Tuesday 27 March 2018, 10:54 | By Andy Malt

One Liners: Native Sessions, Cardi B, Bill Murray, more

Artist News Brands & Merch Education & Events Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases

Cardi B

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Native Instruments will hold its latest Native Sessions event at the Barbican on 11 Apr. Focussed on grime, contributing to workshops, Q&As and performances will be P Money, Ms Banks, Jaykae, Steel Banglez, DJ Target, Sir Spyro, Flowdan and more. Free tickets here.

• Cardi B has announced that she will release her debut album proper, ‘Invasion Of Privacy’, next week.

• Wooden Shjips have announced that they will release their first album for five years, ‘V’, on 25 May. As well as that, they’ll play a week’s worth of UK shows in September, kicking off at Heaven on 10 Sep.

• Bill Murray has announced a live collaboration with cellist Jan Vogler. They will play the Southbank Centre in London on 4 Jun and the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh on 18 Jun. “I am bathing in this experience, really”, says Murray. “I can’t get enough of it”.

• Nightwish have announced three UK shows in December. They’ll play Wembley Arena, Birmingham and Manchester Arena. Tickets on sale on 29 Mar.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.

Birdman reunites with “son” Lil Wayne

And Finally Artist News

Birdman & Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne and Birdman are apparently on speaking terms again – the Cash Money boss even back to referring to Wayne as his “son” in a new post on Instagram. Now all they need to do is get past that $51 million lawsuit.

According to TMZ, the two rappers hung out at Miami club LIV on Sunday. It was the second weekend in a row they’d bumped into each other there, but the first time they’d sat down and had a proper chat. Although that lawsuit apparently wasn’t a topic of conversation.

The legal dispute between Lil Wayne and Birdman’s Cash Money label has been going on since 2015. It began with claims that the label had failed to hand over a $10 million advance for Wayne’s long-awaited ‘Tha Cater V’ album, and in the intervening years has spiralled into a complicated case into which Universal Music has also been pulled.

It’s been going on for so long now that everyone involved has probably forgotten about it. Certainly, neither of the men looked like they were bothered about one possibly owing the other more than $50 million in Birdman’s Instagram post. Under a photo of them happily posing together, Birdman caption it “me and my SON”.

‘The Carter V’ has been in the news recently, of course, because a copy of it is among items the US government plans to seize from Martin Shkreli.

He was recently convicted of fraud and ordered to hand over more than $7 million. That money is being retrieved through the seizure of the contents of Shkreli’s brokerage account, his copies of ‘Tha Carter V’ and Wu-Tang Clan’s single copy album ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’, and a Picasso painting.

Shkreli yesterday filed an appeal against his conviction and the seven year prison sentence he is currently serving. What effect this will have on the plans to seize his record collection isn’t clear.

Approved: Pole Siblings

CMU Approved

Pole Siblings

Sofia and Johan Stolpe, aka Pole Siblings, are set to release their second EP, ‘Sköljer Bort Dig’, on 6 Apr. Ahead of that, they’ve released the second single from it, ‘How Low’.

Contrasting but complementing the guitar-driven atmospherics of previous single ‘Carve’, ‘How Low’ builds out of an organ part. As the simple melody bounces about, bass swells around it, and guitar and drums knock it back and forth.

Listen to ‘How Low’ here:

Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.

Setlist: Blurred Lines, The Loop, Guvera

Artist News Business News Digital Education & Events Labels & Publishers Legal Live Business Setlist

Blurred Lines

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last seven days, including the appeal ruling in the ‘Blurred Lines’ song-theft case, The Loop’s Night Lives report, and new revelations about the collapse of defunct streaming service Guvera. Setlist is sponsored by 7digital.

Sorry this edition has gone online later than planned due to various technical issues. But Setlist is now taking a short Easter break so you should have plenty of time to listen to it!

Subscribe to Setlist

Listen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…

Stories discussed this week:

• Appeals court upholds $5.3 million Blurred Lines ruling
• Calls for shift in UK drugs policy to halt increase in club deaths
• Guvera bosses ignored expert advice against a 2016 IPO

In brief:

• AEG raises concerns over rival MSG’s plans for a new arena in East London
• US record industry revenues up to $8.72 billion thanks to all your (mainly premium) streams

Kim Dotcom says extradition attempt “over” after Human Rights Tribunal ruling

Business News Digital Industry People Legal Top Stories

Kim Dotcom

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom reckons efforts to extradite him to face charges of copyright crimes in the US are all but “over” following a ruling in his favour before New Zealand’s Human Rights Tribunal.

Dotcom’s file-transfer platform MegaUpload was shut down by the US authorities back in 2012, of course, amid accusations from the music and movie industries that the digital firm actively facilitated and encouraged copyright infringement. Dotcom and a number of his then colleagues were based in New Zealand, so efforts began almost immediately to try and extradite the MegaUpload men to America to face various charges in the US courts.

That extradition process is somehow still going through the motions. The New Zealand courts have twice ruled that Dotcom et al can be extradited under the country’s extradition treaty with the US, but there are still routes of appeal open to the MegaUpload defendants.

Alongside the extradition case, there have been all sorts of other legal wranglings in New Zealand and elsewhere in relation to the old MegaUpload business. That includes a case being pursued by Dotcom in New Zealand against the country’s government over its refusal to share information that ministers had about MegaUpload and its founder.

Dotcom sent an “urgent privacy request” to a plethora of ministers and government departments in New Zealand back in 2015 asking for all and any personal information they had about him.

Most of those requests were forwarded to the country’s then Attorney-General Chris Finlayson. He knocked back Dotcom’s requests on the grounds that they were “vexatious” and that the MegaUpload man hadn’t sufficiently explained the supposed urgency with which he wanted the information.

Dotcom then took Finlayson’s decision to NZ’s Human Rights Tribunal, which this morning ruled that the Attorney-General broke the law by withholding information. As a result of the ruling, the Tribunal has ordered the country’s government to now share the requested documents.

The information requested back in 2015 was directly relevant to his extradition case. Says Dotcom, which is why he has dramatically declared that the Human Rights Tribunal ruling means that that extradition case is now “over”.

He tweeted earlier: “What does the Human Rights Tribunal Judgement mean for my extradition case? It is OVER! By unlawfully withholding information that could have helped my case, the former Attorney General of New Zealand has perverted the course of justice”.

In a second tweet addressed at New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, he then wrote: “What are you going to do about this? Will you allow the injustice against my family to continue? Or will you do the right thing?”

I’ve no idea whether today’s ruling does have any tangible impact on the US’s case for extraditing Dotcom or the strength of his argument against that case. Although it does increasingly feel like the sun will probably have expanded and engulfed the entire planet before this case reaches any sort of conclusion.

Russell Simmons faces another lawsuit over rape allegations

Business News Industry People Legal

Russell Simmons

Def Jam co-founder and record industry veteran Russell Simmons is facing another lawsuit in relation to an allegation of rape.

A number of women made allegations of sexual assault against Simmons late last year as the #MeToo movement gained momentum. A lawsuit then followed in January when filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik went legal over allegations Simmons assaulted her at his home in LA after she met him there to discuss a documentary project.

In a new $10 million lawsuit filed in the LA Country Superior Court on Friday, an unnamed woman also accuses Simmons of rape. She claims that she met the hip hop mogul while at a concert with her son. He took the both of them backstage and, after taking her son home, the woman then went out with Simmons for drinks.

The lawsuit alleges that at the end of the night he asked her to accompany him to his hotel room. The legal filing then states: “She was reluctant, but Simmons insisted it was not an invitation to have sexual relations since he was dating a well-known model”. But, it is claimed, Simmons then raped the woman in his hotel room.

Simmons has denied all of the allegations made against him to date, and issued another statement on Friday to that effect. The statement, provided to Billboard, said the various accusations and lawsuits “have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women.

He went on: “I have submitted myself to multiple lie detector tests. I denied forced sex and sexual harassment allegations brought against me in each test; I also answered no to the question, ‘Have you ever physically forced any woman to have sexual intercourse?’ I passed all of the lie detector tests”.

Suge Knight loses yet another lawyer

Business News Industry People Legal

Suge Knight

I know America has an awful lot of lawyers, but it does sometimes feel like all of them will – at some point in their career – work for one time hip hop mogul Suge Knight. His murder trial was postponed again on Friday when yet another lawyer bailed on the case.

And, I mean, who wouldn’t want to work for Knight? Especially after he declared last week, during a short ramble about jail conditions and his current legal representation: “Nobody in the world would use these attorneys for a jaywalking ticket!”

Knight is facing murder charges in relation to the death in 2015 of a man called Terry Carter, following an incident that occurred near the set of the NWA biopic ‘Straight Outta Compton’, which was then in production.

On Friday his fifteenth defence lawyer requested to be excused from the case citing a conflict of interest. Dominique Banos says she believes she is a target in the witness-tampering investigation that has already resulted in charges being filed against two other lawyers who have worked for Knight. Although she denied any wrongdoing, Banos said that she felt this meant she could no longer work on Knight’s defence.

Judge Ronald S Coen agreed to allow Banos to stand down and appointed a public defender to take over the case, which Knight accepted on an interim basis, while pledging to hire a new private legal rep. He then complained about a protective order that limits his access to people outside the prison where he is currently incarcerated, adding that that meant the only place he could sound out potential new attorneys was in the jailhouse visiting area.

The latest change in legal representation will again delay the murder trial. Coen said a new schedule will now be set at a court hearing on 23 Apr.

Carter’s widow criticised the latest delay in the case, telling the New York Daily News: “I’m so angry, I don’t know what to do. It’s totally ridiculous. I’ll be glad when this whole thing is over. We deserve the right to move on with our lives. Each time we have to come to court, it’s something new. It’s very difficult”.

More speakers and sessions confirmed for Wide Days

Business News Education & Events

Wide Days

Organisers of Edinburgh-based music conference and showcase event Wide Days last week unveiled more details about this year’s programme. And with Wide Days 2018 coinciding with this year’s Record Store Day, among the confirmed sessions is Kim Bayley, the boss of the Entertainment Retailers Association, in conversation.

CMU’s music consultancy CMU Insights will appear at this year’s conference presenting a brand new session reviewing the debate about and campaigns against online ticket-touting. The briefing will also include a review of the tactics being employed by industry and government in different countries to limit and regulate secondary ticketing.

Also, CMU’s education programme CMU:DIY will also host three sessions aimed at new talent, all supported by EmuBands. That will include a lecture on how streaming works and how different services work out what to pay artists and songwriters each month. There’ll also be conversations on how to get more out of gigging, and where labels and publishers fit in.

Wide Days founder Olaf Furniss says: “This year sees us host more panels, presentations and talks than ever before and it is great to be able to add so many topics to the sessions we announced last month. Most topics will be as relevant to industry veterans as they are those starting out in the business, which reflects the constant evolution of our industry”.

Lending her support to the event, Scotland’s Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop added: “Our music industry provides a significant contribution to Scotland’s culture and economy and I commend Wide Days for their work in organising this business convention, enhancing the profile of Scotland’s music industry. Wide Days has established itself as a valuable event for those working, or looking to work, in the music and culture sector in Scotland”.

Meanwhile CMU’s Chris Cooke added: “CMU was set up by three Edinburgh University graduates 20 years ago so it’s great to return to the Scottish capital to share our knowledge and insights with the Wide Days audience. And even better that we will be sharing some brand new insights on the secondary ticketing market, as well as CMU:DIY sessions for new artists on streaming, fanbase building and label deals”.

Killer Mike apologises for NRA interview

Artist News

Run The Jewels

Killer Mike has apologised for an interview he did with America’s National Rifle Association, which coincided with this weekend’s March For Our Lives against gun violence. In the video, shown on the organisation’s digital TV channel NRATV, he appeared to dismiss the value of the march.

Speaking to gun rights activist Colion Noir, the rapper spoke about gun ownership and the US constitution’s second amendment. In the video, he appears to speak out against the march and say that he had forbidden his own children from attending. However, he now says that this was not the case.

Following a backlash over the weekend, Killer Mike issued a video statement on Twitter, denying that he was against the march. He said that he had been invited to speak about gun ownership in the black community, but that the interview had been held back and edited to appear as if it was about this weekend’s event.

Addressing the organisers of the march, he added: “I’m sorry that an interview I did about a minority – black people in this country – and gun rights was used as a weapon against you guys. That was unfair to you and it was wrong, and it disparaged some very noble work you’re doing”.

The interview, he went on, “was supposed to be something that continued a conversation or that helped the conversation happen that I felt needed to happen. And that conversation is about African-American gun ownership. It was not in contrast to your march, it was done a week before your march, it should never have been used in contrast to your march and I think it’s wrong”.

He concluded by encouraging young people in America to continue campaigning for changes to US gun laws, saying: “What I wanna encourage you guys to do is keep organising. Keep organising. Keep organising. Plot, plan, strategise, organise and mobilise. This world was far different 30 years ago when you could buy a machine gun. And it’s far different now and it’ll be different 30 years from now. We’re willing to follow your lead. Lead the way. So I do support the march, and I support black people owning guns. It’s possible to do both”.

In a separate tweet, he said that the comment seemingly about forbidding his children from going on the march was in fact a joke about an earlier protest, because his son is failing maths and that protest involved skipping school.

In his own statement, El-P strongly disagreed with his Run The Jewels bandmate’s comments in the NRA interview. On the March For Our Lives, he said that he was “incredibly blown away by the bravery and emotion of an entire generation of young people standing up and trying to change the world”.

He noted that many people had called on him to cut ties with Killer Mike over his comments on guns, but responded: “I don’t drop friends from my life because I disagree with them”.

“He’s a person”, he said. “He stumbles and makes bad decisions sometimes and he doesn’t always get his messages across or even protect himself and I wanna fuckin strangle him cause it’s so stressful to watch when it could have been avoided. But the fact is, Mike is someone I and many of you know consistently and ferociously tried to bring some light and love into this world. You simply can’t deny that. So while I’m bummed at the way this unfolded, I will always fuck with him”.

Decapitated announce plans to begin performing live again

Artist News

Decapitated

Death metal band Decapitated have issued a statement saying that they plan to return to live performances soon. Kidnapping and rape charges pursued against the band’s members in the US were dropped earlier this year.

The case against the Polish band was halted in January shortly before a trial was set to begin due to the emotional toll it was having on their alleged victim. Prosecutors said that as it “would be a lengthy trial” it was felt that “at this time it’s best for her to heal”. The band said at the time that they were confident that the evidence would have seen them found innocent had the trial gone ahead.

All four members of the band had been arrested in LA in September, accused of raping the woman on their tour bus following a performance in Spokane, Washington on 31 Aug.

In a new statement on the band’s Facebook page, guitarist Wacław ‘Vogg’ Kiełtyka says: “We are innocent. We are free. We are back home. And we are ready to return with the band. The last few months were one of the most terrible and irrational times in our lives”.

“Jail is a horrible place”, he adds. “96 days in jail and almost a month outside the jail where we [were] dealing with fear, unbelievable stress, depression, and even violence. It was a really hard time – especially for our families”.

He went on to criticise media coverage and online discussion about the case, saying: “In this internet age, it is really easy to ruin someone, their life, their family, their career. Some media and people just jumped on a topic and made their own inconsistent storytelling, taking one piece of information and creating a story they wanted to tell about us around it”.

Concluding, he says: “We cannot and we will never accept someone else’s narration about who we are. That is why we have chosen to return with the band. We know who we are and we can hold our heads and our music high with that knowledge”.

One Liners: Jimmy Iovine, Post Malone, Tom Waits, more

Artist News Business News Digital Industry People One Liners Releases

Apple Music

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Jimmy Iovine has finally confirmed he is moving into a consulting role with Apple Music after months of speculation that the record industry veteran was standing down from the tech giant’s streaming flim flam. “I’m just taking a slight step back”, he told the Times.

• Post Malone has released the video for new single ‘Psycho’, featuring Ty Dollar $ign.

• Tom Waits has put together a playlist for you to listen to. Quite arrogantly, he’s only put his own music on it. It is promoting the re-issuing of his first seven albums though, so I’ll concede that this might have been the point. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

• Sigrid has released the video for new single, ‘Raw’.

• Marilyn Manson has released the video for ‘Tattooed In Reverse’. Courtney Love and Lisa Marie Presley both featuring in the clip.

• Yung Fume has released new single Never Had’, featuring JME.

• Now a duo, following the imprisonment of Akelle Charles last year, WSTRN are back with a new single, ‘Love Struck’. It features Tiwa Savage and Mr Eazi.

• Denis Jones has released new track ‘Eden’. His new album ‘3333’ is out this week.

• Sibille Attar has released new track ‘I Don’t Have To’. Her new EP, ‘Paloma’s Hand’, is out on 27 Apr.

• Esther Joy’s released another track from her upcoming ‘The Acid Caves Vol 1′. Here’s Day 4 (Landing)’.

• Baloji has released the video for ‘Peau De Chagrin/Bleu De Nuit’, taken from his latest album, ‘137 Avenue Kaniama’. He plays Omeara in London this Thursday.

• Ängie has released her latest single, ‘Here For My Habits’. Her debut album, ‘Suicidal Since 1995’, is out on 6 Apr.

• Death Team’s Mayka has released her debut solo single, ‘Rich’.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.

US court moves to seize Martin Shkreli’s Wu-Tang album

And Finally Artist News Legal

Wu-Tang Clan

The US Department Of Justice has moved to seize cash and assets owned by Martin Shkreli, including his copies of Lil Wayne’s unreleased ‘Tha Carter V’ album and Wu-Tang Clan’s single copy album, ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’.

New York’s Eastern District Court last week filed papers listing items is intends to seize in order to recover the $7,360,450 that Shkreli was ordered to pay after being found guilty of fraud. He has also been sentenced to seven years in prison.

The bulk of the money will come from a brokerage account, estimated to contain around $5 million. But making up the shortfall are the Lil Wayne and Wu-Tang albums, plus a painting by Picasso.

In its filing, the court states “its intent to dispose of the forfeited property in such manner as the United States Attorney General may direct”. Which does sound a bit like they might just chuck it all in the bin. Clearly that’s not the plan. But it would be the funniest thing to do, and would probably help in Shkreli’s apparent bid to turn himself into a comic book villain.

Anyone who believes that they also have an interest in any of the forfeited property has 60 days to come forward before the disposal begins. Therefore this would be a fun, if more risky, time for the Wu-Tang Clan and/or Bill Murray to take ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ back via a “heist or caper”, as it was agreed they could in the contract signed with Shkreli when he bought the single copy album.

Approved: Kerry Devine

CMU Approved

Kerry Devine

Kerry Devine has just announced that she will release her debut album, ‘Away From Mountains’, on 11 May. A stunning beautiful record which contains previously released singles ‘Work You’ and ‘Vehicle’, on it Devine takes inspiration from the East Anglian Fenlands.

“When you’re there and you’re still you can hear so many different sounds”, explains Devine. “So many different layers, so I wanted to create something that sounded like that, that had the depth and the richness, but [was] also very sparse. This place comforts me, I wanted to create a kind of sound womb that the listener could come into [where they could] be comforted too”.

Latest single, the album’s title track ‘Away From Mountains’, is one of the standouts among a record heavy on standouts. Its simplicity is subverted through gradually building layers, which absolutely captures the feel of the seemingly endless expanse of the Fens.

On 7 Apr, Devine will perform songs from the album out on the Fens, as part of an immersive audio-visual art installation. The event will focus on “the female legacy of the Fens, from the dark past of witch hunts that took place in isolated communities, to the role of women in agriculture and those pushing for change in a conservative rural area”. There is more information on that here.

Listen to ‘Away From Mountains’ here:

Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.

Dua Lipa calls out journalist who questions her teeth

CMU Opinion

Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa was back on stage on Tuesday night supporting Bruno Mars in Sydney. Less than a week earlier, she’d been bed-bound, forced to cancel several performances because she had required emergency surgery to have her wisdom teeth removed.

Or had she? On Monday night she was on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ roaring through her hits ‘IDGAF’ and ‘New Rules’ with no sign of any mouth issues whatsoever. And that’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it?

Australian TV journalist Richard Wilkins certainly thought so. “Well get this”, he mugged on Channel 9 News, where he is Entertainment Editor. “She was supposed to be in Australia opening up for Bruno Mars at his 24 Karat world tour, and had to cancel due to having her wisdom teeth out. But here she is on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!'”

“We were told that was live to air”, he added, seemingly suggesting that Lipa had posted x-rays of her teeth and videos of her swollen face online simply in order to throw people off the scent. In fact, rather than being in pain, she’d cancelled her Aussie performances because she wanted to get on a flight to perform for that Kimmel chap.

I suppose she could have had the teeth out and recovered in time for the Kimmel stint. Apparently it takes between three and seven days to recover from wisdom tooth surgery. I had to look that up, because I was sufficiently sensible to grow a mouth large enough to fit my wisdom teeth in it and therefore have no personal first hand knowledge of the extraction process. Take note, kids. It’s not too late for you.

So, yeah, she could have had the teeth out on Wednesday, recovered Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at some point during this time flown to the US, recorded a performance as part of the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live Concert Series’ on Monday, and then flown back to Sydney to be on stage on Tuesday.

I would think that anyone who’s ever undergone surgery and/or travelled on a longhaul flight would agree that this sounds entirely reasonable. And she did tweet on Monday that she’d woken up to find the swelling gone and that she had now finished her antibiotics, so there’s that.

But from Wilkins’ tone, I don’t think he was suggesting that this had been the sequence of events. But me? I wouldn’t like to assume anything. Actually, Dua Lipa’s already filled in the gaps in this story, so no assumptions are required.

Not pleased with Wilkins’ coverage of her televised performance, she tweeted a picture of her swollen face to him, saying: “If you were a good journalist you would’ve done proper research instead of talking out of your ass. Jimmy Kimmel was shot in Feb in LA and aired yesterday. I’ve been in Australia on bed rest and wouldn’t’ve cancelled my Bruno shows if I didn’t have to”.

So, that’s him put in his place. Though he did say he’d “been told” that her Kimmel performance was live to air. Maybe it wasn’t all his fault. That sounds like he did do at least a little bit of research.

Even if he didn’t call Kimmel’s production team, he might have just read one of the numerous articles written by reputable media outlets which said that the show had been live. Billboard went so far as to explain that she’d flown to the US for the performance, and would afterwards be returning to Australia to rejoin the Mars tour on 26 Mar.

But it may also be that he’d plucked this information right out of thin air. As I say, I don’t assume things. Not like that Richard Wilkins. Because, in responding to Lipa, he went from saying he’d “been told” the Kimmel set was live to stating he’d “assumed” it to be so.

“Sincere apologies, Dua Lipa”, he tweeted. “Didn’t mean to misinform. Assumed you were live with Jimmy K. Your fans and my son have severely castigated me!”

His son, Christian Wilkins, then confirmed this to be the case: “Left him unsupervised for five mins and he gone done try come for Dua” he tweeted.

True, that tweet appears to be a mostly random collection of words, but it’s possible it would mean something to young people. Possibly that Wilkins Junior had indeed castigated Wilkins Senior. But as you know, I don’t like to assume anything.

And I am so very, very old now that basically anything anyone under the age of 30 says seems like nonsense to me. Given my dislike for assuming, you might suggest that I run that tweet by a young person to double check its meaning (or lack thereof). But, alongside my “never assume” rule, I have always lived by the mantra that “some things just aren’t worth researching properly”.

What sort of things, Andy? Well, how about whether or not Dua Lipa’s TV performances are pre-recorded or not? Because if people started going around doing research all the time, clarifying that kind of thing, we’d all miss out on the TV GOLD that followed Wilkins’ gaff.

Apologising on his next news bulletin, he explained: “When we saw her on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, we assumed she’d headed to the States. However, as she pointed out yesterday, she’s been on bed rest here in Australia and the Jimmy Kimmel performance was, in fact, recorded last month”.

“Now, she told me I was talking out of my backside, this one right here”, he continued, before standing to show that he’d taped a piece of card with “SORRY” written on it to his bum. “So sorry Dua, we love having you here, we love your music”.

See? TV GOLD? I’m pretty sure my written description will have got that fully across to you all. Though I wouldn’t want to assume. But I can assure you that his three co-hosts were all weeping with laughter at seeing the word “sorry” written on someone’s arse. They were under no illusions about how funny it was. It was very funny indeed. Assume of that what you will, but don’t go doing any research.

US record industry revenues up to $8.72 billion thanks to all your (mainly premium) streams

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Retail Top Stories

RIAA

The US record industry enjoyed another year of double-digit growth in 2017, new figures from the Recording Industry Association Of America confirmed yesterday. Though the boom could be booming so much more if it wasn’t for the boom-hindering value gap. Boo to the boom-hindering value gap and its boo-inducing boom-bashing of the otherwise booming boom, say I. Well, says the R-I-AA. Sort of.

All this continued growth is all the result of streaming, of course. Not only is the US now well and truly a digital market, it is well and truly a streaming market. Overall consumer spending on recorded music in 2017 was up 16.5% to $8.72 billion. The streaming market, meanwhile, was up 43% and accounted for $5.66 billion of that overall consumer spending, which is nearly two-thirds of American record industry revenues.

Of the streaming monies, $4.1 billion came from premium on-demand streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, with the balance coming from free on-demand streaming platforms and personalised radio set-ups like Pandora and iHeartRadio.

YouTube monies are all included in the free streaming income bracket. And, of course – despite Lyor Cohen’s best efforts and the new deal with Universal – the wider record industry remains critical of safe harbour dwelling platforms like the Google video site, which pay much lower royalties across the board than the paid-for streaming services.

The music community wants the copyright safe harbour exploited by YouTube reformed, hence the customary “the boom’s cool, but a more booming boom would be cooler” aside from RIAA boss Cary Sherman alongside yesterday’s stat brags.

“Growth is of course welcome, for many reasons, but especially because it will result in more investment in artists and music”, he wrote on Medium. “However, we continue to operate in a distorted marketplace, replete with indefensible gaps in core rights, inhibiting investment in music and depriving recording artists and songwriters of the royalties they deserve”.

Although for the US record industry there are other copyright issues, like AM/FM radio continuing to pay no royalties at all to artists and labels, the ‘value gap’ campaign for safe harbour reform being pursued globally is also a priority for the RIAA.

Sherman continued: “The playing field remains unfairly tilted at the expense of creators and digital music services, resulting in a ‘value gap’, the gulf between the amount of music being consumed and the compensation that platforms return to music creators for exploiting the music. The economic consequences are real and increasingly documented by leading academics”.

So to conclude: “woo” for the boom, “phew” for the continued growth, but “boo” for the boom not being a more booming boom. Oh yeah, and fuck YouTube. Obviously.

Australian movie boss wants web-blocking extended to Google

Business News Digital Legal

Internet

Rights owners in Australia are calling for web-blocking rules there to be boosted so that search engines are obliged to de-list any sites blocked on copyright grounds.

Web-blocking, of course, has become an anti-piracy tactic of choice for the entertainment industry in any country where such blockades are available. Rights owners go to court to seek injunctions forcing internet service providers to block their customers from accessing copyright infringing sites.

The main weakness with web-blocking, though, is that it is relatively easy to circumvent the blockades with a simple Google search. Once a site has been officially blocked people set up proxies that help users get round the blocks, and search engines make it relatively easy for people to find those services.

Additional injunctions can be secured against each proxy, but that quickly becomes a game of whack-a-mole as new proxies are set up to replace the blocked ones. To that end there has much discussion in countries where web-blocking is an option about search engines playing a more proactive role in helping enforce the blockades.

Australia’s web-blocking regime is up for review, and submissions from movie company Village Roadshow and TV broadcaster Foxtel both hone in on the role Google could and should play in helping stop consumers from accessing illegal sources of content. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given he recently accused Google of “facilitating crime”, the submission from Village Roadshow boss Graham Burke is particularly forthright.

In his letter, published in full by Gizmodo, Burke confirms that his company both supports and has utilised Australia’s current web-blocking system before adding that he now “strongly supports strengthening it”.

He states: “With all major pirate sites blocked in Australia, the front door of the department store is shut. However, pirates, facilitated by Google and other search engines, are circumventing Australian laws and courts and opening a huge back door … Australia needs the power to require Google and other search engines to take reasonable steps to stop facilitating searches which lead to pirate sites”.

Expanding on his department store metaphor, he goes on: “The analogy for Google is a Westfield Shopping Centre knowing they are getting big traffic to the centre from a store that is using stolen goods to lure people and then robbing them!”

In terms of the specific review of web-blocking rules, Burke calls for Australia’s web-blocking provision to be widened so that injunctions can be secured against search engines, social media and “other types of internet intermediaries”.

Adopting the kind of dramatic pose you might expect from a movie mogul, Burke then goes on: “With a population of only 25 million, if piracy is not more strongly addressed there will be no Australian film industry, with the loss of jobs, taxation and the very real and bleak prospects of being a remote Los Angeles or Beijing suburb”.

Piling on the drama, he later says: “Easy access facilitated by Google means kids are crossing to the dark side and getting lured into bad habits and taken to criminal neighbourhoods that proliferate with prostitution, pornography, drug selling and illegal gambling”.

As for how Australian lawmakers can help, he concludes: “With the minor modification we recommend to the law, we can improve the effectiveness of site blocking and continue to make progress on dealing with the scourge of piracy which continues to threaten the livelihood of thousands of Australians engaged in creative endeavours seeking to continue to tell great Australian stories through the medium of film”.

LA Reid’s new company Hitco signs Outkast’s Big Boi

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Big Boi

LA Reid’s new company Hitco Entertainment has made its first signing, Outkast’s Big Boi. Reid left his role as CEO of Sony’s Epic Records in the US last May, following allegations of “unlawful harassment”.

The veteran label exec has been known to be working on his new independent company for some months. It’s effectively a re-launch of a company Reid first set up in 1996 – Hitco Publishing Group – and will act as a label and publisher. This time around he’s gone into business with Charles Goldstuck, co-founder of J Records, as well as a former exec at BMG, Sony Music and others.

According to Variety, Reid and Goldstuck have raised over $100 million to launch the company, and will have offices in New York, LA and Atlanta. Big Boi’s signing continues a long association between Outkast and Reid, who signed the hip hop duo to his Arista label in 1992 while they were still in high school.

The copyright for Big Boi’s latest album, ‘Boomiverse’, is already listed as being owned by Hitco on digital services, having originally been released by Epic last year. Distribution is reportedly being handled by Empire, which also reps Top Dawg Entertainment, among others.

Three Japanese music trade bodies form internationally focussed coalition

Business News Labels & Publishers

Independent Music Coalition Of Japan

Three Japanese independent music trade bodies have formed a new globally-focused coalition. The Independent Music Coalition Of Japan aims to support independent musicians in the country in order to boost sales of their music internationally.

Formed by the Independent Records And Musicians Association, Independent Label Council Japan and Japan Net Creators Association, the new organisation will be overseen by Takashi Kamide, himself an independent musician.

Kamide tells Billboard: “Despite being the second largest recorded music market in the world, during my decades-long career in the music business I have heard two simple messages from the foreign music community: ‘Japanese music market is too difficult to understand’ and ‘there is too little voice from Japan’. It is my initial intention to communicate the collective voices from Japan to the global community and vice versa”.

IMCJ launches as a member of both global digital rights body Merlin and the World Independent Network. The latter’s CEO Alison Wenham says: “In a rapidly globalising market, we are truly excited by the opportunity to work closely with IMCJ, to support their work in developing the Pan-Asian region, to help in the creation of new trade associations, and to advance knowledge and understanding of the markets for all independent companies in the world”.

The Japanese music industry has traditionally been very inward looking – partly because success at home meant that there was no pressing need, at least for larger acts, to go global. But in recent years, as the previously strong Japanese CD market has begun to collapse and digital services have seen growth, artists and labels have increasingly looked to other countries to boost revenues.

While acting as one on international activities, ILCJ, IRMA, JNCA will each continue to operate independently of each other domestically.

Ultra Music Festival acquires the Winter Music Conference

Business News Deals Live Business

Winter Music Conference

The Ultra Music Festival has acquired the dance music focused Winter Music Conference, the two events having sat side-by-side in Miami for nearly two decades now, in more recent years as key components of Miami Music Week. The announcement was made on the second day of this year’s WMC, which until very recently was not expected to go ahead at all.

Speaking at a press conference, UMF’s Albert Berdellans said: “Winter Music Conference will represent a place for the music industry to develop professionally. [It] will allow veterans and newcomers alike to develop themselves and their organisations to become competitive players in the industry”.

He added that the deal is “a significant victory for Miami in general as well”, saying that they are “very excited to contribute to the vision of Miami as a hub of entertainment, culture and business”. WMC co-founder Bill Kelly will stay on to oversee the running of the conference.

Launched in 1985, WMC aimed to attract dance music’s big players down to Miami’s warmer weather during the winter months. Then in 1999 the Ultra festival launched, initially as a one-day event, the day after WMC, aiming to capitalise on all the DJing talent already in town. The two events then happily co-existed side-by-side for a decade, Ultra growing to become a major three day event.

However, in 2010 there was a falling out, when WMC shifted its dates and Ultra did not follow suit. In part, it seemed that there was anger that Ultra was forcing DJs to sign exclusivity contracts, which prohibited them from performing at the numerous club nights linked to WMC.

Earlier this year, people began questioning why no WMC had been announced for 2018. As recently as the beginning of this month, journalists were pronouncing it dead. But then, with less than ten days to go, it was announced that the normally week long event would occupy the three days preceding this year’s Ultra – which starts today.

Commenting on the decision to sell up, Kelly said: “A couple years ago, we revisited the idea of coming together [with Ultra]. At that point the Amsterdam Dance Event and International Music Summit in Ibiza had formed over the course of the last five years or so … Over the years, the significance of WMC slightly diminished because of those. So to bring [attention] back to Miami, this acquisition was necessary”.

At the same time, Ultra – which has launched all sorts of sister editions around the world over the last decade – also announced a new festival in China, Ultra Beijing, which will take place in June.

YouTube confirms that it only plans to “frustrate” some people with adverts

Business News Digital

YouTube

Responding to various reports this week about its future plans, YouTube has said that it will not be increasing the number of adverts most people see on the platform.

The ad-increase chatter originated in an interview with YouTube’s Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen at SXSW. He said that users of the video platform who play large amounts of music would be served more adverts. This would be an attempt to “frustrate and seduce” them into signing up for the new paid subscription music service YouTube is plotting.

But the key thing there, YouTube now highights, is that this new policy will only apply to those using the platform as if it was a music service, not those who dip in to watch the odd Katy Perry video and then another of a cat falling off a hedge.

“Our top priority at YouTube is to deliver a great user experience and that includes ensuring users do not encounter excessive ad loads”, says a YouTube spokesperson. “We do not seek to specifically increase ad loads across YouTube”. However, “for a specific subset of users who use YouTube like a paid music service today – and would benefit most from additional features – we may show more ads or promotional prompts to upsell to our paid service”.

So, for those using the platform mainly for free music, it does seem that YouTube is planning to follow the lead of other freemium-to-sell-premium music services, principally Spotify, in hoping that the annoying ads will persuade people to ultimately pay to stream. Which is to say, that users will eventually throw their arms up in exasperation and pay a monthly fee to avoid hearing what all these companies have to say.

There is a problem with this approach though, and especially being so upfront about it. True, premium streaming is way more lucrative than free streaming, so it makes sense to upsell the former wherever possible. However, there is sizable part of the market who will never pay to stream, and with that audience the aim is to simply persuade more brands to get on board. Cohen himself has said that the potential of ad income has yet to be fully realised, and in its recent SEC filing Spotify talked up further growing the ad sales side of its business.

Openly employing ads to try to annoy free subscribers to become paying subscribers makes for an interesting pitch to ad agencies. Adverts are annoying, it’s true. And all companies who place adverts are evil and should be shut down. But it doesn’t seem particularly helpful to go around saying that when your business relies, even in part, on that income. If you’re a CMU advertiser, please disregard this last paragraph.

PledgeMusic allies with NME Emerging

Business News Digital Media

NME

PledgeMusic has this week been bigging up its new alliance with the now exclusively online NME, with the direct-to-fan and pre-order platform allying with NME Emerging, the service launched by the music magazine last year to support grassroots talent.

As a result of the tie-up, NME Emerging artists will be encouraged to build their own campaigns with Pledge, and promote themselves to its community, while artists already utilising PledgeMusic will be able to push their projects to the NME audience.

Says NME Digital Director Keith Walker: “Working with PledgeMusic is a natural fit for the NME. It benefits fans and artists by introducing a new way to bring them together on NME Emerging”.

Meanwhile PledgeMusic’s Malcolm Dunbar adds: “NME has a rich history of supporting unsigned and independent talent and the PledgeMusic model of rights-free funding is perfectly aligned with that. All of us at PledgeMusic very much look forward to working with the NME team on the project”.

D’arcy Wretzky’s Smashing Pumpkins bridges burned “forever”, says Billy Corgan

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan has said that D’arcy Wretzky’s recent complaints about not being involved in the Smashing Pumpkins reunion highlight why he had to cut her out.

Ahead of the official announcement of the band’s reunion tour last month, Wretzky discussed it and her lack of involvement with music websites BlastEcho and Alternative Nation. Although Corgan had contacted her about it, she said, his communication had become flaky and he’d gradually reduced any role she might have had to a simple guest spot on a few songs, and eventually to nothing at all.

Corgan subsequently said that now was “not the time” to discuss what had gone on, but apparently now it is. A bit.

In a new interview with the New York Times, he says: “I think what she did demonstrates why she couldn’t be involved. I was vulnerable and shared things and trusted that there was a reason to give it a chance, despite plenty of empirical evidence that that was not a wise decision”.

Fans hoping that things might yet change will be disappointed to know that Wretzky’s bridge has now been burned “forever”.

Elsewhere in the interview, Corgan notes that he’s always presented himself as a villain, second in rock n roll to Lou Reed “who’s the king”. And this worked well for him and the band in the first stage of their career, he added. Regular “controversy” kept them in the public consciousness, while they toured the world multiple times and released a string of successful albums. “So how dysfunctional were we, really?” he asks.

“To my discredit, I didn’t realise that that formula only works if you’re winning commercially”, he concedes. Once you’re not? “Well, then you’re just a jerk with a bad message”.

Still, he says, you usually see him how he wants you to see him. “I would say 80% of the things that I get held up and mocked for, I’m doing intentionally. It’s sort of funny to me that they actually think I’m that stupid. It’s, like, yeah, I work in wrestling – I’m running you”.

So maybe that whole thing about Wretzky and the burned bridges was a piece of clever manipulation. Or maybe they really do hate each other. Choose one.

One Liners: Thirty Seconds To Mars, Steve Angello, Christine And The Queens, more

Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases

Thirty Seconds To Mars

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Thirty Seconds To Mars have announced that they will release new album, ‘America’, on 6 Apr. And here’s new single, ‘One Track Mind’, featuring A$AP Rocky.

• Steve Angello will release his new album, ‘Human’, on 27 Apr. Here’s new single ‘Nothing Scares Me Anymore’.

• Shawn Mendes has released new single, ‘In My Blood’.

• Snow Patrol have released new single, ‘Don’t Give In’.

• Gaz Coombes has released new single, ‘Walk The Walk’. His new album, ‘World’s Strongest Man’, is out on 4 May.

• Daniel Avery has released another new track from his upcoming ‘Song For Alpha’ album. Here’s ‘Projector’.

• Yizzy is back with new single ‘BAP’. The track is taken from forthcoming EP ‘SOS’. He’ll support Ski Mask The Slump God at The Forum in London on 29 Mar.

• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has released new track, ‘Abstractions’. It’s the first release on her new Touchtheplants label.

• Sabiyha has released new track, ‘Wolf’.

• Christine And The Queens will play the Hammersmith Apollo on 20 Nov.

• Dream Wife have announced that they will headline Koko in London on 31 Oct. Tickets on sale now.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.

Beef Of The Week #397: Dua Lipa v Richard Wilkins

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Gigs & Festivals