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GLOBAL MUSIC DATA AND BLOCKCHAIN There has been lots of debate around the music rights data problem in recent years, and a number of initiatives are underway to tackle the issue. Though Spotify's mechanical royalties dispute and the lack of songwriter credits on the streaming platforms shows the problem persists. As Music 4.5 puts the spotlight back on all things data, CMU Trends reviews discussions to date, challenges to be met, and where progress is being made. [READ MORE] |
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THE RIGHTS OF ARTISTS AND SONGWRITERS POST-ASSIGNMENT - PERFORMER AND MORAL RIGHTS Copyright provides creators with control over that which they create, but what happens when the creators themselves don't own the copyright in their work? Artists and songwriters who are no longer in control of their copyrights do still have some rights, sometimes by contract, and via performer and moral rights. CMU Trends considers what the law says about the rights of artists and songwriters after their copyrights have been assigned. [READ MORE] |
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THE VALUE OF MUSIC Rarely a week goes by in the music business news these days without at least one catalogue acquisition. But who - other than labels and publishers - is buying music rights, and why? Are there opportunities for individual artists and songwriters to do deals with professional investors? And how do you even value music rights? CMU Trends reviews the music rights market - past, present and future. [READ MORE] |
| TOP STORIES | New South Wales proposes banning the resale of tickets for profit READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| LEGAL | European Parliament's next chit chat about copyright reform postponed READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| DEALS | SRD allies with Proper on physical distribution READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| LIVE BUSINESS | WME|IMG becomes Endeavor READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| EDUCATION & EVENTS | More speakers lined up for Music:DIY in Norwich READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ARTIST NEWS | Loyle Carner throws sexist fan out of show READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| RELEASES | Django Django announce new album, Marble Skies READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| GIGS & FESTIVALS | The Streets to reunite for 2018 UK tour READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ONE LINERS | APRA AMCOS, BMG, Amy Winehouse, more READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| AND FINALLY... | Beck selling copies of new album that are signed... by MC Hammer READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
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KOBALT - SVP SYNCHRONISATION UK & EUROPE (LONDON) The Senior Vice President of Synchronisation will be responsible for overseeing creative pitching, clearance and synch administration for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Netherlands and overseeing synch agents and sub-publishers in key territories including France, Italy and Eastern Europe. For more information and to apply click here. |
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WARP RECORDS - CREATIVE LICENSING MANAGER (LONDON) Warp Records is looking to hire a Creative Licensing Manager, Advertising to join our Sync team in London to deliver licensing opportunities for our Artists focusing on Advertising, Trailers & Promos. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ACCORDER MUSIC - PAID COPYRIGHT ASSISTANT INTERNSHIP (BERKHAMSTED) Accorder Music is looking for an enthusiastic Copyright Assistant to join our team, initially on a three-month paid internship basis. For more information and to apply click here. |
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GREEN MAN - MARKETING MANAGER (LONDON) Green Man Festival wishes to appoint a Marketing Manager to join our friendly team, who will create and implement marketing campaigns for the festival as well as other Green Man events and experiences. For more information and to apply click here. |
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NINJA TUNE - MARKETING ASSISTANT (LONDON) Ninja Tune seeks a Marketing Assistant to provide support for the Product Managers across all areas of artist campaigns. Someone who is passionate about music, with previous music industry experience, preferably within marketing. For more information and to apply click here. |
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FROM THE FIELDS - MARKETING AND DIGITAL DESIGNER (MANCHESTER) From The Fields is looking for a Marketing & Digital Designer to join its friendly team. From The Fields are one of the North’s most exciting and creative festival promoters. For more information and to apply click here. |
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NIGHT DEPARTMENT - ARTIST MANAGEMENT ASSISTANT (LONDON) Night Department is looking to bring in someone ambitious to join its expanding team. A great opportunity for someone to step up as we grow as a company with our roster. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ULTRA MUSIC - MARKETING SALES CONSULTANT (LONDON) Ultra Music is seeking a dynamic, detail-oriented consultant with a proven track record of previous marketing/sales experience and a developed music industry network. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT - SOCIETY RELATIONS ASSISTANT (LONDON) Joining a growing Neighbouring Rights team in London, Kobalt's Society Relations Assistant will help manage our client roster at neighbouring rights societies around the world. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT - CLIENT ASSISTANT (LONDON) Joining a rapidly growing Neighbouring Rights team in London, Kobalt's Client Assistant will be a key contact for clients with regards to any issues or queries relating to their catalogue. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT - EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT (LONDON) Kobalt is looking to hire a highly organised, self-driven and detail oriented Executive Assistant to support both the President of Kobalt Music Recordings and SVP Recordings Operations in our London office. For more information and to apply click here. |
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How The Music Business Works SEMINARS | every Monday until 13 Nov, London | INFO Our 'How The Music Business Works' programme consists of eight two-hour seminars which together cover: the various ways the music industry generates revenue, building and engaging a fanbase, the business partnerships artists form with music companies, and how the artist/label relationship is changing. |
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Enforcing Music Rights - Safe Harbours And Piracy MASTERCLASS | Monday 20 November 2017, London | INFO In this half day masterclass, CMU MD and Business Editor Chris Cooke will look at how the music industry enforces its copyrights, at the long-running battle with online music piracy, and at the controversy around the copyright safe harbour. |
New South Wales proposes banning the resale of tickets for profit
The government of Australian state New South Wales is proposing new consumer rights laws that would basically make it illegal to resell tickets for profit.
The proposed new anti-touting rules wouldn't stop people from selling tickets on to other parties, but would make it illegal to profit from such reselling. And while transaction costs could be added on top, they would be capped at 10% of the original ticket price.
The state's Minister For Better Regulation Matt Kean recently laid into the shadiest of all the secondary ticketing platforms, which is obviously Viagogo, although he says he is concerned about the wider practice of ticket touting too.
Discussing the proposed new anti-tout regulations, that also include the customary bots ban, making it illegal to use special software to buy up large numbers of tickets off primary sites, Kean said: "I'm sick and tired of consumers being taken for a ride by shonky operators looking to make a quick buck at the expense of ordinary fans. No ticket to a NSW sporting or entertainment event should be resold for more than 10% above its original price".
As much previously reported, secondary ticketing has popped up on the political agenda in a number of countries in the last year or so, with law-makers seemingly much more willing to regulate the ticket resale market now than they were when online touting first became a big thing in the mid-2000s.
Just last week, ministers in the Canadian province of Ontario published their proposals for regulating the secondary ticketing market, which include limiting the mark-up on any resold ticket to 50% of face value. The draft new rules there also include a bots ban - which was first proposed in Ontario last year - plus other regulations including forcing ticket resellers to publish the face value of the ticket being resold.
The province's Attorney General, Yasir Naqvi, told reporters: "Stronger rules for buying and selling tickets will help give fans a fair shot at getting music, sports or theatre tickets. Our proposed changes will ban bots and excessive mark ups, prevent fraud, and provide more information in the ticket industry. We are putting fans first by making the industry more transparent and tickets more affordable".
European Parliament's next chit chat about copyright reform postponed
The much previously reported draft new European Copyright Directive continues to work its way through the law-making process in Brussels, though it looks like an important vote within the European Parliament will be pushed back to December.
As previously reported, a number of committees within the Parliament have been considering the new European copyright proposals, which were published by the European Commission just over a year ago, and which include measures on safe harbour, transparency and contract adjustment, among many other things.
The whole matter was due to go back before the legal committee, aka JURI, this month, but copyright matters have seemingly been taken off the agenda for that committee's next meeting on 10 Oct, meaning the directive will now likely be discussed at a gathering in December instead. It could as yet get bumped in 2018. The ridiculously high number of proposed amendments is thought to be one of the reasons around the delay.
Legal site Lexology speculates that another reason for the delay might be that the governments of six member states have put a number of questions about the safe harbour article to the EU Council's Legal Service. The questions seek clarity on the legality of article thirteen, which would place new obligations on safe harbour dwelling websites of the YouTube variety, and it's not clear when the Legal Service plans to answer them.
For the wider music community, the safe harbour article is one of the most important elements of the proposed new directive, of course. And just last week an assortment of trade bodies representing the music community put their names to an open letter to the MEP leading on the directive, Axel Voss, urging him to ensure the final version of the safe harbour reforming article in the new directive is of use to copyright owners.
SRD allies with Proper on physical distribution
Proper Music Group has signed one of those global fulfilment deals that all the cool kids are talking about with Southern Record Distributors, meaning Proper's distribution division will now manage logistics and physical distribution on behalf of its fellow music distributor, which in turn reps around 200 indie labels.
The deal comes as Proper gets ready to open its previously reported new warehouse facility in Dartford. It also follows the announcement last month that SRD has allied with French firm IDOL on its digital distribution.
Name-checking SRD's co-MDs Andy Slocombe and Steve Collins, Proper MD Drew Hill confirming the new deal by saying: "It is a pleasure to start work with Andy and Steve, and we are happy to help protect the independence of one of Europe's biggest distributors. We are proud to expand and develop our client roster as the opening of our new warehouse draws ever closer".
SRD's Slocombe added: "Steve and I have a responsibility to our labels and to the business to make the best decisions for our future. Handing over responsibility for logistics to a third party is a tried-and-tested model, and we are entirely confident that working with Drew and his team at Proper is the right road to pursue".
WME|IMG becomes Endeavor
Talent and booking agency group WME|IMG is rebranding as Endeavor, because WME|IMG is far too many letters for one company name. And that '|' isn't even a letter. How do you even say '|'. "Who do you work for?" "Oh, I work for double-you emm eee schculackunk eye emm gee".
No, that doesn't work. Much better to say "I work for Endeavor". And those of you paying attention - is anyone paying attention? - may remember that the E in WME|IMG stands for 'Endeavor'. Endeavor being the talent agency that merged with William Morris in 2009, before it merged with IMG in 2014.
Actually, Endeavor will be the parent company name, and there will still be a WME division and an IMG division, alongside the other units of the wider business that operate under different names like UFC and Droga5. Alas, there is no '|' division. The schculackunk is being lost forever. Which is a very sad development indeed. I will miss it greatly.
Anyway, here is Endeavor's Ari Emanuel saying some nonsense about the name change: "WME|IMG represented a pivotal moment in our company's history, but it does not accurately reflect the extent of our diversity or indicate where we're headed. In creating Endeavor, we now have a holding company that represents the very definition of the word itself, constantly striving to push boundaries on behalf of our clients and owned properties".
More speakers lined up for Music:DIY in Norwich
More speakers have been announced for the first edition of Music:DIY, the new educational programme for new artists being staged by CMU:DIY and the Featured Artists Coalition.
The full-day event provides a practical guide for entrepreneurial artists on how you go about building a business around your music, and the business partners you'll want to work with along the way. Combining talks and interviews, it will be hosted by CMU's Chris Cooke.
The day will look at key revenue streams, how to monetise songs and recordings, how to make money from gigs, fanbase building, and an artist's key business partners.
Stuart Belsham from PRS For Music and George Bacon from PPL will explain when collective licensing applies, and how songwriters and artists can make sure they get every penny they are due from when their music is played and performed.
Meanwhile, TuneCore's Sam Taylor will talk everyone through digital distribution, and how to make sure your music is available and earning royalties on all the key streaming services.
Music Glue's Will Spencer and music blogger Adam Hill from Alphabet Bands will join the conversation on building and engaging a fanbase, while music lawyer Chloe Forsyth will explain how artist deals are structured with key business partners like labels, publishers, agents and managers. And MPA's Kirsty Booth will explain more about the role of the publisher.
Of course, the best people to advise artists on the business of music are other artists. And at Music:DIY Roxanne de Bastion will discuss gigging, ShaoDow will talk about engaging your fans, Eckoes will explain how she chose her business partners, and Blur's Dave Rowntree will be in conversation offering tips and insights galore.
Music:DIY takes place this Friday as part of this year's Norwich Sound + Vision at the Norwich Arts Centre. The full schedule is here and tickets are available here. The Music:DIY event will then tour the UK next year, staged in partnership with numerous other organisations that work to support new musical talent.
| Approved: Erin McCarley Released last month, Erin McCarley's latest album, 'Yu Yī', sees her continue to frame her pop songs in a more electronic sound, and with more success than on her second album. Having previously been signed to Universal Music, her first LP as an independent artist sees her imbued with a new energy. In part, that energy is derived from recent political events in the US, which ended up influencing the record as she was making it. "The 2016 election threw another layer of energy into this record", she tells Hiskind. "I scrapped five songs and replaced them with post-election written tunes. I was unable to stay quiet". She goes on: "Every co-write would wind up in hours of discussions and sharing thoughts of 'WTF is going on?' or 'Where is the decency and the moral code?' If a record is personal, it is going to hit on what you are currently going through. The political climate was a big occupant in my personal space at the time of making this record, and it definitely took the front seat". That said, latest single 'Sexicon' is one of the record's less anxious moments. "We had fun not taking ourselves too seriously", she says of working on the song with producer Evan Hutchings and co-writer Natalie Hemby. The video for 'Sexicon' has just been released. Watch it here. Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist. |
Loyle Carner throws sexist fan out of show
Loyle Carner threw a fan out of a show in Norwich on Sunday for making sexist comments towards Elisa Imperilee of support act Elisa & Srigala.
Video of the incident, which apparently took place before Carner had begun performing, sees the rapper tell a man in the crowd: "I'm sorry man, you gotta learn your lesson my young man. I'm sorry ... With the black hat, you gotta go. For being sexist, you gotta go".
Exactly what was said to prompt the ejection isn't clear, although Carner later tweeted: "That shit will not be tolerated at any show. He's been banned from that venue for life".
Apparently confirming this statement, the University Of East Anglia, where the show took place, told BBC Newsbeat that it will "take action" if someone contravenes its "zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment".
Django Django announce new album, Marble Skies
Django Django have announced that they will release their third album, 'Marble Skies', through Because Music on 26 Jan.
First single 'Tic Tac Toe' comes accompanied by a video from John Maclean. Not only the brother of Djangos drummer David Maclean, John is also a former member of the Beta Band and, more importantly, director of the excellent film you should have all seen by now, 'Slow West'.
"The [video] could be about the fading era of the beach arcades, time moving too fast, love and games, horror and happiness, but it is actually about a man who needs to go buy a pint of milk to make a cup of tea", explains the director.
'Marble Skies' features collaborations with Rebecca Taylor of Slow Club and, more surprisingly, 'Miami Vice' theme tune composer Jan Hammer. As well as that, Rough Trade will be selling a special edition, which comes with six dub remixes by reggae producer Wrongtom.
As well as all that, you can catch the band live at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on 25 Nov.
For now, here's the video for 'Tic Tac Toe'.
The Streets to reunite for 2018 UK tour
Mike Skinner has announced plans to reunite The Streets for a one-off tour next year - their first live shows since 2011.
"I've missed tour buses very much", says Skinner. "Which is the least of the reasons why I have decided to tour The Streets again. The other thing I've missed is trying to think up what I'm going to say in the gap between the songs. When you DJ they tell you that you don't need a tour bus and you don't need to think up things to say between the songs. But seriously, it's been long enough".
He continues: "With my Tonga parties, the new rap and grime MCs I have been producing and the DJing, I have been living with music since making The Streets for nearly as long as I made The Streets. I'm not the guy smoking in the car anymore though, I have become the guy in the club, so I hope I will be excused for putting on after parties in nightclubs after every show".
Tickets for the shows go on general sale on Friday. The dates are as follow:
19 Apr: Birmingham, Academy
20 Apr: Glasgow, Academy
21 Apr: Manchester, Apollo
23 Apr: Leeds, Academy
25 Apr: London, Brixton Academy
26 Apr: London, Brixton Academy
APRA AMCOS, BMG, Amy Winehouse, more
Other notable announcements and developments today...
• Collecting society for Australia and New Zealand APRA AMCOS has appointed Dean Ormston as its new CEO. He will take over from Brett Cottle on 30 Jun next year. "Apart from being tremendously capable, hard-working and dedicated, Dean is a fantastic person", says Cottle. So that's nice.
• BMG has promoted Sebastian Hentzschel to Chief Technology Officer. He was previously SVP Group Technology. "It is easy to talk about simplicity", says Hentzschel. It sure is, Sebastian. It sure is.
• Mitch Winehouse has said that there are plans to turn the life of his daughter Amy Winehouse into a musical. "It is something I'd really like to happen and I've said I'm happy for it to go ahead", he told The Sun.
• Noel Gallagher and those High Flying Birds have released new "designer psychedelia" single 'Holy Mountain'.
• Sleigh Bells have announced that they will release a new mini-album, 'Kid Kruschev', on 10 Nov, via their own label Torn Clean. "We didn't want to wait another year or two to release something", says vocalist Alexis Krauss. "We like the idea of putting out shorter records at a more consistent rate, so we're gonna give it a shot for a while, see how it feels". Here's first single 'And Saints'.
• Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares will release a new album with Dead Can Dance vocalist Lisa Gerrard next year, it has been announced. For a quick history, a breakdown of this new project and a snippet of new music, watch this video.
• Seamus Fogarty has released the video for new single 'Van Gogh's Ear'. Catch him on tour in November.
• Pop Etc have announced a new singles series, titled 'The Infinite Singles Collection', which will see them release a new track or two every month or so. It all kicks off with 'Fingerprints', the video for which you can see here.
• The shortlist for this year's Independent Festival Awards is out. Among the prizes, a new Pioneer award will be given to Secret Garden Party founder Freddie Fellowes. The awards bash will take place during the Association Of Independent Festival's Festival Congress in Cardiff on 30 Oct.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.
Beck selling copies of new album that are signed... by MC Hammer
Beck is selling signed copies of his forthcoming new album, 'Colors'. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Except these records are signed not by Beck, but by MC Hammer.
Due out this Friday, the album, we should stress, features no input from the 90s rapper whatsoever. But who says the person who writes their name on your CD has to be the person who made it? I'll write my name on all of your CDs this afternoon, if you want. Although, I admit, having MC Hammer write on one of your CDs is probably slightly better.
In a statement, MC Hammer said: "'Colors' is a great party record". All the more so if he's signed the front of it, presumably. Pre-orders of the signed copies of the album are only available in the US. Excluding California. Which seems particularly hard on Californians.
In other Beck news, the musician having played the 200 capacity Omeara in London as a secret show on Sunday night, he's now announced that he will play the slightly bigger Electric Ballroom in Camden on Thursday night.
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CMU supports the music community by providing news, business intelligence, training and education. CMU Daily covers all the latest news and developments direct by email. CMU Podcast is a weekly dissection of the biggest music business stories. CMU Premium gives you access to the weekly CMU Digest and CMU Trends. CMU Insights provides training and consultancy for music companies. CMU:DIY provides workshops and resources for future music talent.
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