UK Music sets out demands to Westminster as General Election called
So, yesterday Theresa Mayhem decided to call a snap General Election, because – you know – there haven't been enough political distractions in the last eighteen months. So it now seems likely that on 8 Jun the Great British public will be forced back to the polls to decide which team of twonks will negotiate this Brexit nonsense. Good times.

Somewhat aptly, yesterday cross-sector trade group UK Music also put out its response to the industrial strategy green paper recently published by the British government, calling on political types to introduce various measures to ensure that the creative industries can succeed both post-Brexit and in this here digital age.

That response – based on three months of consultation with different groups within the music community – now doubles up as something of a manifesto for music types lobbying politicians while they are eager for votes.

Says UK Music: "[We are] urging all parties to ensure the UK is in the best possible position to develop and grow the creative sector. The music industry contributes £4.1 billion in GVA to the economy, accounts for £2.2 billion in exports and employs almost 120,000 people".

It goes on: "Five key priorities are set out in UK Music's response to the government's industrial strategy green paper which was published today following a three-month consultation period". Those priority areas cover intellectual property, skills and education, finance and investment, international action and regional development.

In its lengthy response paper, UK Music insists that these priorities "need to be addressed to ensure the UK remains an attractive place for a talented and creative music industry". It concludes: "Supporting these priorities will in turn enable the government's overarching objectives for industrial strategy to be realised".

You can download UK Music's response paper here.

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Police hunt fiancé of ex-TOWIE star over Hackney acid attack
Police are attempting to locate the fiancé of former 'The Only Way Is Essex' star Ferne McCann in relation to the suspected acid attack at Hackney's Mangle nightclub earlier this week.

As previously reported, several people were injured, two seriously, when a noxious substance was thrown inside the club in the early hours of Monday morning. It is believed that the incident occurred following a dispute between two groups of men. Around 600 people were evacuated from the venue.

Police have now issued an arrest warrant for Hertfordshire businessman Arthur Collins, who is currently missing. A raid was carried out on an address in Hertfordshire on Monday night, police have confirmed. People have been warned not to approach Collins if they spot him.

A spokesperson for McCann said: "Ferne is aware that the police wish to speak to Arthur Collins and the nature of the accusations against him. Obviously these are highly shocking and Ferne has co-operated with the police in their inquiries".

They added: "She was not with Arthur on Sunday night, was not at Mangle and has no direct knowledge of the events that unfolded. As much as anybody she wants to know the truth and urges Arthur to co-operate fully with the police and attend a police station immediately".

McCann had announced the couple's engagement on Sunday, and they are on the cover of this week's OK Magazine discussing their plans.

The number of people injured in the attack has now risen to 20, with a police spokesperson saying in an update on the investigation: "We now have 20 people suffering from the effects of an acidic substance being sprayed in a confined space in a busy nightclub. All have burn related injuries. The noxious substance used has not yet been confirmed but samples retrieved from the scene have been sent for analysis. If you were there and saw anyone involved inside or leaving the nightclub, please get in touch".

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Spotify updates artist analytics platform, launches Facebook Messenger extension
Spotify has announced an overhaul of its Fan Insights service, renaming it Spotify For Artists and pumping a whole load of new functionality into the dashboard that is accessible to artists and managers, even when a label or distributor actually supplies their content to the streaming service. Verified artists and their managers will now have greater control over the look of their Spotify profile as well as having access to all kinds of fancy data.

Data wise, some of the info available via Spotify For Aritsts was already in Fan Insights, though some of it is new. The dashboard includes demographic and location information about an artist's listeners, including a real-time feed of said listeners. It will also provide data on the performance of individual tracks and how they are performing in playlists.

"What we're seeing is that artists of all sizes need the help", former Lady Gaga manager turned Spotify artist liaison guy Troy Carter tells Billboard. "Someone who is one of the top 50 artists in the world, they're still trying to figure out a lot of things about their fans as it relates to specific demographics, how to reach them, how to sell more tickets, how to appeal to audiences that you may not necessarily appeal to on typical radio. But what we're seeing as you go down the stream, artists who more typically self-serve, they also need more tools. We feel like Spotify For Artists is providing them".

While he was in chatting mode, Carter also denied the long-running rumours that Spotify plans to move into label territory by signing artists itself, saying: "There's a lot of speculation that we're going into the label business, and I think we couldn't be further from it. Our thing is, how do we support our partners on every end and allow them to use Spotify as a distribution platform, a place where they can reach more fans, and just be the most value-added partner that they're gonna find".

Speaking of chatting, Facebook has just announced a bunch of new extensions for its Messenger app, including for Spotify and Apple Music to allow easier sharing of music.

Facebook already did this for Spotify just over a year ago, but seemingly this time it's going to do it in a less half-arsed way. It'll allow you to search for songs to share without leaving the Messenger app, and to get a recommended playlist based on your mood (or the person you're chatting with). No, you are not dreaming, all of your wildest dreams really have come true.

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BBC Proms to stream in lossless audio format
To mark the 90th anniversary of the Proms, BBC Radio 3 has announced that it will stream the whole event in lossless audio. This will be the highest audio quality in which the Beeb has ever broadcast.

Says BBC Radio 3 controller Alan Davey: "BBC Radio 3 listeners are the most discerning music fans in the world - the quality of the sound is almost as important as the quality of the music itself. We've always innovated around the Proms, and this new lossless audio stream will let our audience experience the whole season in spectacular, unprecedented quality. The Proms are the biggest event in the classical music calendar, and this year listeners will feel as if they were standing in the arena of the Royal Albert Hall".

They won't, but it's a nice idea. I mean the Royal Albert Hall is quite different to most people's living rooms. But I'm sure it'll sound just lovely. Unless you all play it through your laptop speakers, in which case the whole thing is probably a pointless endeavour.

If you happen to be interested in the technology behind all this, the BBC R&D unit has published a detailed blog post on it all.

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Five more CMU@TGE updates, new speakers galore!
The Great Escape is now less than a month away, and we've just added speakers to five of the sessions taking place across the CMU Insights @ The Great Escape conference programme. Here are the latest updates - in five handy steps...

1. Promoting best practice music export support. Numerous countries now have government or industry funded organisations that exist to help new artists export into new markets - most of which have an official presence at The Great Escape. Sound Diplomacy has surveyed many of these export offices to produce a Global Music Export Pledge, a best practice guide for those countries with existing music export initiatives, and those thinking of setting one up for the first time. Sound Diplomacy's Danny Keir will formally launch the report and present its findings at our Export Conference.

2. So, where's all the money? All five guest speakers have now been confirmed for the Royalties Conference session 'How The Cash Flows'. Also joining CMU's Chris Cooke will be PPL's Amanda Carmichael, who will explain how artists get paid whenever their tracks are broadcast or performed around the world; Lewis Silkin's Nigel Dewar Gibb, who will look at how sorting the formalities of rights is crucial if you want to get your royalties; and Catlotta De Ninni from Mycelia, who will introduce an exciting new project that will help music creatives understand how their songs reach the world and generate revenue. IP experts Becky Brook and Sophie Goossens were already confirmed to present.

3. Export tips galore for new acts in the UK. Don't forget the 'MEGS Guide To Exporting New Talent' in the Export Conference, four case studies providing practical tips on launching new artists in new markets courtesy of past recipients of the UK's Music Export Growth Scheme funding, which is provided by the Department For International Trade and administered by BPI. Added to this session is Phil Middleton from ATC, discussing his work with Temperance Movement, and Samantha Smith from Fairsound Management, on exporting Lonelady.

4. Where next for radio? Is the radio industry ready to compete with the ever-more-radio-like streaming services? Is it at risk of losing a generation who are more likely to tune in to YouTube and Instagram than the FM dial? Joining Folder Media's Matt Deegan and Platform B's Nats Spada for the radio session in our Media Conference are 7digital's Deputy CEO Pete Downton and BBC Radio 1 producer Kate Holder.

5. When music gets synced. Back in the Royalties Conference, the session focused on working with the TV, film, gaming and advertising sectors - talking all things sync, production music and original commissions - is looking even better. Joining Simon Pursehouse from Sentric and Stacey Mitsopulos from The Box Plus Network are the BBC's Head Of Music Licensing Nicky Bignell and PRS For Music's Director Of Broadcast & Online Andy Harrower. With another guest still to be announced!

More info on all things CMU@TGE here.

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Lady Gaga releases new single, talks mental health with Prince Harry
Lady Gaga did a new song at Coachella last weekend. She'll probably do it again this weekend. But this time you'll be able to sing along, because she's made a studio recording of it available for all to hear.

Elsewhere in Gaga news, she recently Facetimed Prince Harry to kick off Heads Together, a new mental health focussed campaign from The Royal Foundation Of The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge And Prince Harry.

The series of Heads Together #oktosay videos show a variety of people discussing the conversation where they first opened up about their own mental health issues and how that changed their lives.

Watch Gaga and Harry's film here.

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Queen + Adam Lambert announce tour dates
Queen are going to be heading out on tour at the end of this year, back with Adam Lambert standing in for Freddie Mercury. And this time they're refusing to only play songs you want to hear.

"The general public knows the hits, so you've got to cater for that", sighs Brian May. "But we can chuck in a few things that people really don't expect. We'll do quite a bit more of that this time around. There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more".

Lambert adds: "What people should know if they came to the shows a couple of years back, is obviously we will still be playing the big hit songs you know and love from Queen, but we thought it would be good to challenge ourselves a bit. Change it up a little bit, change the visuals, change all the technology, change the set list to some degree. We will probably be pulling some other songs out of the Queen catalogue which we haven't done before, which I am very excited about".

Tickets go on sale on Friday, but when are the dates? Thence:

25 Nov: Dublin, 3 Arena
26 Nov: Belfast, SSE Arena
28 Nov: Liverpool, Echo Arena
30 Nov: Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena
1 Dec: Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
3 Dec: Glasgow, Hydro
5 Dec: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
6 Nov: Leeds, First Direct Arena
8 Dec: Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena
9 Dec: Manchester, Arena
12 Dec: London, O2 Arena
15 Dec: London, Wembley Arena

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Ed Sheehan, Kendrick Lamar, Alessia Cara, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Ed Sheeran's going to be on Radio 4's 'Desert Island Discs' on 7 May. That boy gets everywhere.

• Kendrick Lamar has released the video for 'DNA' from new album 'Damn'. It's got Don Cheadle in it.

• Zedd and Alessia Cara have released the video for 'Stay', even though that song's been out for ages.

• Noah 'Sister Of Miley' Cyrus has released new single 'Stay Together'.

• The Comet Is Coming have released a new single, which is exciting. Here's 'Start Running'.

• Denai Moore has announced a show at The Courtyard in East London on 9 May. Tickets are via ballot, so you'd best apply here.

• Babymetal have just announced their own festival in Japan. It will run over nine dates, but - as well as getting yourself to Japan - you will have to jump through some hoops to get in.

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Slayer's Tom Araya thinks you're a crybaby (assuming you're American, but probably otherwise too)
They say that more right-leaning political debate can often lack nuance, but Slayer's Tom Araya just said that "America has become a nation of crybabies", so that's that debunked. I'm joking, Tom Araya is a bit cagey about whether he leans right or left.

Speaking to Chilean radio station Futuro 88.9fm, Araya commented on a recent mild controversy when he posted a Photoshopped image of Slayer featuring Donald Trump on the band's social media pages. Some people don't like Donald Trump, it turns out. Sad.

"That's what America has become", said Araya. "It's become a bunch of people that, because they didn't get their way, they're mad. I shared a picture that I thought was funny. They can't even joke. They can't even laugh at themselves. They can't even have fun. And that just is amazing that it's come to that. We're a nation of crybabies".

He added: "I knew that some people wouldn't like it. You have to do that, though, you know what I mean? I'm in Slayer, and being in Slayer, sometimes you do stuff like that just to piss people off".

He's right, and you totally took that bait. That's just like you. If you get that angry about a picture of Donald Trump, just imagine how you'll feel when you find out he's a real person.

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