Calls for shift in UK drugs policy to halt increase in club deaths
Drug safety charity The Loop is calling for major reforms to UK drug policy. Its #TimeToTest campaign launches today with a new report, 'Night Lives', showing that a shift away from harm prevention has led to an increase in drug-related deaths in night clubs.

The report has been jointly published by The Loop, drug policy think tank Volteface, Durham University and The All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform. It states that drug-related deaths and hospital admissions have risen sharply in recent years, despite drug usage rates remaining fairly static.

This is due, the report says, to the government shifting its drug policy and resources away from harm prevention. With less tolerant rules, venues have become scared of losing their licences, adopting 'zero tolerance' policies that leave them ill-equipped to act effectively when something does go wrong. At the same time the strength of certain illegal drugs on the market has increased. All of which has made taking drugs in clubs and bars more dangerous.

There were 63 ecstasy-related deaths in England and Wales in 2016, according to the report, up from ten in 2010. Meanwhile, cocaine-related deaths were up to 371 in 2016, from 112 in 2011. In Scotland during the same period, they were up from 36 to 123.

During the same period, the amount of MDMA in the average ecstasy pill has increased by about five times. Meanwhile, the purity of cocaine has drastically increased, up to an average of 80%, and often as much as 90%.

Without proper drug safety provisions at UK clubs and bars, these changes in the UK illegal drugs market have not been tracked. Equally, people don't know when they have purchased drugs that aren't what they were expecting. As a result, people are not receiving the correct early treatment when they fall ill and signs that they might be in trouble are often missed.

The report sets out a number of recommendations, including providing drug testing services in districts with a strong night time industry, as well as drug awareness training for venue and bar staff. It also recommends the launch of an independent information service to reduce drug-related harm, and the wider adoption of drug safety policies already introduced at several UK festivals.

Director of The Loop, and co-author of the report, Fiona Measham says: "UK night life makes a vital contribution to our economic and cultural life yet we have reached an impasse. Clubs risk closure if there is a drug-related death but they also risk closure if they attempt to introduce harm reduction measures".

"By contrast, UK festivals have been introducing evidence-based and effective measures to address the growing drug-related problems faced in the UK", she goes on. "Drawing on festival drug policy and practice, this report makes key recommendations to bolster our night time economy and to protect the customers and venues within them".

Jeff Smith MP, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform adds: "Night-time venues are at the centre of British music culture - making our cities exciting and vibrant places to live while contributing over £66 billion to the UK economy. Keeping people safe requires more than zero-tolerance rhetoric around drugs and out-dated licensing laws. This report offers credible and tested solutions to help protect people attending events. I hope that venues, local authorities, and the government will work together to make these recommendations a reality".

As well as the public safety aspect, the report does also highlight some financial considerations, as referenced by Smith. The night time industry in the UK is estimated to contribute £66 billion per year to the economy, but some flagship venues have faced temporary or permanent closure because of drug-relating licensing rules. Meanwhile, the police resources required to investigate each drug-related death costs the tax payer more than £10,000.

In recent years, clubs such as Fabric in London and Rainbow Venues in Birmingham have had their licences revoked following drug-related deaths on the premises. Both of these venues operated best practice drug policies, and their acceptance that drug use would take place despite efforts to prevent it were used against them. This highlights why other venues might not be so keen to be seen doing anything other than saying they have a zero tolerance policy, under current circumstances.

You can read the full 'Night Lives' report here.

The Loop says that it is already in talks with local authorities to provide drug testing in some town and city centres - so people know what kinds of drugs they have actually bought - in addition to increasing its presence at UK festivals this summer. In order to keep services free at the point of use, the charity has also launched a fundraising campaign, asking for contributions towards the organisation's work as it becomes more in demand. You can donate here.

Watch this short film on drug safety work at last year's Boomtown festival to find out more about The Loop and other initiatives.

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Long-running Dutch web-block dispute may be considered in court anew
Robert van Peursem, Advocate General in the Dutch Supreme Court, has recommended that a long-running dispute over web-blocks in the country be considered by the country's courts anew. Although he suggests that arguments previously presented by Dutch internet service providers against web-blocking probably won't work this time.

Web-blocks are a popular anti-piracy tactic within the entertainment industry, of course. Copyright owners get court injunctions forcing ISPs to block their users from accessing specific piracy sites. Whenever web-blocking has been introduced for the first time in any one country, the net firms there usually kick up a fuss but then quickly fall in line and get busy blocking targeted sites once the injunctions roll in.

But in the Netherlands, net firms Ziggo and XS4ALL decided to go legal in a bid to fight off a Pirate Bay blocking injunction secured by the country's anti-piracy agency BREIN back in 2012. And in 2014, an appeals court sided with the internet firms, ruling that the Pirate Bay web-block that had been put in place by a lower court was "ineffectual" and might "constitute an infringement of [people's] freedom to act at their discretion".

BREIN then took the matter to the Dutch Supreme Court, which in turn asked the European Courts Of Justice whether European law had any issues with web-blocking, and the possible "infringement of people's freedom to act at their discretion" it might cause. Last year European judges basically gave the all-clear for national courts in the European Union to instigate web-blocks on copyright grounds if they so wished.

This meant the Dutch case went back to the Supreme Court, where van Peursem has been considering the European judgement, the specifics of this case, and what the country's top court might want to do next. And, according to Torrentfreak, he reckons judges should throw out the past order and consider the case all over again.

Bearing in mind the EU judgement, and the web-blocks that have been instigated by courts in other European countries, not least the UK, it seems likely that - in any fresh court hearing considering this case - the arguments previously put forward by Ziggo and XS4ALL wouldn't be strong enough to stop a blockade being enforced.

In his lengthy opinion on the matter, Van Peursem reiterated that - with the European judgement having ruled on the copyright liabilities of websites like The Pirate Bay - whether or not to block such sites was now about balancing the rights of the copyright owner with the freedom to conduct business and freedom of information rights of the net firms and their customers.

According to Torrentfreak he writes: "At most, one can say that if a copyright is infringed, it normally won't be possible to justify the infringement by invoking the freedom to conduct business or the freedom of information. After all, these freedoms find their limit in what is legally permissible. [However] this does not mean that a blockade aimed at protecting the right to property always 'wins' over the freedoms of entrepreneurship and information".

It's now for the Supreme Court to decide whether to follow Van Peursem's recommendation and call for a new hearing on this matter. Though it probably will. It then remains to be seen whether web-blocking does indeed get the all clear from the Dutch courts second time round. Meanwhile, The Pirate Bay is currently blocked in the country as a result of an interim injunction obtained by BREIN last year.

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SACEM announces Facebook deal
French collecting society SACEM is the latest to join the big fat Facebook licensing party with a deal that will, and I quote, "ensure that SACEM's members and the other rights holders it represents are recognised and remunerated for their works". Isn't that lovely?

An assortment of labels, publishers and collecting societies have now signed on the dotted line with Facebook, which is seeking to legitimise all the music that is already streaming within posts on its Facebook, Messenger and Instagram platforms. As with the other deals, the SACEM arrangement also covers the social media giant's new fangled VR set-up Oculus.

SACEM's announcement actually includes three deals, one covering the society's own repertoire, and concurrent agreements covering works it represents for digital services in Europe for independent publisher Wixen and Canadian collecting society SOCAN. And in case you were wondering, this particular Facebook deal "marks a new milestone".

Boss of SACEM Jean-Noël Tronc says: "We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Facebook. This deal marks a new milestone in our efforts to ensure that musicians and creators are fairly remunerated for the use of their works on any digital platform".

He goes on: "In an increasingly digital age, platforms and user-generated-content are set to play a prominent role in our cultural eco-system. We will continue to work to safeguard the long-term existence of a thriving musical culture by concluding fair licensing agreements and our deal with Facebook is consistent with this goal".

On Facebook's side, Anjali Southward said: "We are excited to expand our relationship with SACEM and the music rights holders they represent. Facebook is committed to partnering with industry leaders like SACEM and we look forward to working with them to discover innovative ways to use the power of songs to connect people".

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The Roots' SXSW show cancelled due to bomb threat
A performance by The Roots at SXSW was cancelled on Saturday, following a bomb threat. Police found no evidence of a real danger, but the decision was made to pull the Bud Light branded show. A 26 year old man was later arrested and charged under anti-terrorism laws.

According to a police statement, a Live Nation rep contacted authorities on Saturday afternoon, informing them that a threat had been made in relation to the show via email. A check of the venue found no device. Initially the show, which had been open to people without festival passes, changed its door policy to only allow in those with said passes. However, shortly before doors were due to open the decision was made to cancel the gig.

Bud Light said via Twitter that "due to a security concern we have made the hard decision to cancel tonight's event". It added that "the safety of all fans at SXSW is our most important priority".

In its own statement, SXSW said: "Due to a security concern, we have made the difficult decision to cancel tonight's Bud Light x The Roots SXSW Jam. After working proactively with SXSW, the Austin Police Department, and other authorities, Bud Light believes this is the best course of action to ensure the safety of our guests, staff, and artists, and appreciate your understanding. We are truly sorry to have to cancel the event, but we felt it was necessary to take all safety precautions".

Security concerns were raised at SXSW three years ago, when a car fleeing police crashed into a queue of people outside a gig venue, resulting in several deaths. A report subsequently commissioned by the festival highlighted various security improvements - while suggesting that the event might need to move to a bigger city.

Concerns over attacks on music events have been further heightened by a number of incidents in recent years - most recently in the US, the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.

Despite this, many responded to this weekend's cancellation on Twitter by complaining. Some suggesting that the show had actually been pulled due to lack of interest. Responding to one fan who complained that their night had been ruined by the show's organisers, The Roots' Questlove replied: "Uh come on now. If you gonna point fingers, start with the individual who caused it to be cancelled".

Guvera bosses ignored expert advice against a 2016 IPO
Management at failed streaming service Guvera ignored advice from financial advisors at JP Morgan when they ploughed ahead with an Initial Public Offering on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2016. This was one of the revelations that came up last week during a public examination of the collapse of the Guvera company, which included testimony from the firm's co-founder and former CEO Darren Herft.

The Australian Securities Exchange ultimately blocked Guvera's IPO, which began a sequence of events that led to the collapse of the digital music company. Accountancy giant Deloitte, as liquidator of the business, instigated the court-based public examination as it tries to work out what events and decisions led to the company's demise, which in turn left shareholders $180m out of pocket.

The court heard that bankers at JP Morgan advised against rushing to IPO in 2016, citing Deezer's abandoned flotation in France the previous year, and the fact that Sydney-based bank JBWere had failed to raise new finance from investors in Australia in 2015. JP Morgan's San Francisco-based Global Head Of Internet Digital Investment Banking was among those urging a delay on the Guvera IPO.

According to Mumbrella, Deloitte's legal man Ben Katekar said to Herft last week: "You went to the top of the top and he told you not to go ahead with the IPO and you did not take his advice. By seeking to go ahead with the IPO in early 2016 you were acting contrary to what JP Morgan had told you. Why did you go ahead with the IPO?"

Herft said that the company simply couldn't wait any longer to IPO having failed to bring in significant extra finance the previous year. JP Morgan had been among those seeking to help find that finance, and the US bank had opened talks about a possible $100 million investment from Snapchat. However, that deal fell through and, as a result, Herft said, his board "were treading carefully with listening to JP Morgan's advice at that time".

Despite having the big banks seeking mega-bucks funding on its behalf by 2015, much of the finance that paid for Guvera came from smaller investors via the Australian investment vehicle Herft himself headed up, Amma.

Herft was also asked questions about a fundraising event staged in Hawaii back in February 2015, and statements he made there about the state of the business to potential investors. There was a particular focus on what he said about his company's plan to enter the UK market via its then very new acquisition of Tesco's Blinkbox Music. That's an acquisition that it's now known Herft himself had internally opposed at the time.

Katekar asked whether Herft had positioned the Blinkbox deal as an "attractive proposition" to potential investors at the Hawaii event, despite his opposition to it. He responded: "I don't think I commented on the attractiveness. I advised them that we had acquired Blinkbox and I advised them that as a director I did not vote in favour of the acquisition".

Although - Mumbrella reports - when Katekar countered: "You told investors you had just acquired Blinkbox UK and that was a positive matter they should take into account when considering whether or not to invest?", Herft answered in the affirmative.

Deloitte's public examination of the Guvera collapse is not yet over, and Herft is due back in court on 23 Mar for more questioning.

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Labour Party to host music, art and politics festival
Capitalising on its growing support among young people - which either does or does not exist, depending on who you ask - The Labour Party has announced plans to hold its own festival this summer, Labour Live.

The event promises "loads of great bands, speakers from across literature and politics, campaign training, food and drink, kids' entertainment". Already confirmed to perform are Rae Morris, The Magic Numbers and Jermain Jackman.

The big draw of last year's Glastonbury festival will also be on hand, of course. That being Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. So will his best bud, shadow chancellor John McDonnell. They'll be there to explain why Brexit's actually great because it'll make the trains run on time, or something.

Following Corbyn's success at Glastonbury last year, Conservative MP George Freeman launched the Big Tent Ideas Festival for supporters of his party, which aimed to be a "cross between Hay-on-Wye and the Latitude festival". The result was some Tories talking in a field, which doesn't sound like a huge amount of fun. A promised second edition of the event this year is yet to be announced.

Labour Live is set to go ahead at the White Heart Lane Recreational Ground in North London on 16 Jun. Tickets are not yet on sale, but you can sign up for more info here. If that doesn't take your fancy, I hear Vince Cable's planning a Lib Dems drum circle and tombola.

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Pussy Riot, Thom Yorke, Bloc Party, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Pussy Riot marked Russia's election yesterday by releasing new track 'Elections'. Celebratory it ain't.

• Run The Jewels have released the video for 'Oh Mama', featuring cartoon characters Rick & Morty.

• Yungen has released new track 'Mind On It', featuring Jess Glynne.

• Twin Shadow has released new track 'Brace', featuring Rainsford.

• Lower Than Atlantis have released a video for their song, 'I Would'.

• Girli's released a new single, 'Play It Cool'.

• Thom Yorke has announced three solo shows in the UK in June, at Edinburgh's Usher Hall, London' Roundhouse and Manchester's Palace Theatre. He'll be supported by the very excellent Oliver Coates.

• Bloc Party will mark the eighteenth birthday of their debut album 'Silent Alarm' this autumn, by playing it in various EU cities. The tour will finish in London at Alexandra Palace on 24 Oct.

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

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Petition calls for Aylesbury to be renamed, ahead of David Bowie statue unveiling
Already pushing its vague David Bowie links somewhat with the installation of a statue of the late musician, a petition has now been launched calling for Aylesbury to change its name to Aylesbowie.

The possibly not entirely serious petition has been set up by promoter and artist manager David Stopps, who also ran the successful crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build a Bowie statue in Aylesbury's Market Square. That statue is due to finally be unveiled at an event later this week.

That square is immortalised in the first line of Bowie's song 'Five Years'. The musician also debuted songs from his 'Hunky Dory' and 'Ziggy Stardust' albums in the town.

"We live in an era of constant change", says the petition. "Throughout history towns and cities have had their names change ... The Bowie statue will give an enormous boost to tourism in the area so please join us in calling for the town to be renamed Aylesbowie".

Even though it would make everyone who talks about Aylesbury sound like they have a speech impediment, it doesn't seem likely that the campaign will end in success.

Although a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire County Council did tell the BBC that it's "an interesting idea". Not interesting enough for a permanent change, though. The local authority instead suggested that, on the day the statue is revealed, "we could all think 'Aylesbowie' - just for one day".

Ha ha, yes, well done. If you like that idea, then head down to AylesBURY this Sunday at 2pm to see the statue revealed and think about the name of the town differently. Or you can sign the petition calling for a more permanent change here.

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