Kanye Wests falls out with Tidal, could go legal
When Tidal runs out of albums to exclusively stream, it could start making coverage of its legal battles available to subscribers on an exclusive basis. That should be fun. It's reported that legal letters are now going backwards and forwards between the Jay-Z headed streaming company and one of its highest profile celebrity backers, Kanye West.

West, of course, took part in that infamous parade of embarrassment back in 2015 when Jay-Z first bought the streaming firm and announced that he'd made a plethora of popstars shareholders in the company. The rapper subsequently delivered the goods for the streaming service by initially making his 2016 album 'The Life Of Pablo' exclusively available to the platform, while the recordings on it were still evolving.

It seems that it's because of that exclusive that West has now fallen out with the digital firm. Sources tell TMZ that West was under the impression he would receive a cash bonus for the subscriber boost that exclusive resulted in. He also reportedly reckons that Tidal owes him monies for videos it promised to pay for - in total West is apparently seeking about $3 million from the Tidal company.

The gossipers talking to TMZ add that Tidal counters that it is yet to see the videos that West wants money for. He apparently says he'll send over the vids just as soon as he gets the cash. A series of legal letters about the unpaid monies hasn't seemingly solved anything as yet, with West's lawyer reportedly saying that the rapper now considers his contract with Tidal void; Tidal saying it will sue if West tries to do any sort of exclusivity deal with a rival; and West's lawyer declaring that that would result in a countersuit.

Neither side has, as yet, commented on the rumoured dispute. Though reports about the legal wrangling closely follow chatter about lines on Jay-Z's new album '4:44' that seem to diss his former collaborator and soon-to-be-ex Tidal business partner.

The spat with West is not the first Tidal artist relationship to result in legal dispute. As previously reported, after Prince's death the late musician's estate said it couldn't find any paperwork to back up the wide-ranging exclusivity deal Tidal reckoned it had over his recordings catalogue.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Fyre Festival founder arrested for fraud
The man behind the disastrous Fyre Festival was arrested on a wire fraud charge last week, the US authorities confirmed on Friday. Billy McFarland faces charges in relation to allegations that he misrepresented the financial status of his business Fyre Media in order to get access to a big pile of cash.

As much previously reported, McFarland teamed up with Ja Rule to launch the Fyre Festival, which was touted as a super luxurious music event in the Bahamas. Publicised by a range of social media influencers, customers were promised a luxury experience in return for their top dollar tickets. In the end the festival crashed and burned before it had even properly started, as it became clear management hadn't put the infrastructure in place to run a bog standard event, let alone the luxurious experience that had been marketed.

A flurry of litigation has since followed launched by angry ticket holders, suppliers and investors. And it then emerged that McFarland's businesses - which also included a talent app the festival was designed to launch - were under investigation by the Southern District Of New York and the FBI.

Last week's charges mainly relate to allegations that McFarland lied to investors who pumped money into his companies, including altering financial documents to obscure how little revenue the business actually had.

McFarland appeared in court in New York on Saturday in relation to last week's charges. He was granted bail after posting a $300,000 bond, less than prosecutors were pushing for. Though the court was told by his public defender that McFarland was now so broke he couldn't afford to hire his own legal representation, and that he would be moving back in with his parents to save costs. He is now due back in court on 7 Jul.

--------------------------------------------------

Warner suing EMI over Fox catalogue
Warner/Chappell is suing EMI Music Publishing in a dispute over royalties due on a catalogue of music that began with the 20th Century Fox film company.

Through a long sequence of deals and acquisitions that date back to the 1930s, Warner's publishing business has an interest in the Fox catalogue of compositions, but it is actually administered by EMI.

This basically means it is now administered by Sony/ATV, which owns a chunk of the EMI music publishing company - though it has other shareholders too, so is technically still a standalone entity.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner/Chappell says that a preliminary audit of royalties collected in relation to the Fox catalogue indicates that EMI has underreported and underpaid Warner the monies it is due by about 50%. Which is quite a lot.

Warner/Chappell went legal in the LA courts on Friday, and also says that its audit of the Fox repertoire has raised concerns about royalties paid on other catalogues where a similar relationship between the two music publishing firms exists.

To that end, it asked that the court order EMI "to account for all sums outstanding, due and payable to Warner under all the agreements pursuant to which EMI administers the copyrights to the compositions on behalf of Warner throughout the applicable territories".

And why not, I say.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

AEG goes public about venue booking spat with MSG and Live Nation
Live giant AEG has commented on a dispute with US venue owner MSG Entertainment which has now crossed the Atlantic to include London's The O2 arena.

MSG has reportedly been pressuring artists who want to play its most famous venue, from which the parent company takes its name - ie New York's Madison Square Garden - to also play its LA base The Forum, instead of AEG's Staples Centre. AEG is fighting back by saying that it will prioritise those acts who choose the Staples Centre over The Forum when programming The O2. Good times.

Says AEG about the dispute: "AEG always places artists and fans first and believes that artists should be free to play whatever venue they choose. However, MSG Entertainment's aggressive practice of requiring artists to perform at the LA Forum in order to secure dates at Madison Square Garden is eliminating that choice, which serves neither the interests of artists nor fans".

It adds: "After exhausting all avenues, our hand has been forced by MSG's actions and AEG will now co-ordinate bookings between The O2 arena and Staples Center to level the playing field for all. We believe that AEG's offering of venues will provide artists the greatest financial potential and fans the best experience. While this coordinated booking strategy seeks to defend our business interests, our ultimate objective remains protecting and restoring choice for artists".

That other major player in venue management and concert promotion, Live Nation, has also joined the dispute, accusing AEG of anti-competitive behaviour, and seemingly siding with MSG, which is these days in business with former Live Nation top man Irving Azoff.

Responding to Live Nation's intervention, AEG goes on: "Our policy is not intended in any way to deny Live Nation, or any other promoter, access to The O2 arena. To the contrary, we desire to bring as much content as possible to all of our venues and we will continue to actively seek concert bookings at The O2 from all promoters including Live Nation".

"Live Nation's threat of antitrust action in response to our booking policy is the height of hypocrisy coming from a company that publicly boasts about its control of content and distribution as the world's largest concert promoter and ticketing company and one of the world's leading artist management companies".

AEG continues: "As evidenced by a parade of antitrust lawsuits, regulatory investigations and an antitrust consent decree that have followed the company over the years, Live Nation has a well-earned and widespread reputation for resorting to aggressive tactics, including threatening to withhold its content, as it continually seeks to enhance its dominant market position in these various sectors. Given its asserted market dominance, we find it astounding that Live Nation would have the audacity to complain merely because it finds itself agitated by a competitor's business response to heavy-handed tactics in which Live Nation has participated".

Want more? OK, we got more. "Not only did Live Nation not complain about MSG's tying of the Garden and the Forum, but it actively encouraged and supported that policy because it suited Live Nation's interests in driving content away from a competitively ticketed building to a Ticketmaster building, which, in the process, succeeded in sending a very loud message to the live entertainment industry - how well equipped Live Nation is to punish any buildings that dare go with a competing ticketing provider".

Ah yes, AEG has never quite got over the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger back in 2010, which put the world's biggest concert promoter and top ticketing firm into common ownership. "Notwithstanding Live Nation's recent threats to pursue legal action and deprive AEG venues of shows, we fully intend to proceed with our new booking policy. We are highly confident of the legality of our booking policy and will vigorously defend any misguided attempts by Live Nation to use the courts or the regulatory system to combat a practice they have aggressively pursued and benefitted from elsewhere".

So, that's all fun isn't it?

--------------------------------------------------

Twickets announces US launch
Face-value ticket resale platform Twickets last week announced that it would launch Stateside this autumn. A webpage has already gone live at twicketsusa.com where fans can sign up for more information.

UK-based Twickets has formed alliances with various artists, of course, who have picked the platform as their approved place for fans who buy tickets, but who then genuinely can't attend, to resell their tickets at face value. The US is the British firm's second international market, having already launched in Australia.

Founder Richard Davies says: "When it comes to the secondary ticketing market, the US and the UK share similar challenges, so we're THRILLED with this opportunity to now bring Twickets to the US, where I think most people have forgotten what it's like to purchase a face-value ticket".

He goes on: "Helping fans pay the fair price to see their favourite shows is what drives me and the team every day, and our launch in the US is a major step in ensuring that fans everywhere have access to face-value tickets to live music events by the artists they love".

--------------------------------------------------

Boomtown to offer free drug testing
The Boomtown festival has announced that it will offer on-site drug testing at this year's event. The service will be provided by The Loop, which launched a similar programme at last year's Secret Garden Party.

Last month, The Loop's founder Fiona Measham said that she expected the service to be in operation at around ten festivals this summer - up from two last year. This includes a number of Festival Republic-owned events.

"We are delighted to be able to work in partnership with Boomtown this year to help reduce drug-related harm on site", said Measham in a statement. "We will be providing our free, anonymous, drug safety testing - MAST - for the first time at Boomtown this year and hope that this will help inform all services on site, as well as festival-goers, who may encounter substances of concern".

The testing service allows festivalgoers to test a small amount of their drugs to find out what they've actually bought before they put it in their bodies. Clearly a valuable service, the issue is not so much convincing festival organisers that it is a good idea, but rather getting police to prize safety over criminalising people, allowing them to come forward with their drugs without fear of being arrested on their way out of the testing tent.

To that end, Boomtown has agreed to tighter security elsewhere on the site in order to try to prevent drugs reaching the event in the first place. The festival will also have a section of its website dedicated to raising awareness of current dangerous drug trends at festivals and further educational information.

The sold out event will take place on 10-13 Aug.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Guvera to receive $2 million in share buyback
Hey, here's a rare thing, some good news for Guvera. The beleaguered streaming music company is going to get almost $2 million as part of a share buyback by another start-up.

As previously reported, following a disastrous attempt last year to float on the Australian stock market - which resulted in it bailing on various markets and putting two subsidiaries into administration - Guvera finally went offline worldwide in May. Having now shut down in all the territories where it operated, Guvera now exists as a company with no product or customers.

The new cash comes from video messaging app Kwickie, which is itself loss-making but still in that start-up period when investors are willing to throw money at it. Guvera was a shareholder in Kwickie. And earlier this month, the latter firm's shareholders voted to buy back $1.98 million of shares from the former.

According to Australian newspaper The Courier-Mail, this is an "extremely rare" move by a start-up, but one that will be welcome for the struggling Guvera company.

The two companies do have a link, in that Guvera co-founder Darren Herft is also chair of Kwickie. However, the latter has stated that he was not involved in the planning or execution of the buyback process.

Herft, who has reportedly now relocated to the UK, is also a link between the two companies and investment firm Amma Private Equity, which raised finance for the digital start-ups.

The methods Amma used to raise funds for Guvera are now being looked into by Australian authorities, with lawyers possibly poised to launch a number of class action lawsuits involving angry investors.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Adele cancels tour finale Wembley shows
Adele cancelled the final two shows of her world tour on Saturday, halfway through a four night finale at Wembley Stadium. In a statement, she reveals that she damaged her vocal cords during the first two performances.

Ahead of the first show of the Wembley Stadium residency, the singer had said that she may not tour again after completing this run of 123 shows. "[I] have a terrible history of touring", she wrote on Instagram. "Until now that is! ... It has been hard but an absolute thrill and pleasure to have done [it]".

However, after suffering vocal problems on the first two nights, she said that she had been warned by doctors not to play the following two shows. Her previous tour in 2011 was cut short after she haemorrhaged a vocal cord, requiring surgery. Clearly avoiding that outcome again is a high priority.

"The last two nights at Wembley have been the biggest and best shows of my life", she wrote in a statement in the early hours of Saturday morning. "To come home to such a response after so long away doing something I never thought I could pull off but did has blown me away. However, I've struggled vocally both nights. I had to push a lot harder than I normally do. I felt like I constantly had to clear my throat, especially [on Friday] night".

She continued: "I went to see my throat doctor this evening because my voice didn't open up at all today and it turns out I have damaged my vocal cords. On medical advice, I simply am unable to perform over the weekend. To say I'm heartbroken would be a complete understatement. I'm already maxed out on steroids and aids for my voice. I've considered doing Saturday Night's show, but it's highly unlikely that I'd even make it through the set and I simply can't crumble in front of you and walk out on you in that way".

The Sun has subsequently reported that Adele had been suffering from bronchitis in the run-up to the shows. In her statement, the singer added that she was "so desperate" to do the final two concerts that she'd "even considered miming", but added: "I've never done it and I cannot in a million years do that to you all. It wouldn't be the real me up there".

Apologising to the fans who would now miss out on the finale shows and had spent money travelling to see them, she added: "Who the fuck cancels Wembley Stadium?! To not complete this milestone in my career is something I'm struggling to get my head around and I wish that I wasn't having to write this. I have changed my life drastically in every way to make sure I got through this tour that started at the beginning of last year. To not be able to finish it is something I'm really struggling to come to terms with. It's as if my whole career have been building up to these four shows".

It is hoped that the two cancelled shows can be rescheduled, though if not tickets will be refunded.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

BPI, Momentum, Arcade Fire, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• The AGM of record label trade body BPI will take place on 7 Sep. Write that down. This year's keynote will be made by Facebook's VP of EMEA Nicola Mendelsohn. Whether she'll actually speak or just stand there while the labels in attendance throw things at her remains to be seen.

• The latest round of artists to receive funding from the Momentum Music Fund have been announced. They are: 808Ink, Abattoir Blues, Anna Calvi, Boston Manor, C Cane, Coco, Gazelle Twin, Hardy Caprio, Hejira, Hollie Cook, Jadu Heart, LA Salami, Let's Eat Grandma, L-VIS 1990, Marsicans, Paris Youth Foundation, Rachel K Collier, Sivu and Slick Don.

• Arcade Fire have a new track out, 'Signs Of Life'.

• Starsailor will release new album 'All This Life' on 1 Sep. They'll be touring in October too. Here's new single 'Listen To Your Heart'.

• The brilliant Princess Nokia is back with a new single, 'GOAT'.

• Oh, hey, are you aware that 'Off The Radar' by Noga Erez is one of the best albums of the year? Yeah, we'll here's the video for new single 'Noisy'.

• Cosima has released new track 'Un-Named'. "This song is about the sadness that can come before hope", she says'.

• Perfume Genius will be touring the UK in November, including a show at The Roundhouse in London on 5 Nov.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Justin Bieber battles through cold at Hyde Park show
Like both Ed Sheeran and Britney Spears recently, Justin Bieber has been accused of miming. Although that was a relatively slight criticism among many levelled at his performance in London last night. Appearing at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park, and apparently suffering from a cold, Bieber was seemingly not on top form.

Part of the show apparently involved a comparative review of different cold remedies. "I usually use Olbas oil", he said, according to MailOnline. "But I had to use Vicks here and now and it's stuck up my nose".

If he'd read the instructions, he would have seen that you're not supposed to snort Vicks. Still, according to The Sun, he added: "Life is worth living without Vicks in your nose".

He went on to blow said nose on a towel, then as a reflex action went to throw it into the crowd. "I have a cold", he remembered at the last moment, stopping himself. "You don't want to catch this".

As he delivered nuggets of gold banter such as this, he later became annoyed when his backing vocalists chatted among themselves during another break between songs. Addressing them directly, he said: "Whatever you're talking about can't be more important than what I'm saying".

But he didn't then carry on with this teacher trope and get them the repeat it for the other boys and girls. Shame, really.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN