This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Thursday 26 April 2018, 11:00 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Agnez Mo, Years & Years, Plan B, more
Artist News Business News Deals Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• You can now get a daily CMU news summary via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.
• 300 Entertainment has signed Indonesian singer Agnez Mo. “As we continue to build our international footprint, we believe there are superstars all around the world”, says 300 CEO CEO Kevin Liles slightly patronisingly.
• Years & Years have announced that they will release their second album, ‘Palo Santo’, on 6 Jul. This morning, they’ve released a trailer narrated by Judy Dench.
• Plan B has released the video for ‘Stranger’, taken from his imminent new album ‘Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose’.
• Simian Mobile Disco have released new track ‘Defender’.
• Roo Panes will release his third album, ‘Quiet Man’, on 15 Jun. From it, this is ‘My Sweet Revenge’.
• Ängie has released a video combining her single ‘Here For My Habits’ and her cover of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus In Furs’.
• Mellah has released new track ‘Cigarette Lighter’.
• Warmduscher have released the video for latest single ‘Standing On The Corner’.
• Lovebites have released new single ‘The Crusade’, taken from upcoming new EP, ‘Battle Against Damnation’.
• RABBII are back with new track ‘Afraid of The Dark’.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: 300 Entertainment | Agnez Mo | Ängie | Lovebites | Mellah | RABBII | Roo Panes | Simian Mobile Disco | Warmduscher | Years & Years
Thursday 26 April 2018, 10:57 | By Andy Malt
Royal Wedding recording proves the vinyl revival has gone too far
And Finally Artist News Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Releases
Universal’s Decca label has announced that it will be releasing a recording of the upcoming wedding of Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle on vinyl. They really missed a trick not putting out the birth of that new royal baby as a twelve-inch.
The label plans to make the ceremony, and the various musical performances set to be a part of it, available on streaming services within hours of it taking place. In the event you give a shit about this event, it’s happening on 19 May. The vinyl release will follow on 25 May.
“Decca is hugely proud of its historical connections to The Royal Family and is very much looking forward to recording, and making available within hours, this truly special event”, says Decca President Rebecca Allen. “This unique and prestigious occasion will be available to stream across all music platforms globally – a first for a royal wedding”.
Among the performers at the wedding will be cellist Sheku Kanneh Mason and Welsh soprano Elin Manahan Thomas. There’ll also be some God stuff and the line “I do” spoken at least twice, presumably.
READ MORE ABOUT: Decca | Meghan Markle | Prince Harry | Universal Music
Thursday 26 April 2018, 10:17 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Ravyn Lenae
CMU Approved
Ravyn Lanae made an impressive debut with her ‘Moon Shoes’ EP in 2016, filling it with some smart, thoughtful and out of the ordinary takes on pop. From there, she’s slowly continued to deliver on that early promise, with two more EP releases, last year’s ‘Midnight Moonlight’ and, more recently, ‘Crush’.
With Lanae not long out of school, ‘Crush’ seems to mark her first step into music as a full-time career. Produced by Monte Booker, together they seem to have selected beats that most allow her to explore her voice. On opener ‘Sticky’, the first track they worked on together, she uses her vocals as an instrument as much as a tool to deliver her story. The opening line comes in a swipe of falsetto and from their she builds in so many exhilarating ideas it’s a wonder she had any left for the rest of the EP.
At the other end of the release she closes it off with ‘4 Leaf Clover’ – for which she’s just released a video. The second of two collaborations on the EP with vocalist Steve Lacy, the track is a duet that shows two sides of a relationship, voiced to the listener but not to each other.
Ahead of a UK show at Heaven in London on 3 May, watch the video for ‘4 Leaf Clover’ 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: Ravyn Lenae
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:27 | By Chris Cooke
Full schedules published for this year’s CMU Insights conferences
Business News Digital Education & Events Labels & Publishers Top Stories
With three weeks to go until this year’s Great Escape, the schedules have now gone live for the three conferences CMU Insights will present as part of the showcase festival’s convention programme this year: The Education Conference, The AI Conference and The China Conference.
CMU Insights has teamed up with Urban Development and BIMM to present The Education Conference, which will kickstart this year’s TGE proceedings, taking place on Wednesday 16 May, the day before the festival gets going. This full-day conference will explore the crisis in music education today, while seeking to join a lot of dots between the many organisations offering opportunities to young people with a passion for music and the music industry.
The Education Conference is also part of the wider Redefining Music Education project recently launched by CMU Insights, Urban Development and BIMM. As part of that project, CMU Insights is currently mapping music education in England, the careers available in music, and the skills required to pursue those careers. The results of all that mapping will be presented during the conference.
Check out the full schedule for The Education Conference here. Standalone tickets are also available for this conference at just £65 – click here for information.
The AI Conference on Thursday 17 May puts future music technologies in the spotlight, with a focus on audio recognition, automated messaging, innovative uses of fan data and machines that make music. Companies showcasing their technology include WARM, POP, Ents24, Instrumental, Jukedeck, MXX Music and Rotor. We’ll also be joined by Maggie Boden from Sussex University and Marcus O’Dair from Middlesex University to discuss what exactly AI is.
There will also be two big debates during the AI Conference. The first will discuss which new technologies – both AI and beyond – will really have an impact on the music business in the next decade. Lined up for that discussion are Andrew Parsons from Ticketmaster UK, Dan Fowler from JAAK, Imogen Heap from Mycelia, Manan Vohra from 7digital, Sammy Andrews from Deviate and Stef Pascual from Crown Talent.
Meanwhile at the end of the day we’ll ask whether machines are set to become the pop makers of the future, and – if so – where the humans will fit in. Joining that debate will be Cliff Fluet from Lewis Silkin, Helienne Lindvall from Auddly, Scott Cohen from The Orchard and artist Chagall.
Check out the full schedule for The AI Conference here.
The China Conference on Friday 18 May puts the spotlight on this key emerging market, just as the IFPI confirms that China has entered the top ten global recorded music markets for the first time. It will provide a beginners guide to the Chinese music market and China’s music industry, with a particular focus on opportunities for UK and Western artists in the country, in terms of streaming, touring and reaching an audience.
Among other things, we’ll put the spotlight on the copyright regime in China, at how things have improved in that domain over the last decade, but also where there is still plenty of room for improvement. We’ll also ask how the UK music industry can possibly influence copyright law on the other side of the world.
In terms of monetising those music rights, we’ll then look at the burgeoning streaming sector in China, getting insights from Mathew Daniel from Chinese streaming service NetEase Cloud Music, as well as Anne Jenniskens from FUGA, Nina Condron from Horus, and Stephen King from Believe.
Check out the full schedule for The China Conference here.
There is a final batch of speakers still to be announced for the CMU Insights conferences, and those will be revealed next week, alongside the schedules for the other strands of the Great Escape’s convention programme: the in-conversations, the courtroom sessions and the DIY programme for new talent.
To access all this you need to get yourself at TGE delegate pass or convention-only pass – both of which are available here.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights | The Great Escape
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:25 | By Andy Malt
Spinal Tap relaunch Fairness Rocks as creator rights campaign platform
Business News Labels & Publishers Legal
To coincide with tomorrow’s World Intellectual Property Day (not long to make the finishing touches to your street party preparations!), Spinal Tap have relaunched their ‘Fairness Rocks’ website as a campaign aimed at benefitting all creators.
The website was originally set up to promote a 2016 lawsuit brought by the fictional band’s Harry Shearer against entertainment conglom Vivendi, its film business StudioCanal and (subsequently) its music company Universal Music. Now also involving Shearer’s creative collaborators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Rob Reiner, the lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs have not been paid royalties they are due on the film ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ and its soundtrack album.
It always seemed as if the ‘Fairness Rocks’ website was intended to foster some sort of creator rights movement. Now it is explicitly stating that to be the case. Leading the campaign, intellectual property rights expert Amanda Harcourt explains: “The ‘Fairness Rocks’ campaign was born out of the Spinal Tap creators’ knowing that they were not singled out for special treatment. In fact, only a select few highly successful creators actually receive a fair share of the benefits arising from the exploitation of their work”.
“Fans and audiences may not realise the economic truth behind the music and film industries”, she continues. “If consumers are repelled by t-shirts manufactured by exploited labour in the developing world, it struck us that, when informed of the commercial realities, audiences may similarly disapprove of the lack of fair treatment the talent receives at the hands of corporations exploiting their music and films”.
“To make matters worse, the practices of powerful tech companies have devastated the incomes of writers, composers, performers, and filmmakers right across the world”, she adds.
“The truth is that both power and financial imbalances, between the talent and corporations, have persisted for too long”, she goes on. “Individually, the talent has a weak bargaining position; often creators are required to sign contracts that fly in the face of the fundamental principles of laws designed to protect them”.
Explaining the aim of the campaign, she says: “At Fairness Rocks it is our intention to shine a light on some of these unfair practices, to help educate the public, and to inform young creators beginning their careers in music and film. We want to highlight the work of the talent advocacy organisations and to be a place where useful, up-to-date information can be found for media, moviemaker and musician alike”.
“Most importantly, we hope that filmmakers, songwriters, musicians and actors of all stripes will join Fairness Rocks and help us give them a unified voice. We want to provide a platform for the talent to speak openly and share their experiences of their industries. Put simply, all the talent should be receiving a fair share of the fruits of their work”.
“Sunlight is a great disinfectant”, she concludes. “So if the transparency of the Fairness Rocks campaign can help change some deeply-entrenched industry norms, the creative industry’s future will look a little bit brighter”.
Visit the Fairness Rocks website here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Fairness Rocks | Spinal Tap
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:23 | By Chris Cooke
Recorded music revenues grew 8.1% last year, despite the value gap
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
The streams are booming. New technologies are creating even more opportunities. Key emerging markets offer much potential for further growth. But fuck me to the highest of all of the fucking heavens, won’t someone finally fucking do something about the fucking fucked-up value gap?
You know, just so I don’t have to fucking write about it anymore. I actually think that is now the most compelling reason for lawmakers to finally get their fucking arses into gear and collectively tell YouTube et al to fuck off. Go on lawmakers, do it, just so I don’t have to write another fucking word about the fucking value gap.
So, yes, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry yesterday published its annual stats pack. As expected, global record industry revenues were up in 2017 thanks to the streaming boom, by which we mean the premium streaming boom.
However, things could be so much better if it wasn’t for safe harbour dwelling websites like YouTube and the so called value gap those services create by exploiting copyright protections designed for internet services companies in order to pay lower royalties. That’s what the record companies would like you all to know, anyway.
The global recorded music market was up 8.1% last year, meaning total revenues were $17.3 billion. The streaming boom is behind the growth, of course, with the streaming sector now accounting for 38.4% of total recorded music revenue. Streaming income grew 41.1% last year, offsetting continued declines in the physical and download markets, which respectively slipped 5.4% and 20.5%.
The record industry has now been in growth for three years. The 2000s, of course, were a decade of steep decline for the recorded music sector as it struggled to adjust to the digital world. Revenues were then more or less flat from 2010 to 2015, when the streaming-fuelled growth began.
But the decade of decline means that the record industry has along way to go to return to its 1999 peak, with revenues for 2017 only 68.4% of those generated in that peak year at the end of the 1990s.
Although, of course, those are revenue figures, and digital is generally more profitable than physical. Partly because of the costs of manufacturing and distributing physical product. And partly because royalties paid to songwriters and music publishers come out of the record industry’s physical income, whereas streaming services pay those monies directly to the publishing sector.
Still, no one would begrudge the record industry wanting yet more of that lovely growth. And that means persuading more people to sign up to the streaming services. Everyone’s hoping Alexa and her voice-activated buddies can help with that. Then the music industry can focus on persuading those people still streaming for free that paid-for streams are way better.
The latter will be a particular challenge in emerging markets where free streaming services still tend to dominate. Some reckon that there is still plenty of potential to generate lots more ad income from those free services in those emerging markets, though the label reps at the launch of the IFPI report yesterday seemed more keen to try and find ways to encourage more take up for premium platforms in those countries.
Then, of course, there is the challenge of closing the value gap – the belief that free streaming services built on top of user-upload websites are skewing the market, and making it harder to persuade consumers to upgrade to paid-for options. YouTube has traditionally been the main target of the music industry’s value gap moans, although optimists at the majors hope that the Google site’s own planned move into premium streaming might address some of those issues.
Nonetheless, the record industry is still pushing for reform of the safe harbours that provide user-upload sites the kind of protection that copyright owners reckon they should never have benefited from. The focus of that campaigning remains the somehow-still-in-development European copyright directive, though IFPI boss Frances Moore yesterday admitted safe harbour was a global problem.
She said the labels had prioritised those markets where existing copyright reform offered an opportunity to reform safe harbour – such as in the European Union – but was likewise monitoring the situation across the globe, citing the recent safe harbour debate in Australia in particular. She also added that the long-awaited report form the US Copyright Office on safe harbour in America is now expected later this year.
Meanwhile, in a statement on all that campaigning, Moore added: “The industry is on a positive path of recovery but it’s very clear that the race is far from won. Record companies are continuing in their efforts to put the industry back onto a stable path and, to that end, we are continuing our campaign to fix the value gap. This is not just essential for music to thrive in today’s global market, but to create the right – fair – environment for it to do so in the future”.
Of course – a cynic might argue – if the streaming services continue to grow at their current rate (and find profitability in themselves), and if the record industry starts to see its revenues reach anything like that 1990s peak, everyone might ultimately learn to live with the value gap. After all, home taping never killed music. And that assumption may be part of the long game being played by YouTube et al.
I have no fucking time for fucking long games though. So, I repeat, please, someone, somewhere, close the fucking value gap once and for fucking all. Thanks.
In other news, for more discussion on the potential technical impact of safe harbour reform, and plenty of debates around the technologies that will dominate the next decade in music, see you at The AI Conference at The Great Escape on 17 May. And for a comprehensive beginners guide to the most key emerging market – China – now the tenth biggest recorded music market worldwide, check out The China Conference at The Great Escape on 18 May. More info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:22 | By Andy Malt
Kanye West splits from Scooter Braun
Artist News Business News Management & Funding
Kanye West has split from manager Scooter Braun, according to various reports. Sources told Billboard that West made the decision due to a desire to “leave the traditional music business”.
Last month, West fired his longtime manager Izzy Zivkovic, who had co-managed the rapper with Braun since 2016. Now having jettisoned both managers, West is completely outside the traditional music industry system. Except for his recording and publishing deals, which seemingly remain in place. But apart from those, the rule book is in pieces.
Not that all ties have been severed though. Braun’s SB Projects company will reportedly continue to work with West’s Yeezy clothing brand. But that’s fashion, isn’t it? So that’s OK.
Elsewhere, West called in to Hot 97.1’s ‘Ebro In The Morning’ show yesterday, in order to have his right of reply over those claims made on the show that he is still a big Trump supporter. During the brief interview the rapper answered every question by saying that he’d “just called to say, ‘I love you'”. Although he did suggest that he’d do a fuller interview after having a private conversation with Ebro.
READ MORE ABOUT: Izzy Zivkovic | Kanye West | Scooter Braun
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:19 | By Andy Malt
Spotify boosts ad-funded functionality on mobile
Business News Digital
Spotify has played a balancing act with its ad-funded version over the years. How much functionality should freeloaders be allowed? Too little and they might run to piracy sites or – worse – YouTube. Too much and they won’t see any point paying for the full service. And somewhere in there, rightsholders have to be placated too. Turns out Spotify’s current thinking is that the free tier could do with a bit more thrown into it.
At an unnecessary press event in New York yesterday, Spotify announced that it was beefing up the mobile version of its ad-funded tier, which is where functionality has traditionally been most restricted. In recent years, smartphone using freemium subscribers have only been able to listen to albums and playlists on shuffle. But in an update due to roll out in the next few weeks, those non-paying users will be allowed up to 750 on-demand tracks per month, across fifteen of Spotify’s playlists.
Restrictions will be lifted on personalised playlists, such as Discover Weekly, Release Radar and Daily Mixes, plus popular editorially-driven collections, including RapCaviar and ¡Viva Latino!, Ultimate Indie and Alternative R&B.
“The better our free experience is, the more chance they’ll become premium users”, reckons the streaming service’s Chief Product Officer Gustav Söderström. “Engagement is the most important indicator of growth”.
VP of Product Development Babar Zafar adds: “Our customers always tell us that music discovery and listening is a personal experience, and we are enhancing the free experience with this in mind. This is the beginning of an evolution for Spotify and we will continue to make improvements that mirror our customers’ needs”.
He goes on: “This is not only about giving users a more customised free experience from the day they sign up, but giving them more control over their listening experience so they can easily find and stream their favourites anytime, from anywhere”.
Growth, of course, is what Spotify is still aiming for right now. Really it wants more paying users, they being much more lucrative for both the service and the music industry. But Spotify’s logic has always been that a bigger free userbase means more people to sell premium too. Let’s just hope a beefed up free offer doesn’t result in subscribers going to other way instead, and downgrading from premium to freemium.
Spotify needs to ensure continued growth – especially at its premium level – both if it is to ever reach the scale needed to become a viable business and to placate Wall Street and those people who like investing in loss-making companies on the promise of something great happening one day in the future. It has to be said, Wall Street does seem placated for now, with the company’s share price settling around the $155 mark.
Other updates to the mobile app include a new personalised homepage, consolidation of the number of sections in the navigation menu, and a new ‘data saver’ feature, which Spotify reckons will reduce mobile data usage by up to 75%.
READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:18 | By Chris Cooke
CMU@TGE Top Questions: How can we enhance and enforce music copyright in China?
Business News Digital Education & Events Insights Blog Labels & Publishers The Great Escape 2018
With The Great Escape getting closer, we are currently considering ten questions that will be answered during the three CMU Insights conferences that are set to take place there this year: The Education Conference (16 May), The AI Conference (17 May) and The China Conference (18 May). Today: how can we enhance and enforce music copyright in China?
The record industry’s worldwide trade group IFPI yesterday confirmed that China has entered the top ten global recorded music markets for the first time. And in the trade body’s ‘Global Music Report’, Universal Music’s EVP Market Development, Adam Granite, remarks that “it’s impossible not to be excited at the opportunity” that the Chinese market offers artists and labels, although challenges remain.
Some of those challenges for Western rights owners in this new and exciting market relate to the country’s copyright regime. That means the rights that regime provides creators and their business partners, quite how you go about enforcing those rights, and how local copyright owners connect to global rights owners, especially when it comes to collective licensing.
In its report, IFPI notes that China is “a vastly different landscape compared to ten or even five years ago, having undergone a significant cultural shift in regard to the value and protection of copyright – a process driven by government regulation alongside the effort of record companies and other rights holders”.
However, it then confirms, “significant challenges to the continued development of the market remain”. In particular, on the sound recordings side, “China is still lacking the performance and broadcast rights which, if given, will significantly contribute towards greater investment in the development of the Chinese music market”.
On the songs side, Chinese copyright law does provide performing rights for songwriters and music publishers. However, income from those rights is still very low.
In its annual stats pack last year, CISAC, which represents song right collecting societies worldwide, said that only 105 of more than 2000 radio and TV stations in China currently pay royalties for the music they use. Collections there are currently 23 million euros. But if the entire broadcasting sector was paying in, tens of millions in extra revenue would be unlocked.
Obviously, from a Western perspective, the copyright regimes in many emerging markets still need ramping up. Though with China offering so much potential for the music industry, copyright reform there is of particular interest. But what influence can and does the Western music industry have on that process?
That’s one of the topics we’ll be exploring at our China Conference, with input from those leading on copyright matters in the UK – Ian Moss from BPI and John Mottram from PRS For Music – as well as IFPI’s Regional Director for Asia, Ang Kwee Tiang.
Of course, the copyright system – and how it is employed by the music industry – is hardly perfect in the West, especially when it comes to digital licensing and streaming royalties.
Which poses another interesting question: with the copyright regime in countries like China less evolved, is there an opportunity to specifically develop copyright in those territories in a way that makes more sense in the digital age? That’s a question we’ll put to some of our other guests, including Sentric Music CEO Chris Meehan and Outdustry MD Ed Peto.
The China Conference takes place on Friday 18 May – more info here. See more questions we’ll answer at The Great Escape here.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights | The Great Escape
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:15 | By Andy Malt
Wanna hear new Arctic Monkeys songs? Keep waiting
Artist News Releases
There’s still no new music to share from the upcoming Arctic Monkeys album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ ahead of its release on 11 May. Nor will there be.
In a world where multiple tracks on SoundCloud, videos on YouTube and full album preview streams ahead of release are commonplace, the band are running the other way. Nothing from the album will be put out ahead of its release date. You’ll just have to guess what songs like ‘The World’s First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip’, ‘Golden Trunks’ and ‘The Ultracheese’ sound like.
Speaking to Mojo, Alex Turner says: “Jamie [Cook, guitarist] was really keen on that idea, and I guess people at Domino. But it didn’t come from me. I understand it, I think”.
A rep for the band has now confirmed to Pitchfork that there will be no music from the album released before 11 May, beyond that heard in the brief trailer released earlier this month. And who’s to say that 40 second clip was even music from the album? Yes, I know, I’ve just blown your mind right out of your head. Bad luck.
READ MORE ABOUT: Arctic Monkeys
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:13 | By Andy Malt
John Grant announces UK tour
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
John Grant has announced that he’ll be touring the UK once again this autumn, banging out some of his top tunes. By the time those dates roll around, we should be able to listen to his fourth solo album, which he’s currently finishing off.
The dates, I can assure you, are as follows:
29 Oct: Brighton, Dome
30 Oct: London, Brixton Academy
31 Oct: Bath, Forum
2 Nov: Sheffield, Octagon
3 Nov: Manchester, Albert Hall
READ MORE ABOUT: John Grant
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:08 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Chvrches, Hilary Woods, Chilly Gonzales, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• You can now get a daily CMU news summary via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.
• Chvrches have released the video for latest single, ‘Miracle’.
• Hilary Woods has released her latest single, ‘Black Rainbow’. Her debut solo album ‘Colt’ will be out on 8 Jun.
• Chilly Gonzales will livestream a concert featuring his ‘Gonservatory’ trainees at 9.30pm GMT on 26 Apr. The seven selected musicians were brought to Paris from all over the world for an eight day performance workshop.
• Steve Van Zandt will be heading to the UK and Ireland with his Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul band this summer. He’ll play shows in Dublin and Liverpool in June, followed by a performance at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London on 27 Jul.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Chilly Gonzales | Chvrches | Hilary Woods | Steven Van Zandt
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 11:05 | By Andy Malt
Nile Rodgers maximises social media #engagement with broken nose
And Finally Artist News
Nile Rodgers broke his nose after tripping on the way into his studio yesterday. It being #2018, we know this because the first thing anyone thought to do was film him bleeding into what looks like an empty sandwich packet in order to post some footage on Instagram.
“Jesus Christ, I guess that’s what you call ‘a slip and fall injury'”, he says in the clip, assessing the blood splattered all over the floorboards. “I think we’d better go to hospital, bro”.
“Alright”, replies the person filming, somewhat reluctantly. Although they did leave the musician lying there long enough to take a photo for a later Twitter post. Gotta engage those fans!
Describing the scene in his tweet, Rodgers writes: “Here I have a foldable ice pack and have already stopped the bleeding. When I arrived at the hospital the doctor said I ‘did everything right’. I’m going to be fine even with the broken nose”.
I’m not sure if he told the doctor about the social media posts. From the information provided here, though, we have to assume that in order to do “everything right”, all and any injuries should be filmed, photographed and published before any medical treatment is sought. It’s quite possible you’ll now be asked to do that by the 999 operator before they’ll send out an ambulance.
READ MORE ABOUT: Nile Rodgers
Wednesday 25 April 2018, 10:10 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Jo Passed
CMU Approved
After his last band Sprïng collapsed, Jo Hirabayashi launched Jo Passed as a solo project. Over a number of years, and through a handful of EP releases, the project has formed into the band now found on debut album, ‘Their Prime’.
The title of the record has a slightly ironic glint to it, as much of the subject matter of the record deals with Hirabayashi’s fears that he’s missed his moment.
“It’s me owning my worst nightmare”, he says. “A lot of the Jo Passed project has been about confronting fears. I was afraid to move away from Vancouver to Montreal on my own. Afraid to leave musical relationships I had. Afraid to bare the full responsibility of a project. I’ve been putting out records and not ones anyone’s necessarily heard. Being open about those fears is a good way of dealing with them”.
He goes on: “You end up at this point where you hit 30 and you’re like, ‘Oh what happened? Am I done? Did I not activate my main creative energy?’ It’s a ridiculous idea but 30 feels a little like 1000 in rock n roll terms”.
The irony then twists back on itself, because the album finds Hirabayashi and his band on a creative high. His dreamy vocals float above guitar parts, which at times sound like he’s trying his hardest to break the instrument, only to hear back a succession of wonderfully weird melodies.
With previous singles ‘MDM’ and ‘Millennial Trash Blues’ already winning over fans, new track ‘Glass’ and it’s captivatingly odd video show no signs of slowing Jo Passed’s surge.
Watch the video for ‘Glass’ 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: Jo Passed
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:35 | By Andy Malt
EC launches wider investigation into Apple’s Shazam acquisition
Business News Deals Digital Legal Top Stories
The European Commission has launched a wider investigation into Apple’s purchase of Shazam over fears that it will affect competition within the European Economic Area. Last month, the EC set a deadline of 23 Apr for a decision on whether or not the green light the sale.
The $400 million Shazam deal wasn’t actually big enough for the EU to automatically investigate the transaction. However, the deal did require approval from regulators in Austria under merger rules there, and it decided to bounce the investigation up to the EC. That move was then backed by six other EU countries: France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
The conclusion of that investigation was that a more in-depth investigation is required. A key concern is thought to be the amount of traffic currently directed to Spotify through Shazam. If Apple were to close off click-throughs to other streaming services, or shut down Shazam entirely, that would have a significantly negative effect for Apple Music’s main rival.
In a statement, the EC commissioner in charge of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said: “The way people listen to music has changed significantly in recent years, with more and more Europeans using music streaming services. Our investigation aims to ensure that music fans will continue to enjoy attractive music streaming offers and won’t face less choice as a result of this proposed merger”.
A deadline for the new investigation has been set for 4 Sep.
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple | European Commission | Shazam
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:33 | By Chris Cooke
Prince’s family sue over hospital treatment in days before star’s death
Artist News Legal
Prince’s family are suing a hospital and an individual doctor who works there over their treatment of the musician a few days before his death in 2016. The legal action follows the news last week that no criminal proceedings will be pursued in relation to the late pop star’s death.
The musician died from an accidental overdose of the drug fentanyl. Investigators said last week that that was caused by “a counterfeit Vicodin pill” that contained the “dangerously powerful opioid”. However, no one knows who provided him with those counterfeit pills.
Just days before his death Prince collapsed, and it’s believed that incident was also caused by him taking a counterfeit Vicodin pill. However, investigators said they couldn’t be certain because on that occasion the musician refused further treatment after being revived.
However, Prince’s family reckon that the Trinity Medical Center and Dr Nicole Mancha should have done more following that incident.
According to Reuters, in legal papers filed on Friday, the family say that both hospital and doctor failed to properly investigate what had caused Prince to collapse. They also failed to ensure that the pop star had received appropriate counselling. That inaction, say the family, was a “direct and proximate cause” of Prince’s death a few days later.
Drug store chain Walgreens is also being sued over allegations it was dispensing prescription meds to Prince for an “invalid medical purpose”.
All defendants have so far declined to comment.
READ MORE ABOUT: Prince
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:31 | By Chris Cooke
Madonna loses legal battle over old pants
Artist News Legal
A New York court has dismissed Madonna’s legal efforts to block an auction of her former belongings, including a love letter from Tupac.
Last year Madonna obtained a temporary injunction to block the sale of her one-time possessions – which also included an old hairbrush complete with hair and a pair of the star’s pants – which had been put up for sale by her former friend Darlene Lutz.
Madonna said that she had no idea Lutz was in possession of the items that had been put up for auction. In a lawsuit filed last August, Madonna sought return of those items, including some that had actually already been auctioned off, because they weren’t covered by that initial injunction.
Legal reps for Lutz argued that their client was well within her rights to sell the items. They also cited a 2004 legal settlement between Madonna and Lutz which, they argued, prevented the new litigation.
According to TMZ, it is because of that settlement that the judge considering the lawsuit ruled that Madonna couldn’t halt Lutz’s sale. As a result the latter’s auction house has announced that the remaining items will now be auctioned off in July.
READ MORE ABOUT: Madonna
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:28 | By Andy Malt
Radar Music Creatives announces new management
Awards Business News Deals Digital
Radar Music Creatives has announced that it has been acquired, following a sale agreed last year. The new owners of the company are the founders of advertising video commissioning platform The Smalls and online data analysis company SnapRapid.
The Radar company began life as Radar Music Videos, providing a platform that linked artists and labels with music video directors. It was rebranded in 2016 to broaden its remit to include other creative elements surrounding music, such as album artwork, stage visuals and websites.
“For now nothing much is going be different, but what we have in the pipeline is a new website and an updated approach to video production”, says new boss Russell Glenister. “Technology is a key component of our lives, we’ll be bringing some quite interesting technological solutions to Radar, but as we all know, change takes time, so please be patient as we get to grips with what we have and what we need do”.
The company was founded in 2009 by Caroline Bottomley, who now leaves the company to focus on new projects, including the recently launched Shiny Awards.
Bottomley tells CMU: “I sold [Radar] at the end of last year, to get back into live event promotion. The Shiny Awards are one of those projects and I’m talking to various labels, brands and ad agencies about specialist events designed around finding great content creators. All very exciting!”
Following a pilot edition earlier this year, a larger scale Shiny Awards is due to take place in London on 25 Sep.
READ MORE ABOUT: Caroline Bottomley | Radar Music Creatives | Shiny Awards | SnapRapid | The Smalls
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:26 | By Chris Cooke
CMU@TGE Top Questions: Why is there a crisis in music education?
Business News Education & Events Insights Blog The Great Escape 2018
With The Great Escape getting closer, we are currently considering ten questions that will be answered during the three CMU Insights conferences that are set to take place there this year: The Education Conference (16 May), The AI Conference (17 May) and The China Conference (18 May). Today: Why is there a crisis in music education?
There have been a plethora of articles in the last year about how music education in England is currently in crisis. Seeming to confirm this, a recent BBC survey showed that the vast majority of English schools have recently cut back lesson time, staff and/or facilities in at least one creative arts subject, which would include music.
The trend has in no small part been blamed on the English Baccalaureate – or EBacc – system. This is the way the academic performance of English schools has been assessed since 2010. Creative subjects like music are excluded from the EBacc, meaning schools are less likely to prioritise them, because achievements in those subject areas don’t have a positive impact on their perceived success. It also means that when schools face funding cuts, creative art subjects are the obvious place to seek savings.
In the recent BBC survey of 1200 primary and secondary schools, 90% said there had been cutbacks of some kind in at least one creative arts subject. Meanwhile, 40% said they were spending less money on facilities for these subjects, and 30% had reduced the hours in the timetable dedicated to the creative arts. Most blamed a combination of EBacc criteria and funding cuts for these changes.
Of course, music education doesn’t just take place in music class. Many students also opt for music instrument lessons. Since 2012 funding for subsidised instrument lessons has flowed via the Arts Council through local entities called music hubs. Quite how these hubs work – and what actual services they offer – varies greatly around the country. The consensus is that some do a good job of encouraging and facilitating participation in music making, others less so. The hubs, therefore, might be helping alleviate the crisis in some parts of the country, but may be contributing to it in others.
However, is the crisis – if indeed there is a crisis – all about how much time and money government and individual schools allocate to formal music education, whether that be music class or instrument lessons? Or is it also about how that time and money is used?
For example, is formal music education perhaps defined too narrowly, in terms of genre, or what exactly the music making process involves? And does that mean that – even where funding and facilities are available – some students with a passion for music would still not be engaged by the music education on offer?
There is also the question as to whether school is even the right place for young people with a passion for music to experiment with music making. Music should definitely be in the curriculum, to ensure everyone has access to it. But when it comes to more proactive music making projects, perhaps activity outside the classroom – and even outside the school – are more appealing and have more potential.
Where that’s the case, both government and the music industry itself needs to ensure that such extracurricular activities are accessible to all, and that the schools can signpost those opportunities to the young people who would most benefit from them. Which brings us back to the need to join a lot of dots between all the different people, companies and organisations involved in music education. Joining those dots may not in itself overcome the crisis, but it will be a step in the right direction.
We’ll be discussing the ‘crisis’ in music education as part of The Education Conference at The Great Escape next month. We’ll debate the eBacc and the music hubs, but also delve into other topics too, and identify all the dots to be joined. Maybe we’ll find that the actual crisis is quite different to that identified in all those aforementioned articles.
The Education Conference takes place on Wednesday 16 May – more info here. See more questions we’ll answer at The Great Escape here.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights | The Great Escape
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:24 | By Andy Malt
Avicii’s family issue statement
Artist News
The family of producer Avicii, real name Tim Bergling, have issued a statement, following his death last week.
“We would like to thank you for the support and the loving words about our son and brother”, they said in a statement issued to Billboard. “We are so grateful for everyone who loved Tim’s music and have precious memories of his songs”.
“Thank you for all the initiatives taken to honour Tim, with public gatherings, church bells ringing out his music, tributes at Coachella and moments of silence around the world”, they continued. “We are grateful for the privacy during this difficult time. Our wish is that it continues that way”.
Bergling was found dead at a resort in Oman last Friday, where he had been holidaying with friends. The cause of death is yet to be determined, but police have ruled out foul play.
READ MORE ABOUT: Avicii
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:22 | By Andy Malt
Anna Calvi announces live return
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Anna Calvi has announced her return, with a series of live shows around Europe and the promise of new music.
In a post on Instagram, she writes: “I remember looking into your eyes, I remember our energy, I remember you testing me, I remember me testing you, I remember feeling the most alive in those moments, I remember the dam breaking, like a primal scream. I want it again, I want to see you again. This new music is everything I wanted it to be. I want you to hear what I’ve created and laboured on with love for so long, for you, for us”.
She will play a UK show at Heaven on 19 Jun. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 11am.
READ MORE ABOUT: Anna Calvi
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:17 | By Andy Malt
Ivor Novello nominations announced
Artist News Awards Business News Labels & Publishers
Hey, have you been wondering who is good at songwriting? Well, fear not, we are now at liberty to tell you, because this year’s Ivor Novello Awards nominations have been announced.
People who are good at songwriting include Stormzy, Dave, Sampha, Mica Levi, Elbow, Everything Everything and Elderbrook.
BASCA chair Crispin Hunt says of this year’s nominations: “BASCA’s nominations for the 2018 Ivor Novello Awards are, as ever, a mirror of the eclectic and inspirational reach of current UK music. The Ivors purpose is to recognise and celebrate excellence in British and Irish music writing across song, album, television, film and this year, videogames”.
He adds: “As the only peer nominated music award ceremony in the country, The Ivors are inherently about musical merit and communication more than promotion and we’re especially excited to be able to honour some of the phenomenal talents of the contemporary British music writing scene. Talent admired the world over. Our congratulations go out to everyone nominated today, it’s fully deserved”.
The nominations are as follows:
Best Song Musically And Lyrically
Everything Everything – Can’t Do (Jonathan Higgs, Jeremy Pritchard, Alex Robertshaw and Michael Spearman)
Elbow – Magnificent (She Says) (Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner)
Sampha – (No One Knows Me) Like the Piano (Sampha)
Best Contemporary Song
CamelPhat and Elderbrook – Cola (Michael di Scala, Alexander ‘Elderbrook’ Kotz and Dave Whelan)
Stormzy – Don’t Cry For Me (Michael ‘Stormzy’ Omari, Varren Wade and Wizzy Wow)
Dave – Question Time (Dave and Fraser T Smith)
PRS For Music Most Performed Work
Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran)
Rag N Bone Man – Human (Jamie Hartman and Rag N Bone Man)
Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You (Steve Mac, Johnny McDaid and Ed Sheeran)
Album Award
Everything Everything – A Fever Dream (Jonathan Higgs, Jeremy Pritchard, Alex Robertshaw and Michael Spearman)
Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer (Michael ‘Stormzy’ Omari)
This Is The Kit – Moonshine Freeze (Kate Stables)
Best Original Film Score
IT (Benjamin Wallfisch)
Jackie (Mica Levi)
Paddington 2 (Dario Marianelli)
Best Television Soundtrack
Babs (Rob Lane)
SS-GB (Dan Jones)
The Miniaturist (Dan Jones)
Best Original Videogame Score
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (David Garcia Diaz and Andy LaPlegua)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Joris de Man, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith)
Life Is Strange: Before The Storm (Igor Haefeli and Elena Tonra)
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Grosvenor House in London on 31 May.
READ MORE ABOUT: British Academy of Songwriters Composers & Authors (BASCA) | Dave | Elbow | Elderbrook | Everything Everything | Ivor Novello Awards | Mica Levi | Sampha | Stormzy
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:15 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Virgin EMI, Janelle Monáe, Chainsmokers, more
Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• You can now get a daily CMU news summary via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.
• Universal Music has promoted Rob Pascoe to the role of General Manager at Virgin EMI. He has worked in various radio focussed roles at Virgin EMI, and prior to that at Mercury, over the last sixteen years. “Radio plugging per se has become a smaller percentage of Rob’s daily reality at the label”, says Virgin EMI President Ted Cockle.
• Janelle Monáe has released the video for latest single, ‘I Like That’.
• Chainsmokers have released the video for, ‘Somebody’, featuring Drew Love. The track is taken from new EP, ‘Sick Boy’.
• Charlie Puth has released the video for recent single, ‘Done For Me’, featuring Kehlani. His new album, ‘Voicenotes’, is out on 11 May.
• Flowdan has released new track, ‘Bodybag’, featuring Irah.
• Paris has released new track ‘Gone’, featuring Trippie Redd.
• Real Lies have released new track, ‘The Checks’.
• The live version of Spotify’s Who We Be playlist will hit the UK later this year. Jaykae, Mabel, MIST, Ms Banks, Sneakbo and Yungen will play the Birmingham Academy on 14 Jun. A London date is set to follow in November.
• Incubus have announced three UK shows in September, playing Academy venues in Birmingham, Brixton and Manchester.
• Christine And The Queens will play a whole load more UK and Ireland shows, in addition to the previously announced one at the Hammersmith Apollo on 20 Nov. There’s a second night in London, plus shows in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and Dublin.
• G Flip has announced her first UK shows, starting with a couple at the Great Escape next month. Straight after, she’ll play the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on 20 May, support Pale Waves at Heaven on 24 May, and then travel around the multi-city Dot To Dot festival.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Charlie Puth | Christine And The Queens | Drew Love | Flowdan | G Flip | Incubus | Irah | Janelle Monáe | Jaykae | Kehlani | Mabel | MIST | Ms Banks | Paris | Real Lies | Rob Pascoe | Sneakbo | Spotify | The Chainsmokers | Trippie Redd | Universal Music | Virgin EMI | Yungen
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 12:09 | By Andy Malt
Kanye West still loves Trump, claims US radio host
And Finally Artist News
While Shania Twain was apologising yesterday for giving the impression that she was a Trump supporter, Kanye West is seemingly doing no such thing. Hot 97.1 presenter Ebro claims that the rapper told him he loves Donald Trump. Still.
West was criticised for meeting with Trump shortly after he was elected president in 2016. Posing for photos afterwards, Trump said that the pair had been friends for “a long time” and that that was the capacity in which they were meeting. Although months later it seemed that friendship had gone sour, when West deleted all of his tweets referencing the meeting.
Ebro said on his ‘Ebro In The Morning’ show yesterday that in a discussion with West over the weekend, the rapper had told him “I do love Donald Trump”.
The conversation apparently followed a tweet from West over the weekend, in which he wrote, “I love the way Candace Owens thinks”. His support for the controversial conservative commentator has divided opinion.
Co-host on the show Peter Rosenberg later tweeted: “Biggest take away from ‘Ebro In The Morning’ today… Kanye West is still an avid Donald Trump supporter. You can process that however you like but if you’re waiting for him to say ‘my bad’ about his Trump statements – don’t hold your breath”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Donald Trump | Kanye West
Tuesday 24 April 2018, 10:53 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Malory
CMU Approved
Starting out writing songs in her teens, Malory developed her craft in small venues over a number of years, becoming an accomplished singer-songwriter along the way. More recently, as she’s begun experimenting in the studio, things have taken quite a turn.
Breaking out from behind her acoustic guitar, she’s found a sound in which she’s able to flourish as a performer, and elevate her now honed songwriting skills. The first examples of this arrive on her debut EP, ‘Dystopia’.
“A dose of millennial angst and end of the world fears make up ‘Dystopia'”, says Malory. “Oddly enough, I named the EP over a year ago but it seems a scarily fitting title for the current time we live in. I wanted each song to have its own juxtapositions either lyrically or in the playful instrumentation”.
“Every track I imagine as one shade in my ever extending musical rainbow, combining colours dark and light”, she continues. “Of course, inescapably centring on my own experiences of unrequited love, hopeful romance and the possibilities of new relationships. It has been two years in the making but I am so proud of it and excited to share it with the world”.
Watch the video for new single ‘Nuclear Brandy’ 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: Malory
Monday 23 April 2018, 12:01 | By Andy Malt
Music industry pays tribute to Avicii
Artist News Labels & Publishers
Tim Bergling, better known as Avicii, has died, aged 28. The producer and DJ, who retired from performing live two years ago, had been treated for a number of health issues in recent years. He had been on holiday with friends at the Muscat Hills Resort in Oman when he died. The cause of his death is yet to be determined, although police have reportedly ruled out any foul play.
His death was announced in a short statement by a PR representative on Friday evening, which stated: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii. He was found dead in Muscat, Oman, this Friday afternoon local time, 20 Apr. The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given”.
One of the biggest and most influential artists of the EDM boom, Avicii had solo number ones around with world, as well as collaborating with a variety of big name acts, including Coldplay and Madonna.
He retired from live performance in 2016 due to health concerns, in part caused by excessive drinking. In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, he said: “None of us today can fucking handle our emotions – most of us are running around being reactive. That’s why I had to stop touring, because I couldn’t read my emotions the right way”.
At the time of his death he was working on new music. In an interview with Variety this weekend, Geffen Records President Neil Jacobson said: “We were working on it and it was his best music in years, honestly. And I know because I [A&R’d] all of his albums. He was so inspired. He was so psyched. We had done a month of grinder sessions. We had to actually put end times on the sessions because Tim would just work for sixteen hours straight, which was his nature. You had to pull him out. Like, ‘Tim, come on. Go to bed. Get some rest’ … It’s just a tragedy. We have this incredible, magical music”.
As for what will now happen to that music, he said: “I have no idea. I’m going to sit down and talk to the family once everybody has a chance to take a breath. I’ve never actually had this happen with an artist I’ve worked with before and this closely. So, I don’t know. We’ll try to get some advice from the family and everybody’s going to put their heads together and try and do what we think Tim would want us to do”.
Bergling’s publisher Sony/ATV also put out a statement on Friday, saying: “We are mourning the incredibly sad loss of an exceptionally creative talent who we have been honoured and proud to represent as one of our songwriters for a number of years. Our thoughts are with his family at this time”.
Meanwhile, Bergling’s longtime manager and close confidant Ash Pournouri published a lengthy statement on Instagram. “We made undeniable history together, you an I”, he wrote. “Never for anything but creativity and to move the world. And we did move it. More than once. And you’re moving it still after you’re gone. But none of it was, or ever will be, worth your life ending too soon”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ash Pournouri | Avicii | Geffen US | Neil Jacobson | Sony Music Publishing | Universal Music
Monday 23 April 2018, 11:58 | By Chris Cooke
AIM allies with MUSO on new anti-piracy services for artists and labels
Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers
The Association Of Independent Music last week announced a tie-up with anti-piracy company MUSO which will see the launch of a new “free-to-member digital piracy protection service” for labels and self-releasing artists among the AIM membership, helping said labels and artists protect their copyrights online.
Confirming the tie-up, MUSO CEO Andy Chatterley said: “The impact [of piracy] on independent music businesses can be particularly hard without a consistent mechanism to remove unlicensed content from the internet. We are therefore delighted to be partnering with AIM to provide a new free-to-label digital anti-piracy service”.
Meanwhile AIM chief Paul Pacifico added: “We can all agree that music piracy remains contentious and protection has been a historically difficult area. MUSO is at the forefront of digital piracy protection and are experts in the business intelligence insights that can be gleaned from it”.
He went on: “This new partnership gives our rightsholder members access to a highly sophisticated anti-piracy solution, free at the point of access, and allows them oversight of their online content and piracy activity. Pirates steal both money and consumer data with no return for artists. This service will allow AIM Members to focus on the very positive relationships between artists and their fans by cutting out the pirates and is a huge win for us all”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Association of Independent Music (AIM) | MUSO
Monday 23 April 2018, 11:56 | By Chris Cooke
CMU@TGE Top Questions: Where will the fan conversation go next?
Business News Digital Education & Events Insights Blog The Great Escape 2018
With The Great Escape getting closer, we are currently considering ten questions that will be answered during the three CMU Insights conferences that are set to take place there this year: The Education Conference (16 May), The AI Conference (17 May) and The China Conference (18 May). Today: Where will the fan conversation go next?
Despite various attempts to launch music or artist-specific social networks over the years, artists generally follow their fans when it comes to social media, rather than the other way around. Which is to say, consumers pick the digital channels that best meet their wider social and entertainment needs, and then expect to be able to connect with their favourite artists in those places.
With the youth demographic in particular having jumped from platform to platform over the last ten years – from MySpace to Facebook to Tumblr to Instagram and Snapchat – one message that we’ve always prioritised in our music marketing seminars is the importance of email. Having a fan’s email address and permission to send occasional messages has been a constant in fan communication, plus email gives back the best analytics.
However, in more recent years the new youth demographic have been busy shunning email too. They may have an email address for college or work, but social communications do not happen through that channel. Those conversations now more commonly occur on the messaging apps. Which poses the question: can artists start to connect with fans via platforms like Facebook Messenger?
Whereas email and social media are usually designed for both one-to-one and one-to-many communication, so that messages can be posted aimed at one person, small groups of people, or millions of people, depending on what is required, messaging platforms are primarily designed for personalised and interactive chat between a small group of individuals.
So how might artists infiltrate these platforms? There has been lots of talk about the potential of chatbots in this domain, ie AI technologies that can have automated but personalised and interactive conversations with individuals on behalf of brands, whether those be pop stars, festivals, labels, media or consumer brands. Though quite how effective those technologies really are at the moment is debatable.
There are nonetheless still plenty of opportunities for artists to be connecting with fans via messaging platforms. But succeeding in this domain often means experimenting with content and approach as much as it does honing and developing the technology.
We’ll be looking at how the fan conversation is shifting to the messaging apps during our AI Conference this year. Sam Taylor from POP will discuss how his platform is enabling the music industry to engage fans through Facebook Messenger, while music marketers Alex Thomson from Green House Group and Olivia Hobbs from Blackstar London will be providing their insight on how the fan conversation is evolving as the technology moves on.
The AI Conference takes place on Thursday 17 May – more info here. See more questions we’ll answer at The Great Escape here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Alex Thompson | Blackstar London | CMU Insights | Facebook | Green House Group | I Am Pop | Olivia Hobbs | Sam Taylor | The Great Escape
Monday 23 April 2018, 11:54 | By Chris Cooke
Dice’s Girls Music Day returns
Business News Education & Events
Details have been announced about the next edition of the Dice Girls Music Day. The event aims to “inspire young women to achieve gender equality in the music industry with a day of talks, workshops and panels”.
The next edition of the event, organised by ticketing app Dice, takes place in London on 28 Apr, once again hosted by Jen Long. There will be talks and discussions, plus workshops on songwriting (led by Jess Sharman), music production (led by K Minor and Katie Tavini), and getting a first break in the industry (led by Noisey’s UK Editor Tshepo Mokoena).
Long says about this year’s event: “I’m excited to host Girls Music Day this year, especially with it being such a momentous year of women fighting to be heard. In 2018, the lack of female figures within our industry is shocking, especially with the discouraging gender diversity in this year’s festivals”.
She goes on: “The main purpose is to engage and inspire the young people attending to work in music, to help them develop their career plans, and to bring up the next generation who will help push for equality in the industry. We’ve got an astonishing collection of speakers this year all offering great advice on that first stepping-stone into music. We’d urge all girls to get involved”.
For more information click here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dice | Girls Music Day
Monday 23 April 2018, 11:51 | By Chris Cooke
Shakin Stevens producer Stuart Colman dies
Business News Industry People
Record producer Stuart Colman died last week aged 74. The British musician and producer, who was also a member of 1960s band Assorted Colours, worked with over hundred artists over his long career, producing 33 hit singles.
He produced a number of records for Shakin Stevens – including chart toppers ‘This Ole House’ and ‘Green Door’ – plus tracks released in aid Comic Relief, such as the 1986 version of Cliff Richard’s ‘Living Doll’ that also featured The Young Ones, and Mel Smith and Kim Wilde’s cover of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’.
His tie up with Comic Relief was perhaps apt given Colman’s belief that “rock n roll should never take itself too seriously”.
In his obituary of Colman for The Independent, Spencer Leigh recalls how the producer once said of his music: “It is not art school and it has not gone to university. It is a fun thing and I try to inject fun into it. The TV producer Jack Good told me that he loved my records with Shakin Stevens because Shaky laughs and chuckles in them and you can tell he is having a good time”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Shakin Stevens | Stuart Colman
