European Commission backs takedown-and-stay-down for combating piracy online
The European Commission yesterday published new guidelines for how internet companies should deal with illegal content that is uploaded to their networks, in a bid to encourage net firms to be more consistent and proactive in blocking illegal files, which includes content that incites violence or terrorism, as well as copyright infringing material.

On the copyright front, internet firms whose users upload infringing content are usually protected from liability for that infringement by those much talked about safe harbours. However, to quality for safe harbour protection, an internet company must have a takedown system via which copyright owners can request infringing material be removed.

Of course, the music industry's big beef with the copyright safe harbour is when user-upload services like YouTube claim they are also protected from liability for copyright infringement under the system. Though music companies also reckon that search engines, social networks and digital lockers - who they concede should have safe harbour protection - should nevertheless have better takedown procedures.

In the UK, a voluntary agreement was reached between the copyright owners and the big search engines last year on how to improve the takedown process, and the new European guidelines make similar proposals for how net firms could and should be better at removing illegal content, whether it be hate speech or copyright infringing files.

A key theme of the music industry's lobbying on this issue has been the push for not just takedown systems, but takedown-and-stay-down systems, whereby once an infringing file has been removed once, it is automatically blocked if people attempt to upload it again. Somewhat ironically, in its Content ID system, big bad YouTube has done more work in that domain than most.

In its new guidelines, the European Commission supports systems of this kind, encouraging web companies to "invest in automatic detection technologies" that "prevent the re-appearance of illegal content online". The EC also advocates web firms forming special relationships with "trusted flaggers" who have "specific expertise in identifying illegal content", while also taking "measures against repeat infringers".

The guidelines - many details of which were actually leaked earlier this month - are just that for now, guidelines on how internet companies should be evolving their systems for dealing with illegal content. But the Commission says that it will now "monitor progress and assess whether additional measures are needed", which could include new legislation.

Copyright owners will be pleased that that the European Commission has including piracy in its review of how the net sector deals with illegal content, and will now watch what progress - if any - is made. Meanwhile within the tech sector, there are mixed opinions.

The Computer And Communications Industry Association - repping many web giants - said that it "has advocated for a long time for the introduction of well-thought-out notice and action guidelines, and [these guidelines are] a welcome initiative for a more aligned approach on the removal of infringing content across the European Union".

Others say that - while the EC does talk about the need to balance the speedy takedown of illegal content with ensuring free speech rights are protected - the guidelines don't do enough to protect freedom of expression online.

Lobbing group European Digital Rights told reporters: "[This] document puts virtually all its focus on internet companies monitoring online communications in order to remove content that they decide might be illegal. It presents few safeguards for free speech and little concern for dealing with content that is actually criminal".

Launching the guidelines, the European Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, stated: "We are providing a sound EU answer to the challenge of illegal content online. We make it easier for platforms to fulfil their duty, in close cooperation with law enforcement and civil society. Our guidance includes safeguards to avoid over-removal and ensure transparency and the protection of fundamental rights such as freedom of speech".

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Because acquires Beta Band recordings catalogue
French indie label group Because has acquired the Beta Band recordings catalogue as part of Warner Music's still ongoing divestment of copyrights relating to its 2013 acquisition of the Parlophone Label Group.

The deal includes the band's four albums, best of collection, and the first two EPs from frontman Steve Mason's also excellent King Biscuit Time solo project. Plans are now afoot to reissue the lot through the Because Music label.

"I am delighted that the Beta Band catalogue has found a place on an independent record label", says Mason. "I think that Because Music is a perfect home for our hard work and endeavours. Bon voyage Beta Banditos".

His former bandmate Richard Greentree adds: "It is a happy day indeed finalising this deal with Because. The opportunity the divestment process has presented for many artists - to revitalise and re-promote their works - has been an interesting, exciting and unexpected one. The outcome for the Beta Band, of finding a great deal, with the best suited and hottest record label of the moment, shows just how exciting and unexpected it gets".

Because founder Emmanuel de Buretel comments: "We are delighted and honoured to acquire such an amazing body of work from such an important and influential band. We are hugely excited to be given the opportunity to re launch The Beta Band's incredible catalogue of work to fans old and new".

A new lease of life for the Beta Band is great news, given that a series of misfortunes meant the outfit never quite reached the heights they could have while they were still together. The documentary about the making of their final album, 'Heroes To Zeros', is an amazingly candid record of their slow collapse. Go and track down a copy of that now.

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Dice launches in the US
British ticketing firm Dice has announced that it is launching in the US, initially offering tickets via its app in San Francisco and LA.

Says Dice founder Phil Hutcheon: "We're focused on a younger demographic that's fed up with how ticketing is. They're disengaging and we need to be careful because live music is in competition with Netflix. With bars. With eating out".

He adds: "If you keep screwing over fans they won't come back. Dice is the ethical platform that fans trust to get tickets. We get fans in, keep scalpers out, and we have ambitious plans to roll out across the US in the coming months".

Among the US shows now available through Dice are performances by Sam Smith, Khalid and Matthew Dear, as well as Vevo's Halloween event in San Francisco.

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Music Venue Trust announces new artist patrons
The Music Venue Trust has announced Charlotte Hatherley, Slaves and The Anchoress as new artist patrons of the organisation, while Everything Everything's Jeremy Pritchard is the first musician to become a trustee.

"Were it not for the presence of the Tunbridge Wells Forum while I was growing up, I very much doubt that I would be a professional musician now", says Pritchard. "The same would be said of countless other individuals who have been inspired and nurtured by similar community live music venues - Southampton Joiners, Bristol Thekla, Oxford Jericho, Manchester Night And Day, Hull Welly, Newcastle Cluny, and so on".

He continues: "The UK music industry needs to do more to support its live grassroots, and government needs to recognise that the health and future prosperity of this important British industry relies on us nurturing these seeds".

Charlotte Hatherley adds: "I've been a touring musician for 20 years now both as a solo artist and as a session guitarist for a number of bands. I was fifteen when I joined my first band and we played pretty much every small London rock venue. Many of those venues sadly no longer exist. Touring continues to be a major part of my life and I'm THRILLED to have the opportunity to support the Music Venue Trust in their vital work in protecting grassroots venues".

The MVT's annual Venues Day event this year takes place on 17 Oct at Ministry Of Sound in London, featuring a variety of panel discussions on issues facing small venues. Tickets are available here.

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Russia's Yandex Music does streaming deal with Facebook
Russia's Yandex Music streaming service has done a deal with Facebook to allow users to share musical clips directly within the social network. It's the first such partnership between Facebook and a Russian streaming platform.

One of Yandex Music's main competitors in Russia is vKontakte, also one of Facebook's main rivals there, so it should be a happy alliance.

Like similar deals the social media firm has done with Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Napster and KKBOX, the tie-up will see users of Yandex Music able to listen to tracks shared by their friends on Facebook.

In this case, users will be able to listen to 30 second clips that are available in the Yandex Music catalogue through Facebook itself, and then full tracks when they go to one of Yandex Music's various apps.

Yandex Music is Russia's largest local streaming service, with around 20 million users - with around 250,000 paying subscribers as of the end of 2016. It is owned and operated by internet firm Yandex - often referred to as 'the Russian Google'. With the standard mix of ad-funded and premium tiers, an annual subscription costs around £21.50.

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Spotify launches new satirical podcast We Need To Talk About
Spotify has launched a new original podcast, 'We Need To Talk About'. Hosted by filmmaker Jolyon Rubenstein, each week he will be joined by a panel of guests to discuss the week's news.

Episode one, titled 'Finding The Funny In The Far Right', is out now. On it, Rubenstein chats with radio presenter James O'Brien, comedy actor and writer Asim Chaudhry and stand up comedian Bridget Christie.

"Podcasts are increasing in popularity, both with our users, and as a growing category as a whole", says Spotify's Head Of Podcasts EMEA, James Cator. "Spotify users have been asking for more podcast content on the service for some time, so it's great to be able to respond to that demand with great original shows, such as 'We Need To Talk About', and with the recent launch of 'Show & Tell' with Shaun Keaveny".

He continues: "Podcasts are definitely a category we are working to expand on at Spotify, particularly in Europe. The hugely popular 'Fest & Flauschig' in Germany was our first move into original content, and Spotify is investing in further original podcast content in the UK and across Europe. We're really excited to bring fresh, original podcasts to Spotify, and the next twelve months are going to see us focus on expanding our original content offering".

Which is all very exciting, though whenever I log into the Spotify app it always feels like the service is going to considerable lengths to try to ensure that most people don't know it even has a podcasts section. It does though - it's definitely there - and there are some very fine podcasts in it. Speaking of which, the CMU Podcast is relaunching on Monday. You can subscribe right now on Spotify here.

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PRS Foundation and British Council extend Musicians In Residence project to Brazil
The British Council and PRS Foundation have announced a new project, which will take a selection of British musicians to hang out in Brazil for a month. Nice work if you can get it.

Musicians In Residence Brazil will take the chosen participants to one of the country's major cites - either Rio de Janeiro, Recife or Cuiabá - where they'll meet with local musicians, write new music, and explore creative and professional opportunities.

First up, Phantom Chips will head to Rio to take part in experimental music festival Novas Frequências; Lady Vendredi will work with the Paço do Frevo museum in Recife; and Nathaniel Mann will travel to the Xingu National Park near Cuiabá to collaborate with the indigenous Wauja people.

Says Mann: "It will be an extraordinary privilege to engage with the diverse musical cultures and histories of Brazil, and specifically those of the Wauja community of Xingu, in [the state of] Mato Grosso. I hope to open a musical dialogue which assists in amplifying the voices of the Wauja community, and eventually widens that dialogue to reach entirely new audiences. The works we create will explore the interconnectedness of traditional rites, music and the natural environment, exploring both Wauja and British musical traditions; all interwoven with more pressing contemporary themes of power and agency".

Of the wider project, PRS Foundation chief exec Vanessa Reed says: "Based on the very positive outcomes of previous residencies we've supported with British Council, I'm convinced that Phantom Chips, Lady Vendredi and Nathaniel Mann will benefit enormously from this unique opportunity. I look forward to following the progress of their very different approaches to making music and to hearing about the relationship they build with local artists, communities and audiences. Congratulations on being selected for this important and popular programme".

Reed mentioned the previous residencies there. Similar projects have taken place in China since 2011, involving artists including Imogen Heap, Oliver Coates and Anna Meredith. Last year also saw the first Musician In Residence project in the United Arab Emirates.

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Hyperdub announces Japanese videogame music compilation
Record label Hyperdub has announced a new compilation called 'Diggin In The Carts: A Collection Of Pioneering Japanese Videogame Music'.

A spin-off from the Red Bull Music Academy documentary series 'Diggin In The Carts', the record has been compiled by filmmaker Nick Dwyer and Hyperdub boss Kode9. It's a collection of pioneering Japanese videogame music. In case you wondered.

"Some of the greatest art is created within limitations", says the label of the music on the 34 track compilation. "Often the most pioneering and influential periods in electronic music have resulted from artists pushing existing technology to its limits".

The album is due for release on 17 Nov. Here, from 1993 Nintendo Super Famicom game 'The Mahjong Touhaiden', is Soshi Hosoi's 'Mister Diviner'.

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Beyonce, Liam Gallagher, James Blunt, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Beyonce features on a new remix of 'Mi Gente' by J Balvin and Willy William, singing in Spanish like a regular Justin Bieber. She has announced that she will donate her royalties from the song to hurricane relief charities.

• Liam Gallagher has released the video for new single 'Greedy Soul'. His solo album's out next week, ending a campaign that feels like it's been running for 26 years.

• James Blunt has released the video for 'Don't Give Me Those Eyes', from his 'The Afterlove' album. He's touring the UK's arenas in November, just to remind you that quite a lot of people actually like him.

• Maroon 5 have released new single 'What Lovers Do'. It features SZA, who is great, but the bulk of it is still Maroon 5, so probably still give it a miss.

• Ariel Pink has released the video for 'Time To Live', from his new album 'Dedicated To Bobby Jameson'.

• Converge have released new single 'Reptilian', and also announced that they will put out their first album for five years, 'The Dusk In Us', on 3 Nov.

• Vessels have released the video for 'Mobilise', taken from their new album 'The Great Distraction'. That album's out today, why are you not already listening to it?

• Amanda Mair has released new single 'Rush'.

• Baby In Vain have shared the video for new single 'Low Life'. The band will be touring the UK next month.

• Jakwob has released 'Ghost Optics', taken from new EP 'Lifted'.

• Tiggs Da Author is back with new single, 'Work It Out'.

• Estrons have released new single 'Cold Wash'.

• Die So Fluid have announced that they will release new album, 'One Bullet From Paradise', on 1 Dec. Sample a couple of tracks here.

• Chloe Howl will play her first show for two years at The Waiting Room in Stoke Newington on 6 Nov. Tickets went on sale this morning.

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

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Beef Of The Week #374: B.o.B v Science
Rapper B.o.B remains convinced that the Earth is flat. Flat as a pancake. And despite the intervention of lots of people who are equipped to argue otherwise - like Neil de-fucking-Grasse Tyson - he's still looking for definitive proof. So he's set up a crowdfunding campaign to launch his own satellite into the sky to go and have a look.

We first reported on this story back in January 2016, when B.o.B first began speaking in support of the bizarre flat Earth theory. He was seemingly convinced that there was no way that we could be sitting on a globe, because he'd been up really high and could see no curve on the horizon. That's basically it.

He then maintained that "the greatest liars in history" had "tremendously deceived" us all by telling us that the planet is round, when in fact it is definitely flat. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson quickly got in touch to go through the basic scientific points, but B.o.B knocked him back, accusing deGrasse Tyson of being in on the great NASA conspiracy to convince us that the planet is round. He even wrote a diss track about the celebrity scientist.

So that was all quite amusing for a few days, but by now you'd have thought that B.o.B had given up on all this. After all, the Earth is definitely round. But no, he's still flogging this horse. And the thing is, I told you earlier that he was raising money to launch "a satellite". Well, actually, he's trying to raise $1 million in order to "launch multiple weather balloons and satellites into space for experimental exploration".

Aside from the fact that $1 million is not nearly enough to launch one satellite, let alone multiple satellites, into space (although it's a bigger budget than his original target of $200,000), there is another obvious flaw in this plan. The science and engineering behind satellites only works if the Earth is round. They go into orbit. That's the whole fucking point of them. They orbit the Earth and beam stuff back down.

Sure, you could say that claiming that satellites orbit the Earth is part of NASA's big conspiracy. You could say that. But NASA is not the only organisation that builds and launches satellites. The skies above us are jammed full of satellites put up there by governments, private companies and other organisations all over the world.

The cost of paying all those people to stay quiet about the conspiracy - and then the unlikely outcome of all of them actually staying quiet and keeping the 'lie' going - would be phenomenal. And to what end? What would be the point of making people think that the Earth is round when it's not? Oh God, why am I so wound up about this? Why are we even talking about this? It's all so stupid.

Anyway, you can donate some money to B.o.B's cause here. But please don't. Even if he raises the money, and even if he can actually get things in the sky with that money, I don't feel like the evidence his experiments would generate - ie proof that the world is definitely round - would actually change his mind. He'll just decide he needs to do some more crowdfunding to pay for some more conspiracy busting research. And we'll just keep going round and round. Like the planet. Which is round.

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