out right there on their iPhones. Bad luck anyone on Android.

“This connection between a creator’s works and their income is the first of its kind”, shouts Kobalt CEO Willard Ahdritz. “It’s a fundamental shift in the relationship between rights owners and their data. Imagine how that will influence their decisions, shape their perspectives on the industry and streaming, empowering them with the facts. I believe this will have an enormous impact on the future of music – out of the dark ages, full access, in real time. All in one app. The revolution continues!”

Continuing to be all shouty, he continues: “Putting the power of Kobalt into the hands of creators has always been a top priority for me. Today’s music creators deserve the same transparent, on-demand access to their data that most other industries already have. The Kobalt App is a giant step toward delivering that for our clients. The feedback we are getting from our clients is incredible – no one has seen anything like this before! This is the only app that delivers true transparency for creators”.

Alright, shush. That’s quite enough shouting. You can find out more about the app here. And despite what I said earlier, there is apparently an Android version in the works. Phew.

READ MORE ABOUT: Kobalt

Thursday 19 May 2016, 09:04 | By Andy Malt

Music industry’s attitude to mental health in the spotlight during Mental Health Awareness Week

Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Live Business Management & Funding

As this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week continues, the music industry is being placed very much in the spotlight.

Throughout the week, Noisey is publishing a series of articles and short films looking at mental health and music. The first of these films to be put online earlier this week features Bill Ryder-Jones, formerly of The Coral, and Rob Harvey, best known for his work with The Music, who both describe how their sudden rises to fame affected their mental health and how it was dealt with by others in the music industry.

Meanwhile, the Guardian has published an article written by the Music Managers Forum’s Fiona McGugan, looking at how the music business could and should be better at caring for the mental health of its artists.

“Far from the cliché of a cigar-chomping penny counter, a good modern music manager will protect their client’s emotional, mental and physical state just as passionately as their business interests”, she writes. “It’s a role that can make all the difference for artists who may be struggling with the demands of stardom, along with any other mental health challenges they harbour”.

On Friday, as part of the ‘What has the music industry ever done for you?’ strand at CMU Insights @ The Great Escape, we’ll also be exploring these issues. As part of this, we’ll be screening highlights of Noisey’s short films, and CMU Editor Andy Malt will be interviewing Vice’s Alex Hoffman, Bill Ryder-Jones’ manager Ellie Giles and others.

Find out more about ‘What has the music industry ever done for you?’ here, and watch Noisey’s film with Bill Ryder-Jones and Rob Harvey here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Allex Hoffman | Bill Ryder-Jones | Ellie Giles | Fiona McGugan | Music Managers Forum (MMF) | Noisey | The Great Escape | Vice

Thursday 19 May 2016, 08:55 | By Andy Malt

Dr Luke bars Kesha from performing at the Billboard Music Awards

Artist News Awards Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Kesha has been forced to withdraw from a performance at this Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards, after her appearance at the show was vetoed by Dr Luke’s Kemosabe record label. The singer is, of course, currently embroiled in a complex legal battle with Dr Luke, but his company had apparently previously granted permission for her to sing at the awards.

“Kesha accepted an invitation to perform on the show and she received written approval from Dr Luke’s record label, Kemosabe Records”, said awards organiser Dick Clark Productions in a statement. “Kemosabe subsequently rescinded its approval following a media report on Wednesday 11 May regarding Kesha’s appearance on the BBMAs. Unfortunately, Kesha and Kemosabe have since been unable to come to an agreement for Kesha to perform on the show”.

The report referenced in the statement was a TMZ story which claimed that the singer was planning to stage a “statement performance”, which would make “direct references” to her legal battle with Dr Luke that “might even include images of him”.

However, the company added: “Dick Clark Productions has a long standing relationship with Kesha. We hope that the parties can come to an arrangement such that we can continue that long standing relationship with a performance by Kesha on the Billboard Music Awards stage on 22 May”.

Kesha, meanwhile, is less optimistic about the situation being resolved, revealing what she had actually planned for her performance in a post on Instagram.

“I was very excited to perform a tribute to Bob Dylan by singing a cover of ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ at the Billboard Awards this year”, she wrote. “I’m very sad and sorry to say I won’t be allowed to do this. I just wanted to make very clear that this performance was about me honouring one of my favourite songwriters of all time and has never had anything at all to do with Dr Luke. I was never going to use a picture of him, speak of him or allude to my legal situation in any way. I simply wanted to sing a song I love to honour an artist I have always looked up to. Thank you all for the continued support”.

Dr Luke and Kemosabe did previously grant permission for Kesha to record a new version of Zedd’s ‘True Colors’, which itself could have been seen as some sort of statement. In any case, this latest incident could be seen as another PR own goal for the producer and his key business partner Sony Music.

READ MORE ABOUT: Billboard Music Awards | Dick Clark Productions | Dr Luke | Kemosabe Records | Kesha | Sony Music

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