CMU Daily is fifteen!
So, ladies and gentlemen, would you believe that the CMU Daily has now been publishing daily for fifteen years. Fifteen years!

There was no Spotify back then. There was no iTunes back then. There was no Facebook back then. There was no YouTube back then. It was only after the CMU Daily was launched that all those music and media revolutions occurred. Coincidence? Yes. Don't blame us for YouTube. That was nothing to do with us. Though thanks for embracing and then hating all things YouTube. It's made covering the music industry every day for the last fifteen years much more fun. Here's to the next fifteen years and everyone hating Facebook!

If you want to celebrate fifteen years of the CMU Daily by subscribing to the CMU Podcast, becoming a premium subscriber, reading up on our TGE panels from last month, booking into upcoming CMU Insights seminars and masterclasses, or just checking that your best music business mates are all also subscribers and - if not - getting them signed-up, well, that's up to you.

We're going to reminisce about all the times Justin Beiber walked into a door, that year when we mainly wrote about Pete Doherty, the miles of CMU column inches the death of Michael Jackson created, and just how eventful the collapse of EMI proved to be. Needless to say, we are THRILLED about it all.

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Police raid HQ of Spanish collecting society - again
Those with warm memories of the happy heady summer of 2011 and the glorious police raid on the offices of Spanish collecting society SGAE are in for a treat. As we were all enjoying the happy heady days of summer 2017 yesterday, police officers raided the HQ of Spanish collecting society SGAE all over again, this time reportedly investigating an alleged scam apparently called "the wheel".

Fans of collecting society scandals still remember fondly the 2011 fraud investigation which saw the Spanish music rights organisation's long-time top man Eduardo 'Teddy' Bautista quickly resign.

The whole debacle was a talking point once again earlier this year when Pedro Farré - SGAE's former communications and lobbying boss and a one-time close ally of Bautista - published a book about his time expensing drugs and prostitutes to the music rights body. Good times. Farré was the only senior SGAE official jailed following the 2011 investigation. Something he's seemingly as confused about as the rest of us.

According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the latest police raid, in which eighteen people were reportedly detained, relates to an alleged arrangement between certain SGAE members and Spanish TV execs designed to shuffle song royalties distributed by the society to those involved in the scam.

Basically the accused SGAE members register new works with the society, often light reworks of public domain compositions, and then the TV execs involved in the deal commit to regularly air those works on late night television programmes, so that they generate performing right royalties collected by the society.

The TV companies are often listed as the publishers of the music, the SGAE members as the composers, so they can split the loot. It's also alleged that some of the telly execs got writer credits too, so they could personally profit from the arrangement as well.

El Pais says the scam, known as "la rueda" internally, has been employed for years generating millions of euros in royalties for those involved. Billboard adds that Antón Reixa, who took over from Bautista after his resignation in 2011, was ultimately forced out of the society after trying to clamp down on this and other dodgy dealings designed to ensure buckets of royalty cash are distributed to a small group of SGAE members.

SGAE is yet to comment. Though stick around six years, one of the 'wheelers' might yet get jailed and then pen a tell-all memoir revealing the specifics of the scheme. Meanwhile songwriters of the world, next time you're having a good moan about your useless collecting society, don't forget, it could be worse, you could a Spanish songwriter.

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TuneIn sues Pandora over ad sales deal
So, thanks to its recent deals, Pandora is now sitting on a cash pile of £680 million. Let's make sure at least some of that lands into the pockets of those lovely lawyers, right?

Good news everybody! Radio station and podcast aggregator TuneIn is suing Pandora, accusing the streaming music firm of breach of contract, anticipatory breach, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and negligent misrepresentation. Which is fine list of allegations if ever I saw one.

According to Billboard, the dispute relates to an agreement the two companies entered into last year which saw Pandora commit to sell TuneIn's digital audio advertising slots on an exclusive basis.

Pandora, which has never managed to make its ad-funded personalised radio service profitable, apparently reckoned that it had a super new digital advertising platform that TuneIn could benefit from, it taking a cut of all the ad income it could generate for its new business partner.

However, TuneIn alleges in the lawsuit it filed this week, Pandora "did not invest the resources and effort necessary to make the [new ad venture] a successful sales platform", adding that the "dismal" number of ads it sold are proof of that. TuneIn reckons that it sold way more advertising through its previous ad sales partners.

Under the deal, Pandora offered TuneIn certain guaranteed income providing the radio aggregator achieved certain levels of traffic. TuneIn says that it delivered on its side of that deal, but that Pandora hasn't fulfilled its promises regarding minimum payments. Instead, TuneIn alleges, Pandora claimed its new business partner had not provided its inventory forecast in a "reasonably acceptable format". This, the lawsuit claims, is "a thinly-veiled attempt" by Pandora "to avoid its payment obligations in light of its poor sales results".

Commenting on the dispute, TuneIn CEO John Donham told Billboard: "We are disappointed that Pandora did not invest the promised resources and effort to make our exclusive partnership a success. Pandora's failure to honour its agreement with TuneIn forced us to take this step to protect our contractual rights".

Pandora is yet to respond to the litigation. At least its execs can hide behind that mountain of cash. Until the lawyers grab a load of it to defend TuneIn's legal claim.

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Ministry record company in Australia rebrands following UK label's Sony deal
The Ministry Of Sound record company in Australia is rebranding as TMRW Music.

The label operated by Ministry Of Sound's Australian business partners was not part of Sony Music's acquisition of the UK-based Ministry label last year. Though the rebrand is as a result of that deal, which will also see the Ministry Of Sound compilations business in Australia now shift over to Sony Music.

The rest of what was Ministry Of Sound Recordings Australia will continue to operate as normal under the new TMRW Music name, and will still be headed up by Tim McGee, whose wider business - including Soapbox Events - will continue to run clubbing nights and events using the Ministry Of Sound brand.

Confirming this, McGee said yesterday: "We will continue to work with the Ministry Of Sound brand on the newly launched club at Ivy [in Sydney], which had a huge opening night with Peking Duk and Sandy Rivera, as well as other events such as the recently announced Ministry Of Sound Orchestrated shows in August".

Meanwhile Jonathan Bevan, CEO of the Ministry Of Sound Group back in the UK, added, "Ministry Of Sound Group has had a long-standing relationship with Tim and Ministry Of Sound Australia and have always found them to be exceptional partners. We are excited about extending our partnership and about Soapbox Events' plans for Ministry Of Sound branded events and the Ministry Of Sound Club at Ivy."

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Spotify testing sponsored tracks in user playlists
Spotify has confirmed that it is experimenting with allowing labels to pay to insert songs into your carefully created playlists. The streaming company said that a small trial of this new service is being tested on a number of free users.

"We are always testing new promotional tools that deliver the highest relevancy to our users", said Spotify in a statement.

Meanwhile, Spotify has also announced another development in playlists. Users can now create collaborative playlists with friends directly within the Facebook Messenger app. Your Facebook friends don't even have to be Spotify users to impose their dreadful taste upon you.

You can chat to the Spotify chatbot about this now.

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7digital finalises 24-7 acquisition
Digital music provider and radio programme maker 7digital yesterday confirmed it had finalised its deal to acquire 24-7 Entertainment - another B2B provider of digital music services - from German consumer electronics giant MediaMarktSaturn, which took a controlling stake in 24-7 back in 2009.

The deal also sees MMS become both the biggest shareholder in the publicly-listed 7digital and also one of its largest clients, with new and renewed deals worth in total £17 million also being signed off. Among the various services 7digital will provide to MMS, it will power the German firm's streaming platform Juke.

Confirming all this, 7digital boss Simon Cole said: "We set out three years ago to create a profitable, globally dominant player in what we believed would be a rapidly expanding market for the technology and content needed to build streaming music services. This transaction represents the culmination of that strategy, completing our consolidation of European competitors - following the Snowite acquisition last year - and transforming 7digital in terms of size, scale and profitability".

Meanwhile MediaMarktSaturn's Wolfgang Kirsch added: "As the number one music retailer in Europe, music streaming is increasingly important for us. Being a shareholder of 7digital will enable us to strengthen our digital entertainment service Juke! and develop further business models for the growing music streaming business".

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Prodigy dies
Rapper Prodigy has died, aged 42, it was announced yesterday. Real name Albert Johnson, he was best known as one half of Mobb Deep.

In a statement, Mobb Deep's publicist said: "It is with extreme sadness and disbelief that we confirm the death of our dear friend Albert Johnson, better known to millions of fans as Prodigy of legendary NY rap duo Mobb Deep".

"Prodigy was hospitalised a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance, for complications caused by a sickle cell anaemia crisis", they continued. "As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled the disease since birth. The exact causes of death have yet to be determined. We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family's privacy at this time".

Mobb Deep released their last album, 'The Infamous Mobb Deep', in 2014, and had been performing on the Art Of Rap tour, alongside artists including Ice T, Ghostface Killah, Rakim, Bones Thugs N Harmony and DJ Cash Money.

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Final Chris Cornell video released for World Refugee Day
The final music video made by Chris Cornell prior to his death, for his song 'The Promise', has been released. Directed by Meiert Avis and Stefan Smith, it was put live yesterday to coincide with World Refugee Day.

Cornell and his family toured refugee camps in Greece earlier this year, and decided to focus the efforts of The Chris And Vicky Cornell Foundation charity on supporting refugees.

Producer of the video, Eric Esrailian, said: "[Cornell's] music and lyrics will not only shine a light on the Armenian Genocide [of the early Twentieth Century] and the human rights crises of modern times, but they will also inspire people and provide hope for years to come".

He continued: "Although it is bittersweet because Chris filmed his performance in Brooklyn shortly before his passing, he wanted his video to be released on World Refugee Day, and he was passionate about helping people through this project. True to Chris's charitable spirit, he made a commitment to donate all of his proceeds from 'The Promise' to support refugees and children, and to further the conversation about the refugee crisis the world continues to endure".

Speaking about the song when it was released in March, Cornell said: "The same methods used in the Armenian genocide were used to carry out crimes against humanity in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and right now in Syria on multiple fronts, contributing to a massive global refugee crisis. Unfortunately, the words 'never again' seem like just words when we recall these mass executions of the 20th century, as well as renewed racism and prejudice around the world".

Watch the video for 'The Promise' here.

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Foo Fighters announce new album
Those Foo Fighters have announced that they will release their ninth album, 'Concrete An Gold', on 15 Sep.

"We just spent the last six months secretly making a gigantic new Foo Fighters album with our friend/genius/mastermind Greg Kurstin that will undoubtedly fry stereos from here to Fukuoka", says Dave Grohl in a blog post. I'm not sure if the secret is that the album is gigantic, that Greg Kurstin produced it, or that it will fry stereos. Grohl said in an interview six months ago that they were going to record a new album, so it's not that bit.

Anyway, he continues that the album "has more twists and turns than a live senate hearing, like a box of really loud chocolates".

In a further statement, toning down the bizarre metaphors, Grohl adds: "I wanted it to be the biggest sounding Foo Fighters record ever. To make a gigantic rock record but with Greg Kurstin's sense of melody and arrangement. Motorhead's version of 'Sgt Pepper', or something like that".

Here's the video for the album's first single 'Run', which came out earlier this month.

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Artists For Grenfell, Fischerspooner, Busted, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• As expected, Simon Cowell's all-star cover of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' was released this morning. The single will raise money for the survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Find out more here.

• Fischerspooner are back with their first single for eight years, 'Have Fun Tonight'. Their new album, 'Sir', produced by REM's Michael Stipe, will be released on 22 Sep.

• Abra Cadabra has released the video for new single 'Stay', featuring Danzey.

• Blondes will release new album 'Warmth' in August. It sees them move from RVNG Intl to R&S Records. "Having released on RVNG for years, we had wanted to move in the direction of releasing on a more dance music-focused label", say the duo.

• Public Service Broadcasting have released new single, 'People Will Also Need Coal'. "There's a really quite savage irony to this track when viewed with the benefit of hindsight", says band leader J Willgoose. "Of a coal board with the confidence to assure people of safe, prosperous jobs in a strong and stable industry when they were only ten years away from the largest industrial confrontation of the UK's last 50 years and the decimation of careers, communities and livelihoods".

• Busted are going to play the Royal Albert Hall on 17 Oct. Look, here they are dumping that information out of their faces.

• Maybe Adele could be Prime Minister?

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Turns out HMV actually DID want to sell those Smiths records
HMV has responded to Morrissey's recent accusation that the retailer was attempting to suppress sales of two vinyl reissues of The Smiths' 'The Queen Is Dead' single. And, hey, BIG SURPRISE, HMV says that isn't the case.

As previously reported, the twelve-inch and seven-inch limited edition represses of the band's 1986 single were made available exclusively through record shops last Friday. HMV sold the records as part of its Vinyl Week promotion, which saw it put various other limited vinyl releases on sale over the weekend.

Morrissey popped in to HMV to find The Smiths records on sale but with a sticker announcing that only one could be purchased per customer. This, decided Moz, was an attempt to stop his fans from buying up multiple copies in order to spread the song's message to The Kids.

Describing the stickering as "an attempt to freeze sales", he said: "Over 30 years since their death, and The Smiths are still thought too radical for the slow reader! It is evident, to me at least, that music audiences must only feel and think the very same thing at all times".

In a statement to Pitchfork, HMV responded: "Our stores are encouraged to use these stickers where a release is known to be extremely limited in order to prevent bulk buying and online resales at inflated prices. This approach gives genuine fans as much chance as possible to find and buy a copy. Over 90% of the allocation we were given across both formats had sold before Morrissey posted his comments on Saturday evening".

Morrissey suggested in his post that fans put on "seven variable wigs, false noses, multiple-sized plastic clip-on ears, a nurse outfit, a set of stilts, a Superman cape, and a variety of oddly shaped spectacles" in order to buy up "as many copies ​of 'The Queen Is Dead' ​a​t HMV as​ you ​desire". Though as the two records were almost sold out by that point, the use of quite so many costumes may not have been possible.

Still, I'm sure Morrissey will be pleased to know that the saturation of eBay with copies of the records has now meant that their average prices have dropped since the beginning of the week. Fans can perhaps wear their spare costumes as they pay only slightly over the odds to buy multiple copies of the records.

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