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Thursday 22 March 2018, 10:31 | By Andy Malt
Rumours that Jimmy Iovine is leaving Apple Music abound
Business News Digital Industry People
Despite Jimmy Iovine’s insistence that he’s with Apple Music for the longhaul, rumours that the record industry veteran and Beats co-founder is exiting the tech giant persist. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that he will shift to a “consulting” role in August this year.
At an event earlier this year, Iovine said: “There’s still a lot more we’d like to do. I am committed to doing whatever Eddy [Cue], Tim [Cook] and Apple need me to do, to help wherever and however I can, to take this all the way. I am in the band”.
Admitting that his current contract with Apple was due to come to an end in August, he added: “The bottom line is I’m loyal to the guys at Apple. I love Apple, and I really love musicians”.
According to the WSJ, Iovine will leave his day-to-day role at Apple Music in August, while still being on hand to assist Cue “as needed”. Sources told the New York Post that he plans to “spend more time with his family”.
Iovine has had a hands on role at Apple Music since the tech firm acquired his Beats Electronics company for $3 billion in 2014. WSJ sources also said that, despite his proud talk of the streaming service’s success, shifting from Beats Music’s focus on “edgy culture” to Apple Music’s mass appeal has been a struggle for him.
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | Apple Music | Jimmy Iovine
Thursday 22 March 2018, 10:29 | By Andy Malt
Let’s Eat Grandma announce new album, Heaven show
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases
Let’s Eat Grandma have revealed that they will release their second album, ‘I’m All Ears’, this summer. They’ve also announced that, as well as playing UK tour dates in April, there will be a standalone show at Heaven in London in September.
With production from David Wrench, Sophie and Faris Badwan, the duo say that the new album sees them pushing themselves to work differently than on their debut, ‘I, Gemini’.
“I think it’s a much more honest record”, says Jenny Hollingworth. “It’s very open. It is a lot about youth and young people and the experiences we have”.
The album announcement is accompanied by new single ‘Falling Into Me’, of which Hollingworth says: “It’s about communication. Some of the lyrics reference being in control as a woman in a romantic relationship, and being the one to initiate. So you’re the person who tells them that you like them, you’re taking the initiative. It’s the importance of if you feel something, tell them. Because you don’t know what’s going to happen in life, you might as well just do it”.
Listen to ‘Falling Into Me’ here:
‘I’m All Ears’ will be released on 29 Jun. Here are the tour dates:
4 Apr: Glasgow, Stereo
5 Apr: Newcastle, The Riverside
7 Apr: Leeds, Belgrave
8 Apr: Sheffield, The Plug
9 Apr: Manchester, The Deaf Institute
11 Apr: Birmingham, The Castle and Falcon
12 Apr: Cardiff, The Globe
13 Apr: Bristol, The Lantern
27 Sep: London, Heaven
READ MORE ABOUT: Let's Eat Grandma
Thursday 22 March 2018, 10:25 | By Andy Malt
McFly bassist Dougie Poynter’s new band Ink announce tour dates
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
McFly bassist Dougie Poynter’s new alt-rock band Ink have announced UK tour dates to run throughout May.
The band officially launched themselves last week, releasing their debut EP ‘Heaven’. The announcement caused concern among McFly fans. This prompted the band to tweet that, while they are on hiatus, Ink’s arrival does not mean that McFly have split.
Tickets for the Ink shows go on sale on Friday morning. Here are those tour dates:
4 May: Brighton, The Haunt
6 May: Plymouth, The Junction
8 May: Exeter, The Cavern
9 May: Bristol, The Exchange
11 May: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
12 May: Birmingham, The Flapper
13 May: Nottingham, Bodega
14 May: Sheffield, The Corporation
16 May: Manchester, Star & Garter
17 May: Glasgow, Garage Attic
18 May: Edinburgh, The Mash House
19 May: Newcastle, Think Tank
21 May: Leeds, The Key Club
22 May: Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
23 May: London, Camden Assembly
24 May: Tunbridge Wells, Forum
26 May: Southampton, Joiners
27 May: Northampton, Roadmender Underground
28 May: Coventry, Kasbah
29 May: Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
READ MORE ABOUT: Dougie Poynter | Ink | McFly
Thursday 22 March 2018, 10:23 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Kim Dotcom, Taylor Swift, Jhene Aiko, more
Artist News Business News Legal One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• New Zealand’s High Court has rejected a request by Kim Dotcom to subpoena Barack Obama. The former US president would have been asked to give evidence in Dotcom’s case demanding damages from the US government and Hollywood over the shutdown of his former MegaUpload business on copyright grounds back in 2012.
• Taylor Swift is seeking over $70,000 in legal fees after she shook off that song-theft lawsuit last month.
• Jhene Aiko has released the video for ‘Never Call Me’ from her 2017 album ‘Trip’.
• Underoath have released the video for new single ‘Rapture’. Their new album, ‘Erase Me’, is out on 6 Apr.
• Gwenno has released the video for ‘Eus Keus?’ from her new album, ‘Le Kov’.
• Alison Wonderland has released new track, ‘High’, featuring rapper Trippie Red.
• Chad Valley is back with new single, ‘Impartial’. His new album, ‘Imaginary Music’ is out on 25 May.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Alison Wonderland | Barack Obama | Chad Valley | Gwenno | Jhene Aiko | Kim Dotcom | Taylor Swift | Underoath
Thursday 22 March 2018, 10:18 | By Andy Malt
“No chance” of a full Take That reunion, says Gary Barlow
And Finally Artist News
Hopes that all five original members of Take That would get together for a 25th anniversary show have seemingly been dashed. Not least because they missed the big date last year. Gary Barlow now says there’s “no chance” of a full reunion.
Speaking to the Mirror, Barlow said: “I wouldn’t put money on [a reunion]. Don’t waste your money. I would say there’s no chance”.
The seed that a full reunion might happen was planted last year. In an interview Howard Donald said that they were hoping to put on a show with all five members to mark the 25th anniversary of the release of their debut album, ‘Take That And Party’.
The August 2017 deadline for that may have already passed, but that’s no need to lose hope. Donald noted that Jason Orange and Robbie Williams might take longer to convince than they had time for, conceding: “It might be the 30th anniversary we end up celebrating”.
Now Barlow has seemingly given up on the idea entirely. Although optimist Mark Owen remains hopeful, saying in the new Mirror interview: “I wouldn’t say there’s no chance, but I’ve always said that”.
The remaining trio performed on the roof of the Theatre Royal Haymarket earlier this week, in an attempt to draw attention to that stupid musical they’re involved in. They’re also planning a greatest hits compilation and tour later this year.
READ MORE ABOUT: Take That
Thursday 22 March 2018, 09:08 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Eckoes
CMU Approved
At CMU and the FAC’s recent Artist:Entrepreneur Day, Eckoes – real name Dilys Uwagboe – spoke about the compromises you sometimes have to make as an a emerging artist. She was recalling how she scored an opportunity to play the Henley Festival, but that required her to perform an acoustic set. Very much an electronic artist, she nonetheless accepted the gig and pulled together a successful unplugged show.
It was with that anecdote in mind that I pressed play on the new video for recent single, ‘SBF’. As a song, it definitely has the strength to be stripped back to its vocals and an acoustic guitar, but given the choice I think I’ll go for the full production. On record, the track slowly ripples in fluid movements. Its atmosphere is intoxicating, with individual instruments lightly applied in layers to slowly envelop you.
Eckoes plays The Hospital Club in London on 6 Apr. Put yourself on the guestlist for that here.
Watch the video for ‘SBF’ here:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Eckoes
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 12:09 | By Andy Malt
AEG’s Phillip Anschutz donates $1 million to Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, following anti-LGBT controversy
Business News Industry People Live Business Top Stories
The Elton John AIDS Foundation announced yesterday that it had received a donation of $1 million to its LGBT Fund from the Chair of live music major AEG, Philip Anschutz. This follows further scrutiny of the billionaire’s previous funding of various anti-LGBT groups.
“The donation by Phil to EJAF is in keeping with the special connection and consistently supportive, collaborative relationship I have developed with AEG for more than a decade”, says John. As suggested, AEG has promoted John’s shows for more than ten years now, and it is behind the musician’s upcoming three year farewell tour.
John, meanwhile, launched his AIDS Foundation charity in 1992. The $10 million LGBT Fund was first announced in 2015 as a public-private partnership with the US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, handing out its first grants the following year. Its main aim is to tackle stigma and discrimination in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.
“We will put [Anschutz’s] donation to work to ensure that vulnerable groups are not left behind in the fight against HIV/AIDS”, John continues. “This funding will help our programmes provide life-saving work for LGBT communities around the world, starting with the LGBT Fund in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Anschutz himself added: “We are all proud to support the essential work of Sir Elton’s Foundation in the LBGT community. Sir Elton’s artistry is unparalleled, he is a leader and a statesman in the artistic community and on the world stage, and his advocacy for the LGBT community and those living with from AIDS and HIV has had a profound influence on all of us at AEG, and countless more around the globe. We are honoured to play a small part in Sir Elton’s important humanitarian work and to deepen our long, meaningful collaborative relationship with him and his team”.
In recent years, Anschutz has been in the news a number of times over donations made by his Anschutz Foundation to political and other groups that have overtly anti-LGBT policies. Controversy around his donations to right-leaning and conservative organisations has existed since long before he launched his entertainment business in 1999.
However, since last year, such reports have often been linked to AEG’s ownership of Coachella – the groups he donates to seen as being at odds with the ethos of the American music festival. As well as financing groups opposed to LGBT rights and equal marriage, the foundation has also given money to climate change sceptics and groups against legalised marijuana.
Last year, following a round of criticism as the line-up for the 2017 Coachella festival was announced, Anschutz said in a statement: “Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news – it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation”.
He added that he had never knowingly supported an anti-LGBT organisation, and that his foundation had pulled support if it became apparent that any recipient of funding did have such views.
In January this year, Pitchfork published an article examining the Anschutz Foundation’s 2016 tax return, which did show that funding to groups that had been specifically named in the controversy had been withdrawn. Although it highlighted several other organisations that actively campaign against homosexuality.
In a statement, Anschutz’s lawyer reiterated that “The Anschutz Foundation would not knowingly fund any organisation that would support anti-LGBTQ initiatives”, and said that it had further dropped funding for organisations whose “activities were inconsistent with our values” over the last year.
The legal rep then noted that weeding out these organisations is an “ongoing process” and that among the 800 or so requests for funding the foundation receives each year, sometimes these activities are missed initially, but funded groups may be investigated further if concerns are raised.
“If we find problematic activities”, the lawyer said, “we first look to work with those organisations to effectuate positive change if we perceive they are open to hearing and responding to our feedback. Ultimately, if these efforts prove unsatisfactory, we will withdraw further support from those groups”.
READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Elton John | Philip Anschutz
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 12:07 | By Chris Cooke
Judge refuses to dismiss latest Monster v Beats legal battle
Brands & Merch Business News Digital Legal
A judge in California has refused to dismiss the latest legal dispute between Beats Electronics and its former business partner Monster LLC. The judge said that the complicated contractual dispute would require proper scrutiny in court.
Talk of Beats and Monster facing off in court will likely create some déjà vu. The now Apple-owned Beats collaborated with Monster when it was first developing its ‘stick-a-by-Dre-label-on-the-side-and-hike-up-the-price’ headphones business. But the partnership ended in something of a messy divorce in 2012, two years before Apple bought the Beats company in a $3 billion deal in 2014.
Legal action followed the Apple acquisition. Monster and its founder Noel Lee sued Beats over allegations it had misled its former partner about its future plans, leading to Lee selling his stake in the Beats company in 2013 for considerably less money than he would have got had he waited for the big Apple deal a year later. Beats ultimately won that legal battle, and also a subsequent court scuffle over whether or not Monster should pay Beats’ legal fees.
The case in court this week is a new lawsuit that was filed last September. This relates to the two companies’ 2012 divorce and each side’s contractual obligations to the other when they stopped working together. Beats reckons that Monster still owes it $95 million relating to the two firms’ old distribution agreement. Monster counters that it is owed $100 million from Beats, partly due to the companies’ termination agreement, and partly because of allegations Beats violated the aforementioned distribution agreement.
Part of the dispute centres on an audit undertaken as the two companies stopped working together by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers. It’s that audit that concluded Monster owes Beats $95 million. But Monster claims that, while earlier agreements did confirm PWC as the auditor, Beats put pressure on the accountants to rework their calculations so that the outcome favoured them instead of their former business partner.
According to Law360, a legal rep for Beats, seeking to have the case dismissed this week, argued that Monster’s claim in relation to the termination agreement couldn’t be pursued because of the statute of limitations. They added that its claims over the distribution agreement and PWC’s audit were basically just sour grapes, because Monster didn’t like the outcome of said audit and is trying to use the courts to force the accountants to do the work anew.
However, Monster’s attorney countered that PWC’s preliminary audit had found that Monster was owed over $2 million, but that Beats then pressured the auditors to change its legal position, resulting in new maths and the conclusion Beats was owned $95 million.
The complexities of the dispute and the contracts behind it, the judge concluded, meant that he couldn’t dismiss the case at this stage. He also knocked back efforts by Beats to have some of Monster’s claims declared irrelevant to the case.
All of which means this latest Monster v Beats adventure will continue, with court time now scheduled in for November. Though both sides may pursue mediation in the meantime, which might mean a deal will be reached before that court date comes round.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beats By Dre | Monster LLC
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 12:05 | By Chris Cooke
Doug Morris talking to Warner about distributing his new label
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers
Record industry veteran Doug Morris has run both Universal Music and Sony Music during his long career, so obviously – as he gets ready to launch his own independent music company – he’s in talks for a distribution deal with… Warner Music!
Actually, Morris spent time running Warner Music divisions earlier in his career before going on to take the top job at the Universal and then Sony record company, so he’s sort of coming full circle.
Gossipers have told Billboard about the distribution deal talks between Warner Music and Morris’s new venture, which is called 12 Tone Music. Said gossipers say no deal has as yet been finalised. Maybe Warner is swotting up on the twelve-tone technique first.
It emerged last month that Morris – who stood down from his executive role at Sony Music last year – was planning on launching a new company after spending a year in an advisory Chair role at his former employer.
READ MORE ABOUT: 12 Tone Music | Doug Morris | Warner Music
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 12:02 | By Andy Malt
South Korean pop stars to perform in North Korea for first time since 2005
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
South Korean pop stars are to perform in North Korea for the first time in more than a decade, it has been announced. A selection of artists will embark on the visit later this month, after North Korea sent performers to the recent Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.
In a statement, the South Korean government said that a delegation of around 160 people will travel to the North. Among them will be girl group Red Velvet and veteran singers Sun-Hee Lee and Yong-Pil Cho – the latter being the last South Korean artist to perform in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang back in 2005.
Talks were held between the two countries yesterday, with a delegation from the South led by musician and producer Yoon-Sang Lee. According to Reuters, he said at a press conference: “While we’re on the stage, I believe it will be difficult to portray personal feelings towards denuclearisation. Our first task will be to instil the same awe in North Korean audiences as we do our South Korean ones and make sure nothing is awkward”.
South Korean officials are due to visit Pyongyang later this week to inspect venues for the visit and ensure that they can accommodate the performers.
READ MORE ABOUT: Red Velvet | Sun-Hee Lee | Yong-Pil Cho | Yoon-Sang Lee
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 11:57 | By Andy Malt
Frank Ocean questions how ‘hacked’ unofficial Facebook page became verified
Artist News Digital
The folks over at Facebook seem to have enough controversy to be getting on with for the time being. Still, reps for Frank Ocean are now asking how an unofficial page related to the singer came to be verified as official.
It was initially reported yesterday that the verified page had been hacked, after a link to a leaks site was posted on it, promising “plenty of new Frank Ocean leaks coming soon”. The long dormant page was initially said to be official, until Ocean’s mother Katonya Breaux chipped in on Twitter: “Ummm. But he doesn’t have an official Facebook page. Or any Facebook page. Hack on”.
Reps for the singer have confirmed that the now deleted page was not official and that they are investigating how it came to receive a verified mark from Facebook.
The last post on the page before yesterday had been from August 2013, and read “Prince got me wanting to reactivate”. This seems to have been cut and pasted from Ocean’s Tumblr blog – that being the only social media he actually uses.
Ocean’s actual most recent post about new music came in January, on Tumblr, but – unlike the fake Facebook post – suggested that it was not coming any time soon. In that, he wrote: “Well I made the album before 30. I just ain’t put that bitch out!” Ocean turned 30 in October.
READ MORE ABOUT: Facebook | Frank Ocean
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 11:55 | By Andy Malt
Wu-Tang’s U-God accuses RZA of failing the group
Artist News
Wu-Tang Clan rapper U-God has published a new memoir in which he accuses the outfit’s producer RZA and his brother Divine – who is CEO of Wu-Tang Productions – of operating the group like a dictatorship. This, he says, has been to the wider collective’s detriment over the last 20 years.
In an excerpt from the book, published by Rolling Stone, U-God writes that initially the group was “an unstoppable unit … one for all and all for one … at least, that’s what we told ourselves”. However, as the group’s income began to dip, “members who were used to living crazy lifestyles started complaining about everyone’s fees being equal”.
“Right now, it just looks like the Wu brothers are not on the same page, going at each other’s throats, missing shows, and all that”, he goes on. “But, to me, it’s really years of BS catching up to RZA”.
He goes on to say that as RZA gradually took full creative control of Wu-Tang, his brother Divine failed to build a sustainable business for the group as a whole. In no small part, he blames this on a failure to sign the outfit with a large talent agency for their live work.
“In 25 years of being in the business, RZA has never placed the group at an A-list agency”, he says. “Instead, Divine has always placed us with these B- or C-list guys … I mean here we are, the Rolling Stones of hip hop, and we ain’t even got proper representation. Meanwhile, RZA’s always had A-list agents repping him personally. What the fuck is that all about?”
Read the full excerpt here. Or you can buy the whole book from Amazon here.
READ MORE ABOUT: RZA | U-God | Wu-Tang Clan
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 11:54 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Franz Ferdinand, Animal Collective, Blawan, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• After ten years of putting out music, Blawan has finally got around to making his debut album. ‘Wet Will Always Dry’ will be out through his own Turnesc label on 18 Jun. From it, this is ‘North’.
• Preoccupations have released a new track, ‘Disarray’, taken from their ‘New Material’ album, which is out this Friday.
• Hinds have released the video for new single, ‘The Club’.
• Barbarossa has released new single, ‘Broken Beauty’. His new album, ‘Lier’, is out next week.
• Oklou has released the video for ‘They Can’t Hear Me’, from her new EP, ‘The Rite Of May’.
• LCMDF are back with new single, ‘Another Sucker’.
• Snapped Ankles have released a new cover of The Fugs’ ‘CIA Man’. The track is taken from a new covers EP, ‘Violations’, out on 4 May (with vinyl available early on Record Store Day).
• Franz Ferdinand have added two shows at the Roundhouse in London to their autumn UK tour. They’ play the venue on 26 and 27 Sep.
• Animal Collective are getting in on the ‘play the songs people actually like’ business. They’ll perform their ‘Tung Songs’ album in full at London’s Troxy on 12 Jun.
• Marmozets have announced that they will headline The Forum in London on 19 Oct. Here’s the video for ‘Major System Error’, just because fucking hell that song’s incredible.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Animal Collective | Barbarossa | Blawan | Franz Ferdinand | Hinds | LCMDF | Marmozets | Oklou | Preoccupations | Snapped Ankles
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 11:51 | By Andy Malt
Ed Sheeran’s neighbours angry over plans to build a church in his garden
And Finally Artist News
Ed Sheeran has sparked anger among his neighbours over plans to build a Saxon-style chapel in the grounds of his Suffolk home.
Neighbours are concerned about the impact the building’s nearly fifteen metre high tower will have on views of the surrounding landscape, and also the effect the building work might have on protected newts that nest in nearby ponds. Others have questioned what need there is for a private “non-denominational” church in the village.
Sheeran has made various planning applications for building work on the property since purchasing it in 2015. Many of these have drawn objections, often over the effect on local wildlife.
Commenting on the church, one neighbour said in a submission opposing the latest application: “It would appear that the applicant in his desire to satisfy the needs of the spiritual world continues to overlook his obligations to the living world, particularly that of protected species”.
Various new buildings have already been erected on the site by Sheeran, but a church is certainly the most unusual. It has been speculated that the musician and his fiancée Cherry Seaborn are hoping to marry in the venue.
It would certainly help to keep out the paparazzi, although afterwards they would be stuck with a big church in their garden. The application says that it would be used for “spiritual regeneration of both traditional and less traditional types”.
Landscape architects The Landscape Trust have advised that a full ecological survey be carried out before any work is approved. The council is expected to make a decision on the application next month.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 11:22 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Liza Anne
CMU Approved
Elizabeth Anne Odachowski – or simply Liza Anne – has just released her new album, ‘Fine But Dying’, on Arts & Crafts, which follows two self-released records.
Developing the theme of her earlier releases, ‘Fine But Dying’ sees Odachowski tackle her foibles head on, with a particular focus on depression and anxiety. But this isn’t a collection of songs that wallows. Writing these things down comes across as cathartic for Odachowski, and her words present different sides of herself that are easy to relate to – the tone for this set immediately by opening track ‘Paranoia’.
“Growing up, people would always say I was too happy to be depressed, or too social to have anxiety”, she says. “In their eyes, because I was one thing, I couldn’t also be something else. I think we all exist in duality, though. I can be everything and nothing all at once”.
She adds: “This is my ‘woman at her wildest self’ album. It’s a place for me to express all of the things about womanhood and the human condition that I was experiencing without fear of feeling like I’m ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’. People used to talk about my music in such sweet terms, but they weren’t sweet things that I was going through. With this record, I’m not sugar-coating anything any more”.
Watch the newly released video for latest single, ‘Small Talks’, here:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Liza Anne
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 12:13 | By Chris Cooke
Songwriters call for publisher commitments on Spotify and Facebook cash
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories
BASCA has called on the global music publishing sector to ensure that any financial benefits enjoyed by the publishers as a result of Spotify’s flotation or the newly signed Facebook deals are shared with the songwriters whose works they control or represent.
On the recordings side of the music rights business there has been much debate over what will happen to the money generated when those labels which secured Spotify equity in their initial licensing deals sell their shares. Will labels share the profits with their artists? Will the majors share the profits with the indie labels they distribute? And where commitments have been made to share such monies, how will the sharing work?
Meanwhile, as Spotify gets ready to list on the New York Stock Exchange, the labels, publishers and collecting societies are all busy announcing their first ever licensing deals with Facebook. These are advance heavy deals covering the use of music in user-generated content across the social media giant’s networks.
While labels, publishers and societies have been busy communicating with the media about how great these “landmark” deals are, there has been a lot less communication with artists and managers about how the money will be distributed. Further confirmation that the music industry has a very narrow definition of what corporate communications is all about.
Artists and managers still have some questions about the Spotify equity profits and lots of questions about the new Facebook deals. However, at least some commitments – mainly on the former – have been made by the labels to their artists. BASCA, representing the songwriting community, wants similar commitments made by the publishers to its constituency.
Digital licensing is more complex on the songs side for various reasons. Deals are generally handled by the collecting societies, except for the all-important Anglo-American repertoire, where the majors and the bigger indies often negotiate directly with the digital firms. Though those direct deals must nevertheless involve the collecting societies, because they actually control some of the rights a streaming service needs to exploit.
When it comes to the processing of digital royalties, this is much more complicated on the songs side because the streaming platforms generally don’t know what songs they are streaming, the labels providing the tracks but without song information. With user-generated content where audio-recognition technology is often employed to identify what music is being used, generally such software is much better at identifying recordings than it is songs, especially where new versions of songs are being used and uploaded.
In addition to seeking commitments regarding how publishers share any financial benefits from their Spotify or Facebook deals, BASCA is also calling on the publishing sector to do all it can to “establish correct usage” on user-generated content platforms. Rather than falling back on the often criticised “assumed market share” methodology for sharing out unattributed monies. And, where accurate usage information simply isn’t available, it wants assurances monies will be “distributed equitably and transparently”.
Launching its #soldforasong campaign, the songwriter organisation states: “BASCA applauds the recent commitments by major labels to share in any financial benefits from Spotify’s forthcoming direct listing with their artists and associated indie labels, and calls for similar commitments from music publishers that any such benefits, direct or indirect, received by them from the pending Spotify direct listing or Facebook licence advances will be shared transparently and fairly with the writers they represent”.
Focusing more specifically on the recent Facebook deals, it adds: “A decade after its launch Facebook has recently concluded licensing agreements with the major music publishing companies and BASCA understand that those deals involve lump sum advance payments worth many millions of pounds. There are concerns however that no pledge has been made by music publishers to equitably share any financial benefit derived from such licences with songwriters and composers”.
Commenting on her organisation’s new campaign, BASCA boss Vick Bain says: “Facebook and other user-generated content platforms, as well as digital services such as Spotify, have benefited incalculably from exploiting our members’ work and indeed this has allowed them to become among the world’s wealthiest corporations. They, and the publishers who license music to them, have an obligation and a duty to safeguard the future sustainability of our industry and to ensure that songwriters and composers are given their fair due of these potential riches”.
Meanwhile, BASCA Chair Crispin Hunt puts the spotlight on the need for more accurate distribution of royalties, and the problems with the old school approach of sharing out unattributed income by market share. He states: “The so-called ‘evergreen’ catalogue is arguably only so verdant because it has been historically over-watered in lieu of correct data. With the potential of today’s technology for granular digital data, such anachronistic inaccuracy is no longer excusable in music: the right music must receive the right monies. If it’s played it should be paid”.
READ MORE ABOUT: British Academy of Songwriters Composers & Authors (BASCA) | Facebook | Spotify
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 12:11 | By Chris Cooke
Australian police urge fans to only use primary sites after fraudster arrested over Ed Sheeran ticketing scam
Business News Legal Live Business
Police in Australia have urged music fans to only buy tickets for concerts via approved primary sellers after a man in Brisbane was arrested for selling non-existent tickets to Ed Sheeran’s shows in the city.
The man, described as an “experienced scammer”, will appear in court next month over allegations he conned monies out of dozens of Sheeran’s fans by offering non-existent tickets for sale via an online ticket resale platform.
Queensland Police’s Detective Superintendent Terry Lawrence told reporters: “This is another clear example of buyer beware. I urge entertainment ticket buyers and all buyers of online products to keep control of their purchase. Only use the official authorised sellers and their platforms. Do not move away from those platforms to buy tickets or items, particularly if asked to. It is most likely you are being scammed”.
Although the ticket resale platform used by the scammer hasn’t been identified, Lawrence’s remarks put further pressure on the secondary ticketing sites, which have come under increased fire from authorities in various countries of late, including Australia.
The big secondary sites would probably argue that they provide some extra security for consumers when it comes to fraudsters selling fake or non-existent tickets, in that they pledge to refund monies if a customer doesn’t get a ticket or entry to a show. Though the message increasingly coming from police and government agencies is that consumers should only trust official primary sellers of tickets as identified on an artist’s website.
According to the Brisbane Times, Sheeran’s promoter in Australia, Frontier Touring, applauded the actions taken by Queensland Police against the scammer, while calling for new ticketing laws to protect fans. Meanwhile a rep for AEG Ogden, which operates the venue where Sheeran was appearing in the city, also urged fans to only use the official ticket seller, in this case Ticketek. The firm’s COO Rod Pilbeam added: “Any other sites offering tickets are bogus and probably operating fraudulently”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran | Secondary Ticketing
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 12:09 | By Chris Cooke
AEG raises concerns over rival MSG’s plans for a new arena in East London
Business News Live Business
AEG has raised concerns about rival MSG’s plans to construct a new arena-style venue in East London. It insists that it is fine with new competition in the London venue market, but says that it feels East London is already very well served for large venues and an additional entertainment space could lead to congestion.
MSG announced plans to launch its first base outside the US last month, replicating a high-tech venue it’s planning to build in Las Vegas alongside the Olympic Park in East London. The MSG Sphere will have all sorts of sound, lighting, VR and AR gubbins thrown in.
With more details about those plans expected later today, AEG got in early to point out that there is already a stadium and an arena for sporty and occasional musical stuff in the Olympic Park – aka the London Stadium and Copper Box – while its own O2 Arena is just three tube stops away on the Jubilee Line.
A spokesperson for the live giant stated: “AEG understands competition in the live music industry and does not oppose the principle of a new music venue in London. However, there is a question mark over whether such a venue should be located in East London so close to existing venues at the Olympic Park – such as the London Stadium and Copper Box – as well as AEG’s own nearby venue, The O2 Arena”.
So many venues so close together could cause tube stress, AEG also reckons. “It is imperative that MSG’s proposals do not add to congestion in the area”, it goes on, “especially on the Jubilee Line, which is critical for the movement of guests to and from The O2 arena. AEG always strives to ensure that its guests have the best possible experience when they visit our venues and we will work with local stakeholders to ensure MSG’s plans do not affect this”.
Fuck the Jubilee Line, I never use that. What about the Central Line that also runs alongside the Olympic Park? That’s my route home. We don’t want any more congestion on that line. Though with all the hi-tech gizmos MSG plans to employ at its new Sphere, perhaps it could install a machine that teleports concert-goers directly to stations in Snaresbrook or Acton. I don’t need those bits of the line.
Anyway, AEG’s intervention regarding MSG’s London venue plans follows the spat between the two companies last year over their respective linked bookings policies. AEG started pressuring acts playing The O2 to choose its Staples Center when playing LA, in response to MSG likewise using bookings at its flagship Madison Square Garden venue in New York to pressure artists to play its LA arena The Forum.
READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Madison Square Garden Company | MSG Sphere
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 12:08 | By Chris Cooke
Ents24 launches tool to recommend both festivals and personal line-ups
Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals Live Business
Live entertainment guide Ents24 has launched a new service that not only recommends festivals to users, but also suggests what acts they might want to check out while at a tipped event. The new tool takes some information from a user and then crunches Ents24’s vast data pool to make the recommendations.
The company’s Adam Brooks says: “Fans can find it hard to know where to start, given the huge amount of choice on offer at both a festival level, but also, with hundreds of – often new – acts to choose from, at a line-up level. Find Your Festival solves these problems, and gives festivals themselves a new way to generate awareness, excitement and engagement around their events. It presents their line-ups to fans in the most appealing way – by tailoring them to the individual, one fan at a time”.
Meanwhile Ents24’s Chief Architect Dr Mark Wood adds: “Rather than simply asking ‘What festival has the most acts this person said they like?’, Find Your Festival goes deeper. It draws on what we know about different acts’ fans in relation to one another to draw conclusions, rather than stopping at a list of bands a fan has told us they like. It also isn’t limited to simply naming a festival – it suggests a shortlist, and then re-frames the line-up of each festival, to show the bands that are most likely to appeal to a particular fan”.
You can check out the Find Your Festival app here. Meanwhile Ents24 is one of the companies taking part in the CMU Insights AI Conference at The Great Escape in May, with its team discussing how they are utilising years of user-data to power apps like this one.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ents24
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 12:04 | By Chris Cooke
BBC radio boss says UK not ready for digital switchover
Business News Digital Media
The BBC reckons that the Great British Public still dig a bit of frequency modulation and are simply not ready for a forced switchover to new fangled digital audio. Then again, the Great British Public voted for Brexit, so what do they know? And given that at least some voters voted for Brexit because of an air of nostalgia for those olden day, maybe everyone should be forced back to the medium wave where only amplitude is modulated.
By which, I mean, BBC radio chief Bobby Shennan has been discussing whether it’s yet time for the long talked about digital switchover in British radio. That would mean stations being removed from the AM and FM dials so that everyone would need a DAB device (or a telly or internet connected gizmo) to tune into to the country’s radio networks.
A forced shift to digital radio has been on the agenda ever since analogue TV broadcasts started to end in the UK back in 2008. But plans to turn off FM in the UK have been hindered somewhat by the relatively slow uptake of DAB by consumers, and a radio industry that can never quite decide whether DAB is super duper or a bit of a damp squib.
Digital switchover for UK radio is now a talking point yet again. Partly because Norway led the way by instigating such a switchover last year. And partly because one of the UK government’s requirements for switchover – uptake of digital radio by 50% of the population – is now pretty much met.
Speaking at the Radiodays Europe conference in Vienna, Shennan said the time was still not right for a digital switchover in the UK. According to the BBC, he said: “We need to do more in the UK before we consider a switchover”. Arguing that any switchover should be “genuinely led by the audience”, he went on: “We are fully committed to digital and we believe we should review the landscape again in a few years’ time”.
He added: “Great progress has been made but switchover now would be premature. For now we believe audiences are best served by a mixed economy. Radio is better served by a mixed economy”.
That sounds a bit like exiting the EU but staying in the single market to me. Boris Johnson would not approve.
READ MORE ABOUT: Bob Shennan | DAB
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 11:55 | By Chris Cooke
A Greener Festival stages training on making events environmentally sustainable
Business News Education & Events
The A Greener Festival organisation is running a training event in Manchester next month on making festivals and events more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
The training at Manchester Metropolitan University on 9 and 10 Apr is in part aimed at anyone interested in becoming an assessor for A Greener Festival’s own awards scheme, which assesses and rates the sustainability of festivals and events all over the world.
However, the programme is also open to event organisers and managers, and anyone working in event sustainability, with topics covered including legalities, procurement, travel, power, waste, sewage and event communications.
Organisers say: “The course offers graduates a rapid route into environmental operations and will equip them with the knowledge and tools needed to undertake thorough assessments of a wide range of indoor and outdoor events, in order to appraise their environmental processes and protocols in line with A Greener Festival’s guidelines for sustainability and the environment at events”.
More information is available here.
READ MORE ABOUT: A Greener Festival
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 11:53 | By Andy Malt
Tristan Coopersmith discusses going public with Charlie Walk accusations
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers
Former record industry exec Tristan Coopersmith has spoken about her decision to go public with accusations of sexual harassment against Universal Music’s Charlie Walk.
Now a psychotherapist, in January Coopersmith wrote a blog post on her website detailing various incidents with Walk during their time working together at Sony’s Columbia label in around 2004. This prompted several other women to come forward with accusations against him. Now President of Universal’s Republic Records, the major label has placed him on leave and is conducting an independent investigation. Walk also did not appear on the final episode of ‘The Four’, the TV talent show on which he was a judge.
Speaking to Refinery29, Coopersmith says she had not expected her blog post to have such a big effect or to become such big news. Partly, she says, because she didn’t know that Walk was now a TV judge with a season finale about to come up. The post, she says, was originally written last year as an assignment from her therapist in an attempt to put her experiences behind her.
Walk quickly denied Coopersmith’s accusations which, she says, was an error on his part: “When Charlie came out with his denial the day after I published my story, I was not surprised. Truthfully, my first reaction was to think, ‘You’re so dumb, do you really think you’re going to get away with it?’ I knew I wasn’t the only woman”.
She goes on: “I had dozens of messages from women who had similar experiences with him. All he had to do was say, ‘I’m sorry, I fucked up, how can I make it right?’ Part of the problem is that in our culture we tend to not be taught to say I’m sorry”.
In addition to the other women coming forward with further allegations of misconduct against Walk, Coopersmith says she has also heard from other record industry execs who witnessed his behaviour. They are pleased she has spoken out, though she questions why they themselves didn’t previously act.
“I got so many emails from men saying, ‘thank you so much for coming out about Charlie, it was disgusting having to see him mistreat women all of these decades'”, she says. “And I’m like, you didn’t have to see him. You could have done something”.
She also notes that, while Walk has hired a powerful lawyer, she hasn’t been threatened with legal action over what she wrote. Concluding, she says: “I went public with this experience to help heal my soul and because it felt like the right thing to do”.
She adds: “I also shared for the benefit of countless of other women in the music industry who have had to and continue to endure sexual misconduct in the workplace. It wasn’t the easy thing, but so often the right choice and the hard choice are the same choice. In choosing that path, we experience a sacred solidarity that heals and inspires change”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Charlie Walk | Columbia Records | Republic Records | Sony Music | Tristan Coopersmith | Universal Music
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 11:51 | By Andy Malt
Years & Years’ Olly Alexander discusses being told to hide his sexuality
Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Media
Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander has said that he was advised not to discuss being gay with journalists at the beginning of the band’s career. Speaking at a Stonewall event, he said that a media trainer told him to simply stay quiet about his sexuality.
He recalled, according to the BBC: “She said, with very good intentions I’m sure: ‘Why does anybody need to know about your sexuality? What business is it who you go to bed with? Do you really want to invite personal questions like that? Maybe it’s better to not say anything about your sexuality at all'”.
“I ignored her advice”, he went on. “When a journalist did ask me about my sexuality, I said ‘Yes, I’m gay and this song is about a man’. I needed to say that for my fifteen year old self. I needed to say to him, ‘Look, we are not hiding any more'”.
He added that being open in this way has prompted many fans to contact him when they are struggling with their sexuality or gender identity.
“I was honestly quite shocked at the extent of pain people were struggling with”, he said. “I felt like I was hearing an alarm bell ringing. A cry for help that was largely going ignored. That is why I continue to speak out. We have to listen and learn from each other to lift each other up, so we can all live the life we deserve”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Olly Alexander | Year & Years
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 11:49 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Because Music, SoundCloud, Queens Of The Stone Age, more
Artist News Business News Digital Industry People Labels & Publishers Media One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Because Music Group has announced three new hires within its UK operation: Nick Huggett joins as CCO for Because Music UK, Lisa Rimmer as Director Of Sales & Digital Operations and Laura Kelly as Creative & Marketing Product Manager for London Records. Why all these news appointments? Just Because. Ha ha!
• Antonious Porch has been announced as SoundCloud’s new General Counsel. “SoundCloud is the world’s leading open music and audio platform”, he explains. Porch joins from Shazam.
• Pitchfork’s Mark Richardson will be the first guest on a new podcast exploring the changing world of reviews, which launches this Friday. Hosted by Adam Brooks, the new show is called Reads Like A Four – info here.
• Queens Of The Stone Age have released the video for ‘Head Like A Haunted House’. They will headline a mini-festival of sorts in London’s Finsbury Park on 30 Jun.
• Scarlxrd’s new track ‘Faded’ will make your face fall off.
• Joker has announced a series of three double A-side singles to mark the tenth anniversary of his Kapsize label. The first, ‘Anamorphic/Forever’, is out on 20 Apr.
• The Fin have announced that they will release their debut album, ‘There’, on 8 Jun. They’ve also just released new single ‘Shedding’. They’ll play Thousand Island in London on the album’s release date.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Adam Brooks | Antonious Porch | Because Music | Joker | Laura Kelly | Lisa Rimmer | Mark Richardson | Nick Huggett | Pitchfork | Queens Of The Stone Age | Scarlxrd | SoundCloud | The Fin
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 11:42 | By Andy Malt
Pitbull to address the UN
And Finally Artist News
The last time Pitbull and water were associated, it was due to a controversy that he’d been paid $1 million to say that the Florida seaside was good. Now he’s going to tell the UN that clean drinking water is good. He knows about all the kinds of water does Pitbull.
This Thursday is World Water Day, on which Pitbull will appear at the UN to officially launch Water Action Decade, a ten year partnership between the UN and charity Clean Water Here to boost access to clean water resources worldwide. Pitbull will be named Clean Water Here Global Ambassador at the event and receive the 2018 World Water Champion Award.
“Our leaders need to understand that economy and environment are not mutually exclusive”, says Pitbull. “One is not more important than the other. Try counting your money while holding your breath, starving and dehydrating at the same time. All life needs water. Clean Water Here is committed to improving access to safe water for all, and it is an honour to serve as global ambassador. Equally, it is an honour to address delegates at the United Nations on World Water Day about this critical issue”.
Clean Water Here president Lani Dolifka adds: “We are very pleased to designate Pitbull as the first Clean Water Here Global Ambassador. As an international artist and humanitarian, Pitbull has utilised his widespread platform for years to assist our Clean Water Here efforts. We are very grateful he will continue to help amplify awareness around the urgent issue of safe drinking water. Water is the great equaliser. It is required for every woman, man and child”.
Yes, I think that’s roughly what Pitbull meant on ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ when he said, “Blood is thicker than water, till dem bitches step in”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Pitbull
Tuesday 20 March 2018, 10:58 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Someone
CMU Approved
Tessa Rose Jackson already has one album to her name. By which I mean it was literally released under her own name. But when it came to the follow-up to 2013’s ‘(Songs From) The Sandbox’, she found that something had shifted in her songwriting.
After all, she’d been a teenager before, and in the gap since her debut album was released she’d crossed into adulthood. Adopting the name Someone, she began working on new material. Having released a number of singles in 2017, she released her debut EP under her new moniker last week.
“I wanted a name that meant: Don’t worry about who I am”, she says of that new moniker. “Just check out what I make. I make a lot. Some you may like, some you may not. But I’ll like it. And you know what, I’m someone too”.
Jackson’s skill for writing effortless-sounding pop melodies that drift warmly into your ears – found in her earlier work – is still apparent. However, there is a greater depth to her songs now, and more willingness to experiment. Twitching with nervous energy, upbeat but with an underlying weariness, her latest single, and the title track of the new EP, ‘Chain Reaction’, is the perfect point to step into this new world.
Watch the video for ‘Chain Reaction’ here:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Someone | Tessa Rose Jackson
Monday 19 March 2018, 13:47 | By Andy Malt
Calls for shift in UK drugs policy to halt increase in club deaths
Business News Education & Events Legal Live Business Top Stories
Drug safety charity The Loop is calling for major reforms to UK drug policy. Its #TimeToTest campaign launches today with a new report, ‘Night Lives’, showing that a shift away from harm prevention has led to an increase in drug-related deaths in night clubs.
The report has been jointly published by The Loop, drug policy think tank Volteface, Durham University and The All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform. It states that drug-related deaths and hospital admissions have risen sharply in recent years, despite drug usage rates remaining fairly static.
This is due, the report says, to the government shifting its drug policy and resources away from harm prevention. With less tolerant rules, venues have become scared of losing their licences, adopting ‘zero tolerance’ policies that leave them ill-equipped to act effectively when something does go wrong. At the same time the strength of certain illegal drugs on the market has increased. All of which has made taking drugs in clubs and bars more dangerous.
There were 63 ecstasy-related deaths in England and Wales in 2016, according to the report, up from ten in 2010. Meanwhile, cocaine-related deaths were up to 371 in 2016, from 112 in 2011. In Scotland during the same period, they were up from 36 to 123.
During the same period, the amount of MDMA in the average ecstasy pill has increased by about five times. Meanwhile, the purity of cocaine has drastically increased, up to an average of 80%, and often as much as 90%.
Without proper drug safety provisions at UK clubs and bars, these changes in the UK illegal drugs market have not been tracked. Equally, people don’t know when they have purchased drugs that aren’t what they were expecting. As a result, people are not receiving the correct early treatment when they fall ill and signs that they might be in trouble are often missed.
The report sets out a number of recommendations, including providing drug testing services in districts with a strong night time industry, as well as drug awareness training for venue and bar staff. It also recommends the launch of an independent information service to reduce drug-related harm, and the wider adoption of drug safety policies already introduced at several UK festivals.
Director of The Loop, and co-author of the report, Fiona Measham says: “UK night life makes a vital contribution to our economic and cultural life yet we have reached an impasse. Clubs risk closure if there is a drug-related death but they also risk closure if they attempt to introduce harm reduction measures”.
“By contrast, UK festivals have been introducing evidence-based and effective measures to address the growing drug-related problems faced in the UK”, she goes on. “Drawing on festival drug policy and practice, this report makes key recommendations to bolster our night time economy and to protect the customers and venues within them”.
Jeff Smith MP, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform adds: “Night-time venues are at the centre of British music culture – making our cities exciting and vibrant places to live while contributing over £66 billion to the UK economy. Keeping people safe requires more than zero-tolerance rhetoric around drugs and out-dated licensing laws. This report offers credible and tested solutions to help protect people attending events. I hope that venues, local authorities, and the government will work together to make these recommendations a reality”.
As well as the public safety aspect, the report does also highlight some financial considerations, as referenced by Smith. The night time industry in the UK is estimated to contribute £66 billion per year to the economy, but some flagship venues have faced temporary or permanent closure because of drug-relating licensing rules. Meanwhile, the police resources required to investigate each drug-related death costs the tax payer more than £10,000.
In recent years, clubs such as Fabric in London and Rainbow Venues in Birmingham have had their licences revoked following drug-related deaths on the premises. Both of these venues operated best practice drug policies, and their acceptance that drug use would take place despite efforts to prevent it were used against them. This highlights why other venues might not be so keen to be seen doing anything other than saying they have a zero tolerance policy, under current circumstances.
You can read the full ‘Night Lives’ report here.
The Loop says that it is already in talks with local authorities to provide drug testing in some town and city centres – so people know what kinds of drugs they have actually bought – in addition to increasing its presence at UK festivals this summer. In order to keep services free at the point of use, the charity has also launched a fundraising campaign, asking for contributions towards the organisation’s work as it becomes more in demand. You can donate here.
Watch this short film on drug safety work at last year’s Boomtown festival to find out more about The Loop and other initiatives:
READ MORE ABOUT: The Loop
Monday 19 March 2018, 13:44 | By Andy Malt
The Roots’ SXSW show cancelled due to bomb threat
Artist News Brands & Merch Business News Legal Live Business
A performance by The Roots at SXSW was cancelled on Saturday, following a bomb threat. Police found no evidence of a real danger, but the decision was made to pull the Bud Light branded show. A 26 year old man was later arrested and charged under anti-terrorism laws.
According to a police statement, a Live Nation rep contacted authorities on Saturday afternoon, informing them that a threat had been made in relation to the show via email. A check of the venue found no device. Initially the show, which had been open to people without festival passes, changed its door policy to only allow in those with said passes. However, shortly before doors were due to open the decision was made to cancel the gig.
Bud Light said via Twitter that “due to a security concern we have made the hard decision to cancel tonight’s event”. It added that “the safety of all fans at SXSW is our most important priority”.
In its own statement, SXSW said: “Due to a security concern, we have made the difficult decision to cancel tonight’s Bud Light x The Roots SXSW Jam. After working proactively with SXSW, the Austin Police Department, and other authorities, Bud Light believes this is the best course of action to ensure the safety of our guests, staff, and artists, and appreciate your understanding. We are truly sorry to have to cancel the event, but we felt it was necessary to take all safety precautions”.
Security concerns were raised at SXSW three years ago, when a car fleeing police crashed into a queue of people outside a gig venue, resulting in several deaths. A report subsequently commissioned by the festival highlighted various security improvements – while suggesting that the event might need to move to a bigger city.
Concerns over attacks on music events have been further heightened by a number of incidents in recent years – most recently in the US, the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
Despite this, many responded to this weekend’s cancellation on Twitter by complaining. Some suggesting that the show had actually been pulled due to lack of interest. Responding to one fan who complained that their night had been ruined by the show’s organisers, The Roots’ Questlove replied: “Uh come on now. If you gonna point fingers, start with the individual who caused it to be cancelled”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Bud Light | SXSW | The Roots
Monday 19 March 2018, 13:42 | By Chris Cooke
Long-running Dutch web-block dispute may be considered in court anew
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal
Robert van Peursem, Advocate General in the Dutch Supreme Court, has recommended that a long-running dispute over web-blocks in the country be considered by the country’s courts anew. Although he suggests that arguments previously presented by Dutch internet service providers against web-blocking probably won’t work this time.
Web-blocks are a popular anti-piracy tactic within the entertainment industry, of course. Copyright owners get court injunctions forcing ISPs to block their users from accessing specific piracy sites. Whenever web-blocking has been introduced for the first time in any one country, the net firms there usually kick up a fuss but then quickly fall in line and get busy blocking targeted sites once the injunctions roll in.
But in the Netherlands, net firms Ziggo and XS4ALL decided to go legal in a bid to fight off a Pirate Bay blocking injunction secured by the country’s anti-piracy agency BREIN back in 2012. And in 2014, an appeals court sided with the internet firms, ruling that the Pirate Bay web-block that had been put in place by a lower court was “ineffectual” and might “constitute an infringement of [people’s] freedom to act at their discretion”.
BREIN then took the matter to the Dutch Supreme Court, which in turn asked the European Courts Of Justice whether European law had any issues with web-blocking, and the possible “infringement of people’s freedom to act at their discretion” it might cause. Last year European judges basically gave the all-clear for national courts in the European Union to instigate web-blocks on copyright grounds if they so wished.
This meant the Dutch case went back to the Supreme Court, where van Peursem has been considering the European judgement, the specifics of this case, and what the country’s top court might want to do next. And, according to Torrentfreak, he reckons judges should throw out the past order and consider the case all over again.
Bearing in mind the EU judgement, and the web-blocks that have been instigated by courts in other European countries, not least the UK, it seems likely that – in any fresh court hearing considering this case – the arguments previously put forward by Ziggo and XS4ALL wouldn’t be strong enough to stop a blockade being enforced.
In his lengthy opinion on the matter, Van Peursem reiterated that – with the European judgement having ruled on the copyright liabilities of websites like The Pirate Bay – whether or not to block such sites was now about balancing the rights of the copyright owner with the freedom to conduct business and freedom of information rights of the net firms and their customers.
According to Torrentfreak he writes: “At most, one can say that if a copyright is infringed, it normally won’t be possible to justify the infringement by invoking the freedom to conduct business or the freedom of information. After all, these freedoms find their limit in what is legally permissible. [However] this does not mean that a blockade aimed at protecting the right to property always ‘wins’ over the freedoms of entrepreneurship and information”.
It’s now for the Supreme Court to decide whether to follow Van Peursem’s recommendation and call for a new hearing on this matter. Though it probably will. It then remains to be seen whether web-blocking does indeed get the all clear from the Dutch courts second time round. Meanwhile, The Pirate Bay is currently blocked in the country as a result of an interim injunction obtained by BREIN last year.
READ MORE ABOUT: BREIN | The Pirate Bay | XS4ALL | Ziggo
Monday 19 March 2018, 13:41 | By Chris Cooke
SACEM announces Facebook deal
Business News Deals Digital
French collecting society SACEM is the latest to join the big fat Facebook licensing party with a deal that will, and I quote, “ensure that SACEM’s members and the other rights holders it represents are recognised and remunerated for their works”. Isn’t that lovely?
An assortment of labels, publishers and collecting societies have now signed on the dotted line with Facebook, which is seeking to legitimise all the music that is already streaming within posts on its Facebook, Messenger and Instagram platforms. As with the other deals, the SACEM arrangement also covers the social media giant’s new fangled VR set-up Oculus.
SACEM’s announcement actually includes three deals, one covering the society’s own repertoire, and concurrent agreements covering works it represents for digital services in Europe for independent publisher Wixen and Canadian collecting society SOCAN. And in case you were wondering, this particular Facebook deal “marks a new milestone”.
Boss of SACEM Jean-Noël Tronc says: “We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Facebook. This deal marks a new milestone in our efforts to ensure that musicians and creators are fairly remunerated for the use of their works on any digital platform”.
He goes on: “In an increasingly digital age, platforms and user-generated-content are set to play a prominent role in our cultural eco-system. We will continue to work to safeguard the long-term existence of a thriving musical culture by concluding fair licensing agreements and our deal with Facebook is consistent with this goal”.
On Facebook’s side, Anjali Southward said: “We are excited to expand our relationship with SACEM and the music rights holders they represent. Facebook is committed to partnering with industry leaders like SACEM and we look forward to working with them to discover innovative ways to use the power of songs to connect people”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Facebook | SACEM
