Billboard boss pushed out over sexual misconduct allegations, new report claims
Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter CEO John Amato resigned last week as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct, according to a new report by The Daily Beast.

It was reported last week that Amato had stepped down from his job overseeing the US entertainment industry trade magazines - and their other sister titles - amid an investigation into claims he tampered with stories about his friend Charlie Walk.

Former Republic Records exec Walk left his role as President of the Universal-owned label in March, following various allegations of sexual harassment. Claims that Amato had suppressed an article about Walk in Billboard and another music title he oversaw, Spin, were first published by The Daily Beast in May. An investigation by parent company Valence Media is still investigating those allegations.

Now a number of current and former employees of Valence Media have spoken to The Daily Beast anew claiming that it is actually sexual misconduct allegations against Amato himself that led to his departure. Two investigations into the Walk allegations led to a separate probe into Amato's conduct and "the company culture he oversaw", says the website.

Of particular concern, it is claimed, were the CEO's conduct with several young female members of staff. It is also said that employees were "uncomfortable with Amato's frank discussions of his sex life during work-related social events". Two staff who made formal complaints were later either fired or had their job threatened, it is also alleged.

There are then additional claims made against two senior members of staff hired by Amato - of inappropriate behaviour outside work in one case, and of verbal abuse of staff in the other.

The Daily Beast also notes that Valance Media recently undertook an internal audit of its 2016 acquisition of SpinMedia, over allegations of financial wrongdoing. It is then implied that this may also have had some bearing on Amato's departure.

Neither Amato nor Valance Media have as yet commented on the Daily Beast's article.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Woman charged over Selena Gomez email hack
A woman from New Jersey could face nearly ten years in jail after being charged last week with eleven felonies relating to allegations she hacked the email account of Selena Gomez.

The LA County District Attorney's Office confirmed on Friday that Susan Atrach from New Jersey had been formally charged over the alleged hack. Deputy District Attorney Ben Forer from the office's Cyber Crime Division told reporters: "The defendant is accused of accessing the victims' accounts several times from June 2015 through February 2016. She then allegedly obtained stored media that she posted online and shared with other people".

The specific charges Atrach faces are: five felony counts of identity theft; five felony counts of accessing and using computer data to commit fraud or to control or obtain money, property or data; and one felony count of accessing and using computer data or taking supporting documentation without permission.

If found guilty, those crimes could result in a custodial sentence of up to nine years and eight months. The LA County DA added that its investigation of the hacking is ongoing.

Various celebs have had servers or email accounts hacked in recent years, of course, with hackers often seeking to find private and personal photos that can be shared, either for fun or financial gain. Gomez, meanwhile, also had her Instagram account hacked last year. The hacker used the occasion to post a naked photo of her on again off again on again off again boyfriend Justin Bieber. You know, just for giggles.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Sony/ATV partners on new Elvis musical
Music publisher Sony/ATV has got itself a co-producer credit on a new Elvis musical by bunging a few quid at it. Or dollars, probably. Money, anyway. The show - titled 'Heartbreak Hotel' - is a prequel to the existing 'Million Dollar Quartet' stage show.

Says Sony/ATV CEO Marty Bandier: "Elvis Presley is the ultimate music icon who not only totally transformed music but changed the world. I am proud that Sony/ATV is now involved as a co-producer and investor of 'Heartbreak Hotel', which will not only serve as a fantastic reminder to everyone like me who grew up with Elvis just how unique and special he was, but will be a terrific way for a new audience to discover the music and life of the king of rock n roll".

The show, written by 'Million Dollar Quartet' co-creator Floyd Mutrux, features a whole load of Elvis hits, which Sony/ATV has graciously agreed to license to the project it already stands to profit from. Those songs include 'Heartbreak Hotel', obviously, 'Hound Dog', Jailhouse Rock', Mystery Train' and 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy'.

The show, which stars Eddie Clendening as Elvis, had its premiere at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago last night.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

New music PR agency They Do launches
A new music PR and promotions agency has opened for business called They Do. It's been set up by Dan Carson, previously with agency Inside/Out, and Liv Whitton, a former Warner Music plugger. The new firm will offer both press and radio services.

Announcing the new business, Carson said: "Liv and I are truly delighted to be pooling our collective knowledge into one exciting new offering. Press and radio are still the conversation starters and key cornerstones of all great campaigns - and that rings true for both emerging and established artists. We're so pleased to be able to offer our clients tailored services in both worlds right from the off".

Whitton added: "I'm extremely happy to be launching They Do alongside Dan and his amazing roster. We are both young, driven, passionate and already highly experienced in our respective roles. There's absolutely a gap in the market for a promotions team as hungry to break new artists as ourselves, and we're ready to step up to the plate and bring fresh ideas to music PR as a whole".

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

MØ announces new album, releases new Diplo collaboration
MØ has announced that she will release her second album, 'Forever Neverland', on 19 Oct. She's also released her latest Diplo collaboration, 'Sun In Our Eyes', which appears on it.

"Diplo and I are long time collaborators now", she says. "One of the many reasons I love working with him is because I always feel like it's a free and creative process and I always like the end product. We both loved 'Sun In Our Eyes' from the beginning and what makes it special to me is that it's a combination of the two ingredients I'm always craving in music: uplifting and melancholy vibes".

She continues: "It's the lead single for my new album 'Forever Neverland' and it's about imaginary love and living in a bubble which are also subjects on the album. This song feels like both a coming together of everything Wes [that's Diplo] and I have done so far but also a new beginning which is fitting with a new album".

Diplo adds: "Karen [that's MØ] and I have some special chemistry in the studio. Whenever we work together we always write three or four songs in a day, and every time we get better. I think 'Sun In Our Eyes' is the best song we've ever written together".

I suppose we'd better listen to this track then. Here it is.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

QOTSA protest VIP area and Massive Attack cancel performance at Mad Cool festival
Queens Of The Stone Age interrupted their performance mid-song at the Mad Cool festival in Madrid on Saturday to complain about a VIP area in front of the stage. Frontman Josh Homme refused to continue playing until security allowed normal punters into the fenced off section.

According to NME, after halting the performance in the middle of 'No One Knows', Homme told security staff: "You'd better let those people in. I'm not playing until you let them in. You'd better let them in because you work for me tonight".

Security seemingly relented and let a number of non-VIPs into the VIP zone, although initially not enough for Homme's liking. "Let them in", he reportedly said. "Look at my face. Let them in or I will walk down there and let them all in".

Eventually satisfied that there were now enough Ps in the VIP pen, the band resumed their set, although Homme later addressed security again - seemingly to hit out at perceived heavy-handedness. He said: "Security, go easy on these kids here. I'll kick all the security out and the whole place will run wild. Be nice or be gone".

Explaining his initial gripe later, he said: "The reason I told them to let people in there with you guys is I'm getting sick of everyone telling everyone what to do. I'm sick of everyone being offended. We travelled thousands of miles to play your party, to give you a night to remember. And we won't leave until you're fucked up, high, dancing, making out with somebody and having the best night of your life. Otherwise, you're just a bunch of domesticated animals".

This was not the only mini-controversy at the Mad Cool festival. On Friday night, Massive Attack cancelled their performance at the last minute over sound bleed from another stage. In a now deleted statement, the festival initially said that the band were "claiming that the sound of the stage where Franz Ferdinand were playing at the time would bother them during the performance of their show".

A new statement jointly released by Mad Cool and Massive Attack yesterday said: "Regrettably the band could not play at the scheduled time because of the noise bleed coming from other stages which, due to the technical nature of their monitoring using IEM (in ear monitors), meant the show could not proceed. Everything was tried to solve the situation ... but it finally proved impossible".

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

STAR, Princess Nokia, 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.

• The Society Of Ticket Agents And Retailers has appointed MD of the Edwards & Edwards ticketing agency, Richard Brundle, as its new Chair. Brundle was one of the original founders of STAR in the mid-90s. "He knows the ticketing industry inside-out", says chief exec Jonathan Brown.

• Princess Nokia has released another video for a track from her 'A Girl Cried Red' album. Here's 'Morphine'. She's set to play The Forum in London on 20 Aug.

• The Internet have released new single 'La Di Da'.

• Suede have released new song 'Don't Be Afraid If Nobody Loves You'.

• Professor Green has released the video for new single 'Count On You'.

• Childcare have released new EP 'Luckyucker'. From it, this is 'Magazines'.

• Frøkedal has released new single 'David'.

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

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

Three Lions comes out top, even if England didn't
Well, football may not have come home - whatever that means - but 'Three Lions' is the UK number one single for the fourth time.

David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds' 1996 song began climbing the charts again rapidly after it started to look like England might win this year's World Cup of ball kicking in Russia. The song had become something of an anthem again for England fans, and they all got about downloading and streaming it amid hopes the team might win this time.

Of course, in the end said team ended up with the disappointing accolade of just being the most successful male England football squad for 28 years after crashing out against Croatia in the semi-final. But by then, there'd been enough downloads and streams of the 'Three Lions' song to put it in the top spot anyway.

"Well, this is awkward", commented Baddiel upon learning the news. Skinner put a more positive spin on it, saying that it was a good "consolation prize". For him, at least.

It's the fourth time the song has made it to the number one spot - the last time being 20 years ago with an updated version in 1998 during the World Cup. The track last reached the top ten in 2010, when the original 1996 recording comfortably beat a new version recorded for that year's World Cup.

Upon its original release, the song went to number one twice - first in the run up to the 1996 European Championship in England, and then as the tournament finished. That initial success means that 'Three Lions' has now become the first song with the same performer line-up to reach the top spot on four non-consecutive occasions. A record that takes quite a while to say, but a record nonetheless.

The recent campaign to get 'Three Lions' to number one was supported by George Ezra, which was good of him because it meant denying him a three week run at the top of the singles chart. His pleas to fans to completely stop buying and streaming his single, 'Shotgun', fell on slightly deaf ears though. He was only beaten to first place by around 3500 sales (or equivalent) in the end.

Of course, this was not the only novelty 'get an old song to number one' campaign running last week. There was also a push to get Green Day's 'American Idiot' to the top of the charts to commemorate Donald Trump's visit to the UK. Although last Monday it looked like the track might break into the top ten, it finished the week at number 25.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN