The Pirate Bay will be web-blocked in the Netherlands once again
The Pirate Bay will be blocked by major internet service providers in the Netherlands once again, in the latest development in what is probably the longest running round of legal wrangling over the anti-piracy tactic of web-blocking. ISPs Ziggo and XS4ALL have been told to block the always controversial file-sharing site on a temporary basis pending a final judgement on the case in the country's Supreme Court.

As previously reported, whereas in most countries ISPs have reluctantly accepted court orders forcing them to block access to copyright infringing websites, net firms Ziggo and XS4ALL decided to fight an injunction to that effect that had been secured by Dutch anti-piracy agency BREIN.

In 2014, a court in the Netherlands sided with the internet firms, ruling that the Pirate Bay web-block that had been put in place by a lower court was "ineffectual" and might "constitute an infringement of [people's] freedom to act at their discretion". BREIN then took the matter to the Dutch Supreme Court, which in turn asked the European Courts Of Justice whether European law had any issues with web-blocking, and the possible "infringement of people's freedom to act at their discretion" it might cause.

Earlier this year European judges basically gave the all-clear for national courts in the European Union to instigate web-blocks on copyright grounds. They also said that they reckoned The Pirate Bay - as well as being liable for 'contributory infringement' by facilitating the infringement of others - was also liable for 'direct infringement', because linking to torrent files constituted 'communicating' copyright protected works to the public.

The judgement was good news for the European music and movie industries, which had already successfully secured web-block injunctions in various countries within the EU, not least the UK where copyright owners have been particularly prolific in requesting blockades against copyright infringing websites. It also arguably increased the liabilities of The Pirate Bay and similar websites under European law.

Back in the Netherlands, the Supreme Court still needs to decide whether forcing Ziggo and XS4ALL to block The Pirate Bay is a proportionate sanction in this case. That decision is still pending. However, in the meantime, on Friday an appeals court decided that the 2014 decision that lifted the earlier web-blocks was now largely obsolete, and therefore said web-blocks should be reinstated with immediate effect, until the Supreme Court has made its final judgement on the matter.

According to BREIN, the latest court ruling states that the 2014 judgement did not give "sufficient weight" to the interests of the copyright owners represented by the anti-piracy group. It had also been wrong to assess the impact of the earlier web-block by looking at overall torrent figures rather than the number of people specifically accessing The Pirate Bay. The new court order then rules that web-blocks can be instigated in the Netherlands.

Says BREIN's Tim Kuik: "It is good that websites that are obviously harmful and illegal - like The Pirate Bay - can be blocked again in the Netherlands. A very bad time for our culture, when people were free to access these sites, is now happily behind us".

For now at least. We await the Supreme Court's final ruling with interest.

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Youth launches new "global beats label"
Record producer and Killing Joke bassist Youth has formally announced the launch of a new label to be called Suriya Recordings. Described as "a unique global beats label", the new venture is a partnership with the PRSSV Institute Of Performing Arts And Heritage, a London-based organisation that celebrates and teaches the performing arts of India.

Explains Youth: "My vision was to create a new platform for musicians from around the world, combining ancient musical artforms with my sonic treatments. With the support and partnership of PRSSV, an organisation with incredible artistic influence, we are able to access some of the finest artists and musicians from India for our first set of releases".

The label's first two releases are Duende India Collective's 'Escapology', described as "an ambient odyssey of Indian instrumentation, spoken word and vocals cut with lush Flamenco", and Indotranceltic's 'Stone Horse', billed as "a collection of chilled soundscapes of ancient Celtic and Indian sounds".

Youth hopes to dip into musical forms from across the world on future releases, adding of the new venture: "The aim is to collaborate further with artists and instrumentation from around the world. In these dark times of change and conflict, we create music that brings new hope and possibilities. Suriya Recordings will operate like a worker collective and is all about pushing the boundaries of an already rich musical and cultural seam".

The first two releases officially launch at an event at Rich Mix in London on 27 Oct, which will include performances from both Duende India Collective and Indotranceltic.

Before that, Youth will host the second edition of the International Cosmic Arts Lab festival at his Space Mountain studio complex in Spain. That runs from 6-8 Oct - info here.

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Viagogo seller says fraudsters grabbed his touting profits
We're used to hearing about disgruntled buyers having problems with the always controversial secondary ticketing website Viagogo, but just to be different, here's a disgruntled seller.

The Mail's This Is Money website last week reported on a man who was left nearly two grand out of pocket after monies made by reselling tickets on the Viagogo site ended up in someone else's bank account.

The seller claims fraudsters hacked into his profile on the resale platform and changed his bank account details. After realising the problem, the seller found himself shouting at the same Viagogo wall of silence as those who accidentally buy over-priced touted tickets on the site and try to get themselves a refund.

Presumably in a bid to garner some sympathy for the ticket tout - given we've been conditioned to hate the sellers in secondary ticketing land - This Is Money stresses that the man in question buys gig tickets for his family and then occasionally sells one or two on if some family members can't attend.

Which makes this man exactly the sort of seller companies like Viagogo love, because they play into the official line of: "We're just here for people who can't attend the occasional gig they bought tickets for, we're not a market-place for industrial level touts who employ unethical tactics to access large numbers of tickets to in demand events".

You'd therefore think Viagogo would have been more helpful once this seller's money went missing. Though perhaps the company was too busy schmoozing the industrial level touts who employ unethical tactics to access large numbers of tickets to in demand events. Because for Viagogo, those guys are much bigger business.

Anyway, it seems this seller realised his cash had gone missing because a more-significant-than-usual payment of £506 - for tickets he touted to Adele's recent no-touting-allowed UK tour - failed to arrive. It was at this point that he noticed the bank account details on his Viagogo profile had been altered.

"He immediately changed the bank details on the account and started sending messages via the website asking for a refund. All of these were ignored", the This Is Money article reports. "Eventually, a staff member from Viagogo noted his problem, and he asked for the bank account details [of where] the money had been sent to. It relented and he received it, along with the sort code and name of the fraudster".

"But", it adds, "because the money had not been taken directly from his account, the bank in question - Halifax Edgware branch - was unable to help him. He reported the criminal activity to Action Fraud and the police who in turn put him onto Trading Standards".

Surely, given that he'd lost his two grand because his Viagogo account had been hacked, the secondary ticketing site was taking an interest in this fraud? No. "If someone from Viagogo calls you it is impossible to call or email them back", reports the seller, confirming that communicating with the touting company has remained challenging.

Taking up the case on behalf the seller, This Is Money has asked Viagogo how someone managed to hack his account and change his bank details, why the resale site's customer service is so rubbish, and whether the firm has an in-house team dealing with fraud on its platform. Needless to say, the company's response so far has been silence.

So that's all fun isn't it? Maybe the touts need to set up their own version of the Victims Of Viagogo Facebook group, which has been helping buyers who are navigating the shady ticketing site's special brand of non-customer service.

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Music 4.5 and CMU Trends put the spotlight back on data challenges
Spotify's ongoing legal wranglings over unpaid mechanical royalties in the US - and the songwriter community's increasingly vocal campaign to get credits on the streaming platforms - are two stories that ultimately originate in the same issue. The lack of a decent publicly accessible music rights database that tells streaming services what songs are contained in what recordings, and who wrote and published those songs.

This issue has been debated within the music community for years, of course, and various initiatives are underway attempting to solve the problem. This week Music 4.5 puts the spotlight back on data at its latest London event, and the music rights data challenge will be on the agenda, alongside other big data and machine learning topics, including the emerging role of chatbots.

Ahead of that, CMU Trends has published the customary 'story so far' report pre-empting the Music 4.5 proceedings, focusing on the music rights data dilemma, which includes input from four of the speakers who will appear at this Thursday's event: Metabrainz's Robert Kaye, Auddly's Helienne Lindvall, JAAK's Vaughn McKenzie and Blokur's Phil Barry.

Kaye founded MusicBrainz - the publicly accessible "open music encyclopaedia" that already aggregates, through crowd-sourcing, the music metadata that is public domain - and he reckons that addressing the music rights data issue is more about industry politics than technological challenges.

"If every label and publisher could set up an API that gives the public access to their repertoire data, copyright status, and so on, this would go a long way towards building a system where no one has to give up their cherished control over their own data", he says.

He goes on: "People and companies wishing to license content could easily discover who owns the copyright to a particular song or recording; this API could also provide licensing terms for said content in an effort to streamline the whole process. Conflicting copyright claims and policing the actors in this system would need to be carefully addressed. But I can see a non-profit ombudsman providing API standards, reference implementations and conflict resolution services".

Kaye adds that "this system could be implemented quite cheaply - as long as you engaged the right people - without entities giving up control over their data". Though, Kaye adds, while the potential solution could be relatively simple and cost efficient, that doesn't make him optimistic that any solution is incoming. "Any sort of broad co-operation like this is still wishful thinking in the music industry".

The full CMU Trends article looks at how different stakeholders can be persuaded to participate in meeting this challenge, the role artists and songwriters have to play, and why everyone was talking about the blockchain last year. Premium subscribers can access the article online or as a PDF download here. To go premium for £5 a month click here.

The Music 4.5 event 'Global Data, Blockchain And Chatbots...A New Economic Model Of Participation?' takes place at the London HQ of Lewis Silkin this Thursday, 28 Sep, at 2pm. Full info and tickets here.

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Presenters revealed for new BBC primetime music show
The BBC has announced more details about its new primetime music show, which has the title 'Sounds Like Friday Night'. Though for the youth demographic it will need to reach, it should probably be called 'Sounds Like Whenever You Choose To Watch It On The iPlayer Or Via An Unofficial Upload On YouTube'. I concede that's no so catchy a title.

The new programme will be recorded in the studios that remain at the BBC's former Television Centre home in London's White City, which have just reopened after a major overhaul of the site. The show - which will initially run for six weeks - will be hosted by Radio 1's Greg James, who will interview the artists that feature, and Radio 1 Xtra's Dotty, who will be on chatting-to-the-audience and reading-out-tweets duty.

But that's not it in terms of presenters because, in addition to Dotty and Greg, there's the weekly superstar co-host who will be, and I quote, "sprinkling their own stardust over proceedings and making every episode a complete one-off". I hope none of that stardust gets into all the new studio kit that's just been installed at Television Centre.

As previously reported, because this is 2017, 'Sounds Like Friday Night' will also feature "topical entertainment and fun sketches" alongside singers singing their songs, and the celebrity guest host will also take part in all that shit. It'll be hilarious, I'm sure.

Says James: "We have been missing a primetime music show from our TV screens for far too long, so it's fair to say being part of 'Sounds Like Friday Night' is something I'm really, really excited about. One thing that's fantastic about the show is being able to provide new and emerging acts a home alongside the megastars, introducing them to a new audience. Also having the opportunity to interview and have a laugh with some of the biggest stars in the world, on the actual telly, is completely brilliant. I can't wait to get going!"

Dotty, meanwhile, is "THRILLED to be part of 'Sounds Like Friday Night', it's going to be an amazing show. Each week I'll be meeting fellow music fans from around the UK, getting the lowdown from the viewers on social media and bringing the best music to you at home".

Don't be thinking that it's only Dotty who is "THRILLED" about this new programme though, which - as previously reported - is being developed by independent telly show maker Fulwell. Says BBC Music boss Bob Shennan: "BBC Music is THRILLED to be launching 'Sounds Like Friday Night' on BBC One this autumn, putting music centre stage for our audience and featuring the biggest UK and international stars".

I have to say, the more I hear about this exciting, energising, innovative, inventive, gripping, ground-breaking, cutting-edge, thrilling new show, the more fucking awful it sounds. But hey, I'm not the target demographic am I? It's not for me. What the fuck do I know? I should shut up and let the kids have their fun times.

And at least the BBC is actually making television that celebrates new music here, like it's fucking meant to. Rather than playing at being a festival promoter, an awards producer and a trade fair operator. It's nice to see the licence-fee funded broadcaster actually doing some broadcasting for once, rather than pursuing needless vanity projects that see the BBC competing - head on - with the music community it's meant to be supporting.

So all hail 'Sounds Like Friday Night'. Even if Friday night sounds a bit shit.

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Charles Bradley dies
Charles Bradley died on Saturday after the cancer for which he was treated in 2016 returned. He was 68.

Bradley was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year, but later given the all clear following treatment. However, the disease was recently found to have spread to his liver. He released his third album, 'Changes', in April 2016, prior to his diagnosis, and had been touring in support of the record.

In a statement, co-founder of Bradley's record label, Daptone Records, Gabriel Roth said: "The world lost a ton of heart today. Charles was somehow one of the meekest and strongest people I've ever known. His pain was a cry for universal love and humanity. His soulful moans and screams will echo forever on records and in the ears and hearts of those who were fortunate enough to share time with him".

He continued: "I find some solace knowing that he will continue to inspire love and music in this world for generations to come. I told him as much a few days ago. He smiled and told me, 'I tried'. It was probably the simplest and most inspiring thing he ever told me. I think he wanted to hug each person on this planet individually. I mean that literally, and anyone that ever saw him knows that he honestly tried".

Bradley's family have asked that those wishing to mark his death donate to the All-Stars Project and Music Unites charities.

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Stevie Wonder 'takes a knee' for America
Stevie Wonder has expressed solidarity for the various NFL players who have been criticised by Donald Trump for kneeling during the US national anthem at American football games. The musician got down on both knees at the Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park on Saturday in protest against the US president.

After San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat and subsequently kneeled as the national anthem was played at his games - in protest at police violence against African-Americans - the symbolic act of defiance has gained momentum among NFL players and beyond. Particularly since Trump criticised this form of protest - which violates a thing called the United States Flag Code - last week.

Speaking at a rally in Alabama, Trump said: "Wouldn't you love to see these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say: 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out. He's fired. He's fired!' You know, some owner is going to do that. He's going to say, 'That guy that disrespects our flag, he's fired'. And that owner, they don't know it, [but] they'll be the most popular person in this country".

With divergent opinions being expressed on Trump's comments Stateside, in a game at Wembley Stadium in London yesterday, members from both the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens knelt down before kick-off.

Prior to that, back in the US, at the Global Citizen Festival, Wonder said before his performance: "Whenever you need to interrupt hate... stand down bigotry, condemn sexism and find love for all of our global brothers and sisters every day".

"Tonight, I'm taking a knee for America", he went on. "But not just one knee, I'm taking both knees, both knees in prayer for our planet, our future, our leaders of the world and our globe".

Watch Stevie Wonder's protest here.

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Vessels release new single featuring John Grant
Having roped in The Flaming Lips to help out on recent single 'Deflect The Light', Vessels are back with another guest in tow. This time, John Grant joins them on 'Erase The Tapes'.

"We were aiming to create a living, breathing human version of dance music", say the band of the track. "And there isn't really anything more honest and organic than the human voice. John Grant really inspired us to create something totally new".

Listen to 'Erase The Tapes' here.

The song is taken from new album 'The Great Distraction', which is released this week. The title of the record is also something Grant had a hand in. "The title came from a misheard lyric that John Grant had written", explains the band's Martin Teff. "To us, it resonates in a few different ways. Personally, I like art that has a slower impact like that".

With the new album out, the band will be heading out on tour later this week too. Here are the dates:

30 Sep: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
3 Oct: Brighton, Sticky Mike's Frog Bar
4 Oct: London, Village Underground
5 Oct: Manchester, Soup Kitchen
6 Oct: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
7 Oct: Glasgow, Art School

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Keychange, Fergie, Jhené Aiko, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• The 60 participants in the PRS Foundation's Keychange scheme, which aims to improve opportunities for women in the music industry, have been announced. Among them are Violet Skies, Suzi Wu and DJ Flugvél Og Geimskip. Find out more here.

• Fergie has released videos for two new songs, 'Save It Till Morning' and 'Just Like You'.

• If you were wondering when the new Jhené Aiko album would be coming out - no release date having been officially announced - well, she just released it on Friday. It's called 'Trip'. It follows a short film, 'Trip (The Movie)', which was posted on YouTube last week.

• Barns Courtney has released new track 'Champion', taken from his debut album 'The Atrractions Of Youth', which is out this week.

• Yelle have released new single 'Romeo'.

• AlaskaAlaska are back with new single 'Patience'. Their debut EP is out this week with a launch show at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club on Thursday.

• Sam Amidon is set to play a handful of shows in the UK and Ireland in November and December this year, in support of new album 'The Following Mountain'. He'll start off at Whelan's in Dublin on 7 Nov. He's also released a new video for 'Warren'.

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

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'Tory Glastonbury' fails to quite match the success of its namesake
When Norfolk MP George Freeman said last month that he was organising a 'Tory Glastonbury' as a counter to the left-wing actual Glastonbury, I'm not sure anyone thought he meant it. But he did. That event actually happened last week. And poor George Freeman was forced to admit that it had not quite matched the scenes we saw in June when tens of thousands of people crowded around the Pyramid Stage to see Jeremy Corbyn speak.

"Why is it just the left who have all the fun in politics", asked Freeman in a now deleted tweet in July, still angry that Corbyn had done so well at Glastonbury the previous month. "We need a cultural revival of grassroots Conservatism".

He had, he then told the Financial Times, already raised £25,000 to put on a "cross between Hay-on-Wye and the Latitude festival" the weekend before the Conservative Party conference. Of course, Hay-On-Wye and Latitude, not to mention Glastonbury, all rely on budgets of more than 25 grand and much more than two months of planning. But Freeman was undeterred.

To his credit (this will be the last time those words are said in relation to all this), the event did go ahead. The problem was, two months and £25,000 really isn't enough time or money to put on an event that might even get close to rivalling tens of thousands of people chanting the Labour Party leader's name in unison.

The two main issues for Freeman's event, really, were that not many people turned up and he hadn't booked many musicians. People and bands are generally considered two key features of a music festival. Proving that point, as things got underway on Thursday, numerous people posted photos comparing the crowds for Corbyn at Glastonbury and the crowds for whatever it was this Tory Glastonbury thing was called. Even the event itself wasn't able to find much in the way of inspiring imagery.

Speaking to Sky News from the event, according to Political Scrapbook, Freeman admitted that it was "a bit blokey and a bit nerdy", but he insisted that, nonetheless, it did "demonstrate what political festivalism could and should look like".

"We have had some music, but we haven't had chance to get most of that organised", he added, weakly.

But this is just the beginning, he said. Next year will definitely be better, echoing initial statements from organisers of the disastrous Fyre Festival earlier this year. Though, to be fair, Freeman didn't leave anyone stranded on an island.

"Next year's festival will be at scale", he said. "We're planning to have it ticketed and have it as a celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation, of the great businesses around the UK, the small business and entrepreneurs who are creating new opportunities, creating new prosperity".

Yes, that definitely sounds like something to rival Glastonbury. Lucky Glasto itself is having a year off in 2018 or the Eavises might have really had to start worrying.

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