Guvera puts another subsidiary into administration
Flagging streaming firm Guvera has reportedly put another of its Australian subsidiaries into administration. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, it is Guvera Employment that is now in administration, a move that could lead to a further 25 jobs being lost at the streaming music company that last year saw its attempt to float on the Australian Securities Exchange blocked.

In the wake of the failed IPO last summer, Guvera pulled out of numerous markets and put two of its Australian companies into administration: Guvera Australia and Guv Services. A deal was subsequently done with those companies' creditors in which Guvera Limited agreed to pay over chunks of money to said creditors each month. Meanwhile in January this year the parent company successfully defeated a bid by an investor owed a reported $1.8 million to wind up the whole operation.

The administrator of Guvera Employment - Worrells Solvency - is now also working on a proposed deal for creditors, aka a 'deed of company arrangement'. A representative of the administrator told Fairfax Media: "At this stage, we have been advised that there is an intention to put forward a proposal for a deed of company arrangement. We have commenced our investigations and will provide our report in relation to these investigations and any proposed DOCA prior to the second meeting of the company's creditors".

Guvera is now seemingly focused on two markets, India and Indonesia, and is basically repositioning itself as a service provider to brands looking to engage consumers through music. Although, like Spotify, the Guvera streaming service had both ad-funded and premium levels, the company began as a brand-led digital music platform, and has always claimed that ad-funded on-demand streaming could in itself be a business, rather than just a freemium platform via which to upsell paid-for subscriptions.

In an update to investors last month, Guvera founder Claes Loberg said: "Over the past six months we have been getting back to our core as a tool for brands as you all know". To that end, much of the shareholder email outlined the firm's alliances with ad agencies in India and Indonesia, and the development of new data and targeting tools for advertisers, including a new app called DragonFli which Loberg brags is "hands down the most sophisticated brand marketing tool available today".

Again confirming the company's shift away from being a conventional streaming music platform, Loberg's email also noted a change in the firm's relationship with the music industry, stating that "Rather than us maintaining the expense we once had providing a full music streaming platform, we are outsourcing this to third party providers. All content will now be delivered only inside brand channels, and only at the request and expense of the brands using the content in separate deals with content owners".

The company, which retains its base in home country Australia despite no longer operating there, is yet to comment on the administration of Guvera Employment.

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Ed Sheeran settles Photograph song-theft lawsuit
Ed Sheeran has settled a lawsuit in which he was accused of stealing parts of his song 'Photograph' from the Matt Cardle track 'Amazing'. The case was brought against him in June last year by the latter song's writers, Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, papers were filed last week to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be resurrected at a later date. Terms of the settlement are not known, but Harrington and Leonard had been seeking $20 million in damages.

Last year, lawyers representing Sheeran and his songwriting partner Johnny McDaid off of Snow Patrol attempted to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the lawsuit was really long and boring. Since that failed back in January, attempts to reach this settlement seem to have been embarked upon.

In March, the writers of TLC's 'No Scrubs' were given songwriting credits on Sheeran's 'Shape Of You' without even having to launch legal action. Whether or not Harrington and Leonard will now be credited on 'Photograph' remains to be seen.

This leaves just the lawsuit from the estate of songwriter Ed Townsend on the Sheeran song-theft allegations pile, which claims that Ed's song 'Thinking Out Loud' borrowed from Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On', which Townsend co-wrote.

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Troy Carter to advise the Prince estate
Former artist manager Troy Carter has been named as the new entertainment industry advisor to the Prince estate. The appointment has been confirmed by Comerica, the bank that took over as the permanent administrator of the late musician's estate earlier this year.

As previously reported, there was disagreement between Prince's presumed heirs over which individuals should be involved in managing the musician's legacy and intellectual property long-term. Some of his siblings opposed the permanent appointment of the two men who had performed that role since Prince's death last year, Charles Koppelman and L Londell McMillan. Noting the ongoing disagreements, the judge overseeing the estate declined to appoint individual advisors when approving Comercia's role in January.

Confirming it was now engaging the services of Carter, the bank said in a statement yesterday: "Comerica Bank is proud to acknowledge that Troy Carter has been named entertainment advisor to the Prince estate. His considerable music industry experience and expertise will be invaluable as the work of the Prince estate moves forward. In light of the confidential nature of estate settlement matters, however, we will have no further comment other than this acknowledgement".

Meanwhile Carter himself confirmed his new advisory role to Billboard, saying: "It's an honour to serve as entertainment advisor to Prince's estate. His music, message and independent thought has been a major influence throughout my career. I'm humbled to work with his family and Comerica Bank to advance his musical legacy into the future".

It seems that with Carter's appointment, Koppelman and McMillan will no longer be working with the estate. It's not clear how involved Prince's siblings will be in ongoing decision making, though presumably they have approved Carter's advisory role.

Of course it's an interesting appointment given the Prince estate's ongoing legal wranglings with Tidal, the streaming service with which the musician allied prior to his death. There are now disagreements over quite what deals Prince agreed with Tidal and its boss Jay-Z. Meanwhile, Carter's day job these days is as Global Head Of Creative Services at, yeah, that's right, good old Spotify.

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Cabbage sign to Blue Raincoat
'Post-punk' types Cabbage have signed a publishing deal with Blue Raincoat Songs, the song rights arm of the relatively new music company founded by Jeremy Lascelles and Chris Wright.

"Cabbage are the most exciting new band to have come out of this country in a long, long time", says Lascelles. "They write lyrics that are political, angry, aggressive, but also extremely witty and insightful. On top of all that, they are a fucking great band. Boy, do we need a band like them in these dark and dangerous times".

Heading out on a short sold out tour later this month, Cabbage also have dates booked in for June, including a show at the Scala in London. The band will also release a limited edition twelve-inch compilation of their three EPs - titled 'Young, Dumb & Full Of...' - for this year's Record Store Day.

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BMG boss says streaming boom will force labels to offer artists better royalties
As the record industry gets ready to brag about its impressive return to growth with the publication of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry's 'Global Music Report' later this month, the boss of BMG has predicted that the revival in revenues won't necessarily result in long-term mega-profits for the big record companies, because artists will seek to secure a bigger cut of streaming revenue.

It's no secret that most artists reckon that they are being short-changed in the streaming domain, where labels no longer have to manufacture and distribute physical product, but often pay out similar royalties on streams and discs.

Labels often counter that, in the wider scheme of things, manufacture and distribution were not as big an expense as everyone thinks, and that the real costs are in recording, marketing and maintaining a global infrastructure. Said labels will then usually add that artists are often paid a few percent more on streaming income than they are on CDs.

During the 'Dissecting The Digital Dollar' roundtables run by CMU Insights for the UK's Music Managers Forum last year, most managers conceded that marketing costs in particular remained significant for labels. But most also said that they weren't entirely convinced by the argument that the removal of physical product had only a nominal impact on record company budgets, and argued that streaming royalties should therefore be significantly more than just a few percent higher than the artist's cut on a CD.

On catalogue content and legacy contracts securing a better rate for artists on streaming likely requires plenty of legal wrangling, though on new deals managers can push for better royalty arrangements, especially as label revenues return to growth on the back of the subscription streaming boom.

It's the 'services deal' approach of companies like BMG and its rival Kobalt which are arguably starting to provide artists and their managers with negotiating power, offering alternative deals that routinely provide artists with 75% of streaming income, whereas in a classic major label deal it's the record company that would see that cut of the money (indeed, more so in most cases).

Speaking to the Financial Times about the record industry's recent return to growth, BMG boss Hartwig Masuch said: "I believe there will be some wake-up calls. I am very cynical about the view that the good days have returned. Every renegotiation [with an artist] will cut down massively on the margin".

Arguing that the old record deal structure becomes less and less justifiable as streaming ever more dominates, he asks how - in an entirely digital world - labels could justify old royalty rates. "Why in the hell would an artist decide to take less than 75%? That becomes a very hard discussion".

Premium subscribers can check out this recent CMU Trends article that reviewed the role of the record company in the streaming age, and the pros and cons of the services deal approach offered by the likes of BMG and Kobalt.

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Mariah Carey launches Butterfly MC Records
Mariah Carey has been given her own label as an imprint of Sony's Epic Records. She will release a new studio album through the imprint, Butterfly MC Records, later this year.

"To continue working with Mariah Carey at Epic has been another rewarding chapter of my career", says Epic CEO LA Reid. "Mariah's incomparable talents as a singer, with her vocal range that is nothing short of legendary, are matched by her brilliance as a songwriter, producer, and performer par excellence. Mariah's chart records have established her enduring place in music history, a position that is cherished and supported by her loyal fans worldwide. I look forward to building upon all of Mariah's success for years to come".

Carey adds: "I am putting my heart and soul into making more new music. I am so THRILLED for this next chapter and to continue working with, and for, everyone that I love".

As well as all that, Carey will be taking up residency in Las Vegas in July, and supporting Lionel Richie on tour later this summer. Busy busy.

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Korn hire twelve year old bassist for South American dates
Korn will perform a run of South American shows later this month with a twelve year old standing in for bassist Reginald 'Fieldy' Arvizu. I have checked and this is seemingly not a delayed April Fool. It's not just any twelve year old though, this one's Tye Trujillo, the son of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo. Still. Bit weird.

"We are bummed Fieldy can't join us on this run but excited to do a few gigs with a young player like Tye", say the band. "We look forward to welcoming our brother Fieldy back when we return to the States in May".

The shows in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru commence in Bogota on 17 Apr.

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Linkin Park discuss working with Stormzy
Linkin Park have been talking about collaborating with Stormzy, which is apparently a thing they've done for a track on their new album.

"Right before we sent the record in to be finalised ... we got Stormzy's verse", explains the band's Chester Bennington to BeBox. "It was dope, and it was like, 'oh, okay, great".

If you're feeling like there's more to this story that that, then you would be correct. There are so many more riveting insights. Like, how did they even get Stormzy involved? Bennington explains: "It required us reaching out saying, 'hey, we like Stormzy, here's a track if you would like to participate on it, that would be awesome'. Apparently he was like, 'yeah'. [So] that wasn't that difficult".

As I said, riveting. So insightful. But surely Stormzy was just thrust upon the band to make them look cool, because Stormzy's the hot new guy in town right now. No, you are wrong. Linkin Park heard of Stormy ages ago and they've liked him since, like, forever: "We knew of Stormzy, that's why we reached out to him, and we like Stormzy and we think that he's dope", says Bennington of his band's original call to the grime king. "Little did we know that he was about to take over the world".

If you can handle it, there's more of this interview. Watch here.

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Shobaleader One, PWR BTTM, Arca, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Squarepusher's Shobaleader One have released the video for their version of solo Squarepusher track 'Iambic 5 Poetry'.

• PWR BTTM have released new single 'LOL' as they commence a UK tour.

• Arca has released the video for 'Desafío', taken from his just out new album.

• Poliça have released a new track, 'Still Counts', featuring Spank Rock.

• Ward Thomas have released an interactive video for new single 'Material', which allows you to isolate the duo's individual voices. Perfect for people who hate harmonies.

• Tiga and Audion have teamed up for a new EP titled 'Nightclub'. It's the sound of "two top techno producers in the mood for ballsiness", says Tiga.

• The Gift has released the video for new single 'Big Fish', taken from upcoming Brian Eno-produced album 'Altar'.

• Baby In Vain have released new track, 'Transcendent'.

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Coachella audience not smart enough for Kate Bush
Coachella kicks off this weekend, so the New Yorker has published a lengthy article on the ins and outs of how the festival works. This includes the possibly hypothetical suggestion that Kate Bush could have played the festival in 2015 but was turned down.

Head of WME's music division Marc Geiger makes the claim while giving an example of the negotiating process with the festival's founder Paul Tollett.

"I'll say, 'Kate Bush!' and he'll go, 'No!' and we'll talk through it", explains Geiger. "I'll say, 'She's never played here, and she just did 30 shows in the UK for the first time since the late 70s. You gotta do it! Have to!' 'No! No one is going to understand it'".

Bush, of course, did indeed perform a run of shows at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2014 - 22 though, not 30. Her first live shows since 1979, the multi-media performances included puppetry, video, magic and other theatrical elements, as well as a bit of singing. To be fair, it doesn't sound like a festival-friendly show at all. I think Tollett has a point.

It wouldn't have been just Tollett who needed to be convinced though. Assuming this situation is anything other than hypothetical, it would also have relied on Bush being eager to take her show on the road. She only got around to doing interviews about the concerts two years later, when the live album was eventually released, which doesn't suggest a keenness to get 'out there'.

Anyway, I'm sure David Guetta turned in something very similar to a Kate Bush show when he played Coachella that year. Speaking of which, the article also contains an interesting discussion on trying to work out how popular EDM DJs are, and a surprisingly fascinating section on the poster's font sizes.

Read it all here.

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