One week to go until CMU Insights at The Great Escape: Three conferences and some extras too
This time next week the Great Escape Convention will be up and running with the first of the CMU Insights conferences. Full schedules for each of the three conferences are now online, plus today we reveal information about three other CMU sessions also taking place as part of the wider TGE Convention programme.

The convention side of TGE kicks off a day earlier this year - on Wednesday 16 May - with The Education Conference. Presented by Urban Development and BIMM, as well CMU Insights, this full-day conference will explore and debate the crisis in music education, with the aim of bringing educators and employers together to discuss practical solutions. The day will also inform 'Redefining Music Education', the major new research project being undertaken by CMU Insights, Urban Development and BIMM in the next year.

The other two CMU Insights conferences are The AI Conference on Thursday 17 May and The China Conference, presented in association with BPI, on Friday 18 May. We've just confirmed details of the artist element of the latter, which will see British-based musician Mira Calix talk about her recent experiences making music in China, and Chinese artist Leah Doh and her manager Caralinda Booth discussing touring and performing in the UK and Europe. They will join numerous other experts to provide a multi-layered guide to the rapidly expanding Chinese music market.

In addition to the conferences, CMU is also presenting three other sessions at The Great Escape this year. On the Thursday at 4.15pm in Dukes at Komedia, CMU MD and Business Editor will be in conversation with Kobalt founder and CEO Willard Ahdritz. He will discuss how Kobalt has sought to revolutionise the management and monetisation of music rights, the impact that has had on the wider music publishing sector, and how he sees the company's AWAL venture changing the business of recorded music.

On Friday at 4.30pm, CMU Insights will pop up in AIM House, which opens its doors at TGE for the first time this year. CMU's Chris Cooke and Association Of Independent Music CEO Paul Pacifico will unveil a major new research project that CMU Insights and AIM are undertaking which will map the digital music supply chain for the first time. They present a new guide to music distribution that explains the different kinds of delivery partners labels can now work with, as well as outlining the wider research programme.

And finally on Saturday at 4.30pm in The Old Courtroom, CMU will once again close the convention for another year with Heroes & Villains, where four industry veterans discuss the highs and lows of their careers to date, and the heroes and villains they met along the way. This year is a special edition of Heroes & Villains that will celebrate the fact that CMU will be 20 years old in the middle of this year's TGE. All the panellists will be people who supported CMU in its earliest days: Pat Carr from Remote Control, Sumit Bothra from ATC Management and broadcaster Edward Adoo. CMU co-founder and MD Chris Cooke will also take part and, as always, journalist and talent scout Stephen Jones will host.

As if that wasn't enough to be getting on with, Setlist - the music business podcast from CMU - will also be in attendance, recording interviews with key panellists in Dukes at Komedia screen two on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. CMU Editor Andy Malt will lead the proceedings. The interviews will be podcast later in the year, but you can watch them live and ask your own questions on the day.

For more information on all this activity, check the CMU Insights website here. To access all of this, you need a TGE delegate or convention pass, which are available here. Standalone tickets are also available for The Education Conference on Wednesday 16 May, and those are available here.

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Law firm files class action over allegations Live Nation breached its Ticketmaster consent decree
A New York-based law firm has confirmed it has filed a class action lawsuit against Live Nation on behalf of shareholders in the live music giant.

The Klein Law Firm litigation relates to allegations that Live Nation has breached the terms of the 'consent decree' agreement it entered into with the US Department Of Justice back in 2010, when the tour promoter and venue operator merged with Ticketmaster.

How the different divisions of Live Nation interact in the US has come under new scrutiny of late, especially since a New York Times report which reckoned that DoJ officials are investigating whether the live music firm is complying with its 2010 commitments.

That report also contained allegations from Live Nation's rivals that Ticketmaster exploits its parent company's dominance in touring to secure extra business. Those are allegations strongly denied by Live Nation, with Ticketmaster President Jared Smith penning a lengthy response to the Times article.

The new class action seeks to represent investors who bought shares in Live Nation between February 2017 and March 2018, ie just before the publication of the Times report.

The law firm said in a statement that its legal action "alleges that throughout the class period, defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that (1) the company failed to abide by the terms of the consent decree; (2) the company lacked adequate internal controls to prevent a violation of the consent decree; (3) as a result of the foregoing, the company's financial statements and statements about Live Nation's business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading at all relevant times".

The lawyers go on: "On April 1, 2018, the New York Times reported that the US Department Of Justice is investigating whether certain of Live Nation's business practices are in violation of a consent decree negotiated in connection with the approval of Live Nation's 2010 merger with Ticketmaster. The article reported that officials at the Department Of Justice 'have been reviewing complaints that Live Nation...has used its control over concert tours to pressure venues into contracting with its subsidiary, Ticketmaster'".

It's not clear how many investors The Klein Law Firm is representing or seeks to represent in this case. It is definitely encouraging additional class members to come forward. It's statement added: "Shareholders have until June 18, 2018 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery does not require that you serve as lead plaintiff".

Klein isn't the first US law firm to say it is investigating the consent decree allegations made against Live Nation with a view to pursuing legal action on behalf of investors. It remains to be seen if this litigation gains any momentum.

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Jay-Z and Eminem among creditors of bankrupt Weinstein Company
Jay-Z and Eminem are among the high profile people making claims against the collapsed Weinstein Company, it has emerged. Both rappers have made financial claims against the movie firm, which fell into bankruptcy in the wake of the numerous allegations of sexual assault made against its founder Harvey Weinstein.

In legal papers submitted as part of the bankruptcy process, Jay-Z says he is owed $480,000 in relation to two projects on which he was named as executive producer. Those are 2017 TV mini-series 'Time: The Kalief Browder Story' and the yet-to-air documentary series 'Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story'. According to reports, the Weinstein Company disputes that money is still owing on the former project.

According to Deadline, Eminem claims he is owed $352,000 in a separate legal filing. That figure relates to three songs he wrote for 2015 boxing film 'Southpaw'. The rapper also states that he owns the copyright in those works, so they cannot be included in any asset sale as part of the Weinstein Company bankruptcy.

Other celebrities who have made claims against the Weinstein Company as it goes through the bankruptcy process reportedly include Jake Gyllenhaal, Quentin Tarantino, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro.

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Court says Jay-Z must testify in SEC investigation
More Jay-Z now. A US court has ordered the rapper to testify as part of a Securities & Exchange Commission investigation into the Iconix Brand Group, which is a partner in Jay-Z's Rocawear fashion brand.

The SEC is investigating allegations that Iconix may have broken financial reporting rules. It has been trying to subpoena the rapper - aka Shawn Carter, for subpoena purposes - since last November, so to question him about his business partner.

For his part, Carter has been trying to avoid testifying about Iconix, insisting he has no knowledge of the company's finances or reporting practices, and therefore nothing of value to contribute to the SEC's investigation. To that end, the SEC urged the court to force the rapper to answer its questions.

Though in court papers filed earlier this week, a legal rep for Carter said his client was actually happy to speak with the SEC. However, he was concerned that the regulator seemed to want open-ended access to Carter, who is very busy indeed, not least with a world tour to prepare for.

With that in mind, said lawyer said he was happy with yesterday's court ruling which orders Carter to testify before the SEC on 15 May. Presumably it's thought the court ordered commitment on Carter's part is more realistic. The lawyer told reporters: "We are pleased with the decision".

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Bestival to ban single-use plastic water bottles from its bars
Bestival has expanded its war on single-use plastic, announcing that water will be sold in its own bars in aluminium cans this year, rather than plastic bottles. The event will work with a company called CanO Water in order to deliver on this commitment.

Last year, plastic straws were banned from Bestival and its associated events. Then last month it joined over 60 other independent festivals in joining new campaign The Final Straw. This saw the events commit to ban all single-use plastic from their sites by 2021.

"We're very serious about reducing the plastic waste at our festivals, which we know is a problem that needs solving", says Bestival founder Rob Da Bank. "We've already launched The Final Straw and joined the Drastic On Plastic campaign, so getting rid of plastic water bottles and using CanO Water's 100% recyclable cans on our bars is a big step ahead in our mission".

He adds: "We'd love for all the traders on site to be plastic free right now but we're also realistic that can't happen overnight. Our goal is 2021 but we're going to do as much as we can before that date and bringing in CanO Water is an important step that we're pleased we can make this year".

Using aluminium cans rather than plastic bottles is a significant move. While only around 9% of plastic bottles used worldwide are recycled, around 70% of aluminium cans are. There is also no limit on the number of times that aluminium can be recycled, and doing so uses 95% less energy than making a brand new can.

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Sigur Rós launch ambient playlist
Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi and long-term artistic collaborators Alex Somers and Paul Corley have released the first part of an ambient playlist project called 'Liminal'. The series is set to featuring reworkings of existing Sigur Rós material, plus new music from the trio and other artists associated with the group.

The release follows two 'soundbath' performances in Los Angeles and Reykjavík, of which Jónsi says: "Sigur Rós played live a lot during the last two years. And inevitably you end up playing the rockier, more focussed songs, which means that loads of other stuff gets ignored. 'Liminal' tries to do something different".

He goes on: "It's just me, Paul and Alex in a dark room manipulating and mucking around with recordings, FX and vocals. We play and sing sparsely and focus on the atmosphere coming together. There's a sound-reactive light sculpture and everyone can sit or lie down. It's all very cosy and people seem to like it".

Of the playlist, Somers adds: "'Liminal' is a musical thread that binds us together; the sounds that we all found inside of ourselves from a pretty young age: a music that is patient. Sounds unfold in front of you and momentarily offer to show the world from a different angle".

Check out the first hour of music from the project here.

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Arctic Monkeys, Skepta, Anne-Marie, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Get a daily news summary, our latest job ads and more via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.

• Arctic Monkeys will be opening some pop-up stores around the world later this week, if you fancy popping in.

• Skepta has released new track, 'Pure Water'.

• Anne-Marie has released the video for her latest single, '2002'.

•Babymetal have released their first new track since 2016, 'Distortion'.

• Professor Green has released the video for new track 'Mercedes Riddim'.

• Kero Kero Bonito have released new single 'Time Today', and announced that their new album, 'Time N Place', will be out "soon".

• Elle Exxe has released the video for her latest single, 'Queen'.

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

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Katy Perry ends feud with Taylor Swift via actual olive branch
The Katy Perry/Taylor Swift beef is over. Officially. I mean, an actual olive branch has been exchanged and everything.

You might remember that Perry and Swift began feuding after a mini-dispute over backing dancers, and kept things going through occasional snarky song lyrics and tweets. Though by this time last year Perry was very keen indeed to end the feuding. Meaning things were very much in Swift's court.

Except it was Perry who instigated this latest move, it seems. Having last year extended a metaphorical olive branch to her rival, this time Perry sent a literal olive branch. Along with an apologetic note.

That package, which arrived just as Swift was kicking off her new tour, was quickly showcased on Instagram, its recipient seemingly appreciative of the gesture. Which I think we're all taking as the beef being officially over. Hurrah! It's a middle-of-May miracle.

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