Tuesday 28 June 2016, 09:20 | By

65daysofstatic announce tour dates

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases

65daysofstatic

65daysofstatic have announced that they will be heading out on tour later this year. They’ve also announced that the release of their previously reported soundtrack album for videogame ‘No Man’s Sky’ has been pushed back to 5 Aug.

Announcing the European shows, while also having a little comment about the results of last week’s EU referendum in the UK, the band’s Paul Wolinski says: “‘No Man’s Sky’ is a project about a borderless universe of infinite possibility. It’s certainly a brighter future to imagine than the one our little country just thrust upon Europe”.

He goes on: “We are always excited to be able to come and play shows in mainland Europe, now more than ever. Let’s get some anti-fascist international solidarity going on and not let the demagoguery drag us down to the oblivion it has planned for us. See you on the road. Unless our passports are no good anymore”.

Yeah, now our editorial policy of only publishing UK tour dates looks really small-minded. Thanks Paul. You can find all the dates here, but these are the ones in the UK:

14 Nov: London, Islington Assembly Hall
15 Nov: Bristol, Marble Factory
16 Nov: Sheffield, Plug
17 Nov: Newcastle University
18 Nov: Glasgow Art School

Here’s a new track from ‘No Man’s Sky’, ‘Red Parallax’:

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Tuesday 28 June 2016, 09:18 | By

CMU’s One Liners: Rihanna, Mike Posner, Lethal Wilson, more

Artist News One Liners Releases

Rihanna

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Slipknot and Limp Bizkit’s DJs – Sid Wilson and DJ Lethal respectively – have teamed up to form Lethal Wilson. No music yet, but they have a Facebook page.

• Rihanna’s released a new song called ‘Sledgehammer’, written for her by Sia and taken from the soundtrack of ‘Star Trek Beyond’. Listen on Spotify here.

• Mike Posner has a new single out, ‘Be As You Are (Jordan XL Remix)’. This is its video.

• Lowell will release new EP ‘Part 1: Paris YK’ on 26 Aug. From it, this is ‘High Enough’.

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Tuesday 28 June 2016, 09:16 | By

Stars of Kanye’s Famous video not especially happy

And Finally Artist News

Kanye West - Famous

Hey, so that Kanye video‘s gone down well then. Everyone represented in it is dead chuffed that the rapper would consider them for his big budget version of ‘photoshopping heads onto naked bodies’.

Let’s start with Taylor Swift, with whom West had already fallen out over lyrics in the song suggesting that she might have sex with him because he “made that bitch famous”. A source now tells HollywoodLife that she feels “livid”, “horrified” and “betrayed” over her ‘appearance’ in the video, lying naked next to Kanye himself.

A source told the same website that Rihanna wasn’t best pleased either, saying: “Ri doesn’t appreciate laying in the same bed as George Bush or Donald Trump. She’d rather lay next to the devil while drink boiling hot water in hell than to share sheets with either of those two”.

You’d think she might also be angry about her waxwork being placed next to a lookalike of Chris Brown. The former boyfriend convicted for beating Rihanna up and leaving her unconscious in the street merely commented that West is “talented, but crazy”.

Ray J, who ‘appears’ in the video lying next to West’s wife Kim Kardashian was apparently worried about the effect the video would have on his engagement to be married. “My fiancée tripping”, he told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s all bad in my world, and that ain’t cool. Don’t put me part of nothing that’s weird, that don’t make no sense”.

In case you forgot who he was, there is a sextape online featuring Ray J and Kardashian. And you might think this pop video might be slightly less of a problem than that. His manager Wack 100 certainly thinks so, telling TMZ: “If they didn’t show Ray J with his dick in Kim Kardashian’s mouth, then tell Kanye to go back and reshoot that shit”.

He sounds like a nice guy, doesn’t he? And this seems like an appropriate time to bring in comedian Lena Dunham, who does not appear in the video but is a friend of Swift’s. She described the video yesterday as “one of the more disturbing ‘artistic’ efforts in recent memory”.

“Make a statement on fame and privacy and the Illuminati or whatever is on your mind”, she said, addressing West. “But I can’t watch it, don’t want to watch it, if it feels informed and inspired by the aspects of our culture that make women feel unsafe even in their own beds, in their own bodies”.

Finally, a rep for George W Bush reportedly said: “In case there was any doubt, that is not President Bush [in the video]. He is in much better shape”.

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Tuesday 28 June 2016, 09:12 | By

Approved: Lola Colt

CMU Approved

Lola Colt

Lola Colt are set to release their second album, ‘Twist Through The Fire’, on 1 Jul, and yesterday put out the video for new single ‘Moonlight Mixing’. A step away from the rolling psych of previous single release ‘Gold’, the song sees the band put their spin on 60s pop.

It’s also very much a track with two different sonic stories to tell. The version now publicly available is a blast of powerful pop that clocks in at less than three minutes. The still under wraps album version, meanwhile, stretches itself out to more than seven minutes, manoeuvring through different themes and sounds before a final explosion of guitar and drums.

The band will be touring the UK in July too – full dates to be found here – and you can ready yourself for the full attack of their sound with the short version of ‘Moonlight Mixing’ 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 27 June 2016, 13:37 | By

CMU Digest 27.06.16: Brexit, Led Zeppelin, Spotify, safe harbours, SFX, Guvera

CMU Digest

European Commission

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

Music industry trade groups responded to the result of the UK’s big referendum which will see the country exit the European Union. Representatives for the UK and European music and record industries admitted the move presented challenges, but hoped any negative impact on the music business could be limited. BPI boss Geoff Taylor said: “We will, of course, press the government to swiftly negotiate trade deals that will ensure unimpeded access to EU markets for our music and our touring artists”. [READ MORE]

Led Zeppelin defeated the long-running song-theft lawsuit in which they were accused of ripping off Spirit song ‘Taurus’ for their hit ‘Stairway To Heaven’. The jury weren’t convinced Led Zepp’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page hadn’t heard the earlier Spirit track before writing their song, but concluded that the two works were not sufficiently similar to constitute copyright infringement. [READ MORE]

Spotify revealed it now has over 100 million active users, as the streaming firm’s boss man Daniel Ek spoke at the ad industry’s Cannes Lions conference. Meanwhile the streaming company announced a new partner for merchandise upselling on its platform – Merchbar – its previous partner Bandpage having been bought by YouTube earlier this year. [READ MORE]

Veteran artist manager Irving Azoff organised an open letter to US Congress signed by over 180 artists calling on American lawmakers to amend the safe harbours that are utilised by opt-out streaming services like YouTube. Meanwhile the International Artist Organisation wrote to the European Commission urging them to ensure artists and songwriters are at the heart of any discussions on tackling safe harbours in Europe. [READ MORE]

Dance music firm SFX confirmed it had abandoned the Restructuring Support Agreement it announced when it entered bankruptcy earlier this year. The company said the move would provide more “flexibility” in its ongoing negotiations with bondholders and creditors. It’s not clear whether it was the company or the bondholders who wanted the change in direction. [READ MORE]

Australian streaming music firm Guvera’s planned IPO was blocked by the stock exchange on which it hoped to float, the Australian Securities Exchange. In something of an unprecedented move, the ASX used its power to stop the company from floating after many investor groups critisised the digital music firm’s proposals. As a result, Guvera placed some of its subsidiaries into administration over the weekend. [READ MORE]

The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Google and GoDaddy signed up to a US ad-industry anti-piracy initiative [INFO]
• Nintendo announced Ella Eyre as a brand ambassador [INFO]
• Atlantic signed Rita Ora [INFO]
• Columbia reportedly signed Harry Styles [INFO]
• earMUSIC signed KMFDM [INFO]
• Kobalt signed Zayn Malik for publishing [INFO]

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:17 | By

UK and international music industry trade bodies try to put a positive spin on Brexit

Business News Labels & Publishers Live Business

European Commission

With no one in Planet Politics seemingly that keen to write the book ‘What The Fuck Does Brexit Look Like?’ just yet, some of the trade bodies representing the music industry have said that they hope any negative impact on the UK and wider European music business can be minimised.

In doing so they echo the previously reported comments made by the boss of UK record industry trade group BPI, Geoff Taylor, who called on the British government to “swiftly negotiate trade deals that will ensure unimpeded access to EU markets for our music and our touring artists”. Taylor also wondered if a future UK government possibly having more control over its copyright regime might aid the industry’s campaign against safe harbours.

Elsewhere, the chair of cross-industry lobbying group UK Music, Andy Heath, told reporters on Friday: “Politics aside, a decision has now been made and it is important to minimise divisions amongst us. We are in a new world and we must move forward positively. British music is strong and successful and will remain an essential part of a rich and diverse European culture”.

“We should not be scared by change, we should see it as a positive opportunity”, he continued. “We are an export-led business and consumers around the world want our music, artists and products and this will not change after yesterday’s decision. UK Music will continue to protect and promote our members, creators and businesses to ensure they are best represented to continue achieving this global success”.

The organisation’s CEO Jo Dipple added: “Clearly there are lots of very important decisions that will be made over the next few weeks. We will have a new Prime Minister in the autumn, there will be a new government and UK Music will work very hard with the new administration to ensure the music industry continues to be well served by the British government. We need a united business voice to ensure that when renegotiations take place, markets continue to serve the music industry”.

Presumably hoping that Culture Secretary and pro-Brexiter John Whittingdale will still be part of that new administration, Dipple added: “In John Whittingdale we have a politician who understands the creative and music sectors and will have our best interests at heart”.

Giving things a global spin, Frances Moore of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry expressed more concern than most about the immediate future, saying: “As an international recording industry, with businesses across all 28 EU member states, the interest of our sector was for the UK to remain in the European Union. The decision of the UK to leave the EU creates a great deal of uncertainty which could last for a considerable time. In this difficult period, IFPI will continue to work hard to ensure that our members’ interests are best represented on all the issues we deal with”.

Representing the independent label community, AIM’s outgoing CEO Alison Wenham said: “AIM will liaise closely with our members, other trade bodies and colleagues across the music industry to ensure that the strength and standing of the independent music community in the international marketplace is not diminished by these events”.

Meanwhile, pan-European indie label group IMPALA chipped in: “Change is on the way that’s for sure, but one thing is clear: the UK music sector will remain a fundamental player in Europe, which of course goes beyond the EU and we will continue to work hard to ensure that Brexit doesn’t interfere with the ability of European citizens to continue to enjoy UK music and vice versa. Breaking borders is what our labels do with their artists on a daily basis and that will continue”.

“We are all Europeans and AIM’s role within IMPALA will remain key – we have so much to achieve together”, the organisation continued. “We are the European Music Union and we will work hard to make it flourish”.

So there you go. I hope that makes you feel better.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:14 | By

Wolfe Estate lawyer responds to ruling in Led Zep song-theft trial

Business News Legal

Led Zeppelin

The lawyer representing the Wolfe Estate in the Led Zeppelin song-theft trial has said his side lost because of the decision by the judge to limit the case to the core compositions of the two songs in question, rather than allowing jurors to compare the recordings.

As much previously reported, the Zeppelin were accused of ripping off Spirit song ‘Taurus’ for their hit ‘Stairway To Heaven’. The Spirit track was written by the late Randy California – aka Randy Craig Wolfe – who was always ambivalent about the similarities between the two songs during his lifetime, but the lawsuit was pursued by the trust which now benefits from his estate and the royalties it earns.

As in the ‘Blurred Lines’ plagiarism case last year, because the infringement claims related to the copyright in the song not the recording, the judge overseeing the case said only the core compositions as filed with the US Copyright Offices could be considered by the jury, not the actual tracks as released, where the similarities are arguably more pronounced.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, the Wolfe Estate’s lawyer, Francis Malofiy, said: “For Led Zeppelin, they won on a technicality – they should be proud of that. For plaintiff, the jury’s verdict is disappointing, but largely determined by one ruling of the court: plaintiff was not permitted to play the album recording of ‘Taurus’, which Jimmy Page had in his record collection. This ruling, which limited plaintiff to using the sheet music deposited in the Copyright Office, effectively tied our hands behind our back. Needless to say, we do not believe it is legally correct or logically sound”.

There were two key elements to the plagiarism case, first whether or not the two songs were sufficiently similar to constitute copyright infringement, and second whether or not Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had been exposed to ‘Taurus’ before writing ‘Stairway’. On the latter point the jury sided with the Wolfe Estate, but Led Zep nevertheless prevailed because the jury sided with them on the first point.

Malofiy noted this in his statement, continuing: “The jury agreed very clearly with plaintiff that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had access to ‘Taurus’, and discounted their denials that they had never heard ‘Taurus’ before”. He then concluded: “For Led Zeppelin, the case was about their legacy and reputation; for Randy California it was about credit. In this regard, neither party won. Justice is sweet and musical; but injustice is harsh and discordant. Here, there was injustice”. So that’s fun.

Considering what precedents this latest song-theft ruling might set, US lawyer J Michael Keyes noted last week that potential plaintiffs in plagiarism lawsuits must consider whether the case will centre on the core composition of their song, and whether that will impact on the jury’s opinion with regard to similarities.

“It may have been too much of a stretch for the jury”, he said of the Led Zep case, “to appreciate any similarities between a rather sedate piano composition [of ‘Taurus] and the soaring, electric sound recording of one of the rock genre’s greatest hits of all time”.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:12 | By

Court to consider claims of potential heirs to Prince estate

Artist News Legal

Prince

A Colorado prison inmate who claimed to be Prince’s son has already been ruled out as a possible heir of the late musician through a DNA test, according to a source speaking to the Associated Press. The man was one of number of people who have made a claim to be an heir to Prince, who died in April without leaving a will.

A court hearing is due later today to consider the claims by various people to have a family connection to Prince. Local media report that other people have come forward to also claim that the popstar was their father, while there are also claims from siblings, half-siblings and more distant relatives. The judge overseeing Prince’s estate is seeking to establish legitimate heirs before deciding who should benefit from the musician’s fortune and future royalties.

As previously reported, cameras and recording devices have been banned from the proceedings, and judge Kevin Eide has declined to allow a legal rep for various media organisations to make a case about overturning that decision as part of today’s proceedings. Eide has also added that some elements of the case may have to be conducted entirely in private, because they are potentially discussing matters of paternity.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:10 | By

Rights owners and ISPs can’t agree on specifics of Aussie web-blocking

Business News Digital Legal

trendswebblock

As web-blocking gets underway in Australia, there was some bickering in court last week over what to do about proxies.

As previously reported, new laws in Australia allow rights owners to seek court injunctions forcing internet service providers to block access to sites deemed liable for copyright infringement. Australia follows a number of other countries in allowing web-blocking as an anti-piracy tactic.

One of the issues with web-blocking is that as soon as a blockade is in place, individuals set up proxies which enable people to still access the blocked site via an alternative URL, which can usually be found pretty quickly with a Google search. Rights owners have tried to tackle this weakness to an extent by logging known proxies and demanding they too are blocked by the ISPs.

The question is, do the proxy web-blocks require a whole new injunction, or can the extra URLs just be added to the injunction that blocked whatever site the proxies are linking too? In the UK, where web-blocking has become a preferred anti-piracy tactic of the music and movie industries, generally the simpler latter approach has been possible.

That’s what the Australian entertainment industry now wants, arguing that that’s what the new copyright law allowing web-blocking allows for. But, according to ITNews, the net firms do not concur. Nevertheless, legal reps for the rights owners want a precedent set that the Aussie web-blocking system will work like that in the UK.

On the proliferation of proxies, lawyer Richard Lancaster said: “This is a known problem in the real world. It will be a problem that arises in the implementation of your honour’s orders. And we’re concerned – given this is the first [blocking] case – that a procedure be adopted that will not create a real administrative burden for the future in having to do something unnecessary and elaborate such as the [ISPs] suggest”.

Lancaster argued that updating web-blocks to include proxies didn’t put a great burden onto the net companies, which – the rights owners argue – should cover any costs of the web-blocking process. “In England the rights holders don’t have to pay for implementation because it’s regarded as being part of the business of carrying out the business of an ISP,” the legal man added.

We now await a court ruling on quite how Aussie web-blocking will work.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:08 | By

50 Cent arrested for swearing at Caribbean music festival

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Legal

50 Cent

50 Cent has been arrested in the small Caribbean nation of St Kitts And Nevis for swearing during his closing performance at the St Kitts Music Festival.

According to local police, the rapper and a member of his entourage, named as Bajar Walter, were detained following the performance. They were released on bail, pending a court appearance today. They are expected to be ordered to pay a fine.

According to reports, the rapper was warned before going on stage about local rules and the risk, therefore, of using profanities in his performance. His arrest may have arisen from him not censoring the word ‘motherfucking’ in the song ‘PIMP’. A spokesperson said that he had actually been booked to host the festival, but that organisers had insisted he also perform. Which you would, wouldn’t you?

DMX was arrested for breaking St Kitts And Nevis’s laws against public profanity at the same festival in 2003. Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj fell foul of a similar law in Jamaica in 2011.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:07 | By

Guvera puts two subsidiaries into administration following IPO block

Business News Digital

Guvera

Following the news last week that Guvera’s plans to IPO had been blocked by the stock exchange on which it wished to float, the Australian streaming music firm has now put two of its subsidiary companies into administration.

According to ABC, the two companies now in administration – Guvera Australia and Guv Services – are involved in the firm’s international business. A spokesperson for the company has confirmed that the streaming service has now bailed on ten of the markets in which it operated, but insisted that 90% of its users were in the ten countries where it is still live. It’s not clear which suppliers will be affected by the closure of the two subsidiary businesses.

Insisting that the company would continue to operate beyond its home market of Australia, Guvera’s Commercial Director Asia-Pacific, Yemee Fernandes, told reporters: “As we look to focus primarily in key emerging markets, we take with us a highly scalable platform that caters to brands as much as it does for music lovers, artists and rights holders. We offer our product in markets where smartphone adoption is growing rapidly alongside digital mobile advertising spends”.

As previously reported, many in the Australian investor community were critical of the prospectus Guvera issued when it announced it was floating on the Australian Securities Exchange, saying that the company’s high debts and low revenues made it a very unattractive proposition. The digital music business amended its proposals, but the ASX still took the pretty much unprecedented step of blocking the flotation.

Given the figures in its prospectus, and the setback of the blocked IPO, there has been much speculation as to whether or not Guvera can now survive as a going concern. The streaming firm will be hoping that by shutting down certain subsidiaries the parent company can continue operating.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:05 | By

TeamRock’s John Myers retires, replaced by Michael Tobin

Business News Industry People Media

TeamRock

Rock media firm TeamRock has announced Michael Tobin as its new Chairman. He replaces John Myers, who co-founded the company in 2013 and who is now retiring from the role. Tobin has been a non-executive member of the company’s board for almost a year and a half, and was previously CEO of datacentre company Telecity Group.

TeamRock Chief Exec Billy Anderson said in a statement: “We’d like to place on record our thanks to John for his strong leadership, guidance and friendship since the birth of this company and for his continued support through his shareholding”.

Prior to launching TeamRock, Myers and Anderson were both execs at the Guardian Media Group’s now defunct radio company. The new business had both broadcasting and magazine publishing ambitions, the latter centring on the acquisition of the Classic Rock and Metal Hammer brands from Future Publishing. It has since added Prog and Blues Magazine to its roster.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 10:01 | By

Tony Blackburn joins new London digital station

Business News Media

Tony Blackburn

The previously reported new DAB radio station for London looking to recreate the Capital Radio listening experience of old – because someone would like that, right? – has announced that Tony Blackburn is joining Neil Fox and Pat Sharp on its line-up of presenters.

Blackburn will host his ‘Soul Party’ show on Thames Radio, similar to his former gig on Capital Gold, each Saturday evening. Blackburn hosts shows on other stations too but, as previously reported, lost his BBC programmes in a dispute over the evidence he gave to an internal investigation following the Jimmy Savile scandal.

On his new show, Blackburn says, according to Radio Today: “I’m THRILLED to be a part of the brand new Thames Radio, particularly as I will be playing the music I love – soul and Motown. I’ve missed playing the music I’ve championed over the years but now, every Saturday from 6-9pm, I’ll be enjoying myself playing the music I love and hope all my fellow soul fans will enjoy ‘The Tony Blackburn Soul Party'”.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 09:55 | By

Coldplay cover Viola Beach as they close “muddiest ever” Glastonbury

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Coldplay

Coldplay covered Viola Beach’s ‘Boys That Sing’ during their Glastonbury headline set last night, offering the band who, along with their manager, were killed in a car accident earlier this year an “alternative future” as Glastonbury headliners.

Noting that they had reached the point in their set where they would normally play a cover of ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie, Chris Martin told the crowd that their first appearance at the festival had been in the New Bands tent (now the John Peel Stage) in the late 90s. Saying that he hoped people had gone to see “the next Adeles or the next Radioheads” on that stage over the weekend, he then told the audience that the up and coming Viola Beach had “reminded us of ourselves in our early days”.

“We’re going to create Viola Beach’s alternate future for them and let them headline Glastonbury for one song”, he said. “So Kris and Jack and River and Tomas and their manager Craig, this is what would have maybe been you in 20 years or so and I hope we do this song justice”.

As previously reported, Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and their manager Craig Tarry all died when their car failed to stop at a barrier and fell in to a canal in Sweden in February. A posthumous album is due to be released next month, and ‘Boys That Sing’ was recently re-released as a single.

Elsewhere in Coldplay’s headline set, an out of tune piano meant that Martin had to perform ‘Everglow’ solo. Bringing the band together for an intimate performance of the song at the front of the stage, he halted them just after beginning, noting that his piano was out of tune with the rest of the band. Saying that this was a “terrible problem”, he suggested skipping straight to the next song, to boos from the crowd, so instead performed it alone.

“OK, so having introduced the best band of my lifetime, now they’re going to leave me on my own”, he said. “But we can muster through”.

And muster through he did. Though more mustering through was not necessary for the band’s encore, after reports that plans to perform with Barry Gibb had fallen through turned out to be incorrect. The Bee Gees’ frontman performed an acoustic version of ‘You Don’t Know What It’s Like’ with Martin before being joined by the rest of the band for ‘Stayin Alive’. He can still hit all those high notes (ie every note in the song), which is quite something.

Coldplay closed their fourth Glastonbury headline set with a performance of ‘My Way’, sung by Michael Eavis. The festival’s founder earlier gave a debrief on this year’s event to The Guardian, proclaiming it to be the muddiest in its 46 year history. He blamed this on climate change, but said the event would not move to dates less likely to be affected by rain.

He also said that the festival would not be making any permanent move to a new site, saying that Worthy Farm “is the home of the festival as far as I’m concerned forever”. Previously revealed plans to hold an event at Longleat Safari Park in the festival’s next fallow year in 2019 may also be off. Eavis said that representatives of the park “came this weekend to look [at the festival] and they are not that impressed”.

Read the full interview here.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 09:53 | By

Kanye West gets naked with other celebs in Famous video

And Finally Artist News Releases

Kanye West - Famous

Kanye West premiered his latest video – for ‘Famous’ – in LA on Friday. And guess what, it’s sparked some controversy.

Intended to be “a comment on fame”, according to West, it features the rapper and his wife Kim Kardashian naked in bed with lookalikes of George W Bush, Donald Trump, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, Ray J, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby.

Swift, whose lookalike takes up position next to West, features in the lyrics too, the rapper proclaiming: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous”. Lying by the side of his wife, Ray J is of course the man who stars opposite her in a sextape.

“[I say] a lot of lines other wives would not allow a husband to say,” he told Vanity Fair, when quizzed on getting his wife’s approval for the video. “But my wife also puts up photos that other husbands wouldn’t let them put up. One of the keys to happiness in our marriage is we’re allowed to be ourselves. Our life is walking performance art”.

And to ensure it stayed dead arty, West added that he had worked hard to ensure that there was nothing sexual about the video. “We were very careful with shots that had [something] sexual to take them out”, he said.

You can, or more likely can’t, watch the video on Tidal.

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Monday 27 June 2016, 09:49 | By

Approved: MJ Hibbett & The Validators – 20 Things To Do Before You’re 30

CMU Approved

MJ Hibbett & The Validators

I needed some cheering up on Friday. And thankfully MJ Hibbett was on hand with some new music.

This Friday, MJ Hibbett & The Validators return with their first album since 2010, ‘Still Valid’. First single ’20 Things To Do Before You’re 30′ offers an alternative bucket list to the usual nonsense, presenting a to-do top 20 that I did a pretty good job of completing before I was 30. So that’s good news.

“Smoke bananas, fall asleep on a train, get so drunk that you hallucinate, go out with someone awful, be friends with gits, die your hair, shave your head, go for lunch and come back pissed”. It’s a solid and achievable list. “Pretend that you are weird” is another good one.

All of these will be useful in later life, Hibbett explains. And there are also some key tips for what to expect once you’ve passed that big 3-0 milestone. Listen 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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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:42 | By

BPI comments on UK’s decision to leave European Union

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business Management & Funding Marketing & PR Top Stories

European Commission

In the wake of the UK public deliberately choosing to fuck themselves over just for the thrills, record industry trade group the BPI has commented on the outcome of yesterday’s European Referendum. The British music industry, of course, overwhelming supported remaining within the European Union.

“The outcome of the EU Referendum will come as a surprise to many across the music community, who will be concerned by the economic uncertainty that lies ahead and the impact this may have on business prospects”, said BPI chief Geoff Taylor this morning. “However, the UK public has spoken, and once the short-term political and macro-economic consequences have played out, this decision will mean new priorities for the music industry in our work with government”.

He continued: “We will, of course, press the government to swiftly negotiate trade deals that will ensure unimpeded access to EU markets for our music and our touring artists. Our government will also now have the opportunity to legislate for stronger domestic copyright rules that encourage investment here in the UK and which will protect UK creators from piracy and from tech platforms siphoning off value through copyright loopholes”.

Concluding, Taylor said: “We are confident that British music will remain hugely popular across Europe and we will work hard to make sure UK labels are able to capitalise on that demand”.

For a look at the possible future now facing both the UK and European music industries, read Laura Snapes’ pretty comprehensive pre-Referendum report for Pitchfork and cry.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:40 | By

Jury sides with Led Zeppelin in ‘Stairway To Heaven’ song-theft case

Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Led Zeppelin

Seemingly using up the world’s supply of common sense just before we could get our hands on some, a jury yesterday ruled that Led Zeppelin did not rip off the Spirit song ‘Taurus’ when they wrote their hit ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

As much previously reported, the Zeppelin were accused of ripping off ‘Taurus’ – four decades after they wrote their song – by the trust that benefits from the estate of the man who wrote the Spirit track, the late Randy California, aka Randy Craig Wolfe.

The Californian court case to consider the song-theft claim focused on two key questions, whether or not Led Zep’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were exposed to the Spirit song back in the day, and whether or not ‘Taurus’ and ‘Stairway’ were similar enough to constitute copyright infringement.

Plant and Page denied ever hearing ‘Taurus’ before writing ‘Stairway’, despite the former being at venue where Spirit played in 1969, and the latter admitting he owned a copy of the album on which the song appears.

Meanwhile the two men also presented a musicologist who disagreed with the expert witness presented by the plaintiffs, who had said there was “substantial similarity” between the two songs. But Led Zep’s expert disagreed, arguing that ‘Taurus’ and ‘Stairway’ simply used the same “musical building blocks”.

On that latter point the jury agreed with the rockers. Although they felt Page and Plant likely had heard the Spirit song before they wrote their own hit, jurors decided the two works were not sufficiently similar to constitute copyright infringement, thus finding in Led Zeppelin’s favour.

Welcoming the ruling in a joint statement, Plant and Page told reporters yesterday: “We are grateful for the jury’s conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favour, putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years. We appreciate our fans’ support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us”.

Meanwhile a spokesman for Warner Music, also targeted in the lawsuit, added that: “At Warner Music Group, supporting our artists and protecting their creative freedom is paramount. We are pleased that the jury found in favour of Led Zeppelin, re-affirming the true origins of ‘Stairway To Heaven’. Led Zeppelin are one of the greatest bands in history, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are peerless songwriters who created many of rock’s most influential and enduring songs”.

Following last year’s ‘Blurred Lines’ case – another high profile song-theft lawsuit, but where the party claiming infringement prevailed – lawyers will now be considering what this new ruling tells us about what American copyright law says about songs that sound rather similar.

On that point, J Michael Keyes, from the Californian office of law firm Dorsey & Whitney, told reporters: “The jury’s verdict may have several noteworthy implications for current music copyright cases – such as those pending against Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran – and future ones, too. Although teasing out exactly what swayed the jury is a bit like reading tea leaves, here are some observations”.

“A music copyright plaintiff should think carefully about whether the ‘amount’ of alleged infringement is significant enough to pursue”, the legal man observes. “Especially through a full-blown jury trial. The amount of alleged similarity in this case was essentially a five-note ‘baseline’ and the jury found that the two works were not substantially similar”.

“A music copyright plaintiff should also consider whether the alleged ‘similarity’ is due to copying or, rather, whether the similarity may be due to common elements that exist in the world of music”, he continued. “Just as an author cannot claim copyright protection in ‘stock’ plot elements – ie ‘it was a cold, dark stormy night’ – a musician cannot protect ‘stock’ music elements either – ie a ‘baseline’ that has been used in scores of musical compositions”.

Keyes also noted that in this case, jurors had to specifically compare the core compositions of the two songs, rather than the classic recordings, where the similarities are arguably stronger.

This is because, says Keyes, “the sheet music version of ‘Taurus’ is what was registered with the US Copyright Office. It may have been too much of a stretch for the jury to appreciate any similarities between a rather sedate piano composition [of ‘Taurus] and the soaring, electric sound recording of one of the rock genre’s greatest hits of all time”.

Though, of course, the same limitation was applied to the ‘Blurred Lines’ case, and that time the song-theft allegations still stood.

One last issue in this case, Keyes reckons, is the time it took to sue. “The multiple decades delay in pursuing this case – especially given that the plaintiff who wrote the song has already ascended his own stairway – may have been too much for the plaintiff to overcome. The jury may have seen the plaintiff’s estate as trying to cash in on ‘all that glitters is gold'”.

So, all in all, not a good day for the trustees of the Wolfe Estate. But hey, you can appeal your bad news. You lucky, lucky bastards.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:38 | By

Austrian court overturns web-block injunctions

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trendswebblock

The Court Of Appeal in Austria has overturned a web-block injunction issued by the Commercial Court Of Vienna last summer, which forced local internet service providers to block their customers from accessing The Pirate Bay and three other piracy websites.

Last year’s ruling saw Austria join numerous other countries in providing the entertainment industry with web-blocking as an anti-piracy tactic against copyright infringing websites based outside the local jurisdiction.

Although not a perfect tactic by any means – it’s relatively easy to circumvent the blockades – web-blocking has become popular with rights owners in countries where it is an option, and even some ISPs now see it as one of the more practical approaches to trying to curtail online piracy.

Though net firms in Austria were not impressed when web-blocking arriving in their country, and therefore they have welcomed the appeals court judgement cancelling the blockades.

According to Torrentfreak, the appeal ruling, actually made last month but only just made public, seemingly cites a judgement in the German courts in deciding that web-blocks were not appropriate in this case.

The local music industry has already confirmed it will now appeal the appeal, taking the matter to Austria’s Supreme Court, with a rep insisting that the original web blocks “were clarified legally in a four-year procedure involving the European Court”.

So maybe the good old European Courts Of Justice can step in here and help the Austrian music community in their bid to fight piracy. A nice little option to have, no longer available to the UK music community of course, now the ECJ’s been resolutely told to go fuck itself. Good times.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:36 | By

Harry Styles reportedly signs to Columbia

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Harry Styles

So that there Harry Styles, while busy doing some acting just now, has signed up with Sony label Columbia to launch his solo career singing songs, according to some of those pesky sources who have told Billboard the deal is done.

It means Sony Music have managed to keep the One Direction star within the empire, alongside Zayn Malik – sorry, ZAYN – who released his debut solo record with another Sony label, RCA.

Specifics of the Styles deal are not yet known, nor is any sort of timeline for when he might bring out a record. And, we should note, neither Columbia nor his management Full Stop have as yet commented.

Plus, of course, with Styles being a young person keen to pursue his ambitions abroad, some old person could still come along and fuck it all up.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:34 | By

Cassette Store Day to return in October

Business News Education & Events Retail

Cassette Store Day

Just as David Cameron steps down as Prime Minister and the lives of British people are thrown into even deeper turmoil by their own hand, the fourth annual Cassette Store Day will take place on 8 Oct.

“Every year around spring the emails and questions begin – will there be another Cassette Store Day?” says co-founder Jen Long. “When will it happen? Can I put out a tape? For a supposedly dying format there’s still so much love and life for those little bits of plastic. I know come October there’ll be another special release list and days of celebration planned around the world. Vive le cassette! As our partners in France might say”.

Well, maybe neighbours more than partners now. Anyway, Long’s US counterparts at Burger Records added: “When we completed Cassette Store Day 2015 we went back to the drawing board. We said ‘We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s best Cassette Store Day. 2016 will be that year. Better than it was before. Better… stronger… faster'”.

Labels looking to get involved should visit the CSD website here. An initially list of releases will be published in August.

If you want a tape fix sooner than that – and why wouldn’t you? – you can watch new documentary ‘Cassette’ at the East London Film Festival on 27 Jun. Details on that here.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:31 | By

Robbie may rejoin Take That for 25th anniversary tour and album

Artist News

Take That

Robbie Williams might be rejoining Take That for a 25th anniversary tour, and possibly a new album too.

“We’ve been talking to Robbie about it”, Howard Donald told the Brexit-supporting cunts at The Sun. “And it might be that if we do a 25th anniversary album, that we do some co-writing or some extra tracks on that”.

It won’t be a full reunion though, Jason Orange no longer being in the group either remember. Donald added: “We’ve been in touch with Jason and   we’ve been in touch with Robbie. Jason is in his place where he is now and he’s not got any intention at the moment to be back in the band”.

Oh well, no one likes unions anyway anymore, do they? Take back control, I say. Expect the anniversary tour to be just Mark Owen sitting on a bin humming ‘Clementine’.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:28 | By

Plans to move Glastonbury Festival “on the back burner”, says Michael Eavis

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Glastonbury 2016

Glastonbury Festival has voted to remain within Worthy Farm, says Michael Eavis. Although he said that previously reported plans for organisers to launch a new event in the next few years, possibly at Longleat Safari Park, would be to test out a possible alternative site.

According to the NME, Eavis was speaking to the event’s own on site newspaper – the Glastonbury Free Press – as the festival got underway, and said: “It’s really on the backburner now. But it’s something we’re looking at for the next fallow year, which is likely to be in 2019. It’s important that we try another site. We could have all kinds of problems here with livestock, which could close us down. Longleat is only eighteen miles down the road, and it looks like a good place if we ever did [need] an alternative site”.

Commenting on reports that her father had said that 2018 could be Glastonbury’s final year at Worthy Farm, Emily Eavis told the BBC in May that, although her team was looking into setting up a new event, “the main thing to set straight is that Glastonbury Festival itself will always be at Worthy Farm”.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:26 | By

MIA will still perform at Afropunk festival, despite threats of boycott over Black Lives Matter comments

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

MIA

London’s Afropunk festival has defended MIA and said that she is still scheduled to headline the event in September, despite the musician saying earlier this week that she had pulled out. There had been calls to cancel her appearance over comments she made about the Black Lives Matter movement earlier this year.

In an interview with the Evening Standard in April, MIA said: “Is Beyonce or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question”.

She later said of her comments on Twitter: “I’m not Muslim. My question was, on American platforms what do they allow you to stand up for in 2016?”

Many threatened to boycott Afropunk, which takes place at Alexandra Palace on 24 Sep, unless MIA’s headline set was pulled. This led her to tweet on Monday: “Sorry I’m not doin Afropunk. I’ve been told to stay in my lane. Ha, there is no lane for 65 million refugees whose lanes are blown up!” However, last night festival organisers issued a statement saying the MIA would still perform, while defending her earlier comments.

“To us, the fact that MIA’s comments sparked dialogue about a global view of the Black struggle is not a failing”, said the statement. “We also know that without the community that supports our platform and our events, there would be no Afropunk, so we would never elevate an artist or performer who we considered at odds with our ethos or not supportive of those we stand beside. We’ve read and welcomed the critique of MIA’s participation… The debate is healthy and as people who have long been silenced, we refuse to participate in silencing of other voices”.

It added: “MIA will still perform at Afropunk London, and there is a huge amount of UK / global talent still to be announced. We hope that this event also brings to light the experiences of black Brits, immigrants and refugees in the UK, who are continuously erased. To our community: trust that when your day standing in the circle of the criticised comes, we will have your back. Let’s love and struggle along with one another – and turn up on the system”.

Read the full statement here.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:25 | By

CMU’s One Liners: Adele, KMFDM, Mayhem, more

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

Adele

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• KMFDM have signed to earMUSIC. The band will release ‘Rocks – Milestones Reloaded’, reworked versions of their greatest hits, in September.

• Ahead of her looming Glastonbury headline set this weekend, Adele’s ’25’ album is now on Spotify.

• The BBC has published a guide to not fucking your ears up at gigs, in partnership with the British Tinnitus Association. Take heed.

• Black metal legends Mayhem have released a new video for ‘Watchers’.

• Jakwob will release new EP ‘Feel So Good’ on 1 Jul. From it, this is ‘Skup’.

• Seriously, fuck you if you voted Leave.

• Boo hoo, Nite Jewel’s done a video.

• Pins have put out a video for ‘I’ll Get Mine’.

• So Below has released the video for ‘Far’, taken from her excellent debut EP.

• Ofelia K has released a new track, ‘I Love My Lawyer’. And who doesn’t?

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Friday 24 June 2016, 11:20 | By

CMU Beef Of The Week #311: Katy Perry v Taylor Swift

Artist News Beef Of The Week Brands & Merch

Katy Perry

I previously said I’d carry on with the EU theme in this column as long as Brexit was still a thing. But seriously, it’s too depressing to do so now that we’re actually stuck with it all for the next decade or so. And so, like all the promises made by the Leave Campaign, it turns out I was not telling the truth. Here’s some other non-story I cobbled together for your mild entertainment.

Oh, you thought it was gone, washed away with the rain of new gossip. But no. It’s back. The feud between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift is back.

As you will no doubt remember, this all stems from an interview Taylor Swift gave to Rolling Stone, in which she said that her song ‘Bad Blood’ was about another female musician who had “basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour”. TMZ claims that this was all to do with a disagreement between the two singers over backing dancers.

It all blew up again when Perry wrote a tweet that was assumed to be siding with Nicki Minaj, after Swift entirely misjudged a response to comments Minaj had made about the nominees for Video Of The Year at the MTV VMAs last year. “Finding it ironic to parade the ‘pit-women-against-other-women argument’ about as one immeasurably capitalises on the take down of a woman”, wrote Perry, which the world took to be a reference to ‘Bad Blood’.

Prior to that, there’d been a whole thing about Kerry Perry planning to perform her own diss track at her Super Bowl half time show, which turned out not to be true then, or later when it was claimed that she had an anti-Swift single in the works.

Neither artist has ever explicitly come out and said they’re actually having a feud, mind. Though Swift has come out and accused the media of whipping these things up in order to have something to write about. Journalists? Invent feuds between musicians – particularly female musicians – to fill space? Never.

No, because now there’s conclusive proof that the Perry/Swift feud is real. And it smells lovely. Katy Perry recently unveiled her latest perfume. And what is that perfume called? It is called ‘Mad Love’. As in, “Now we’ve got bad blood, it used to be mad love”, aka the lyrics of Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ song.

Pretty conclusive, huh? What better way to get back at someone than through commerce? Every time Swift smells that fragrance, she’ll be like, “Ugh, damn you Perry. Damn you to hell. We sure do have bad blood”. And every time she performs ‘Bad Blood’, or it plays on the radio, or someone listens to it on Apple Music, it’ll be like an advert for Katy Perry’s latest smell.

It’s a business plan that’s worked well for Perry in the past. Who now can hear ‘Killer Queen’ by Queen without thinking of Perry’s perfume of the same name? I sure can’t.

Now, you might say that ‘mad love’ is a phrase that was commonly used before Taylor Swift ever thought of putting it in a song. But you’re forgetting that as far as Taylor Swift is concerned, she owns all the words she has ever spoken. The fact that her attempts to legally confirm this have never worked is a daily source of immense anger for her. Probably. So think how she feels now that she knows that Katy Perry basically owns two of her words. Two of them!

Swift may also be annoyed that she didn’t think to use the two word lyric for one of her own fragrances, which all have awful names, like ‘Incredible Things’ and ‘Wonderstruck Enchanted’. ‘Wonderstruck Enchanted’ was Swift’s follow-up to ‘Wonderstruck’, if you were wondering. Just like ‘Mad Love’ is Perry’s follow-up to ‘Mad Potion’.

Oh but the feud. The feuding. The terrible, terrible feuding.

Like I said, fuck Brexit.

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Friday 24 June 2016, 08:53 | By

CMU Podcast: The Value Gap, ATP, Guvera, Take That

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YouTube

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review the week in music and the music business, including lots of letters about the value gap, the closure of ATP, Guvera’s IPO being blocked, and the recruitment of Take That v2. The CMU Podcast is sponsored by 7digital.

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Listen to the CMU Podcast and sign up to receive new episodes automatically each week through any of these services…

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Stories discussed this week

• Big name artists sign open letter against safe harbours
• Artist organisations says ‘value gap’ not just about what YouTube pays the labels
• ATP goes into administration, Iceland festival cancelled
• Australian Securities Exchange blocks Guvera IPO
• BBC One and Gary Barlow hunt for Take That tribute act

CMU Approved

• Darkstar
• Death Team
• Bad Willow
• Portishead

What we didn’t have time to talk about

• Spotify userbase passes 100 million
• SFX terminates Restructuring Support Agreement
• Peter Sunde to sue labels for defamation over most recent Pirate Bay ruling
• Rita Ora signs to Warner Music’s Atlantic
• Kelis to open pop-up burger restaurant in London

Please subscribe, like and share after you’ve listened!

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Thursday 23 June 2016, 09:32 | By

Closing arguments presented in Led Zeppelin song-theft case

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Led Zeppelin

As expected, the jury in the Led Zeppelin song theft case began their deliberations yesterday after defence lawyers for the band rested their case, and reps for both sides delivered their closing arguments.

As previously reported, the Zeppelin are accused of ripping off ‘Taurus’ – a song written by the late Randy California, aka Randy Craig Wolfe – for their much more famous work ‘Stairway To Heaven’. The trust that benefits from Wolfe’s estate claims that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were exposed to the Spirit song at live shows in the late 1960s, which means it was well and truly in their heads when they sat down to compose ‘Stairway’. The former Led Zeppers deny ever knowing the song they are accused of stealing.

That last point was a key debate throughout the trial, ie whether or not Plant or Page had heard ‘Taurus’ before writing their hit. There were at least two gigs at the end of the 1960s where the plaintiffs argued at least one of them would have heard Wolfe’s song. Plus much was made of the fact Page has a copy of the Spirit album on which the song appeared in his record collection, he had said positive things about Wolfe’s band back in the day, and Led Zeppelin included a short cover of another Spirit song in their early gigs.

Summing up, the lawyer for the Wolfe Trust, Francis Malofiy, told the court, according to Rolling Stone: “This case is about one thing: credit. This case is about copying. Give. Credit. Where. Credit. Is. Due”. Referencing Plant and Page’s testimonies where they denied having ever heard ‘Taurus’, Malofiy accused the rockets of having “selective memories”, before honing in on inconsistencies between what they said in court and what they had said in interviews back in to day. “[Do we think their] memory is better now or in 1969 or 1970?”

Again questioning Jimmy Page’s songwriting skills, seemingly and weirdly on the basis that the guitarist began his career mainly playing other people’s songs, Malofiy also repeated his side of the other key argument in this case, just how similar – or not – ‘Taurus’ and ‘Stairway’ really are. His expert witnesses, he reminded the jury, said there was “substantial similarity” between the two songs, in particular in their use of “a descending chromatic scale in a unique and original way … that is memorable and unique”.

Page and Plant’s team, of course, had their own musicologist who said the opposite. Their legal man Peter Anderson recapped his expert’s testimony yesterday: that there was no “substantial similarity” and the two songs merely used the same “building blocks”. And they were building blocks that have been used in many other works too, and which are outside the protection of copyright law.

Anderson also defended any memory lapses that occurred in his clients’ testimonies, pointing out they wrote their song 45 years ago, and if Wolfe had had a problem with it, he really should have taken action back when it was released. The defence lawyer also argued that the plaintiffs had failed in any real terms to prove that either Plant or Page had heard ‘Taurus’ at the two Spirit gigs where they had at least been in the building on the day of the show. Indeed, he added, they hadn’t even shown Spirit played ‘Taurus’ at those concerts.

Anderson also tried to question whether the Wolfe Trust even had the right to pursue this case, arguing that the publisher of ‘Spirit’ – which is not part of the action – was actually the owner of the copyright in the song, and that Wolfe’s son, rather than the Trust, was possibly the rightful beneficiary of the songwriter’s share. Though the judge had dismissed both these points earlier in the case, and didn’t especially appreciate them being re-introduced at the final hurdle.

Unperturbed, Anderson concluded by referencing Malofiy’s opening line, and name-checking the Wolfe Trust trustee who has pursued this action, Michael Skidmore. “Randy California is entitled for credit for what he did”, Anderson said, again according to Rolling Stone, “but not what he didn’t do, and Mr Skidmore is not entitled [to the royalties]. [The plaintiffs] are asking you to take this iconic song, ‘Stairway to Heaven’, and say it has a new parent in Mr Skidmore”.

Jury deliberations will continue later today.

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Thursday 23 June 2016, 09:30 | By

Cameras banned from court hearings to identify Prince’s heirs

Artist News Legal

Prince

The judge overseeing Prince’s estate has said that cameras won’t be allowed into upcoming court hearings, which will consider the claims made by various potential heirs of the late musician.

As previously reported, with no will found, the courts are now trying to work out who Prince’s heirs should be. Various people have made a claim to become a beneficiary of his estate, including his sister, several half-siblings and a man who claims to be the star’s son.

Needless to say, there is plenty of media interest in those claims, but judge Kevin Eide has banned audio and video recording devices from the hearings, which will likely mean a smartphone ban too.

It’s thought that several news organisations will challenge that decision, though Eide has already noted that court rules in Minnesota allow for paternity proceedings to be held in private. He also added that both media and the public may still be locked out entirely from some parts of the proceedings, even if they are allowed to report on other parts via the trusty reporter’s pad and pen.

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Thursday 23 June 2016, 09:29 | By

Peter Sunde to sue labels for defamation over most recent Pirate Bay ruling

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal

The Pirate Bay

Having expressed surprise last week that a Finnish court had ordered him to pay damages to the major record companies, Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde has revealed he is now planning to sue the labels for defamation. Good times.

As previously reported, a Finnish court recently ordered Sunde to pay 350,000 euros in damages to the local divisions of Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music in relation to the sharing without licence of music by 60 artists on the file-sharing platform. The court also ordered the de-listing of the offending content from the Bay with the threat of a further one million euros fine if that doesn’t happen.

This was all rather odd because it’s well known that Sunde hasn’t been actively involved with The Pirate Bay for years. And even if you wanted to hold him liable for his past involvement, it seems rather unfair to demand Sunde remove content from a website he has no control over with the threat of a million euro penalty if he fails to do so.

The Finnish labels possibly went after Sunde rather than the anonymous team currently running The Pirate Bay because of his links to the country, he having Finnish family and having run in elections there. Either way, after the ruling against him was announced Sunde insisted he knew nothing about the case, adding on Twitter: “The record companies know that I have not had any part of TPB for ages, still suing – bullying is the new black”.

Now the former TPB man is fighting back, claiming that the labels suing him over his alleged involvement in the piracy site when they know he no longer has any connection to it amounts to defamation of character. Sunde told Torrentfreak: “I’ve decided I’m going to sue them for damage against my good name and stealing a lot of time from me. I’m a public person in Finland and they’re calling me a criminal when they KNOW I’m not involved in what they’re suing me for. It’s defamation”.

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