Wednesday 19 December 2018, 13:49 | By Andy Malt

Ed Sheeran breaks touring revenue record, despite charging less

And Finally Artist News Live Business

Ed Sheeran

No surprises that Ed Sheeran has scored the highest grossing tour of 2018. But hey, here’s another stat for you from the end-of-year maths US live industry mag Pollstar presented earlier this week. Sheeran’s tour income for the year is the highest scored by any one artist in any one year since Pollstar started counting such things 30 years ago. He also sold more tickets in a single year than anyone has ever managed to do before.

Since the start of this year, Sheeran has raked in over $432 million from touring, selling 4.8 million tickets. It’s not the highest grossing tour of all time – that record belongs to U2’s ‘360’ tour, which pulled in $736 million and sold over seven million tickets – but it also took two full years to do so.

The previous holder of the record for the highest gross revenue in a single year was also U2. Their 2017 touring activity brought in $316 million, a whole 37% less than Sheeran managed just a year later.

“A very good manager friend of mine said, ‘can you fuck off please because you’re making me look really bad'”, Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp tells Pollstar. “He was trying to sell an arena tour for his act that wasn’t going well. He was like, ‘just piss off’. In a good way, but you get what he was saying: ‘Will you just go away and give people a chance’. But we’re not doing it for ego, that literally was the demand. And we could have played a lot more, there just wasn’t a big enough window”.

The financial success of the tour also highlights something else. While other artists attempt to boost income by selling high price VIP ticket packages and meet and greet opportunities, Sheeran does none of this. His average ticket price is considerably lower than that of other top selling acts, and he doesn’t charge for any fan-meeting sessions he takes part in. It will be interesting to see if Sheeran’s massive haul, despite all this, has any effect on the pricing of other tours.

Of course, having a relatively simple set-up – appearing on stage with just a guitar and a loop pedal – Sheeran also gets to keep more of that money than most other acts would. Maybe next time U2 tour it’ll just be Bono and a ukulele.

On The CMU Stereo 2018 – Summer

CMU Approved CMU Playlists

Ariana Grande

With the year nearly done and dusted and the festive break incoming, this week, we’re running down 40 of our favourite tracks of 2018, ten at a time, loosely grouped into seasons. Today we reach the summer. If you sign up to our ‘On The CMU Stereo 2018’ playlist on Spotify here, you can listen to all of these tracks and our winter and spring choices now, as well as the final ten when they are revealed tomorrow.

This playlist starts out on the same experimental slant that ran through our spring selection with Eartheater’s ‘CLIT’. However, across the ten tracks, this is probably our most varied selection.

Appearing at either end of the list are two different takes on pop – Benin City’s endlessly enjoyable ‘Bus’ up near the front and, near the end, an appearance from Ariana Grande, who really established herself as a stand out artist this year. We’ve picked her track ‘God Is A Woman’.

Jon Hopkins makes the list with the title track of his ‘Singularity’ album, which was one of our favourite LPs of the year. Plus, of course, ‘This Is America’ by Childish Gambino makes the cut, it surely being the track that 2018 will be best remembered for.

Here’s what’s on our summer playlist:

Eartheater – CLIT
Benin City – Bus
Jon Hopkins – Singularity
Childish Gambino – This Is America
Kojey Radical – Water (feat Mahalia)
Orbital – Tiny Foldable Cities
Maribou State – Feel Good (feat Khruangbin)
Kathryn Joseph – IIII
Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
Yves Tumor – Licking An Orchid (feat James K)

Listen to all ten tracks here.

Check out all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2018 on this Spotify playlist.

Viagogo says it could challenge French ticket touting ban in the European courts

Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories

Viagogo

Viagogo has said that it is now considering all options following last week’s ruling by the Constitutional Council in France that a ticket touting ban in the country conforms with the French constitution. That includes, the controversial secondary ticketing platform adds, includes possibly taking the matter to the European courts.

France was one of the first countries to introduce new regulations as online ticket touting really started to gain momentum at the start of this decade. A new law in 2012 basically outlawed the resale of tickets for profit without the permission of an event’s promoter.

In more recent years, an increasing number of countries have been considering regulating the secondary ticketing market. That includes putting a statutory limit on how much resold tickets can be marked up; or forcing resale platforms to be more transparent about who is selling a ticket and the risks associated with buying from unofficial sellers; or – as in France – an out-right ban on resale.

Perhaps even more importantly, existing regulations are starting to be better enforced, either by government agencies, or through legal action by the live sector, which is now underway in France itself. To that end, Viagogo asked the French Constitutional Council to consider whether the country’s ticket touting ban was actually in breach of rights protected by the country’s constitution.

The secondary ticketing firm argues that the ban “infringes the freedom of trade, challenges the right of ownership which grants everyone the freedom to use their property as they see fit, and consequently grants a de facto monopoly to event organisers”.

However, last week the Constitutional Council ruled that the touting ban was in fact compliant with the French constitution, rejecting Viagogo’s various arguments.

In a statement, Viagogo says that it “notes” last week’s ruling and is now “considering all the options available … including bringing an action before the European Court Of Justice”. The latter would involve arguing that France’s tout ban contravened EU law.

Viagogo’s statement goes on to say that “France is one of the few countries in the world to have chosen a ban on reselling tickets without the agreement of the organiser of a show or sporting event”. Although it opposes such laws, the company then says that it does support measures that will “make resale operations more transparent”.

That might include the transparency measures recently forced on the company here in the UK by the Competition & Markets Authority.

Having traditionally been very good at ignoring both regulations and its critics, Viagogo is now having to deal with legal action and potential new anti-touting legislation in multiple countries all at once. It has made some compromises in a bid to placate some regulators and law-makers, though at the same time seems keen to carry on fighting in other cases. It will be interesting to see what its next move is in France.

Concord launches new theatre-focused division following Samuel French acquisition

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Concord Music

Concord Music has announced the launch of a new theatre-focused division that will bring together its existing interests in musical theatre and a brand new acquisition, Samuel French, a leading publisher of dramatic works.

US-based independent music firm Concord acquired the catalogue of Marvin Hamlisch, including his numerous stage and film compositions, back in 2011. It then extended its interests in the musical theatre business via an alliance with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company in 2016 and, the following year, by taking ownership of the Rodgers & Hammerstein catalogue via its acquisition of Imagem. Earlier this year it acquired New York-based musical licensing firm Tams-Witmark.

The acquisition of Samuel French brings more musicals into the fold – including the likes of ‘Grease’ and ‘Chicago’ – though the deal also moves Concord into the wider theatre business too. Samuel French also represents thousands of stage plays, including works by the likes of Agatha Christie, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Caryl Churchill, Tom Stoppard, Sarah Daniels and Edward Bond.

All these various assets will now be part of Concord Theatricals, a new division led by Sean Patrick Flahaven, who for the last two years has been CEO of the aforementioned Lloyd Webber joint venture. He will report into Concord’s Chief Publishing Executive Jake Wisely.

Confirming the new division and the latest acquisition, Wisely said yesterday: “Samuel French adds to Concord Theatricals a broad diversity of rights, relationships, experience and executive talent. French also broadens our existing relationships and business synergies, as we now represent all of the musicals of Marvin Hamlisch, both the stage rights and film and TV music rights of Agatha Christie Ltd, as well as various recordings and now the plays of Steve Martin. With Samuel French, Concord is no longer just music”.

Meanwhile Nathan Collins, President of Samuel French – and now General Manager of Concord Theatricals – added: “For 188 years, Samuel French has been the iconic name in theatrical licensing and publishing and this merger will enable us to continue to provide our clients with the most innovative products, dynamic marketing and transparent reporting. Under Sean’s leadership, we will build upon the great catalogues of the two organisations and create the preferred home for the works of playwrights, composers and lyricists”.

Marty Bandier trumpets success of EMI deal in final end of year memo to Sony/ATV staff

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Sony/ATV

Marty Mart Bandier has sent his final end-of-year round-up email to staff, before he steps down as head of the world’s biggest music publisher – Sony/ATV – in March next year. His twelve years at the top have all been great, he reckons, but this one was the icing on the cake. As I’m sure all the songwriters and indies who tried to block it would agree, “a major highlight” was Sony/ATV finally taking complete control of EMI Music Publishing.

“While I am sad that I will soon be saying goodbye after twelve wonderful years, I am also immensely proud of where the company is now compared to when I started”, he says. “Back then we were only the fourth largest music publisher. Now we are the world’s number one with a roster of songwriters and a catalogue of songs that are the envy of the industry and a team of executives who are in a class of their own. It has been an amazing experience working with you all and I can say without hesitation that my time at Sony/ATV has been the absolute highlight of my career”.

Although it must have caused him some stress at times – as organisations representing songwriters and indie music firms criticised the transaction – Bandier talks up that EMI deal a number of times in the memo. Sony/ATV initially acquired EMI Music Publishing as part of a consortium back in 2012, of course, and subsequently became an administrator of all those EMI rights. But this year, Sony bought those partners out of the joint venture so that EMI Music Publishing could become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sony/ATV business.

The deal was referred to EU competition regulators and then faced opposition from indie music repping IMPALA and songwriter groups like BASCA and ECSA. Critics argued that allowing the biggest music publisher in the world to become even bigger would be detrimental for the music rights market. IMPALA also argued that, by metrics previously employed by EU competition regulators themselves, they should block the deal.

When those regulators subsequently approved the transaction with only a basic investigation, Sony’s opponents in the indie community argued that the decision sent a message to other major companies that if they need to get controversial acquisitions past competition regulators, they just needed to instigate a two-stage deal, initially involving other investors. So at stage one you can say the other investors will stop any distortion of the market, and then at stage two you can say “well we’ve basically been merged for six years already and nothing’s been distorted so far”.

Bandier doesn’t reference any of this in his email, but he does note that getting that deal done made him “particularly proud … given my long history with EMI where I spent seventeen happy and hugely successful years and oversaw its rise to become the number one music publisher, just as would later happen with Sony/ATV”.

Oh yes, the combined Sony/ATV/EMI is now the world’s number one publisher. Have we mentioned that already? And, by the way, if you were wondering why the EMI deal was waved through by EU regulators, it had nothing to do with those sneaky two-stage deal tactics the indies were banging on about. Oh no, it was Sony/ATV’s shiny new accounting system what won it.

Damn shiny it is. And that shine was dead useful during the regulatory process. “[This] new accounting standard for revenue recognition”, he beams, “[provides] extensive financial information and analysis which was used by the European Commission and Sony Corporation in connection with the acquisition of EMI, and … to consolidate EMI with Sony/ATV”. Hurrah for accounting standards for revenue recognition, I say.

Elsewhere, the “historic piece of legislation” that is America’s Music Modernization Act gets a special mention, as do many of the artists and songwriters which helped Sony/ATV on its way to achieving another super successful year. Drake, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Queen are particularly singled out. Newer acts Cardi B and Travis Scott also get a nod.

Bandier is set to be succeeded in the Sony/ATV top job by outgoing Warner/Chappell boss Jon Platt next year. Which is something Bandier is said to not be entirely happy about, despite previously mentoring Platt during his time at EMI.

Classic FM signs up Moira Stuart

Business News Media

Moira Stuart

With Chris Evans jumping on over to Virgin Radio in the new year, leaving his Radio 2 breakfast show behind him, you have all surely been wondering day and night what that might mean for the newsreader on his BBC show, Moira Stuart.

The appointment of Stuart to read the news on Chris Evans’ Radio 2 breakfast show was newsworthy back in 2010, because the BBC had previously been criticised over the way it stopped using the presenter on its TV news bulletins. Once ensconced at Radio 2, Stuart also started presenting music-based shows for the station.

Having delivered her final news bulletin for the soon to depart Evans last week, Classic FM has now announced that it has signed up Stuart for future news-reading and show presenting duties. She will present news bulletins each morning on the Global-owned classical music station from next February, and will then start hosting a weekly show as part of Classic FM’s Saturday schedule from next July.

Confirming her new gig, Stuart said yesterday: “I couldn’t be more excited and delighted to be joining the Classic FM family. It’s a wonderful opportunity to take a whole new journey, with people I really like and admire”.

Meanwhile the station’s Managing Editor Sam Jackson added: “Moira is a broadcasting legend and is known to millions of people on television and radio, so I am THRILLED that she has chosen Classic FM as her new home. Her passion for classical music and decades of experience make her the perfect addition to our 2019 line-up. From her morning news bulletins to her new weekend show – and with another new series to follow – I know that our 5.2 million weekly listeners will join me in welcoming her to Classic FM next year”.

Paul McCartney launches anti-bullying campaign with new single

Artist News Releases

Paul McCartney & Emma Stone

Paul McCartney has used the latest single from his ‘Egypt Station’ album, ‘Who Cares’, to launch an anti-bullying campaign. It arrives with a new video starring Emma Stone to highlight the issues raised in the song.

“My hope is that if there are kids being bullied – and there are – maybe by listening to this song and watching this video, they might just think it’s not as bad”, says McCartney. “That it’s the kind of thing you can just stand up to and laugh off and get through”.

I’m not sure how many young people are going to be comforted knowing that McCartney has their back, but his heart’s in the right place, I suppose.

The video and #WhoCaresIDo campaign have been created in partnership with the Creative Visions charity. Founder of the organisation, Kathy Eldon, says: “Millions of people around the world feel silenced, subjugated – bullied – and believe that no one cares. Our intention with this campaign is to put the power of the song to work and inspire us to show up and care – and let others know that we do care”.

The video is available exclusively on Apple Music until later today. Watch it here.

Damon Albarn backs ‘citizens’ assembly’ to fix Brexit

Artist News

The Good, The Bad And The Queen

For all the talk in recent times of “the will of the people” and “what the British people voted for”, it’s still not really clear what anyone actually wants from Brexit. As I’m sure we’re all about to find out over Christmas lunch. In? Out? Half out? Half in? Leaving at any cost? Not leaving at all?

It’s this utter confusion and uncertainty that’s left us with a Brexit deal that no one’s happy with and that Parliament won’t support, but at the same time with no clear consensus in Parliament as to what a viable alternative might be. With all the politicians out of ideas and soon to be out of time, how much worse could it be if we just let a load of random people off the street try to sort it out?

That’s roughly the message of Damon Albarn and a load of other people who’ve signed an open letter calling for the formation of a ‘citizens’ assembly’ to deal with the Brexit shambles. Because with just over three months to go before the looming Brexit deadline of 29 Mar, apparently there’s still time to just start all over again.

“Looking on, we cannot see how a majority can be found for any proposition in Parliament”, reads the letter. “Some want to remain, some want no deal, some want Norway, some want to vote again. The same rifts exist across the UK. Anger and resentment are growing, splitting families, communities and our country. Without a new intervention, the toxic culture which has infected public life will irrevocably damage democracy and the future for us all”.

The letter goes on to explain that “citizens’ assemblies operate around the world to create a neutral forum for evidence-based, participative decision-making”. Comprising around 500 randomly chosen members of the public, they take about eight weeks to organise, and then take on board the full range of views within the group before making recommendations to political representatives.

“Brexit has come to test the patience of the British public”, it concludes. “To make progress we should instead trust their wisdom and use it to resolve our differences, deepen our democracy and unite us all”.

The wisdom of the public on this issue was tested once already of course, and look where that got us. Still, with MPs basically redundant now, maybe this is a viable option.

Albarn’s backing of the idea, of course, comes after he reunited The Good, The Bad And The Queen to record a Brexit-themed album. ‘Merrie Land’ is the band’s second LP and their first for more than a decade. Speaking of which, the band have just announced new post-Brexit deadline UK tour dates in April.

One Liners: Celeste, Courtney Hadwin, Atlantic Records, more

Artist News Business News Deals Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases

Warner/Chappell

• Soul singer Celeste has signed a global publishing deal with Warner/Chappell. “I’m excited”, says Celeste. “I’m delighted”, says W/C UK MD Mike Smith.

• Teenage Hartlepool resident Courtney Hadwin – who rose to fame after appearing on ‘America’s Got Talent’ – has signed a record deal with Syco Music in partnership with fellow Sony label Arista Records in the US. Hadwin says it’s “a dream come true”. Syco boss and ‘AGT’ judge Simon Cowell says “it’s fantastic”. Arista President David Massey promises that “you can expect the unexpected”.

• Warner’s Atlantic Records UK has promoted Callum Caulfield to Marketing Director. “Callum has risen through Atlantic and deservedly so”, says Atlantic UK President Ben Cook.

• Singer, songwriter and vocal producer Michelle Escoffery has joined the board of collecting society PRS as a Writer Director, filling a position left vacant after Imogen Heap decided to stand down. “I’m extremely honoured to be given this opportunity and hope that the knowledge I have gained throughout my career will help steer PRS For Music to make the best choices on behalf of its members both on home soil and internationally”, she says.

• Kid Koala has released another track from his upcoming new album, ‘Music To Draw To: Io’. Here’s ‘Allotropic’.

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

Ariana Grande trailing pop newcomer and sausage roll fan for Christmas number one

And Finally Artist News Labels & Publishers

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande has two tracks in contention for Christmas number one on Friday, but both are lagging behind current top contenders Ava Max and LadBaby.

According to the Official Charts Company, Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next’ – which was number one in last week’s UK singles chart – has been overtaken in the midweeks by both last week’s number two track – Ava Max’s ‘Sweet But Psycho’ – and LadBaby’s cover of Starship’s 1985 monstrosity ‘We Built This City’ reworked as a tribute to sausage rolls.

Where does that leave Ariana? Well, ‘Thank U, Next’ is currently at number three, just ahead of her new single, ‘Imagine’, at number four. Completing the top five is perennial Mariah Carey festive classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

Someone recently worked out a formula to predict the most likely of these tracks to reach the Christmas top spot on Friday. But – mainly due to that formula being a bunch of nonsense – I can’t be bothered to work out all the keys and BPMs of these five records, so to see which is most likely to succeed by that metric.

Let’s just talk about the LadBaby track, because that’s the novelty one. Apparently LadBaby, real name Mark Hoyle, is a popular dad blogger. He’s released his single as a present for his wife Roxanne, although he’s going to give any money he earns from it to a food bank charity called The Trussell Trust instead of her.

Hoyle said in a statement: “Yes maaaaate! Who would have thought it? A sausage roll song being sung by a Nottingham lad would be sitting at number two in the official midweek singles chart?! What a fantastic achievement and great START – but let’s not stop there! Let’s pinch that number one spot from the global megastars, eat our own body weight in sausage rolls AND most importantly raise even more money to support the amazing UK food banks charity Trussell Trust this Christmas!”

I’m vegetarian, but I think I get the sentiment. Maybe I’ll just donate some sausage rolls to a food bank instead. Anyway, we’ll find out how he fairs against the “global megastars” on Friday afternoon.

If you’re wondering which album’s most likely to top the Christmas week chart, it’s obviously the ‘Greatest Showman’ soundtrack. I’m not sure why you thought it might be something else.

On The CMU Stereo 2018 – Spring

CMU Approved CMU Playlists

Hatis Noit

With the year nearly done and dusted and the festive break incoming, this week, we’re running down 40 of our favourite tracks of 2018, ten at a time, loosely grouped into seasons. Today we hit our spring selection. If you sign up to our ‘On The CMU Stereo 2018’ playlist on Spotify here, you can listen to all of these tracks and our winter choices now, and the other 20 as they are revealed later in the week.

This collection of tracks takes us off in a more experimental direction, kicking off with vocal artist Hatis Noit. She wowed us with her performance at The Great Escape in May, with her looped vocal lines reverberating around St Mary’s Church in Brighton.

Another highlight of TGE for many was Flohio, who has gone on to release a series of fantastic singles, which have in turn earned her a place on the BBC Sound Of long list for 2019. Here’s we’ve included her debut ‘Bands’.

Meanwhile, other leftfield entries on the spring list include Aisha Devi, Agar Agar, JFDR’s cover of ‘White Ferrari’ by Frank Ocean, and the always welcome return of Jenny Hval.

Here’s what’s on our spring playlist:

Hatis Noit – Illogical Lullaby
Aisha Devi – Inner State Of Alchemy
Agar Agar – Fangs Out
Flohio – Bands
JFDR – White Ferrari
Mellah – Paseo
Alison Wonderland – Church
Jenny Hval – Spells
Princess Nokia – For The Night
Aro Vana – XVII

Listen to all ten tracks here.

Check out all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2018 on this Spotify playlist.

UK Music survey suggests diversity initiatives are having an impact

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers Live Business Top Stories

UK Music

The UK music industry is slowly becoming more diverse, though there is still plenty more work to be done, according to the results of the latest survey by UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce.

The survey was set up to help identify trends regarding the diversity of those working in the industry, with gender and ethnic diversity under the spotlight. Although based on a sample of just 3000 people working in music, it’s hoped that the survey can nevertheless track the impact of the various initiatives underway to try and encourage and enable more women and more black, Asian and ethnic minority – or BAME – people to pursue a career a music.

Artists, songwriters, composers, musicians, studio producers and artist managers, are among those to take part in the survey, as well as people working at music publishers, major and independent record labels, collecting societies and in the live music sector. This is the second time results have been published, so it is now possible to identify some trends.

Among those surveyed, the number of BAME music people went up from 15.6% in 2016 to 17.8% in 2018. The proportion of women went up from 45.3% to 49.1%. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the representation of female and BAME practitioners was higher among those under the age of 25, with more work to be done among older age groups.

Keith Harris, who heads up the UK Music Diversity Taskforce, says of the new stats: “The survey remains an important tool in terms of making sure that some of the initiatives put in place across the industry are bearing fruit. Things are changing for the better”.

“Progress has been slow but steady”, he added. “We are continuing to keep our focus on ethnicity and sex as the most obvious indicators that things are changing, while remembering that diversity in the industry is about much more than that, with socio-economic background being among the important but often neglected areas which needs attention”.

It has frequently been noted – especially by those leading diversity initiatives – that while there are some strands of the music industry where gender balance and BAME representation is pretty good (though rarely perfect), there are other strands where diversity is woefully lacking. And even where it is better, board rooms at many music companies are often white male dominated, which is a problem in most sectors, but nevertheless one that needs to be addressed in music.

Also, as Harris notes, while progress is being made on gender and ethnic diversity, concerns remain about socio-economic diversity, which is generally harder to measure and therefore harder to address. Many fear that the downgrading of music education in English schools will actually result in less socio-economic diversity in the future.

UK Music chief Michael Dugher also commented on the survey, likewise noting progress and challenges still to be met. He said: “Our industry is doing very well at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that we can shy away from the more difficult challenges we face”.

“British music is a world-leading success story and one that we as a country should be very proud of”, he went on. “But I want us to be equally proud of our diversity as an industry. Whilst we can welcome some very real and significant improvements, we still have much more work to do. Just imagine how much more successful our industry could be in the future, if we could only deepen the well from which we draw our talent”.

J Hus jailed for knife possession

Artist News Legal

J Hus

Rapper J Hus has been sentenced to eight months in prison after being convicted for the illegal possession of a knife.

The BRIT and Mercury nominated musician was arrested in June, after being discovered to be carrying a knife at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, East London. Asked by police at the time why he was carrying the blade, he said: “You know, it’s Westfield”, before adding that his “face was known” in the area.

Initially pleading not guilty to the charges against him, the rapper changed his plea in October. Ahead of sentencing, a statement from Hus was read out by his lawyer, Henry Blaxland. In it, he said that he now “fully accepted his actions were careless”, saying that his decision to carry a knife was “ill-advised and utterly stupid”, adding that “being a public figure that many look up to, I simply should have known better”.

Blaxland added that the arrest and court case had been a “watershed moment” for Hus, who already has a number of convictions for knife possession. The arrest and trial had been detrimental to his career and ability to earn money, as well as for those who work with him, said the lawyer. He then revealed that Hus has been seeing a therapist and receiving treatment for PTSD, which resulted from previously being stabbed.

The lawyer also said that, while Hus had already moved out of London in an attempt to escape his violent past in Newham, where he grew up, a feeling of isolation caused by his rising fame had drawn him back to East London “like a moth to a flame”.

Despite these mitigating factors, the judge overseeing the case, Sandy Caravan, said that she had no choice but to deliver a custodial sentence. She added that she would be failing in her duty if she did not jail the rapper, while also noting that his fame had made him a “role model to many”, but he had “failed” to live up to that responsibility.

As well as the prison sentence, Hus has been banned from travelling through Newham for three years, and from associating with a number of named individuals.

Shakira charged with tax evasion in Spain

Artist News Legal

Shakira

Almost a year after it was announced that Shakira was being investigated for tax evasion in Spain, the singer has been charged. It is alleged that she avoided €14.5 million (£13 million) by falsely claiming not to live in the country.

The Colombian pop star, who is married to Barcelona football player Gerard Piqué, became a full resident, and therefore tax payer, of Spain in 2015. However, Spanish authorities believe that she was also a resident of the country between 2012 and 2014 – despite actually registering her residence in the Bahamas – and therefore should have been paying tax on her worldwide earnings in the country during this time too.

Anyone who spends more than six months of a year in Spain is considered liable for tax in the country. It is argued that Shakira spent most of her time in Spain during the years in question, only travelling abroad for brief periods. But her lawyer has denied any wrongdoing, saying that the singer’s finances have been managed entirely legally and properly.

The charges follow wider scrutiny of the earnings of footballers by the Spanish government, investigations that have led to several players being prosecuted in recent years. Last year, Piqué’s teammate Lionel Messi received a 21 month suspended prison sentence and a fine. Real Madrid players Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo Vieira also recently received fines and suspended sentences after admitting tax evasion.

A judge is yet to decide whether or not Shakira should now stand trial. She has not commented on the case.

BPI comments on conviction of vinyl piracy gang

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

BPI

UK record industry trade group the BPI has commented on the recent sentencing of four men involved in a piracy operation that was selling unlicensed vinyl copies of Northern Soul recordings via eBay and Amazon.

Alan Godfrey, Christopher Price, Robert Pye and Stephen Russell were all involved in the piracy venture and were variously accused of copyright and trademark infringement as a result. Late last month they each received sentences of between eight and ten months.

The BPI’s anti-piracy team supported South Wales Police on the case, with all three major record companies and niche indies like Rollercoaster Records and Ace Records being impacted by the copyright infringing operation. The trade group says that police recovered 55,635 seven-inch records, 4678 CDs, 907 twelve-inch records and 26 ten-inch records – all bootleg copies – when they raided properties owned by the four men.

Commenting on the convictions, BPI General Counsel Kiaron Whitehead said: “These important prison sentences send a very strong message to music pirates around the country. Whether it’s an illegal music website or fake vinyl being sold on eBay and Amazon, the BPI and the police are watching you and you will be prosecuted”.

He went on: “This four-man counterfeit gang were raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds by ripping off genuine music fans and undermining artists, record companies and legitimate record stores. The BPI would like to thank South Wales Police for their great work in stopping the gang; and I would like to personally congratulate BPI’s content protection team for their unfailing perseverance to reduce music piracy”.

Record industry trade bodies welcome EU-Japan trade deal

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

European Commission

The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry and Japanese record industry trade body RIAJ have issued a joint statement welcoming the new trade agreement between the European Union and Japan. As part of the deal, Japan’s sound recording copyright term will be brought in line with that of Europe, which is 70 years after release.

“As representatives of the recording industry in Japan and worldwide, we welcome the support given by the EU and Japanese parliaments to the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement ratification”, said the trade bodies. “The EU-Japan trade agreement extends the term of protection for sound recordings in Japan to match the duration of protection in the EU, treating artists and producers fairly in both regions”.

The statement goes on: “It also provides a platform for continued bilateral discussion on matters of mutual interest, including the question of introducing public performance rights for producers in Japan. As such, the agreement represents a legal framework linking the Japanese and European music markets”.

With the deal agreed, the IFPI and RIAJ “urge the EU and Japan to ensure that this important agreement enters into force as soon as possible”.

French Constitutional Council says ticket touting ban is just fine

Business News Legal Live Business

Empty seats

France’s constitutional court has ruled that anti-ticket touting laws in the country are compliant with the French constitution. The Constitutional Council responded last week to a challenge to those laws pursued by the often controversial secondary ticketing website Viagogo, which was also supported by its main rival, eBay’s StubHub.

The resale of tickets for profit without the permission of a show’s promoter has been illegal in France since 2012, it being one of the first countries to regulate when online ticket touting started to really take off. Viagogo argued that the law was a “disproportionate breach of freedom of enterprise”, but the Council did not concur.

The director of French live industry trade group PRODISS, Malika Séguineau, welcomed the Council’s decision, saying that it “strongly reinforces the French law”, and in doing so “protects the consumers, the fans, the artists and the promoters”.

The trade group also confirmed that it and several French promoters have filed a criminal action against Viagogo, which will be able to proceed now that the Constitutional Council has said that the anti-touting rules that the resale site is accused of breaching are sound.

Law-makers around the world have responded in different ways to calls for more regulation of online ticket-touting. In many countries politicians were initially reluctant to follow their French counterparts and instigate an out-right ban. But in more recent years there has generally been more willingness to restrict online touting in more countries.

A pretty wide-ranging touting ban was recently voted through in Japan. Meanwhile, Irish politicians are considering something similar, and the main opposition party in Australia has said it would support extending nationwide a rule that already exists in parts of the country that restricts the resale of tickets to a 10% mark-up.

Of course, even where partial or out-right bans exist, that only has any impact if the law is enforced, and often it isn’t. Though again, there has been more appetite to enforce the rules of late. Here in the UK, although there is no out-right ban on touting for profit, government agencies have been enforcing consumer rights rules that many touts and resale sites – and especially Viagogo – have generally ignored to date.

BASCA CEO stands down

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Vick Bain

BASCA has announced that its CEO Vick Bain is stepping down. She joined the organisation for UK songwriters and composers thirteen years ago, becoming CEO in 2012. In that role she led a range of lobbying, funding, educational and diversity projects, as well as heading up the organisation’s various award events, including The Ivors.

Bain’s decision to stand down follows a period of serious ill-health earlier this year, from which she has now fully recovered. She says that, since her recovery, she has decided now is the right time to depart the organisation and pursue new ambitions.

Under Bain’s leadership, BASCA implemented an extensive restructure and new governance procedures, which proved controversial but were nevertheless voted through by the organisation’s membership. BASCA has also recently more closely allied with the MU, FAC, MPG and MMF to create the Council Of Music Makers, so that artists, songwriters and producers can present a more coordinated position on key industry and copyright debates.

Confirming her departure, Bain said this morning: “I have endured a difficult year, overcoming breast cancer and other related conditions. I have now officially received the all-clear and am feeling fighting fit, but after experiencing a life-threatening condition and reviewing my priorities I feel the time is right to hand-over the reins to someone else and focus on other ambitions, of which I have many”.

She added: “It has been a great honour to serve and lead BASCA for so long and I wish the organisation, our fantastic members, and my wonderful colleagues all the very best for the future”.

Threatin hopes to turn failed tour into documentary

And Finally Artist News

Threatin

Threatin’s Jered Eames is planning to make a documentary about his disastrous UK tour, which collapsed earlier this year after none of the American band’s fabricated fanbase turned up to any of the shows.

The subject of a possible film arises in a new interview with Rolling Stone, which contains Eames’ first public comments about the incident besides a tweet claiming that we’re all “part of the illusion”.

In the article, Eames continues to present what happened as being what he had planned plan all along, despite that stance not entirely adding up. He then says that he hopes to use footage shot by his wife on the tour to make a film explaining exactly what went on behind the scenes.

Threatin were six shows into a European tour when people started noticing online complaints from venues. Those venues were annoyed that the band had claimed to have almost sold out shows in the run up to the tour, but had then actually played to virtually no one on the night.

As media picked up on those complaints, it then became apparent that the band’s 38,000 Facebook fans and numerous YouTube likes and comments were largely fabricated. As were the band’s record label, booking agent, management company and two music websites giving the act positive coverage. As the story unravelled, two of the session musicians hired to back Eames on the tour quit and the rest of the dates were pulled.

“I knew people would look at it and go, ‘looks good’, and move on”, he says of the fake websites and fans. “I’m just trying to manufacture the bandwagon effect. The fact that people look at these numbers that are so easily fictionalised and hold them as any kind of merit – that shows a huge flaw in the music industry as well”.

It may well highlight a flaw in the modern music industry, although it also shows that it’s actually quite hard to “manufacture the bandwagon effect” and then build an actual touring business on the back of it all. Because for Eames, the bandwagon remained firmly locked in the shed even after he’d shelled out thousands of pounds hiring venues and travelling to Europe to play in them. Unless you buy the idea that the actual aim was to have a failed tour and then fuel the bandwagon with the public interest that generated.

The cost of all those venue bookings and plane tickets brings us to the other big previously unanswered question of the whole story: how did Eames pay for all of this? Simply by living frugally and building up enough savings over the course of decade to do so, he says.

Having already spent more than $10,000 recording an album which, he admits, only sold a couple of hundred copies, hiring the venues for the tour alone cost another $5000. “I’m not some fucking rich kid”, he says. “All this is, is good money management”.

You can spend your Christmas break debating the merits of that last statement. For his part though, Eames plans to use similar tactics to promote his next album, proclaiming that “fake news is easy to manufacture”. Or, as was the case here, real news about a fake tour.

Still, the column inches that fake tour debacle caused could now be capitalised on. After all, he wasn’t being offered Rolling Stone interviews prior to the European trip. So maybe we will be hearing more from Threatin in the future. Or could Eames instead be about to experience the diminishing returns of flash internet fame.

Perhaps a collaboration with Rebecca Black is on the cards.

On The CMU Stereo 2018 – Winter

CMU Approved CMU Playlists

Janelle Monáe

With the year nearly done and dusted and the festive break incoming, this week, we’re going to run down 40 of our favourite tracks of 2018, ten at a time, loosely grouped into seasons. Today we head right back to the beginning of the year for our winter selection. If you sign up to our ‘On The CMU Stereo 2018’ playlist on Spotify here, you can listen to all of these tracks now, and the other 30 as they are revealed later in the week.

The first part of the year was incredibly fertile for new music, giving us a huge amount of great things to listen to. Some of the year’s best albums arrived in this period, including Ezra Furman’s ‘Transangelic Exodus’, Anna Von Hausswolff’s ‘Dead Magic’ and US Girls’ ‘In A Poem Unlimited’. There was also the first taste of new material from the likes of Janelle Monáe and Father John Misty, and a standalone release from the consistently great techno producer Anna.

Here’s what’s on our winter playlist:

Ezra Furman – Suck The Blood From My Wound
Moaning – Artificial
Tune-Yards – Heart Attack
Anna – Hidden Beauties
Rolo Tomassi – Aftermath
Anna Von Hausswolff – The Truth, The Glow, The Fall
US Girls – Pearly Gates
Janelle Monáe – Django Jane
Father John Misty – Mr Tillman
Natalie Prass – Short Court Style

Listen to all ten tracks here.

Check out all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2018 on this Spotify playlist.

Bankers withdrawn from Neil Young show

CMU Opinion

Neil Young

I don’t think I’ve ever written anything about Neil Young that hasn’t been an absolute joy to unravel. The man seems incapable of just doing a thing and letting it play out as expected.

Most artists get booked to play a gig and then wait around until said gig is due to happen, possibly posting a few plugs to their socials in the meantime. Neil Young gets booked to play a gig, takes issue with how the gig was announced, forces the sponsor to pull out, and ensures that a whole day of a festival is removed but not cancelled. In this particular case, anyway.

It all started so simply. Late last month it was announced that Neil Young and Bob Dylan would together co-headline a day of next year’s Barclaycard British Summer Time festival which takes place in London’s Hyde Park.

BST is one of those events that actually sits somewhere between a festival and a series of standalone live shows. Run over a couple of weeks in July, each day is a separate event, but they are all united under one brand. It’s has been running since 2013 – always sponsored by Barclaycard – since AEG took control of live music in Hyde Park from rival Live Nation.

So that’s all fine. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Now we need to talk about this website called the Neil Young Archives. Part of Young’s long running campaign to achieve better quality digital music, it’s a website where fans can pay to access his archive of studio and live recordings, concert films and more, all provided at a level of sound quality the man himself is happy with. Subscribers are also promised pre-sale access to all of his live shows.

However, tickets for the Hyde Park concert were put on sale without this happening, causing a load of NYA subscribers to write emails of complaint, many of which were published on the letters page of the site’s virtual newspaper, The Times Contrarian. Others also pointed out that the show was sponsored by Barclaycard, the credit card subsidiary of Barclays Bank. The bank’s record of funding the fossil fuel industry, some pointed out, did not seem to sit with Young’s stance as an environmentalist.

So that, I think, is all the background information covered. Enter Neil Young. “You who were taken by surprise waking up to the Bob Dylan/Neil Young Hyde Park concert announcement posted on every outlet except NYA, might wonder why it was not on NYA”, Young wrote in a since deleted update to the site’s subscribers. “And you should. We’re sorry. Like you, I had no idea the announcement was coming that day”.

He continued: “I was still finessing the art for the poster and trying to make sure that all the details of the show were agreeable to me. Then, suddenly, someone jumped the gun. The tickets were put on sale and the announcement was made, all without my knowledge”.

I’m still not clear what poster Young was working on, given that BST has its own distinct branding, with promotional materials for all the shows staged under that banner using the same template. Presumably it was a poster without any mention of the big bad sponsor on it. But what is clear is that, along the way, the pre-sale ticket option required for subscribers to Young’s own website had been forgotten by the powers that be.

With Young’s post kind of implying that AEG was at fault here, his manager Elliot Roberts subsequently popped up to take some of the blame for the mix up. In another post on NYA, Roberts wrote: “To say we fell short of our obligations on the announcement and pre-sales for the Hyde Park show is an understatement and we disappointed a lot of people. We lost focus and the entire team at Lookout Management apologises for promises not kept to our subscribers”.

So that’s the premature announcement and pre-sale fuck up duly apologised for. But what about that fossil fuel supporting sponsor? Back in his original post, Young said that he had not been aware that the show had sponsorship until fans started pointing it out. “I learned that the show had a sponsor, Barclays Bank, a fossil fuel funding entity”, he said. “That doesn’t work for me. I believe in science. I worry about the climate crisis and am deeply concerned about its massive global ramifications and my beautiful grandchildren’s future”.

“At the moment, we are trying to rectify the situation and will soon update you on the status of the Hyde Park show”, he assured fans. “We have been talking about requiring a different sponsor as one option”.

Now, if you didn’t read that statement and sarcastically think, “yeah, sure, you’ll force out the sponsor”, then I think your level of cynicism is dangerously low. After all, this show constituted one day in a quasi-festival that operates under one brand – taking place in a suitably branded pop-up venue – of which Barclaycard has been the very-in-your-face headline sponsor for five years. How could all that be changed for a single show to satisfy one aggrieved artist?

Although, if you didn’t respond that way, it turns out that your dangerously low cynicism levels were appropriate this time. Because the next day, a new post appeared on NYA saying: “NYA is happy to announce that the Hyde Park show will proceed without Barclays as a sponsor. We are overjoyed, so happy to be playing the show without the fossil fuel backer”.

Even at that point, this all seemed quite unlikely. AEG’s reps hadn’t responded to our various queries about what was happening on their side. Meanwhile, the British Summer Time website was still very much advertising and selling tickets for a Neil Young and Bob Dylan headlined event, which – like the full concert series – was very much sponsored by Barclaycard.

And even if they did take Barclaycard off the Young/Dylan show, it would still be listed on a website with plenty of plugs for the credit card giant.

Then on Wednesday evening, the show suddenly disappeared from that BST website. Wiped away like it had never been there at all. One of those trendy 404 pages sitting where the show had previously been plugged. “Has the whole thing been cancelled”, we briefly wondered.

No, it had not, we quickly learned. Because Team AEG finally responded to our queries. And to be fair, presumably they’d not responded sooner because they were also frantically trying to work out what the hell was going on. However, a solution had been found. The Neil Young/Bob Dylan show would go ahead. Barclaycard would not be the sponsor. And to make that possible to achieve, the gig wouldn’t be part of the British Summer Time festival at all.

“Neil Young has made the decision to move away from the Barclaycard presents British Summer Time concert series”, came the statement. “Neil Young and Bob Dylan will play a stand-alone concert in Hyde Park on the same date, 12 Jul. All tickets will remain valid. The Barclaycard presents British Summer Time concert series remains unaffected and will continue as normal with more headliners to be announced in early 2019”.

So, for one day, right in the middle of Hyde Park’s Barclaycard British Summer Time festival, there will be a show that’s not part of that event at all. You have to feel sorry for whoever it is that will have to go around the BST compound on that day covering up all the Barclaycard logos, and then the next day go around again uncovering them all for the 13 Jul proceedings (unless Florence Welch or The National suddenly reveal and anti-Barclays stance).

Of course, this could all have been avoided if just one person involved with the event had pointed out that – due to his frequently and publicly stated political and social views – Young would almost certainly have concerns about playing at an event sponsored by a big bank.

What were they even thinking? What possible indication could they have had that he’d be alright with this? I mean, other than the fact that he previously headlined the Barclaycard British Summer Time festival in 2014. But apart from that, what made them think a BST booking would work in 2019?

Still, at a time when many would argue that there’s too much corporate sponsorship in live music, and particularly at festivals, it’s quite nice to see a big brand being cast aside in favour of keeping an artist sweet. I wonder how many extra tickets they had to give to Barclays execs to smooth it all over? Or maybe they were able to compensate the sponsor with a few bags of coal.

CMU Digest 17.12.18: Tencent, Article Thirteen, Blurred Lines, Kraftwerk, Ticketmaster

CMU Digest

Tencent

The key stories from the last week in the music business…

The Tencent Music IPO went ahead at the bottom end of the expected price bracket. The music division of Chinese web giant Tencent became a standalone business on the New York Stock Exchange with a market cap valuation of about $21.3 billion. The IPO raised $1.1 billion, a significant figure, but somewhat less than predicted earlier this year. Shortly before the IPO the company denied allegations of fraud made against its co-President Guomin Xie by a previous investor in another Chinese digital music firm that merged with Tencent Music in 2016. [READ MORE]

Further talks took place in Strasbourg to try and agree a final version of the European Copyright Directive. No agreement was reached, with the music industry-backed safe harbour reforming article thirteen still proving to be very controversial indeed. Meanwhile trade groups for the music industry expressed concerns that last minute compromises on article thirteen could actually leave the music community worse off. [READ MORE]

The long running ‘Blurred Lines’ song-theft case came to a close. Having failed to have the ruling against them overturned on appeal, the deadline passed for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to apply to have the case heard by the US Supreme Court. It means the original 2015 ruling that they infringed Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’ on their 2013 hit stands. They will now have to pay damages of nearly $5 million, plus 50% of all future ‘Blurred Lines’ royalties will go the Gaye Estate. [READ MORE]

The EU Advocate General ruled that uncleared samples of sound recordings are copyright infringement, however short. He was responding to questions raised by the German courts in the long running dispute between Kraftwerk and rapper Moses Pelham, who sampled the former’s ‘Metal On Metal’ without permission. AG Maciej Szpunar said that while a few lyrics or musical notes taken in isolation might not be protected by copyright, the same does not apply when it is the recording that is sampled. And while that hasn’t always been the conclusion in US sampling cases, he said that American and European law were sufficiently different in this regard for that not to matter. [READ MORE]

Ticketmaster put the promised price-capped resale functionality live on its main ticketing site in the UK. The new functionality, which allows people to resell tickets they can no longer use at face value plus an admin fee, has been added after the Live Nation company shut down its European secondary ticketing websites Seatwave and Get Me In! It means Live Nation no longer provides services for ticket touts in Europe. Said services had been much criticised by those in the music industry who support a clamp down on industrial level online touting. [READ MORE]

The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Live Nation announced an alliance with Elvis Presley Enterprises [INFO]
• Apple confirmed it had bought London-based artist services company Platoon [INFO]
• Collecting societies PPL and SAMI announced an alliance with Auddly [INFO]
• Sony/ATV extended its deal with Swedish songwriter Noonie Bao [INFO]

Article thirteen talks to push into new year as music industry expresses concern about latest compromise

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

YouTube

Further discussions on a final draft of the new European Copyright Directive this week failed to reach agreement, which means that the whole matter will now be pushed back into 2019. Further discussions are now scheduled in for the third week in January.

The two most controversial elements of the copyright reforms – the news industry supported article eleven and music industry backed article thirteen – remain the key sticking points. Both pitch copyright owners against the tech sector, and Google in particular, and all sides continue to lobby very hard indeed.

It’s more than two years now since the European Commission published its first draft of the new copyright directive, which seeks to update copyright regimes across the EU so that they work more effectively in the digital age.

This year the EU Council and the European Parliament both agreed their own amended versions of that directive, and now the three institutions – Commission, Council and Parliament – are locked in talks to agree a single final version, what is known as the trilogue phase. There were further talks this week.

Article thirteen, of course, seeks to reform the copyright safe harbour which says that internet companies cannot be held financially liable for any copyright infringement undertaken by their customers on their platforms, providing they offer some kind of takedown system for rights owners.

The music industry argues that user-upload platforms like YouTube have exploited the safe harbour to force record companies, music publishers and collecting societies into accepting mediocre licensing deals, which means that the Google site pays much lower royalties than the other music streaming services it competes with.

To that end, article thirteen seeks to increase the liabilities of user-upload platforms. YouTube, of course, has been going to great lengths to reduce the impact of article thirteen, arguing that in its current form the proposed new liabilities will force it to dramatically alter its service in Europe, preventing grassroots creators from uploading any videos at all.

The music industry counters that YouTube and Google are deliberately misrepresenting what article thirteen says, and simply don’t want to have to pay royalties to music makers more in line with their competitors like Spotify and Apple Music.

Both the revised versions of the directive, and especially Parliament’s version, beef up the safe harbour reforms that were contained in the Commission’s original draft.

Which is why YouTube has gone into overdrive with its campaigning recently, hoping that it can water down article thirteen in the very final trilogue phase. The nature of that campaigning has been criticised by many, certainly within the music community, but also by politicians in Brussels and Strasbourg too.

Indeed, Google’s tactics have been criticised throughout the year. When Parliament was voting on its amendments, Google was accused of ‘astroturf’ campaigning, by funding what appear to be informal grassroots groups of concerned citizens, but which are actually representing major corporate interests. Those campaigners also employed automated moaning technology to make it appear like there was much wider public concern about the copyright reforms than there really was.

Those tactics ultimately back-fired following various media reports about Google’s approach, with the Parliament ultimately voting through numerous controversial amendments that favoured the copyright owners.

More recently the web giant – which is now more openly campaigning in public – has been accused of employing pester power, by pushing doom and gloom messaging at its young userbase, the implication being that they should pass Google’s concerns on to their parents, who might then want to contact their MEPs. That approach has also been criticised, and for a time it looked like this phase of Google lobbying could backfire too.

Though yesterday a consortium of companies and trade groups speaking for the music and wider copyright industries published an open letter expressing concerns about the article thirteen compromise currently being proposed by the European Commission. Those concerns seem to suggest that perhaps YouTube’s last minute lobbying push is having some effect, with the open letter arguing that the current compromise will make article thirteen ineffective and could even make things worse for copyright owners.

Most strands of the music industry are signatories of the letter, including trade bodies like IFPI and IMPALA speaking for the labels; ECSA, GESAC and IMPF speaking for songwriters and publishers; and IAO speaking for artists. Meanwhile French media conglomerate Vivendi basically signed the letter three times – in its own right, via its TV and movie division Canal+, and as a member of IFPI via its Universal Music business. Trade groups for the movie, TV, news and book industries were also among the signatories.

The letter states: “As we reach the very final stages of this process, and negotiators seek to finalise a compromise text, we urge you to remember that the overall aim of the original European Commission proposal was to correct the distortion of the digital market place caused by user-upload content services, which enable users to upload content onto their sites and then profit from the availability of creative content without returning fair revenues to rightsholders, who create and invest in such content”.

Returning to the good old ‘value gap’ term – referring to the difference in the royalties paid by YouTube compared to Spotify and Apple Music – the letter says that only the safe harbour restrictions outlined in existing drafts of the directive will “meaningfully address” this issue.

“Moreover”, it says, new rules should encourage user-upload platforms to get licences from rights owners, but only “where the rightsholders are willing to do so”. Which means that the copyright industries desperately don’t want the outcome of all this to be a new compulsory licence granting user-upload platforms access to content at set rates.

The letter then says that “unfortunately, for a number of reasons, the text now put forward by the European Commission would need fundamental changes to achieve the directive’s aim to correct the value gap”. To that end, it urges all parties to consider a number of things while negotiating a final draft of article thirteen.

In particular, that “solutions that seek to qualify or mitigate the liability of online content sharing service providers (OCSSPs) should be considered with an abundance of caution to avoid the final proposal leaving rightsholders in a worse position than they are in now. Any ‘mitigation measures’, should they be offered to OCSSPs, must therefore be clearly formulated and conditional on OCSSPs taking robust action to ensure the unavailability of works or other subject matter on their services”.

Which is a waffley way of saying that the final version of article thirteen shouldn’t have so many gets outs for YouTube so to render it useless, or new obligations on rights owners to sign-post their content online, that will actually put the music and other copyright industries in a worse position than they are currently.

“While it may be appropriate for rightsholders … to give services access to reasonably necessary identifying information concerning unauthorised works or other subject matter”, the letter says, “unclear or open-ended provisions potentially obliging rightsholders to play the main role in preventing unauthorised uses of their works fail to provide the necessary legal certainty and therefore fail to provide a meaningful solution to the value gap”.

And so it continues, with the ongoing shouting of “value gap!”, “save music!”, “think about the unintended consequences!”, “it’ll kill the internet!”, “fucking YouTube!”, all set to continue well into the new year. Happy Christmas everybody!

American tech sector lays into article thirteen in US/EU trade talks submission

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Yet more safe harbour reform? Fuck yeah, why the hell not? Because even if the music industry gets something like the reform of the copyright safe harbour that it wants in Europe – increasingly the liabilities of user-upload platforms like YouTube – what about the rest of the world? What about the biggest market for recorded music overall, the good old USA?

Global trade groups like IFPI have already been lobbying on safe harbour reforms across the world. Meanwhile the American music business got very vocal about the value gap and bloody YouTube when the US Copyright Office undertook a review of the safe harbour contained in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act back in 2016. But that review is yet to report, and most safe harbour chatter of late has focused on the European Copyright Directive.

However, if the final version of article thirteen in that directive seems like a workable solution to the so called value gap, the music industry’s lobbyists will quickly start calling for similar measures to be implemented into copyright systems elsewhere in the world.

Indeed, Jean-Michel Jarre, in his guise as President of CISAC – which brings together the world’s song right collecting societies – has already made that call. He recently stated that: “Europe has now recognised that it is time for change: it is not acceptable for the law to shield large tech monopolies and sustain a systemic injustice for creators. There is now a message to get to the rest of the world: it is time for other governments to sit up and follow”.

But, of course, any moves for safe harbour reform beyond the EU will be met with heavy resistance from the tech sector. Indeed, if you think Google and YouTube have gone OTT in their lobbying against article thirteen in Brussels and Strasbourg, imagine what it will be like when they are on home-turf campaigning against any reforms in Washington.

As an indicator of the strong arguments they will make, a recent document from America’s Computer & Communications Industry Association makes for interesting reading. The tech sector trade group was responding to a call for submissions by the US Trade Representative on the latest round of talks about a possible trade agreement between the US and the EU.

The CCIA’s submission mainly focuses on proposals in the European Copyright Directive, and is scathing about the more controversial elements of those copyright reforms, and the impact they might have on the tech sector in general, and US tech giants in particular. Its scathing conclusions also frequently talk about the potential impact of the reforms on all online services, even where a reform targets a specific kind of internet business, such as article thirteen, which is chiefly concerned with user-upload platforms.

On article thirteen, the CIAA states: “The proposed copyright directive disrupts settled law protecting [internet] intermediaries by weakening established protections … and by imposing an unworkable filtering mandate on hosting providers that would require automated ‘notice-and-stay-down’ for a wide variety of copyrighted works. If adopted, the directive would dramatically weaken these long-standing liability protections which suggests that most modern service providers may be ineligible for its protections”.

It goes on: “The decision to compel affirmative filtering of all internet content, including audio-visual works, images, and text, based on that content’s copyright status, is alarming and profoundly misguided. Moreover, the directive provides no specifics for what filtering mechanisms a hosting provider must implement, effectively empowering European rightsholders to dictate US services’ technology in potentially inconsistent ways across Europe. Until the [EU courts] eventually addresses the question, affected hosting providers can expect inconsistent rulings and injunctions from lower courts in different countries”.

“If the final EU reform does include these provisions”, it then states, “there would likely be a corresponding increase in risk for US platforms doing business in the EU, resulting in significant economic consequences for the US digital economy, which depends on the EU market. Furthermore, there is likely to be a ripple effect on the rest of the world, given the EU’s international influence. By effectively revoking long-established protections upon which US services relied when entering European markets, the new directive would limit US companies’ investments for the benefit of EU rightsholders, establishing a market access barrier for many US services and start-ups”.

Commenting on his organisation’s submission to the US Trade Representative, the CEO of CCIA, Ed Black, said earlier this week: “Europe has unfortunately used its originally well-intentioned Digital Single Market proposal to develop regulations covering tech companies in ways that will harm US internet services and also suppress their own internet sector in the future. USTR needs to be aware of the scope of protectionist measures Europe has approved, or is considering, and take steps to prevent and remedy these threats to the US tech sector. This should be a priority of US/EU trade talks”.

Although the CCIA document is designed to inform any intellectual property conversations that may occur in any future trade talks between the US and the EU, the blunt language is a sign of what will be said if and when it looks like safe harbour reform has any chances of being on the legislative agenda in Washington. You can read the full submission here.

Live Nation partner with Elvis Presley Enterprises to stage shows at Graceland

Business News Deals Live Business

Elvis Presley

Live Nation has announced a new alliance with Elvis Presley Enterprises that will see an increased number and greater range of concerts being staged at Graceland.

The estate that surrounds the former home of Presley – these days a major tourist attraction, of course – now has two venues within it: the 2000 capacity Graceland Soundstage at the Elvis Presley’s Memphis entertainment and exhibition complex and a 464 capacity theatre in the Guest House At Graceland hotel.

Since opening in 2017, those performance spaces have generally hosted mainly Elvis-themed performances. Through the Live Nation tie-up, it is hoped that a greater number of shows will be staged there involving a much wider range of acts, including both heritage artists and newer talent. According to Memphis newspaper The Commercial Appeal, between 50 and 75 shows are planned for next year, with hopes to increase that number in the future.

Confirming the new Live Nation alliance, Joel Weinshanker, Managing Partner of Graceland Holdings, said: “Graceland is already the most famous music destination in the world. And we want to make it one of the most famous destinations to see live music as well”.

Meanwhile Live Nation’s Ben Weeden said that he was proud to be working with “one of the singular iconic and transformational music brands on earth. We’re anticipating a creative partnership that will play a role in honouring such a historic artist and the place he called home”.

Avril Lavigne announces new album release date

Artist News Releases

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne has announced that her new album, ‘Head Above Water’, will be released on 15 Feb. Following on from the title track – which was inspired by her recovery from Lyme Disease and released earlier this year – she has put out new single ‘Tell Me It’s Over’.

“I feel like I’ve really opened up on this record more than I ever have before”, says Lavigne of the long player. “Each song tells a story that will hopefully inspire others to believe in themselves and stand up for what they know is right and what they truly deserve”.

The new single, she adds, “is an anthem about being strong, finally putting your foot down and closing the door on a relationship that you know is wrong after time and time again of falling for their games. If someone doesn’t treat you the way you deserve to be treated, don’t put up with it. It’s understandably so hard because in the past every time you saw them, they sucked you in and you fell right back into their web, but not anymore, starting now”.

“The vocals and the lyrics are very vulnerable, which is reflective of the feelings I had in relationships like these”, she goes on. “I wanted to write something classic and have been inspired by some of the timeless queens I listen to everyday at home, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and Etta James. They represent women who stand up for women and aren’t going to put up with a man’s bullshit anymore”.

Watch the video for ‘Tell Me It’s Over’ here:

Matmos announce plastic album

Artist News Releases

Matmos

Matmos have announced a new album, ‘Plastic Anniversary’, which has been created using only samples of sounds made by plastic objects. This follows their last album, ‘Ultimate Care II’, which was composed entirely from the sound of a washing machine.

The anniversary of the title is that of Matmos duo Drew Daniel and MC Schmidt as a couple, while the plastic part – they say – references a different relationship: that between the world and plastic.

By using discarded plastic to make the record, they highlight the material’s benefits – durability, portability and longevity – which also happen to be its negatives, in terms of its impact on the environment.

‘Plastic Anniversary’ is set for release on 15 Mar. Watch a trailer here:

Aldous Harding announces UK shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding has announced that she will be in the UK next spring to play a whole load of shows. And that’s very good news indeed.

The musician is currently finishing work on her third album, which is being produced by John Parish, who also worked on last year’s excellent ‘Party’.

Here are the dates:

15 May: Brighton, Concorde 2
16 May: Cambridge, Junction 2
17 May: Leeds, Brudenell
18 May: Glasgow, CCA
19 May: Newcastle, The Cluny 2
21 May: Manchester, Gorilla
22 May: London, EartH
23 May: Bristol, Trinity

One Liners: Ariana Grande, Janelle Monáe, Aphex Twin, more

Artist News One Liners Releases

Ariana Grande

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Ariana Grande has released new song, ‘Imagine’. It will feature on her next album, the quick follow-up to this year’s ‘Sweetener’.

• Janelle Monáe has released the full video for ‘Crazy, Classic Life’, originally part of her ‘Dirty Computer’ ’emotion picture’.

• Aphex Twin has released new (possibly old) track ‘Mangle 11’, plus two previously unreleased versions of ‘Drukqs’ track ‘Avril 14th’. Listen here.

• Yann Tiersen has released new Anna Von Hausswolff collaboration ‘Koad’. The track is taken from his upcoming new album, ‘All’, which is out in February.

• Octavian has released the video for ‘Move Faster’.

• Snapped Ankles have released the video for ‘Drink And Glide’.

• Helen Love have released a Christmas single, called ‘Glitter Star’. Like all the best Christmas singles, it’s a takedown of Kirtsy Allsop. The band are also set to play a festive show at The Lexington in London next week, on 22 Dec.

• Evi Vine has released the video for her latest single, ‘Sabbath’, featuring The Cure’s Simon Gallup and Peter Yates from Fields Of The Nephilim.

• I Am Karate are back with new single ‘Work It Out’.

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

Beef Of The Week #434: Neil Young v Barclaycard

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Neil Young

I don’t think I’ve ever written anything about Neil Young that hasn’t been an absolute joy to unravel. The man seems incapable of just doing a thing and letting it play out as expected.

Most artists get booked to play a gig and then wait around until said gig is due to happen, possibly posting a few plugs to their socials in the meantime. Neil Young gets booked to play a gig, takes issue with how the gig was announced, forces the sponsor to pull out, and ensures that a whole day of a festival is removed but not cancelled. In this particular case, anyway.

It all started so simply. Late last month it was announced that Neil Young and Bob Dylan would together co-headline a day of next year’s Barclaycard British Summer Time festival which takes place in London’s Hyde Park.

BST is one of those events that actually sits somewhere between a festival and a series of standalone live shows. Run over a couple of weeks in July, each day is a separate event, but they are all united under one brand. It’s been running since 2013 – always sponsored by Barclaycard – since AEG took control of live music in Hyde Park from rival Live Nation.