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Friday 23 June 2017, 11:23 | By Chris Cooke
City Of London Police welcome sentencing in online piracy case
Business News Digital Legal
The City Of London Police have welcomed a ruling earlier this week that saw three men receive suspended sentences totalling five years for their role in running a piracy operation which provided online access to a stack of unlicensed music, movies, games and e-books for a subscription fee.
The sentencing was the conclusion of a long-running investigation into the piracy operation run by Eric Brooks, Mark Valentine and Craig Lloyd, originally uncovered by anti-piracy body FACT in 2011 and subsequently investigated by the City Of London Police from 2012 onwards. A raid on Brooks’ home in Bolton in 2012 secured email records confirming he was running the piracy server and had received a high number of payments from the service’s users via PayPal, which – it turned out – exceeded £500,000.
Valentine and Lloyd were basically sub-letting server space from Brooks and selling access to the big pile of copyright infringing content themselves. Although their operations were somewhat smaller, Valentine made £34,000 out of the venture, while Lloyd saw income of over £70,000 from his involvement.
The three men were charged with conspiracy to defraud the entertainment industry just under a year ago and subsequently all pleaded guilty. Brooks got a 24 month sentence suspended for twelve months, and Valentine and Lloyd were handed eighteen month sentences also suspended for twelve months. All three men will also have to perform community service. Meanwhile, a future confiscation hearing will seek to ensure that any assets secured via the crime are taken away from the three defendants.
Commenting on the conclusion of the case, Detective Constable Chris Glover at the City Of London Police said: “Brooks, Valentine and Lloyd all thought that they were operating under the radar and doing something which they thought was beyond the controls of law enforcement. However, what today has shown is that activity of this kind is illegal and most definitely has its consequences. The actions of Brooks, Valentine and Lloyd and the result should act as deterrent for anyone else who is enticed by abusing the internet to the detriment of the entertainment industry”.
Meanwhile the boss of FACT, Kieron Sharp, added: “Today’s sentencing should send a strong warning to anyone involved in piracy; this is a crime which is taken very seriously and the repercussions can be severe as these men now realise”.
Sharp continued: “These individuals exploited the works of the creative industries for their own financial gain, pocketing hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, the harm to the industry was far greater as it reached the millions. There are so many people behind the scenes of our favourite films and shows such as set designers, make-up artists and electricians. If we let intellectual property crimes like this continue, the livelihoods and future of these people’s careers could be in jeopardy”.
READ MORE ABOUT: City Of London Police
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:21 | By Chris Cooke
Jury must decide whether Monster should pay Beats’ attorney fees
Business News Legal
Court proceedings in the legal battle between the Beats company and one of its original business partners, Monster LLC, have generally swung in the former’s favour, though an appeal court ruling on one specific question has now found in favour of the latter.
As previously reported, Monster and Beats collaborated on the original ‘stick-a-by-Dre-label-on-the-side-and-hike-up-the-price’ headphones, but the business partnership ended in something of a messy divorce in 2012.
Monster and its founder Noel Lee sued in the wake of Apple’s $3 billion deal to acquire the Beats business in 2014. The lawsuit made allegations about Beats previous share sale to phone maker HTC and the impact it had had on its deal with Monster. It also accused Beats management of misleading Lee about their future plans, so that he sold his stake in the Beats company in 2013 at much less than he would have got for his shares had he held on to them until the Apple deal the following year.
In a summary judgement last year, the judge hearing the case concluded that Beats’ actions were allowed under its contracts with Monster and Lee, while also noting that both had entered into deals with the Beats business as “sophisticated investors”.
However, one issue remained unresolved, which was Beats’ efforts to force Monster to cover its legal costs in relation to the dispute. Beats reckoned that a judge should be able to rule on what, if anything, Monster should pay towards its attorney fees, citing a thing in Californian law called Civil Code Section 1717. At first instance the LA Superior Court agreed, but Monster appealed. And now the appeals judges have ruled that Beats’ bid to get its legal costs covered should go before a jury.
To that end the appeals court has told the Superior Court to “issue a new order directing that Monster and Lee are entitled to a jury trial to determine the amount of those attorney’s fees”. Complying with Beats’ interpretation of Section 1717 could undermine the constitution of the state of California, the appeal judges added, and “when possible, we must construe statutes in a manner which avoids constitutional difficulties”.
So that’s all fun. And so the tedious Monster v Beats squabble continues.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beats By Dre | Monster LLC
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:19 | By Chris Cooke
Warner/Chappell signs XTC co-founder
Artist News Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
Warner/Chappell has signed one of those worldwide deals with singer songwriter Andy Partridge, who you probably know better as a founding member of British band XTC. But he’s had a much more eclectic career as a songwriter, collaborating with artists like Terry Hall, Charlotte Hatherley, Miles Kane, Jamie Cullum and The Monkees.
The new deal with the Warner Music publishing company covers recent solo releases and future songwriting exploits.
Confirming the deal, Warner/Chappell UK MD and Andy Partridge fanboy Mike Smith says: “Andy Partridge is one of the great songwriters of his generation. I was smitten by his music as a teenager and was lucky enough to work with him during my time at EMI, when he was nominated for an Ivor Novello, and then later when I worked in records and would approach him to collaborate with my artists”.
He continues: “His music has touched countless people around the globe, through an incredible catalogue of stunning albums to the many uses of his songs in film and television. Andy is a unique talent, a superb British songwriter who has established himself both as part of a groundbreaking band and as a collaborative writer without equal”.
But you only read this article to hear from Partridge himself, we know that, and we’re famous crowd pleasers. So here’s XTC co-founder, songwriter extraordinaire and Mike Smith fanboy Andy Partridge with some words: “There are very few people I trust in the music industry, and with good reason, but one of the rare few is Mike Smith”.
He adds: “When Mike asked me to come with him to Warner/Chappell, I jumped at the chance, knowing that when Mike says something gets done, it gets done. He’s got a great sense for pairing people up, and what’s going to work artistically, and what isn’t, [and] an excellent ear for good music. I am more than pleased to be aboard the good ship Warner/Chappell with Captain Mike at the helm. Sail on”.
Sail on indeed – into those warm calm glorious waters ahead. Though, always keep a life jacket to hand, I say.
READ MORE ABOUT: Andy Partridge | Warner Chappell | XTC
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:17 | By Chris Cooke
CMU@TGE 2017: When Music Gets Synchronised – Deal Making
Business News Labels & Publishers The Great Escape 2017
Look out for more reports throughout June on key sessions that took place at the CMU Insights conferences at The Great Escape last month. Today, the latter half of the sync-focused session in The Royalties Conference.
Sync is a big topic for discussion at most music conferences these days, of course. So much so that it would be easy to think that the synchronisation of music to movies, TV, games and ads – and the licensing income it generates – is the most lucrative part of the music rights business. It’s not. Indeed, for the record industry it’s a very small part of the business indeed (2% worldwide). But it’s more important for the music publishers, and most important for those songwriters who are not also performers.
Who negotiates the sync deals for those songwriters and how do the deals work though? Those were the questions posed to Simon Pursehouse from Sentric Music and Ros Earls from 140db, who managers artists, songwriters and producers, in the second part of the sync session during the CMU Insights Royalties Conference.
“The songwriting world has become massively over-saturated”, Earls noted, explaining why sync can be such an important part of the business for the songwriters and producers she works with, there being less opportunities to write hits for other artists, and those occasional hits often being less lucrative in the streaming age. “It’s getting tougher and tougher to make a living as a songwriter, and as a record producer too. Getting a sync can really save your bacon”.
Which is why music publishers make such a big deal about their sync teams, and why a publisher’s ability to secure sync and original commission opportunities is an important consideration when a songwriter is deciding which publisher to ally with. The opportunity for future sync deals is “always a big part of a publisher’s pitch”, Earls confirmed, though she cautioned, “there’s no guarantee of any of it”.
This may be because the publisher isn’t quite as committed to finding a writer sync deals as they claim – especially if they are repping a large repertoire. Or it might simply be because, as with everything, but even more so with sync, there’s a ‘right time right place’ element to it all.
Either way, a good manager, when working with someone who primarily writes or producers music, rather than performing, should also be seeking opportunities for their clients in the sync space. Earls has lots of contacts in the sync business, and is often being pitched to by sync agencies, though – she stressed – the more people who get involved in the deal-making, the more people taking a cut of the money before it reaches the writer.
“In America, there are huge sync agencies pitching all of the time”, she said. “But obviously they’re taking another slice of the money – in addition to the publisher taking their cut. It’s great to be pitched too of course”, she added. “And those deals are particularly attractive for writers who are self-published and in control of their own copyrights. But if you’re published, then the writer is basically going to end up paying twice”.
Of course, having multiple parties each taking a cut is less of an issue if – through those different entities being involved – you score a particularly valuable deal. “It depends on the return”, Earls said on whether published writers should also work with sync agencies. “If you’re looking at a Disney sync, or you’re looking at a Netflix programme, another 20% [commission] might not matter that much. You’ve got to weigh all that stuff up”.
Quite how sync income is shared is important to consider when negotiating a publishing deal, Pursehouse added. “Definitely be aware that if you’re going to do a deal with any label or publisher, you should include both a procurement and a non-procurement rate on sync”, he said. “That means that if they pitch your song and get you that deal, they can take their full commission. But if the writer secures the deal – directly or via another agent – then the publisher should take a lower cut, maybe an administration fee”.
Earls agreed that its important to structure publishing deals in that way, though added that, with self-procured sync deals, “you have to prove that you secured the deal, and it can be quite tricky getting into who did what”.
On the songs side, sync deals usually come in two parts. First there is the deal that allows the licensee to actually synchronise the song into their video. Any TV company which then broadcasts the finished product, or cinema which screens it, then needs a separate licence to cover the ‘communication’ or ‘performance’ of the finished work. Outside of TV, the first part of the arrangement is usually a direct deal between writer/publisher and the licensee. The second element is handled by the collecting society – so PRS in the UK.
If a finished work is likely to be broadcast or screened on a regular basis, resulting in regular PRS income, does that mean you’ll accept a lower rate at the outset? “It depends on the artist really”, said Earls. “If you’re an artist that’s used to a certain level of income, and you want to sustain your livelihood, you’re thinking more about the long term. But at the same time, you also need to consider your worth in the marketplace, you don’t want to cutting the value of what you do, which you might by accepting the lower fee”.
When it comes to the direct sync deals – rather than those covered by collective licensing – the money on offer varies hugely. The writer’s status is a key factor, but so is the budget that the licensee has access to. The licensee will also often talk up the promotional value of a writer’s music being synced, though that is only really true for songwriters who are also performers, and who have an artist brand to promote and fanbase to build.
Therefore artists and writers need to decide which deals work for their situation. At Sentric, Pursehouse works with lots of artists at the start of their careers. Earlier he recalled how: “We were presented with one deal – for a year-long UK ad campaign – offering the band £3000, which is terrible money. I said to the artist, ‘this is bad money – I would say no to this if it was up to me’. But for the band, it was their first ever single, it bought them a van and they were really chuffed”.
He added: “Ultimately it’s their choice. I’m never going to say no to money when it’s an artist livelihood at stake. We can give advice, we can tell them what they should do, but ultimately you put the facts in front of them, give them your recommendation, and if they say ‘yes’, that’s cool. We’re simply there to facilitate and add value”.
In addition to securing sync deals for existing songs and recordings, there is also the business of original commissions of course, that can be even more lucrative. Though Earls noted that you need to build a decent profile in that space to really see the opportunities.
That said, Earls knows first hand how valuable those opportunities can be when they really work, she having worked with Paul Oakenfold when he got the ‘Big Brother’ theme commission from TV company Endemol. “They came to us to commission the music. That was one of those really big moments, because the show was then franchised around the world and it just kept on going, it was the gift that kept on giving”.
“They didn’t do a buyout on that, did they?” Pursehouse interjected. “So they must have had to relicense it every season”. Earls confirmed that was so. “It was a really good deal, and it’s still going”.
Who gets to own the copyright when TV, movie, gaming or ad companies commission original works is a contentious issue, with more and more production companies and brands seeking to take control of the copyrights their commissions create, which basically means they become the publisher of the music. The writer will get future royalties – certainly their cut of anything collected by PRS – but won’t control the work.
“They might give you a flow through of any subsequent income”, Earls said of those deals. “But they won’t let you hold on to the copyright”. Those deals are particularly tricky for published writers, she added, because the writer’s publishing deal means they couldn’t automatically sign up to a commission that includes a ‘buyout’.
Which again means that songwriters who see sync and original commissions as being key to their businesses need to consider all the implications when signing a publishing contract. Though get yourself a ‘Big Brother’ style deal, and all that time sorting out the technicalities and paperwork will be worth it.
Check out all the reports and resources CMU has published around this year’s CMU Insights @ The Great Escape conferences here.
READ MORE ABOUT: 140db | Ros Earls | Sentric Music | Simon Pursehouse | The Great Escape
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:11 | By CMU Editorial
New networking event Collaborate kicks off with next-step in streaming debate
Business News Education & Events
A new networking event for the music community launches in London next week, with a discussion focused on the next chapter in the digital music story, and how artists, labels and digital platforms can get the most out of streaming as it comes of age.
The new event programme is called Collaborate and organisers say that they want to “explore the gaps between the worlds of music and tech”, to “discuss key areas of potential and concern” and “inspire the music start-ups and technology of the future”. Next week’s free event takes place at the Rainmaking Loft in London.
The panel discussion element will be led by CMU MD and Business Editor Chris Cooke, with input from DEF Management’s Eric Harle, Mycelia’s Carlotta de Ninni, Disc Museum’s Guillaume Descottes and Raygun’s Julian Deane. It will consider the challenges and opportunities streaming now poses artists and entrepreneurs, as well as music companies.
It takes place on Wednesday 28 Jun at 6.30pm – free tickets are available here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Collaborate
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:08 | By Andy Malt
Justin Bieber NOT a Latin King
Artist News Business News Digital
Justin Bieber is not one of the greatest Latin artists of all time, it has been confirmed. Spotify began running an Instagram advert declaring Biebs to be a “Latin King” earlier this week, but subsequently pulled it after realising the error.
The advert was placed to mark the success of the remix of ‘Despacito’ by Puerto Rican artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, which features new vocals from Bieber. The track is the first time Bieber has sung in Spanish on a record, which did make his sudden ascent to the position of ‘Latin King’ seem somewhat suspicious. Also, he recently turned down an audience request to perform the song at Summerburst Festival in Sweden because he couldn’t remember the words.
Anyway, this advert started popping up in people’s Instagram feeds, much to the annoyance of many people who had heard of actual Latin artists. Lots of them began contacting the streaming service on social media asking for the advert to be taken down. Which, to be fair, it did.
“We made a creative decision to feature Justin Bieber in our ad because we wanted to celebrate ‘Despacito’ as key cultural moment when music genres crossover”, explained a Spotify spokesperson to New York Daily News. “[However] we realised that this could be seen as culturally insensitive so we have pulled those ads’.
READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber | Spotify
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:05 | By Andy Malt
Chance The Rapper apologises for ‘satirising’ Dr Dre’s Aftermath label
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers
Chance The Rapper has apologised to Dr Dre for mocking his Aftermath record label in the stage set for his current ‘Be Encouraged’ tour.
As part of the production, the rapper, who has famously never signed a record deal, mocked various labels by reworking their logos with new names. Sony became Phony, Def Jam became Don’t Join and Aftermath became Can’t Do Math. But now Chance feels bad about mocking Dre’s label, and about the whole thing in general.
“I want to formally apologise to Dr Dre, and all of Aftermath, for publicly disrespecting their hard work and contributions to music”, he said on Twitter yesterday. “When I went on the ‘Be Encouraged’ tour I made LED content to satirise and degrade major labels. I made the mistake of including imprints, which not only dulled my overall point of trying to uplift artists but also singled out artist-owned ventures that have only worked to progress the culture”.
He continued: “Dre is a premiere example of creating space for wealth and ownership in an industry designed for creatives to be the foot soldiers. His work with Beats, Compton Schools and artists like Kendrick [Lamar], Game, Eminem, [Anderson] .Paak, 50 [Cent], NWA and others is unmatched and how I inspire to be. I set out to empower and I completely missed the ball and I know that now. Once again, sorry to Dre, all the artists/producers at Aftermath and all the other folk trying to make a difference in music that I belittled”.
So that’s nice of him, isn’t it? By the way, I hate you all and I’m not sorry.
READ MORE ABOUT: Aftermath Records | Chance The Rapper | Dr Dre
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:03 | By Andy Malt
Glastonbury opens with minute’s silence
Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
The Glastonbury Festival opened this morning with a minute’s silence in remembrance of those who died in the recent terror attacks in London and Manchester. Festival goers were asked to convene in front of the Pyramid Stage at 10.40am as this year’s event officially got underway.
As previously reported, in the wake of the recent attacks, organisers announced earlier this month that additional security checks would be in operation at the Glastonbury gates this year. People were asked to travel light and only “bring as much as you can carry yourself”, noting that those with trolleys and other large luggage would be placed in separate lanes to other ticketholders.
Following the minute’s silence, the first performance of the day was Hacienda Classical – Peter Hook, Graeme Park, Mike Pickering and the Manchester Camerata Orchestra performing reworked rave anthems.
READ MORE ABOUT: Glastonbury Festival
Friday 23 June 2017, 11:02 | By Andy Malt
Beef Of The Week #360: Nickelback v Slipknot
And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week
Over the years, this column has got a little bit lax with what it classes as ‘a beef’. Often that’s out of necessity – there simply isn’t a massive artist-on-artist smackdown every single week. But this week there have been various bona fide beefs to choose from.
Morrissey versus HMV was discounted early on, because you really have to limit the number of Morrissey rants you let into a column like this, otherwise he’d totally dominate. Hanson calling Justin Bieber “chlamydia of the ear” was a strong contender too, but JB never responded, so it didn’t really go anywhere.
There was a mighty beef this week though, which not only went somewhere, but it came back and went out again, and ran a few errands on the way. That is the beef between Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.
It all started innocently enough. Kroeger, speaking to Metal Covenant, made the reasonable claim that he “can’t think of another band that’s as diverse” as Nickelback. He’s right, it’s tough to think of another band who beats Kroeger’s outfit in the diversity stakes, what with their diverse approach of playing quite loudly and then, diversely, sometimes a bit quieter. The interviewer suggested Stone Sour – who are, of course, fronted by Taylor – and there all hell broke loose.
“They’re okay, but they’re not as good as Nickelback”, said Kroeger. “They sound like Nickelback Lite”. Claiming that Stone Sour are, in fact, just “trying to be Nickelback”, he brought up an incident when Taylor had apparently claimed that it was easy writing hit songs like those Nickelback have foisted upon the world. “Show me”, Kroeger said. “Write one. I have yet to hear one [from Stone Sour]”.
Oh, burn. And, in case you were wondering, Kroeger doesn’t think that Slipknot are up to much either. He also thinks that Stone Sour was just an attempt to satisfy Taylor’s ego, which has failed, due to that whole not being as good as Nickelback thing.
“They had to put on masks and jump around”, said Kroeger of Slipknot. “How good can your music be if you’ve got to beat each other up on stage, throw up in your own masks every night? Music shouldn’t come with a gimmick. Music should just be music”.
“He got tired of sitting behind a mask”, Kroeger went on. “He wanted people to know what he looks like, so he started Stone Sour”.
You may remember that Corey Taylor is a bit touchy about people saying Slipknot’s masks are gimmicky. Even though they definitely are. Back in 2015 he said in an interview: “To everyone who thinks it’s just a gimmick. Live in it and you tell me it’s a gimmick, you shitheads … It’s such a part of what we do and it helps us really embrace the music”.
Two more things to remember: Taylor formed Stone Sour before he joined Slipknot. And also, Slipknot are demonstrably a more fun live band than Nickelback.
But, hey, this isn’t my beef. I don’t need to pitch in here. After a couple of days of silence, Taylor finally staged his retaliation. He’d had time to stew, so it should be a good one.
“You know what? I’ve never said it was easy to write a hit song”, retorted Taylor on US radio station KUPD. “I don’t know what the hell planet he’s living on. Apparently it’s Planet Kroeger, and there must be good weed there, cos he’s an idiot”.
Pow! Yeah, take that idiot man. Alright, not the strongest retort, but Taylor is just getting started. Addressing Kroeger directly, he went on: “You can run your mouth all you want. All I know is I’ve been voted ‘Sexiest Dude In Rock’ wearing a mask. You’ve been voted ‘Ugliest Dude In Rock’ twice without one. Stick that up your ass”.
He doesn’t even have an issue with Nickelback, he added: “Everybody else in that band, I’m very, very cool with; I’ve hung out with them. It’s just ‘Face Like A Foot’ who I can’t really hang out with. He’s got a face like a foot. Am I wrong? I can’t even say anything about the band, Nickelback, because none of them have an issue with us. It’s him. So, dude, curl up in bed with your Hello Kitty pillow and shut up”.
A reference there to Kroeger’s co-writing credit on his ex-wife Avril Lavigne’s song ‘Hello Kitty’, which itself spawned one of the great beefs of our time.
Anyway, the time honoured way to settle any question of musical quality is by financial achievement, as everyone knows. And for a number of years, Slipknot, Stone Sour and Nickelback all shared the same label, Roadrunner Records, which gives Taylor some insight, apparently.
“Let’s just say Roadrunner took all the Slipknot money and gave it to Nickelback to sign them”, he chortled. “That’s all I’m gonna say about it”.
Bit weird to focus on his rivals’ advance though isn’t it, rather than their subsequent record sales? Perhaps that’s because Taylor didn’t want to discuss the higher level of record sales Nickelback went on to achieve, both at Roadrunner and latterly Republic Records. Now signed to BMG, the new Nickelback album ‘Feed The Machine’ is looking like it’ll flop though. By which I mean only go to number five in the US chart. Take that, Kroeger!
I’m not even sure why Kroeger gets involved in these things. He knows how tough it is out there being a rockstar. He’s written two whole songs about it – Nickelback’s ‘Rockstar’ and my personal favourite, his co-write with Tommy Lee, ‘Tryin To Be Me’.
But whatever, let’s consider this beef well and truly broiled.
READ MORE ABOUT: Chad Kroeger | Corey Taylor | Nickelback | Slipknot
Thursday 22 June 2017, 12:21 | By Chris Cooke
Now Apple is trying to cut the labels’ share of the digital pie too
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories
Now, you might think that Apple Music is just a pale imitation of market-leading streaming platform Spotify, and that product development strategy meetings at the tech giant’s music division mainly involve asking the all-important question: “what did Spotify do last month that we could copy?”. But then you’re famously harsh and I couldn’t possibly agree. Meanwhile, in a licensing strategy meeting at the tech giant’s music division, someone asks the all-important question: “what did Spotify do last month that we could copy?”
So, yes, as Apple Music approaches its second birthday, and its two-year licensing deals with the record companies get ready to expire, sources say that Apple execs are following the lead of Spotify bosses in trying to negotiate down the revenue share split enjoyed by the record companies. Both Universal and indie-label repping Merlin have now signed new multi-year deals with Spotify which alter their rates.
The deals the streaming platforms do with the record companies, music publishers and collecting societies are – at their heart – revenue share arrangements, though with minimum guarantees and advances thrown in for good measure.
Every label, publisher and society negotiates their own deal, though the original agreements saw the record companies get a revenue share of 55-60% and the publishers and societies that control the song rights 10-15%. In theory that left the streaming firms with approximately 30% of the income, though the aforementioned guarantees and advances meant they actually got to keep much less.
As the streaming market has started to boom, the streaming platforms – as each deal has come up for renewal – have tried to negotiate the labels’ revenue share split downwards, partly because the bigger publishers have managed to push their splits up to the higher end of the 10-15% bracket, and partly because the loss-making streaming services are desperately trying to work out a way to go into profit in the relatively near future.
Reducing the revenue share splits was one of the key sticking points that made Spotify’s most recent label negotiations so long drawn out. And some of those negotiations continue, of course. With the new deals that have been struck, the streaming firm has offered the rights owners more control over their content and access to more sophisticated data, while the better rates themselves are conditional on certain growth targets being achieved.
Sources have confirmed to Bloomberg that similar conversations are now underway between Apple and the record companies over its streaming service. Insiders say that the labels are generally open to reducing revenue share splits with Apple in line with the deals that have been done with Spotify, providing the tech giant offers similar commitments on growing its business, and presumably some other kickbacks on data and marketing.
Of course, for the time being at least, both Spotify and Apple Music continue to sign up new premium subscribers at quite a rapid pace each month, meaning that while revenue share splits may dip a little, the record industry at large should continue to see its streaming income grow. And while the labels would like as big a slice of the digital pie as possible, they are becoming so reliant on the streaming market – which is in turn so reliant on a small number of service providers – that they need to help the major platforms tweak their business models as they seek to become profitable.
Artists are generally kept in the dark about the specific terms of these deals, so don’t know exactly what revenue share their label partners have negotiated, nor what advances or minimum guarantees are involved, nor what kickbacks the record companies are getting in terms of marketing and data. Which, of course, remains a major bone of contention among the artist and management community.
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | Apple Music
Thursday 22 June 2017, 12:20 | By Chris Cooke
UK Music offers mixed response to the Queen’s Speech
Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories
So, the Queen of this disUnited Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland got all dressed up yesterday, though at the same time dressed down, to deliver her big speech to the Westminster Parliament setting out the legislative agenda of the sort-of-government that has shuffled itself forward following the recent hilarious General Election.
The Queen was sans-crown because the timing of the snap General Election, and other regal commitments, meant that Team Windsor decided against staging the full pantomime usually associated with the state opening of Parliament. Though plenty of parallels were made between the low-key nature of the event and the stripped backed speech that was actually delivered, Prime Minister Theresa Mayhem having abandoned a bunch of her plans now that she no longer commands a majority in the House Of Commons.
But among the Brexit-heavy ramblings Ms Liz was forced to read out yesterday, were there any measures of relevance to the music industry? Well, reckons Michael Dugher, former MP and now CEO of UK Music, there will be opportunities to push for stronger copyright protection, at home and abroad, via some of the government’s planned initiatives. Though concerns remain about Brexit and where the hell is ‘agent of change’?
Said Dugher yesterday: “We welcome the chance offered by the Trade Bill in the Queen’s Speech to build on the UK music industry’s £2.2 billion export contribution”.
“The Trade Bill is an ideal opportunity for the government to stress that copyright and its enforcement should be a key part of the trade negotiations”, he continued “And that the UK creative industries must not be used as a bargaining chip in any trade talks. We also welcome proposals for a new Digital Charter and hope it will cover the vital issues concerning infringements of copyright and intellectual property”. Yeah, well, it might.
What about stupid silly smelly Brexit though? “UK Music will be holding the government to account to get the best possible Brexit deal for the thousands of people who work and depend on the UK music industry”, Dugher insisted, noting concerns about the status of EU citizens currently working in the UK music business and about possible new costs or bureaucracy that could become associated with European tours for British artists.
“The proposed Immigration Bill must reassure EU workers in the UK music industry about their futures and ensure that we can still attract talented people from overseas”, he said. “And any changes to the immigration system must not put unnecessary barriers in the path of touring artists visiting the UK or our artists touring abroad”.
Finally, staying with live music, Dugher noted that the government’s new agenda doesn’t include any plans to introduce so called ‘agent of change’, which puts obligations on property developers who put new residential properties next to existing music venues. Such developments can result in licensing problems for those venues down the line. ‘Agent of change’ means the developer must protect the venue, eg by paying for sound proofing.
Dugher concluded: “We are disappointed that the Queen’s Speech does not include any ‘agent of change’ proposals – a simple planning reform that would protect the future of many live music venues. We will continue to fight for this important change to protect our cherished music venues and to campaign against any proposed legislation that could damage our industry”.
READ MORE ABOUT: UK Music
Thursday 22 June 2017, 12:17 | By Chris Cooke
Live Nation sued over drug death at Electric Daisy Carnival
Business News Legal Live Business
The parents of a man who died at the 2015 edition of the flagship Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas are suing the festival’s promoter, claiming that the slow response of staff at the event to their son’s medical emergency led to his death.
Live Nation is involved in the dance music festival via its alliance with Insomniac Events, and both are listed as defendants on the new lawsuit. The legal papers concede that Nicholas Tom collapsed after taking ecstasy on the third day of the festival. But the lawsuit then alleges that it took attendees and festival staff 30 minutes to get Tom to a medical tent, that said tent was then empty, and that the crew that did subsequently arrive did not have the required medical training. Tom died while in the medical tent.
Shortly after Tom’s death in 2015, Insomniac expressed condolences to the festival-goer’s family, before adding in a statement that: “Participating in illicit drug behaviour can have tragic consequences and we hold a strict zero tolerance policy for illegal activity while continually educating our fans on the dangers of drug use”.
Neither Live Nation nor Insomniac have responded to the Tom family’s lawsuit. There has, of course, been much debate of late about the limitations of venues and festivals having ‘zero tolerance’ policies to drugs, and of the importance of promoters having sufficient medical staff on site and running high profile education campaigns about the dangers of illegal substances, and how to consume them more safely.
READ MORE ABOUT: Electric Daisy Carnival | Live Nation
Thursday 22 June 2017, 12:16 | By Chris Cooke
US record industry shouts ‘value gap’ ahead of Donald Trump’s NAFTA review
Business News Labels & Publishers
Old Donnie Trump from the United States Of Trumpton is having a good go at reforming the North American Free Trade Agreement – or NAFTA to its friends – the long-established free trade deal between the US, Canada and Mexico. And with that in mind, interested parties Stateside have been invited to make submissions outlining what they would like to see prioritised in any new trade talks between the three North American nations.
And guess what the Recording Industry Association Of America has put at the top of its priority list. Go on, have a guess! Think about it. Think about it. What is the one thing the US record industry would like the Trumpeters to discuss when they sit down with their Canadian and Mexican comrades? That’s right, the big bad value gap! Well done. You win a prize. Though the headline to this article sort of gave it away, didn’t it? So on second thoughts, no prize. Because that would be a prize for reading.
But yes, the RIAA wants American negotiators to talk safe harbours with their Canadian and Mexican counterparts. The music industry, of course, reckons that the safe harbours that protect internet service providers and such like from liability for their customers’ copyright infringement should not apply to user-upload platforms like YouTube. And they want copyright law rewritten to that effect.
In its submission on the upcoming NAFTA negotiations, the RIAA writes: “According to one recent report, this safe harbour exemption acts as an enormous subsidy to the dominant incumbent video-streaming service [YouTube], a subsidy worth approximately $650 million to $1 billion annually. This company-specific industrial policy places one incumbent service at a fundamentally unfair advantage over other legitimate music services, which do not receive this enormous discount that was never intended by the legislative drafters, and instead negotiate commercial licenses with rights holders”.
The three North American countries, reckons the RIAA, should together pursue “a concise, high-level and high-standard service provider liability provision with respect to copyright infringement”, meaning that “the safe harbours are only available to passive intermediaries without requisite knowledge of the infringement on their platforms, and inapplicable to services actively engaged in communicating to the public”.
Of course, the American record industry hasn’t achieved that in America yet, let alone Canada and Mexico. And few expect the ongoing US Copyright Office review of safe harbours to result in a speedy rewrite of the country’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act – where the safe harbour resides Stateside – even if the review advocates reform. Which is something Canada and Mexico are sure to point out if the US demands this measure.
Still, worth asking. The RIAA’s lengthy submission covers an assortment of other copyright issues, including firming up the controls that come with the copyright, cutting back on compulsory licences and copyright exceptions, and other anti-piracy measures. You can read the full submission here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Donald Trump | Recordings Industry Association Of America (RIAA)
Thursday 22 June 2017, 11:19 | By Chris Cooke
Sam FM apologies after DJs talk up a sponsor’s free car
Business News Media
Local radio station Sam FM has apologised to media regulator OfCom after its presenters went on rather too long about an electric car that had been loaned to the station by one of its sponsors.
According to Radio Today, a Sam FM presenter started singing the praises of the Renault Twizy, which had been loaned to them by a local car dealer called City Motors, during a sports programme sponsored by said company.
Although noting the vehicle’s small size, the presenter – being questioned by a colleague who was commentating on a local rugby match – said of the car: “It is fully electric, 100% electric. No emissions, it’s all green. You don’t even need any tax”. After presenter guy stated that the Twizy’s top speed was 50 miles an hour, commentator guy added “that’s all you need, isn’t it?” To which presenter guy said: “Absolutely, I was going down The Portbury Hundred towards Portishead with some pace … last week or so”.
A listener complained about all this on air plugging, arguing that it violated OfCom rules about keeping editorial and commercial content separated. Sam FM owner Celador stressed that City Motors was clearly positioned as the sponsor of its rugby coverage on air, but admitted that the Alan Partridge style chit chat about the Renault Twizy was “a lapse in editorial judgment”. I mean, for starters Partridge would not approve of such a small car.
Stressing that the conversation was impromptu and not part of any sneaky advertorial deal with its sponsor, Celador said: “A guest commentator filled a gap in the on-field action by starting a conversation [about] a car that had been supplied by the sponsor earlier in the week for an on-air promotion. The guest’s questioning unintentionally [led] the presenter to further detail the sponsor’s product which, on this occasion, was a lapse in editorial judgment under the pressure of a live broadcast by the presenter”.
Of course, we’re not covered by OfCom rules here in the CMU Daily, so if City Motors wants to chuck us a free car we’ll plug it big time. All we’ve got to lose is our credibility. And last time I checked, you can’t drive to the shops in your credibility.
READ MORE ABOUT: OfCom | Sam FM
Thursday 22 June 2017, 11:16 | By Andy Malt
CMU@TGE 2017: A Recent History Of Getting High
Business News Live Business The Great Escape 2017
Look out for more reports throughout June on key sessions that took place at the CMU Insights conferences at The Great Escape last month. Today, A Recent History Of Getting High.
While the latter half of the CMU Insights Drugs Conference looked at addiction and recovery, the first part of the day considered drug taking at music events, and drugs as part of clubbing culture. To inform that debate, host Jen Long spoke to Mixmag Editor Duncan Dick about recent trends in drug use amongst clubbers, including stats from the Global Drug Survey – a project originally started as a Mixmag feature two decades ago and now a major independent operation surveying global trends in drug use.
“We started the drugs survey at Mixmag around the late 90s”, Dick explained. “At that time, dance music was a subculture, and a subculture that was built around ecstasy. We were really the only people documenting that culture so it was really important to us to reflect what was going on”.
“We’ve always seen ourselves as telling the truth about drugs”, he added. “Drugs are completely linked to dance music, from the people that make it to the people that dance to it. I’m not saying that everybody involved in dance music is on drugs, but it’s definitely part of the culture. A lot of people would like drugs to go away, but they’re not going to go away. And as journalists, as dance music lovers, we’d like to report on the world as it is rather than the world that someone would like it to be”.
The Global Drug Survey defines clubbers as people who have been clubbing in the last three months. Reviewing the 2016 figures, Dick said: “It will not shock you to know that the most popular drug amongst clubbers is ecstasy. And ecstasy use has been growing year-on-year over the last five years”.
“Ecstasy is more fashionable than it has ever been, in my opinion”, Dick continued. “And cocaine is up as well”. Those trends might surprise people, given all the media attention enjoyed by so called legal highs in recent years, and the subsequent crackdown on such substances in the UK last year.
“Nitrous was massive in 2016”, Dick added, of the substances that fell under the ‘legal high’ banner, “but I don’t know whether the new laws will have an affect on that”.
One of the legal highs that was particularly newsworthy for a time was mephedrone aka Meow Meow. “Mephedrone seems to have died a death and that is mainly because pills got stronger”, Dick revealed. “It’s almost as if the cartels that make MDMA – that’s probably some Dutch guys on a farm in Utrecht – got to together and thought, ‘well, this is killing our market, we’ve got to compete with these labs in China’. The quality of MDMA has gone up massively in the last few years [and] that was a direct response to the popularity of mephedrone”.
Increasing the strength of drugs does tend to increase their popularity, Dick confirmed, adding that: “The stronger the drugs, the more people report having a good time on them, so the more likely people are to take them. I would certainly say that more people are taking MDMA now, in the form of pills or powders, than they were six or seven years ago when pills were £2 a pop but they were 2% pure”.
Drugs getting stronger makes them more dangerous if people continue to consume them at the same quantity – not realising a pill now contains much more of the actual drug. With poor drugs education, and a lack of good information of legal highs let alone illegal drugs, that creates a risky situation that can be fatal.
“There’s a huge void in drug education at the moment”, Dick said. Reckoning that bad drugs education was as much about a lack of funding as it was a nervousness among the powers that be about being seen to condone drug taking, he continued: “That’s combined that with a generation of millennials that started taking mephedrone because they assumed it was safe, because no one knew anything about it, because it was easy to get. And now they’re now moving onto illegal drugs with little information about them. It’s a perfect storm”.
Mixmag has attempted to fill the drugs education void where possible, he said. Last year the magazine ran the ‘Don’t Be Daft, Start With A Half’ campaign, after there was “a rash of people having convulsions, overheating” due to taking “super-strong pills”. This kind of editorial, of course, means adopting an approach some people consider controversial, ie taking drug consumption at clubbing events as read, and talking about how to take drugs safely, rather than insisting that drugs should just be avoided.
Dick is an advocate of other media and the music industry embracing this approach. “I think festivals and clubs really have a moral responsibility to step in here and, instead of chasing people around with aggressive bouncers, to try to educate folk on how to take drugs safely. To support campaigns like ours. And to talk about this work openly”.
“The truth is, you’re not going to change people’s behaviour by simply heightening security”, he went on. “It’s just not going to work. Look at the sad deaths around Fabric recently – one of those kids took their pills outside the club. What’s the club supposed to do about that? The only way you can save lives is by education”.
The government should also be playing a more proactive role here, he added: “It would be nice to see the government spending a little bit of money on education campaigns. Talk To Frank is a website and a couple of flyers in a club”.
He continued: “It’d be nice to see a bit more engagement with the clubbing community and with the people that own venues especially. With the Lib Dem manifesto, there was talk of putting responsibility for drugs under the Department Of Health again. Just that kind of mindset, where we’re talking about protection and education rather than trying to lock people up, I think would make a massive change”.
“Drugs are getting stronger and people need to take responsibility for their own actions, but they also need to have the full information at their fingertips”, he concluded, encouraging clubbers to seek out as much information as they can. “There’s a lot more drug checking and drug purity testing available. I would urge people to take full advantage of them”.
Check out all the reports and resources CMU has published around this year’s CMU Insights @ The Great Escape conferences here. Since The Great Escape, the 2017 Global Drugs Survey has been published, which you can read here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Duncan Dick | Global Drug Survey | Mixmag | The Great Escape
Thursday 22 June 2017, 11:11 | By Chris Cooke
Sofar Sounds launches global gigs programme with Amnesty for World Refugee Day
Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
Amnesty International announced a tie up with Sofar Sounds earlier this week that will see a thousand musicians perform in 300 homes in 60 countries on World Refugee Day on 20 Sep, with a view to raising awareness of the ever worsening refugee crisis, and funds to support initiatives helping those forced to flee their homes.
Jessie Ware, Jack Garratt, Kate Tempest, Billy Bragg, Oh Wonder, The National, KT Tunstall, Lianne La Havas, Zero 7 and Wild Beasts are among those due to play as part of the massive of day of intimate Sofar Sounds gigs, which are taking place under the banner Give A Home. The shows will also bring together refugees and local communities, and activists will speak alongside the musical performances. Vice and Facebook are set to promote and live stream the proceedings.
Confirming the venture, Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said: “With more than 21 million people forced to flee their home country, the world refugee crisis is one of the defining issues of our era. How we respond to it now will shape who we are for generations to come. This is our moment to defend the things that unite us and refuse to let fear and prejudice win”.
He continued: “Music and art have always been powerful partners to the cause of justice because they share an ability to stir something deep within us. They help us to look beyond borders and see what unites us. That is why this World Refugee Day we are announcing the Give A Home concerts. The shows will be an opportunity to reflect on our shared humanity and strengthen our resolve to tackle this unprecedented humanitarian challenge”.
Also commenting on the project, Sofar Sounds co-CEO Rafe Offer added: “Give A Home aligns Amnesty International and Sofar’s vision of a global community united by the things that really matter, in the same way that Sofar unites thousands of people all around the world every day through a shared love of music. On World Refugee Day, the global music community will come together like never before to celebrate a more hopeful narrative, one that champions and celebrates the fundamental equality and dignity of all human beings”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Sofar Sounds
Thursday 22 June 2017, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke
DJ Mag to support UNICEF via this year’s DJ Poll
Artist News Media
DJ Mag has announced a tie up with children’s charity UNICEF, and will use its Top 100 DJs poll this year to raise money for the organisation. Voting for the annual survey of clubbers worldwide opens on 5 Jul, with the winner announced at the Amsterdam Dance Event in October.
Confirming the new charity partner, DJ Mag MD Martin Carvell told reporters: “We’re very excited to have UNICEF as the charity beneficiary of Top 100 DJs 2017. Both the Top 100 DJs and the dance music industry have grown immensely over the last 25 years. Over one million people voted in last year’s poll and with the continuing global expansion of electronic music, we feel that the time is right for us, as music fans, industry, and DJs, to give something back”.
Meanwhile UNICEF UK’s Deputy Executive Director Catherine Cottrell added: “We would like to thank DJ Mag for supporting UNICEF through the 2017 Top 100 DJs poll. The money raised through working with this long-established cornerstone of the dance music calendar will have a great impact on the lives of children around the world. DJ Mag readers’ donations will help UNICEF to continue to protect children in danger and transform their lives. With your help, we can make the world a safer place for children”.
READ MORE ABOUT: DJ Mag
Thursday 22 June 2017, 11:07 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Kali Uchis, St Vincent, Lucian Grainge, more
Artist News Awards Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Kali Uchis has released the video for ‘Tyrant’, featuring Jorja Smith.
• Ariel Pink has announced that he will release new album, ‘Dedicated To Bobby Jameson’, on 15 Sep. Here’s recently released single ‘Another Weekend’.
• Mumdance & Logos have released a new double a-side single, featuring new tracks ‘FFS’ and ‘BMT’. They have also made the full back catalogue of their Different Circles label available digitally for the first time, via Bandcamp.
• Jay Johnson has released a new single, ‘Island’. He’ll play The Fighting Cocks in Kingston-Upon-Thames on 7 Jul.
• Orka will release a new EP, ‘<13’, on 21 Jul. Here’s a teaser. There’ll be a launch party at Rye Wax in Peckham on 5 Jul.
• St Vincent has announced that she’ll be touring the UK and Ireland in September. She’ll play shows in London, Manchester and Dublin. Tickets go on general sale on 30 Jun.
• Universal Music boss Lucian Grainge has been named Cannes Lions Media Person Of The Year. He dedicated the prize to his older brother, Ensign Records founder Nigel Grainge, who died earlier this month.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ariel Pink | Cannes Lions | Jay Johnson | Jorja Smith | Kali Uchis | Logos | Lucian Grainge | Mumdance | Orka | St Vincent | Universal Music
Thursday 22 June 2017, 11:04 | By Andy Malt
Napalm Death interviewed by Ed Miliband on Radio 2
And Finally Artist News Media
There was a little ripple of confusion on social media yesterday, as people assumed they’d misheard an announcement on BBC Radio 2 that Ed Miliband would be interviewing Napalm Death frontman Barney Greenway.
For non-UK readers, Radio 2 is the BBC station aimed at people who think they still like pop music but claim not to be able to hear the words in all the “noise” that young people listen to on Radio 1 these days. Ed Miliband is the former leader of the Labour Party, who lost the 2015 General Election due to eating a bacon sandwich badly. And Napalm Death are a band who make the sort of noise that Radio 2 and even Radio 1 listeners would generally agree is “not music”.
Miliband was on Radio 2 standing in for Jeremy Vine, who presents the mid-morning arguments show on the station. I’m still not entirely sure why Barney Greenway was there, but it doesn’t appear to have been an accident. Actually, if Miliband is to be believed, the booking was due to him being a big fan of Napalm Death.
“I’ve been a groupie for SO long”, he wrote on Twitter. “Been to the gigs, got the t-shirt, now’s my chance to meet Napalm Death in person”.
Nothing about the interview suggested he had been aware that Napalm Death existed before that morning. Still, discussing the fact that Glastonbury will be hosting its first ever dedicated heavy metal stage, courtesy of Earache Records, this weekend, Miliband played music by Morbid Angel and Wormrot, and also interviewed Greenway about death metal, grindcore and why people should give extreme metal a chance.
“I understand it”, said Greenway of people’s distaste for the genre. “We appreciate that people feel that [extreme metal is ‘just noise’]. And actually we get a perverse sense [of pleasure] out of annoying people, because there’s kind of a paradox. The band is very sonically violent, but actually the ethos behind it is about humanity, equality, tolerance. You know, all the things that appear to be the complete antithesis. A lot of musicians can be quite sensitive about their art, but we sort of welcome people’s revulsion … We’re always trying to find the notes that make people quite ill”.
Miliband also spoke to Earache label manager Dan Tobin about the stage at Glastonbury, who said: “It’s the first time they’ve really included this area of music. Yes, they’re had Metallica on and Motorhead on, and a couple of other bands, but this is a big deal for the bands involved”.
However, the highlight of the feature (aside from an incongruous break to play Shalamar) was Miliband taking a lesson in extreme metal vocal technique, attempting to perform Napalm Death’s ‘You Suffer’. See how he got on here:
Listen to the full interview, from one hour and 35 minutes in, here.
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | BBC Radio 2 | Earache Records | Ed Miliband | Napalm Death
Thursday 22 June 2017, 09:35 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Esther Joy
CMU Approved
Esther Joy Lane has come a long way since we first wrote about her music, and it’s been exciting to watch her develop and hone her sound and style. Now really finding herself as an artist, she’s set to release new EP, ‘Psychic Tears’, on 11 Aug. Marching out in front of that is lead single ‘Samgel’.
“Samgel is the name I use for the dark presence I experience and write about a lot in my music”, she explains. “It is a part of me that has overwhelmed me so much in my life and been the root of most of my darkest moments. I named this track after it because as soon as I wrote that first synth line – the big intense one at the beginning – it was like I had found Samgel”.
“I couldn’t express myself musically in the way I wanted to for such a long time, and I just wanted someone to swoop in and make it all easy”, she continues. “Never finding those people was the best thing that could have happened because it forced me to get better on my own and now I am just starting to feel like I am sounding like me”.
Listen to ‘Samgel’ 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: Esther Joy Lane
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:25 | By CMU Editorial
CMU Daily is fifteen!
Business News Media
So, ladies and gentlemen, would you believe that the CMU Daily has now been publishing daily for fifteen years. Fifteen years!
There was no Spotify back then. There was no iTunes back then. There was no Facebook back then. There was no YouTube back then. It was only after the CMU Daily was launched that all those music and media revolutions occurred. Coincidence?
Yes. Don’t blame us for YouTube. That was nothing to do with us. Though thanks for embracing and then hating all things YouTube. It’s made covering the music industry every day for the last fifteen years much more fun. Here’s to the next fifteen years and everyone hating Facebook!
If you want to celebrate fifteen years of the CMU Daily by subscribing to the CMU Podcast, becoming a premium subscriber, reading up on our TGE panels from last month, booking into upcoming CMU Insights seminars and masterclasses, or just checking that your best music business mates are all also subscribers and – if not – getting them signed-up, well, that’s up to you.
We’re going to reminisce about all the times Justin Beiber walked into a door, that year when we mainly wrote about Pete Doherty, the miles of CMU column inches the death of Michael Jackson created, and just how eventful the collapse of EMI proved to be.
Needless to say, we are THRILLED about it all.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:23 | By Chris Cooke
Police raid HQ of Spanish collecting society – again
Business News Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
Those with warm memories of the happy heady summer of 2011 and the glorious police raid on the offices of Spanish collecting society SGAE are in for a treat. As we were all enjoying the happy heady days of summer 2017 yesterday, police officers raided the HQ of Spanish collecting society SGAE all over again, this time reportedly investigating an alleged scam apparently called “the wheel”.
Fans of collecting society scandals still remember fondly the 2011 fraud investigation which saw the Spanish music rights organisation’s long-time top man Eduardo ‘Teddy’ Bautista quickly resign.
The whole debacle was a talking point once again earlier this year when Pedro Farré – SGAE’s former communications and lobbying boss and a one-time close ally of Bautista – published a book about his time expensing drugs and prostitutes to the music rights body. Good times. Farré was the only senior SGAE official jailed following the 2011 investigation. Something he’s seemingly as confused about as the rest of us.
According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the latest police raid, in which eighteen people were reportedly detained, relates to an alleged arrangement between certain SGAE members and Spanish TV execs designed to shuffle song royalties distributed by the society to those involved in the scam.
Basically the accused SGAE members register new works with the society, often light reworks of public domain compositions, and then the TV execs involved in the deal commit to regularly air those works on late night television programmes, so that they generate performing right royalties collected by the society.
The TV companies are often listed as the publishers of the music, the SGAE members as the composers, so they can split the loot. It’s also alleged that some of the telly execs got writer credits too, so they could personally profit from the arrangement as well.
El Pais says the scam, known as “la rueda” internally, has been employed for years generating millions of euros in royalties for those involved. Billboard adds that Antón Reixa, who took over from Bautista after his resignation in 2011, was ultimately forced out of the society after trying to clamp down on this and other dodgy dealings designed to ensure buckets of royalty cash are distributed to a small group of SGAE members.
SGAE is yet to comment. Though stick around six years, one of the ‘wheelers’ might yet get jailed and then pen a tell-all memoir revealing the specifics of the scheme. Meanwhile songwriters of the world, next time you’re having a good moan about your useless collecting society, don’t forget, it could be worse, you could a Spanish songwriter.
READ MORE ABOUT: SGAE
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:22 | By Chris Cooke
TuneIn sues Pandora over ad sales deal
Business News Digital Legal
So, thanks to its recent deals, Pandora is now sitting on a cash pile of £680 million. Let’s make sure at least some of that lands into the pockets of those lovely lawyers, right?
Good news everybody! Radio station and podcast aggregator TuneIn is suing Pandora, accusing the streaming music firm of breach of contract, anticipatory breach, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and negligent misrepresentation. Which is fine list of allegations if ever I saw one.
According to Billboard, the dispute relates to an agreement the two companies entered into last year which saw Pandora commit to sell TuneIn’s digital audio advertising slots on an exclusive basis.
Pandora, which has never managed to make its ad-funded personalised radio service profitable, apparently reckoned that it had a super new digital advertising platform that TuneIn could benefit from, it taking a cut of all the ad income it could generate for its new business partner.
However, TuneIn alleges in the lawsuit it filed this week, Pandora “did not invest the resources and effort necessary to make the [new ad venture] a successful sales platform”, adding that the “dismal” number of ads it sold are proof of that. TuneIn reckons that it sold way more advertising through its previous ad sales partners.
Under the deal, Pandora offered TuneIn certain guaranteed income providing the radio aggregator achieved certain levels of traffic. TuneIn says that it delivered on its side of that deal, but that Pandora hasn’t fulfilled its promises regarding minimum payments. Instead, TuneIn alleges, Pandora claimed its new business partner had not provided its inventory forecast in a “reasonably acceptable format”. This, the lawsuit claims, is “a thinly-veiled attempt” by Pandora “to avoid its payment obligations in light of its poor sales results”.
Commenting on the dispute, TuneIn CEO John Donham told Billboard: “We are disappointed that Pandora did not invest the promised resources and effort to make our exclusive partnership a success. Pandora’s failure to honour its agreement with TuneIn forced us to take this step to protect our contractual rights”.
Pandora is yet to respond to the litigation. At least its execs can hide behind that mountain of cash. Until the lawyers grab a load of it to defend TuneIn’s legal claim.
READ MORE ABOUT: Pandora | TuneIn
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:20 | By Chris Cooke
Ministry record company in Australia rebrands following UK label’s Sony deal
Business News Labels & Publishers Live Business
The Ministry Of Sound record company in Australia is rebranding as TMRW Music.
The label operated by Ministry Of Sound’s Australian business partners was not part of Sony Music’s acquisition of the UK-based Ministry label last year. Though the rebrand is as a result of that deal, which will also see the Ministry Of Sound compilations business in Australia now shift over to Sony Music.
The rest of what was Ministry Of Sound Recordings Australia will continue to operate as normal under the new TMRW Music name, and will still be headed up by Tim McGee, whose wider business – including Soapbox Events – will continue to run clubbing nights and events using the Ministry Of Sound brand.
Confirming this, McGee said yesterday: “We will continue to work with the Ministry Of Sound brand on the newly launched club at Ivy [in Sydney], which had a huge opening night with Peking Duk and Sandy Rivera, as well as other events such as the recently announced Ministry Of Sound Orchestrated shows in August”.
Meanwhile Jonathan Bevan, CEO of the Ministry Of Sound Group back in the UK, added, “Ministry Of Sound Group has had a long-standing relationship with Tim and Ministry Of Sound Australia and have always found them to be exceptional partners. We are excited about extending our partnership and about Soapbox Events’ plans for Ministry Of Sound branded events and the Ministry Of Sound Club at Ivy”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ministry Of Sound | TMRW Music
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:19 | By Andy Malt
Spotify testing sponsored tracks in user playlists
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
Spotify has confirmed that it is experimenting with allowing labels to pay to insert songs into your carefully created playlists. The streaming company said that a small trial of this new service is being tested on a number of free users.
“We are always testing new promotional tools that deliver the highest relevancy to our users”, said Spotify in a statement.
Meanwhile, Spotify has also announced another development in playlists. Users can now create collaborative playlists with friends directly within the Facebook Messenger app. Your Facebook friends don’t even have to be Spotify users to impose their dreadful taste upon you.
You can chat to the Spotify chatbot about this now.
READ MORE ABOUT: Facebook | Spotify
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:17 | By Chris Cooke
7digital finalises 24-7 acquisition
Business News Deals Digital
Digital music provider and radio programme maker 7digital yesterday confirmed it had finalised its deal to acquire 24-7 Entertainment – another B2B provider of digital music services – from German consumer electronics giant MediaMarktSaturn, which took a controlling stake in 24-7 back in 2009.
The deal also sees MMS become both the biggest shareholder in the publicly-listed 7digital and also one of its largest clients, with new and renewed deals worth in total £17 million also being signed off. Among the various services 7digital will provide to MMS, it will power the German firm’s streaming platform Juke.
Confirming all this, 7digital boss Simon Cole said: “We set out three years ago to create a profitable, globally dominant player in what we believed would be a rapidly expanding market for the technology and content needed to build streaming music services. This transaction represents the culmination of that strategy, completing our consolidation of European competitors – following the Snowite acquisition last year – and transforming 7digital in terms of size, scale and profitability”.
Meanwhile MediaMarktSaturn’s Wolfgang Kirsch added: “As the number one music retailer in Europe, music streaming is increasingly important for us. Being a shareholder of 7digital will enable us to strengthen our digital entertainment service Juke! and develop further business models for the growing music streaming business”.
READ MORE ABOUT: 24-7 Entertainment | 7digital | MediaMarktSaturn
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:16 | By Andy Malt
Prodigy dies
Artist News
Rapper Prodigy has died, aged 42, it was announced yesterday. Real name Albert Johnson, he was best known as one half of Mobb Deep.
In a statement, Mobb Deep’s publicist said: “It is with extreme sadness and disbelief that we confirm the death of our dear friend Albert Johnson, better known to millions of fans as Prodigy of legendary NY rap duo Mobb Deep”.
“Prodigy was hospitalised a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance, for complications caused by a sickle cell anaemia crisis”, they continued. “As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled the disease since birth. The exact causes of death have yet to be determined. We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family’s privacy at this time”.
Mobb Deep released their last album, ‘The Infamous Mobb Deep’, in 2014, and had been performing on the Art Of Rap tour, alongside artists including Ice T, Ghostface Killah, Rakim, Bones Thugs N Harmony and DJ Cash Money.
READ MORE ABOUT: Mobb Deep | Prodigy
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:07 | By Andy Malt
Final Chris Cornell video released for World Refugee Day
Artist News Releases
The final music video made by Chris Cornell prior to his death, for his song ‘The Promise’, has been released. Directed by Meiert Avis and Stefan Smith, it was put live yesterday to coincide with World Refugee Day.
Cornell and his family toured refugee camps in Greece earlier this year, and decided to focus the efforts of The Chris And Vicky Cornell Foundation charity on supporting refugees.
Producer of the video, Eric Esrailian, said: “[Cornell’s] music and lyrics will not only shine a light on the Armenian Genocide [of the early Twentieth Century] and the human rights crises of modern times, but they will also inspire people and provide hope for years to come”.
He continued: “Although it is bittersweet because Chris filmed his performance in Brooklyn shortly before his passing, he wanted his video to be released on World Refugee Day, and he was passionate about helping people through this project. True to Chris’s charitable spirit, he made a commitment to donate all of his proceeds from ‘The Promise’ to support refugees and children, and to further the conversation about the refugee crisis the world continues to endure”.
Speaking about the song when it was released in March, Cornell said: “The same methods used in the Armenian genocide were used to carry out crimes against humanity in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and right now in Syria on multiple fronts, contributing to a massive global refugee crisis. Unfortunately, the words ‘never again’ seem like just words when we recall these mass executions of the 20th century, as well as renewed racism and prejudice around the world”.
Watch the video for ‘The Promise’ here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Chris Cornell
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:05 | By Andy Malt
Foo Fighters announce new album
Artist News Releases
Those Foo Fighters have announced that they will release their ninth album, ‘Concrete An Gold’, on 15 Sep.
“We just spent the last six months secretly making a gigantic new Foo Fighters album with our friend/genius/mastermind Greg Kurstin that will undoubtedly fry stereos from here to Fukuoka”, says Dave Grohl in a blog post. I’m not sure if the secret is that the album is gigantic, that Greg Kurstin produced it, or that it will fry stereos. Grohl said in an interview six months ago that they were going to record a new album, so it’s not that bit.
Anyway, he continues that the album “has more twists and turns than a live senate hearing, like a box of really loud chocolates”.
In a further statement, toning down the bizarre metaphors, Grohl adds: “I wanted it to be the biggest sounding Foo Fighters record ever. To make a gigantic rock record but with Greg Kurstin’s sense of melody and arrangement. Motorhead’s version of ‘Sgt Pepper’, or something like that”.
Here’s the video for the album’s first single ‘Run’, which came out earlier this month:\
READ MORE ABOUT: Foo Fighters
Wednesday 21 June 2017, 12:03 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Artists For Grenfell, Fischerspooner, Busted, more
Artist News Business News Deals Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• As expected, Simon Cowell’s all-star cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ was released this morning. The single will raise money for the survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Find out more here.
• Fischerspooner are back with their first single for eight years, ‘Have Fun Tonight’. Their new album, ‘Sir’, produced by REM’s Michael Stipe, will be released on 22 Sep.
• Abra Cadabra has released the video for new single ‘Stay’, featuring Danzey.
• Blondes will release new album ‘Warmth’ in August. It sees them move from RVNG Intl to R&S Records. “Having released on RVNG for years, we had wanted to move in the direction of releasing on a more dance music-focused label”, say the duo.
• Public Service Broadcasting have released new single, ‘People Will Also Need Coal’. “There’s a really quite savage irony to this track when viewed with the benefit of hindsight”, says band leader J Willgoose. “Of a coal board with the confidence to assure people of safe, prosperous jobs in a strong and stable industry when they were only ten years away from the largest industrial confrontation of the UK’s last 50 years and the decimation of careers, communities and livelihoods”.
• Busted are going to play the Royal Albert Hall on 17 Oct. Look, here they are dumping that information out of their faces.
• Maybe Adele could be Prime Minister?
READ MORE ABOUT: Abra Cadabra | Adele | Blondes | Busted | Fischerspooner | Michael Stipe | Public Service Broadcasting | R&S | Simon Cowell
