| TOP STORIES | Spotify reportedly offering artists direct licensing deals with cash advances READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| LIVE BUSINESS | Ticketfly back online, says payment details not accessed during cyber attack Sound Diplomacy launches guide for cities to develop a night time economy READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ARTIST NEWS | Emma Bunton reveals that the Spice Girls are "definitely" doing "something" READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| RELEASES | Anna Calvi announces new album, Hunter Gaika announces debut album, Basic Volume READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ONE LINERS | Lady Gaga, Tove Lo, The Internet, more READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| AND FINALLY... | Foo Fighters pretended that Dave Grohl fell off stage in Sweden again, but he didn't READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
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COOKING VINYL - OFFICE SPACE TO RENT (WEST LONDON) Cooking Vinyl is pleased to offer a newly refurbished office space in Acton, West London. Ideal to share with other likeminded creatives in a hot desk environment, or alternatively to rent the space as a whole, comfortably fitting 30+ desks. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT MUSIC GROUP - SENIOR MANAGER, CONTENT OPERATIONS (LONDON) Kobalt is looking for an experienced Content Operations Manager to join the expanding AWAL team. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading the global Content Operations function, ensuring the continued quality of our release deliveries and maintaining excellent relationships with priority partners. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT MUSIC GROUP - DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN CO-ORDINATOR (LONDON) Kobalt is looking for a Digital Supply Chain Co-ordinator to join the close-knit and rapidly growing AWAL team supporting the Digital Supply Chain Managers in their day to day work. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ROUNDHOUSE - MUSIC EVENTS MANAGER (LONDON) The Roundhouse is looking for a highly experienced Music Events Manager with outstanding contacts in the music industry to plan, deliver and execute all Roundhouse commercial music events and to act as a central point of contact for all incoming promoters and artists. For more information and to apply click here. |
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DHP FAMILY - CONCERT PROMOTIONS CO-ORDINATOR (LONDON) DHP Family is looking for a creative and motivated individual with a demonstrable passion for music. You will be forward-thinking and able to work autonomously as well as part of a team in a fast-paced environment. For more information and to apply click here. |
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PROPER MUSIC DISTRIBUTION - CREDIT CONTROL ASSISTANT (DARTFORD) Proper Music Distribution is recruiting for a Credit Control Assistant to join a small dedicated team in a busy accounts department working in the music industry. For more information and to apply click here. |
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JAAK - ACCOUNT MANAGER (LONDON) JAAK is a London-based startup building a new global network for intellectual property rights registration, management and monetisation, starting with the music industry. Join us and help supercharge our engagement with the music industry, ensuring the products we’re building serve real needs. For more information and to apply click here. |
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THE ORCHARD - DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER (LONDON) The Orchard has an immediate opening for a digital sales specialist to manage key digital retail relationships in the UK. The role will involve working closely with the label management team and Orchard’s marketing teams to create compelling retail campaigns for our content and labels. For more information and to apply click here. |
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DHP FAMILY - LONDON VENUES PROMOTERS (LONDON) DHP Family is seeking Venues Promoters to provide a marketing function for a club event operation in London, maximising awareness, and promoting growth in attendance figures and revenue by maintaining current in-house club brands and events. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ERASED TAPES - PRODUCT MANAGER (LONDON) Erased Tapes Records is currently seeking an experienced Product Manager to join its team. The chosen candidate will oversee manufacturing and stock control including vinyl records and CDs for our international distribution network. For more information and to apply click here. |
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PARTISAN RECORDS - LABEL ASSISTANT (LONDON) Partisan Records is looking for a label assistant to join its London office. This is an exciting opportunity for a forward thinking individual to join a dynamic independent music company. This is an entry-level position in an administrative role. For more information and to apply click here. |
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UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER STUDENTS' UNION - SENIOR OPERATIONS MANAGER (MANCHESTER) The University of Manchester Students’ Union and Manchester Academy are looking for an experienced operations manager, with knowledge of everything important to make our events shine. For more information and to apply click here. |
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RAYMOND GUBBY LTD - SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER (LONDON) The successful candidate would be responsible for ‘the voice’ of social media for RGL and would be responsible for developing and implementing the social media strategy. For more information and to apply click here. |
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INCORPORATED SOCIETY OF MUSICIANS - PUBLIC AFFAIRS & CAMPAIGNS MANAGER (LONDON) This is a great opportunity for a highly-skilled public affairs professional to join the dynamic and innovative ISM and lead on our public affairs work. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ACADEMY MUSIC GROUP - ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER (LIVERPOOL) Academy Music Group has an exciting opportunity for an Assistant General Manager to join two of Liverpool’s premier live entertainment venues, O2 Academy Liverpool and Arts Club. For more information and to apply click here. |
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UEA(SU) - ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE (NORWICH) The students' union's Assistant Director of Social Enterprise (Venues) will be at the centre of developing and managing the union’s Venues operations, including the operation of the largest music venue in the region, multiple bars and student club nights alongside a unique and renowned venue in Norwich city centre. For more information and to apply click here. |
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UEA(SU) - COMMERCIAL SALES & MARKETING MANAGER (NORWICH) The Students’ Union’s Commercial Sales & Marketing Manager will be at the centre of leading a freshly redeveloped team in the union aimed at maximising internal and external revenue and creating meaningful partnerships both locally and nationally, ensuring our members remain at the forefront of our marketing activity. For more information and to apply click here. |
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MODEST! MANAGEMENT - ARTIST DIGITAL MANAGER (LONDON) Modest! Management seek an Artist Digital Manager to work across an exciting, international artist roster in their busy London office. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced and passionate music loving individual to deliver innovative and creative digital marketing campaigns for a truly global roster. For more information and to apply click here. |
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THE COLUMBO GROUP - PROMOTIONS MANAGER (LONDON) The Columbo Group is seeking a Promotions Manager to join our events team. You will be responsible for the marketing and promotion of all club nights at one of our key venues, working alongside a team of very passionate people. For more information and to apply click here. |
Spotify reportedly offering artists direct licensing deals with cash advances
Spotify has approached some artist managers about licensing music directly from certain acts rather than via a label or distributor, according to sources who have spoken to Billboard. Those sources say that the streaming firm has offered advances of up to a few hundred thousand dollars as part of the proposed direct licensing arrangements.
The direct licences would mean that Spotify would pay royalties directly to said artists, paying a revenue share rate a few percent lower than would be the norm under a label or distributor agreement - so 50% rather than something closer to 55%. Any song royalties also due would continue to be paid via Spotify's deals with the music publishers and collecting societies.
There has been much discussion, of course, about streaming firms becoming record labels and/or music publishers, directly signing artists and songwriters, mainly in a bid to reduce their significant royalty commitments to the labels, publishers and collecting societies. There are all kinds of reasons why Spotify or Apple Music becoming labels or publishers wouldn't work, as discussed on this week's edition of Setlist.
The direct licensing deal being touted by Spotify isn't the streaming firm becoming a label, although it is an interesting new approach that would ultimately reduce the company's royalty bill. Under the deal artists would be self-releasing their records - and would own all the recording rights - but would then license the recordings to Spotify at a reduced rate in return for the cash flow the service would be providing.
From an artist perspective, the lower royalty rate would probably actually be higher than what they are currently receiving, because there would be no label or distributor taking their cut. The artist could then license their recordings to all the other streaming services and elsewhere through a distributor on a very good deal, because they would no longer be seeking an advance from said distributor to help with recording and marketing costs.
For more proactive managers, Spotify's proposal would be attractive, in that it would provide upfront cash allowing the artist to self-release and then buy in marketing and label services as required. It's not clear whether Spotify would also throw in some marketing kickbacks as part of the deal. Nor what level of artist the service would offer this kind of deal to - probably acts where it is pretty certain any advance money would be recouped through royalties within a few years.
Billboard's sources say that Spotify is keen to stress that under this proposed arrangement the artist would not be 'signed' to the service, presumably because of concerns that its label relationships will be damaged - and potential label agreements breached - if it is seen to be trying to become a full-on record company in itself.
Ticketfly back online, says payment details not accessed during cyber attack
Ticketfly is now fully back online, almost a week after being hit by a cyber attack. The company has confirmed that data from around 27 million accounts was stolen by a hacker, but said that credit and debit card details were safe.
"Last week Ticketfly was the target of a malicious cyber attack", says a Ticketfly spokesperson in a statement. "In consultation with third-party forensic cybersecurity experts we can now confirm that credit and debit card information was not accessed. However, information including names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers connected to approximately 27 million Ticketfly accounts was accessed".
"Upon first learning about this incident we took swift action to secure the data of our clients and fans", they added. "We take privacy and security very seriously and regret any disruption this has caused. We're extremely grateful for the patience and support of the Ticketfly community".
All of Ticketfly's online operations were taken offline last week, after its servers were hacked. Vice's Motherboard spoke to someone claiming to be the hacker, who said that they had warned the company of a security vulnerability prior to stealing its database.
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Sound Diplomacy launches guide for cities to develop a night time economy
Music market development consultancy Sound Diplomacy has announced a new publication called 'A Guide To Managing Your Night Time Economy', aimed at cities wishing to develop their after dark cultural and entertainment activities.
Written with night time economy academic Andreina Seijas, the book offers guidance on economic development, attracting tourism, catering to different age groups, recognising the value of culture and more. It is based on research from eleven cities over five continents.
Among those talking up the guide is Ariel Palitz - Senior Executive Director of New York City's Office Of Nightlife - who says: "As New York City's first Senior Executive Director for the Office Of Nightlife ... I have been given the awesome responsibility to not only create a new [department], but also to promote an economically and culturally vibrant nightlife industry, while serving the best interests of the city and residents of New York".
She continues: "The Sound Diplomacy Guide To Managing Your Night Time Economy truly is the invaluable toolbox it is intended to be. It helps clarify the many facets of night time economies around the globe, as well as illuminating strategies for managing nightlife that have been successfully implemented in some of the world's greatest cities. It is an honour to be part of the community of such visionary nightlife directors, and to have the opportunity to learn from them through resources like this excellent guide".
A launch event for the publication will be held at Omeara in London on 9 Jul. Find out more and download the guide for free here.
| Approved: Accü Arriving with 'Did You Count Your Eyes?' - the first single from her debut album 'Echo The Red' - Accü plunges straight into a world of dense psychedelia. It pulls you in like water being let out of a bath, sucking you through a network of pipes and into a metaphor I frankly lost control of some time ago. "The chorus was written years ago in my mind", she explains. "For years the words and melody would continue to revisit and tease me like an annoying lullaby, until last year I began reading Clarissa Pinkola Estés's 'Women Who Run With The Wolves'. Consequently the once annoying lullaby in my head had decided to reach it's angsty political female puberty and thus, the song was born. Maybe I want to annoy others". Watch the video for 'Did You Count Your Eyes?' here.Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist. |
Emma Bunton reveals that the Spice Girls are "definitely" doing "something"
Apparently it's Emma Bunton's turn to make a vague statement about the Spice Girls reunion. Because she has. And I promise it's super vague.
"There is definitely something in the pipeline", she said on ITV's 'This Morning'. "It's difficult because I hope everyone appreciates that we want it to be the right thing, that's all it is".
The big question, of course, is 'will there be a tour?' "I'm not sure", she said. "But I think a few shows would be good".
OK, so there may or may not be a tour. But will Victoria Beckham be involved in any of what they end up doing? "I'm sure she will be involved in some way", she mused.
Asked if they would be making a movie she bellowed: "Definitely not a movie". Then, realising she'd broken the all important vagueness rule, she added that an animated film is "something we may be talking about".
In other relevant news, the Spice Girls' management company XIX Entertainment has just appointed Dawbell to do PR on the group's reunion activities. Although I'm not sure they're really required, what with the Spice Girls themselves out there explaining everything so clearly.
Anna Calvi announces new album, Hunter
Anna Calvi has announced her third album - and her first for five years - 'Hunter'. Its 31 Aug release will be followed by UK tour dates in October, plus a one-off London show at the Roundhouse on 7 Feb next year.
"I'm hunting for something - I want experiences, I want agency, I want sexual freedom, I want intimacy, I want to feel strong, I want to feel protected and I want to find something beautiful in all the mess", says Calvi of the themes explored on the album. "I want to go beyond gender. I don't want to have to chose between the male and female in me. I'm fighting against feeling an outsider and trying to find a place that feels like home".
"I believe that gender is a spectrum", she continues. "I believe that if we were allowed to be somewhere in the middle, not pushed to the extremes of performed masculinity and femininity, we would all be more free. I want to explore how to be something other than just what I've been assigned to be. I want to explore a more subversive sexuality, which goes further than what is expected of a woman in our patriarchal heteronormative society. I want to repeat the words 'girl boy, woman man', over and over, to find the limits of these words, against vastness of human experience".
She concludes: "I believe in the female protagonist, who isn't simply responding to a man's story. I go out into the world and see it as mine - I want something from it, rather than just being a passive product of it. I'm hungry for experiences. Sometimes things seem clear, and other times I feel lost. I feel strong and yet vulnerable; I wear my body and my art as an armour, but I also know that to be true to myself is to be open to being hurt. The intent of this record is to be primal and beautiful, vulnerable and strong, to be the hunter and the hunted".
The album's first single, 'Don't Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy', is out now. Watch the video here.
Would you like to see her tour dates? Sure you would:
19 Jun: London, Heaven
27 Sep: Belfast, Empire
28 Sep: Dublin, Tivoli Theatre
30 Sep: Glasgow, St Luke's
1 Oct: Manchester, Ritz
3 Oct: Newcastle, The Boiler Shop
4 Oct: Birmingham, Town Hall
5 Oct: Brighton, All Saints Church
6 Oct: Bristol, SWX
7 Feb: London, The Roundhouse
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Gaika announces debut album, Basic Volume
Gaika is following up his quite album-like mixtape and EP releases with a debut album, 'Basic Volume', which will be out on 27 Jul.
The album takes its name from that of a company owned by the rapper's late father, says Gaika. "It is the science he taught me before he left this world. It is the poetry we grew under and were made strong by its force".
"With this knowledge", he goes on, "I fought until my hands bled, propelled into combat by the god of metals. It's all true, I nearly lost my heart to angry memories, waking dreams of burnt out laboratories and dead friends. I am this chemistry and it is I and so I wrote it here".
He then concludes that "'Basic Volume' is collection of alchemical parables for all the immigrants who wander the earth in search of themselves".
Collaborators on the record include Sophie, Dutch E Germ, Dre Skull, Jam City and Buddy Ross.
Lady Gaga, Tove Lo, The Internet, 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.
• There's a new 'A Star Is Born' trailer out showing off Lady Gaga's acting talents.
• Tove Lo has released a new remix of her song 'Bitches', featuring Charli XCX, Icona Pop, Elliphant and Alma.
• The Internet have released the video for new single, 'Come Over'.
• Gang Gang Dance have released new track, 'Young Boy (Marika In America)'.
• Jenny Hval has released the video for 'Spells', from her new EP 'The Long Sleep'.
• Oliver Coates will release his new album, 'Shelley's On Zenn-La', in September. Here's new track, 'A Church'.
• Susanna has released a live video of 'Wilderness', a track from her recent 'Go Dig My Grave' album. This accompanies the news that she'll play Rich Mix in Shoreditch on 27 Sep.
• Girls Names have released new single 'The Impaled Mystique'. "We're proud of this song", says frontman Cathal Cully. "It's both quite strange but also recognisably the closest thing to a traditional pop song as we've written in years in its structure, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, breakdown, outro etc. But it's very odd and very alien sounding".
• Ross From Friends has announced his debut album, 'Family Portrait', will be out on 27 Jul. Here's new track 'Project Cybersyn'.
• Tindersticks' Stuart A Staples has released new track 'A New Real', the second taken from his new solo album 'Arrhythmia'.
• Lucianblomkamp has released new single 'Endless'. "'Endless is about self-reflection", he says. "Lyrically, its somewhat lecturous tone is directed at myself. The track is basically a chat between my present and past self. The different sections of the track are meant to reflect that".
• Jo Passed will play UK tour dates in October, finishing at The Victoria in Dalston on 25 Oct.
• Half Waif will be in the UK for some of those tour date things in September, starting at the Sebright Arms in London on 24 Sep.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.
Foo Fighters pretended that Dave Grohl fell off stage in Sweden again, but he didn't
I'm sure you all remember that time in 2015 when Dave Grohl fell off a stage in Gothenburg, breaking his leg and forcing the band to pull out of Glastonbury. Well, he's only gone and done it again.
Not really! Ha! You're so stupid. I can't believe you fell for that, you idiot. Oh my god, you're such an idiot. I hate you.
Anyway, the band pulled off a similar prank this week when they returned to Gothenburg. In a video posted to their Facebook page, the band is seen emerging on stage, before someone who is quite clearly not Dave Grohl walks to the front of the stage and throws themselves off. Moments later the real Dave Grohl appears at the back of the stage with all legs in tact.
It's not clear what happened to the stuntman. He may have died. Who cares? I don't. Watch the video here.
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