Spotify launches crowdsourced metadata website
Spotify has launched a new crowd-sourcing website asking users to input certain metadata for the music that can be found streaming on its platform. The aim is to build up a database of information about artists, songs and albums, as well as to understand better how listeners interpret music.

The company's new Line In website asks users to input information on things such as genres, moods, the offensiveness of lyrics, and aliases used by artists. More pertinently, it allows users to suggest updates to any information Spotify has on artists, songwriters and other personnel involved in individual tracks. There are parallels with other crowd-sourced music data projects like MusicBrainz, Discogs and Last.fm, all of which the Spotify site seems to tap.

When Spotify recently added songwriter credits to songs and albums on its desktop software, using data inputted by the record companies when they pump tracks into the streaming service's servers, it highlighted numerous errors and omissions in the labels' data.

Problems over identifying who wrote or published any one song have caused all sorts of legal problems in the US, of course, where there is no collecting society that can provide a blanket licence covering all works. As part of the dispute over unpaid song royalties, Spotify has previously committed to build its own database linking recordings to songs, and the writers and publishers of those songs.

That's not quite what this project is, but it could help placate songwriters and record producers in the US and elsewhere who, in addition to gripes about royalty payments, have often complained that they don't get credited in the digital world in the way they did on physical music releases. Though, as with any crowdsourced data, there'll need to be some system for verifying the accuracy of information provided.

Line In has been tested with a small number of subscribers since last autumn, and is now being rolled out to all users.

Speaking to Variety, a Spotify spokesperson said: "Listeners describe music in different ways, and understanding that information will help improve, extend, and confirm the information that describes music on Spotify. We hope to better understand how Spotify listeners interpret music, so that we can improve experiences for both listeners and artists. We've also seen that listeners are eager to describe the music they're passionate about in ways beyond traditional concepts like genre and mood".

Allaying any fears that this could just create a bigger data mess, they added: "Spotify considers the source, and thoroughly reviews and checks the accuracy of this information, before the suggestions are folded into the data that powers our services".

In part, the veracity of the source will be based on a number of surveys users are asked to complete when they sign up to take part in Line In. These assess the individual's level of musical knowledge across various genres.

This is one of a number of new features being developed by Spotify as it nears its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Music Ally has spotted that the streaming service is also experimenting with auto-mixing on some dance music playlists - similar to the service offered by the Pacemaker app.

The company also announced this morning that it is launching in four new territories - Israel, Romania, South Africa and Vietnam. This brings the total number of markets where the streaming service is available to 65.

There may well be further announcements as Spotify draws further towards that listing and its big investor pitch on 15 Mar. Bloomberg now reckons that the company is planning to begin selling shares publicly during the week commencing 2 Apr.

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Suspended sentences for operators of French piracy site Liberty Land
The operators of a French piracy website Liberty Land have received suspended sentences of up to six months. Somewhat less severe than the two year prison sentence recently handed to the former operator of one-time French piracy set-up Streamiz.

Like the Streamiz case, the criminal action against four operators of Liberty Land began with arrests all the way back in 2011, which in turn followed an investigation led by French song rights collecting society SACEM. The case against the four men dragged on for years before finally reaching court in January.

Liberty Land provided links to unlicensed music, movie and TV content stored elsewhere on the internet, rather than actually hosting the copyright infringing files. This predictably led to the argument on the Liberty Land side that it wasn't actually involved in any copyright infringement itself. The infringing, they said, was being done by the people who uploaded content to the digital lockers and user-upload sites they linked to, and/or the people who streamed or downloaded that content.

According to Torrentfreak, at least one of the four defendants made that very plea during the recent trial, arguing that the site he helped run was no different to the Google search engine. In most jurisdictions that defence doesn't hold up where a site exists primarily to facilitate piracy, with principles like contributory or secondary infringement usually applying.

However, while being found guilty of copyright crimes, the four men got off relatively lightly with suspended sentences and fines no higher than 3000 euros. Potential fines could have been much higher, and prosecutors were pushing for jail terms of between six and twelve months for each defendant.

That said, more than 176,000 euros generated by ad sales on the piracy site was confiscated by the court. The four men also still face a civil lawsuit by various copyright owners, including the aforementioned SACEM. Together those rights owners are seeking 60 million euros in damages in a case that should come to court in September.

So, despite the more lenient sentences than the prosecution had hoped for, in the main this case is a victory for the copyright owners. Except that it took - like the Streamiz case - seven years to reach court, demonstrating one of the key issues with pursing either criminal or civil action against online copyright infringers in many jurisdictions.

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Suge Knight lawyer removed from murder case after witness-tampering charges
A lawyer charged last week with witness-tampering has been removed from Suge Knight's long-running murder case.

Two attorneys linked to the one-time hip hop mogul have been charged in relation to allegations of misconduct. Matthew Fletcher is accused of paying off witnesses who could provide favourable testimony for his client, while Thaddeus Culpepper is accused of agreeing with one confidential informant that he would provide false testimony.

Fletcher is no longer working for Knight, but Culpepper was until this week. When the latter was first arrested over the claims of witness-tampering in January - but not charged - Knight dubbed the allegations against his lawyer as "fake news" and confirmed he wished to continue to be represented by him.

Now that the lawyer has actually been indicted, LA County Judge Ronald S Coen has overruled Knight's own decision and removed Culpepper from the case. This could result in yet another delay in the proceedings.

Knight is facing murder charges in relation to the death in 2015 of a man called Terry Carter, following an incident that occurred near the set of the NWA biopic 'Straight Outta Compton', which was then in production.

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Warner-owned live music outfit in Italy becomes independent business
A live music business owned by Warner Music in Italy is being spun-off into an independent company as a result of a management buyout. Vivo Concerti will continue to work closely with the mini-major in Italy following the MBO led by Clemente Zard, who has run the live music unit since 2016.

Confirming this development, the boss of Warner Music Italy, Marco Alboni, said: "It's been a great pleasure to work with everyone at Vivo over the last six years. The company is well placed to be a key player in the live market and I want to wish everyone there all the best going forward. This move will enable us to focus on our core business of A&R, content creation and providing tailored services to existing and new artists".

Meanwhile Zard himself said: "I would like to thank Marco and the whole team at Warner Music Italy for their support as we've gone through this process. I look forward to working with them in the future as Vivo pursues its own destiny in the touring business. I think we have a great future as a player in Italy's exciting live sector".

It's not the first time Warner has stepped back from its dabblings in live music in Europe, it having likewise offloaded German promoter Neuland Concerts via a management buyout just under a year ago.

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Apple buys "Netflix of magazines"
Apple has bought US-based Texture, what is sometimes dubbed as the "Netflix of magazines". The company provides digital access to articles from over 200 magazines for a flat monthly fee.

Originally called Next Issue, the magazine subscriptions app was backed by a bunch of media companies. It launched in 2010 in an era when magazine owners hoped that the then new iPad - and the digital editions publishers were creating for it - might result in consumers being persuaded to pay to access online content in a way they never had with websites.

In the main that grand plan didn't work out, although in 2016 the boss of Texture, John Loughlin, said his service had "hundreds of thousands" of subscribers. It's not clear exactly what Apple - which has dabbled itself in apps that re-present newspaper and magazine content with Newstand and now the News app - plans to do with its new acquisition. However, it has committed to continue supporting the Android version of it.

The services side of the tech giant's business, originally something of a loss-leader to make its devices more attractive, has become a more central part of the company's operations in recent years, with Apple Music leading the way in that domain.

If Apple could increase the profile, and boost the subscriber numbers, of a service like Texture that could be helpful to magazine owners, many of which are still desperately trying to find ways to make money out of digital content as print circulations continue to slide.

Rolling Stone and entertainment industry trade mags Billboard, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are already available via Texture. Other music titles would likely be interested if Apple's ownership saw the magazine app's userbase start to significantly increase. Although, it has to be said, that's by no means assured.

Confirming the deal, Apple SVP Eddy Cue said: "We're excited Texture will join Apple, along with an impressive catalogue of magazines from many of the world's leading publishers. We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users".

Meanwhile the aforementioned Loughlin added: "I'm THRILLED that Next Issue Media and its award-winning Texture app are being acquired by Apple. The Texture team and its current owners, Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Rogers Media and KKR, could not be more pleased or excited with this development. We could not imagine a better home or future for the service".

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Arcade Fire announce double music video
Arcade Fire have announced a new 'double music video', featuring their songs 'Put Your Money On Me' and 'We Don't Deserve Love'. Why have one song in a video when you can have two? Titled 'Money + Love', the short film is directed by David Wilson and stars Toni Collette.

"The concept of a double video really appealed to us", says frontman Win Butler. "We'd always loved songs being put together as A and B sides... and these songs seemed perfect together. David has been a great collaborator for us since 'Reflektor' and we were finally able to work with Toni whom we'd been wanting to work with for some time".

Wilson adds: "The ambition and scale of the piece was huge from the outset. I adore working with Arcade Fire - reacting to their vision and scale is a beautiful thing to creatively respond to. The belief and trust in me from the band made this one of the best experiences of my career. It's an as-close-to-perfect collaboration that I can think of with me and Win hitting emails backwards and forwards continually over the formation of the script. The connection, communication and enthusiasm from the band on the multiple shoot days led to an extremely tight bond. I'm super excited for this to be out in the world".

Meanwhile, Collette says of her role: "Arcade Fire is one of my all time favourite bands. I was blown away when they asked me to be part of their video. It was a total pleasure acting with them and an even greater pleasure getting to know them. They continue to inspire and I continue to admire. I mean, who gets to do that? I am so lucky!"

The video will be unveiled on Thursday, but you can watch a trailer for it now, if that's the sort of thing you like to waste your time doing. If not, you can fill your time by buying tickets for the band's upcoming UK and Ireland shows, including a three night run at the Wembley Arena.

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Tyler, The Creator cancels South America shows due to ducks
Tyler, The Creator has cancelled all of his upcoming dates in South America, which were due to begin later this week. He's blamed, er, ducks. Or something. The rapper was set to play three dates at editions of the Lollapalooza festival in Chile, Argentina and Brazil, as well as the Festival Estereo Picnic in Colombia.

Announcing the cancellations, he said via Twitter: "Hello, I'm not coming to South America as planned anymore. Sucks. I will be there at some point though, sorry. I know y'all was really really looking forward to it, but, uhhh... yeah, sometimes a duck isn't a jean jacket. I'll be out there one day, holla".

So I'm glad that's all clear now.

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Beyonce and Jay-Z announce second co-headline tour
Beyonce and Jay-Z have announced that they will embark on their second joint tour, 'On The Run II', starting in Wales this summer.

A show on the tour was seemingly accidentally listed on Ticketmaster's website earlier this month, before being promptly deleted. Official word came yesterday, with a full schedule of European and US shows.

Tickets go on general sale on 23 Mar. Here are the UK dates that will kick off the tour:

6 Jun: Cardiff, Principality Stadium
9 Jun: Glasgow, Hampden Park
13 Jun: Manchester, Etihad Stadium
15 Jun: London, London Stadium

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BMG, FUGA, Apple Music, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• BMG has appointed Albert Slendebroek to run its Benelux repertoire operation, aka BMG Talpa Music. Slendebroek used to work at the majors before stints at FUGA and Amsterdam-based dance independent Armada Music.

• Digital distribution and content delivery firm FUGA has announced new deals with ReverbNation and indie label Mom + Pop Music. The new deals come as the company opens new offices in London and Milan.

• Current number of Apple Music subscribers? 38 million thank you very much for asking. Or so says your main man Eddy Cue speaking at SXSW. And he should know. That's up from the last subscriber boast of 36 million just a month ago. Good times!

• Johnny Marr will release a new solo album, titled 'Call The Comet', "soon".

• Lady Leshurr has released her own version of Kendrick Lamar's 'New Freezer'.

• Art School Girlfriend has released new single, 'Moon'. She also plays the Sebright Arms in Hackney tonight.

• Rudimental have announced that they will headline Alexandra Palace in London on 27 Oct. Their third album should be out by then.

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

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Michael Jackson and Prince call for release of collaborations from beyond the grave
Michael Jackson and Prince are both keen for music they recorded together while still alive to be released. How do we know? Because self-described medium Tyler Henry claims to have spoken to Jackson from beyond the grave. The singer apparently said that releasing the music would "honour his legacy". The revelation also handily promotes an upcoming episode of Henry's TV show.

Just in case you're thinking that this is all nonsense, and that Prince wouldn't agree to such a thing, Henry says that Jackson dragged his fellow musician into the conversation to confirm it, during a séance held with the late star's sister LaToya Jackson. It's not clear if Prince said anything, or just floated around looking like he agreed.

"The key thing Jackson spoke about was how he wanted to be honoured with his music", says Henry, according to the Daily Star. "He wants his new music released. There is a specific artist he brought through with him. He was interested in releasing something they did together".

"It made sense to LaToya", he adds. Which is lucky.

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