"Wholesale cultural change" required to stop sexual harassment in music industry, says MU
The UK's Musicians' Union has announced that, at a meeting with its counterparts from across the Nordic region in Stockholm last week, it was agreed that tackling sexual harassment and abuse in the music industry must now be made a priority.

The decision came as 1993 women working in the Swedish music industry called out sexism and sexual harassment in the sector in an open letter that also shared some of those women's harrowing personal experiences of harassment and abuse in the workplace. Meanwhile reports have surfaced that a senior executive at a Swedish major record company has been suspended due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

As previously reported, a much more frank conversation about sexual harassment and abuse in the music industry has been taking place ever since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in Hollywood, and particularly since the #metoo movement began.

In the open letter published in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Friday, women working from across the entire music sector called for a radical overhaul of a corporate culture that allows sexism, sexual harassment and sexual abuse to be such common place, and which makes victims afraid that speaking out will damage their career prospects.

The MU in the UK had already staged meetings in London and Manchester to discuss issues around sexual harassment and abuse in the music business with its members. Last week's meeting in Stockholm had actually been convened to discuss streaming royalties, but so pressing has this issue become, it topped the agenda.

Following the meeting, the unions representing musicians in the UK, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland stated: "All the union representatives at the Stockholm meeting agreed that tackling the problem should be prioritised. It was agreed that the unions will, in the first instance, initiate a process of evidence gathering through confidential surveys and through the creation of an environment where members feel safe in sharing their experiences".

The statement continued: "The unions will also liaise with employers, engagers and other areas of the industry in order to involve all stakeholders. Following this, appropriate advice and support mechanisms utilising trained officers and officials will be introduced to tackle the problem head on".

The unions also confirmed that they would take the matter to the International Federation Of Musicians to demand this issue be prioritised on a worldwide basis too.

Reporting on the meeting, MU Assistant General Secretary Naomi Pohl wrote last week: "The feeling around the table was a wish that we had realised the scale of the problem earlier, so we could have intervened and acted on behalf of victims and survivors of sexism, sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse at work".

She continued: "While abuse of power occurs in all industries, in the entertainment industries there is the carrot and stick of success and exclusion that makes the imbalance of power especially stark and open to abuse. While we regularly deal with such cases for MU members, they are individual, isolated from a bigger picture and often subject to confidentiality agreements that end up protecting the victim but also the perpetrator, masking the true scale of the problem".

Discussing the recent meetings the MU ran to discuss this issue with its members, Pohl added: "We heard stories ranging from every day sexism and apathy towards it, to stories of abuse with long lasting consequences".

Those meetings also revealed a continued fear about the career consequences of victims speaking out about harassment and abuse, while others admitted some confusion about what is acceptable and unacceptable in an environment where the unacceptable is too often accepted. Continued Pohl: "One musician told us how she turned to Google to work out if she had been sexually assaulted or not".

Echoing the sentiments of the open letter published in Dagens Nyheter, Pohl concluded: "We need nothing short of wholesale cultural change in our industry, for every musician to understand what is acceptable in a workplace and what is not".

As the campaign rallies to address this issue once and for all, further reports of past misconduct by artists and music industry executives continue to be unearthed.

While Dagens Nyheter was publishing last week's open letter, another Swedish newspaper - AftonBladet - was reporting that a top record industry executive in the country had been suspended following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Although AftonBladet didn't name the exec or his employer, multiple sources say he works at Warner Music Sweden.

The Swedish tabloid report contained allegations that not only had the accused exec made inappropriate sexual advances to young female employees and artists, but he had also promoted an unhealthy work culture at the major.

A spokesperson for the record company in question told AftonBladet last week: "We take these allegations very seriously. We have suspended the person in question while an independent investigation is conducted. We have also held an internal meeting for our local team in Stockholm reiterating the ways concerns and complaints can be made".

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Music publisher Schubert Music expands management wing via Celsius acquisition
Independent music publisher Schubert Music has expanded its non-publishing interests by acquiring German artist management firm Celsius Management.

Schubert Music, a key independent publisher in Central and Eastern Europe, already has some operations outside music publishing, including label services and artist management, under the Schubert Music Agency brand. The Celsius acquisition will see that side of the business expand, bringing a number of new artists into the fold.

Andreas Schubert, the founder of Schubert Music, has bought Celsius Management from its founder, Markus Hartmann. Confirming the deal, Hartmann told reporters: "Andreas Schubert and his worldwide team are the perfect partners to lead the company and the artists into the future and to set new goals".

Adding that "artist management is on many levels one of the most complex challenges in the music business", Hartmann also mused that: "The era in which artist managers can be the game changers is just beginning".

Confirming the deal from his side, Schubert: "Working with artists is always something very personal; in fact, management without emotional attachment is inconceivable. Therefore, it is especially important for us to prove to all of the artists who now come to us with Celsius, that besides the first-class service we provide, we also have the willingness to engage with them and to support them wherever necessary. Our international reach, with offices in thirteen countries and the wide range of creative services we offer, will help that".

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Field Day heading to Brockwell Park
London's Field Day festival is seemingly heading south of the river to Brockwell Park. Although the now Global-owned event is yet to officially announce this, a letter has been sent to residents near the new site inviting them to a meeting to "discuss arrangements for the festival".

As previously reported, it emerged that Field Day would be departing its long-time home of Victoria Park last month when AEG's Goldenvoice division announced that it was launching a new event there called All Points East. That new festival will be staged in the East London park around about the time Field Day traditionally takes place. Field Day organisers then confirmed that they were "upping sticks" on their website.

Brixton Buzz, which first reported on the Field Day letter being sent to local residents, also reckons that Live Nation's Lovebox festival will be moving southwards to Brockwell Park. The park has previously hosted music events like Gala and Sunfall.

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Global Radio further expands its network with two FM buys in the North West
Having presumably woken up and suddenly realised there are still some radio stations in the UK that it doesn't own, Global Radio has acquired two more local FMs in the North West, namely Lancaster-based The Bay and Kendal-based Lakeland Radio.

Global has bought the stations from local media firm CN Group, which used to own a small network of radio stations around the UK in addition to its newspaper business, but which sold off much of that network a few years back.

It's not entirely clear yet what will now happen to The Bay and Lakeland Radio, though Global moved away from having local radio brands some time ago, instead preferring local outposts for its national brands like Capital, Heart and Smooth.

Confirming the deal, Global boss Ashley Tabor said: "I'm pleased to announce our acquisition of The Bay and Lakeland Radio. This deal will give us coverage in new areas of the UK and means we can take our radio brands to more listeners".

Meanwhile CN Group Chair Robin Burgess added: "We believe that both The Bay and Lakeland radio stations' future growth and success is best placed in a focused radio operation. We are delighted Global has seen the success, and future potential, the staff and management team have built thus far. Through Global's scale and expertise, we believe both stations have a bright future and we wish them the very best for the future".

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University Of Westminster launches scholarship in memory of Richard Antwi
The University Of Westminster has announced the launch of a new scholarship in memory of Richard Antwi, the music lawyer and artist manager who died last year aged just 38.

The Richard Antwi Scholarship will seek to support talented future music industry execs by funding a place on the university's MA Music Business Management course. The scholarship will cover both tuition fees and a contribution to living expenses, and will particularly seek to support students from the UK's black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community.

The scholarship is supported by a number of music companies, including all three majors, XL Recordings and law firm Clintons. The university explains: "The opportunity is aimed at talent from the UK BAME community and those in financial need. Applicants don't need to be graduates, but should have a passion for music and entrepreneurial spirit".

Lawyer, manager and music entrepreneur Antwi - who worked with artists like Wretch 32, Daley, Lethal Bizzle and Mr Hudson, among others - regularly mentored young talent in the BAME community during his career in music and was also a guest speaker on Westminster University's music courses.

Applications for the first scholarship will open in the new year. More info here.

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Further details emerge surrounding death of Lil Peep
Further details have emerged about the circumstances surrounding the death of rapper Lil Peep last week.

As previously reported, the rapper, real name Gustav Åhr, was found dead on his tour bus after an apparent drugs overdose. Aged just 21, he had posted several video and images on Instagram shortly before his death appearing to show him taking drugs, including Xanax.

On Friday, Pima County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that that the rapper died of a suspected drugs overdose, but said that it could take up to eight weeks for toxicology results to corroborate this.

Meanwhile, a new article on TMZ, citing the police report about Åhr's death, says that the musician had decided to take a nap before his show in Tuscon, Arizona and never woke up. A member of his team is said to have checked on him after he went to sleep at around 5.45pm. He is said to have been breathing normally at that time. Later he was found to be unresponsive. Next to him were several Xanax pills, marijuana and an unknown powder.

Drug use and depression were frequent topics in Lil Peep's music, which led some to speculate that he had intentionally taken his own life. But in an interview with People last week, the rapper's older brother Karl Åhr refuted this, saying that these claims are based on a character created by his brother, when in reality he was "super happy". He added that his family believes that the pills he was taking were laced with a substance the rapper was not expecting.

"We have heard there was some sort of substance he did not expect to be involved in the substance he was taking", said Karl Åhr. "He thought he could take what he did, but he had been given something and he didn't realise what it was. [He] was not struggling. It was an accident, it really was an accident. He was super happy with where he was in life".

He added that his brother's on-stage persona had been an act, saying: "He gets paid to be sad. It's what he made his name on. It's what his image was in a sense. He was so proud when he heard that there were people in the world who wanted to kill themselves, and then they didn't because they listened to his music. He was helping people, he was not somebody who needed help. He was not as sad as people think he was. It's frustrating as someone who remembers a happy brother".

"My brother didn't take five Xanax pills every day, but he would take them and then post on Instagram about it", he added. "I wish it would have paid for him to be a little safer, but the world needed him to have superlative problems that he dealt with in superlative ways. Gus dealt with these problems much better than Lil Peep did, but people didn't know Gus, and there's a reason Gus doesn't sell".

Karl also added that, while his brother had been a casual cannabis smoker prior to his hip hop career, his drug use had increased as he had become more involved in the music industry.

A 'Rest In Peep' charity pop-up shop is set to open in an undisclosed LA location this Wednesday in memory of the rapper. Money raised from merch sales at the event will be donated to the Åhr's mother and the MusiCares Foundation.

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Artists For Palestine responds to Nick Cave as Bad Seeds go ahead with Tel Aviv shows
A number of musicians involved in the Artists For Palestine campaign, including Roger Waters and Brian Eno, have responded to Nick Cave's recent press conference explaining his reasons for performing in Israel.

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds announced earlier this year that they would include dates in Tel Aviv on their tour schedule. In response, Artists For Palestine published an open latter to Cave in October, signed by artists including Waters, TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Thurston Moore.

Cave in turn held a press conference in Tel Aviv on Sunday, ahead of two shows in the city last night and tonight, accusing AFP of bullying. He said that he had declined to play in Israel throughout his career to avoid "a sort of public humiliation from Roger Waters and co" that he had seen other artists go through.

"After a lot of thought and consideration, I rang up my people and said, 'We're doing a European tour and Israel'", said Cave. "Because it suddenly became very important to make a stand against those people who are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians, and to silence musicians".

In a statement, AFP responded: "Nick Cave pretends that Artists For Palestine UK's insistence on the restoration of Palestinian rights somehow infringes the rights of others. But what are we to make of a privileged artist who somehow contrives to turn the notion of a collective protest against the destruction of an entire people into a complaint that it is he that is being silenced?"

It continued: "What are we to make of the fact that Cave makes such a statement, but does not care to mention the word 'Palestinian'? Artists For Palestine UK believe it is Palestinians who know the meaning of daily humiliation and silencing. We regret that in a land of injustice Nick Cave is giving comfort to the unjust".

Various artists involved in the campaign also issued individual statements.

"This has nothing to do with 'silencing' artists - a charge I find rather grating when used in a context where a few million people are permanently and grotesquely silenced", said Brian Eno. "Israel spends hundreds of millions of dollars on hasbara [propaganda], and its side of the argument gets broadcast loud and clear. Coupled with the scare-tactic of labelling any form of criticism of Israeli policy as 'anti-Semitic', this makes for a very uneven picture of what is going on".

Roger Waters added: "Nick thinks this is about censorship of his music? What? Nick, with all due respect, your music is irrelevant to this issue. So is mine, so is Brian Eno's, so is Beethoven's. This isn't about music, it's about human rights".

Earlier this year, Radiohead were also called upon to cancel a show in Tel Aviv by Artists For Palestine. In response, Thom Yorke said: "Playing in a country isn't the same as endorsing the government. We've played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don't endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America. Music, art and academia is about crossing borders not building them, about open minds not closed ones, about shared humanity, dialogue and freedom of expression".

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Alfie Boe announces 2018 hometown show
Alfie Boe will play a show at his hometown of Fleetwood in Lancashire on 2 Jun next year at Fleetwood Town Football Club's Highbury Stadium.

"Being Fleetwood born and bred and a fully fledged member of the Cod Army it's an honour and a privilege to be performing back in my home town and at my team's home ground".

The Cod Army is Fleetwood Town FC's nickname apparently - he's not about to lead an army of fish to rise up and overpower humanity, starting with the residents of Fleetwood. I don't think so anyway. If he is planning to do that, it would be pretty stupid to announce it in a press release. Could be a double bluff though. Be vigilant.

Two pounds from each ticket sold for the event will be donated to the town's Trinity Hospice, of which Boe is a patron.

"This is quite incredible news for the hospice", says its Head Of Fundraising Linzi Young. "Alfie has been our patron for five years and has helped us launch various fundraising campaigns, has sent videos of support for events such as our annual ball, and has also sent private messages to some of our patients and their families facing very difficult circumstances".

She continues: "He is a man with a big heart, as well as a big voice. His global fanbase is a window on the world for us; fans from across all continents get involved and send donations to Trinity in his name. We feel very privileged indeed to have the support of Alfie and his team".

Tickets for the show go on sale on 24 Nov.

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Matt Clifford, DHP Family, Black Eyed Peas, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Warner/Chappell has signed a new publishing deal with Rolling Stones collaborator Matt Clifford. "It's fantastic to be working with Mike Smith and the team at Warner/Chappell", says Clifford. "I know that they'll be able to support me in all my various projects, from my exciting work the Stones to my composing of film and TV soundtracks".

• Live music firm DHP Family has hired Matthew Cook as its London Venue Programmer. He will work across Oslo, The Garage, Thousand Island and The Borderline. He has previously worked for a number of venues, including The ICA, Brighton Dome, Hackney Empire and Warwick Arts Centre.

• Japanese artist management company Amuse is holding auditions for multi-lingual artists in Tokyo next April. The deadline for applications is 3 Dec. More info here.

• Black Eyed Peas are releasing an augmented reality app to accompany their Marvel-published graphic novel 'Masters Of The Sun: The Zombie Chronicles'. "I've known about the possibilities of AR for the past three years", boasts Will.i.am.

• Fallulah has covered The Doors' 'Light My Fire' as part of the ongoing 'Instant Love' project, which sees female musicians record classic love songs that were originally sung by men about women.

• Metal band Doll$boxx are back with their first new release for five years, 'Shout Down'. The track is taken from new mini-album 'High $pec', out on 19 Jan.

• Gogol Bordello have released a new live version of their song, 'Did It All', ahead of their UK tour next month. The original version of the track appears on the band's latest album, 'Seekers And Finders'.

• Mabel has announced UK and Ireland tour dates for next April, which will finish with a performance at The Forum in London on 25 Apr.

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

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Katy Perry banned from China as house purchase dispute is taken to the Pope
Being Katy Perry is starting to sound pretty tedious. The long-running dispute over whether or not she can live in a house she bought is being taken to the Pope, while she's also been banned from China.

As previously reported, Perry's attempt to buy a former convent in LA led to a long-running legal dispute. The musician agreed a deal with the Archdiocese Of Los Angeles to purchase the property in 2015. However, shortly afterwards, restaurateur Dana Hollister agreed a deal with two of the nuns who previously lived in the property to buy it for a slightly higher amount.

There was then a legal battle over which deal should stand. The case went through various court tussles, before a ruling was made in Perry's favour. Then earlier this month, Perry and the Archdiocese went back to court to attempt to get Hollister to reimburse them the millions of dollars in legal fees they had spent in fighting her.

They argued that Hollister, who already owns a former convent, would have been well aware that she would need approval from the Archdiocese, not the nuns, to buy the building, and had therefore been intentionally trying to derail Perry's deal.

Hollister has now lost that battle too, with a jury siding with Perry and the Archbishop and ordering her to hand over $5 million to them. So that's the end of it, right? Wrong.

Another point brought up in the latest court case was that ultimate approval for the convent sale had to come from the Vatican, which neither party had. However, Hollister has now revealed that while legal proceedings have been going through the motions in the US, she has been attempting to get the nod from the Pope - more than doubling the amount Perry agreed to pay for the property - which she hopes to turn into a hotel - in the process.

"I offered up to $24 million, and I am currently at $30 million for the property", Hollister tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It could be one of the most beautiful properties in Los Angeles - the most beautiful hotel you have ever seen".

The nuns who agreed the deal with Hollister are also appealing the ruling made in March that said that Perry is the rightful owner of the property. So, amazingly, it looks like this is still going to drag on for some time yet. I think if I were Perry I'd take the damages and run, but this now seems like a point of principle for both sides.

Hollister, at least, is busy framing the whole fracas as a powerful Archbishop trying to trample on the wishes of some elderly, defenceless nuns. "This story is about their legacy of standing up against something very powerful", she says. "It's like David and Goliath. It begs the question: Why aren't you taking the highest offer? Is it because the sisters didn't obey authority, is that it?"

It might also be that Hollister doesn't come across as a very nice person, but who knows? I've never met her. Perhaps she's great in real life. But it remains to be seen whether the courts or the Pope are in the mood to overturn past rulings and allow Hollister to buy the religious property.

Either way, Perry has other things to worry about at the moment, as it turns out she's been indefinitely banned from China, and all because she once wore a dress with sunflowers on it.

Perry had been booked to perform at a Victoria's Secret fashion show in Shanghai, which took place yesterday. But at the last minute, both she and a number of models involved in the event, including Gigi Hadid, had their visas denied.

According to The New York Post, Perry was banned after it was discovered that she had performed in Taiwan wearing a dress covered in sunflowers - a symbol that has been adopted by anti-China protesters in the country. She also waved the Taiwanese flag in apparent support for the island's long-running dispute with China.

Hadid, meanwhile, seems to have been banned due to an Instagram video posted earlier this year in which she held up a Buddha-shaped biscuit and squinted her eyes to mimic it. That one seems more clear cut.

The two women are not the first entertainers to be banned from the country, of course. As with Perry, the issue is often showing apparent support for the independence from China of either Taiwan or Tibet, or some sort of approval of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

Lady Gaga is reportedly banned for meeting with the Dalai Lama, while Maroon 5 were barred simply because Adam Levine wished him a happy birthday on Twitter.

Bon Jovi scored a double whammy when they performed in front of a picture of the Dalai Lama at a show in Taiwan, resulting in two shows in China being cancelled in 2015. And Björk got herself a lifetime ban by shouting "Tibet! Tibet!" at the end of a show in Beijing in 2008.

Harry Styles, who has never done anything to offend anyone, replaced Perry at yesterday's Victoria's Secret show.

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