As copyright directive debates continue in Brussels, let's shout "value gap" again
With lawmakers in Brussels still chit chatting aplenty about the draft new European Copyright Directive, and with loads of proposed amendments now on the table, representatives from across the copyright industries sent a letter this week to the MEP leading on the whole thing in the European Parliament, Axel Voss. And what did they have to say to the political man? "Value gap, value gap, value gap". Of course!

The draft Copyright Directive has been in circulation for a year now and there is a big stack of proposed amendments being considered. Various committees in the European Parliament have inputted, and the whole thing is going back before the legal committee, aka JURI, this month. Voss was only appointed as the 'rapporteur' leading Parliament's review of the copyright proposals earlier this summer, stepping in for Comodini Cachia, who quit her seat in the European Parliament to join the legislature in her home country Malta.

From a music perspective, there are three articles of interest in the draft directive: those covering safe harbour, transparency and contract adjustment. Though it's the former that has got the most attention, and it's that which featured in this week's letter from organisations representing the music, movie, broadcasting, book, photo and football sectors. You know, YouTube and the fucking value gap.

States the letter to Voss: "We very much appreciate your acknowledgement of the critical issue of the 'value gap' which is hampering the growth and potential of our sectors. This situation is caused by inconsistent application and unfaithful interpretation of the European copyright rules by some digital platforms. [User-uploaded Content] platforms have become major distributors of creative works - all while refusing to negotiate fair copyright licences, if at all, with the right holders".

The copyright rules being "inconsistently applied" and "unfaithfully interpreted" mainly relate to the pesky safe harbour, of course, that being the principle that says an internet company is not liable when its users use its servers and networks to infringe copyright, providing it offers copyright owners some kind of content takedown system.

The music industry argues that user-upload sites like YouTube should never have been covered by the safe harbour, which was intended for internet service providers and server hosting companies. But by claiming safe harbour protection, the likes of YouTube have a much strong negotiating hand when seeking licences from record companies and music publishers, meaning they get much better rates than the audio streaming services they compete with, meaning the music industry makes less money. Hence the value gap.

It's hoped that the safe harbour provision in the copyright directive will put more obligations onto user-upload sites like YouTube. "We believe that the European Commission's proposal [in the directive] provides an effective basis for a fair and meaningful solution to this issue", the copyright groups' letter continued this week.

And, they added, "support for robustly addressing the value gap is reflected in an overwhelming majority of amendments in several of the relevant European Parliament committees, particularly in JURI, as well as the opinions adopted [by the culture and industry committees]". Though, the letter went on, they weren't so impressed with proposals made by the Parliament's consumer protection committee which, they said, would "exacerbate rather than solve the value gap problem".

The letter muses on thus: "A meaningful legislative solution to remove the distortion undermining Europe's creative content market must clarify ... that platforms that store and provide access to copyright protected content uploaded (or displayed) by their users: undertake copyright relevant acts (ie communication to the public and as the case may be reproduction); and cannot benefit from the 'safe harbour' ... because they play an active role by, for instance, promoting such content or optimising the presentation of it".

"Without clarification of the two points outlined above", the letter concludes, "there will be no solution for the producers and creators of European creative content. The creative sectors seek a fair digital market, one in which the participants can operate with legal certainty and on a level playing field". It's hoped, say the copyright owners, that the safe harbour clause of the new directive "stops free-riding by certain platforms and brings long-sought fairness for creators and creative industries". Which sounds like fun.

Music bodies signing the letter include global record labels group IFPI, European indie label repping IMPALA, the International Confederation Of Music Publishers, the European Composer & Songwriter Alliance, and CISAC and GESAC representing the songwriter collecting societies.

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Plans to convert Oxford venue space into shops withdrawn
Plans to convert the basement space in Oxford used by music venue The Cellar into a retail unit have been withdrawn by the building's landlord. It's hoped that this means the future of the popular venue is now assured.

As previously reported, a petition was launched in late August after it emerged St Michael's And All Saints' Charities, which owns the property, had submitted a planning application to redevelop the building, which already has a retail space above the basement venue. Foals, Ride, Glass Animals, Objekt, Rob Da Bank and Young Knives were among the artists and DJs who called on the landlords to have a rethink.

At the time the venue's manager, Tim Hopkins, told reporters: "It is devastating news, not just for The Cellar team, but for the Oxford music scene as a whole. The loss of an important cultural asset such as The Cellar is a matter of concern for everyone, not just the music fans and musicians of Oxford. It should be of concern to anyone who cares about jobs, the night-time economy, local creativity and the social community of the city".

Earlier this week the venue announced that it had received "amazing news" that "the planning application that our landlords [submitted] has been withdrawn". Saying that the support they had received since news of The Cellar's impending closure broke was "beyond our wildest dreams", the team running the space added "now, not only has the current application been withdrawn, the local and national community has most certainly heard loud and clear how vital the survival of small music and arts venues are to our lives"

Although it's still not entirely clear what St Michael's And All Saints' Charities is now planning following the withdrawal of its redevelopment proposal, the Cellar team said that they hoped they could now "come to a positive resolution" with their landlords about the future of the venue "so we can continue to make our contribution to this vital aspect of all our lives that we care so passionately about".

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Reading Festival gets 'gold status' from accessibility charity
Accessibility charity Attitude Is Everything has awarded the Reading Festival 'gold status' under its Charter Of Best Practice scheme in recognition of "the event's long-term commitment to inclusivity and access innovation".

The organisation that seeks to make live events more accessible to deaf and disabled music fans said Reading Festival promoters Festival Republic "have consistently improved facilities for disabled audiences, reaching silver status on the charter in 2014 and picking up an Outstanding Attitude Award in 2016 award for their innovative [British sign language] interpretation service developed in collaboration with deaf customers".

AIE boss Suzanne Bull added that Festival Republic chief Melvin Benn and his team "have consistently developed the festival to become more accessible and inclusive as the years have gone by. As a result, attendances from deaf and disabled customers, along with their friends and families, have never been higher. The impact is far-reaching, and a perfect embodiment of how live music can change lives when barriers to access are removed".

Benn himself added: "In an industry as diverse as music and festivals, we should be doing everything in our power to make our events as accessible as possible for everyone. As we continue to develop our BSL interpretation service and progress all disabled access avenues across our events, it's rewarding to see our disabled customer numbers continuing to grow. Having worked with Attitude Is Everything since 2005 we look forward to continuing this relationship, and are delighted that Reading Festival has been awarded Gold Status on their Charter Of Best Practice".

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EDM Magazine sells for $2.5 million
US dance music title EDM Magazine has been acquired by EDMtv founder Matt Bolton for $2.5 million, with plans to turn it into an "industry-specific trade" mag. I think someone missed a memo about the state of the music media, but well done everyone anyway.

The magazine is set to be relaunched as Electronic Dance Magazine next month, with former DJ Mag Editor Lesley Wright in charge.

"In line with our editorial vision to cover dance music differently, the magazine will be completely redesigned to create a dance music publication like no other", says Wright. "We're extremely lucky to be working with the amazingly talented designer Sara Raffaghello, former Creative Director at Motivate Publishing, on the redesign. With its exciting new editorial and creative direction, I can't wait to unleash the first new-look issue in late November. Prepare to be surprised".

I'm already surprised. Bolton adds: "Our intention with the magazine is to be an expert source for those who want substance, not fluff. We will be diligent and purposeful in our coverage and are committed to reporting on all facets of the electronic music culture; the good, the bad and the sometimes, ugly. The magazine will be further defined by well researched business news and topical columns written by experts in their respective fields so that we educate as well as entertain".

On the new Editor-In-Chief, he adds: "I know that with Lesley's unparalleled talent, passion and editorial punch that Electronic Dance Magazine will become the very standard by which all others are measured. We are incredibly privileged to have her and excited to share this vision with our dance music community".

As for why he has decided to sell the magazine he's spent a decade building, founder Yoel Barrios, who will stay on as the magazine's publisher, explains: "Quite frankly, I never considered selling [until] two years ago [when] I started dealing with some serious medical issues and I saw the company I love and worked so hard to build take a devastating financial hit due to my absence. After a little over a year, I had no choice but to shut down distribution. When Matt reached out and expressed interest in purchasing the company, I just could not ignore the possibility of someone resuscitating my life's work".

So confident in the success of the resuscitation is Bolton that he's also committed to donate a portion of the magazine's profits the Association For Electronic Music trade body. AFEM members will also contribute content to the magazine.

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Radio 2 announces concert series to celebrate 50 years
If you're bored with everyone banging on about Radio 1's 50th birthday, how about Radio 2's 50th birthday? It's also 50 years old, and among the celebrations on that side of the dial will be five live musical recordings in the BBC Radio Theatre under the station's In Concert brand featuring acts that represent each of the decades that Radio 2 has been on air.

The recordings are as follows: Tears For Fears (26 Oct), Chic feat Nile Rodgers (30 Oct), Liam Gallagher (2 Nov), Paloma Faith (9 Nov) and Deep Purple (16 Nov). There's a signed photo of Jo Whiley for anyone who can work out who is representing which decade. She's going to be interviewing each of the acts, see. As is Simon Mayo. Separately mind. Whiley and Mayo famously hate each other. They loathe each other. They despise each other. They detest each other. They abhor each other. Maybe. I don't know.

Says that Jeff Smith, Head Of Music for the twos: "In our anniversary year, I wanted to put together a Radio 2 In Concert season to celebrate some of the music enjoyed by our listeners across the past five decades. I'm very excited that this line up of amazing artists have agreed to take part and join us in our Radio Theatre. They will perform some of their biggest songs and new tracks exclusively for the Radio 2 audience to not only hear, but also watch and, hopefully, recommend to their friends".

Oh yeah, there'll be some red button nonsense too. That's where the "watching" comes in.

Adds Whiley: "I'm a big fan of all these artists and am THRILLED to be part of bringing their In Concerts to Radio 2. I look forward to hearing their music and having a chat with the artists live in the Radio Theatre after their performances. It's going to be another great In Concert season and I hope you will join us".

No comment from Mayo you'll notice. He was too busy seething that they let Whiley speak first.

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Music Support to launch new campaign on World Mental Health Day
Music Support, the mental health and addiction charity aimed at people who work in the music industry, has announced that it will launch a new campaign, called 'You Are Not Alone', on Monday to coincide with World Mental Health Day.

The campaign aims to spread via social media, industry internal communications and word of mouth that anyone working in music and dealing with addiction or mental health issues does not have to do it on their own. The charity will also use the campaign to ask industry organisations to donate to help maintain its 24 hour helpline and other services it offers.

Since launching in April 2016 - with members of the Music Support team speaking at the CMU Insights conference at The Great Escape the following month - the charity has quickly grown in visibility. This summer it launched its 'Safe Tents' scheme backstage at various UK festivals. Robbie Williams also became its first patron in July.

As well as announcing the You Are Not Alone campaign, Music Support has also revealed that it will hold its second 'Where Is The Line?' event on 30 Jan. Among the speakers at the event will be Harold Owen of US music industry support charity MusiCares.

You can donate £5 to Music Support now by texting MUSIC to 70660.

Find more information on Music Support here.

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Carla Bruni announces first ever UK show
Carli Bruni has announced that she will play her first ever UK concert in December. I know that doesn't sound like it can possibly be the case, but I've checked and it's true. That time you saw her on 'Later' doesn't count, apparently.

"My last tour was a few years ago and I didn't come to the UK so I am so excited to finally play here", says the former French first lady. "I have always dreamed of playing in London, a city that I love. It really will be a dream come true".

The show will take place at Union Chapel in London on 9 Dec. Bruni's new album, a collection of covers titled 'French Touch', is out today.

Here's her version of Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence'.

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Viagogo wins consumer rights award
Viagogo can seem somewhat embattled at times, as people complain about dodgy advertising, surprise fees, invalid tickets and almost non-existent customer service. But now the secondary ticketing site has won an award! And one from a consumer rights organisation too. So congratulations to Viagogo for yesterday picking up a Shonky Award "for dodgy practices that tick off consumers".

The Shonkies are handed out annually by Australian consumer advocacy group Choice (basically the Aussie version of Which?). To qualify, a company must fit one or more of the following criteria: flaws, faults or failed a standard; lack of transparency; false claims or broken promises; consumer detriment or confusion; poor value for money; and/or has the propensity to outrage or amuse.

Viagogo, reckons Choice, managed to meet every single one of those, and so takes the top spot in this year's awards, which also saw prizes handed out to Honda, Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Mazda and Samsung, among others.

"Choice has received hundreds of reports from concertgoers who are ticked off after dealing with Swiss ticketing company Viagogo", says Choice. "Advertising seats to major events such as Adele and ZZ Top through Google's AdWords network, the ticket reseller engages in illegal drip pricing, commonly creates confusion for consumers, fails to respond to complaints and has a 'customer guarantee' that's about as reliable as a scalper in a back alley".

Unpopular with authorities and customers alike in many countries where it operates, Viagogo has recently drawn a lot of heat in Australia - not least after reports of hundreds of people being turned away from various events, having turned up with invalid tickets purchased from the website.

In August, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission announced it was taking Viagogo to court over allegations it had made false or misleading representations, and has engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct. The regulator criticised the secondary ticketing firm for failing to disclose its massive 27.6% booking fee, for misleading consumers about how many tickets were still available for any one show, and for its dubious use of the word 'official' when buying its way to the top of Google searches.

At a state level, two Australian ministers spoke out against the ticket resale company as well. In New South Wales, Minister For Better Regulation Matt Kean criticised the firm for failing to respond to his state's Fair Trading office, which was investigating various complaints filed by consumers. Meanwhile over in Queensland, the state's Attorney-General and Minister For Justice Yvette D'Ath told reporters: "The number of complaints received and the failure of Viagogo to attempt to resolve them is very concerning".

Viagogo hasn't responded to the announcement that it's won this big award yet because, well, Viagogo doesn't really do responding to things anymore.

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Spotify, Apple Music, Maroon 5, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Spotify has added Nike exec Heidi O'Neill to its board of directors, reports Recode. Her day job is over seeing the sports brand's retail, digital and e-commerce units.

• Apple Music now has one of those trendy Facebook Messenger bots all the kids are talking about.

• Maroon 5 will release a new album, 'Red Pill Blues', on 2 Nov. Oh God, when will it end?

• Charlie Puth, who continues to insist on having no L in his surname, no matter how many times my brain inserts one, has a new single out called 'How Long'. His new album, 'Voicenotes', is out on 11 Jan. All I'm saying is if my surname was Puth, I'd definitely change it to Pluth. Or Smith.

• Craig David has released new track 'For The Gram'. His new album, 'The Time Is Now', is out on 28 Jan. So the time is then. But then it will be now. Don't miss it.

• Tove Lo has released the video for 'Disco Tits'. It's got a puppet in it.

• Cavalera Conspiracy have released new single 'Insane'. New album 'Psychosis' is out on 17 Nov.

• Nnamdi Ogbonnaya has remixed Noga Erez's 'Dance While You Shoot'. He's done a fine job too.

• US Girls is back, she's mad as hell, and she's not going to take this anymore.

• David Bazan has resurrected Pedro The Lion for some US live shows in December. He's also hinted that new music is on the way.

• 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 #375: Pop v Politics
What with all the various gaffs and misfortunes that plagued Theresa May's Conservative Party conference speech this week, the traditional 'musicians don't like Tories using their music' story seems a little inconsequential. But it is a tradition, and Tories love tradition, so let's push forward.

As ever, the Conservatives recognise as well as anybody the power of music to rouse people. Every year they use various bits of pop music at their big gathering to rouse their crowd of party members, most of whom - it is fairly safe to assume - have no interest in pop music. But I suppose Theresa May coming on stage to 'Ride Of The Valkyries' might not go over so well. And so it was, earlier this week, that she arrived on stage to 'This Is What You Came For' by Calvin Harris and Rihanna.

I'm sure it was supposed to make her look like an unbeatable boxer entering the ring, but given the speech it pre-empted on Wednesday, it now looks like the rallying cry of the many members of her party who would like to see her gone.

Whatever it was, Calvin Harris wasn't happy about it. He quickly tweeted: "Conservative Party conference playing my song was not approved - I do not support nor condone happy songs being played at such a sad event".

He was also on hand with some medical advice for May, after she coughed and spluttered her way though her speech, saying: "Cough plus grey complexion suggests liver cleanse needed - blood prob very dark - body trying to cleanse but lack of nutrients pls Google".

It may, of course, have just been that her battery was running down. Elsewhere at the conference, more pop music was being played. For some reason, it was deemed appropriate for Florence And The Machine's version of 'You've Got The Love' to be boomed out across the conference venue's speakers, apparently without irony.

Florence Welch was not best pleased and, like Harris, knew nothing of her music being used until people started asking her about it on social media. She tweeted: "Today's use of 'You've Got The Love' at the Conservative Party conference was not approved by us nor would it have been had they asked".

She also added a specific request that the Tories "refrain from using our music in future".

As noted at this point every single year, simply asking the Conservatives to respect her wishes is really as much as Flo can do. Use of music at political conferences of this kind will be covered by the blanket licences held by the host venue, ie the licences that are dished out by collecting societies PPL and PRS.

Once you have a licence in hand, you can make use of any recordings and songs repped by those organisations (which is most recordings and songs) in your public space. And the telly broadcasts of the event - which is how the use of pop music by Tories often makes it to public attention - will be covered the broadcasters' own PPL/PRS licences.

So long as the relevant fees are paid to the collecting societies, the Conservatives (or whoever - but it's mainly right leaning parties who annoy pop stars) are completely within their legal rights to use whatever music they like. Morally, well that's another matter. But I'm not sure this is any time to start discussing morals with Tories.

As mentioned above, taking to the stage with a cold, May was plagued by various coughing fits throughout her speech. Downing several glasses of water and being handed a lozenge by Chancellor Phillip Hammond did little to help (either with the speech or the balance of power between her and Hammond).

It also turned out that a portion of the speech she did manage to say in one go without so much as a splutter appeared to have been plagiarised from an episode of 'The West Wing'. To top it all off, as she spoke, letters began falling off the sign behind her displaying the slogan of "a Britain that works for everyone".

All of which would have constituted a shambles. But there was more, as comedian Simon Brodkin managed to get close enough to May to hand her a mocked up P45 form - paperwork to mark the end of employment - purporting to be signed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Brodkin got close enough to the stage for May to actually reach down and take the P45, which - incredibly - she did. Perhaps she was trying to mimic Jacob Rees-Mogg's relaxed engaging of a protester earlier in the week. Perhaps she just wanted to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible. As it is, when May is eventually ousted by her party in the coming months, the media will have lots of pictures of her holding a P45 at the ready.

Best known for his character Lee Nelson, Brodkin has become known for various pranks such as this in recent years. In 2015, he managed to get on stage during Kanye West's headline set at Glastonbury. After that incident he explained that he'd managed to pull it off by shouting "I'm meant to be on stage!" at a security guard and getting the rest of the way on adrenaline.

It's a mystery how he still manages to pull these things off, without everyone pointing and saying, "Look, there's the noted prankster Simon Brodkin, we'd better stop him from pulling off yet another of his audacious japes". Which is how Tories talk, of course.

Like West, May attempted a rewind in response to Brodkin's stunt. Referencing the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who she'd been speaking about as Brodkin interrupted her, she said that it was he who she'd like to hand a P45 to. It got a big laugh in the room, but it did rather draw attention to the fact that she'd just taken hold of a P45 (albeit a fake one) during a speech that was increasingly sounding like an exit interview.

Even if she doesn't actually need to heed Calvin Harris's advice to Google information on liver conditions, it might be a good idea for May to brush up her LinkedIn profile and check out a few recruitment sites. After a lifetime of wanting to be Prime Minister, it appears that attempting to deal with the impossible fall out of the Brexit vote will likely make her tenure in the top job short lived. She should probably just get out the way voluntarily and let Boris Johnson totally fuck up the UK's exit from the European Union instead of her.

Anyway, speaking of precarious political party leaderships, UKIP has just got its latest new leader in the form of Henry Bolton. Don't bother remembering his name, I'm sure it'll be someone else soon enough. And it's quite likely that the first you heard of a UKIP leadership election was Morrissey banging on about it on 6 Music.

Ever the contrarian, Morrissey has increasingly aligned himself with UKIP in recent years. Brexit was "magnificent" and all thanks to the "quite logical" former leader of the party Nigel Farage (who will probably return for a third go next time his ego needs the rub of a few thousand deluded sycophants). Was Moz happy that Farage loyalist Bolton was now in charge of the UKIPers though? Apparently not.

"I was very surprised the other day", he told the gathered audience at Maida Vale studios, there to watch him perform at the start of '6 Music Live' week. "It was very interesting to me to see Anne Marie Waters become the head of UKIP. Oh no, sorry she didn't - the voting was rigged. Sorry, I forgot".

Waters was one of six contenders for the leadership, and possibly the most fervent on the more anti-Islam side of the party. Many thought she would win comfortably, not least because it was feared a large number of far right sympathisers had signed up as members at the last minute simply in order to vote for her. But she was beaten into second place by a decent margin by Bolton, hence Morrissey's conspiracy theory.

I'm not sure what Morrissey's core audience gets out of his increasingly right-leaning views these days, but an intimate audience of 6 Music listeners and BBC staff doesn't really seem like the right crowd to try that sort of material out on. Morrissey, it seems, was expecting quite a reaction from his comment. Perhaps an angry uprising or shouts of agreement. Instead, he was met with bemused silence - presumably due to a mixture of embarrassment and confusion at how else to respond.

Morrissey took it to mean that the audience just wasn't up on current affairs. "You didn't get it, did you?", he berated them. "You obviously don't read the news".

I've gone over this incident again and again in my head. I still don't really know what Morrissey's intentions were. Is he angry that Waters isn't the new UKIP leader? Was he just passing comment on what he saw as a compromised vote with no real view on the integrity of the politician or the party? Was he just blurting out whatever nonsense he thought would most rile the BBC and its listeners?

Do you remember when Morrissey's proclamations were pointed and funny? I much preferred that. It wasn't even that long ago really. Now he's just a kind of noise you occasionally notice and think, 'Oh God, is he still talking?'

There was one example of music and politics coming together in harmony this week though. As Wolf Alice went head to head with Shania Twain for the UK album chart number one spot, that Jeremy Corbyn came out in support of the British rock band. "After helping Labour beat the odds in the election, it's great to see Wolf Alice doing the same in the charts", the Labour leader tweeted.

Bit weird, yes. But he's come a long way from the days when he was holding press conferences with UB40 and asking them about classical music. We'll find out if his support will actually get Wolf Alice to the top later this afternoon, or if they'll just come second and still walk around telling everyone they won.

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