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Friday 26 October 2018, 12:23 | By Chris Cooke
Judge declines summary judgement in dispute over Kendrick Lamar video
Artist News Legal
Kendrick Lamar has experienced a setback in a legal battle with visual artist Lina Iris Viktor relating to a copyright dispute over images that appeared in the video to ‘All The Stars’, his collaboration with SZA that featured on the ‘Black Panther’ soundtrack.
Viktor argues that Lamar and his associates infringed her copyrights by incorporating some of her distinctive artworks into a nineteen second segment of the pop promo. This despite her repeatedly refusing to grant permission to Disney and Marvel to incorporate the visuals into the ‘Black Panther’ movie itself.
The artist sued in February, and then in July legal reps for Lamar filed a motion to have some elements of the lawsuit dismissed. That motion related to Viktor’s demands for damages and some complexities around how any such damages might be calculated.
Viktor is not eligible for the statutory damages that can usually be sought in American infringement cases because, despite being based in New York, her artworks were not registered with the US Copyright Office at the time of the alleged infringement.
Instead she is seeking the profits Lamar et al made from the infringement and compensation for the reputation damage Viktor suffered by having her artworks included in the music video. But Lamar’s lawyers were hoping to have both those claims dismissed through summary judgement on the basis there’s no way to link Viktor’s artwork to the profits made by ‘All The Stars’ and no proof that the video damaged the artist’s reputation.
The judge overseeing the case this week agreed that Viktor still needed to prove both the link between the use of her visuals and the monies Lamar’s track generated and that the music video had damaged her reputation. However, he said that it would be wrong to reject Viktor’s claims at this point when both sides are still gathering evidence.
Judge Paul A Engelmayer added that, in the previous cases that had been cited by Lamar’s lawyers in their arguments against Viktor’s claim for damages, judgements had only been reached after a “close review of a fully developed fact record”. With that in mind, “a similar approach” was required in this case, he said, “as opposed to granting summary judgment”.
And so the case continues.
READ MORE ABOUT: Kendrick Lamar | Lina Iris Viktor | SZA
Friday 26 October 2018, 12:21 | By Chris Cooke
BMG extends alliance with GEMA on digital licensing
Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers
BMG has announced that it is extending its long-term partnership with German collecting society GEMA for the digital licensing of its Anglo-American repertoire.
The bigger music publishers, including the majors, Kobalt and BMG, have long licensed their Anglo-American repertoires to multi-territory digital platforms on a direct basis in many countries, especially across Europe. Other indie publishers subsequently followed suit, initially via the IMPEL venture, and more recently – in some cases – through alliances with French society SACEM and copyright hub ICE.
Publishers work with collecting societies or similar organisations on these direct licensing deals, partly to tap those organisations’ data and royalty processing platforms, and partly because of the complexities around song rights.
The publishers want to provide licences that cover both the performing rights and the mechanical rights in the songs they publish – digital services exploiting both elements – but collecting societies rather than publishers often control the former. By being linked into the collective licensing system, the publisher is often able to bundle performing rights into their deals by ensuring that the resulting royalties still flow through the relevant societies.
BMG’s alliance with GEMA on all this – via a subsidiary of the society called ARESA – dates back to 2012. So far that entity has been licensing digital services in 38 European countries. Under the extended partnership, ARESA will now be able to license in 48 more territories. Companies ARESA already handles deals with include Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, YouTube and Facebook.
Confirming the expansion of his company’s alliance with GEMA, BMG top man Hartwig Masuch said: “Ensuring songwriters get the money they deserve in the streaming age is a simple concept but an incredibly complicated process. We are delighted to extend our relationship with GEMA through ARESA to make sure BMG’s writers continue to receive a world-class service”.
Boss of GEMA, Dr Harald Heker added: “For six years, GEMA has, together with BMG, been facilitating a transparent and efficient licensing process for Anglo-American music all over Europe. I am pleased that we continue this successful cooperation and now also expand it far beyond Europe’s borders. We have a strong partner in BMG in order to meet the challenges of digital music licensing and to develop up to date licensing models”.
GEMA is a shareholder in the aforementioned ICE – alongside UK society PRS and Swedish society STIM – and that joint venture also provides data services as part of BMG’s partnership with GEMA and ARESA.
READ MORE ABOUT: BMG | GEMA
Friday 26 October 2018, 12:19 | By Andy Malt
Ed Sheeran auctioning pants for charity
Artist News
Hey, you know how you’re always saying you wish you could wear a pair of Ed Sheeran’s pants? Yeah you are. You are! I definitely heard you say that a few times. Well, now there are no less than four pairs of his boxer shorts up for sale in a charity auction.
Sheeran has donated over 300 items to Suffolk charity St Elizabeth Hospice, to raise money for its Zest offshoot, which supports young people with terminal illnesses.
The charity says it’s “THRILLED” with the “generous” donation. Although looking through the catalogue, you can’t help feeling that the high number of items up for sale might be because the charity happened to call when Sheeran was half way through a major clear out.
I mean, there are quite a lot of old headphones – at least two sets of which came free with old iPhones – and a lot of old guitar leads. In fact, one lot is just a pile of various tangled up cables. Then there are the novelty hats, a 2015 Andrea Bocelli calendar and part of a clarinet.
That’s all before we even get to the four pairs of pants up for grabs, which may or may not have actually been worn. You can choose between black Next, black Primark, an Ibiza Rocks branded pair, or some that say “aka sexy bastard” on them.
There are some genuinely collectable items in the auction too, but it’ll be interesting to see if ‘being owned by Ed Sheeran’ is enough to make a novelty ‘shots trolley’ desirable. Auction house Bishop & Miller reckons it could go for as much as £120.
Anyway, the auction is set to take place on 10 Nov. You can take a look through everything that’s up for sale here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran
Friday 26 October 2018, 12:13 | By Andy Malt
Beastie Boys memoir audiobook to feature Steve Buscemi, Bette Midler, Snoop Dogg and many more
Artist News Releases
Beastie Boys Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz are set to release their autobiography next week, as you may remember. Already not your average music memoir, they’ve now announced details of the also out of the ordinary audiobook version.
It’s not just an audiobook. No, according to the press release, it’s “a panoramic audiobook experience”. I have absolutely no idea what that means, but it sounds like fun. But who will narrate it all? Well, who won’t is a more apt question, because as well as Diamond and Horovitz, a cast of more than 40 people will chip in.
That cast is as follows: Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows, Ada Calhoun, Bette Midler, Bobby Cannavale, Mix Master Mike, Exene Cervenka, Nas, Roy Choi, Yoshimi O, Jarvis Cocker, Rosie Perez, Elvis Costello, Amy Poehler, Chuck D, Kelly Reichardt, Nadia Dajani, John C Reilly, Snoop Dogg, Ian Rogers, Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, Crosby Fitzgerald, Rev Run, Randy Gardner, Luc Sante, Kim Gordon, Kate Schellenbach, Josh Hamilton, MC Serch, LL Cool J, Chloe Sevigny, Spike Jonze, Jon Stewart, Pat Kiernan, Ben Stiller, Talib Kweli, Wanda Sykes, Dave Macklovitch, Jeff Tweedy, Rachel Maddow, and Philippe Zdar.
The audiobook, along with the book itself, is not out until 30 Oct. However, if you can get to Rough Trade East in London today and over the weekend, you’ll be able to hear excerpts in store, as part of a three day Beastie Boys takeover of the record shop.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beastie Boys
Friday 26 October 2018, 12:11 | By Andy Malt
Steve Aoki releases BTS collaboration, Waste It On Me
Artist News Releases
Cake wasting dillweed Steve Aoki has teamed up with the world’s hottest boyband BTS for a new track. Not just that, he’s convinced them to record their first song entirely in English with him. ‘Waste It On Me’ – not a reference to cake – is out now, and will feature on Aoki’s collaboration-heavy new album ‘Neon Future III’.
“We’re happy for this meaningful and heart-felt collaboration”, say BTS in a statement. “The song is just so amazing, we really enjoyed working on it. It’s our first song that is entirely in English. It was refreshing and fun to record the song. We hope this would be a good present for our fans”.
Aoki adds: “I’m so psyched to share this collaboration with one of the most exciting and inspiring group of guys I’ve met in the past few years. It’s an absolute honour to work with them once again on ‘Waste It On Me.’ I can’t wait for my fans to hear what’s in store for them next on this third instalment of ‘Neon Future'”.
The previous time he worked with BTS, which he referenced there, was when he remixed their track ‘Mic Drop’ last year.
‘Neon Future III’ is out on 9 Nov and ‘Waste It On Me’ is out at this very moment. Here’s the lyric video:
I mentioned above that ‘Neon Future III’, like all of Aoki’s albums, would be heavy on collaborations. Well, here’s the full tracklist, so you know I’m not lying. You can work out for yourself what the difference is between co-headlining, featuring and X-ing.
Steve Aoki – Neon Future III (Intro)
Steve Aoki & Louis Tomlinson – Just Hold On
Steve Aoki – Waste It On Me feat BTS
Steve Aoki & Nicky Romero – Be Somebody ft Kiiara
Steve Aoki – Pretender feat Lil Yachty & AJR
Steve Aoki – A Lover And A Memory feat Mike Posner
Steve Aoki – Why Are We So Broken feat Blink 182
Steve Aoki – Golden Days feat Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World
Steve Aoki – Our Love Glows feat Lady Antebellum
Steve Aoki – Anything More feat Era Istrefi
Steve Aoki x Lauren Jauregui – All Night
Steve Aoki – Do Not Disturb feat Bella Thorne
Steve Aoki – Lie To Me feat Ina Wroldsen
Steve Aoki, Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz & Elvis Crespo – Azukita
Steve Aoki & TWIIG – Hoovela
Steve Aoki & Don Diablo x Lush & Simon – What We Started feat BullySongs
Steve Aoki – Noble Gas feat Bill Nye
READ MORE ABOUT: BTS | Steve Aoki
Friday 26 October 2018, 12:08 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: AEG, Universal, Black Eyed Peas, more
Artist News Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Tom Miserendino has announced that he will retire as Head of AEG’s European operations at the end of the year. Alex Hill, currently AEG Europe’s COO and CFO, will replace him. “I am very confident that AEG’s best days continue to lie ahead”, says Miserendino optimistically.
• Universal Music has made Jaime Weston its Executive Vice President of Consumer Marketing. She joins from the NFL. “There is nothing more unifying today than the emotional power of music”, she says, getting started with the marketing right away.
• Black Eyed Peas have released an augmented reality app, which will work at shows on their upcoming European tour, starting at London’s Hammersmith Apollo tomorrow night.
• Little Mix have released the video for new single ‘Woman Like Me’. Nicki Minaj appears as a portrait.
• Former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has released a new solo track, ‘Baby You’re A Haunted House’.
• Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has released his first new solo single for nearly a decade, titled ‘First World Problems’. He will release a new album, ‘Ripples’, on 1 Mar.
• Billie Eilish has released the video for new single ‘When The Party’s Over’.
• Slow Club’s Rebecca Taylor, in her solo Self Esteem guise, has released the video for new single ‘Rollout’.
• Demdike Stare have released new EP ‘Passion’. From it, this is ‘At It Again’.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: AEG | Billie Eilish | Black Eyed Peas | Demdike Stare | Gerard Way | Ian Brown | Jaime Weston | Little Mix | Nicki Minaj | Self Esteem | Tom Miserendino | Universal Music
Friday 26 October 2018, 11:55 | By Andy Malt
Beef Of The Week #427: Richard Ashcroft v Breakfast TV etiquette
And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Media
Breakfast TV serves a very specific purpose. It needs to appear to be providing the viewer with a range of interesting insights into topics from politics to entertainment. However, it’s very important that it actually provides almost no stimulation whatsoever.
It should send people out into their commutes and working days like calm blocks of ice, floating around gently, slowly thawing into their true state as the morning progresses. Life outside those few moments with your TV in the morning is stimulating enough, why enter that outside world already agitated and with thoughts racing?
Of course, sometimes this convention is broken. Due to a clerical error, ITV has accidentally been putting Piers Morgan on its early morning TV show ‘Good Morning Britain’ for three years now, ensuring plenty of unnecessary stimulation, and not the good kind either. And then there was that whole thing in the 90s with ‘The Big Breakfast’ on Channel 4.
BBC One has the formula done to a T though. To the point that on its HD channel, the local news slots are replaced by distant crowd noise and the sound of waves. Sure, they claim this is due to some technical reason, but I really think it’s better.
However, the BBC can’t always be a haven of calm, even if that’s the format the programme strives for. Because it insists on having guests pop in to talk about all the uninteresting things they’ve been up to. And this week saw the most rousing ‘BBC Breakfast’ interview since that time Kevin Hart came on to promote ‘Ride Along’ nearly five years ago.
Yesterday, former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft appeared in order to promote his new album and tour dates. Well I assume that was the purpose. It was quite a chaotic interview.
He started by informing any children watching that, as it is currently half term, they should “stop eating those grapes – and any other cereal”. So that’s already turned the world upside down. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, of course, and even during school holidays. And also, grapes aren’t cereal.
Whatever, with that message delivered, Ashcroft announced that the interview could commence. So, co-host Naga Munchetty asked what he was doing wearing sunglasses indoors first thing in the morning. He gave the obvious answer – that it was religious attire.
“I am the only one on the couch who can wear sunglasses right now”, he said. “And also”, he went on, “when music becomes almost a religion – rock n roll is like a religion – don’t ever question one of the key attributes. And it’s very early”.
He returned to this theme later, after the programme had broken away to a clip. Returning to the studio, Ashcroft appeared now lying across the sofa, seemingly mid-flow, explaining: “We’ve been on the nightshift in the music industry for a while, as you’d imagine. So another great thing about the glasses is, I can cover up the fact that I’m getting a bit Nancy Reagan at the moment under here at this time of the day. Seriously. I need an iron on these”.
The show’s other host, Charlie Stayt, added that he wouldn’t be able to pull off a polo neck, like Ashcroft was. “Exactly”, the musician agreed. “Well, sometimes life feels like ‘The Truman Show'”, he went on, climbing over the back of the sofa.
Arms outstretched, he walked up to a screen showing the Manchester skyline on the backdrop behind the sofa. “I just want to say hello to Manchester”, he announced, before walking into the screen, proclaiming: “It is ‘The Truman Show’!”
I think the screen is supposed to look like a window. Maybe Ashcroft just isn’t aware of how windows work. Actually, he was just trying to bring the interview around to his new album, ‘Natural Rebel’, possibly concerned that the entire conversation was going to be about this outfit. “[The album is] about breaking the order of things”, he explained.
“This is your new album”, said Munchetty, playing along, “which has been critically received very, very nicely”.
“Has it?!” blurted Ashcroft. Then, remembering that he’d had more reviews than the one in the NME that caused him to burn an old copy of the magazine, he added: “Only by good looking people. I have never had a bad review off a good looking person”.
Next, in what appears to have been an attempt to get him to share some anecdotes about the good old days, Ashcroft was shown a picture of him headlining Glastonbury with The Verve all the way back in 2008.
Asked if he had happy memories of that time, he thought for a moment before agreeing that he did, but then he added that he felt that “the myth and the name [of Glastonbury] have grown to such a proportion that they sell out before they’ve even told people what the acts are”, admitting that he felt this had “taken away from the power of the music”.
“Is Glastonbury bigger than the acts now?” he asked. Before anyone could respond, he shrugged, “I don’t know”.
So, there you go, having agitated and excited everyone by putting his dirty shoes on a nice clean sofa and then lying down on it – not to mention all the other antics – he left everyone with a question to ponder. Quiet Ashcroft! There are no questions. Not first thing in the morning. No thinking in the morning, that’s the rule. Only the illusion of thinking.
This isn’t the first time Ashcroft has caused a stir on morning TV recently, of course. Last month, appearing on Sky Sports’ ‘Soccer AM’ – while he was climbing down off another sofa – one viewer noticed something fall out of his trouser leg, posting a video of this on Twitter.
Many, including the original poster, suggested that it was a small bag of illegal drugs. In a subsequent video on Instagram, informing “trolls on Twitter” that they were “on thin ice”, Ashcroft had a different explanation.
“My dad didn’t like litter and I don’t really like litter”, he said. “But it gets a bit preposterous in my pocket. In The Verve I was known as Columbo. So get your facts right”. I hope that cleared up all the facts. But if it didn’t, it’s alright, Ashcroft came up with a new explanation this week.
Speaking to LadBible, he said: “I don’t know how many national publications printed a picture that someone had sent in from online. It’s strange when you have been in the game this long that this idea would take place. But to see the effects of a doctored photograph by an individual, who we don’t know who it is. But believe you me, you are going to regret doing that, whoever you are”.
So, I think, after all of this, we can probably all agree that Richard Ashcroft should have his own breakfast TV show. Conventions be damned!
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | Richard Ashcroft
Friday 26 October 2018, 11:49 | By Paul Vig
Vigsy’s Club Tip: Drumcode Halloween 2018
Club Tip CMU Approved
Swedish techno superstar Adam Beyer brings his Drumcode label to the East side tomorrow. He’ll be setting up shop in the cavernous Tobacco Dock with plenty of his label mates for a Halloween shindig.
As well as Beyer himself, the line-up features: Alan Fitzpatrick, Bart Skils, Boxia, Charlotte De Witte, Dense & Pika, Enrico Sangiuliano, Ida Engberg, Layton Giordani, Marcel Fengler, Marco Faraone, Nicole Moudaber, Paco Osuna and Slam.
Should be spooktacular! Yeah, I said it.
Saturday 27 Oct, Tobacco Dock, The Dock, Tobacco Quay, Wapping Lane, London, E1W 2SF, 12pm-11.30pm, £49.50. More info here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Adam Beyer | Drumcode
Friday 26 October 2018, 08:23 | By Andy Malt
Setlist: Business streaming, Distrokid, Fender
Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Setlist
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last seven days, including new research on how much money the music industry is losing to businesses illegally using personal streaming services, Spotify buddying up with digital distribution set-up Distrokid, and new research that shows that half of new guitar players are women. Setlist is sponsored by 7digital.
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Acast | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | Deezer | Google Play | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | SoundCloud | Spotify | Spreaker | Stitcher | TuneIn
Stories discussed this week:
• The music industry is losing $2.65 billion as businesses fail to stream properly, study finds
• Spotify partners with DistroKid on direct upload, takes stake in the company
• Half of new guitar players in the UK and US are women
Also mentioned:
• MMA signed into law, and then Kanye West waffled
Upcoming events:
• The Mechanics Of Music Management
• Urban Developement Industry Takeover All-Dayer
READ MORE ABOUT: DistroKid | Fender | Kanye West | Music Modernization Act | Soundtrack Your Brand | Spotify
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:36 | By Andy Malt
Chris Evans sees his audience dip as Radio 2 tenure comes to an end
Business News Media
In the latest round of RAJAR listening figures for UK radio, Chris Evans – fresh from announcing his plans to leave BBC Radio 2 – has seen his audience slide by half a million year-on-year. Although, with 8.9 million weekly listeners, the show still remains the UK’s most popular breakfast show.
The dip in listeners – down from 9.4 million in the same three month period last year – coincides with an overall drop for Radio 2. Indeed, the station has seen weekly listener numbers drop to their lowest level for six years – falling to 14.6 million, compared to 15.4 million last year. Like Evans, though, it still remains the most popular in the UK.
“I’m proud that BBC Radio 2 remains the most listened to radio station in the UK, with 14.64 million listeners each week”, says Head Of Radio 2 Lewis Carnie, pleased to have something to brag about despite the declines.
Most of the period covered by the latest RAJARS – July to September – was over before Evans announced his decision to leave Radio 2 to join Virgin Radio, so the dip can’t really be attributed to that. The next two quarters will be closely scrutinised, though, before Evans broadcasts his final show for the BBC station at the end of the year and Zoe Ball takes over the slot in January.
The pressure to maintain that top-of-the-table position will be stronger for Radio 2 and Ball. While Evans is clearly being brought in at Virgin Radio to boost its listener numbers, the station is currently pulling in just above 400,000 (and is also down nearly 150,000 on the same period last year). There will be hopes that he can bring some of those Radio 2 listeners with him, but I don’t think anyone is expecting them to shift in their millions.
Over on BBC Radio 1, the breakfast show there pretty much maintained its audience, despite a switch in presenters from Nick Grimshaw to Greg James midway though the quarter. As well as the change in presenter, Radio 1 has also reduced the main breakfast show to Monday to Thursday, extending the weekend schedule into Friday.
Although not challenging either of those stations in terms of overall numbers, various other breakfast shows saw a boost in listeners during the last quarter, including BBC Radio 5 Live, Absolute Radio, and Radio X.
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC Radio 1 | BBC Radio 2 | Chris Evans | Greg James | Nick Grimshaw | RAJAR
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:32 | By Chris Cooke
Spotify takes playlist pitching tool out of beta
Business News Digital
Spotify yesterday announced that its playlist pitching tool for DIY artists is now out of beta. The streaming firm first added the tool to its Spotify For Artists website back in July.
A post on the Spotify For Artists website declared: “A few months ago, we unveiled a beta feature … that gives artists, labels, and teams the ability to share new music directly with our editorial team for playlist consideration. Since the feature became available in July more than 67,000 artists and labels have submitted music and now we’re excited to announce our playlist submission feature is officially out of beta”.
The tool aims to level the playing field a little for grassroots artists who don’t have labels or distributors with personal contacts among the teams that curate the Spotify-owned playlists. Those playlists, of course, drive lots of listening and discovery on the Spotify platform.
With thousands of artists and labels pushing new music through the pitching tool, you’d be forgiven for wondering just how many DIY artists could genuinely benefit. However, “since the beta began”, the streaming company insists, “over 10,000 artists have been added to Spotify editorial playlists for the first time connecting their music with thousands of new fans”. And isn’t that swell?
And even for those artists not selected for some playlist love, there’s a consolation prize. “While we can’t guarantee [a playlist spot] for every artist every time”, the blog post explains, “what’s especially great about this new tool is, whether your new song is featured in an editorial playlist or not, it’ll always show up in all of your followers’ Release Radar playlists”.
Oh, and there’s more! “Plus the additional metadata you provide when you upload it will help us recommend it to potential new fans for years to come”.
Super swell. Of course, away from all the swellness, tools like this and the still-in-beta widget for directly uploading music into Spotify’s system all contribute to the narrative of the streaming giant reducing the importance of labels and distributors in the digital supply chain.
That is a narrative you may or may not choose to buy into. We’re about to launch a tool where you’ll be able to pitch arguments for and against the theory.
READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:31 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Kills Birds
CMU Approved
Nina Ljeti and Jacob Loeb began writing songs together because they wanted to vent to each other, rather than anyone else. Actually letting people hear their music was an idea that came later. That feeling of just getting something out comes across powerfully in their debut single, ‘Worthy Girl’.
“Kills Birds started because Jacob and I wanted an outlet from all the frustrations we were feeling as artists in Los Angeles”, says Ljeti. “It was just something we did together organically – we’d meet up at each other’s apartments and write these funny songs that felt like little secrets. Getting Bosh [Rothman, drums] and Fielder [Thomas, bass] on board came out of a desire to just hear our music our loud. Everything else came after that”.
The band have an album recorded, put to tape by producer Justin Raisen (Charli XCX, Angel Olsen, Kim Gordon), in the space of eight hours. He explains: “The moment I heard their music I was like a magnet to the stage’s front. I looked up at Nina mesmerized by her absence. She wasn’t with me. She had gone somewhere else outside of herself. I rarely see that anymore – artist’s truly losing themselves. It was refreshing … I knew then I wanted to work with this band”.
“I spoke with Nina after the show and we exchanged phone numbers”, he goes on. “It felt like I just traded numbers with Kurt Cobain or something. After some thought, I proposed to the band recording a whole LP live in my studio behind my house (one room, no isolation) and added it was the only way I was interested in doing it. A few months later this took place. Drums, bass, guitar and vocals bleeding into each other in one room all together was the only way I felt I could try to recapture what I experienced while seeing them live. For me, it was the only way”.
Listen to ‘Worthy Girl’ 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: Kills Birds
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:28 | By Andy Malt
Justin Timberlake postpones New York show at the last minute
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Justin Timberlake cancelled a performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden yesterday, just hours before show time. He told fans that he’d been advised not to sing after damaging his vocal chords.
In a post on Instagram, he wrote: “I’m sorry to announce I have to postpone the show at MSG tonight on doctor’s orders. My vocal chords are severely bruised. I’m gonna make this up to you and the new show will be on my birthday, 31 Jan … Again, I’m so sorry to do this, but excited to see you soon”.
Timberlake performed at the venue on Monday, with a show that had been postponed from March, when it was pulled due to poor weather conditions. Madison Square Garden has said that tickets for last night’s show will be valid at the new January date.
READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Timberlake
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:27 | By Andy Malt
John Williams pulls out of Royal Albert Hall performance
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
John Williams has pulled out of a concert celebrating his career as a soundtrack composer at the Royal Albert Hall this Friday. The venue cited a “last minute illness” and said that Dirk Brossé would conduct the London Symphony Orchestra for the show instead.
In a statement, Williams’ management said: “John is so sorry that an illness prevents him from conducting Friday’s concert, and he’s grateful to his friend Maestro Dirk Brossé for taking the podium in his place. He so wishes he could be with everyone, and the knowledge that 5000 of his friends will be joining together to celebrate his music is a great comfort to him as he recovers. He wishes everyone a very joyous evening of music”.
Williams had also been scheduled to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at two shows in Austria early next month. Those performances have been cancelled entirely.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dirk Brossé | John Williams
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:22 | By Andy Malt
The Good, The Bad And The Queen return with Brexit-themed second album
Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases
The Good, The Bad And The Queen – aka Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong – have announced that they will release new album, ‘Merrie Land’, on 16 Nov.
Coming eleven years after their debut LP, ‘Merrie Land’ is produced by Tony Visconti and features ten song that muse on Britishness in response to the UK’s plans to depart the European Union.
You can listen to the title track here:
The band will also be heading out on a tour of the UK (well, mainly one venue in London) in December. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Here are the dates:
1 Nov: Blackpool, The North Pier
2 Dec: Glasgow, SWG3
4 Dec: London, Hackney Arts Centre
5 Dec: London, Hackney Arts Centre
6 Dec: London, Hackney Arts Centre
READ MORE ABOUT: The Good The Bad And The Queen
Thursday 25 October 2018, 17:18 | By Andy Malt
Trevor Horn to release 80s covers album
Artist News Releases
Trevor Horn has announced that he will release a new album next year, titled ‘Trevor Horn Reimagines The 80s’. As you may have already guessed, it features covers of various songs from the 80s. Guest vocalists involved include Robbie Williams, Gabrielle Aplin, Seal and more.
“The best thing about making this album was all the fun and laughter that came from hanging out with musicians and artists that I haven’t seen for years”, says Horn.
As well as those various other artists, Horn himself provides vocals on a version of A-ha’s ‘Take On Me’. But Robbie Williams is the big draw here, so here’s his version of Tears For Fears’ ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’:
The album is out on 1 Feb. Here’s the full tracklist:
Everybody Wants To Rule The World (feat Robbie Williams)
Dancing In The Dark (feat Gabrielle Aplin)
Ashes To Ashes (feat Seal)
Girls On Film (feat All Saints)
The Power Of Love (feat Matt Cardle)
Brothers In Arms (feat Jim Kerr)
Different For Girls (feat Steve Hogarth)
Slave To The Rhythm (feat Rumer)
What’s Love Got To Do With It (feat Tony Hadley)
Owner Of A Lonely Heart
Take On Me
Blue Monday (feat Jimmy Wood)
READ MORE ABOUT: Gabrielle Aplin | Girls Aloud | Jim Kerr | Jimmy Wood | Matt Cardle | Robbie Williams | Rumer | Seal | Steve Hogarth | Tony Hadley | Trevor Horn
Thursday 25 October 2018, 16:57 | By Andy Malt
One Liners: White Lies, Liz, Hinds, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• White Lies have released new single ‘Believe It’. Their new album, ‘Five’, is due out on 1 Feb.
• Liz has released the video for her recent-ish single ‘Pandemonium’.
• Hinds have released the video for ‘British Minds’, from their latest album, ‘I Don’t Run’.
• TSVI has released the video for new single ‘Whirl’. His new album, ‘Inner Worlds’, is out on 9 Nov.
• David Allred has released another new track from his upcoming debut album, ‘The Transition’. Here’s Peter Broderick collaboration ‘The Mirror Of Time‘.
• Eric Clapton has announced that he will play three nights at the Royal Albert Hall in May. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.
• Juanita Stein have announced UK tour dates for November, including a show at London’s Courtyard Theatre on 23 Nov.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: David Allred | Eric Clapton | Hinds | Juanita Stein | Liz | Peter Broderick | TSVI | White Lies
Thursday 25 October 2018, 16:50 | By Andy Malt
Kanye looks to Grammys to certify rock star status
Artist News Awards
Kanye West has, on more than one occasion, proclaimed himself to be the world’s greatest rock star. Now he’s going for confirmation. He has reportedly submitted a track in two rock categories for next year’s Grammys.
‘Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)’ is taken from West’s album with Kid Cudi, ‘Kids See Ghosts’. According to TMZ, it has been submitted for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance. It’s apparently made it through the initial submissions process, and now just needs to gain enough support to make it onto the shortlists, which will be published in December.
West wouldn’t be the first non-traditional rock performer to receive a nomination in the rock categories. In 2017, Beyonce was nominated for Best Rock Performance for her song ‘Don’t Hurt Yourself’. That featured a bit of singing from Jack White, which probably helped. This year Leonard Cohen won that prize posthumously for ‘You Want It Darker’, whose status in rock was debated by many.
There are some things going for ‘Freeee’ too. It is quite rocky in sound and structure. And maybe this is the innovation some feel rock needs to embrace in order to survive. Also, if West was nominated, people would get really angry and upset. It’s funny when people get angry about awards, like they hold any significance whatsoever. And for that reason, I hope West wins everything.
Except I don’t think he’s entered every category, sadly. He has reportedly put himself up for Producer Of The Year though.
READ MORE ABOUT: Grammy Awards | Kanye West | Kid Cudi
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 11:12 | By Chris Cooke
Tracy Chapman sues Nicki Minaj over uncleared sample
Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
Tracy Chapman has sued Nicki Minaj over an uncleared sample on a track originally intended to appear on the latter’s recent album ‘Queen’. Although the track was dropped from the LP, presumably because of licensing issues related to the sample, it’s alleged that Minaj’s people nevertheless leaked the record to a US radio DJ who then played it on air. Fans then grabbed the track from the broadcast and shared it online.
Back in August, Minaj revealed on Twitter that she’d discovered – somewhat late in the day – that a track on ‘Queen’, featuring “one of the greatest rappers of all time”, also included a sneaky sample taken from one of Chapman’s records.
Licensing that sample was proving tricky, so Minaj asked her Twitter followers whether she should delay the release of the album, to see if a deal could be done with Chapman’s people, or if she should just release it anyway without that particular track.
Presumably hoping that there might be a third option – ie that she could personally persuade Chapman to green light the sample in a speedy fashion – Minaj also tweeted: “Tracy Chapman, can you please hit me?”
‘Queen’ was subsequently released without the Chapman sampling track. But, it seems, that track did find its way to Funkmaster Flex on New York radio station Hot 97. Before playing the record, he told his listeners via the socials that Minaj “gave me something”.
The offending Minaj track is called ‘Sorry’ and the sample comes from Chapman’s 1988 song ‘Baby Can I Hold You’. In legal papers filed with the Californian courts earlier this week, attorneys for Chapman wrote: “This action is necessary to redress [Minaj’s] disregard and wilful infringement of Chapman’s rights under the Copyright Act, and to ensure that her misconduct is not repeated”.
According to the lawsuit, Minaj’s people did indeed try to license the ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ sample earlier this summer, but they were told that Chapman has a blanket rule that she doesn’t clear samples of her music. It seems that at least someone of Minaj’s team was already aware of this, because one email from a representative of the rapper actually asks whether Chapman is still on the “do not sample or interpolate list”.
Discovering that she was indeed still on that list, Minaj’s manager then reportedly tried to get a meeting between his client and Chapman, hoping that the rapper might be able to persuade her fellow music maker to clear a sample just this once. No such meeting took place though and, say Chapman’s team, they “repeatedly” denied a request for a sample licence.
The lawsuit alleges that it was Minaj, or someone on her team, who then provided a copy of ‘Sorry’ to Funkmaster Flex – real name Aston George Taylor Jr – which, of course, is something the DJ himself claimed on social media.
“Taylor played the infringing work on air on his radio show on Hot 97 on the evening of 11 Aug 2018”, Chapman’s lawsuit alleges, according to Law360. “After Taylor played the infringing work, many internet users reproduced the infringing work, and published it on several different websites. As a result of [Minaj’s] actions, the infringing work is available through multiple websites hosted by internet service providers all over the world”.
Confirming that his client has now sued over the sample, Chapman’s longtime lawyer Lee Phillips told Rolling Stone: “Tracy Chapman very much protects her rights and she has a right to deny a licence when requested. There’s no question that this is infringement. If you ask what Nicki Minaj’s defence is going to be, we have no idea”.
The lawsuit seeks to stop any further distribution of ‘Sorry’, while also seeking damages and any profits made through the airing of the record.
READ MORE ABOUT: Funkmaster Flex | Nicki Minaj | Tracy Chapman
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke
UK government considers simplifying anti-piracy web-blocks
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal
The UK government’s Intellectual Property Office has announced that it is looking into simplifying the process for instigating web-blocks against copyright infringing websites.
Web-blocking is, of course, a preferred anti-piracy tactic of the entertainment industry. Rights owners secure injunctions that force internet service providers to block their customers from accessing piracy websites. The blockades are usually pretty easy to circumvent, but copyright owners reckon they are nevertheless a useful tactic in the wider battle against online piracy.
Whether web-blocking is an option in any one country will depend on the local copyright regime. In some countries copyright law has been amended to allow web-blocks. In others, like the UK, the courts decided that they had the power to instigate blockades against copyright infringing websites under existing laws.
The actual process for securing a web-block also varies from country to country. Usually web-blocks are issued by a court of law and therefore some kind of legal proceedings will be required first. However, some countries have looked into simplifying the process so that a government agency has web-blocking powers. Such a system is sometimes referred to as “administrative site blocking”.
In a statement on Monday, the IPO confirmed that the UK government was now considering “the evidence for and potential impact of administrative site blocking – as opposed to requiring a high court injunction in every case – as well as identifying the mechanisms through which administrative site blocking could be introduced”.
The creation of some sort of web-blocking agency was proposed earlier this year in Canada where some leading ISPs have been promoting web-blocks as a practical anti-piracy tool. That would have involved the creation of an Independent Piracy Review Agency that would manage a list of piracy websites that should be blocked. It would report into the country’s Federal Court of Appeal, but would have administrative blocking powers at first instance.
Those proposals were considered by Canada’s media and telecommunications regulator CRTC, but earlier this month it decided that it didn’t have the power to instigate such an agency under existing telecoms laws. However, the ISPs behind the proposal are now floating something similar as part of the Canadian’s governments ongoing review of copyright law in the country.
Back in the UK, it will be interesting to see whether the IPO concludes that new laws will be required to allow web-blocking without a court order. Opponents of web-blocking argue that government agencies shouldn’t have such powers, because that power could be abused without judicial oversight.
However, even with administrative site blocking there would usually be a route of appeal for targeted sites. Plus, most of the time when web-blocking injunctions are sought through the courts, targeted sites make no effort to defend themselves, their liability for copyright infringement of one form or another usually being pretty uncontroversial.
The IPO’s announcement on possibly simplifying the web-blocking process in the UK came as part of a wider statement on the sale of internet TV devices that come preloaded with apps that provide easy access to unlicensed streaming content. The sale of such devices has become the top piracy gripe of late for the TV and sports industries in the UK.
The government’s IP minister, Sam Gyimah, said that he thought recent successful prosecutions of individuals involved in the supply of such devices was proof that current laws could deal with the problem. However, he said that further education, of both the public and trading standards officers, would be pursued, in addition to considering new anti-piracy measures like the administrative site blocking.
READ MORE ABOUT: Intellectual Property Office (IPO) | web-blocking
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 11:06 | By Andy Malt
Beastie Boys unveil limited edition Sonos speaker
Artist News Brands & Merch
The famously brand partnership resistant Beastie Boys have announced a brand partnership with Sonos. They’ve collaborated with artist Barry McGee on a limited edition Sonos Play:5 speaker. All proceeds will go to charity.
“It’s no coincidence that the first song ever played out loud on a Sonos was ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn'”, says the company’s Global Head Of Music, Brian Beck. “Beastie Boys are a revered and inspirational force in music, with a legacy we are incredibly grateful to support through this exclusive collaboration, celebrating the work and philosophies we respect enormously”.
The band’s Michael Diamond adds: “When I grew up in New York, we’d discover new music anywhere from a DJ in a club, to a boombox in the street or subway, or a taxi driver’s radio – all of which involved leaving the house”.
“These days”, he goes on, “with help from Sonos, you can access all the music you want at any time and in the highest fidelity, in your bathrobe and slippers, or your finest silk smoking jacket. Whatever you’re wearing, we look forward to hopefully turning you on to our custom-curated playlists – and thanks to Barry McGee, the source of the sounds will look just as sweet”.
Diamond and the other surviving member of the group, Adam Horovitz, are also set to release their long-awaited memoir next week. With a launch event at East London’s EartH venue on 30 Nov already sold out, they have just announced another at The Forum in Kentish Town on 29 Nov. There will also be a signing at Waterstones Piccadilly on 1 Dec.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beastie Boys | Sonos
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 11:03 | By Andy Malt
Sinead O’Connor appears on song commemorating centenary of Armistice Day
Artist News Releases
Sinead O’Connor, the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason have all contributed to a new song called ‘One More Yard’. The song features on a new EP commemorating the centenary of the end of the First World War.
The release is part of a project called Evamore, which was conceived by scientific entrepreneur Chris Evans after he noted the similarity between how young people with cancer write about their diagnosis and treatment and the letters young soldiers wrote home from the war. The finished EP will also feature spoken word contributions by actor Cillian Murphy and new music by Brian Eno.
“As we approach the centenary of Armistice Day, the sacrifice of all those young soldiers 100 years ago will be rightly honoured across the world”, says Evans. “I feel exceptionally privileged that some of the greatest names in rock music and wonderful actors feel they too want to contribute and pay tribute to these outstanding young men through our music and words and, at the same time, help raise awareness of the challenges so many young people of today face in dealing with the dreadful disease that is cancer”.
The EP’s producer John Reynolds adds: “The outstanding lead vocal of Sinead O’Connor and the craftsmanship of fellow artists combine to make ‘One More Yard’ a very fitting tribute to these young men as we approach the centenary of Armistice Day. The artists have taken great pride in getting involved and shown real humility and sensitivity”.
Listen to ‘One More Yard’ here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Brian Eno | Cillian Murphy | Nick Mason | Ronnie Wood | Sinead O'Connor
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 11:00 | By Andy Malt
Andreya Triana announces new album, Life In Colour
Artist News Releases
Andreya Triana has announced that she will release her third album, ‘Life In Colour’, on 22 Feb. The first single, ‘Woman’, is out now.
“‘Life In Colour’ is a metaphor for letting go of societal and personal limitations and stepping into my womanhood”, she says, which means “creating a space of creative freedom, full of colour and energy to empower myself”.
“I had a lot of fun making this album”, she adds, “which I think is reflected in the music – it’s definitely my most upbeat album so far! I hope it encourages as many people as possible to be their best selves and to live their ‘Life In Colour'”.
Watch the lyric video for that first single ‘Woman’ here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Andreya Triana
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 10:44 | By Andy Malt
Mastodon announce UK and Ireland shows
Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Mastodon have announced European tour dates for next year, which will include a run of shows in the UK and Ireland.
Starting in January, the tour will see the band return to the stage after the recent death of their manager Nick John. Shortly before he died in September, it was revealed that the band had cancelled a US tour due to his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Tickets for the shows go on sale on Friday. Here are the UK and Ireland dates:
14 Jan: Belfast, Ulster Hall
15 Jan: Dublin, Olympia
17 Jan: Southampton, Guildhall
18 Jan: Newcastle, Academy
19 Jan: Glasgow, Academy
21 Jan: Leeds, Academy
22 Jan: Birmingham, Academy
24 Jan: Norwich, UEA
25 Jan: London, Brixton Academy
26 Jan: Bristol, Academy
READ MORE ABOUT: Mastodon
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 10:42 | By CMU Editorial
One Liners: Cardi B, Little Dragon, Esben And The Witch, more
Artist News Awards Business News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Cardi B has released new track, ‘Money’. It sees her reunite with ‘Bodak Yellow’ producer JWhiteDidIt.
• Little Dragon have, it is undeniably true, released the video for their new single ‘Lover Chanting’.
• Esben And The Witch have released the video for new single ‘Golden Purifier’. The band are set to release new album, ‘Nowhere’, next month, with tour dates lined up too.
• If watching ‘Back To The Future’ with a 69 piece orchestra performing the score live sounds like a thing that might excite and delight you, well the Czech National Symphony Orchestra will be touring the UK for that purpose next April.
• The Joy Formidable will be on tour in the UK in February, finishing up at The Garage in London on 22 Feb.
• Voting is now open for the next Music Producers Guild Awards to full members of the organisation. The ceremony is set to take place on 28 Feb at Grosvenor Hall in London.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
READ MORE ABOUT: Cardi B | Czech National Symphony Orchestra | Esben And The Witch | Little Dragon | MPG Awards | Music Producers Guild (MPG) | The Joy Formidable
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 10:38 | By Andy Malt
Wireless allowed to go ahead, just don’t fucking swear
And Finally Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business
Live Nation’s Wireless Festival has fought off attempts to have its licence revoked by residents living near Finsbury Park in London, where it takes place each summer. However, Haringey Council has imposed new licensing conditions which will force the event to be quieter and to end earlier. Oh, and performers will be asked to avoid using expletives and to refrain from wearing revealing clothing. “Female breasts” will definitely need to be covered up.
Opposition was raised about the staging of the festival in the London borough by a local residents’ group called Friends Of Finsbury Park – who launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of presenting their case in the licensing review. Concerns were also expressed about the event by nearby Hackney Council and Islington Council. The latter published a report earlier this year, based on local residents’ concerns.
Concerns included sound levels emitting from the event; drunk, disorderly and generally anti-social behaviour by attendees around the festival’s site, including streets and doorsteps being used as toilets; drug dealers operating in the streets near the park; and children hearing expletives from performers on stage.
While some, including one Hackney councillor, called for the festival’s licence to be revoked entirely, others called for stricter controls. For their part, FoFP argued that if the event was not moved out of the park entirely, its capacity should be reduced from 45,000 to 10,000.
Commenting on these moves, one local resident told the Evening Standard that they were not against the event in principle, but felt that something did need to be done to curb anti-social behaviour. “I love the diversity of Finsbury Park, I like it to be a bit edgy”, they said. “But it’s not pleasant when your street becomes a public toilet. Someone went to the toilet, big time, at our house last year”.
At a hearing regarding the festival’s licence last week, a lawyer for Live Nation, Philip Kolvin, argued that the event already went above and beyond what was required in terms of security, while also disputing claims from critics that the festival wasn’t the kind of ‘celebration’ event that Finsbury Park should host.
According to the Islington Gazette, he told the hearing: “It’s a celebration of grime music. A genre that emerged from London, from the estates, from the inner city. It’s London music – therefore, the festival celebrates the music of the people. It’s not a celebration for the Friends Of Finsbury Park. It is the only festival in the world that fully represents the community in which it is based. It’s London music and a London festival. That’s how important it is”.
On FoFP’s request that the festival’s capacity be severely cut back, Kolvin argued that 45,000 was the absolute lowest capacity that an event of this kind could operate on, especially if it was to continue securing the level of artists it featured. As for complaints about those artists then swearing on stage, he said that performers were all asked not to do so before their sets began, but “there’s not a lot more we can do” beyond that.
Haringey Council’s decision to grant Wireless a licence for next year was announced last night. However, new conditions have been placed on the proceedings. For example, sound levels must be reduced and the event will now wrap up at 9.30pm each day, rather than 10pm.
Then there are the fun new restrictions on the conduct and stagewear of artists booked to play. “The licensee shall reasonably request that performers do not sing or play any vulgar, obscene or banned songs”, the council says.
Said request will also demand that performers do not “carry out indecent acts; or make any vulgar gestures, actions or remarks during the performance; or at any point whilst using an amplification device, including the use of expletives”.
As for wardrobe, Team Wireless will “also ensure that the attire of the performers do not offend the general public, for example attire which exposes the groin, private parts, buttock or female breast(s)”.
Despite including all these restrictions, the document then also notes that enforcing them will be “somewhat unrealistic given this is a live music festival”.
A spokesperson for Friends Of Finsbury Park told the Evening Standard that the group is “disappointed” that the event will still go ahead in 2019, but were nevertheless happy with the changes that have been made.
“We are … pleased the committee listened to us and incorporated our proposals on sound limits”, they said. “It was too loud [this year] and it was clear residents were being disturbed. Wireless will now have to be a quieter festival. We have taken it all the way we can. We took it to a two day licensing hearing and to get a change in that licence, I feel we have achieved a lot”.
Haringey councillor Kirsten Hearn said that “Wireless Festival is a world-class urban event that helps to fund the park the whole year round and makes a major cultural contribution to Haringey”.
She added that the council would continue to work with residents and Live Nation’s Festival Republic division to address ongoing concerns. And thank fuck for that. Now, let’s get all those female breasts covered up.
READ MORE ABOUT: Festival Republic | Live Nation | Wireless Festival
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 10:26 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Gaye Su Akyol
CMU Approved
Turkish musician Gaye Su Akyol is set to release her third album, ‘İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir’, through Glitterbeat this week.
With a sound drawing heavily on Anatolian pop and rock of the 60s and 70s, the album’s title translates as ‘Consistent Fantasy Is Reality’. An examination of her personal politics, the lyrics may be presented in a tongue I don’t understand, but Akyol’s passion is more than apparent throughout.
“In terms of its philosophy, lyrics, music and motto, this album is the dream of pure freedom, of showing the courage to be yourself, of looking at the culture I was born into without alienation”, she says. “A ‘dreaming practice’ propounded into a country and world that is increasingly turning inward and becoming a conservatised prison”.
“I believe that we need to create a counter reality in order to challenge organised evil and the horrible reality it creates, and the strongest option here is consistent dreaming”, she goes on. “There is nothing as spectacular and beautiful as a free mind. As soon as I realised that the only difference between dreams and reality was ‘consistency’ in my mind, the universe became a better place”.
Listen to the album’s title track 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: Gaye Su Akyol
Tuesday 23 October 2018, 11:28 | By Chris Cooke
YouTube boss urges YouTubers to instigate one last push against article thirteen
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories
The boss of Google’s safe harbour dwelling YouTube has been talking copyright directive. Because, as you all surely vividly remember, the European Parliament voted through the latest draft of the new European Copyright Directive last month – including the controversial safe harbour reform contained in what is called ‘article thirteen’.
At the time, you may also recall, YouTube told the world that “we’ve always said that more innovation and collaboration are the best way to achieve a sustainable future for the European news and creative sectors” and that “we’re committed to continued close partnership with these industries”. By which, of course, the company really meant “we’re going to tell grassroots creators that article thirteen will kill the internet”. It’s all so obvious with hindsight, isn’t it?
YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki penned a blog post to the YouTube creator community yesterday full of stats brags about the past and product promises for the future, but somewhere in the middle she found time for a good old fashioned article thirteen moan. That article, as noted, seeks to increase the copyright liabilities of user-upload platforms like YouTube, which have traditionally claimed protection under the copyright safe harbour whenever users upload copyright infringing content to their websites.
Safe harbour reform, of course, was the top priority for the wider music industry as soon as the European Commission announced plans for a new copyright directive. Record companies, music publishers, collecting societies and organisations representing artists, songwriters and managers lobbied hard to first get safe harbour reform in there at all, and then to have it beefed up a little as the European Parliament discussed the proposals.
All of this began because the music industry accused YouTube of exploiting the safe harbour in order to pressure music rights owners into licensing deals that paid much lower royalties than the deals they were concurrently signing with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. That difference in the monies generated by these deals was dubbed the ‘value gap’.
For a time it looked like article thirteen might cause the whole copyright directive to collapse, with the Parliament voting against the proposals in July on the back of machine-powered campaigning by the tech lobby. But then last month the Parliament passed the latest draft complete with its safe harbour reforms.
It’s not an entirely done deal just yet though. The directive is now in its final stage in Brussels, where the Parliament must agree the final wording of each new copyright rule with the European Commission and the EU Council. Once passed, the directive will then need to be implemented at a national level in each member state of the European Union.
It’s at that point that the internet will die, reckons doom peddler Wojcicki, in her big blog post full of woe to the YouTuber kids. “Article thirteen as written threatens to shut down the ability of millions of people – from creators like you to everyday users – to upload content to platforms like YouTube”, she says. “And it threatens to block users in the EU from viewing content that is already live on the channels of creators everywhere”.
And don’t be thinking that this just affects all the cat videos soundtracked by some top pop record that the cat owner ripped off. And then slowed down to avoid having their video blocked by YouTube’s Content ID system, which is famously utilised by cat-hating pop stars everywhere.
“This includes YouTube’s incredible video library of educational content”, reckons the Google exec. “Such as language classes, physics tutorials and other how-to’s”. No! Not the physics tutorials! Fuck me, I didn’t know it was going to affect the physics tutorials. If we’re not careful, I might have to start reading books again.
Of course, what Wojcicki really means is, “when all you fuckers rip off other people’s content, at the moment only you can get sued, but if article thirteen goes through, there’s a chance we’ll get sued too”. The people behind the language classes, physics tutorials and how-to guides that are all original content would never get sued, so neither would YouTube. The problem is all the content uploaded that does rip off other people’s work. Those uploaders usually aren’t worth suing, but YouTube probably is, once that’s an option.
The actual impact article thirteen will have on platforms like YouTube depends on how much you believe blanket licensing deals with the music and entertainment industries, beefed up Content ID type technologies and maybe a little more human moderation can reduce the risk of such platforms being successfully sued for infringement. Either by reducing the amount of rip off content being uploaded or – more likely – by convincing a judge down the line that an accused platform did everything it realistically could to stop infringing videos being shared.
Those campaigning for article thirteen argue that this can be achieved, ie that there are practical measures that will mean new liabilities don’t result in new litigation. It might require YouTube to invest a little more of its profits into honing its technology and business, but such investments would allow user-upload platforms to continue operating while being compliant with the proposed new rules. Maybe if Google had made those investments already, some in the music industry would argue, we wouldn’t have got to this point of demanding new laws.
However, Wojcicki – employing a little more drama – argues otherwise. “The proposal could force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small number of large companies”, she writes to all the non-large companies reading her blog post. “It would be too risky for platforms to host content from smaller original content creators, because the platforms would now be directly liable for that content”.
Insisting that YouTube has actually already spent plenty of money to help more traditional content companies manage their rights on her platform, she muses on: “We realise the importance of all rightsholders being fairly compensated, which is why we built Content ID and a platform to pay out all types of content owners. But the unintended consequences of article thirteen will put this ecosystem at risk”.
Concluding her article thirteen moan, Wojcicki first employs a little of the conciliatory language YouTube used on the day of the most recent European Parliament vote. “We are committed to working with the industry to find a better way”, she insists.
But then she calls on her audience to raise arms and attempt a last minute strike against the EU’s safe harbour reforms, partly by employing the misleading and simplistic hashtags that dominated the conversation back in July. Noting that the final draft of the directive was now being agreed, she writes “it’s important to speak up now”.
To that end she urges her readers to “take a moment to learn more about how it could affect your channel and take action immediately. Tell the world through social media (#SaveYourInternet) and your channel why the creator economy is important and how this legislation will impact you”.
READ MORE ABOUT: European Copyright Directive | Google | Susan Wojcicki | YouTube
Tuesday 23 October 2018, 11:25 | By Chris Cooke
SOCAN launches new services business Dataclef
Business News Labels & Publishers
A recent trend in the not-always-necessarily-dull world of collective licensing has been certain collecting societies launching new divisions or businesses that provide an assortment of rights management and royalty processing services to other collecting societies. And also directly to music publishers, songwriters and other rights owners, beyond the usual licensing and royalties gubbins societies do for their members, and often beyond the confines of each society’s home territory, where their focus would traditionally have been.
Canadian performing rights organisation SOCAN has been one of those societies, and yesterday it announced the launch of a new “services arm” called Dataclef.
That new business will, and I quote, empower “customers to thrive in the hyper-competitive modern music industry with revolutionary, fully-customisable service suites that simplify complex back-office and technology tasks”. And if you enjoyed that sentence, note that the Dataclef Suite will allow rights-holder customers to “unlock maximum back office ROI with flexible and infinitely scalable multi-territory, multi-right licensing and royalty tools”.
“Dataclef is a milestone for SOCAN and the music industry on a global level”, says the society’s chief Eric Baptiste. “For the first time ever, organisations can go to one place for state-of-the-art licence administration, worldwide reporting, and intelligent royalty tracking and delivery, improving their efficiency and bottom-line to return superior results”.
An early client of Dataclef is the Indian Performing Rights Society, which will receive so called back office services from SOCAN’s new business.
It’s Chairman Javed Akhtar confirmed the tie-up, saying: “IPRS is excited to work with Dataclef to leverage their data and systems for maximised efficiency and royalty delivery to our members. Dataclef’s revolutionary systems and database are unlike anything we’ve had access to before. We anticipate many years of mutual success working with their impressive technology and team”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Dataclef | SOCAN
Tuesday 23 October 2018, 11:21 | By Chris Cooke
Simon Mayo confirms he is quitting Radio 2
Business News Industry People Media
Simon Mayo has announced he is departing Radio 2, just months after his drive time show was revamped to include Jo Whiley as a co-presenter, a change that aimed to introduce a little more gender diversity into the BBC station’s day-time schedule.
The revamp – and the pairing of Mayo and Whiley – was generally panned by critics and seemed to be unpopular with many listeners too. There were also reports of tensions behind the scenes, with some arguing that management had fucked up a popular show in order to tick some boxes, albeit as part of an important move to try and get a little more diversity on a station with a very uniform line-up.
Officially Mayo is quitting so he can spend more time on his projects beyond broadcasting. He said: “Obviously, I’m very sad to be leaving Radio 2 and my good friend Jo. However, 2019 looks like being incredibly exciting for me. I have a new two book deal with Transworld, my children’s series ‘Itch’ is being filmed for TV in Australia in early 2019, and I’m continuing to develop my novel ‘Mad Blood Stirring’ for a movie with screenwriter Jack Thorne”.
He later addressed the rumours that the Whiley pairing had motivated his departure from the BBC station on Twitter. “Maybe it needs to be said, maybe not, but so there is no room for argument I’ll be clear”, he wrote. “I’ve loved working with the exceptional Jo Whiley and when the show was ‘reconfigured’ she was my first and only choice. Some of the abuse she has had here has been appalling. Support for a show is one thing, assaulting the dignity of a warmhearted and loyal friend is another”.
Mayo will continue to host his film show with Mark Kermode on BBC Radio 5 Live, while Whiley will return to an evening slot on Radio 2. Which means that a new drive time host will now be sought. Sara Cox, previously tipped for the vacant breakfast show slot that subsequently went to Zoe Ball, is favourite for the new late afternoon programme.
READ MORE ABOUT: BBC Radio 2 | Simon Mayo
