Norwegian collecting society reports Tidal to police over Kanye and Beyonce stat allegations
So this is getting interesting fast. The Norwegian collecting society Tono has filed an official police complaint against Tidal over those allegations published in Dagens Næringsliv last week. The Norwegian business newspaper alleged that Tidal skewed the streaming stats in relation to Kanye West's 'Life Of Pablo' and Beyonce's 'Lemonade', two records with which it enjoyed exclusives.

Following chatter to the effect that the official number of plays for those albums in the weeks after release seemed very high, given the size of Tidal's userbase, DN got its hands on some internal data from the streaming company.

It says that when it approached certain Tidal subscribers - who this database said had streamed the Kanye or Beyonce albums an awful lot - at least some of those subscribers denied having listened to these records anything like the number of times the official figures said. The journalists than had some academics scrutinise the data. Said academics concluded it had been tampered with.

Tidal strongly denies any fiddling of the figures. However, if the plays for any one record on a steaming service were artificially increased, because of the way streaming royalties are calculated (revenue share based on consumption share), that would not only mean those artists being overpaid, but other artists and songwriters could be underpaid too.

This is why Tono is keen to assess the credibility of the allegations, given its members could have lost out if any stat fiddling had indeed gone on. The society has reported Tidal to the Norwegian National Authority For Investigation And Prosecution Of Economic And Environmental Crime, urging it to investigate.

According to another Norwegian news provider, the country's version of The Local, Tono says that last week's claims are "strong" and "apparently credible", but also notes Tidal's counter allegation that it was DN journalists who actually manipulated its data. Tono director Cato Strom said in a statement: "We have to protect the interests of the rightsholders for whom we work, but we also believe that a complaint is in the interest of Tidal which says the data has been stolen and manipulated".

Danish collecting society Koda is also known to be investigating last week's reports, starting with an audit of the data it received from Tidal. It's thought that other European societies or rights owners could follow suit.

Responding to DN's report last week, Tidal said: "This is a smear campaign from a publication that once referred to our employee as an 'Israeli intelligence officer' and our owner as a 'crack dealer'. We expect nothing less from them than this ridiculous story, lies and falsehoods. The information was stolen and manipulated and we will fight these claims vigorously".

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71% of UK vinyl sales go to big spender 'superfans'
The 'vinyl revival' is largely the result of a relatively small number of 'superfans' who spend more than £400 a year on the format, according to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association.

The study of buying habits of more than 2200 UK adults found that 72% of the vinyl market can be attributed to a relatively small group of consumers. By the researchers' maths, there are about 157,000 high spenders overall. And in 2017, they contributed £62.9 million to the £87.7 million total sales value of vinyl.

Elsewhere in entertainment retail, Blu-Ray discs are similarly bolstered by a key group of big spending fans, making up around 61% of the total market. Around a third of console games and CDs also go to the big spenders (that's around 292,000 people for CDs), while 'superfans' only make up 11% of the £580.5 million DVD market.

"Music, video and games may reach virtually the entire population, but it is these £400 a year 'superfans' who are the backbone of the market", says ERA CEO Kim Bayley. "Superfans are the connoisseurs of entertainment. They are passionate about music or film or games and tend to favour the more sophisticated higher-value formats".

That's particularly true of vinyl, where the superfans are spending much more money, but not necessarily buying huge numbers of albums. Official Charts Company figures show the average price of an LP is £20.31, meaning your £400 would get you 19.7 albums. Whereas a CD-buying superfan could get 48.4 discs for their £400.

That difference in price point is likely why you still have a group of superfans who continue to prefer buying CDs, rather than jumping on the vinyl revival bandwagon. This is something the founder of Brighton independent record shop Resident, Natasha Youngs, noted at a CMU Insights conference focused on the physical market at The Great Escape two years ago.

"For a lot of people, vinyl is prohibitively expensive", she said, noting that CD sales, while still in decline, were nevertheless still higher than many expected them to be by this point in the record industry's digital evolution. "People have spent years building up their collections", she went on. "And by nature we are creatures of habit".

She continued: "I know the industry is constantly looking for new, new, new all the time, but people have collections already that they just want to add to ... they don't want to start a whole new collection again with vinyl. We see a lot of people who ... want something that they feel familiar with at a price that is really comfortable for them. You can still buy brand new CDs for £10. It's an easy price point for people to manage".

Still, while vinyl sales do seem to be boosted by a fairly select group of people, 4.1 million vinyl albums were still sold last year, which is a 26.8% year-on-year increase. So it seems that there is an increasing number of people managing to scrape together the money to become a vinyl buyer.

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Campaigners call on Spotify to ban more artists over 'hateful conduct'
With the canned worms now well and truly on the plate, a women's advocacy group has called on Spotify to remove yet more music from its playlists. In an open letter, Ultraviolet lists eight other men it believes the streaming service should stop promoting, because of rumours, reports and/or - in some cases - actual convictions of physical and/or sexual abuse against women.

Spotify, of course, last week confirmed that it would no longer playlist music by R Kelly in light of the various allegations of sexual abuse that have been made against him over the years. Rapper XXXTentacion, whose most controversial run-in with the law to date relates to allegations he assaulted a pregnant woman, has also been removed for Spotify's curated lists.

Those two bans were instigated as the streaming firm launched a new policy over what it calls 'hate content' and 'hateful conduct'. The former relates to songs that are deemed hateful, while the latter is about the conduct of the artists behind a track.

In an open letter to Spotify boss Daniel Ek, women's advocacy group Ultraviolet states that "on behalf of our one million members, we applaud and support this choice". The organisation added that it was publishing an open letter to Ek in a bid to encourage his rivals to follow Spotify's lead.

However, the letter goes on: "As you know, these two men are not the only abusers on your platform. We implore you to take a deeper look at the artists you promote. Every time a famous individual continues to be glorified despite allegations of abuse, we wrongly perpetuate silence by showing survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence that there will be no consequences for abuse. That has a cultural effect far beyond one individual artist".

The letter then identifies eight alleged abusers in particular, though notes it is by no means a comprehensive list. But the artists the letter calls out include: Chris Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nelly, Eminem, Don Henley, Steven Tyler, Tekashi 6ix9ine and Ted Nugent.

Spotify's decision to start it's 'hateful conduct' removals with R Kelly is interesting because, while there have been numerous allegations against him - and those allegations are newsworthy at the moment - he hasn't actually been convicted of any crimes. Indeed, the one time he was prosecuted, he was acquitted.

This means that, by picking Kelly first, Spotify arguably sets wider parameters for the kinds of artists who might be deemed to fall foul of the company's hateful conduct policy. It remains to be seen how Spotify responds to these new calls to expand its playlisting ban.

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CMU's guide to Saturday at the Great Escape Convention
With The Great Escape about to be unleashed once again, the CMU Daily is guiding you through the wider convention programme day-by-day. Today: Saturday's activities.

CMU celebrates its 20th birthday right in the middle of this year's Great Escape. It was in May 1998 that CMU first began reporting on music, music people and the music business, just as the record industry was about to peak and then catapult itself into a decade of freefall. But we're pretty sure that's a coincidence.

To mark the occasion, Team CMU has picked the 20 biggest stories we have reported on over the last two decades, and TGE delegates will be able to read a recap of each of them in the CMU Great Escape Special magazine that will be in this year's delegate bag (or you can access a digital copy of that magazine here). Each of those stories will also get the Setlist treatment at some point over the next twelve months, kicking off with the final chapter of EMI next Monday.

But why is this relevant to Saturday at the Great Escape Convention? Well, because the day will finale with Heroes & Villains, the popular panel that closes the TGE convention programme each year. Four industry veterans talk about the highs and lows of their careers to date, and the heroes and villains they met along the way.

This year H&V has a CMU 20th birthday theme, with CMU co-founder Chris Cooke joined by three people who were big supporters of the magazine back in the late 1990s: broadcaster and DJ Edward Adoo, artist manager Sumit Bothra and Pat Carr from Remote Control. Journalist and talent scout Stephen Jones moderates. It all takes place at 4.30pm in the Old Courtroom.

Elsewhere on Saturday at the TGE Convention the focus is very much on new talent with the Great Escape's DIY sessions. A number of key music industry partners will be dishing out advice galore for those at the start of their careers as artists or songwriters, or in the music industry or music media. Partners include Loud & Quiet, Live Nation, Box Plus, Sentric, AWAL, Vevo, Generator and Brighter Sound, with sessions in The Old Courtroom and the Networking Lounge in the Brighton Dome.

Elsewhere there are two quizzes - The Great Escape Pop Quiz at Al Duomo and the AIM x FAC Quiz at AIM house - plus the Yearly Music Conference Awards will be presented at an invite-only shindig late afternoon. So, lots to be getting on with alongside all the great music that will be playing across the city.

Check out our guides to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Great Escape Convention on the website.

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Mitski announces new album, Be The Cowboy
Mitski has announced that she will release new album, 'Be The Cowboy', this summer. The follow-up to 2016's 'Puberty 2', it's set for release on 17 Aug.

"For this new record, I experimented in narrative and fiction", explains Mitski. While she hesitates to go so far as to say she created full-on characters, she reveals she had in mind "a very controlled icy repressed woman who is starting to unravel".

She goes on: "Because women have so little power and showing emotion is seen as weakness, this 'character' clings to any amount of control she can get. Still, there is something very primordial in her that is trying to find a way to get out".

The album's first single, 'Geyser', is out now. Watch the video here.

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Dresden Dolls announce Halloween show in London
The Dresden Dolls have announced that they will play two Halloween-themed shows in London this October.

The shows will mark the eighteen anniversary of the night Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione met on 31 Oct 2000. It will also be the first time the duo have performed together in the UK since 2006.

"The Dresden Dolls haven't played Europe or the UK in twelve years and it's high time", says Palmer. "We've always had an extra-special relationship with our freak-family in London, who were early punk-cabaret embracers from our very first show at Madame Jojo's in Soho (RIP)".

She continues: "Our last shows at the Roundhouse will be hard to top but we expect that our Londoners will emerge in full finery, ready to dance, cry, mosh, and otherwise let go of every human inhibition as we destroy our instruments and selves on stage for your pleasure. We're going to play our favourite material and try out some experimental things. It's The Dresden Dolls, just come prepared to be overwhelmed and delighted".

Viglione adds: "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The duo officially went on hiatus in 2008, but did go out on a number of brief tours between 2010 and 2012. Their last performance together was to celebrate Record Store Day in 2015.

Their two London shows will take place at The Troxy on 30 and 31 Oct.

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Best Coast, Lil Peep, Wretch32, 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.

• Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino has co-written a song with 'Seinfeld' parody Twitter account Seinfeld2000. Marking the 20th anniversary of the show's last episode, 'Jerry (Maybe We Should Get Married)' is written from the perspective of character Elaine Benes.

• A collaboration between Lil Peep and Clams Casino has been released on the late rapper's YouTube channel. The track, titled 'Four Gold Chains', was recorded shortly before Lil Peep's death last year.

• Wretch32 has released the video for 'His & Hers (Perspectives)' from his fourth album, 'FR32'.

• Lykke Li has released new track, 'Utopia'.

• Gang Gang Dance have released new track, 'J-Tree'. "When I started writing the skeleton of the song I imagined it would only ever be played live in an outdoor setting", says the band's Brian Degraw. "That was the goal: to create a song that was a sonic dialogue between ourselves and the majesty of wide open space in nature".

• Popcaan is back with new single, 'Body So Good'. The track will appear on his upcoming album, 'Forever'.

• Slayer have announced that their farewell tour will hit the UK and Ireland in November, with support from Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Obituary. It includes a show at Wembley Arena in London on 3 Nov.

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

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Metallica's Kirk Hammett says they were right to sue Napster
Nearly 20 years on, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett still firmly believes that the band were right to sue file-sharing company Napster in 2000. Despite all the negative attention it brought them.

"The whole Napster thing - it didn't do us any favours whatsoever", he admitted to Swedish TV show Nyhetsmorgon. "But you know what? We're still in the right on that - we're still right about Napster, no matter who's out there who's saying, 'Metallica was wrong'. All you have to do is look at the state of the music industry, and that kind of explains the whole situation right there".

It was the current music industry that he was actually asked about when Hammett went on this Napster tangent. The actual question asked was whether Metallica's late arrival on the streaming services had negatively affected the band. On that, he said: "There was a time when the streaming thing was kinda weird, and it's not that great a quality - I don't care what anyone says about modern streaming, all these 'bits' and whatnot. It's never going to sound better than vinyl. Having that said, we want to be accessible, and you need to make sure you're accessible on all the modern fronts".

I think it's fair to say that music industry trends over the last 30 years have pretty much proven that almost the entire music listening population of the world is not really interested in the sound quality of vinyl. Convenience has long been the key factor for most people, which is why Napster became so popular so quickly.

And either way, had the file-sharing software never existed, it seems unlikely that the music industry would have avoided the downturn it faced in the early part of the 21st century. Although perhaps it might not have come on quite so fast.

Still, I think we should also still respect Metallica's right to be angry about their music being shared for free without their permission. And their wish to be sceptical of streaming. No matter how futile either proved to be.

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