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Wednesday 29 March 2017, 09:58 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Pharrell, Ellen Allien, Beth Ditto more
Artist News Business News Deals Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Pharrell is working on a new musical film based on his own childhood, titled ‘Atlantis’, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And why not?
• Tricot have signed a new deal with Big Scary Monsters to release their third album, ‘3’. It’ll be released on 19 May. Here’s first single, ‘DeDeDe’.
• Slowdive have announced that they will release their first album for 22 years on 5 May. Here’s new single ‘Sugar For The Pill’. The band play The Garage in London tonight.
• Kid Koala has released the video for ‘Satellite’, taken from his new album with Emilíana Torrini, ‘Music To Draw To: Satellite’.
• Daniel O’Sullivan will release a new solo album, ‘Veld’, on 30 Jun. From it, this is ‘HC SVNT Dracones’.
• Ellen Allien will release her solo LP ‘Nost’ through her BPitch label on 12 May. She’ll play XOYO in London the same day.
• Former Gossip vocalist Beth Ditto has announced that she will play a solo show at Omeara in London on 11 Apr.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beth Ditto | Big Scary Monsters | Daniel O'Sullivan | Ellen Allien | Emiliana Torrini | Gossip | Kid Koala | Pharrell Williams | Slowdive | Tricot
Wednesday 29 March 2017, 09:52 | By Andy Malt
Nobel Prize team await Bob Dylan’s call ahead of Stockholm shows
And Finally Artist News Awards
Bob Dylan’s latest tour rolls into Sweden this week, with two shows in Stockholm on Saturday and Sunday. The perfect opportunity, you might think, to pick up the Nobel Prize money he is still due. Although the whole thing has possibly slipped his mind. Yeah, you thought this was over? It’s not over.
As previously reported, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize In Literature last year. But instead of jumping for joy and running around shouting, Bob said nothing for a while. Then he said that he was very happy about it, but that he couldn’t be bothered to actually go to Sweden to attend a party in his honour.
The Swedish Academy, which awards the prize and isn’t really used to this sort of behaviour, attempted to nudge Dylan along by regularly talking about the prize money. There’s prize money, see? Eight million Swedish kroner. That’s about £730,000. But you can only get your hands on it as a winner if you come and give a lecture in Stockholm.
Traditionally, the lecture is given before the awards party in December, but as Bob didn’t go to the party, there was no lecture then. It’s OK though, the rules state that a winner has six months from 10 Dec to give their speech. Which gives him until 10 Jun to sort it out.
When he didn’t show up in December, the Academy was all like, “Oh, that’s fine. He’s got some tour dates in Stockholm in the spring, so that’ll be perfect”. Hence this has come up again now. The Academy even said that he could deliver his lecture in the form of a concert, if he wanted. So all he has to do is say that one of these two shows is his Nobel address and – woo! – double fee. An extra $900,000 in the bank for doing no extra work.
But even the extra work of saying he’s doing no extra work is apparently too much extra work for Bob. Or so notes Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, in a new blog post.
“The Swedish Academy looks forward to the weekend”, she writes. “These concert plans were laid long before the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature had been awarded”.
She continues: “The Swedish Academy confirms that no phone calls with Bob Dylan have taken place in recent months. Dylan is nevertheless aware that a Nobel lecture must be held by 10 Jun for a payout of the prize amount to be considered. That is what the Nobel Foundation statutes say. What he decides to do is his own business”.
She also notes that Dylan remains the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature whatever happens, whether he likes it or not.
READ MORE ABOUT: Bob Dylan | Nobel Prize
Wednesday 29 March 2017, 08:47 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Piano Day
CMU Approved
Happy Piano Day, everyone! Did you know it was Piano Day today? Of course you did. What else would the 88th day of the year be? If you weren’t aware of it, then it’s lucky I caught you, because there’s a whole load of good piano stuff going on.
There will be lots of piano-focussed live shows happening around the world today, many of them UK-based. The centrepiece is two performances this afternoon and this evening at the Barbican in London, hosted by Piano Day founder Nils Frahm.
You can find out more about all of the many shows on offer at the Piano Day website. And if you can’t make any of the performances, you can still play around with the piano widget on there, which I’ve just devoted more of my afternoon to than I should probably admit.
Now, let’s round things off with a special Piano Day split single from Bigo & Twigetti’s Jim Perkins and Leah Kardos:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Jim Perkins | Leah Kardos | Nils Frahm | Piano Day
Wednesday 29 March 2017, 05:19 | By Chris Cooke
Insights Blog: Top five challenges in streaming
Business News Digital Insights Blog Labels & Publishers Legal The Great Escape 2017
Originally published to accompany a series of CMU Insights sessions at various music conferences around the world exploring digital licensing and the streaming business.
CMU Insights will be talking digital dollars at Tallinn Music Week this weekend, at Canadian Music Week in Toronto next month, and as part of the full-day Royalties Conference at The Great Escape in Brighton in May.
We’ll be explaining how the streaming business works, and will put the spotlight on some of the key challenges and issues, and in particular the transparency debate. With that in mind, here is a quick beginner’s guide to five of those challenges.
1. Converting freemium
The boom in streaming has helped the record industry return to growth, but most of that revenue boost is coming from the paid-for services.
However, many more people are accessing music via the free streaming platforms like YouTube, the free levels of Spotify, Deezer and SoundCloud, and – in the US – Pandora and iHeartRadio. To continue the rapid growth of the streaming sector the music industry needs to persuade more people to upgrade to a paid-for streaming service.
This likely requires offering a wider range of services at a wider range of price-points.
2. Digital Pie
The streaming business is basically a revenue share game, every digital dollar is split between the digital service, the label or distributor, the publisher, the artist and the songwriter.
The streaming service aims to keep about 30% of its revenue, though it often pays over much more to the music industry because [a] if a track is released by a major and is of a song published by a major the revenue share payment may be 75% and [b] on top of the basic revenue share arrangement the digital platform is often obliged to pay a minimum guarantee.
The services remain adamant that they ultimately need to keep at least 30% of their revenues to be viable businesses. In the short term this means negotiating down the labels’ revenue share arrangements a little, and in the long term it means getting rid of the minimum guarantees.
Meanwhile there remains the debate over how the money is shared within the music community – the labels, especially the majors, usually see by far the biggest share.
3. Data
Beyond how the digital dollar is shared, there remains the question of how the digital service knows who to pay.
On the recordings side it is assumed that whoever provided the content is the rights owner and is therefore due the royalty payments. But on the songs side the streaming service isn’t usually told by the label submitting the track who owns the song rights, or even what song is contained within the recording.
This means each publisher and/or collecting society must crunch a monthly list of every single stream and work out what they are owed. Which is not an especially efficient way to do it, and which has caused problems in the US in particular where there is no collecting society for mechanical rights.
4. Sustained Listening
Streaming is a fundamentally different business to selling discs and downloads, in that it’s not about upfront sales, but continued and repeat listening.
Which is to say, it’s no longer about how many records you can sell on release, but about whether or not you can persuade fans to listen to your music again and again and again over a long period of time. The goal, therefore, is sustained listening.
Everyone is still working out how you achieve repeat plays in the long term. Playlists are obviously a key part of it – and getting your tracks added to users’ personal libraries.
Sustained listening also requires a new approach music marketing and fan communications, and maybe even songwriting and record making. Everyone is on a learning curve here.
5. Transparency
During the ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ roundtables, this was the issue raised time and again by the artist managers we spoke to: the fact that artists and their representatives are so often in the dark about key elements of the streaming deals done between labels, distributors, publishers and the collecting societies and the streaming services.
Part of this is about the way labels, distributors, publishers and societies report information, usage and royalties back to artists; part of it is the lack of clarity in how labels are applying old record contracts to the new business; and part of it is an unwillingness by some parties to share key information about the streaming deals.
Managers say that they need this information to audit their artists’ income and to fully understand the streaming business. Artists have a key role to play in promoting paid-for streaming to the masses; but will they when neither they nor their managers have the complete story as to quite how the streaming services are exploiting their content.
For more details on CMU Insights conference sessions click here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Canadian Music Week | Tallinn Music Week | The Great Escape
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:43 | By Andy Malt
Culture Minister raises concerns over Met Police’s controversial Form 696
Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories
Culture Minister Matt Hancock has written to London mayor Sadiq Khan over continued fears that the Metropolitan Police’s controversial Risk Assessment Form 696 is being used to racially profile music events in the capital. In particular, he raised concerns that its use is stifling the grime scene, pushing events out of London.
Form 696 asks for the names, stage names, addresses and phone numbers of all promoters and artists at an event where pre-recorded backing tracks are used. An earlier version of the document also asked about the genre of music being performed and likely ethnic make-up of the audience, though those questions were dropped in 2009 after a number of artists and music industry groups campaigned against what was seen as racial profiling.
Nevertheless, concerns have persisted about the form, and other similar documents now used by sixteen other British police forces, some of which – according to the BBC – still ask one or both of the more controversial questions dropped in London.
Writing to Khan about the Met Police’s continued use of Form 696, Hancock says: “I am concerned that the form is not only potentially stifling young artists and reducing the diversity of London’s world-renowned musical offering, but is also having a negative impact on the city’s night-time economy by pushing organisers and promoters of urban music events outside London”.
“Genres of urban music like grime have the same significance for today’s young people as punk did in the 1970s, empowering them, creating a new generation of musical heroes and growing to become a worldwide phenomenon”, he continues. “I would like to understand whether you think Form 696 is serving a justified purpose and working well, or whether there is a case for changing the current system”.
A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said that the form “does not target any particular group” adding that “we have good working relationships with promoters and venues alike and are confident the majority understand the need for Form 696”.
Meanwhile, in its own statement, City Hall said: “Our priority is to keep Londoners safe and support a vibrant night-time economy, and this means ensuring that all performances have the most appropriate security and safety plans in place. We have supported a number of events that bring together the Met, music venues, and promoters to try to improve the understanding of when and how Risk Assessment Form 696 should be used”.
Others view the form differently however, rapper P Money telling the BBC that he sees it as a “race thing”, saying: “It’s been happening for so many years that now we kind of know, it’s just our scene. [The police] target grime a lot, they just blame a lot of things on grime. We know they’re just trying to shut down grime, because if it was anything else they wouldn’t have this issue”.
“If, for example, Ed Sheeran had a show and a fight broke out, he’s not going to do a 696 on his next arena tour”, he continued. “A fight still might have broken out though, but they don’t look at it like that. They just think, ‘Oh it’s different for them’. Why is it different? There’s fights everywhere, there’s situations everywhere at all types of shows, all types of things, whether its punk, rock, hip hop, pop, whatever”.
UK Music was one of the organisations which campaigned against the more controversial questions on the original Form 696 back in the late 2000s. Its chief exec Jo Dipple has now welcomed Hancock’s letter to Khan, saying in a statement: “UK Music thanks the minister who has a track record of stepping in to support British musicians. It is important to make sure Form 696 is not being unfairly used against particular musical genres. Discrimination against any musician damages all of us. It reduces the diversity of our output and limits our ability to reach our economic potential”.
“British music is successful because it is diverse”, she continues. “It is right that government is stepping in on this issue and we will work with the minister, the Mayor’s office and the Metropolitan Police to properly examine and address any misuse of this form. It must be emphasised that this is not a criticism of the Met Police who do amazing work in very difficult circumstances”.
Dipple called for anyone who has first-hand experience of Form 696 being misused to contact UK Music.
READ MORE ABOUT: Matt Hancock | Metropolitan Police | Sadiq Khan
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:41 | By Chris Cooke
US Supreme Court refuses to hear record industry’s pre-1972 safe harbour case
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Media
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear a final appeal in Capitol Records’ legal battle with video-sharing site Vimeo, a case that centred on another dimension of the always fun pre-1972 technicality: do those pesky safe harbours apply to golden oldies?
As previously reported, US-wide federal copyright law only protects sound recordings released since 1972, with older tracks protected by state-level law. The safe harbours that have proven so controversial in recent years within the music community – which say that net firms aren’t liable when their customers use their servers to infringe copyright – come from federal law.
As a result, the record industry has argued that safe harbour protection shouldn’t apply if users of a safe harbour dwelling company upload and share recordings that pre-date 1972, providing a handy technicality enabling the labels to sue such companies.
Although that viewpoint has always had plenty of critics – who point out that restricting the safe harbour to only post-1972 recordings would make the protection unworkable – when then EMI label Capitol sued safe harbour dwelling Vimeo for copyright infringement in 2009, the judge hearing the case said the video site was liable where pre-1972 recordings had been uploaded to its platform without licence.
On appeal, judges in the Second Circuit court last year ruled against that judgement, stating that exempting older recordings from the safe harbour principle would “defeat the very purpose Congress sought to achieve in passing [it]”. The appeals court then refused to reconsider the case in August, resulting in the record industry taking the matter to the US Supreme Court last December.
The Supreme Court has now declined to hear the case, meaning the Second Circuit judgement stands. Though on the upside, the music community could now argue that if the federal safe harbour applies to pre-1972 recordings, perhaps the federal ‘digital performing right’ that says that American online radio services (unlike American AM/FM radio stations) must pay royalties to artists and labels should also apply to golden oldies. That way, said artists and labels wouldn’t have to try and persuade courts at a state level that such royalties are due under each state’s copyright laws.
READ MORE ABOUT: Capitol | Safe Harbours | Vimeo
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:38 | By Andy Malt
Global hires new commercial team for growing festival business
Business News Industry People Live Business
Having rapidly grown its festivals business to become a significant player in the UK festivals sector in just two years, Global has now hired a new team to make sure those events are as full of brands hawking their wares as possible. Just like you wanted.
The new team will be led by Debbie Ward, who joins as Commercial Director from Live Nation. Alongside her are Brand Directors Wayne Mensah and Amy Oldham.
“In just twelve months Global has become the second biggest player in the UK festivals market, which is why we needed to find the best commercial talent to support our investment in this sector”, says Global CCO Mike Gordon.
“I’m delighted that Debbie has joined Global given her very impressive industry credentials, having created some of the most talked about festival partnerships”, he continues. “With an enviable portfolio of festivals, access to Global’s talent management and events expertise and of course an audience of 30 million people every week through our media brands, our festival offering is truly unique”.
Ward adds: “The opportunity to join Global and lead the commercial side of their festivals business is incredibly exciting. We are perfectly placed to deliver some of the world’s most exciting campaigns for brands and I’m looking forward to working with new clients to build some memorable experiences at our festivals”.
As previously reported, Global – which already owns the Snowbombing events – further moved into the international festival market earlier this month by taking a majority stake in Croatia’s Hideout festival.
READ MORE ABOUT: Amy Oldham | Debbie Ward | Global | Wayne Mensah
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:36 | By Chris Cooke
Spotify buys MightyTV to enhance offer to advertisers
Business News Deals Digital
Spotify has bought itself content recommendation start-up MightyTV, but not because it wants to be either mighty or TV. This is what people round these parts call an ‘acquihire’, and by ‘these parts’ I mean Shoreditch, obviously. Sorry. I mean that what Spotify wants is the MightyTV team, and especially its founder Brian Adams, not the start-up’s TV and film recommendations app, which is closing.
The streaming services are all seeking to develop ever more sophisticated curation and personalisation tools and technologies, and Spotify will be hoping that Adams – who becomes Spotify’s VP Of Technology as part of the deal – and his small team of MightyTV colleagues will help with that challenge.
Spotify’s interest in Adams goes further than just helping the streaming platform get better at recommending tracks for you to listen to though. He previously ran Google’s Doubleclick advertising platform after the web giant bought his earlier start-up Admeld, and Spotify seems to think that the MightyTV team will be able to help it provide better personalisation services as part of its advertising business.
Confirming the acquisition, Spotify’s VP Of Product Jason Richman said: “The content recommendation system MightyTV has built is incredibly aligned with how we think about advertising technology and marketing personalisation. Brian and his team will help us continue to innovate on free monetisation and extend our leadership position in programmatic audio”.
So those were words, weren’t they? I think. Although Spotify’s core business in terms of revenue is in the premium subscriptions space, it still has more users signed up to the free streaming option and it needs to sell more advertising to reduce the losses made by loss-making freemium. Meanwhile in some especially emerging markets free streaming may remain a key part of the Spotify business in the longer term.
“Spotify has built the leading marketplace for fans and creators”, said Adams of his new employer. “It’s an enormous opportunity for me and the team to help create native brand experiences that stay true to a product that millions love”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Brian Adams | MightyTV | Spotify
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:34 | By Chris Cooke
Horace Trubridge to become General Secretary of Musicians’ Union
Business News Industry People
Assistant General Secretary of the Musicians’ Union Horace Trubridge will take over the top job there later this year having won the most votes from the organisation’s members.
As previously reported, incumbent General Secretary John Smith will step down in July, and there were two contenders for the role, Trubridge and MU Executive Committee member Kathy Dyson. Voting took place from 6-27 Mar.
Commenting on his win, Trubridge said: “‘I am absolutely delighted that the members have chosen me to take the union forward following John Smith’s retirement in July. Having spent the last few months travelling around the country and talking to the members, I have a very clear vision of where the union should be heading – building on John’s fantastic work of the last fifteen years – and I am eager to get started”.
He added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Executive Committee and all the members of our union for their tremendous support, I look forward to justifying that support and meeting the difficult challenges that lay ahead”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Horace Trubridge | Musicians Union (MU)
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:31 | By Andy Malt
Shaking Chains release ever-changing algorithmic music video
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases
Manchester band Shaking Chains have created an interesting video for their debut single, ‘Midnight Oil’. Using an algorithm to pull together clips of videos from around the internet, the video changes every time it is watched, never showing the same sequence of shots twice.
“‘Midnight Oil’ is an experiment in algorithmic filmmaking, whereby the hermetic structures of the pop video are corrupted”, explains the band’s Jack Hardiker, who created the video. “It generates a potentially infinite number of self-contained films from hijacked online video, to create a transitory snapshot of the world that alters with every play. The whole world plays director”.
He continues: “The raw footage is selected from an evolving set of search terms. The coding repurposes the same suggestive algorithms that inform how we consume music now. Here they cannot be ignored or silenced, but act independently. What emerges is a cacophony of footage, an exponential roar of possibilities where poignancy and nonsense become bedfellows”.
“Search terms offer the internet user a sense of stability and structure, building a parameter-fence to hold back the pandemonium”, he concludes. “Yet here they are hidden, and make their own choices: there is no accurate quantification that can be made, the extent of combinations remains unknown. What eventually comes into focus is a sense of the infinite, and a new way of generating meaning from these vast, ungainly archives of human experience”.
Watch the video and then watch a completely different one here.
You can catch the band live at The Islington in London tomorrow night.
READ MORE ABOUT: Shaking Chains
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:27 | By Andy Malt
Sparks announce new album and tour
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases
Sparks have announced that they will release new album, ‘The Hippopotamus’, on 8 Sep.
Yes, September is ages away, but the title track was released as a single last week, just as the band performed at the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival – a set you can watch online here. You can also watch the video for the single here:
The band will be touring in September too, with UK dates as follows:
20 Sep: Edinburgh, Queens Hall
22 Sep: Manchester, The Ritz
23 Sep: Nottingham, Rock City
24 Sep: Birmingham, Institute
26 Sep: Bristol, Academy
27 Sep: London, Shepherds Bush Empire
READ MORE ABOUT: Sparks
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:23 | By Andy Malt
John Legend announces UK tour
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
John Legend has announced that he will be touring the UK in September and October, following the release of his latest album, ‘Darkness And Light’, last year.
Tickets for the shows will go on sale this Friday. Here are the dates:
8 Sep: Glasgow, Hydro Arena
9 Sep: Newcastle Arena
10 Sep: Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
12 Sep: London, O2 Arena
15 Sep: Leeds, First Direct Arena
16 Sep: Manchester Arena
17 Sep: Liverpool, Echo Arena
19 Sep: Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
20 Sep: Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena
Here he is performing new single ‘Surefire’ live;
READ MORE ABOUT: John Legend
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:21 | By Chris Cooke
One Liners: LGM Records, Sony/ATV, The Guardian, more
Artist News Business News Education & Events Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Media One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• A company that provides accountancy services for the creative industries, LimeGreen, has launched its own record company, LGM Records, which is promising to push boundaries when it comes to transparency and royalty reporting. The new label will be led by Goldheart Assembly’s James Dale with support from former Epic A&R and one time EMFer Ian Dench. Kobalt’s AWAL will provide distribution.
• Sony/ATV in the US has appointed Ian Holder as VP Creative, who joins the publisher from collecting society BMI. “Top shelf”, he says. And don’t worry, that wouldn’t make any more sense if I gave you the full quote.
• Magnus Ribbeklint is the new VP, Marketing for Warner Music Nordics, taking over from Mark Fry who is now too busy being MD of Warner Music Finland to be VPing any marketing. Though Ribbeklint will do his new job as well as being GM of Warner Music Sweden. Why is GMing Warner Music Sweden so easy that you can do some VPing of marketing on the side, that’s what I want to know.
• The Guardian has axed Paul Lester’s popular New Band Of The Week (née Day) column – read the last one from yesterday here.
• Bristol Women In Music hosts a new music conference this Thursday at the city’s Colston Hall which “aims to challenge and inspire individuals working across all aspects of the vibrant musical landscape of Bristol and beyond”. It’s called Sound Industry and you’ll find full information here.
• Maximo Park have released new single, ‘Get High (No I Don’t)’. “The song is about resistance in the face of repetition and coercion”, says frontman Paul Smith.
• Spoek Mathambo has released ‘Black Rose’, taken from his forthcoming new album ‘Mzansi Beat Code’.
• Prophets Of Rage are going to play Brixton Academy on 13 Jun. Tickets on sale on Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Bristol Women In Music | Ian Dench | Ian Holder | James Dale | LGM Records | LimeGreen | Magnus Ribbeklint | Maximo Park | Paul Lester | Prophets Of Rage | Sony Music Publishing | Sound Industry | Spoek Mathambo | The Guardian | Warner Music
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 09:15 | By Chris Cooke
Doctors tell Drake to postpone Amsterdam show for third time
And Finally Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Drake has been busy of late breaking records on the streaming platforms left, right and centre, and even in that bit just between left and centre.
All that record breaking is, frankly, exhausting. No one has ever had to shake Roy Castle’s hand quite so hard before, or chat so long and so meaningfully to Cheryl Baker, let alone have his achievements listed back to him in quite so much detail by Norris McWhirter. Add to that trying to get your head around some random references to a 1980s British children’s TV show that even your own UK fans are too young to understand, and it’s no wonder Drake’s feeling under the weather.
But if you are one of those Dutch Drake fans who has now been denied the chance to see the man himself perform his unique brand of mediocre hip pop live on stage on three separate occasions, you might not be feeling so sympathetic.
Some of those disappointed fans booed and jeered the representative for Drake’s Dutch promoter as she took to the stage to announce that last night’s show at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome wasn’t happening, despite it having already been postponed twice before. Though others cut their losses, realised they’ll probably never get to capture Drake from a distance on their phones, and so recorded the postponement announcement instead.
The show is now due to take place tomorrow. Will it happen this time? Well, that depends. Perhaps Drake is now trying to break the ‘most postponed shows’ record. And while that might mean pissing off a load of Dutch fans, being dedicated to breaking the record requires some hardships, and dedication is what you need if you’re going to be a record breaker.
READ MORE ABOUT: Drake
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 08:29 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Wrongtom Meets The Ragga Twins
CMU Approved
Best known for either their pioneering work in jungle or collaborating with Skrillex (depending on how old you are), The Ragga Twins now team up with Wrongtom for the latest in his ‘Wrongtom Meets’ series of albums. The record, titled ‘In Time’ and released by Tru Throughts on 28 Apr, sees the duo pulled back to reggae and dancehall scene where they began back in the 1980s.
“The idea behind this project was to bring people together who have reggae in their DNA but don’t strictly make it, so the Twins were the perfect fit for another ‘Wrongtom Meets’ album”, says the producer. The record is an infectious collection of songs, on which the Twins clearly relish working with Tom’s beats. And the first single from the album, ‘Bacchanal’, is a solid party tune to get things moving.
“It’s about coming to a massive party – a bacchanal – slaying the dance, and the other MCs and DJs. It sounds a lot worse than it is, it’s all good clean fun”, says Wrongtom. “The bass is made on a Fender Rhodes. This is an unorthodox instrument for bass sounds, but with the bottom end turned up, and then played through a phaser, it gives an overbearing sound that envelops you”.
Watch the video for ‘Bacchanal’ below, and here’s a bit of director’s commentary from Wrongtom should you feel the need afterwards.
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: The Ragga Twins | Wrongtom
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:42 | By Chris Cooke
Campaigners say new piracy jail terms could be misused
Business News Digital Legal Top Stories
Ah, the Digital Economy Bill, that old thing. It feels like this bit of catch-all legislation has been going through the motions ever since – well – probably 2010, the last time there was a Digital Economy Bill. Able to include anything vaguely digital, as previously reported, the latest DEB includes bits n pieces about both ticket touting and copyright.
It’s the latter bit that’s in the news today after a group of campaigners, academics and lawyers wrote to the government on Friday expressing concern about the bit of the DEB that will ramp up the prison sentences for naughty copyright infringers who choose to do their naughty copyright infringement online.
The proposal that those found guilty of criminal-level copyright infringement online be subject to the same potential jail terms as those found guilty of criminal-level copyright infringement in the physical world has been on the table for sometime.
The argument goes that online operations involved in industrial-level infringement are potentially just as profitable and just as damaging as someone bootlegging CDs and DVDs on a commercial-level, so the potential prison sentences should be the same. To that end, the DEB will increase the maximum jail term for online infringers from two to ten years, so it is in line with physical copyright crimes.
When talk about such an increase was first occurring in political circles there were, somewhat predictably, claims in the tech community that the entertainment industry was looking to lock up casual file-sharers for ten years.
However, supporters of the rule change insisted that the increased sentences would only affect those accused of criminal-level copyright infringement, which usually assumes infringing activity on an industrial scale. Casual file-sharers – if targeted at all – would still be sued through the civil courts for damages, rather than being charged with a copyright crime that might now result in the tougher jail sentence.
The new open letter, posted by Torrentfreak here and signed by academics from East Anglia, Essex, Strathclyde, Cardiff and Glasgow universities, among others, says that – as it is currently worded – the proposed new legislation doesn’t provide certainty that the tough new sentencing would only apply to commercial-level copyright infringement. And that could result in the new measures being open to abuse.
The problem, the letter says, is that criminal copyright infringement is defined too widely in the draft DEB, so in addition to covering infringement conducted in the “course of a business”, it also covers any other activities that “cause a ‘loss’ or create a ‘risk of a loss’ to the copyright owner”. That latter bit could pretty much cover any form of infringement, including downloading a single track without licence.
Arguing that the proposed new rule could be in conflict with both European Union and European human rights law, the letter says: “As currently drafted, the DEB seems to be wide enough to encompass not-for-profit, small-scale online copyright infringement [as criminal infringement] which could lead to any individual spending ten years in prison for sharing a single file”. The simple solution, the letter writers say, would be to insert ‘commercial-level’ before any use of the word ‘loss’.
Those pushing for the tougher sentencing for online infringement only intend such a thing to apply to commercial-level infringers so, in theory, shouldn’t oppose the newly proposed amendment. Though some might fear that by narrowing the remit of the new rule, it provides get outs for those targeted with the new legislation down the line.
The Digital Economy Bill will be back on the agenda in the House Of Lords on Wednesday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Digital Economy Act 2017
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:40 | By Andy Malt
Rick Ross appears in court on kidnap charges
Artist News Legal
Rapper Rick Ross appeared in court last week, pleading innocent to charges of kidnapping and assault dating back to 2015.
As previously reported, Ross was arrested two years ago, along with his bodyguard Nadrian James, accused of attacking former employees Jonathan Zamudio and Leo Caceres at his home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ross and James claim that they were acting in self-defence, after discovering that people unknown to them were being allowed into the rapper’s home by the two workers. Things apparently came to a head when Ross confronted Zamudio.
James has testified that it was Zamudio who struck first and denies that any kidnap took place.
The case continues.
READ MORE ABOUT: Rick Ross
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:38 | By Andy Malt
Kanye West settles New Slaves sampling case
Business News Labels & Publishers Legal
Kanye West has settled a lawsuit that claimed he had illegally sampled Hungarian rock star Gabor Presser on his 2013 track ‘New Slaves’.
According to the New York Post, West agreed to an out-of-court settlement two days before he was due to give a deposition in the case. Presser had been seeking $2.5 million in damages, claiming that West had used parts of his 1969 song ‘Gyöngyhajú Lány’ without permission for a large portion of the ‘Yeezus’ track.
Presser apparently became aware of the use of his song when West’s lawyers contacted him after ‘New Slaves’ was used in a promotional campaign for the rapper’s 2013 tour dates. He says that the lawyers offered him a 48 hour deadline to agree to a deal and sent him a $10,000 advance, acceptance of which his lawsuit says would have provided “consent to West’s unlawful use of the original composition”.
Instead, Presser refused the advance or the deal offered and continued to negotiation through to March last year, when he went legal. A trial was due to begin in May.
READ MORE ABOUT: Gabor Presser | Kanye West
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:36 | By Andy Malt
Ole investment recapitalisation may lead to company sale
Business News Labels & Publishers
Canadian music publisher Ole is seeking bids of at least $650 million as part of what is known as a recapitalisation process. The move seemingly comes after a major investor decided to pull its money out and could lead to an outright sale of the music rights company.
“Ole has hired RCB Capitol to conduct a process to recapitalise the equity portion of Ole’s capital structure”, a spokesperson for the company told Billboard. “It is certainly possible that some party may suggest buying the company [but] that is not the intention of this process. Ole entered into a $500 million credit facility last summer. It remains well capitalised and will continue to operate as usual for the foreseeable future, including seeking acquisitions that make strategic sense”.
The company has made various acquisitions in recent years, fuelled by investment that largely came from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund. It is reported that this is the investor now seeking to move its money elsewhere.
As mentioned by the company’s spokesperson, Ole was granted a $500 million credit facility by a consortium of US and Canadian banks last September.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ole Music
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:34 | By Andy Malt
Coachella offers identity protection to hacked customers
Business News Digital Live Business
Coachella promoter Goldenvoice – a subsidiary of what we all now always remember to call AEG Presents – is offering one year of identity protection services for free to certain people affected by the recent data hack on the festival’s website.
As previously reported, the hack was reported last month and subsequently confirmed by the festival. At the time, it said that usernames, first and last names, shipping addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth had been taken during the attack, though no passwords or financial information had been accessed.
In a new page on the Goldenvoice website, offering more information on the attack and what to do if you are affected, the firm adds that ID uploaded to the website has also been taken. Customers are asked for information about their drivers licence, or other forms of identification, in order to verify who they are when they collect their wristbands. It is the people who had provided this information who are now being offered identity protection.
“Certain individuals may be eligible to receive identity protection services from AllClear ID for twelve months at no cost to you”, says the website. “These services include AllClear Identity Repair and AllClear Credit Monitoring. Only individuals with a driver’s license or other form of ID in our database are eligible to receive these services at no cost”.
It adds: “We continue to investigate the security incident, in partnership with law enforcement and independent computer forensic investigators, to learn more and prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future. Though the security vulnerability has been remediated, we will continue to monitor the situation closely for any additional suspicious activity. Furthermore, we have applied important security updates to our systems and taken other proactive measures to help safeguard our services and protect your personal information”.
READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Coachella Festival | Goldenvoice
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:32 | By CMU Editorial
CMU Insights to talk digital dollars at Tallinn Music Week this weekend
Business News Education & Events
The conference programme has been published for this year’s Tallinn Music Week and CMU Insights is presenting a session at the popular showcase festival for the first time.
The CMU Insights session, at 1.15pm on Saturday, will provide a ten step guide to how streaming services are licensed and digital royalties paid based on the ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ report we produced for the UK’s Music Managers Forum.
CMU MD and Business Editor Chris Cooke will lead the session, and talk through the various issues with the streaming business raised in the ‘Digital Dollar’ reports, before discussing possible solutions with Toomas Olljum, manager of Ewert And The Two Dragons and founder of 311.ee, an e-commerce platform for Estonian artists, and James Morgan, founder of Pieces of 8 Music, a boutique management and publishing company.
The Digital Suite session will also include a presentation from Malena Wolfer at Believe Digital looking at how data pulled out of the digital platforms should be used to inform decisions, future marketing campaigns and each artist’s business.
TMW festivities kick off today, with the core showcase festival programme beginning on Thursday and the conference on Friday. The full conference programme is live here.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights | Tallinn Music Week
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:23 | By Andy Malt
Music charity Urban Development announces £600,000 of new funding
Business News Education & Events
Music education charity Urban Development has secured £600,000 in funding for the next year, allowing for further expansion. Organisations providing funding include Vivendi, the PRS Foundation, the BRIT Trust and the Esmee Farbairn Foundation, with the new monies coming in addition to £350,000 in National Lottery funding and £97,000 from Youth Music secured last year.
The organisation provides a wide range of music education and talent development initiatives, with a skew towards urban music, and a particular focus on supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and creative talent in the black and minority ethnic communities. Its programme includes the monthly Industry Takeover Seminars at the Red Bull Studios that UD presents in partnership with CMU:DIY, the music business education programme that sits alongside the CMU media and consultancy business.
“I’m proud to announce this new round of funding with thanks to all our funding partners”, says Urban Development founder Pamela McCormick. “It will bolster Urban Development’s continuing commitment to build a centre of excellence for UK urban music, while playing an integral role within the music industry as a whole”.
She continues: “With the various satellite projects Urban Development leads across the UK – whether it be the Industry Takeover All-Dayer, showcasing some of our incredible stable of artists at The Great Escape, or this summer’s Urban Artist School – Urban Development’s purpose is to develop, champion and educate this country’s diverse, young musical talent and contribute to lasting change that will benefit the social mobility of underprivileged youth”.
UD alumni Devlin adds of the support the organisation provides: “Urban Development have provided me not only with the powerful support team and expertise a label and publisher would give, but also genuine care and consideration that only an organisation with social conscience and authentic passion and affinity with youth culture would have. Urban Development is important and gives young talent the opportunities to fulfil their potential, this benefits not just communities, but our music industry hugely”.
You will find more information on Urban Development here, and the monthly CMU:DIY x UD nights here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Urban Development
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:22 | By Andy Malt
Faith Evans releases new Notorious BIG duet
Artist News Releases
Faith Evans has released a new song that also features her late husband Notorious BIG, taken from her upcoming album ‘The King & I’.
Due for release on 9 Jun, Evans’ new LP features 25 songs that include vocals recorded by Biggie Smalls before his death in 1997. Together they tell the story of their life together from their meeting on a photoshoot in 1994, their marriage the following week, up to his murder.
Various guests join her on the album, including Lil Kim, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier, Salaam Remi and Smalls’ mother Voletta Wallace. Two other songs have previously been released from the record, ‘NYC’ featuring Jadakiss and ‘When We Party’ featuring Snoop Dogg.
Listen to new single, ‘Ten Wife Commandments’, here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Faith Evans | Notorious BIG
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:16 | By Andy Malt
London Grammar announce truthful new album
Artist News Releases
London Grammar have announced that they will release their second album, ‘Truth Is A Beautiful Thing’, on 9 Jun.
“We are over the moon to announce that our second album ‘Truth Is A Beautiful Thing’ will be released on 9 Jun”, say the band, basically just repeating what I already told you, like they think that you think I’m lying or something, the shits. “It’s been a wonderful process and a long journey, so thanks especially to all those who waited. Now it culminates with us handing the music over to you. We can’t wait for you to hear it in full”.
Yeah, whatever, they’ve upset me now. Here’s their new single, the album’s title track. Not sure if the band want to confirm that or whether you’re all willing to trust me. Okay? Okay. Good.
READ MORE ABOUT: London Grammar
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:13 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Rag N Bone Man, Section Boyz, Future Islands, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Rag N Bone Man’s released the video for new single ‘Skin’. So you can watch that now if you want.
• Section Boyz have released a new mixtape, ‘Soundcheck’. It’s nineteen new tracks, with production from Rudekid, HeavyTrackerz, Sx and Z Dot, among others.
• Future Islands have released a new track, ‘Cave’. Their new album, ‘The Far Field’, is out on 7 Apr.
• Tei Shi has just released another new track from her debut album, ‘Crawl Space’, which is out this week. Here’s ‘Justify’.
• Spiral Stairs, aka ex-Pavement man Scott Kannberg, released his new album on Friday. Here’s the video for new single ‘Emoshuns’.
• Anathema are set to release new album ‘The Optimist’ on 9 Jun. “I suppose you might say the album is semi-autobiographical because this time we used a surrogate”, says the band’s Daniel Cavanagh says: “We put sound, feelings and crucially, our own hopes and fears into another person and made him the subject of the songs, then weaving my own internal monologue into the narrative of ‘The Optimist'”. Here’s a trailer.
READ MORE ABOUT: Anathema | Future Islands | Rag N Bone Man | Section Boyz | Spiral Stairs | Tei Shi
Monday 27 March 2017, 11:08 | By Andy Malt
There’s a Harry Styles mystery to be solved!
And Finally Artist News Releases
Mystery! There is mystery in the world of Harry Styles. And who doesn’t like a bit of mystery? If this mystery had a title, it would be ‘The Mystery Of The Blank Instagram Posts (Again)’.
On Saturday, Styles posted three white images to his Instagram account, which has been dormant for months. Actually, last time he was active on there, he was posting blank images too. Though that was the tease a photoshoot for a magazine.
However, this time there was a concurrent TV ad too. It aired during Saturday’s episode of ‘The Voice’. It shows Harry stepping out of a dark room into bright light, ending with a date splashed across the screen: 7 Apr.
What could it all mean? Not another magazine shoot, surely. But could it be that there is new music on the way? Do we dare dream such a thing? Oh, the mystery! The mystery!
Of course, this whole mystery thing is slightly ruined by whoever uploaded the advert to Styles’s Vevo account titling it ‘Harry Styles ad for debut single’. But maybe that’s meant to throw us off the scent. And maybe throwing us off the scent is code that he’s releasing a new perfume. Yes, that must be it. Last time he blanked out his Instagram account it was for the sight of a new photoshoot. The next obvious sense to cover is smell.
Look out for a new Harry Style fragrance on Friday next week, you mark my words.
READ MORE ABOUT: Harry Styles
Monday 27 March 2017, 10:03 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Zoee
CMU Approved
Following guest vocal spots for Redlight and 30s, Zoee – the alter ego of musician Harriet Pittard – first emerged as a solo artist in her own right last year with ‘Insecure (7, 8, 9)’. The track set out her stall for inviting but slightly off centre pop. Its video went a long way in setting the tone for her work too, with Pittard filmed from a fixed camera looking down on her in the street from a distance.
Next, she gained further ground releasing another single, ‘Betcha’, through Ryan Hemsworth’s Secret Songs label, followed this year by a collaboration with fellow lo-fi pop upstarts The Rhythm Method, ‘Cruel’.
Now she’s back again with new single, ‘1-2-1’, of which she says: “‘1-2-1’ is inspired by my fascination with serial monogamy, moving from relationship to relationship in quick succession. I feel the need to be wanted can sometimes override the need to be loved. That need is reflected in the manic arpeggios and voice-in-your head backing vocals”.
Listen to ‘1-2-1’ here:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Zoee
Monday 27 March 2017, 06:49 | By Chris Cooke
CMU Digest 27.03.17: Viagogo, Spinrilla, SoundCloud, safe harbours, iHeart, PPL/PRS
CMU Digest
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
Viagogo declined to attend a culture select committee session on secondary ticketing in Parliament. It’s very rare for companies with a UK office to refuse to take questions from MPs in this way. In its absence there was much criticism of the ticket resale company: from MPs over its no-show; from Ed Sheeran’s manager over it allowing tickets to be touted for the singer’s charity concert in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust; and from Claire Turnham, who has set up the Victims Of Viagogo group on Facebook after a particularly bad experience using the platform. [READ MORE]
Mixtape sharing app Spinrilla filed its response to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against it by the US majors. The digital firm said that it had in the past enjoyed a good relationship with the record companies so didn’t understand the lawsuit. It said labels often asked it to promote their recordings via the app, while adding that if the record industry was now set on pursuing litigation, it reckons it is protected by the copyright safe harbours. [READ MORE]
SoundCloud confirmed it had raised $70 million in debt finance. Although that should put on hold speculation that the digital firm is about to run out of money, some reckoned that it borrowing such significant funds – rather than raising more equity finance – wasn’t a great sign either. For its part, SoundCloud continues to talk in optimistic terms, though its future now relies on its lacklustre subscription service gaining momentum. [READ MORE]
The Australian government took controversial proposals to expand safe harbours in the country out of its Copyright Amendment Bill. The local music and media industries had criticised the move, which would bring Australia’s narrower copyright safe harbours more in line with those in the US and Europe. Rights owners pointed out that safe harbours in America and the EU had proven controversial, and said the Australian government needed to do a more thorough review of the issues before changing the law. [READ MORE]
iHeart successfully defeated another pre-1972 copyright case, this one in Georgia. Unlike other lawsuits against online radio services over whether or not they need to pay royalties on golden oldies, this one didn’t ask if there was a general performing right for sound recordings under Georgian copyright law, but whether or not a personalised radio service constituted a transfer of a recording and therefore required a licence. The state’s Supreme Court decided not, on the basis the iHeartRadio service was quite like conventional radio. State laws are relevant because pre-1972 sound recordings are not protected by federal law in the US. [READ MORE]
UK collecting societies PPL and PRS For Music confirmed they are working on a joint database initiative, seeking to identify what songs are contained in what recordings, so that licensees can see who controls a track and the song it contains, plus writers and performers involved in the work, all in one place. Australian collecting society APRA/AMCO confirmed it was now also getting involved in the project which could ultimately overcome some of the industry’s music rights data problems. [READ MORE]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Live Nation took a majority stake in the Isle Of Wight Festival [INFO]
• Global added two more festivals to its portfolio [INFO]
• Sentric confirmed £3 million of financing from BGF [INFO]
• Management firm Deckstar merged with the James Grant Group [INFO]
• Stefflon Don announced a deal with Universal over her label V-IV London [INFO]
READ MORE ABOUT: iHeart | PPL | PRS For Music | Safe Harbours | SoundCloud | Spinrilla | Viagogo
Sunday 26 March 2017, 12:00 | By Andy Malt
CMU Podcast: Viagogo, Spinrilla, Talking To The Media
Awards Business News Deals Digital Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers Legal Live Business Setlist
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Viagogo’s no-show at the latest parliamentary select committee hearing on secondary ticketing, Spinrilla’s irritable response to the major record labels’ lawsuit against the mixtape sharing platform, and how new acts should approach journalists. The CMU Podcast is sponsored by 7digital.
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Stories discussed this week:
• Viagogo no show at MPs’ touts debate
• Alabama lawmakers consider law protecting right to resell tickets
• Spinrilla hits back at labels lawsuit
In brief…
• Spotify’s new label deals to include windowing, say sources
• Live Nation takes majority stake in Isle Of Wight Festival
• Ukraine bans Russian Eurovision singer from entering the country
READ MORE ABOUT: Eurovision Song Contest | Isle Of Wight Festival | Live Nation | Secondary Ticketing | Spinrilla | Spotify | Viagogo
Friday 24 March 2017, 09:52 | By Chris Cooke
SoundCloud secures $70 million in debt finance
Business News Digital Top Stories
SoundCloud has secured another $70 million in debt finance according to documents filed with Companies House that were spotted by Business Insider. So, that’ll keep the sounds in the cloud streaming for a little while longer.
There has been quite a bit of chatter of late about the digital firm’s financial situation, mainly because of a statement in its official accounts for 2015 which said that, while directors believed the business had sufficient funds to see it through 2017, “the risks and uncertainties may cause the company to run out of cash earlier than that date”.
It has been widely rumoured that SoundCloud has been both speaking to potential buyers and seeking to raise new finance in recent months. One anonymous source speaking to the FT characterised the latest stint of finance raising as passing round the begging bowl, while Recode reported that the company’s owners were now considering bids for the business far below its one time valuation of $700 million.
For its part, SoundCloud has repeatedly played down any suggestion that it is falling on hard times. Having diversified its revenue streams beyond just charging content owners hosting fees, the company is now focused on trying to get properly into the subscription streaming business with its £5.99 and £9.99 packages, which offer users more functionality and more content respectively.
While rebutting the various doom and gloom rumours, SoundCloud always insists that it is optimistic about its subscriptions business, and that it will help the company ultimately achieve profitability. Though some question whether it can really take on Spotify and Apple Music in the competitive and costly subscription streaming game, even with its large free user-base to which it can try and upsell premium.
The new round of finance comes from Kreos Capital, Ares Capital and Davidson Technology. It’s not the first injection of debt finance the company has taken – it having received $35 million from Tennenbaum Capital Partners at the start of last year before another round of equity financing.
Confirming the latest cash boost, SoundCloud said yesterday: “We are pleased to have secured a flexible $70 million credit line from Ares Capital, Kreos Capital and Davidson Technology that is ideally structured for a company with our strong credit rating and in our stage of growth. This new funding will enable SoundCloud to strategically grow our technology and personnel resources to fuel our expected 2.5 times year-over-year growth in 2017, while building a financially sustainable platform on which our connected community of creators, listeners and curators can thrive for years to come”.
READ MORE ABOUT: SoundCloud
