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.
Friday 22 June 2018, 11:30 | By Andy Malt
NOFX “effectively banned” from the US
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
NOFX have “effectively been banned” from performing live in the US, says frontman Fat Mike. This follows their recent controversial jokes made on stage about the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting last year.
“I’m not supposed to talk about it”, he wrote on Instagram. “But because of the comments we made in Las Vegas every NOFX show has been cancelled in the US. We did not drop off the shows, we were told that NOFX is not welcome to play ANY big venue in the United States. No joke! NOFX has effectively been banned in our own country”.
The band were heavily criticised following a performance at the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, also in Vegas, last month, when they joked that “you only get shot in Vegas if you’re in a country band”. They later apologised, saying that what they’d said was “shameful” and that they’d “crossed the line of civility”.
Referencing this apology, Fat Mike continued: “This is not our choice, but it is our reality … It fuckin sucks! We made a mistake, we apologised, and we gotta suffer the consequences. Maybe it ain’t fair, but whoever said life was. We are just very thankful that our fans are being so supportive”.
The band are due to play the Southside Festival in Germany tonight. They do not currently have any UK shows scheduled.
READ MORE ABOUT: NOFX
Friday 22 June 2018, 11:29 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: MMF, Gorillaz, Florence And The Machine, more
Artist News Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Management & Funding One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Get a daily news summary, our latest job ads and more via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.
• Red Light Management’s Lisa Ward and ILuvLive’s Rachael Bee were newly elected to the board of the UK Music Managers Forum earlier this week. “Lisa and Rachael are two of UK’s most talented and respected executives, and their collective experience will be a huge positive for the MMF and our future policy making”, says MMF CEO Annabella Coldrick. “I am genuinely THRILLED they are joining the board”.
• Gorillaz have only gone and shared another new track from their upcoming ‘The Now Now’ album. Here’s ‘Hollywood’, which features Snoop Dogg and Jamie Principle.
• Florence And The Machine have released the video for new single ‘Big God’.
• Rae Sremmurd have released the video for ‘Guatemala’, filmed in the country shortly before its recent volcanic eruption.
• Girli has released the video for new single ‘Day Month Second’. She’s also announced new UK tour dates in October, including a show at Heaven in London on 23 Oct.
• Kelley Stoltz will release new album ‘Natural Causes’, on 3 Aug.
• Pusha T has announced that he will play The Forum in London on 12 Dec. Tickets available now.
• Alexander Tucker has announced new UK tour dates for August and September, including a show at London’s Shacklewell Arms on 5 Sep.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Alexander Tucker | Florence And The Machine | Girli | Gorillaz | ILuvLive | Jamie Principle | Kelley Stoltz | Lisa Ward | Music Managers Forum (MMF) | Pusha T | Rachael Bee | Rae Sremmurd | Red Light Management | Snoop Dogg
Friday 22 June 2018, 11:26 | By Andy Malt
Beef Of The Week #409: Piers Morgan v Andrew Ridgeley
And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Media
Andrew Ridgeley, formerly of Wham!, appeared on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ earlier this week in order to discuss a charity bike ride he’d taken part in recently. But when presenter Piers Morgan tried to move the conversation over to Ridgeley’s former bandmate George Michael, things turned awkward, resulting in Morgan later calling his guest an “insufferable dick” on Twitter.
Yes, you read that right. Piers Morgan called someone an “insufferable dick”. Piers Morgan. The Piers Morgan. You know him, the diskish insufferable one. Piers. Morgan. That’s what he called another person. Even though that should probably be his very own Twitter bio. Nevertheless, he called someone else an “insufferable dick”.
But, hey, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. We should really examine exactly what happened here before laying into any insufferable dicks.
First off, I’ve already been somewhat unfair. The Dallaglio Cycle Slam is a bit more than a charity bike ride. It sees 200 participants cycle 18,000km over the French and Swiss Alps, around the Italian lakes, and across Slovenia and Croatia, over eighteen days. This year the event has raised over £1 million for former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio’s RugbyWorks charity, which supports young people who have been excluded from school.
Having been one of this year’s riders, Ridgeley was invited on to ‘Good Morning Britain’ to discuss the project. During the interview though, Morgan – perhaps unsurprisingly – attempted to nudge conversation over to Wham! and George Michael. Asked about his former pop success, Ridgeley said that this was “not pertinent” to what he was on the programme to discuss.
So Morgan then instead focussed on the death of Michael, resulting in this spiky exchange:
PM: How have you and all [George Michael’s] friends dealt with the period since he’s died?
AR: I would imagine much like anyone else does. There’s a period of grief, and it’s a difficult adjustment. You know, the loss of a great friend is traumatic and emotionally tough. Almost as emotionally tough as the Dallaglio Cycle Slam.
PM: You really don’t like talking about the past, right?
AR: I wasn’t sure that was why I was here today to be honest with you. I’d much rather be discussing the Dallaglio Cycle Slam and its good work for people who haven’t had privileges of you and I. I think that’s rather more worthy subject matter.
After completing the interview, Morgan apologised to viewers for Ridgeley’s behaviour, saying: “Sorry it was a bit awkward, that interview. I never really understand why people come on if people don’t want to talk about whatever. If you were one of the biggest pop stars in the world, I’d imagine you would talk about it. If anyone was offended by me asking about pop music and Wham! stuff I can only NOT apologise”.
On Twitter later, he put it in more blunt terms, saying: “Many thanks to Andrew Ridgeley for being such an insufferable dick today – much appreciated!”
Ridgeley got in a more subtle dig on Instagram, saying that it had been “a pleasure to speak with the charming Susanna Reid and Kate Garraway”, while leaving out Morgan’s name.
Affronted, Morgan responded: “Sorry for mentioning the only thing you are famous for – how unspeakably rude of me”.
Fending off critics on Twitter, Morgan said: “You think he’d have been booked on ‘GMB’ today to plug his charity cycle if he wasn’t famous? He knows the game but chose not to play it. Very dickish move”.
Another Twitter user accused Morgan of trying to make the interview all about himself. “All about me?” he spat. “I tried to make it about a pop star who was able to raise money on the back of his fame with Wham! He chose to show his gratitude for the airtime – in which the charity was heavily promoted – by being a dick. And now you’re doing the same”.
Now, I think we can all agree that it’s never easy to side with an insufferable dick. By which I mean Piers Morgan, obviously. Though, while this Beef Of The Week has probably so far sided with Ridgeley on this one, maybe… well… as much as it truly pains me to say so – particularly as it won’t be the first time – perhaps Morgan has a point.
After all, there is no way that Ridgeley would have been asked to do this interview if it weren’t for his fame as a member of Wham! and his relationship with George Michael. He also wouldn’t have been put forward by RugbyWorks as one of the faces of the cycle ride without those claims to fame.
Would it really have been so hard for Ridgeley to drop in a little Wham! chat? No it wouldn’t. And it wasn’t. Because this wasn’t the first interview he’d done about the Dallaglio Cycle Slam on ‘Good Morning Britain’.
Last month, he appeared with Lawrence Dallaglio and actor John Hannah, who also took part in the project this year, shortly before they were about to embark on their journey. In that interview, he brought up George Michael entirely unprompted. Asked why he wanted to get involved with the event, he spoke about wanting to help young people who hadn’t had the opportunities afforded to Michael and himself.
That reference to Michael was in the context of the charity event I suppose, which is what he wanted. But he was also asked about Michael’s death during that interview, and specifically whether or not he thought there should be a permanent memorial to the late musician, which he then discussed seemingly quite happily.
The difference on that occasion was that Morgan wasn’t there. Instead he was interviewed by Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway. So perhaps the issue isn’t so much that Ridgeley doesn’t like “talking about the past”, maybe it’s more something to do with Morgan’s interview technique.
Whereas in the previous interview the topic of Wham! had arisen organically, and for the most part was contextualised within discussion about his charity work, this time Morgan arrived and just tried to sledgehammer George Michael into the conversation. And then afterwards carried on bashing his metaphorical tool around the studio and social media.
Anyway, if at this point you’re still on the fence about who the bad guy is in this particular beef, well, frankly, it doesn’t fucking matter and would you please stop making me think about Piers Morgan now?
READ MORE ABOUT: Andrew Ridgeley | George Michael | Piers Morgan | Wham!
Friday 22 June 2018, 10:20 | By Paul Vig
Vigsy’s Club Tip: Summer Soulstice 2018
Club Tip CMU Approved
Taking advantage of these longer days, the Summer Soulstice festival returns to London this Saturday. Although the longest day of the year – and therefore the summer solstice – was technically yesterday, this night has much more soul.
And I shouldn’t nit-pick, because Summer Soulstice is both a great event and is in aid of charity. It has raised over £100,000 for Cherry Lodge Cancer Care in memory of Andy Weekes since his friends and family started the event in 2006.
There are lots of great names across three stages: Bob Jones, Brandon Block and Nicky Holloway being just a few I’d look out for. And, unusually for a London-based event, you can camp!
Saturday 23 Jun, Old Elizabethans Memorial Playing Fields, Gypsy Corner, Mays Lane, Barnet EN5 2AG, 11am-11pm, £36. More info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Summer Soulstice
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:52 | By Chris Cooke
Music industry welcomes copyright directive vote in the European Parliament
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
The music industry has unsurprisingly welcomed the passing yesterday by the JURI Committee of the European Parliament of article thirteen of the draft European Copyright Directive, which would reform the copyright safe harbour and increase the liabilities of user-upload platforms like YouTube.
A mountain of amendments have been proposed to the original draft of the copyright reforming directive since it was published in September 2016. Article thirteen has proven to be among the most controversial of all the elements of the directive, and in the run up to a series of key votes in Brussels the tech lobby has been campaigning hard against it.
The JURI committee voted on the latest draft of the directive yesterday as compiled by Axel Voss, the German MEP who has been leading on the copyright reforms in Parliament. Along the way they approved the version of article thirteen supported by the music and wider copyright industries.
There are still more votes – and more negotiating and amending – to be done before the directive is passed, but the music industry’s lobbyists, who have been pushing for safe harbour reform for years now, saw yesterday’s approval by the European Parliament’s key JURI Committee as being an important step forward.
The music industry, of course, has long argued that certain user-upload platforms – and especially YouTube – have been exploiting a safe harbour that was intended for internet service providers and server hosting companies, not platforms that take content uploaded by users and repurpose it into what is basically a TV network and on-demand music service.
The safe harbour means protected platforms can’t be held financially liable for copyright infringing content uploaded to their services by users, providing they have a system in place via which rights owners can have that content removed.
By claiming safe harbour protection, the music industry argues, companies like YouTube have been able to force record labels, music publishers and collecting societies into accepting licensing deals where they receive much lower royalties. Deals, which – the industry adds – unfairly skews the digital music market by creating a ‘value gap’.
Critics argue that article thirteen will have unintended consequences hindering innovation, free speech and the social networking experience, and ultimately “ruining the internet”. But, while welcoming yesterday’s vote, GESAC – which represents song right collecting societies in Europe – insisted that “the text provides legal safeguards and guarantees for the consumers to continue to post, access and share the content they enjoy on those platforms”.
The organisation’s President Anders Lassen added: “More than 31,000 creators have signed a petition calling the EU to fix this transfer of value. Freedom of expression is part of the creators’ DNA and the report ensures that both the freedom of expression and the independence of creators are safeguarded”.
Given the controversial nature of some elements of the copyright directive – including article thirteen – MEPs will demand that the full European Parliament vote on the draft approved by JURI yesterday, before it passes on to the next stage in the process, when the Parliament has to compare notes with the European Commission and EU Council in order to agree a final, final, final, final version of the proposals.
With that in mind Gadi Oron – the boss of CISAC, the global grouping of song right collecting societies – yesterday urged MEPs at large to support the current draft of the directive. He said: “We welcome the vote today at the European Parliament’s’ JURI Committee on the Copyright Directive, which helps bring more fairness to the creative community in the digital market”.
In a rally call to MEPs beyond the JURI Committee, he mused on: “This is an important step forward not just for creators in Europe but all around the world. We encourage the European Parliament to endorse JURI’s proposal at the plenary vote and set an example to governments internationally by building a fairer internet for creators”.
Speaking for the indie label community, IMPALA likewise welcomed yesterday’s vote. Its boss Helen Smith said: “This is a strong and unambiguous message sent by the European Parliament. It clarifies what the music sector has been saying for years: if you are in the business of distributing music or other creative works, you need a licence, clear and simple. It’s time for the digital market to catch up with progress”.
Noting the recent flurry of campaigning from the tech lobby about article thirteen “ruining the internet”, she went on: “Today’s vote is a great rebuttal to the relentless scare-mongering and misleading statements made by ‘astro-turf’ organisations working for some tech giants trying to preserve the status quo. Parliamentarians were able to keep a cool head”.
Of course, as noted, the directive is not a done deal yet, with more votes and wrangling to come. Then, of course, the directive will need to be implemented at a national level by EU member states, and the precise impact of the new rules – and the exact nature of the new liabilities created for platforms – may well have to be tested in court. And who knows where the digital music market will be by then. But still, the value gap campaign marches on.
READ MORE ABOUT: CISAC | European Copyright Directive | European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) | The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA)
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:49 | By Chris Cooke
Prince heirs want Tidal deal reconsidered because of stat-fiddling allegations
Artist News Business News Digital Legal
The bickering between Prince’s heirs continues, with three of his siblings now seeking to have the deal done between the late musician’s estate and Tidal revoked because of all the recent stat fiddling allegations involving the latter. The estate counters that some rumours in the Norwegian business press are not grounds for reconsidering a court approved deal.
Prince himself, of course, formed a partnership with Jay-Z’s Tidal, granting it exclusive access to his final two albums. After his death there was a big disagreement between Tidal and the Prince estate on quite what the musician had agreed with the streaming firm, resulting in litigation. Last month that legal battle was brought to an end, and the estate announced it had agreed to grant Tidal an exclusive of sorts on a planned posthumous release of previously unheard recordings.
That arrangement was approved by the court overseeing the Prince estate. But earlier this week three of Prince’s heirs – Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson and John R Nelson – asked the court to reconsider that approval, because of the allegations that Tidal artificially increased the stats associated with the Beyonce and Kanye albums to which it had exclusive rights. Fiddling the figures in that way would likely result in other artists and labels getting less money than they were really due from Tidal.
The estate quickly responded to that request, arguing that the court could only reconsider its approval of the Tidal deal if there was an “intervening legal development” or it could be demonstrated that the original court order was “palpably wrong in some respect”. Unproven allegations that Tidal strongly refutes are neither of those things, estate reps added.
There have been an assortment of disagreements between Prince’s siblings and half-siblings over the management of his estate and the deals said estate has entered into since the musician’s death in 2016. Rumour has it a new Sony deal is now in the pipeline, so soon they’ll be able to fall out over that too.
READ MORE ABOUT: Prince | Tidal
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:47 | By Chris Cooke
Dre insists he came up with Beats concept in royalty court battle
Artist News Business News Digital Legal
Dr Dre yesterday told a court in California that he came up with the concept and name of his Beats By Dre headphones range.
He said that he first discussed the idea of hiking up the price on mediocre headphones by sticking a celebrity’s name on the side (though he possibly didn’t outline the concept in quite those terms) to record industry veteran Jimmy Iovine at his Malibu beach property. He later came up with the brand name because “that’s what we call what I do – I make beats”.
The Beats By Dre business is in court because of long running legal action by another man involved in the enterprise in its earliest years, Steven Lamar.
Contradicting what Dre said yesterday, Lamar claims that it was he who originally pitched the idea of celeb-endorsed headphones to then Universal Music exec Iovine in 2006. He also says that he pulled together the original consortium of companies to work on the design and manufacture of the initial Beats products.
Lamar is suing for $100 million in royalties that he reckons he is due for his part in developing the headphone line. Although who actually had the idea for flogging Dre badged headphones and who came up with Beats brand isn’t what really matters in this dispute, which instead centres on a 2007 agreement.
The partnership put together by Lamar to launch the Beats By Dre brand quickly fell apart leading to a legal settlement of which Lamar was a beneficiary. The question is whether the royalty Beats agreed to pay its original business partners relates to only the original incarnation of the headphones, or subsequent new products evolved from the original.
The dispute over that 2007 contract has been ongoing for years. Ultimately an appeals court ruled that the contractual dispute should go before a jury, which is why Dre and Lamar are in court again this week. The latter continues to insist that the Beats headphones range was his idea, telling the court – according to Law 360 – that Dre and Iovine were “just the celebrity endorsement partner for my product”.
Although not denying Lamar’s involvement, Dre played down his one-time business partner’s role in developing the Beats By Dre concept. He also insisted that conversations back then focused on a single Dre-badged headphone product, rather than an entire business empire that might ultimately be sold for billions to a tech giant.
Lamar, meanwhile, continued to insist that his role was bigger than that, stating in a later testimony yesterday that he only agreed to the 2007 settlement because he feared further litigation could scupper the business venture he had conceived. “This was my baby,” he told the court. “I wanted to see it come to life”.
“I transferred over all my rights in this business and my intellectual property in exchange for a royalty”, he added of the contract at the heart of the current dispute. “They got all the press, all the upside”, he mused, “I just want my two percent”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beats By Dre | Dr Dre | Steven Lamar
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:45 | By Andy Malt
Saul Williams crowdfunding musical film
Artist News
Saul Williams has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new musical film called ‘Neptune Frost’. The movie, and an accompanying graphic novel, will further develop the MartyrLoserKing character from his 2016 album of the same name.
“From an otherworldy village made of recycled computer parts a hacking collective performs the most outrageous hacks in US and world history full of social commentary and gutsy platform takeovers”, explains a synopsis of the musical.
“They are the virtual heroes of a world drawn closer and closer to authoritarian rule until they cross the line that takes them from beloved hackers to first-world terrorists” said synopsis continues. “‘Neptune Frost’ is the love story between an inter-sex runaway and a coltan miner and the virtual marvel born as a result of their union – MartyrLoserKing – the world’s number one trend The Authority seeks to end”.
Williams adds: “I began working on this project as a graphic novel and a musical. I wanted to centre my writing around the social and global issues flooding my actual and virtual timelines and their countless intersections through a story, character, and project that would allow me to focus all of my observations, insights, rants, and talents under one heading”.
Find out more and put some money into the project here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Saul Williams
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:39 | By Andy Malt
Public Image Ltd 40th anniversary documentary to be screened in UK cinemas
Artist News Releases
Public Image Ltd have announced that they will screen a documentary about the band in cinemas around the UK as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations this year. ‘The Public Image Is Rotten’ was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York last year, followed by its first European screening at the Raindance Film Festival in London.
The film looks at the band’s history since being formed by John Lydon in 1978, following the break up of the Sex Pistols. It also features interviews with other artists who have been influenced by the band, including Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore.
Full screening dates are available at www.thepublicimageisrotten.com and here’s a trailer:
READ MORE ABOUT: Public Image Ltd
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:32 | By Andy Malt
Kojey Radical announced tour dates
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases
Kojey Radical has announced new UK and Ireland tour dates for November. At the same time he’s put out a video for recently released single ‘Water’.
Of the tour dates, the musician says: “I’ve been dreaming of this tour for quite sometime because it gives me the chance to really connect with new supports and take them on this journey with me. I’ve always said I wanted to retire as one of the greatest live performers of all time. This is a window into that legacy”.
Here are the dates:
12 Nov: Dublin, Academy Green Room
14 Nov: Manchester, Gorilla
15 Nov: Birmingham, Academy 2
16 Nov: Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
18 Nov: Bristol, Thekla
20 Nov: London, Koko
The extended video for ‘Water’ features an opening monologue from previous Kojey Radical collaborator and ‘Chewing Gum’ writer Michaela Coel. Watch it here:
While you’re at it, you should listen to the latest edition of Jon Hillcock’s ‘A Way From Home’ podcast, with Radical talking about his work and influences.
READ MORE ABOUT: Kojey Radical
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:22 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: MIA, St Vincent, Halsey, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Get a daily news summary, our latest job ads and more via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.
• MIA documentary ‘Matangi/Maya/MIA’ will be released in the UK on 22 Sep.
• Paul McCartney has released a new double A-side single, featuring new songs ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Come On To Me’. They’re the first tracks from a new solo album due out later this year.
• St Vincent has released the video for ‘Fast Slow Disco’.
• Halsey has released the video for ‘Strangers’.
• Alessia Cara has released the video for new single ‘Growing Pains’.
• IAMDDB has released new track ‘Drippy’. Her new EP, ‘Flight Mode Vol 4’, is out this Friday.
• Mellah has released the video for recent single ‘Cigarette Lighter’. “The song is about the growing divide between people’s political opinions and the way social media seems to be accentuating this”, he says. “The video shows an audience attending a performance but not engaging with the performer as they are engrossed in the echo chamber within their phones”.
• Agar Agar have announced that they will release new album ‘The Dog And The Future’ in September. Here’s new single, ‘Sorry About The Carpet’.
• King has released new track ‘Mango’. “In Cuba, a hot guy is often called a ‘mango'”, she explains. “I’ve been wanting to make a record that celebrates my Cuban heritage for a while now, so when I hooked up with one of my writers and he played me this melody, the line ‘tu eres mi mango’ just came into my head and the song wrote itself from there”.
• Many Voices Speak will release her debut album, ‘Tank Town’, on 31 Aug. From it, this is ‘Necessaries’.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Agar Agar | Alessia Cara | Halsey | IAMDDB | King | Many Voices Speak | Mellah | MIA | Paul McCartney | St Vincent
Thursday 21 June 2018, 10:18 | By Andy Malt
Revive yourself with coffee vinyl
And Finally Artist News Brands & Merch
The main reason for vinyl’s renewed popularity, as we all know, is that when you buy a record you don’t like, you can just smash it against a wall and kick the broken shards across the carpet. You try smashing up and kicking a stream.
But what if you could collect those pieces of vinyl up and turn them into a tasty cup of coffee? Well, wonder no more. That is now a thing that is possible.
Coffee company Peter’s Cold Brew has come up with a means of promoting its triple strength pick-me-up by compressing its ground up beans into a working twelve-inch. The ‘blacker than black’ record features four extreme metal tracks, with titles like ‘Ballad For A Dying Unicorn’ and ‘Swiped Right For Dad’.
When broken up and mixed with water, the record turns into a cup of coffee. If someone had thought of this when people were still complaining all the time about how people gladly pay for overpriced cups of coffee but not for music, I would have been able to bring this report to a much more satisfactory conclusion.
Here’s a video:
READ MORE ABOUT: Peter's Cold Brew
Thursday 21 June 2018, 09:15 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Lotic
CMU Approved
Producer Lotic is set to release debut album ‘Power’ on 13 Jul through Tri-Angle. Following the whispered mantra of lead single ‘Hunted’ – “brown skin masculine frame head’s a target / acting real feminine make ’em vomit” – new track ‘Solace’ sees Lotic take a bolder step forward over darker beats.
“It originally started as an empowerment album”, says Lotic of the LP. “I felt that I needed to offer something outside of myself, as sort of a healing moment. And then I lost my apartment. Mentally, I could only work on music once every three months or something. The question of what would be empowering – the answer to that changed so often over a two-year period. I had to figure out who I was all over again. With this record, I went back and incorporated all of my musical selves”.
Of that newly released track ‘Solace’, the producer adds: “‘Solace’ is my reminder to myself that no matter how hard things get, trouble don’t last always! Hang in there, it’s gon be OK! It’s my self-reminder that I actually am a fearlesss bitch, and that experiencing pain or hardship is not a weakness but a moment for growth, for strength”.
Listen to ‘Solace’ 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: Lotic
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 11:11 | By Chris Cooke
Google needs to stop profiting from rule-breaker Viagogo, say anti-touting campaigners
Business News Digital Legal Live Business Top Stories
The anti-touting FanFair campaign has called on Google to make good on its past commitment to protect consumers looking to buy tickets online by ceasing to take the Viagogo pound.
It also reckons that the web giant should extend its own rules so that all ticket resale sites are upfront about the unofficial status of their sellers in the copy that appears in their Google ads.
FanFair has long called for clearer communications in the secondary ticketing market. It wants to ensure buyers realise they are buying tickets from an unofficial tout rather than an approved ticket seller.
Clearer communication is needed, campaigners say, because consumers are often confused. One Which? survey reckoned that nearly half of those who buy tickets from resale sites online think they are doing business with an approved primary ticket agent.
Most secondary ticketing platforms use Google advertising to reach consumers, paying the web giant so that when people search for tickets to in-demand events their website appears top of the search list. Many consumers, not realising the difference between paid-for and organic search results, assume that whichever site is listed top must be the official one.
Aware of consumer confusion, Google introduced its own rules for secondary ticketing platforms earlier this year, including that they state on their sites that they are a marketplace for touted tickets rather than a primary ticket agent.
Even Viagogo compiled with that rule, but FanFair says that the ticket resale sector continues to employ misleading marketing practices. Meanwhile, Viagogo, while reluctantly complying with the laws of Google, is not yet complying with the laws of the United Kingdom.
Noting that when it did Google searches for 100 randomly selected live events – none of which had sold out – a secondary ticketing site topped the resulting search list 98% of the time, FanFair says that the ticket buying experience remains confusing.
The campaign states: “Google’s ticket resale guidelines have brought greater market transparency, but they could be more effective. At present, secondary sites are required to make a disclosure on their website – but not, crucially, in their actual advertising. It is not clear from their search adverts that Viagogo, StubHub and Get Me In! are listing secondhand tickets. And when situated at the top of search results, a strong implication remains that these are primary agents”.
FanFair also notes that Live Nation’s resale site Get Me In! sometimes uses Google advertising to ensure touted tickets for shows appear higher in search lists than face value tickets from official primary sellers, even when the official primary seller is Live Nation’s Ticketmaster. eBay’s StubHub does the same for shows at venues with which it has an official partnership, like the AEG-run O2 Arena and Wembley Arena.
And then there is bloody Viagogo, which is facing legal action from the UK Competition & Markets Authority and has been reported to National Trading Standards by the Advertising Standards Authority. Yet search for an Ed Sheeran gig this morning and Viagogo tops the Google list with a paid-for listing.
Adds FanFair: “Viagogo are operating in breach of both UK consumer law and an ASA ruling on misleading pricing. There is overwhelming evidence of Viagogo’s negative impacts on both audiences and artists. For Google to continue profiting from a law-breaking enterprise seems untenable”.
Calling on Google and the secondary sites themselves to do more to end consumer confusion, FanFair’s Campaign Manager Adam Webb said today: “Reforms of the UK’s ticket resale market continue to be hindered by the misleading marketing practices of the largest secondary sites. Their deployment of pay-per-click search advertising prioritises ticket touts before ticket buyers. These bad practices could easily be cleaned up by actions from three US-based corporations”.
Expanding, he went on: “Firstly, Google. We have a situation where one of the world’s most trusted brands is providing life support to one of the worst. Viagogo is a company that systematically breaks UK consumer protection laws, that ignores ASA rulings, that undermines the UK’s creative economy and causes harm to UK consumers. When even the culture minister is advocating a boycott, then surely it’s time for Google to permanently remove this law-breaking site from its advertising networks?”
As for the secondary sites, he called on StubHub and Ticketmaster – which owns Seatwave as well as Get Me In! – to “seriously up their game. Both have the wherewithal to act with greater transparency, to make clear in their search advertising that they operate resale platforms, and to stop misdirecting fans away from face value tickets at either their own or their partners’ box offices. None of this is rocket science. None of it should require regulatory intervention. Just simple and sensible changes, that would benefit consumers and make it easier for them to buy a ticket”.
In addition to digital minister Margot James at the Department Of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport hitting out at Viagogo, there remains cross-party support in Parliament for the changes FanFair is proposing to ensure customers aren’t confused into buying touted tickets.
Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, who has campaigned on this issue for years and heads up the APPG On Ticket Abuse, said: “Further research from FanFair Alliance has confirmed what we already knew – secondary ticket sites such as Viagogo, StubHub and GetMeIn! use misleading pay per click ads from Google to direct consumers to their websites, even though tickets are still available at face value on primary ticket websites”.
“As the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse, I am very concerned by Google’s relationship with secondary ticket sites, the platform it provides for them and the priority it gives over primary sites. I believe that it is time for Google to cut its ties with these sites which so clearly break UK consumer law and watchdog rulings. This is something that I will be raising with the government imminently”.
Meanwhile Conservative MP Nigel Adams MP said today: “A simple change by Google could give consumers the transparency they need to ensure they are purchasing a valid ticket to an event from a trusted source. The government is determined to help the industry clean up its act and it’s about time Google came to the table”.
READ MORE ABOUT: FanFair Alliance | Google | Viagogo
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke
Tech lobby ramps up campaign against safe harbour reform as key votes on EU copyright reform begin
Business News Labels & Publishers Legal
The JURI committee of the European Parliament has been discussing the proposed amendments to the somehow-still-being-negotiated draft European Copyright Directive this morning. The voting finished in the last hour approving an amended version of the directive.
As the EU’s Parliament and Council both get to the final stages of negotiating amendments to this major piece of copyright reform, there has been a flurry of last minute campaigning from all sides, but especially the tech lobby. Campaigning which has resulted in a steady stream of copyright-centric articles in the tech press, and which has filled the average MEP’s inbox many times over, like GDPR Day every day for several weeks.
The tech side’s campaigning has mainly focused on articles eleven and thirteen, the former increasing the rights of news providers, and the latter being the safe harbour reforming measures that the music industry has been lobbying really hard to secure. Both articles were passed this morning.
The late-in-the-day push from critics of articles eleven and thirteen has resulted in plenty of posts on the social networks, and various tech blogs and websites, declaring that – through the copyright directive – the media and entertainment industries are going to “ruin the internet”. Or – on a few pro-Brexit blogs – that “the EU is going to ruin the internet”.
Of course it’s right to be concerned about the unintended consequences of any new regulations. But for the media and entertainment industries, both articles eleven and thirteen are about ensuring that those who invest time and money into creating content have the control over their work that copyright is meant to provide. And to stop web giants which claim to be mere distribution networks but which appear to want to be content platforms from building media empires on the back of other people’s work.
The highly vocal campaigning from all sides is likely to continue as the directive goes through the final stages. In theory, once approved by the JURI committee, the proposals can go through to what is called the trilogue phase, when Parliament, Council and the European Commission discuss all the proposals and amendments that have been made and then produce a single final draft of the directive that incorporates all of them.
However, MEPs can force the draft that has been approved by the JURI committee to a full vote of the European Parliament before the trilogue phase begins. It’s known German MEP Julia Reda, a member of the Pirate Party, will seek to do just that. 10% of MEPs would need to support that call to force the full vote.
Assuming that happens, the current draft would go before the full European Parliament next month. Only once the Parliament had passed the current draft can the trilogue phase begin.
So, expect plenty more value gap shouting from the music industry’s lobbyists in the coming weeks, if only to drown out all the “you’re going to kill the internet” hyperbole being dished out by the tech lobby. Who knew people could get so passionate about copyright law!
READ MORE ABOUT: European Copyright Directive
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 11:07 | By Andy Malt
Jay-Z takes up creative position at Puma
Artist News Brands & Merch Business News
Do you ever get nostalgic for that brief period a few years back when brands were all falling over themselves to give celebrities nonsense job titles? I know I do. So I was THRILLED to hear that Jay-Z has been handed a brand new made-up role by sportswear company Puma’s basketball division.
The rapper, of course, is on tour at the moment and is also busy promoting his surprise new album with Beyonce. So I’m guessing he’ll struggle to make it into Puma HQ at 9am every morning. But he can work remotely I suppose. All you need these days is a laptop and a decent wi-fi connection. I’m sure he’ll be turning in eight hours a day five days a week as if he was right there in the office.
No one seems entirely sure what Jay-Z’s new nonsense job title actually is. Originally it was reported that he would become President of Puma Basketball. However, this was later clarified by the company’s Global Director Of Brand And Marketing, Adam Petrick.
Petrick said that – in fact – he hadn’t been explicit about Jay-Z’s title in his initial statements, instead using an “informal designation”. However, he could now confirm what the rapper’s actual title would be. Which was good of him.
Except both ESPN and Complex have published that same clarification statement from Petrick, but with different clarifications. So the clarifying statement published by ESPN says that the rapper will be Creative Director, while the statement published by Complex says Creative Consultant. So I guess you can just take your pick.
“It’s clear that we’re looking at basketball through the lens of culture, and thinking about the fashion of basketball, the music of basketball”, blathered Petrick elsewhere to Complex. “All the aspects of culture around basketball, all the aspects of culture around basketball as much as the on-court presence that we will have”.
While Jay-Z himself is the figurehead of this new partnership, the deal really sees the extension of an ongoing alliance between Puma and the rapper’s Roc Nation Sports company.
READ MORE ABOUT: Jay-Z | PUMA
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 11:05 | By Andy Malt
VK Music counts over 1.5 million subscribers
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
Russian streaming service VK Music has announced that it has over 1.5 million subscribers. Not a big number by streaming stat-brag standards, but the number makes the service by far the country’s biggest paid subscription music service.
A spin-off from social network vKontakte, VK Music currently has 1.2 million paying users, with 300,000 on free trials, according to Billboard. Its biggest rival, Apple Music, only has 600,000 subscribers in Russia, while Spotify is not yet available there.
In a statement, CEO of vKontakte owner Mail.Ru Group, Boris Dobrodeev, says: “The biggest challenge our services face is finding the balance between user interests and copyright standards, and it seems that we have found it. We have created [the] leading legal music service while still keeping all of its features and user-generated content. We continue to work on expanding the music library and developing music services”.
Founder of distributor United Media Agency, which partners with VK on its music service, Oleg Butenko adds: “From the very beginning of our co-operation with western record companies and local copyright holders, there has been a belief in the great potential of the Russian market. Thanks to the joint work with our partners, we have been able to make a big step forward in legalising music in Russia”.
VK Music fully launched in May 2017, and in November last year vKontakte began limiting access to free music on its platforms in a bid to drive up paid subscriptions. Prior to this, the Russian social network had been one of the global music industry’s biggest enemies, due to rampant piracy on its platform.
Legal action from the major labels was eventually settled and deals were done, although the company remains on the US government’s piracy gripe list, due to its lack of similar friend-making with the movie industry.
READ MORE ABOUT: vKontakte
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 11:03 | By Andy Malt
Will Ferrell to star in Eurovision comedy film for Netflix
Business News Media
Will Ferrell is to star in a new Netflix comedy film based around the Eurovision Song Contest. He will also produce the film and co-write it with fellow ‘Saturday Night Live’ alumnus Andrew Steele.
According to Deadline, the film, titled ‘Eurovision’, will be set at the song contest, of which Ferrell has apparently been a fan for a number of years, since being introduced to it by his Swedish wife. The comedian was actually seen at this year’s event in Ukraine. So now at least we have an answer as to why that happened.
Details about the storyline, and what role Ferrell will play, are yet to be announced.
READ MORE ABOUT: Eurovision Song Contest | Netflix | Will Ferrell
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 11:01 | By Andy Malt
Pearl Jam cancel London show
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Pearl Jam cancelled a show at the O2 Arena in London last night after frontman Eddie Vedder “completely lost his voice”. Which is a problem, I guess.
In a statement, the band said: ‘Singer Eddie Vedder has completely lost his voice. He is on vocal rest for the next few days in an effort to heal and perform the remainder of the tour dates. It’s the first time ever having to postpone a show for this reason. Ed and the band are gutted thinking of all the folks who have travelled and made plans”.
The show is expected to be rescheduled to a new date sometime next month. Meanwhile, the band’s European tour will recommence in Milan on Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Pearl Jam
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 10:59 | By Andy Malt
Mono announce UK tour
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Japanese post-rock band Mono have announced that they will tour the UK in October. The dates will see the band air new music from their upcoming tenth studio album.
“This tour is a build up towards the January release of our new record as well as next year’s 20th anniversary”, guitarist Taka tells Metal Hammer. “We are working on the new record with Steve Albini this July and the first single will be released this September”.
Here are the dates:
1 Oct: Bristol, The Fleece
2 Oct: Norwich Arts Centre
3 Oct: Glasgow, Classic Grand
4 Oct: Newcastle, The Cluny
READ MORE ABOUT: Mono
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 10:52 | By Andy Malt
Oram Awards to return for second year
Artist News Awards
The Oram Awards, recognising female musical innovators, will return for a second year next month. The inaugural event having taken place at Margate’s Turner Contemporary Gallery last year, this year it will be staged at the Jodrell Bank telescope as part of the Bluedot Festival. Two main winners will receive development bursaries of £1500 each, while a further four will receive £500 each.
Matthew Herbert, Director of the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which presents the award with the PRS Foundation, says: “As expected, we were THRILLED last year with the inaugural awards. It introduced us to a wide variety of brilliant work from women around the country [which] many of us hadn’t been [previously] exposed to. One of last year’s winners had the opportunity to contribute to work I did on the ‘Doctor Who’ global animated ident. Our challenge now is to help support the wider community of women in this field throughout the rest of the year and not just at awards time”.
PRS Foundation boss Vanessa Reed adds: “We’re delighted to be celebrating the second Oram Awards at Bluedot Festival this year with Matthew Herbert and the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop. There are many talented and exciting female music and sound innovators in the UK and the Oram Awards is a brilliant way of recognising and supporting their work and promoting role models for the next generation. I’m looking forward to seeing who will be shortlisted and the impact our talent development bursaries will have on their next steps”.
Find out more at www.oramawards.com
READ MORE ABOUT: Oram Awards
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 10:49 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: Michael Jackson, Ariana Grande, Florence And The Machine, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Get a daily news summary, our latest job ads and more via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.
• Sony Pictures’ theatre division Columbia Live Stage is reportedly developing a new Michael Jackson musical. It’s expected to premiere in 2020.
• Ariana Grande has released another collaboration with Nicki Minaj. This one, ‘The Light Is Coming’, will appear on her new album, ‘Sweetener’, which is due out on 17 Aug.
• Florence And The Machine have released new single ‘Big God’.
• Pusha T has released the video for ‘If You Know You Know’.
• Kanye West has released lyric videos for ‘Violent Crimes’ and ‘All Mine’ from his ‘Ye’ album.
• Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds will release a new live EP, recorded in Copenhagen last year, on 28 Sep. The show the tracks are taken from was also broadcast in cinemas earlier this year. Here’s a short clip of ‘Distant Sky’.
• Father John Misty has released the video for ‘God’s Favorite Customer’.
• They have released the video for new track ‘Pops’.
• Foxing will release their third album, ‘Nearer My God’, on 10 Aug. The record is produced by Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla. Here’s a track, ‘Slapstick’.
• Helena Hauff will release new album, ‘Qualm’, on 3 Aug. Here are two tracks from it, ‘Qualm’ and ‘No Qualms’.
• Years & Years will tour the UK and Ireland in November and December, including an O2 Arena show in London on 12 Dec.
• Villagers will tour in the UK in October. New album ‘The Art Of Pretending To Swim’ is out in September.
• Sigrid has announced UK tour dates for November, finishing with a Brixton Academy show on 12 Nov. She’s also released new track ‘Focus (Demo)’.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ariana Grande | Columbia Live Stage | Father John Misty | Florence And Teh Machine | Foxing | Helena Hauff | Kanye West | Michael Jackson | Nick Cave | Nicki Minaj | Pusha T | Sigrid | Sony Pictures | They | Villagers | Years & Years
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 10:45 | By Andy Malt
Robbie Williams says World Cup middle finger wasn’t planned
And Finally Artist News Media
Robbie Williams has spoken about his World Cup opening ceremony performance. And, more specifically, the middle finger he flashed to the camera during it.
“I thought to myself it would be really important at these kind of things to not cause an international incident – and do you know what, I managed it”, he joked on ITV’s ‘This Morning.
Williams was criticised for accepting the booking to play the Russia hosted World Cup in the first place, of course. And although his hand gesture didn’t appear on the UK broadcast of his performance, it was seen by US viewers, causing broadcaster Fox to issue a hasty apology.
Asked if he regretted the finger incident, Williams said: “Yeah, of course. I can’t trust me, I cannot trust me. I don’t know what I’m going to do at any time. The plan was sing in key, don’t fall over. That was the plan, and 99% of the plan I pulled off”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Robbie Williams
Wednesday 20 June 2018, 10:05 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
CMU Approved
Three years on from her debut album, ‘Like Water Through Sand’, pianist Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch is set to release the follow-up, ‘Epoques’, through FatCat’s 130701 imprint on 13 Jul.
“Although the piano has always been a way of expressing how I feel and I wanted to create pieces that featured melodies, I [also] wanted to use the fact the piano is a percussive instrument that can handle strength, rhythm and force just as well as gentle, intimate playing”, she says of her latest work, which also blends violin, cello and electronics into the mix
“The ambivalence and tension between nature’s threat and beauty, strength and fragility, are all things I wanted to reflect”, she goes on. “Hence the contrast between solo piano or string duet and much thicker, electronic-heavy tracks, between organic and technological elements”.
Listen to the enthralling ‘Fracture Points’ from the album 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: Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
Tuesday 19 June 2018, 12:40 | By Chris Cooke
XXXTentacion killed in shooting incident
Artist News Legal Top Stories
Controversial rapper XXXTentacion – real name Jahseh Onfroy – was killed in a shooting yesterday. Police in Florida have confirmed that Onfroy died after being attacked outside a motor sports dealership in Deerfield Beach near Miami. He was 20 years old.
According to reports, Onfroy was approached by two armed men as he left the dealership. At least one of the men fired multiple shots at the rapper before fleeing the scene. The men seemingly took a Louis Vuitton bag from Onfroy’s vehicle as they fled, leading to speculation the motivation for the attack may have been robbery.
Onfroy initially built a fanbase for his music by posting tracks on SoundCloud, resulting in plenty of interest in him as an artist within the music industry. He subsequently allied with buzzy San Francisco-based label and distribution firm Empire to release an album and mixtape, before entering into a deal with Universal’s Caroline to work on future releases.
Along the way Onfroy frequently courted controversy, those controversies sometimes helping his career, and other times hindering it. Among various run ins with the law were allegations he assaulted a pregnant woman. It was the latter that likely resulted in Spotify deciding to remove XXXTentacion tracks from its playlists when it introduced its controversial hateful conduct policy last month.
Nevertheless, fans of Onfroy’s output – which included plenty of other artists – had high hopes for his long-term career. Many of those people paid tribute yesterday as news of the homicide was confirmed.
Among them was Diplo, who revealed on Instagram that he had hoped to work with the rapper on his next album. Diplo wrote: “This kid was a genius – a true artist. He made his own rules. He has his faults, but he was young and he worked so hard on his own self. He wanted to be better”.
The producer went on: “He texted me this weekend [that] it was one of his goals to get me and Skrillex to finish his next album. I invited him to LA this week. I was wondering if he was gonna come. He was gonna do so much more, he promised me”.
Meanwhile Kanye West stated on Twitter: “Rest in peace. I never told you how much you inspired me when you were here. Thank you for existing”.
A statement from Universal’s Caroline said that everyone working for the company “is shocked to learn of the tragic death of Jahseh Onfroy, professionally known as XXXTentacion. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones”.
More details on the police investigation into the shooting are expected in due course.
READ MORE ABOUT: XXXTentacion
Tuesday 19 June 2018, 12:37 | By CMU Editorial
Warner announces launch of Elektra Music Group
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers
Warner Music has announced plans to launch a new label group in the US employing its Elektra brand. The Elektra Label Group will open for business in October. Among the labels under the new umbrella will be Elektra, Fueled By Ramen, Roadrunner, Low Country Sound and Black Cement Records.
The group will launch with 60 staff, largely pulled in from those existing labels, although with some new hires too. It will be jointly headed up by Mike Easterlin – currently President of Fueled By Ramen and Roadrunner – and Elektra president Gregg Nadel. They will report to Atlantic Records Group CEO Craig Kallman and COO Julie Greenwald.
“Elektra Music Group will be 100% dedicated to developing the careers of authentic artists and helping them realise their visions”, say Easterlin and Nadel in a joint statement. “The company will embody the same independent spirit that is at the root of each of our core labels. Elektra, Fueled By Ramen, Roadrunner, Low Country Sound and Black Cement were all founded by entrepreneurs who did it for the love of the music and a belief in their artists, and that philosophy will remain the driving force behind everything we do”.
Liking the look of a joint statement, Greenwald and Kallman add: “The birth of Elektra Music Group is all about creating opportunity for artists. It opens up a new door to bring more game-changing talent into the WMG family, while giving them the personal attention that is our hallmark”.
Willing to share his statement with no man, woman or beast, the overall CEO of the WMG’s recordings division, your main man Max Lousada, yelps: “Our whole approach is to create environments that give artists and entrepreneurs the freedom and support to pioneer the future of music”.
Good stuff. He further yelps: “From the outset, Elektra Music Group will be a dynamic community of credible artists and distinctive label cultures. Gregg and Mike are a dream leadership team, able to combine adventurous A&R, bespoke artist development, and full-force global marketing. It feels great to be bringing back the iconic Elektra brand as a major, stand-alone company for the first time in fifteen years”.
Originally founded in 1950, Elektra was absorbed into Warner’s Atlantic division in 2004. It was revived as an Atlantic imprint in 2009 and has been run by Nadel since 2015.
READ MORE ABOUT: Elektra | Gregg Nadel | Mike Easterlin
Tuesday 19 June 2018, 12:32 | By Chris Cooke
New YouTube Music service launches in the UK
Business News Digital
YouTube has launched is new-fangled super-duper all-singing all-dancing all-embracing dynamically-adapting recommendation-offering ground-breaking agenda-setting awe-inspiring will-all-you-music-people-promise-to-shut-up-with-your-relentless-fucking-moaning-now premium music service in the UK. Woo!
As you all surely remember, YouTube’s standalone streaming music service – which is different to all the music already streaming on YouTube, and the Google Play streaming service, and the YouTube Premium service that was called YouTube Red but is now called YouTube Premium – launched in five markets last month. Come on, you definitely remember that. Everyone was very excited. No one was very confused.
Well, YouTube Music has now gone live in twelve other countries, including the UK. It means that YouTube subscribers – rather than just using the video site for lots of freebie music – can now choose to pay for an ad-free music experience with the extra kind of functionality you’d expect from a more conventional music streaming platform.
Although YouTube Music initially went live in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea last month, access to the new service was actually rolled out to users on a gradual basis. As the service was turned on in twelve new countries yesterday, it was also announced that all users in those five markets could now access it.
YouTube Premium, the wider subscription offer that allows users to turn ads off across the entire YouTube platform, and access some extra video content, is also now live in those seventeen countries, including the UK. YouTube Premium replaces the existing YouTube Red subscription service where that was already available.
Whether YouTube can persuade people to pay to access content on its platform and via its apps is debatable, given how ingrained it is that the video site is a free service. Take up of YouTube Red in the markets where it was available was seemingly pretty modest. But now that the paid-for services are being more widely launched, we’ll see I guess.
On the music side, the new premium package is in part an attempt to placate YouTube’s many critics in the music industry, who have accused the video site of hindering the growth of the wider digital music market, and who want copyright law rewritten so to force the Google company into paying higher royalties across the board.
The major record companies have been somewhat less vocal in their YouTube bashing since the specifics of the new premium music service were finalised.
Though there are still plenty of critics in the wider music community. And YouTube’s long-term relationship with the music industry depends very much on whether it can quickly turn a decent number of its freebie users into paying music streamers, but without stealing too many subscribers from Apple Music and Spotify. Watch this space.
READ MORE ABOUT: YouTube
Tuesday 19 June 2018, 12:28 | By CMU Editorial
Digital Dollar masterclass will help explain five developing music business news stories
Business News Digital Education & Events
CMU Insights presents its ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ masterclass in London next month. This half-day training course is based on the three years of research CMU Insights has undertaken for the Music Managers Forum on the streaming music business.
The session explains the deals done between the music industry and streaming services like Spotify, also providing the background information you need about copyright law, record contracts, publishing contracts and collective licensing for those deals to make sense. It then explains how digital royalties are calculated and paid each month, before running through some of the big issues and debates around streaming.
Ahead of the session, CMU Insights has published a new blog post running through the top five current music business news stories that are much easier to follow once you have some ‘Digital Dollar’ knowledge to fall back on.
Truly understanding those five developing stories – which include the Spotify share sale profits, Spotify’s rumoured artist deals, the stat fiddling allegations made against Tidal, the Music Modernization Act and article thirteen of the European Copyright Directive – requires understanding some copyright law, the streaming deals and the way digital royalties are processed. Which are all things that will be explained in detail at the ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ masterclass.
Check the blog post here. The masterclass takes place on Monday 2 Jul at the London HQ of Lewis Silkin. Tickets are just £79 and are available here. MMF members can get in for £50 by using the discount code that the organisation has distributed.
READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights
Tuesday 19 June 2018, 12:27 | By Andy Malt
Dr Dre developing Marvin Gaye biopic
Artist News Business News Media
Dr Dre is developing a new Marvin Gaye biopic, which will be the first film about the singer to have the authorisation of his estate.
They should ask Pharrell to write the soundtrack. Except that – according to Variety – while the movie project is still in its early stages, the rights to use Gaye’s own music have already been secured. So maybe the film won’t need an original soundtrack. If, indeed, a Pharrell soundtrack would count as ‘original’.
Anyway, it’s not clear what portion of Gaye’s life the film will focus on, but it is the latest in a long line of attempts to make a movie about the musician’s life. The only other project to receive the approval of the Gaye estate was a TV series led by Jamie Foxx, which was announced in 2016 but is yet to see the light of day.
Foxx said that his project would be “a powerful and definitive telling of Marvin Gaye’s life story”, so that’s the bar Dre needs to aim for.
Dre has worked in film before, of course, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. His most recent project was NWA biopic ‘Straight Outta Compton’.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dr Dre | Marvin Gaye
Tuesday 19 June 2018, 12:22 | By Andy Malt
Beyonce and Jay-Z end Tidal exclusive on new album
Artist News Business News Digital Releases
While they may be stubbornly holding back their most recent solo albums from all streaming services other than Tidal, Beyonce and Jay-Z have already given up on the exclusivity for their new joint album ‘Everything Is Love’.
The new record is now available to subscribers on Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, and on Spotify and Deezer’s premium tiers. It will reportedly be available to ad-funded Spotify users in two weeks’ time, meaning they are employing the standard two week premium-only window option added into Spotify’s most recent label deals.
On one track on the album, ‘NICE’, Beyonce raps: “Patiently waiting for my demise cause my success can’t be quantified, if I gave two fucks about streaming numbers woulda put ‘Lemonade’ up on Spotify”. Good rhyme there, good rhyme.
But while ‘Lemonade’ is still only available to stream via the family business, Beyonce is already promoting ‘Everything Is Love’ – which is listed as being by The Carters – via her Spotify profile. Jay-Z’s largely dormant Spotify profile remains largely dormant, though.
The new album was surprised released on Saturday as Jay-Z and Beyonce performed the final show of their UK tour at the London Stadium.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beyonce | Jay-Z
