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Monday 18 December 2017, 13:21 | By Andy Malt
Erik Huggers steps down at Vevo CEO
Business News Digital Industry People
Erik Huggers has announced that he is stepping down as CEO of Vevo. The music video platform’s CFO Alan Price will take over until a permanent replacement can be found.
“During the last couple of months, I have been doing a lot of soul searching and I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to step down as Chief Executive Officer as we close out a record breaking year”, said Huggers in a memo to staff – obtained by Variety – on Friday.
Talking up new “growth opportunities” for the company, he added: “I also think that now is the perfect time for someone new to lead this next chapter for Vevo”.
Accepting his resignation, the Vevo board said in a statement: “We would like to thank Erik for his hard work, dedication and leadership at Vevo, which grew dramatically during his tenure and helped forge stronger connections between artists and fans through popular features and original programming”.
Huggers originally joined Vevo as CEO in 2015, joining from online pay-TV service OnCue shortly after its acquisition by Verizon. Prior to that, he also ran digital stuff at the BBC, overseeing the rise of the iPlayer.
READ MORE ABOUT: Erik Huggers | VEVO
Monday 18 December 2017, 13:19 | By Andy Malt
Deezer launches its own song identification software, SongCatcher
Business News Digital
Earlier this year, Spotify bought Sonalytic. Last week, Apple forked out $400 million for Shazam. On Friday, Deezer launched its own audio identification software, because apparently that’s a thing you can do. No fun for fans of expensive acquisitions, though.
Called SongCatcher, the new software is already available in beta to selected Deezer users, allowing them to identify songs they hear when they’re out and about within the streaming service’s app. From there, they can add identified tracks to their libraries or just play them straight away in full. Do I really need to explain all this to you?
“Deezer SongCatcher is something that our product team has been working on for some time as we recognise that there is clear demand from music fans to find out the name of an unknown track or artist when they are listening to music”, says Chief Product & Content Officer Alexander Holland. “The beta has proven very positive and so we are excited to be able to officially communicate the launch of Deezer SongCatcher to all music fans around the world”.
The new feature comes at just the right time as, presumably, with Apple now in charge of market leader song identifier Shazam, Deezer – along with Spotify and Google Play Music – all of which are currently integrated with the Shazam app – are going to be increasingly concerned about said app gathering data on their users for a key streaming music rival.
Powered by audio fingerprinting technology ACRCloud, Deezer SongCatcher will be rolled out to Android users over the coming months. There are also plans to add the feature to Deezer’s iOS app.
READ MORE ABOUT: Deezer
Monday 18 December 2017, 13:17 | By CMU Editorial
CMU Insights seminars on music rights and fan engagement announced
Business News Education & Events
Bookings have opened for another series of CMU Insights seminars, once again supported by law firm Lewis Silkin, which hosts the sessions at its London HQ on Chancery Lane.
The six seminars taking place in February and March come in two sets of three. The first set is focused on making money from music copyright, and provides a concise introduction to music rights, music licensing and the music rights sector. The second set is on fan engagement, with seminars of social media, music PR and direct-to-fan.
Says CMU’s Chris Cooke, who runs the seminars: “Everyone involved in music should know the basics about copyright, as they are almost certainly creating, representing or exploiting music rights. Copyright can seem very complicated at times, but our seminars provide all the basic information in an easy-to-follow fashion, which is why they are so popular”.
He goes on: “Our fan engagement sessions are also really popular. We have one focused on social and another on music media. The latter also includes stats from our recent survey of UK music journalists. And this time we are also introducing a revised direct-to-fan seminar, looking at what to do with all that data and how to build an effective artist store”.
Places on each seminar are £49.99 including booking fee and VAT. Though places can be booked on all three copyright courses or all three fan engagement courses for just £125. The seminars take place each Monday evening from 5 Feb – get all the info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights
Monday 18 December 2017, 13:14 | By Andy Malt
Warner investigate alleged sexual misconduct in the US, as Australian promoter sacked over harassment claims
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business
Warner Music Group in the US is reportedly taking disciplinary action against two Warner Bros Records executives – including EVP A&R Jeff Fenster – over accusation of sexual misconduct. Meanwhile, Australian concert promoter Dave Cutbush has been fired from independent touring company Life Is Noise following multiple accusations of sexual harassment.
According to Billboard, a former WBR employee recently came forward with accusations against Fenster and another executive. She is also said to have accused WMG CEO Stephen Cooper of once making an inappropriate comment at a party.
In a statement, Warner Music said: “We are grateful to a former Warner Bros Records employee for coming forward to raise these concerns with us. We appointed an independent investigator to conduct a thorough, in-depth investigation, as a consequence of which we are taking the appropriate disciplinary actions. The findings have also helped us identify areas where we can improve the enforcement of our policies and bolster our efforts to maintain a safe, respectful, and professional environment for all of our employees”.
Warner Music Sweden also recently conducted an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, resulting in the firing of a senior executive.
Meanwhile, in Australia, Dave Cutbush was fired on Friday, following the emergence of numerous claims about his conduct. These came following the recent launch of the #meNOmore campaign by a group of over 300 women working in the Australian music industry.
In a statement, Life Is Noise co-owner Jack Midalia said: “I’d like to respond to recent reports of unacceptable behaviour towards women by company director, Dave Cutbush. I take these reports seriously, and deeply apologise for not providing the safe space that the women in our industry deserve. Dave will no longer have any involvement or association with Life Is Noise, effective immediately”.
After being fired, Cutbush issued a lengthy statement addressing the accusations – confirming the accuracy of one, that he had propositioned a sixteen year old girl, directly.
“It is true that in the past I have acted poorly and in a manner that is inappropriate and sleazy”, he wrote. “Using my male privilege to gain sexual favours has been disrespectful towards women. I have used my position in the music industry to my advantage. I have propositioned women much younger than me and have behaved creepily in person at music events and online”.
He added: “Whilst I have acted shamefully and said things I regret, I have at no stage physically or sexually abused anyone. This is something of which I am certain. Any allegations to the contrary are untrue”.
Confirming his departure as a Director of Life Is Noise, he said that he would now seek “treatment for substance abuse problems” and “educate myself to be a more compassionate human and show more respect to women”.
Despite Cutbush’s departure from the company, a number of acts have cancelled Australia and New Zealand tours being promoted by Life Is Noise. Sleep, Chelsea Wolfe and Wolves In The Throne Room have all cancelled planned dates in 2018.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dave Catbush | Jeff Fenster | Life Is Noise | Warner Bros Records | Warner Music
Monday 18 December 2017, 13:11 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Camila Cabello, Stormzy, Big Shaq, more
Artist News One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Camila Cabello has released yet another new track. This one, ‘Crown’, is taken from the soundtrack of new Netflix movie ‘Bright’.
• Stormzy has released the video for ‘Blinded By Your Grace Part 2’, taken from his ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ album.
• Big Shaq has – and I’ve triple checked that this isn’t some weird dream I had – released a Christmas version of ‘Man’s Not Hot’.
• The Shins have announced that they will release ‘A Worm’s Heart’, a complete reworking of their recent ‘Heartworms’ album, on 19 Jan. From it, here’s a new version of ‘Name For You’.
• Bishop Nehru has released new mixtape ‘Emperor Nehru’s New Groove‘. The release pre-empts new album ‘Elevators Act I & II’, which is due out next year.
• Poppy Ackroyd has released new single ‘Paper’. It is, as you should bloody well expect, really good.
• Paul Thomas Saunders has released a Christmas song, ‘Christmas: The Sequel’. “I’m a big Christmas movie fan, but every time the festive season comes around I feel that there’s a giant black-hole of a gap in the market”, he says. “The Christmas apocalypse movie. No one would give me the desired budget to make said Christmas apocalypse movie, so this year, the world will have to make do with just the theme tune”.
• The Bug and Flowdan have released the video for recent single ‘Bad’.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Big Shaq | Bishop Nehru | Camila Cabello | Flowdan | Paul Thomas Saunders | Poppy Ackroyd | The Bug | The Shins
Monday 18 December 2017, 13:06 | By Andy Malt
Ed Sheeran already has a Bond theme written, just in case he’s asked
And Finally Artist News
It’s alright, Ed Sheeran has written a Bond theme. No one’s asked him for one, but he’s written it nonetheless.
“With Bond, I’ve had a theme tune written for about three years, just in case”, he said on Ireland’s ‘Late Late Show’.
It seems Sheeran actually has quite a stockpile of songs written in case they’re ever required. He went on: “I just recently did a song with one of my all time heroes, Eminem. When we did the song together, I’d already had the song planned – because I was like, ‘If I ever work with Eminem, I’ve got this song’. So it’s the same for Bond. If ever I’m called, I’ll be, like, there you go”.
I can’t quite imagine Ed Sheeran doing the souring vocals usually expected of a Bond theme. But, hey, they let Sam Smith do one, so why not Ed?
READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran | Eminem
Monday 18 December 2017, 11:56 | By Andy Malt
Approved 2017: Lorde
CMU Approved
Every day this week, we’ll be looking at the last twelve months for one of our favourite artists of 2017. First, Lorde…
Back in 2013, the sixteen year old Ella Yelich-O’Connor was hyped to what felt like the point of oblivion from the release of her debut single as Lorde onwards. It seemed unlikely that her debut album, ‘Pure Heroine’, could live up to all those expectations. Somehow though, Lorde rode the wave that she had been placed upon, came down without a wobble on the other side and strode off into the sunset.
Resisting what must have been the huge pressure to make a quick return, she took her time on a follow-up, going back to New Zealand and living something as close as possible to a normal life for a while, aside from very occasionally re-emerging into public life for an occasional show here or the odd track there.
Far from rushing, she worked slowly and methodically on her new music. And, far from this being a ‘difficult second album’, during her appearance on ‘Song Exploder’ to discuss the creation of the song ‘Sober’, she seemed to really relish working on the new material, taking that particular track to different producers so to tap a range of skills in order to realise her vision for the song. And at no point does it seem like there was an inclination to simply get some marketable names on her album credits.
When she eventually returned with that new music, the single ‘Green Light’, she was welcomed back like an old friend, any ‘Lorde fatigue’ people must have been experiencing as a result of all the aforementioned hype a few years earlier having apparently all worn off by now. The subsequent album, ‘Melodrama’, clearly benefitted from having developed slowly, and from the unifying creative direction of Lorde herself.
That vision also extended to the live shows, in particular her performances at the Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. At both, she opened the show in front of a glass box, eventually moving inside it, as it filled with dancers who played out a house party narrative throughout the set. It was a truly innovative performance and further marked Lorde out as a special kind of pop star.
Watch the video for ‘Green Light’ here:
Listen to (almost) ever artist featured in the CMU Approved column in 2017 on this Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Approved 2017 | Lorde
Friday 15 December 2017, 15:43 | By Andy Malt
Setlist: Shazam, Spotify, Touts
Artist News Business News Digital Live Business Setlist
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Apple’s acquisition of Shazam, Spotify and Deezer calling on the EU to restrict tech giant “gatekeepers”, and the latest crackdown on illegal secondary ticketing. Setlist is sponsored by 7digital.
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Stories discussed this week:
• Apple confirms Shazam acquisition
• Spotify and Deezer call on EU to restrict tech giant “gatekeepers”
• National Trading Standards raids four properties in ticket tout investigation
• StubHub on ticket touts, high prices and musicians’ anger (BBC Newsbeat)
In brief:
• Tidal running out of cash fast, claims new report
• Der Spiegel releases audio from Morrissey interview
• BBC orders more Friday night sounds
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | BBC | Deezer | Der Spiegel | Morrissey | National Trading Standards | Secondary Ticketing | Shazam | Spotify | StubHub | Tidal
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:39 | By Andy Malt
MPs call on government to back ‘agent of change’ law
Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories
The All-Party Parliamentary Group On Music has urged ministers to back proposals to incorporate an ‘agent of change’ rule into UK planning law. In a letter to relevant members of the government, the group’s Chair – David Warburton MP – called a change to current laws “vital” for protecting the UK’s grassroots music venues.
As previously reported, Labour MP John Spellar recently announced plans to propose a new agent of change law via Parliament’s ‘ten minute rule’ early next year. The new law would put the onus on developers to protect new residential properties from noise emanating from existing venues. The current lack of an obligation for new buildings to be designed with adequate soundproofing has caused problems for music venues, which can face licensing challenges when new neighbours in new buildings start complaining about the noise.
The so called ten minute rule allows backbench MPs to put forward a bill via a speech of up to ten minutes in the House Of Commons. Such bills rarely get passed though, and the system is more often used to put certain issues on the agenda. But the more support for such proposals the better, as it might ultimately influence government to introduce similar legislation in Parliament. Indeed, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has already hinted that the government is considering implementing similar agent of change rules at some point.
Politics moves slowly though, if at all, and one vague positive sign doesn’t mean the campaign has been won. Hence Warburton sending a new letter to Bradley, Digital Minister Matt Hancock and Communities And Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid.
“A growth in demand for property in UK cities has led to increasing rents and landlords selling to developers”, writes Warburton. “This has placed rising financial burdens on pre-existing operators of grassroots music venues that are often established in popular areas for redevelopment and suddenly find themselves attracting noise complaints from new residents”.
He continues: “I am sure you will agree with me in believing our music venues play a vital role in supporting the music industry’s infrastructure, nurturing our talent pipeline and ensuring a healthy industry across the country. I do hope you will further agree that John Spellar’s bill presents a great opportunity for the government to lead in this area”.
The APPG On Music’s support for agent of change has been welcomed by UK Music. The trade body’s CEO Michael Dugher – himself a former MP – says: “David Warburton is one of the most respected MPs and has been an authoritative and consistent champion of the music industry. It’s great that he and MPs from all parties in the All-Party Parliamentary Group On Music have thrown their weight behind this crucial campaign to protect our music venues.
He continues: “We will keep working with our allies like the brilliant Music Venue Trust to save venues that are essential to producing the next generation of global British music stars. They are a key part of the nation’s cultural fabric, creating thousands of jobs and giving pleasure to millions of music fans. I hope that ministers will listen to David Warburton and back the Spellar Bill”.
The there mentioned Music Venue Trust has just launched a campaign around this itself, called Agent Of Change Now. It calls on people to support a change in the law through social media and by writing directly to their local MPs. Find out more about that here.
READ MORE ABOUT: All-Party Parliamentary Group On Music | David Warburton | John Spellar
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:36 | By Chris Cooke
Music industry welcomes review of Canada’s copyright laws
Business News Labels & Publishers Legal
The Canadian music industry has welcomed confirmation that the country’s parliament will conduct a review of the Copyright Act Of Canada next year. Lawmakers were actually obliged to instigate another review of the country’s copyright regime around about now by a previous round of amendments that were made in 2012.
As next year’s review kicks off, you can expect the record labels and music publishers to both have reform wish lists. Among the latter’s wishes will almost certainly be term extension, so to bring the song copyright term in Canada in line with Europe.
The European song copyright currently lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years whereas in Canada it’s still life plus 50. Representatives from the global music publishing sector recently called on lawmakers in Canada to address that anomaly, stating that “such harmonisation is key to achieve international consistency in the rules of copyright”.
Speaking for Canadian songwriters and publishers this week, the country’s performing rights organisation SOCAN welcomed news of the upcoming copyright review.
It’s CEO Eric Baptiste stated: “Canadian copyright legislation is lagging behind those of other G7 countries and I hope that, through this review, Canada will want to assume a world leadership position on copyright, as it does on other issues. In a sector in turmoil, especially with the arrival of new ways to consume and listen to music, more than ever we need strong copyright protection to ensure that music creators and publishers are fairly compensated for their work”.
The collecting society added that it “looks forward to working with the various parliamentary committees that will review the current law to provide expertise and bring the point of view of the songwriters, composers and music publishers”.
The bloody value gap is also likely to come up as the spotlight falls on Canadian copyright law, something confirmed by Graham Henderson, boss of the country’s record industry trade group Music Canada. He said this week: “Music creators, and all creators who depend on copyright, deserve a Copyright Act that protects their rights when their works are commercialised by others. This is our chance to address the value gap threatening the livelihood of Canadian creators and the future of Canadian culture”.
The record industry trade group also added that it “looks forward to participating in the process to ensure that creators are fairly compensated for the use of their works under the revised act”.
READ MORE ABOUT: SOCAN
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:34 | By Chris Cooke
Russell Simmons vows to defend himself as police investigation into rape claims begins
Business News Industry People Legal
Music industry veteran Russell Simmons has vowed to defend himself against mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. He made his latest statement denying the various accusations as police in New York confirmed they were now investigating the allegations of rape that have been against the Def Jam co-founder.
As previously reported, new articles in both the New York Times and LA Times this week featured a total of eight women accusing Simmons of either sexual harassment or rape. This followed previous allegations made by model Keri Claussen Khalighi and screenwriter Jenny Lumet last month.
Writing on Instagram alongside an image containing the words #NotMe, Simmons said yesterday: “Today I begin to properly defend myself. I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges. Today, I will focus on ‘The Original Sin’ (Keri Claussen), the claim that created this insane pile on of my #MeToo. Stay tuned!”
Noting the #NotMe hashtag, Simmons added: “My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in any way, but instead hold my accusers accountable. Again, this is not a movement against or even in conjunction with #MeToo. It’s just a statement about my innocence”.
Police for the New York Police Department confirmed yesterday that they were now getting in touch with Simmons’ alleged victims, with Deputy Chief Timothy Trainor saying in a statement: “Our detectives are in the process of reviewing that information”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Russell Simmons
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:32 | By Andy Malt
Sony Music renews Michael Jackson record deal
Artist News Business News Deals
Sony Music and the Michael Jackson estate have renewed the deal that covers the late pop star’s recorded music, continuing an agreement that has already been in place for 42 years. As well as covering Jackson’s full recordings catalogue, it also gives the option for Sony to partner on new projects with the estate.
“Michael Jackson was an unsurpassed genius and an iconic force in music entertainment”, says Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer. “The music – and videos – he made as an artist as part of the Sony Music family are essential to pop culture history. We’re proud to be part of that history and to find new innovative ways to make Michael’s music available to future generations of fans”.
Jackson estate executors John Branca and John McClain add in unison: “We couldn’t ask for more creative and innovative partners than Sony and Rob Stringer, whose history working personally with Michael goes back to the 1990s. Michael continues to inspire generations of artists who have come after him and attract new fans who understand that his music and message are more important than ever. We look forward to continuing to preserve and develop his remarkable musical legacy with Sony”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Michael Jackson | Sony Music
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:30 | By Andy Malt
Chelmsford’s V Festival went ahead with no police presence this year, reports BBC
Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
The 2017 (and, it later turned out, final) edition of the V Festival in Chelmsford went ahead with no police presence on site, reports the BBC’s ‘Victoria Derbyshire Show’. This was seemingly due to a dispute over the cost of policing at the event.
Minutes from a meeting of Chelmsford City Council’s Safety Advisory Group, obtained by the BBC, express some concern about this turn of events. Though Essex Police have stressed that on-site policing is not compulsory for privately-organised festivals, while the council ultimately concluded that “the lack of agreement on special police services was a risk which the festival promoter resolved through alternative means to the satisfaction of the Safety Advisory Group”.
Increased policing costs have been a talking point in the festival community for a while now. It seems the dispute between V Festival’s promoter – Live Nation’s Festival Republic – and Essex Police began when organisers tried to reduce those costs in 2017. According to the BBC, Festival Republic submitted a request to pay £100,000 for policing at the Chelmsford edition of its 2017 event, down from £138,000 in 2016. When no agreement could be reached on price, the festival went ahead with no police onsite at all.
Although the SAG was ultimately satisfied with Festival Republic’s alternative security measures, and local police did respond to specific reports of crimes on site, some councillors nevertheless raised concerns with the situation, in particular the system in place via which festival security could contact police.
“Drugs were the biggest concern, with no police presence on site”, said one council rep, while the minutes also noted that, after a sexual assault on a thirteen year old girl had been reported, by the time police arrived they were unable to find the tent where the alleged incident took place. A suspect package was also reportedly discovered – which would have likely caused particular concern because the event took place just two months after the attack on an Ariana Grande show at the Manchester Arena.
The SAG meeting also discussed concerns that security vetting for some of the festival’s staff was still ongoing by the time they were on site for the event “by which point it is too late”. All in all, the council concluded that “last minute arrangements for this year’s festival were unacceptable and this must be improved upon from now on. The 2018 event must be planned well in advance and an agreement in principle be made before tickets sales [begin]”.
As previously reported, in October this year, Virgin announced that it was pulling its sponsorship of V Festival after 22 years. Festival Republic has said that it plans to continue the dual site event – which takes place in Chelmsford and Staffordshire concurrently – under a new name. Earlier this week, the NME denied rumours that it plans to become the new headline sponsor.
Commenting on the arrangements at V Festival this summer, Essex Police’s Deputy Chief Constable told the BBC: “I really must stress that the safety of a commercial event like V Festival sits with the organisers. They are licensed by the local authority, and … [the] safety of people attending their event … is down to them. That doesn’t mean we abandon them. We had a really good working relationship with security, and with Chelmsford City Council, to make sure that people who were going there were safe”.
Chelmsford City Council itself added: “The Safety Advisory Group process allows a transparent and robust examination of all safety issues prior to and during the festival, to ensure any risk to safety is properly managed and mitigated. The lack of agreement on special police services was a risk which the festival promoter resolved through alternative means to the satisfaction of the Safety Advisory Group”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Festival Republic | V Festival
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:28 | By Andy Malt
Cardiff declares itself a ‘music city’
Business News Live Business
Cardiff yesterday declared itself a ‘music city’, employing development agency Sound Diplomacy to help put in place policies to protect the city’s music scene and build its international profile.
Together, Cardiff City Council and Sound Diplomacy aim to “develop policies that treat music as infrastructure and will deliver a healthy music ecosystem”. The potential positive effects of this are numerous, says Sound Diplomacy’s Shain Shapiro.
“If one attaches music to urbanism – learning about the complex organisms that our cities are and about how they operate – it provides unique insight into understanding the types of cities we want, compared to the types of cities we often create”, he says. “Music is a proven tool to reduce social exclusion and loneliness. Taught with the same vigour as maths and sciences, it improves cognition and empathy. It also enhances the perception of safety, such as when classical music is played in stations during rush hour”.
Sound Diplomacy’s partnership with Cardiff follows similar projects in Barcelona, Berlin, San Francisco and London. It also follows moves by the council in Cardiff to protect music venues on the city’s Womanby Street from developers – which included the council buying the land on which Clwb Ifor Bach stands in order to lease it back to the venue.
Shapiro says of this latest project: “It’s an honour and a responsibility to be working with Cardiff Council to add up, measure and assess the music infrastructure across the city. The council have shown through their efforts on Womanby Street and their increased engagement on music that to them, music is of economic, social and cultural benefit to the city. We take this incredibly seriously, and will work to develop a music policy that musicians, businesses and residents can benefit from and be proud of”.
Council Leader Huw Thomas adds: “We all know that Wales is a musical nation, and as the capital city, I believe Cardiff has a huge role to play in celebrating and promoting this. Music is an incredibly powerful force for good in our everyday lives, but more than this, it has the power to shape cities, particularly ones with the distinctive cultural offering that we have here in Cardiff. That’s why this announcement is such great news, not just for musicians and concert-goers, but for everyone who wants to see Cardiff develop its international profile, make the most of its potential and become a truly great world capital”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Sound Diplomacy
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:26 | By Chris Cooke
Disney agrees to buy much of 21st Century Fox in $52.4 billion deal
Business News Deals Media
The Walt Disney Company yesterday announced that it had agreed to buy the bulk of the assets of the Rupert Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox in a deal worth $52.4 billion. The transaction will further boost Disney’s dominance in the media and entertainment sectors, bringing much of Fox’s US-based movie and television assets into its fold, plus its stake in the Sky TV business in Europe.
Fox’s shareholders will get 25% of the combined Disney/Fox business as part of the deal, which is still subject to regulator approval. That means the Murdoch family itself will control just under 5% of the combined company.
This in turn means that – while Murdoch Senior called the deal a “merger” and insisted he wasn’t “retreating” – the media mogul and his family will no longer have much control over the movie and television side of their global empire. And it’s not clear what role Murdoch’s son James, most recently Fox’s CEO, will have once much of that business has become a Disney subsidiary.
None of this affects Murdoch’s publishing empire News Corp, which was spun off as a separate business from Fox back in 2013. A handful of Fox’s current affairs channels – including the infamous Fox News – are not being sold to Disney either, and will remain a standalone company currently called New Fox.
Murdoch says that he hasn’t any short-term plans to merge those channels into News Corp, though doing so would make sense. First because News Corp has news provision at its core. And secondly because News Corp does actually have some broadcasting assets already alongside its newspapers and book publishing division, including the Fox-branded sports channels in Australia and the Wireless Group radio network in the UK.
The Disney deal comes as Fox is in the midst of trying to take complete ownership of the Sky TV network, for the second time. The Sky acquisition is being investigating by competition regulators in the UK, with critics saying that the Murdoch family shouldn’t get greater control of Sky News while they also own British newspapers The Sun and The Times through their News Corp business.
The phone hacking scandal that erupted around The Sun’s former sister title the News Of The World, and other accusations of poor ethics at the News UK newspaper group, have also been used by critics as arguments as to why a Murdoch-controlled business shouldn’t get complete control of the Sky network.
The fact that it could ultimately be Disney, rather than the Murdoch-controlled Fox, that would end up owning Sky outright would counter a bunch of those arguments. Though the UK Competition And Markets Authority is expected to carry on with its investigation into the Sky bid regardless, for the time being at least.
Meanwhile, here are some quotes from Murdoch himself and Disney big cheese Bob Iger.
Murdoch: “We are extremely proud of all that we have built at 21st Century Fox, and I firmly believe that this combination with Disney will unlock even more value for shareholders as the new Disney continues to set the pace in what is an exciting and dynamic industry. Furthermore, I’m convinced that this combination, under Bob Iger’s leadership, will be one of the greatest companies in the world”.
Iger: “The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before. We’re honoured and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings”.
READ MORE ABOUT: 21st Century Fox | Disney
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:22 | By Andy Malt
Massive Attack criticise Pete Tong over orchestral cover of Unfinished Sympathy
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Massive Attack have hit out at Pete Tong for including their song ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ in his orchestral ‘Ibiza Classics’ show. The duo’s 3D has suggested, in an open letter posted on Facebook, that Tong donate some of the profits from the show to charity, as Massive Attack do when they perform the 1991 track live.
A collaboration with The Heritage Orchestra, Tong’s show is currently touring the UK, with performances at London’s O2 Arena tonight and tomorrow. A live album, including the cover of ‘Unfinished Sympathy’, was also released earlier this month.
“Thanks for covering one of our songs on your nostalgia nightmare roadshow”, writes 3D. “I don’t recollect you getting in touch to see if we would mind, but for your information: When we play that song we display photos of displaced people in refugee camps by the photographer Giles Duley on the screen to raise awareness for their plight and collect money for UNHCR”.
He continues: “If you do mean to carry on coining it, why don’t you divide your nightly profit by the number of songs you murder in your set, and hand the total of that one song over to UNHCR. It would be the least you could do”.
More ‘Ibiza Classics’ dates have been announced for November 2018, so maybe that will happen. Although it is being billed as “a whole new show”, so perhaps ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ just won’t feature. As yet, neither Tong nor the Heritage Orchestra have commented.
READ MORE ABOUT: Massive Attack | Pete Tong | The Heritage Orchestra
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:18 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Roc Nation, Pandora, Taylor Swift, more
Artist News Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Roc Nation Records has appointed Benny Pough as its new President, reports Billboard. He joins after several years as an exec at Sony’s Epic label.
• Pandora is offering free subscribers temporary access to Premium features, in exchange for watching a fifteen second video ad. A similar deal is already available to Spotify users from some advertisers. “This unrivalled experience will drive listeners to Pandora and drive awareness for Premium, while also creating new opportunities for artists, labels, publishers and advertisers”, reckons Pandora CEO Roger Lynch.
• Taylor Swift’s previously reported social media app, The Swift Life, is now available. Although not in the UK yet, sorry.
• Major Lazer have released new single ‘Buscando Huellas’, featuring J Balvin and Sean Paul.
• Walter Martin from The Walkmen has released new solo single, ‘I Can Run Now From The Hellhounds, But I Can’t Hide’. His new album, ‘Reminisce Bar & Grill’, will be released on 16 Feb.
• Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have released a Christmas single, ‘Just One Kiss’. “The song’s about how a magic kiss can change your life”, they say. “Kitty wrote it one night sitting in front of the fire playing guitar – perfect for all the lovers out there at Christmas time!”
• Pop Etc have released a new Christmas EP, featuring covers of Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ and ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, as well as an original song.
• Future Islands have announced that they’ll be in the UK to play some shows in June. They’ve also released the video for ‘Beauty Of The Road’.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Benny Pough | Future Islands | J Balvin | Kitty Daisy & Lewis | Major Lazer | Pandora | POP ETC | Roc Nation | Sean Paul | Taylor Swift | The Walkmen | Walter Martin
Friday 15 December 2017, 13:09 | By Andy Malt
Beef Of The Week #385: Ed Sheeran v God
And Finally Artist News Live Business
It’s nearly Christmas, so in the grand tradition of the retail business, I’m going to start talking about Easter. Time to buy in those chocolate eggs, my friends. Time to start preparing to stoically remember that our lord and saviour Jesus Christ died for our sins. And was then immediately cracked open resulting in the discovery that he’d been hollow the whole time and filled with Smarties. I’m pretty sure that’s how the story goes. I could be wrong. To be honest, it’s been a while since I was at a religious primary school.
Either way, Ed Sheeran already has all of his Easter plans in place. He’s going to be putting on some of his singing and dancing extravaganzas in New Zealand. Indie mecca Dunedin, in fact. He’ll play three shows at the Forsyth Barr Stadium on 29 Mar, 31 Mar and 1 Apr. He’s taking a break for Good Friday. After all, it would be disrespectful to play on the anniversary of Jesus’s death. But Smarties Day – Easter Sunday – that’s fair game. That’s when the big finale of the hat trick of performances will take place.
This has prompted something of a crisis in Dunedin City. The city’s trading restrictions state that no shops may open on Easter Sunday. However, with tens of thousands of people due to descend on the city in order to catch Sheeran work his magic, many retailers have been keen to open their doors.
Deciding that the likely boost to the local economy might be worth the risk of being seen to declare that Ed Sheeran is holier than Jesus, Dunedin City Council opened a review of its Easter trading rules, with a final decision put to a vote by councillors. That all proved to be very divisive indeed. This is basically Dunedin’s version of Brexit, Trump v Clinton, Macron v Le Pen and Mollie v Aston all rolled into one.
As the debate became more heated, 181 people formally gave their opinions on the proposal shops be allowed to open on Easter to sell stuff to Sheeran fans. A total of 54% said that they’d rather pop lovers not be able to buy anything on their way to Sheeran’s show. Speaking for the other side, 44% said they’d be happy for the shops in the city to open. That means 2% of people who bothered to write in expressed no strong opinion either way. How much spare time must you have on your hands to do that?
Anyway, clearly the people had spoken. The council had to act. And act it did. Councillors voted 10-5 in favour of ignoring the 54% and letting shops open their doors on Easter Sunday. Because it turns out that if you ask people their opinion and they’re wrong, you can just tell them to shut up. And there was a lot of telling people to shut up to be done.
According to Stuff, Dunedin mayor Dave Cull said that it was an “exceedingly difficult call to make”, but the potential boost to local businesses swung it in the end. He added that any business that now attempted to exploit employees in order to make a fast buck would be “put on notice”, whatever that means.
Presumably that last comment was meant to placate local trade unions, who had been against the move. First Union was particularly vocal in its opposition, arguing that by allowing shops to open up on Easter Sunday, employees would lose a day of holiday.
The union argued that, although Easter Sunday would normally be a guaranteed day off for retail workers, the fact that it’s not actually a public holiday (due to it always being on a Sunday) means staff wouldn’t be able to claim a day in lieu. Nor would they be able to claim the boosted wages normally expected for working on a public holiday.
A First Union rep said at a council meeting before the final vote that employees were simply being told, “You’ve lost your holiday, now suck it up”. Another union spokesperson, Unite’s Sonja Mitchell, questioned why the shows had been booked around Easter at all, and worried about repercussions for people who refused to work that Sunday.
I suppose the answer to the first part of that would probably be that Ed Sheeran was available on those dates. I couldn’t comment on potential repercussions, but I’m guessing that there’ll probably be enough people willing to work that day to offset those who actually do some proper Jesus worshipping on Easter Sunday.
This couldn’t have even been a debate in Dunedin until relatively recently. The decision-making power to allow trading on Easter Sunday was only devolved to local government in New Zealand in August last year. Before that, it was completely banned nationwide. To date, councillors in Auckland and Christchurch have voted against allowing trading on the day of the Resurrection. Although, to be fair, neither of them had Ed Sheeran coming to town.
A number of smaller towns and areas popular with tourists have relaxed rules on Easter Sunday trading – without the influence of any pop star whatsoever – and none of those places have, as yet, been overrun by plagues of locusts. It’s possible God was seeing how it went this year before striking everyone down though. Which could be bad news for Ed.
The good news, however, is that, while the first two Dunedin shows are sold out, there are still tickets available for Sheeran’s Easter Sunday gig.
With the guarantee of an extra day’s wages now in place, retail workers could possibly put that money towards heading down to the concert in the evening. Assuming they can stomach spending more time with thousands of Ed Sheeran fans, having spent the day selling them tat and answering their stupid questions.
If they can, then buying tickets is definitely the way to go. Proper legitimate tickets. No sneaking in around the back. Because all those local shop workers wouldn’t want to be like the two New Zealanders who have just found themselves in jail for forging backstage passes to a Sheeran show in Singapore.
Scott Penk and Michael Hardgrave were jailed for four weeks last month for their part in a scam that used faked access-all-areas passes to get people into the show – charging said people up to $250 a time for the privilege – according to The Straits Times. A British man, Martin Keane, was jailed at the same time, while a fourth man, Australian Paul Cosgrove, was also given four weeks in the slammer this week. Another British man accused of being in on the scam, Luke McKay, is still awaiting trial.
That said, it does seem that at least some of the people who bought those fake passes actually got into the show. So maybe the lesson here is just don’t be the person actually handing the fake passes out. Is that a good moral to end on? The guys who wrote the Bible were much better at this. And like I said earlier, it’s a while since I’ve had to study that stuff. Maybe we should all be taking Easter Sunday off to have a think about Jesus Christ after all. Or maybe we could just blame all our sins on Ed Sheeran and carry on regardless.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran
Friday 15 December 2017, 11:27 | By Paul Vig
Vigsy’s Club Tip: Cirque Du Soul Christmas Special at Studio 338
Club Tip CMU Approved
Cirque Du Soul has been touring the UK for the last couple of months and returns to London tonight for a big finale and Christmas party. Taking place at the re-opened 338 in Greenwich, the awesome Joey Negro will be topping the bill.
Also on hand will be Shaka Loves You, Weaver Bros, Russ Ryan and more. As well as that, you can expect an impressive circus-themed set-up that will set the mood up nicely for all the festivities.
So that’s one Christmas party. Join me back here next week for more festive and New Year tips to keep you going over the Christmas break.
Friday 15 Dec, Studio 338, 338 Boord Street, London, SE10 0PF, 9pm-5am, £12-20. More info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Joey Negro
Friday 15 December 2017, 09:57 | By Chris Cooke
CMU Digest 15.12.17: Spotify, National Trading Standards, Shazam, EC, YouTube
CMU Digest
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
Spotify announced a share swap with Tencent Music, a key player in the Chinese digital music market. Under the deal, Tencent Music and its parent company Tencent Holdings will take a minority stake in Spotify, while Spotify will take a minority stake in Tencent Music. Spotify founder Daniel Ek said “this transaction will allow both companies to benefit from the global growth of music streaming”. [READ MORE]
National Trading Standards in the UK raided four properties and made four arrests as part of an investigation into the secondary ticketing market. The government agency is investigating claims that some ticket touts are breaching consumer rights laws when they resell tickets for profit via websites like StubHub, Viagogo, Seatwave and Get Me In. The Competition And Markets Authority is concurrently investigating whether the sites themselves are breaching consumer protection rules. [READ MORE]
Apple announced it was buying Shazam. Rumours that the tech giant was about to acquire the music recognition app began to circulate late last week. The deal is reportedly worth $400 million, a significant sum, though a long way off the $1 billion price tag once attached to Shazam. It’s not clear exactly what Apple wants from the deal, though Shazam is already integrated with its Siri voice activated assistant. Whether the tech giant will want to continue operating a standalone Shazam app remains to be seen. [READ MORE]
Spotify and Deezer signed a letter to the European Commission urging EU law-makers to ensure a “level playing field” in the digital market. They expressed concern about certain tech giants – by which they mean Apple, Amazon and Google – exploiting their dominance in one part of the market – ie devices and app platforms – to gain dominance in another – ie content services, where the big three compete head-on with companies like Spotify and Deezer. The European Commission is currently considering rules for how app store owners deal with app makers. [READ MORE]
Chatter continued about YouTube launching a standalone premium music service next year, following rumours Warner Music had already signed up to said service last week. It would be YouTube’s second go at launching a paid-for music platform, it having previously abandoned its Music Key product after much testing. YouTube’s music chief Lyon Cohen was also confirmed as a keynote speaker at next year’s South By Southwest, which coincides with the rumoured launch date of the new service. [READ MORE]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Kobalt bought Songs Music Publishing [INFO]
• Private equity outfit Onex acquired venue operator SMG [INFO]
• Sony Music’s InsideOutMusic signed Dream Theater [INFO]
• Sony/ATV extended its deal with Jamie Scott [INFO]
• Warner/Chappell signed Simian Mobile Disco [INFO]
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | Deezer | European Commission | National Trading Standards | Shazam | Spotify | Tencent | YouTube
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:54 | By Chris Cooke
National Trading Standards raids four properties in ticket tout investigation
Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories
National Trading Standards has revealed that on Tuesday it raided four properties in the UK in relation to alleged misconduct in the ticket resale market, which is to say ticket resellers allegedly breaching consumer rights rules.
Although the resale of tickets in the UK is still only lightly regulated, there are some rules governing both the touts themselves and the websites they use to do their touting. Some of those specifically relate to secondary ticketing via the 2015 Consumer Rights Act, but industrial level touts are also subject to other consumer protection laws too.
Anti-tout campaigners have often pointed out that while they would like new rules to be introduced to further limit the touting of tickets, at the same time existing regulations need to be better enforced. Or, in many cases, enforced at all. In his government-commissioned review of secondary ticketing last year, Professor Waterson proposed that National Trading Standards was best positioned to do that enforcing.
Yesterday that agency confirmed that on Tuesday its officers “conducted raids at a number of properties across the UK. These raids are part of an ongoing investigation looking into unfair practices in the secondary ticketing market and particularly the practices of businesses that buy and sell tickets in bulk”.
It went on: “A total of four properties were raided and four people were arrested under suspicion of breaches of the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. In addition to the arrests a range of equipment – including computers, mobile phones and storage devices – have been seized as evidence”.
The raids by National Trading Standards follow the recent announcement by the Competition And Markets Authority that it planned to “take action against secondary ticketing websites suspected of breaking consumer rights laws – through the courts, if necessary”, following an investigation into the operations of the big four ticket resale sites. National Trading Standards added yesterday that it was liaising closely with the CMA in its bid to enforce consumer rights rules in the ticket touting domain.
This week’s raids were welcomed by anti-touting campaign group FanFair, which said in a statement: “FanFair Alliance welcomes what sounds like a comprehensive raid by National Trading Standards. With new legislation due for enforcement in 2018, and the Competition And Markets Authority promising action against secondary ticketing sites that break consumer protection laws, this should mark the beginning of a long-awaited clean up of this market”.
READ MORE ABOUT: National Trading Standards | Secondary Ticketing
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:53 | By Chris Cooke
Spotify and Deezer call on EU to restrict tech giant “gatekeepers”
Business News Digital Legal
The bosses of Spotify and Deezer yesterday urged European law-makers to ensure that the streaming companies’ tech giant rivals can’t abuse their position as gatekeepers to digital consumers. Which probably confirms why various European digital music companies recently formed their own lobbying organisation in Brussels (although Digital Music Europe insists it has a wider remit).
It’s Apple, Amazon and Google who the standalone streaming music firms have issues with. All three tech giants make and operate devices, transaction platforms and content services, and it’s felt that they often exploit the first two in order to provide a boost for the latter. The latter being the services that compete head on with Spotify and Deezer, of course.
According to the Financial Times, Spotify chief Daniel Ek and Deezer CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht yesterday signed a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, urging the European Union to ensure “a level playing field” that is not hindered by American tech giants “regularly abusing their advantaged position”.
The letter – which was also signed by reps of the gaming sector – has been sent now because the EC is actively considering new rules for how big tech companies work with smaller firms whose digital tools and services are sold and/or distributed via the former’s platforms. Both Spotify and Deezer also put their names to a similar letter back in May.
The likes of Spotify and Deezer have various issues with the big three tech giants – and Apple in particular – in relation to fees the big three charge when purchases are made, how data is shared with app makers, and how they are able to integrate with innovations in the big three’s products, such as the increasingly important voice-activated assistants.
In particular, they don’t like the so called Apple tax, which means that if someone signs up to Spotify or Deezer within an iOS app, Apple takes 30% of the money. As that equates to Spotify and Deezer’s best case scenario profit margin, they have to pass the 30% mark-up onto the consumer. This makes it look like Spotify and Deezer are more expensive than Apple Music, when in fact they all have the same price point outside the iOS ecosystem.
Without going into any of these individual gripes in any detail, the new letter does call for “clear and enforceable obligations that are a deterrent and prevent unfair businesses practices by platforms”. It added that: “These obligations should include but go beyond mere transparency requirements, which alone will not ensure platforms act as gateways rather than become gatekeepers to the digital economy”.
While Apple, Amazon and Google will be united in their distain for any new European regulations that restrict how they exploit dominance in one aspect of the digital market to achieve dominance in another, they all concurrently moan about each when they behave in this way. As we discuss in this week’s edition of the Setlist podcast.
READ MORE ABOUT: Deezer | Spotify
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:51 | By Andy Malt
Decapitated members released from jail, trial set for January
Artist News Legal
All four members of Polish death metal band Decapitated have been released from jail, pending their trial on rape charges in January. A judge decided to release the four men without them having to pay the $100,000 bail that was previously set.
As previously reported, the band were arrested in LA in September, accused of raping a woman on their tour bus following a performance in Spokane, Washington on 31 Aug.
Two women allege that they were invited back to the band’s bus after the show, but that once on board the “vibe” changed. One woman managed to get off the bus, while the other says that she was raped by all four members of the metal outfit. They have all pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnap and rape.
This week, according to The Spokesman-Review, the four men were released on the condition that they stay within Washington state. They have had to give up their passports and sign a waiver obligating Poland to extradite them back to the US if they do flee to their home country.
The trial is set to begin on 16 Jan.
READ MORE ABOUT: Decapitated
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:49 | By Chris Cooke
Prosecutors confirm no action to be taken over Nelly rape allegations
Artist News Legal
Prosecutors in Washington state have confirmed that they will not proceed with rape charges against Nelly, after his alleged victim announced said that she would refuse to testify.
As previously reported, the music star was arrested in October after a woman alleged that he attacked her after a show in Auburn, Washington. A police report stated that a woman made a 911 call in the early hours of Saturday 7 Oct saying that she had been raped by Nelly on his tour bus. He strongly denied the allegations throughout.
A few days later a lawyer representing the alleged victim announced that her client had decided not to not pursue the case because “she believes the system is going to fail her”. Attorney Karen Koehler criticised how said system deals with rape victims, adding: “We do not live in a society where a 21 year old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape”.
Koehler then said that her client was “telling the Auburn Police Department and the King County Prosecutor’s Office to put a halt to the criminal investigation of Cornell Haynes Jr (aka Nelly). She will not testify in a criminal proceeding against him”.
Which means it is perhaps unsurprising that the King County Prosecutor’s Office has now decided that it cannot continue with any case against Nelly. According to TMZ, officers there have confirmed that the case against the musician is now closed because of the victim’s decision to decline to co-operate with their investigation.
READ MORE ABOUT: Nelly
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:48 | By Andy Malt
Tidal running out of cash fast, claims new report
Business News Digital
Tidal has denied claims that it only has enough money to stay afloat for another six months. Which isn’t surprising. Partly because a company would always deny such things, plus the claims of imminent demise do seem to be mainly based on a passing comment made earlier this year. Although other reports say that the streaming service reckons it’ll be profitable by the middle of next year. Which, if true, seems ludicrously ambitious.
New claims of financial woes at Jay-Z’s streaming service come from a report in Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv. The Norwegian press still take a particular interest in all things Tidal, the service having grown out of Norway-based digital music set up WiMP. The paper reckons that the company lost about $44 million last year, leaving it with just enough cash to keep it going until early summer 2018.
The claim is seemingly based on a comment made by the president of the sports side of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation business – Juan Perez – back in January, after Sprint took a 33% stake in the streaming service. He said at the time that the deal gave Tidal “sufficient working capital for the next twelve to eighteen months”.
Following the Dagens Næringsliv report, Tidal denied that it’s on the rocks, saying in a statement that: “We have experienced negative stories about Tidal since its inception and we have done nothing but grow the business each year”.
The company is known to have a much smaller userbase than rivals Spotify and Apple Music. It has not publicly announced any figures since 2016, when it claimed to have three million users – although some analysts have claimed that this included people on free trials, with actual paying users making up only a portion of that number.
That paying userbase could take a hit in the new year when a partnership with Norwegian telco Telenor ends in January. This is expected to knock around 100,000 users off Tidal’s books, according to Dagens Næringsliv.
READ MORE ABOUT: Tidal
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:46 | By Andy Malt
More women come forward with accusations of rape against Russell Simmons
Business News Industry People
Both the New York Times and LA Times have published new stories detailing accusations of sexual harassment and rape against Def Jam founder Russell Simmons. This follows allegations made by model Keri Claussen Khalighi and screenwriter Jenny Lumet last month.
In its article, the New York Times speaks to three who accuse Simmons of rape, including former Def Jam exec Drew Dixon. She says that the music mogul forced himself on her following a period of “prolonged and aggressive sexual harassment” while she was working at the label in the mid-90s. Journalist Toni Sallie and singer Tina Baker also accuse him of rape.
Meanwhile, in the LA Times article, actress Natashia Williams-Blach, massage therapist Erin Beattie, and two former employees of Simmons’ yoga studio Tantris, accuse him of sexual misconduct, while rapper Sherri Hines alleges that he raped her.
As previously reported, the accusations against Simmons began with Keri Claussen Khalighi last month, who told the New York Times of an attack in the late 90s, apparently in the presence of film director Brett Ratner. Shortly afterwards, Jenny Lumet gave an account of being raped by Simmons to The Hollywood Reporter.
Simmons has denied all accusations against him, although he did step down from his various businesses in the wake of Lumet’s accusation. In statements to the New York Times and LA Times, Simmons denied all eight new accusations made against him.
“I vehemently deny all these allegations”, he told the NYT. “These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual … Although I have been candid about how I have lived in books and interviews detailing my flaws, I will relentlessly fight against any untruthful character assassination that paints me as a man of violence”.
To the LA Times, he said: “These new stories range from the patently untrue to frivolous and hurtful claims. I want to restate categorically what I have said previously: I have never been violent or abusive to any women in any way at any time in my entire life”.
HBO recently announced that Simmons was being dropped from the latest series of TV show ‘All Def Comedy’ and that his name will be removed from the show’s credits.
READ MORE ABOUT: Russell Simmons
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:45 | By Andy Malt
Go-Go’s musical heading to Broadway
Artist News
A new musical based on the music of The Go-Go’s will move to Broadway next year. Co-produced by Gwyneth Paltrow, ‘Head Over Heels’ pairs the 80s new wave band’s music with sixteenth century romance story ‘Arcadia’. Obviously.
First performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015, and adapted for the stage by ‘Avenue Q’ writer Jeff Whitty, the musical has been developed in a number of theatres since. Despite mixed reviews, it will transfer to Broadway next year for the 2018/19 season. Before that, it will appear at the Curran Theater in San Francisco from late April into May.
In a statement, the band said: “If you told us 30 years ago that our songs were going to be in a musical, we’d have said, ‘Of course they’ll be on Broadway!’ None of us would have really believed it, though”.
The show is directed by Michael Mayer, who also oversaw Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ musical, which I totally forgot was a thing.
READ MORE ABOUT: The Go-Gos
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:39 | By Andy Malt
Bastille announce Re-orchestrated Tour
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Bastille have announced that they will head out on tour in April next year. But it’s not a tour like you’re thinking, with the band playing their songs like you’ve heard them on their albums. No, what fun would that be? Instead, the ‘Re-orchestrated Tour’ will see them performing with string and brass sections in tow.
“Earlier this year, we did a special one-off show to raise money for [homelessness charity] Streets Of London”, says the band’s Dan Smith. “In it we deconstructed and totally re-arranged a bunch of our songs using strings, brass, and a gospel choir. “It was one of my favourite things we’ve ever been able to do”.
He continues: “We are incredibly excited to take that set-up on the road for this Re-orchestrated tour, which will see us playing some amazing venues and concert halls around the UK and Europe. It makes for a very different kind of Bastille show where we totally reframe and reimagine our songs with the help of some incredible musicians, in a special and intimate setting”.
Tickets for the shows will go on sale on Friday. But when and where will they take place? Then and there:
10 Apr: Manchester, Apollo
11 Apr: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
13 Apr: Bristol, Colston Hall
14 Apr: Sheffield, City Hall
16 Apr: London, Royal Albert Hall
READ MORE ABOUT: Bastille
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:36 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Peace, Susanne Sundfør, Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame, more
Artist News Awards Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Peace have put out the video for new single ‘From Under Liquid Glass’. As previously reported, the song is being released to support mental health charity MQ.
• Lydia Ainsworth has released the video for ‘Open Doors’, from her latest album ‘Darling Of The Afterglow’.
• King has released new single ‘Poetry’. “‘Poetry’ is a very special song to me; reflecting over my life and concluding that I’m the only one in charge of the outcome”, she says.
• White Kite have released the video for their latest single, ‘Devil’s Pact’.
• Susanne Sundfør has announced more UK shows for next year. In addition to a London show at the end of May, she will play in Edinburgh, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester in March.
• The inductees into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in 2018 will be Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues, Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. No Radiohead. Fox News will be pleased.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Bon Jovi | Dire Straits | King | Lydia Ainsworth | MQ | Nina Simone | Peace | Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | Susanne Sundfør | The Cars | The Moody Blues | White Kite
Thursday 14 December 2017, 11:32 | By Andy Malt
Ed Sheeran and Anne-Marie cover Fairytale Of New York
And Finally Artist News Media
‘Fairytale Of New York’ is a Christmas classic. A staple of the season. Possibly the best Christmas song ever recorded. But which version is best? It’s a question we may never answer.
There’s the Shane MacGowan/Kirsty MacColl original, of course. That’s fine. But for nearly two decades now, there has been a fierce debate over whether Ronan Keating’s 2000 cover version with Maire Brennan is better.
Well, prepare to have your Christmas lunch turned upside down this year (not literally, unless this argument gets particularly heated), because Ed Sheeran and Anne-Marie have just turned in a version for Radio 1’s ‘Live Lounge’.
Everyone has their own take on the song, of course. Keating’s quirk was to sing it like he was having a poo at the same time. Sheeran and Anne-Marie take things up a level by removing any sense of resentment from even the angriest lines and throwing in a quick blast of ‘Jingle Bells’ at the end.
I guess we will indeed never decide which version is best. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Here’s Ed and Anne-Marie’s entry into the festive ages:
READ MORE ABOUT: Anne-Marie | BBC Radio 1 | Ed Sheeran
