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Wednesday 28 June 2017, 10:01 | By Andy Malt
Spotify takes RapCaviar playlist on the road
Artist News Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals Live Business
Spotify is taking one of its biggest in-house playlists, ‘RapCaviar’, on the road. Through a partnership with Live Nation, the streaming service will host six ‘RapCaviar Live’ hip hop shows around North America this year.
The first show will take place in Atlanta on 12 Aug, headlined by Gucci Mane, with support from Mike Will Made It plus others TBC.
“Proud to partner with Gucci Mane on this incarnation of the RapCaviar vibe”, says Spotify’s Head Of Hip Hop, Tuma Basa. “Gucci was an early believer in what we are doing and it’s gonna be beautiful to see it manifest live. Taking ‘RapCaviar’ on the road was just a dream for us a few years ago. This is an important milestone for Spotify, for ‘RapCaviar’, and for hip hop in the streaming age”.
Other shows will take place in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, with dates and line-ups to be announced.
READ MORE ABOUT: Gucci Mane | Live Nation | Spotify
Wednesday 28 June 2017, 10:00 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: MUSO, Songtradr, The Smiths, more
Artist News Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Anti-piracy tool provider MUSO has raised $3.2 million from Harwell Capital to fund further expansion and, says the company, “more quickly take advantage of market opportunity”.
• Music rights market place Songtradr, which in particular links newer acts to the grassroots and commercial sync space, has announced a long-term partnership with Milamber Ventures PLC to specifically grow its operations in the UK.
• UK trade bodies BPI and ERA yesterday published a new research report by MiDiA called ‘Generation Z: Meet The Young Millennials’. And you can meet them by downloading the report from here.
• 7digital has announced a partnership with sound recognition company SoundHound, best known for its Shazam-competing mobile app. Together, the companies will develop new digital music solutions using SoundHound’s AI voice recognition tools. “Voice and AI are set to be the catalysts for re-imagining music streaming in the home and car, where there is huge potential for growth over the next few years”, says 7digital’s deputy CEO Pete Downton.
• The Smiths’ ‘The Queen Is Dead’ vinyl re-issue has gone to number one on the seven-inch singles chart, the twelve-inch singles chart and the overall vinyl singles chart. Looks like your dastardly plan was foiled, HMV.
• The video for Calvin Harris’s new single, ‘Feels’, featuring Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean, is now out.
• Clams Casino has released his fourth instrumentals mixtape, ‘Instrumental Mixtape 4’, as a free download. Get it here, or just listen to one track, ‘Wavey’, here.
• Singer-songwriter Tyni has released new song ‘Late Spring’, a co-write with Angel Haze.
READ MORE ABOUT: 7digital | Angel Haze | Big Sean | British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | Calvin Harris | Clams Casino | Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) | Katy Perry | MUSO | Pharrell Williams | Songtradr | SoundHound | The Smiths | Tyni
Wednesday 28 June 2017, 09:57 | By Andy Malt
Britney hits back at miming accusations
And Finally Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Britney Spears has routinely faced accusations throughout her career that she mimes when performing live. And she can’t even blame it on an effects pedal. Although she does note that it’s quite hard to dance and sing at the same time, so, like many artists, she uses some pre-recorded vocals to pick up the slack.
In an interview with Israeli media to promote an upcoming show in Tel Aviv, she was asked about the claims that she lip syncs. She seems to have found this question rather annoying, as you might well do when someone basically seems to be asking, why should we bother coming to see you perform?
“I’m glad you’re addressing this question because it’s really funny”, she said. “A lot of people think that I don’t sing live. Usually, because I’m dancing so much, I do have a little bit of playback, but there’s a mixture of my voice and the playback”.
“It really pisses me off”, she added. “I am busting my ass out there and singing at the same time and nobody ever really gives me credit for it, you know?”
Well, here we are giving Britney some credit. Five CMU Credits to Britney, please. Everyone else, sit and think about what sort of show you actually want from different types of performers. Please lip sync your answers to me by the end of the day.
READ MORE ABOUT: Britney Spears
Wednesday 28 June 2017, 08:59 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Sega Bodega
CMU Approved
Sega Bodega signed to Crazylegs earlier this year, quickly releasing new EP ‘Ess B’. Six tracks of heavy, jacknifing beats and featuring the single ‘CC’ – a collaboration with Shygirl – it is a rush of catharsis that sets him on a new path heading away from the sound of earlier releases. And now he’s back with new single ‘Nivea’, continuing that shift.
Opening with pained squeals of synth, ‘Nivea’ juxtaposes slow marching beats with frantic, lyrical bleeps that demand to be cranked up in the speakers. B-side ‘Bacardi’, meanwhile, attempts to give you a bit more space to breath, before a burst of energy eventually breaks out and takes the track into the realms of controlled chaos.
Watch the video for ‘Nivea’ 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: Sega Bodega
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 10:01 | By Chris Cooke
Guvera being investigated by Australian Securities And Investments Commission
Business News Digital Legal Top Stories
Flunked streaming music firm Guvera is being investigated by the Australian Securities And Investments Commission over allegations it misled inexperienced investors who have been left wondering what happened to the $180 million that was pumped into the company.
As previously reported, Australia-based Guvera finally crashed out of business last month. The company had never really recovered from its failed attempt at an Initial Public Offering a year ago, when the Australian Securities Exchange blocked the flotation in a highly unusual intervention based on concerns over the firm’s prospectus and business plan.
In the wake of the failed IPO, Guvera bailed on a number of countries and put two of its Australian subsidiaries into administration. One co-founder, Darren Herft, stood down from his executive role at the business, leaving the other co-founder, Claes Loberg, to run the company. He insisted the service could still succeed in certain emerging markets.
Then in May it emerged that Loberg had now resigned, and only Herft was left on the company’s board. At the time he said he was looking for two of the firm’s investors to join him on that board to help “rebuild our company”, reckoning that Guvera Limited still owned some “valuable IP” and was due a sizeable tax refund.
According to ABC, the ASIC has begun questioning a number of the company’s investors about how they came to invest in the risky business of streaming music. In the spotlight is how Guvera – and a private equity outfit also run by Herft – raised money from a large number of small-time investors via a network of accountants.
It is alleged that the accountants who encouraged their clients to invest in Guvera received referral fees and commissions, and/or free trips to investor conferences in places like Hawaii and Dubai. The ASIC is also reportedly investigating whether the marketing of Guvera shares breached sections of the country’s Corporations Act which are specifically designed to protect inexperienced investors.
ABC quotes one such investor, who bought $90,000 of Guvera shares in 2014, as saying “we’re asking the question: where did all the money go?” adding that “they should be held accountable. We should have answers”.
Responding to ABC’s questions by email, Herft insisted that Guvera had not abandoned its 3000 investors, declaring: “We have a platform and access to music rights and a company to fix for 3000 people”. Which suggests Herft thinks he can still make a go of Guvera, possibly via an Initial Public Offering on the Macedonian Stock Exchange of all places.
We know this because Herft last week announced that he’d persuaded two new people to join the board of the Guvera company, but one of those then immediately resigned after finding out about the Macedonian Stock Exchange plan, because of a potential conflict with other business interests he has in the East European country.
READ MORE ABOUT: Guvera
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 10:00 | By Chris Cooke
Failed Fyre Festival seeks dismissal of at least one post-debacle lawsuits
Business News Legal Live Business
Fyre Festival co-founder Billy McFarland would like to have dismissed at least one of the mountain of lawsuits that have been filed since his luxury island festival crashed and burned in April, in part based on a technicality in his contract with the plaintiff.
As well as being sued by his suppliers and customers, McFarland – who conceived the Fyre Festival shambles with Ja Rule – is also being sued by some of his financial backers.
As previously reported, Oleg Itkin loaned the Fyre business $700,000 and went legal in the wake of the event’s collapse in a bid to get his money back. Itkin is seeking to freeze McFarland’s personal assets in order to reclaim his loan plus damages, totalling $1 million.
McFarland argues that only $200,000 of the monies Itkin loaned to his business came with a personal guarantee – and he has put that sum, plus interest, in an escrow account pending the outcome of this legal spat. The rest of the loan was not guaranteed in this way, so Itkin can’t go after the Fyre founder himself for that money.
Besides, McFarland says in his response to the lawsuit, his agreement with Itkin said that disputes would be settled via arbitration rather than by going to court.
According to AMP, McFarland’s recent court filing states: “The investment agreement contains a broad arbitration clause requiring any disputes related to the agreement to be settled via arbitration – not in this court. Accordingly, the court should deny plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and instead dismiss or stay plaintiff’s action in favour of the arbitration mandated by the agreement upon which his claim is based”.
So that’s all good fun isn’t it? We look forward to finding out what other technicalities will be cited as McFarland’s lawyers work their way through that stack of Fyrey litigation.
READ MORE ABOUT: Fyre Festival
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:58 | By Chris Cooke
Dappy gets suspended sentence over knife possession charge
Artist News Legal
Former N-Dubz rapper Dappy has been handed a nine month suspended sentence in relation to the altercation last month in which he was seen near his home in Hatfield brandishing a knife.
Dappy, real name Costadinos Contostavlos, was arrested amidst allegations he had assaulted his partner Imani Campbell, and threatened others with a knife, after a lively argument between the couple at the home they share with their baby daughter spilled out onto the street.
The prosecution ultimately accepted Contostavlos’s not guilty plea in relation to the charge of common assault, but the rapper admitted to being in possession of a knife at the time of the fracas.
Reports last month suggested that, after being told the police had been called, an angry Dappy declared that he would “stab the Old Bill in the face”. He’s also said to have pointed the knife at members of the public who were concerned about Campbell.
However, she played down the significance of the incident in court, insisting that, in Contostavlos, she “couldn’t ask for a better father and partner”.
In addition to the suspended jail sentence, the rapper must attend a relationship programme and was given an additional ten day rehabilitation requirement order.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dappy
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:57 | By Andy Malt
Chart rules to change to thwart Ed Sheeran and his ilk
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
Hey, so you remember that week when Ed Sheeran pretty much took up the entire UK top 20 singles chart, and everyone said the charts were broken and the Official Charts Company should do something about it? Well, the Official Charts Company has done something about it. It’s made everything slightly more complicated. Hooray!
The last big change in the singles chart was back in 2014 when streaming data was first added to it. There it was deemed that 100 plays of any track was equivalent to one sale. Then last year the chart makers decided that was all wrong, and actually 150 streams was equal to a sale. The aim there being to stop big streaming hits clogging up the chart for weeks on end and preventing newer tracks from having a go.
Then that bloody Ed Sheeran came along with his new album, and suddenly he had nine songs in the top ten. Surely that wasn’t supposed to happen. Surely something must done. Won’t someone think of the children! By which I mean, newer artists not getting into the chart simply because other people are more popular.
Under the new rules, which will kick in next month, an artist will only be allowed to have their three most popular songs in the top 100 at any one time. So none of that Ed Sheeran business anymore, oh no.
“The move will make it easier for new hits and artists to feature in the chart by preventing multiple tracks from popular artists dominating the singles chart”, says the OCC. “The move will minimise double-counting of album tracks between the Official Singles and Albums Charts and make the two charts more distinct. The new changes are expected to boost the number of chart hits by around 10%”.
Calling out artists who have been hogging the chart by being too popular, the official stat counter went on: “In the past twelve months, artists including Drake, Stormzy, Kendrick Lamar, Chainsmokers, Little Mix, The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran have had multiple tracks in the Top 40. The changes will limit the domination of such artists”.
Presumably for most artists, the three most popular songs are likely to be the singles from their latest album, so the charts will look a bit more like they used to in the olden days. But at the same time, the sudden popularity of an unofficial single – a ‘Ding! Dong! The Witch Is Dead’, or whatever – will still also get a look in. I hope you’re all happy now.
READ MORE ABOUT: Official Charts Company
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:54 | By Andy Malt
East London venue apologises for saying bashment and trap music attracts a “poor quality demographic”
Business News Live Business
An East London venue has apologised after its General Manager told the promoter of a benefit show being staged to raise money for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire that the acts he had booked would attract a “poor quality demographic”.
Taireen Hussein from Haqiqi Events posted a screenshot of the email he received from Jordan Wells at the Trapeze Bar in which the venue’s GM says he has seen the publicity for the promoter’s event and “I am disappointed that I see your artwork and flyers have described your music genres include bashment and trap music”.
The email says that the venue was not aware that this was the kind of music due to be played at the benefit show, before stating “these types of music are crap and we do not entertain them as they attract [a] poor quality demographic and result in problems”.
The venue’s comments, of course, suggest discrimination against certain genres based on the kinds of audiences it is assumed they will attract. Such discrimination has been criticised in the past, though usually its licensing authorities and police forces who are accused of employing such discriminatory practices.
After Hussein cancelled his event and posted the venue’s email to Twitter, the company that operates the Trapeze Bar distanced itself from Wells’s comments. Miroma Leisure also pledged to make its own contribution to the Grenfell appeal if Haqiqi Events decided to stage their show at its venue after all.
According to IQ, the statement from Miroma Leisure reads: “The owners of Trapeze apologise for the recent actions and opinions expressed by the Trapeze General Manager. Trapeze [is] committed to a policy of welcoming all guests into the venue and does not discriminate in terms of race, age, colour, sex or national origin”.
It goes on: “The management team of Miroma Leisure, owners of Trapeze, are undertaking a full investigation of the matter and will take affirmative action following the outcome. We have spoken with the promoters and offered them another date of their choice and offered to double the money raised on the night for Grenfell as a gesture of goodwill. We plan to assist the promoters to raise awareness of the new date. We will be proud to announce the new date in due course and do everything possible to make the event a resounding success”.
Hussain is yet to decide whether to reschedule his show at Trapeze.
READ MORE ABOUT: Haqiqi Events | Trapeze Bar
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:46 | By Andy Malt
Tim Westergren to step down as Pandora CEO, as Australian operations close
Business News Digital
Pandora CEO Tim Westergren is stepping down from the role, according to sources who have spoken to Recode. Meanwhile, AdNews has reported that the streaming service’s operations in Australia and New Zealand are closing down, meaning it will become a US-only business once again.
A co-founder of the streaming business, Westergren was also CEO at Pandora in the early days of the company. He returned to the position last year, to the displeasure of some investors. Major shareholder Corvex Management felt that his return indicated that Pandora was not working towards selling itself off, which Corvex had been pushing for.
More recently, Pandora instigated a strategic review of its business, during which a sale was indeed considered. Then earlier this month a sizeable stake in the company was sold to SiriusXM, which had long been mooted as a potential new owner. At the same time Pandora also sold off its ticketing business, Ticketfly.
Although Westergren is expected to stay on at Pandora in another role, his departure as CEO may be a move to appease shareholders still concerned about the lack of profit at the streaming service. If Recode’s sources are correct, it seems that there is no one in line to replace him as yet, making his departure as sudden as his return last year.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Pandora will cease to be available in Australia and New Zealand. Originally US-only, where it benefited from a specific compulsory licence under American copyright law giving it access to recordings at rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board, the personalised radio service launched down under in 2012. However, the majority of its 81 million active users remain US-based, with 1.2 million actively using the service in Australia and New Zealand.
Jane Huxley, who launched Pandora in Australia and New Zealand and had been its Managing Director since, stepped down from the company in March. At the time, Westergren praised her for having “firmly established our brand in the ANZ market”. Head Of Revenue Operations in the Australian office Taly Yaniv has been acting as interim MD since then, but no permanent replacement has been announced.
Pandora has had global ambitions at various points in its history, and the move into the Australian market was seen as a first step in that plan. More recently the service was talking about a launch into Europe, though that was before the aforementioned strategic review.
While Pandora is currently still available in Australia and New Zealand, if it does indeed leave the market, that will be yet another reduction in the range of streaming services available in the country following the collapse of home grown Guvera. Deezer also closed its local office in Sydney in 2014, but continues to operate in the country.
READ MORE ABOUT: Pandora | Tim Westergren
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:44 | By Chris Cooke
Deerhoof hit out at Daytrotter website over the monetisation of their 2009 session
Artist News Business News Digital Releases
Deerhoof published a Facebook post over the weekend cautioning artists considering recording a session for Daytrotter, the long established US-based website that presents a steady stream of original live session recordings.
Although starting off by conceding that “the vast majority of musicians have no doubt had a good experience working with” the site, and that “I am not legally permitted to say whether any of the following happened to Deerhoof”, the post then goes on to describe the band’s experience with Daytrotter, relating to a session they recorded for the site in 2009.
Deerhoof’s two main grievances are that their session was put behind Daytrotter’s paywall despite them being told it would be available to fans for free, and that a subsequent physical release of the session went out without the band’s permission. The band say that at different points in the saga they were either met with a flood of apologies from the Daytrotter team or radio silence, until, that is, they started dealing with the owner of the site’s parent company, the sometimes contentious Wolfgang’s Vault.
At that point, they allege, they were told the company would “take appropriate action” if they were to “disparage Daytrotter in any way” to the music community. The site’s management and lawyer then subsequently insisted that, under US copyright law, Daytrotter controlled the masters in the band’s session and could do whatever it liked with the recording. The band say that it was only at that point that they began “to understand that what happened [was] not in fact a screw-up, but the legal and deliberate business practice of [the Daytrotter] company”.
Responding to Deerhoof’s post, a spokesperson for Daytrotter told Pitchfork: “Over the last eleven years, Daytrotter has recorded more than 7000 bands and 32,000 songs in Daytrotter sessions. Daytrotter has had a membership model for eight and a half years. The price of the monthly membership is used to keep our studio open and cover our costs. Daytrotter has never in its history been profitable. Daytrotter sincerely appreciates all of the artists that it has had the opportunity to work with, and looks forward to continuing to having artists from all over the world coming to Daytrotter’s well known studios to produce great music and share this music with everyone”.
On Deerhoof’s specific allegations, the site added that the band had “recorded its session eight years ago and there was an agreement between Sean Moeller, the founder of Daytrotter [now departed], and Deerhoof in regards to releasing their Daytrotter session on vinyl. The current Daytrotter team looks forward to continuing to record and promote bands for years to come”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Daytrotter | Deerhoof
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:42 | By Andy Malt
Widowspeak announce new album
Artist News Releases
Widowspeak will return with a new album, ‘Expect The Best’, on 25 Aug. The follow up to 2015’s ‘All Yours’, news of the release is accompanied by first single ‘Dog’.
Vocalist Molly Hamilton says of the new record: “In the past I’ve felt compelled to write songs that are more optimistic than I’m actually feeling, as if I could make it true, as if everything in the past was significant or beautiful in a way, even if it was painful. But the truth is that not everything makes sense, and not every day of your life is an experience of clear cut emotional clarity”.
“I struggle with this compulsion to pull away from people”, she continues. “Pull away from the things I enjoy doing, and sometimes literally picking up and moving away when I am feeling uneasy and anxious about my future in a given space, physical or mental. Social media these days can exacerbate that as well”.
Watch the video for ‘Dog’ here;
READ MORE ABOUT: Widowspeak
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:40 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: IndieCon, FastForward, Liam Gallagher, more
Business News Education & Events One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• An Australian version of the UK’s indie-label focused IndieCon conference will take place alongside the annual awards of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association on 27 and 28 Jul.
• The people behind the Amsterdam music conference FastForward are launching a London spin-off event called, well, FastForward: London, on 15 Sep at the British Library.
• Liam Gallagher’s debut solo album ‘As You Were’ will be out on 6 Oct. “I didn’t want to be reinventing anything or going off on a space jazz odyssey”, says he. “It’s the Lennon ‘Cold Turkey’ vibe, The Stones, the classics. But done my way, now”.
• Clean Bandit and Marina And The Diamonds have released their collaboration, ‘Disconnect’, following their performance of it at Glastonbury.
• Grizzly Bear have released new song, ‘Four Cypresses’. New album, ‘Painted Ruins’, is out on 18 Aug.
• Broken Social Scene have flapped out another new song. Here’s ‘Stay Happy’.
• Guided By Voices will released a new album, ‘How Do You Spell Heaven’ on 11 Aug. From it, this is ‘Just To Show You’.
• Tempa has released the video for Swifta-produced new single, ‘Gimme Respect’.
• Joy Crookes has released new single, ‘Power’. “‘Power’ is a song about the misuse of power”, she says. “I felt like it was important to speak on this issue especially considering our current social climate. This song is dedicated to those who feel powerless”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIRLA) | Broken Social Scene | Clean Bandit | FastForward | Grizzly Bear | Guided By Voices | Joy Crookes | Liam Gallagher | Marina | Tempa
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:34 | By Andy Malt
Ed Sheeran didn’t mime at Glastonbury, who is even saying that?
And Finally Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Ed Sheeran has hit back at people who have accused him of miming during his set at Glastonbury. Well, not playing the guitar bits live, anyway. The controversy arose from his use of a Loop Station to build his own backing tracks live. Apparently some people felt this was a kind of black magic that shouldn’t be allowed.
“Why is he bothering with a guitar, it’s carrying on in the background when he stops playing”, wrote one person on Twitter, for example. “Why is Ed Sheeran miming playing a guitar to a backing track”, asked another.
As this criticism apparently grew, Sheeran wrote on Twitter yesterday: “Never thought I’d have to explain it, but everything I do in my live show is live. It’s a Loop Station, not a backing track. Please Google”.
I am very obedient, so I Googled away. And now, thanks to the Mirror, I know that a Loop Station is better known as “Ed Sheeran’s controversial Glastonbury gadget”.
I also just spent a lot more of my morning than I really had time for watching videos of people playing music using loop pedals. So, to pass this off as research, I will share some of them with you now.
Here’s the ‘Later’ performance using one that shot KT Tunstall to fame back in 2004;
Here’s the final of this year’s Swissbeatbox Grand Beatbox Loop Station Battle:
And here’s Ed bloody Sheeran giving a tutorial in how he uses his loop pedal to cheat at music all the way back in 2012:
READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran | Glastonbury Festival
Tuesday 27 June 2017, 09:17 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Luna Shadows
CMU Approved
Luna Shadows made a powerful entrance last year with her debut EP ‘Summertime’. Filled with anthemic pop, cut with a slightly dark edge, its quality was assured at least in part by the high standards she holds herself to – by the time of its release she’d already scrapped a whole album because she wasn’t happy with how it sounded.
Latest single ‘Thorns’ shows no sign of those standards slipping. Like the other single she has released in 2017 so far, ‘Cheerleader’, it takes her infectious sound and songwriting up a level. While she is currently self-releasing, you have to think some labels are going to want to get involved in all this action soon.
Listen to ‘Thorns’ 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: Luna Shadows
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:49 | By Chris Cooke
Dr Luke dismisses defamation lawsuit against Kesha’s mother
Artist News Business News Legal Top Stories
Dr Luke and Kesha’s mother issued a joint statement on Friday as their legal wrangling in Tennessee was brought to an end.
As much previously reported, producer Lukasz Gottwald and his one time protégé Kesha Sebert have been embroiled in a long running and highly public legal battle. She accuses him of sexual assault, while he claims that she made up those allegations in a bid to force his hand in a contractual dispute. It’s a complex and multi-layered case that has seen lawsuits filed in three separate states: New York, California and Tennessee.
Sebert’s mother Pebe became involved after Gottwald objected to remarks she made in support of her daughter. He accused her of defamation resulting in additional litigation, mainly in Tennessee. At one point Sebert Senior counter-sued, though she dismissed her action last year. And now Gottwald has dismissed his remaining defamation lawsuit, seemingly as a result of Sebert Senior confirming in public that she has no first hand knowledge of the assault her daughter alleges the producer committed.
The joint statement issued on Friday stated that: “Dr Luke vigorously disputes and denies that he ever raped Kesha Sebert, and he is asserting claims of defamation in a New York court against Kesha Sebert for making statements to the contrary … statements [which] Dr Luke adamantly maintains are false”.
Honing in on Gottwald’s specific dispute with Sebert Senior, the statement went on: “Pebe admits she has no firsthand personal knowledge of the events occurring on the night of the alleged rape. Pebe was not present that night. At that time, Pebe was in Nashville, and Kesha was in Los Angeles”.
The statement concludes: “The dispute between Kesha and Dr Luke about the events of that night is the subject of the New York case, and will be decided in that case. Accordingly, all parties believe it is appropriate to dismiss this Tennessee case and focus their attention on the New York case”.
With the Californian litigation relating to the dispute having also been dismissed last year, it means that only the New York lawsuits remain.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dr Luke | Kesha | Pebe Sebert
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:47 | By Chris Cooke
MegaUpload lawyers insist US Supreme Court has questions to answer over Kim Dotcom’s assets
Business News Digital Legal
Legal reps for MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom last week filed new paperwork with the US Supreme Court as part of his continued bid to get access to the assets seized when American authorities shut down his former business on copyright grounds back in 2012.
As previously reported, the dispute over the seized MegaUpload assets is just one of the various sets of legal wrangling that have been going through the motions for over five years now. The case for not allowing Dotcom to reclaim some or all of his seized assets in no small part revolves around him and his former MegaUpload colleagues having ‘fugitive’ status under American law as they fight efforts by the US to extradite them from New Zealand.
Dotcom’s lawyers argue that their client is not a fugitive, and that he is simply fighting America’s extradition efforts in New Zealand according to the two countries’ extradition treaty – as is his right.
American courts have mainly sided with the US government on this point to date, but Dotcom has now taken the matter to the Supreme Court. Earlier this month American officials responded to the latest appeal by urging judges to reject Dotcom’s filing on the basis that he was definitely a fugitive, and that that classification was in line with Congress’s wishes and precedents set in relevant case law.
In that response the US government ignored some critical questions, say Dotcom’s legal reps in a new response to the response. Moreover, the case law isn’t as clear cut as the authorities claim, reckons Team Dotcom, and questions remain over just how solid the criminal copyright case against their client really is.
If the Supreme Court knocks back the case, or confirms the lower court rulings, the lawyers argue, it would mean the American government “can weaponise fugitive disentitlement in order to claim assets abroad”.
They add: “Far from being directed towards persons who have fled or avoided our country while claiming assets in it, fugitive disentitlement is being used offensively to strip foreigners of their assets abroad”.
Concluding, Dotcom’s filing – published by Torrentfreak here – says: “It is time for the court to speak to the questions presented. Over the past two decades it has never had a better vehicle to do so, nor is any such vehicle elsewhere in sight”.
READ MORE ABOUT: MegaUpload
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:45 | By Chris Cooke
Glastonbury’s spin-off festival “the last big gamble of my life” says Michael Eavis
Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
As Glastonbury 2017 went through all its motions this weekend, Michael Eavis took time out to talk about The Variety Bazaar, the much mooted new festival from Team Glasto which was at one point rumoured to be a replacement for the annual Worthy Farm bash.
The first edition of the Bazaar is now pencilled in for 2021. Speaking to his festival’s own Free Press, Eavis called the spin-off event “the last big gamble of my life”, while confirming the new project is not being developed to replace the Glastonbury Festival itself.
Eavis said: “We have no plans to stop doing [Glastonbury], but we want to try something in another location away from the farm, possibly in 2021. It’s still very much in the planning stages, but we’ve got to be brave enough to have a go”.
There’ll be plenty of time for doing all that planning in the next twelve months, of course, 2018 being the Glastonbury Festival’s next ‘fallow year’. Though Eavis added that they were already booking bands for both the 2019 and 2020 editions, so still work to be done.
READ MORE ABOUT: Glastonbury Festival | Variety Bazaar
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:43 | By Chris Cooke
Brands still concerned about YouTube and Facebook, says top media buyer
Brands & Merch Business News Digital
The likes of YouTube and Facebook could lose hundreds of millions in ad revenue in the next year because of ongoing concerns about adverts appearing alongside dubious or offensive content, according to media-buying giant GroupM.
The ad industry group, part of Martin Sorrell’s WPP, is still predicting total UK advertising spend on social media, search engines and user-upload sites to grow by 11% to nearly £10.5 billion this year. However, that’s a reduction on GroupM’s previous growth forecast of 15%. If the ad agency’s predictions are right, that will be lowest growth rate for internet advertising in the UK since 2011.
As previously reported, a number of ad agencies and big brands pulled or reduced their advertising on some social and user-upload platforms earlier this year in the wake of reports that ads were appearing alongside racist and extremist content, or blatant fake news. This wasn’t a particularly new phenomenon, but became a bigger talking point thanks to an investigation in The Times and resulting media coverage elsewhere.
The Guardian quotes Adam Smith from GroupM as saying: “Effectively, since March we have seen a surprisingly general effect of clients either stopping spend altogether, or pausing spend in this area. It has been widespread [and has] been much more persistent in that, if you thought it was something that was a seven-day wonder, it isn’t. There is still a substantial number of advertisers yet to return to their prior weight of ad investment”.
From a music business perspective, you can take a positive or negative view of this trend. Record companies and music publishers are already unhappy with the levels of advertising YouTube sells, they being cut into that ad revenue when their music is used. And the industry’s hopes of striking up licensing deals with Facebook around the music used in videos uploaded to its platform depend on the social network selling more ads around that content.
Though, on the flipside, continued nervousness about where YouTube and Facebook’s automated systems might place a brand’s ads – despite the tech firms insisting they are putting better controls in place – could skew in the favour of those online video operations that only carry videos uploaded by legit content companies, rather than any random person. Which includes the music industry’s Vevo and the official channels on the about-to-relaunch YouTube competitor Dailymotion.
As previously reported, Vevo pointed this out to possible advertisers back in April. Though with big brands still seemingly worried about where their ads might end up on Facebook and YouTube, it seems like there might be further opportunities for the Sony/Universal-owned music video platform to push out more messages of that kind. Especially as it is able to service ads to YouTube that are guaranteed to sit alongside official label content only.
READ MORE ABOUT: Facebook | GroupM | YouTube
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:40 | By Chris Cooke
YouTube confirms it now reaches 1.5 billion people each month
Business News Digital
A big shout out to everyone due to deliver presentations on the digital music market today, with a slide to present outlining current user numbers for all the key streaming platforms. Anyone? That can’t just be me can it? I bet there are hundreds of you. I bet there are at least 37 of you also presenting on all things digital music in Oslo today.
Anyway, for anyone sitting on a ‘streaming platform user numbers list’, it’s time to finally update the big fat YouTube stat that sits at the top. The Google video site’s CEO Susan Wojcicki has finally re-adjusted her company’s official monthly users stat brag from one billion to 1.5 billion. And that’s 1.5 billion ‘logged in’ users too.
That’s rather a lot of people glued to the YouTubes. They should all get out more. Paint a picture. Bake a cake. Get an allotment. Take up pottery. Start playing croquet. Begin knitting some jumpers for next Christmas. And if you don’t know how to get started with any of those things, there’s sure to be a YouTube video that tells you all you need to know.
Of course, the hour a day the average YouTube viewer spends watching videos on their mobile isn’t just about consuming music content. But the music industry would like you all to know that it’s mainly about consuming music content and Wojcicki should stop hanging out with the cool kid YouTubers at VidCon bragging about her stats and instead get her fucking cheque book out and send the music makers some dosh.
Fun times. I’m also talking about safe harbours later today.
READ MORE ABOUT: YouTube
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:39 | By Chris Cooke
NME allies with Thatchers on new talent competition
Brands & Merch Business News Media
With the NME interviewing its former cover star Jeremy Corbyn this weekend after his headline set at the Glastonbury Festival, it’s good to see the music mag seeking some political balance by getting into bed with the Thatchers.
Except that’s Thatchers Haze the cider brand, not the former Tory PM’s extended family. So that’s not really going to help, is it? Unless they can persuade all their young readers to get so pissed on cider next election day that they all forget to vote for Jezza. That’ll do it.
NME is joining up with the cider firm for a new programme seeking to support some of that new talent all you lefties like so much. New acts are invited to submit their work to NME with a guarantee of feedback, while they will also go forward to a competition, the winner of which will get £10,000 of studio time and a four-track EP release. The new programme flows on from the cider-maker’s existing Haze Sessions initiative.
Says Keith Walker, Digital Director of Music at NME publisher Time Inc UK: “NME has been at the forefront of the music scene for more than six decades, with events, print and digital franchises dedicated to supporting breaking talent. Our global audience of music fans are always on the lookout for the best new talent to put on their headphones and with unsigned artists striving to grow their fanbase, this is a great platform for them to get heard by the millions that turn to NME each month”.
Meanwhile Thatchers’ MD Martin Thatcher added: “This is an amazing opportunity to work with NME to promote up-and-coming talent in the music industry, and offer new artists the chance to get their music out to a wider audience. Through the Haze Sessions, our own Bristol music showcase, we’ve met some really exciting and talented artists. The Thatchers Haze x NME Emerging Artists Project takes the association between Thatchers Haze and great music to another level”.
Of course, with all the cool pop bands now supporting Corbyn these days, to truly break new ground the next big musical thing is going to have to ally themselves with the person leading the Conservative Party. Just as soon as we work out who that is.
READ MORE ABOUT: NME
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:36 | By Chris Cooke
BBC Radio launches second Welsh-language breakfast show
Business News Media
The BBC is set to offer two Welsh-language breakfast shows in Wales via the launch of BBC Radio Cymru 2. While the main Radio Cymru channel will continue to air more newsy programming in the morning, the new channel – available online, on DAB digital radio and via digital TV platforms – will have a more music and entertainment focused show first thing in the morning.
The new spin-off service follows the previously reported BBC Radio Cymru Mwy venture that operated last year as part of the Welsh-language service’s 40th anniversary celebrations. It also had a skew towards music and entertainment in its output.
Confirming the new full-time second channel, BBC Radio Cymru Editor Betsan Powys said: “This is a truly historic announcement – one of the most important since Radio Cymru was established in 1977. Our listeners are some of the most loyal in Wales and the fact that we can now offer a choice of listening is incredibly exciting”.
The BBC has also announced it will expand the reach of English language BBC Radio Wales on the FM dial so that it is available in 91% of Wales, compared to the current 79%.
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | Radio Cymru
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:34 | By Chris Cooke
Louis Tomlinson pre-empts solo career by declaring “I didn’t want a solo career”
Artist News Releases
Louis Tomlinson didn’t want One Direction to go on hiatus and didn’t want to launch a solo career. We know this because the former 1Der has given an interview with The Observer as he preps the release of a solo album.
The stand out quotes in the broadsheet conversation relate to Tomlinson discussing his role in the One Direction enterprise. When stripped back to make a headline for the piece, the summary of his musings on this topic go: “Niall is lovely, Zayn has the voice, Harry is cool, Liam gets the crowd going… then there’s me”.
Recalling the boyband’s original creation on ‘The X-Factor’ in 2010, he goes on: “You know I didn’t sing a single solo on ‘The X-Factor’. A lot of people can take the piss out of that. But when you actually think about how that feels, standing on stage every single week, thinking: ‘What have I really done to contribute here? Sing a lower harmony that you can’t really hear in the mix?’ [You’re] the kid wearing espadrilles, stood in’t back”.
However, says Tomlinson, things improved as 1D evolved over the years, hence his disappointment when the hiatus first came up. “In the last year of One Direction I was probably the most confident I ever was”, he said. “And then it was: ‘OK, hiatus!’ It wasn’t necessarily a nice conversation [but] I could see where it was going”.
On the post-1D career, Tomlinson says he originally thought he’d do something behind the scenes, having been the member of the group most interested in the mechanics of the pop industry. “If you’d asked me a year or eighteen months ago: ‘Are you going to do anything as a solo artist?’ I’d have said absolutely not”. But, despite those feelings, and his dabblings in artist management, debut solo single ‘Just Hold On’ arrived late last year, and now an album is in the pipeline.
READ MORE ABOUT: Louis Tomlinson | One Direction
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:32 | By Chris Cooke
Jay-Z announces 4:44 listening parties in Sprint stores
Artist News Business News Digital Releases
Good news for all you Jay-Z fans who think that Tidal is a nonsense piece of shit that only fuckwit buffoons of the highest magnitude would even consider signing up to. I mean, I like Tidal. I think it’s lovely. Really lovely. But I know all about you guys and your Tidal hating.
Well, while Jay-Z is making his new album ‘4:44’ available exclusively via the streaming service he heads up, there’ll be an opportunity to listen to the new record without giving Tidal HQ all your personal data.
You will have to go to a shop to listen to it though. And a shop run by Jay-Z’s Tidal business partner Sprint. But hey, no data sharing! Well, you have to provide an email address to enter the competition for tickets. But no formal Tidal sign ups!
Of course Sprint only has shops in the US, so – unless you’re American – you’d have to really love Jay-Z and really hate the Tidals to fly over to the States on 30 Jun to attend one of the ‘4:44’ listening parties that will take place that day. But they are currently the only confirmed way to hear the new record without formally signing up to either Tidal or Sprint.
The listening parties will occur at various Sprint stores around the US.
READ MORE ABOUT: Jay-Z | Sprint | Tidal
Monday 26 June 2017, 08:30 | By Chris Cooke
Nigel Farage outraged that BBC aired Jeremy Corbyn’s Glasto speech
And Finally Artist News Gigs & Festivals Media
Jeremy Corbyn’s guest stint on the Pyramid Stage at this weekend’s Glastonbury Festival grabbed quite a few headlines, didn’t it? And the BBC covering it annoyed Nigel Farage. So well done everybody.
“Why should we pay the BBC licence fee just so they can promote Jeremy Corbyn?” asked the UKIPer on Twitter – actually responding to a Radio 1 tweet about the speech – before adding the exclamation “outrageous”.
Needless to say, the fact that Farage built an entire political movement on the back of regular BBC guest spots, he having successfully worked out that the Beeb always likes a bit of splutter on its airwaves, was much noted by other tweeters responding to Farage’s remarks.
He wasn’t the only one annoyed by Corbyn’s presence within the BBC’s coverage of this weekend’s Glastonbury Festival though. “The BBC will do everything they can to get their hero Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street”, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
“Now with things like this year’s Glastonbury, it’s becoming ever more blatant”, the MP for North West Leicestershire continued. “They are at the stage where, if the BBC give it one more push, we will end up with a Marxist in No 10”.
Meanwhile another Tory MP, Philip Hollobone, piped up with: “The BBC is riddled with left-wing bias from the ‘Today’ programme downwards. They will seize any opportunity to get Theresa May out. Jeremy Corbyn at Glastonbury is a typical example of their behaviour … the BBC is out of control”.
Every political group of every possible persuasion is convinced that the BBC is biased against them, of course. Though to be fair to Farage, if he did deliver an angry intro to not quite Bucks Fizz playing in a field, I suspect the Beeb wouldn’t air that.
READ MORE ABOUT: Glastonbury Festival | Jeremy Corbyn | Nigel Farage
Monday 26 June 2017, 07:48 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Katie Von Schleicher
CMU Approved
Katie Von Schleicher’s debut release ‘Bleaksploitation’ came out in 2015. Initially a cassette-only release through US label Ba Da Bing, it was recorded at the suggestion of label owner Ben Goldberg while Von Schleicher was interning at the company. The record gained unexpected momentum, showing off a talent for writing songs with a classic, 70s singer-songwriter feel, albeit under a layer of fuzz and tape hiss.
Her full-length debut proper, ‘Shitty Hits’, is now set for release on 28 Jul, still on Ba Da Bing in the US and with Full Time Hobby handling things in the UK. It sees her songwriting brought out into sharper focus, but without losing too much of that rough-edged charm. The update of her sound having already been revealed on singles ‘Life’s A Lie’ and ‘Paranoia’, her output takes a slower-paced, more electronic turn on the newly released ‘Sell It Back’.
“I wrote ‘Sell It Back’ on a quiet spring evening, windows open, at the piano”, she explains. “When I got to the refrain, I felt better. The chords open up and the tension releases. I’m vulnerable, asking ‘Do I hold my life?’ But the lyrics affirm a confidence I’ve just spent an album searching for, and they’ll guide me into the next one”.
Listen to ‘Sell It Back’ 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: Katie Von Schleicher
Monday 26 June 2017, 07:26 | By Chris Cooke
CMU Digest 26.06.17: Apple Music, SGAE, dancing baby, Telsa, RIAA
CMU Digest
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
Bloomberg reported that Apple Music was seeking to push down its royalty commitments to the record labels. The tech giant is following Spotify’s lead in trying to reduce the cut of revenue it has to pay to the labels, partly because the big music publishers have increased their share, and partly because the market-leading streaming platforms need to tweak their business models as they attempt to become profitable. As with Spotify, the labels will want some data and marketing kick-backs in return for slimming down their cut of the digital pie. [READ MORE]
The offices of Spanish collecting society SGAE were raided by the police, who were investigating a scam where certain society members collude with Spanish TV execs to boost the royalties they receive. The TV execs also earn royalties from the scheme, which is known internally as ‘the wheel’. The new police investigation follows the previous raid on the SGAE HQ in 2011 that led to the organisation’s President resigning amidst allegations of fraud. [READ MORE]
The US Supreme Court declined to hear the long-running ‘dancing baby’ case, which tests whether ‘fair use’ must be considered by a copyright owner before issuing a takedown request under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It all relates to a dispute over a video posted to YouTube in which a baby danced to a Prince track. A lower court said fair use must be considered, but not particularly rigourously. Neither the baby video creator nor Prince’s music publisher – Universal Music Publishing – were happy with that ruling, which now stands. [READ MORE]
It was revealed that electric car maker Telsa has been talking to the record companies about licensing its own proprietary streaming service to integrate into the in-car entertainment system that it puts in its vehicles. Some commentators pointed out how expensive it can be setting up a streaming service anew and reckoned expanding on an existing alliance with Spotify in Europe would be an easier approach. [READ MORE]
The Recording Industry Association Of America asked that the value gap be discussed in any new talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement. The US government is considering overhauling its trade treaty with Canada and Mexico and has asked for input from American industries. The RIAA had various copyright issues it would like put on the agenda of any new trade talks, though safe harbour and the value gap seemed to top the priority list. [READ MORE]
We also published more session reports from this year’s CMU@TGE last week…
• A Recent History Of Getting High [READ]
• When Music Gets Synchronised – Deal Making [READ]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• 7digital finalised its acquisition of rival 24-7 [INFO]
• Royalty Exchange secured $6.4 million in new finance [INFO]
• Warner/Chappell signed XTC co-founder Andy Partridge [INFO]
• Syco Music signed Ina Wroldsen [INFO]
• R&S Records signed Blondes [INFO]
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple Music | Prince | Recording Industry Association Of America | SGAE | Telsa | Universal Music
Sunday 25 June 2017, 12:42 | By Andy Malt
CMU Podcast: Apple Music, The Slants, Morrissey
Business News Digital Legal Retail Setlist
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Apple Music reportedly looking to reduce the royalties it pays the labels, US band The Slants getting American trademark law rewritten, and Morrissey’s silly spat with HMV. The CMU Podcast is sponsored by 7digital.
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Stories discussed this week:
• CMU Daily is fifteen!
• Now Apple is trying to cut the labels’ share of the digital pie too
• American band The Slants get trademark law rewritten
• Morrissey accuses HMV of attempting to suppress sales of Smiths reissues
• Turns out HMV actually DID want to sell those Smiths records
In brief:
• Police raid HQ of Spanish collecting society – again
• Jay-Z finds misplaced hyphen
• Napalm Death interviewed by Ed Miliband on Radio 2
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple Music | HMV | Morrissey | The Slants
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:49 | By Paul Vig
Vigsy’s Club Tip: Turbononstop at StereoBar, Montreal
Club Tip CMU Approved
Hey there, I’m in Canada at the moment. Not specifically to check out the Canadian club scene, but I’ll sacrifice my holiday to check it out for you if you insist. No, no, it’s fine, don’t worry about me. Luckily, a stop off in Montreal this weekend coincides with a chance to see the brilliant Tiga playing on his home turf.
Bringing his Turbononstop night back to StereoBar, Tiga will be going b2b with Ledisko for what promises to be a monster of an evening out. Fellow Montreal music maker Ledisko is also Label Manager at Tiga’s Turbo Recordings label.
“I’ve learned a lot working for Tiga, watching his face as he listens to music”, says Ledisko. “Once I have absorbed enough, he will be opening for me. It is a fait accompli, or an accomplished fact. I am simply waiting for the appropriate moment to enact this inevitability”.
Watch out. And if you’re in Montreal, come and say hi.
Friday 23 Jun, StereoBar, 856 Saint Catherine Est, Montreal, H2L 2E3, 10pm-3am, $15. More info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: TIGA
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:25 | By Chris Cooke
Car maker Tesla considering launching its own streaming service
Business News Digital Top Stories
Electric car maker Tesla is considering launching its own streaming service to package into its vehicles. And why not, I say? Because new streaming services are incredibly expensive to license and you might as well just integrate your proprietary in-car entertainment service with streaming music set-ups already on the market, you say? You’re no fun.
According to Recode, the car marker has had talks with the major record companies about possible licensing deals. Specifics are unclear, though TeslaTunes could begin as a Pandora-style personalised radio set-up, but would likely also include a more fully on-demand option. That proposal might suggest that it would have both free and paid-for levels.
However, as a wise person once said, new streaming services are incredibly expensive to license and you might as well just integrate your proprietary in-car entertainment service with streaming music set-ups already on the market. Look at that, I called you ‘wise’. Tesla already has an alliance with Spotify in Europe, so why not continue with that approach?
Oh but Wise Person, have you considered the happiness of all those Tesla drivers? Well, have you? “We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose”, said a spokesperson for the car firm. “Our goal is to simply achieve maximum happiness for our customers”.
Who could possibly criticise any bid to assure the maximum happiness of Tesla customers? Though, maybe the company’s management should have a quick scan of ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ before jumping fully into the digital licensing game. Or perhaps even Guvera’s IPO prospectus. And then, fully informed of the challenges ahead, they can design the perfect streaming service for their happy drivers. Or just white label Napster, which seems to be in vogue of late.
READ MORE ABOUT: Tesla
