European Parliament backs safe harbour reform - everyone responds
The European Parliament yesterday passed the proposed new copyright directive, including the music industry's preferred version of the controversial article thirteen. Whereas the copyright reforms were voted down by a small majority in July, yesterday's vote in favour of the directive was significant, with 438 votes for, compared to 226 against.

Article thirteen, of course, reforms the copyright safe harbour, increasing the liabilities of user-upload platforms like YouTube. Copyright critics and the tech lobby argue that this reform - and another related to the aggregation of news content - will negatively impact on the way we access and share content online.

The media and entertainment industries dispute that claim. They say the new measures will simply help to stop billion dollar tech companies from setting themselves up as content businesses without ever going to the bother of actually creating any content, instead relying on users and bots to nab other people's work and plonk it on their websites.

Yesterday's vote doesn't mean the directive has been passed. The Parliament must agree a final draft with the EU Council, which brings together ministers from all the member states, and the European Commission, which wrote the original version. This final phase is known as 'trilogue'. Then after that, each member state will need to implement the new rules in their own respective bodies of copyright law.

As with all good European law, there is still some wiggle room in the new directive, and there may be further room for some nifty wiggling in the way the new rules are implemented at a national level. The fact that the tech lobby fought so hard against the version of article thirteen passed yesterday tells us that they do believe the new measures will increase their liabilities. Although some may as yet argue otherwise once the final new laws are in place.

Nevertheless, the music industry is optimistic that if the final version of article thirteen is akin to that passed yesterday, it will sufficiently strengthen the negotiating hand of copyright owners when dealing with the likes of YouTube. So to push up the royalties user-upload platforms pay when they do make use of copyright material. And once that has happened in Europe, it could happen elsewhere too. We shall see.

Either way, the campaign to secure safe harbour reform in Europe has seen the wider music community - labels, publishers, societies, artists, songwriters, producers, managers - work more closely together than ever before, and even more so since July's knockback.

That said, there is more to the copyright directive than just article thirteen. When the International Council For Creators Of Music urged MEPs to back the directive last week, it also put the spotlight on articles fourteen through sixteen, what it called the "transparency triangle". These measures will likely divide the music community as they put pressure on corporate rights owners to be more transparent on how rights are being exploited, while seeking to also strengthen the negotiating hand of the artist and the songwriter.

In the UK, this morning the UK Music allied trade bodies representing individual creatives rather than music companies - so BASCA, FAC, MMF, MPG and the MU - formally launched a new coalition called the Council Of Music Makers. While these organisations will likely speak as one with the labels, publishers and collecting societies on article thirteen, they will likely have a different viewpoint when it comes to implementing articles fourteen, fifteen and sixteen.

That means that, although the music industry's lobbyists, activists and campaigners won't be quite as vocal as they have been in recent few weeks, we can expect plenty more chatter, debating and wrangling around this new copyright directive in the months and years ahead.

Meanwhile, here - in no particular order - are the top thirteen statements on yesterday's article thirteen vote. Nine in favour of the reform, four against, so to reflect yesterday's voting numbers. Because you know how much we love democracy here at CMU.

1. Helen Smith of European indie label trade group IMPALA: "This is a great day for Europe's creators. The Parliament has sent a clear message that copyright needs to be modernised to clarify obligations of platforms with regard to the creative works they distribute".

2. Anders Lassen of European collecting society grouping GESAC: "Today is a victory for Europe and its independence from a few tech giants who have profited off outdated legislation to further consolidate unhealthy dominance and to siphon value out of Europe and its creators".

3. Frances Moore of global record label trade group IFPI: "[We] join others in the creative community in thanking the European Parliament for its work on this proposal in the most difficult of circumstances. We now look forward to working with the three institutions in the forthcoming trilogue to ensure the 'value gap' is effectively closed".

4. Chris Butler of global music publisher group ICMP: "We are delighted with today's vote, which is a clear victory for rightsholders. Article thirteen of the directive is necessary to redress the grotesque imbalance music publishers face online".

5. Geoff Taylor of UK record label trade group BPI: "This vote is great news for music fans and for anyone who values exciting and original online entertainment. It's an important step towards creating a fairer internet that encourages and rewards creativity".

6. Paul Pacifico of UK indie label trade group AIM: "It is a great day for culture and music in Europe as the Copyright Directive is adopted by the European Parliament. I would like to thank the MEPs from all parties for their energetic and highly engaged approach to this very sensitive and important legislation that stands to benefit the next generation of music artists and creators online who generate the content we all enjoy".

7. Jane Dyball of UK music publisher trade group MPA: "We are not quite home and dry, but today's article thirteen decision takes us a step closer to securing proper value for creative works from those digital services who build their own fortunes at the expense of individual creators. This has been a joint effort from across the music industry and broader creative industries and shows what can be achieved when we work together on matters of crucial importance".

8. Robert Ashcroft of UK collecting society PRS For Music: "The European Parliament today took a bold step forward to ensure a functioning and sustainable digital single market for creative content. PRS For Music has fought from the beginning for digital services to pay all creators fairly for the content they use. Today's vote was a ringing endorsement of our work and that of our colleagues in the industry over the last five years".

9. Annabella Coldrick of artist manager trade group MMF: "The MMF joined the music industry campaign on the directive to ensure fair remuneration of artists by digital platforms, alongside provisions on transparency, fair contracts and an alternative dispute resolution. We call upon the Council to adopt the Parliament's text in full, including a new provision on reversion rights where an artist's music is not being exploited by rights owners or reporting is absent".

10. Jim Killock of UK-based digital rights campaigners Open Rights Group: "Article thirteen creates a Robo-copyright regime that would zap any image, text, meme or video that appears to include copyright material whether it is legally used or not. This is disappointing and will open the door to more demands for Robocop censorship. The directive is not yet law and could improve during trilogue negotiations. We will keep opposing these measures which will lead to legal material being removed in this way".

11. Danny O'Brien of US-based digital rights campaigners the Electronic Frontier Foundation: "There are still opportunities, at the EU level, at the national level, and ultimately in Europe's courts, to limit the damage. But make no mistake, this is a serious setback for the internet and digital rights in Europe ... The best that can be said about the [copyright directive] as it stands, is that it is so ridiculously extreme that it looks set to shock a new generation of internet activists into action".

12. Julia Reda MEP of The Pirate Party: "Today's decision is a severe blow to the free and open internet. By endorsing new legal and technical limits on what we can post and share online, the European Parliament is putting corporate profits over freedom of speech and abandoning long-standing principles that made the internet what it is today".

13. A somewhat non-committal Google spokesperson: "People want access to quality news and creative content online. We've always said that more innovation and collaboration are the best way to achieve a sustainable future for the European news and creative sectors, and we're committed to continued close partnership with these industries".

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Musicians' Union supports referendum on final Brexit deal
The Musicians' Union is the latest organisation to formally come out in favour of a referendum on the final Brexit deal negotiated (or not) by the UK government.

The People's Vote campaign is calling for a second referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union. The argument is that this vote would be on the reality of Brexit, rather than the theory, giving British people the option to reconsider the decision they made on limited - and in many cases misleading or untrue - information two years ago.

"The MU has been anti-Brexit since the referendum was announced as we are deeply concerned about how our members' livelihoods will be affected", says the union's General Secretary Horace Trubridge. "We have been working hard to address concerns such as the impact of freedom of movement ending and the likely introduction of a visa system".

He continues: "We are supporting the People's Vote campaign now, because we think our members and other workers should have their say on the final Brexit deal. Given this started with consulting the population when nobody really understood the likely fall out, it seems perfectly reasonable to expect people to get a say on the terms of it".

There's not actually time to organise a new vote ahead of the deadline for a Brexit deal to be done, which is at the end of March next year. Therefore, the People's Vote campaign relies on not only the UK government changing its position, but also on all 27 other EU member states agreeing to an extension of that deadline.

Still, there's not really time to negotiate the UK's exit of the EU now either, so maybe everyone will eventually decide that some sort of extension is required whatever their preferred outcome of all this might be.

Find more information on the People's Vote campaign here.

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Having pay revealed led to Chris Evans leaving BBC Radio 2, says Tony Hall
Chris Evans being revealed as the BBC's highest paid on-air talent was in part behind his decision to leave the organisation, Director General Tony Hall revealed earlier this week. Speaking before a parliamentary select committee, he added that the pay disclosures has caused others to quit too.

The government last year forced the BBC to begin publishing the salaries of actors, presenters and journalists that is paying over £150,000 a year. Evans topped that list in 2017, with a salary of over £2.2 million, and came in second this year, earning over £1.6 million.

Having his earnings made public in this way was "quite hard" for Evans, said Hall. Not least because he came in for a lot of negative attention from the anti-BBC press.

"For three or four days he was the centre of a lot of attention", said Hall. "[It has a] bearing on when you think about where you want to work in the future. I think he's a remarkable presenter. He's a loss to the BBC, a loss to our audiences".

Although much media commentary on BBC salaries argues that the organisation pays its talent too much, Hall said that the salary disclosures actually highlighted the fact that it can't offer levels of pay akin to the commercial sector.

Evans is moving to Virgin Radio, of course, reportedly on a salary of £2 million a year, despite that digital-only station having a much smaller audience than his current employer BBC Radio 2. It's also owned by News UK, whose newspaper titles The Sun and The Times are among the strongest critics of the BBC.

Hall said that there is "no doubt [that] disclosure and the fact people know their pay has been a factor in" some people leaving the BBC.

However, he added that many presenters stick with the broadcaster despite knowing that they could earn a lot more elsewhere "because they're committed to the BBC". He also said that the Corporation now planned to develop new talent to rise up the ranks, rather than trying to attract existing big names with big paycheques.

Despite the loss of people like Evans, Hall said that he had "no complaint" about being forced to publish salaries, saying that ultimately "disclosure is a good thing".

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Amy Macdonald announces career-spanning compilation
Amy Macdonald has announced that she will release a best of compilation in November. Titled 'Woman Of The World: The Best Of Amy Macdonald 2007-2018', it will feature two brand new songs. So that'll cover the 2018 bit of the title. Both of the new tracks - 'Woman Of The World' and 'Come Home' - featured in recent movie flop 'Patrick'.

"I remember the week of the 30 Jul 2007", says Macdonald, for reasons that will become apparent within the next four seconds. "I released my first ever album 'This Is The Life', and I wasn't quite sure how I found myself in that position. My album was number one in countries I'd never even been to before and I was so busy that I did not have time to take it in at all".

She continues: "Fast forward to 2017 and I released my fourth album - it was crazy for me. Ten years later people were still interested. I just felt that after such an incredible journey it was time to look back and feel proud of everything that has happened".

Banking on people remaining interested into next year too, she's just announced two shows in March. She'll play London's Hammersmith Apollo on 21 Mar and the Apollo in Manchester on 22 Mar.

Have a listen to the song 'Woman Of The World' here.

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Miho Hatori announces UK shows
Formerly one half of Cibo Mato, Miho Hatori has announced that she will play UK shows later this year. This follows the recent release of her first EP under the name New Optimism.

She will play Brighton's Green Door Store on 12 Dec and Manchester's Night & Day on 14 Dec.

Here she is improvising a new track, 'Recycle Dat Shit'.

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The nominations for this year's Q Awards are just so available right now
The nominations for this year's Q Awards are out. Don't sit there thinking they're not, because they so are. If they weren't, how would I know that no one has more than two nominations? Huh? Answer me that.

I'd never make something like that up. Because, to be honest, I wish that wasn't even the case. Then I could do the traditional 'so and so leads the nominations with 73 nods' intro for this report. But I can't. I could tell you that The 1975, Idles, Janelle Monae, Christine & The Queens, Arctic Monkeys and Goat Girl all have two nominations each, but what would be the point?

Are these shortlists any good though? Let's ask Q Editor Tedd Kessler. "I love these shortlists and I love the Q readership even more for supplying them", he says. "We've thought for a while at Q that in a digital world where streaming music is so ubiquitous, the old barriers between musical genres are meaningless. All that matters is whether a song has power or if an artist makes something to become lost within".

He goes on: "These shortlists, where Janelle Monáe's future-funk rubs shoulders with Goat Girl's garage-punk in Best Track, or where Kendrick Lamar could just as easily be the Best Act In The World Today as Paul Weller, prove that. Unlike some music awards, artists are not nominated by their representatives, nor is there a fee to be paid upon entry. It's decided by the readers and the writers of Q alone, and consequently these shortlists represent the very best of music now".

There can only be one winner though. Of each category. There will be more than one winner overall. And that's fine. They'll all receive their trophies, assuming they bother to turn up, at the Roundhouse in Camden on 17 Oct. The public have until 5 Oct to vote, in the categories where public voting is allowed, and they can do that here.

But right now all the nominated acts are potential winners. And that's nicer isn't it? Maybe let's just all take in the shortlists and then not bother knowing who the winners are next month, we could all do with a little less disappointment in the world. So, enjoy these lists...

Best Track: The 1975 - Love It If We Made It, Cjhildish Gambino - This Is America, Christine & The Queens - Girlfriend, Goat Girl - The Man, Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel, Underworld & Iggy Pop - Bells & Circles

Best Album: Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Anna Calvi - Hunter, Noel Gallagher - Who Built The Moon?, Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance, Interpol - Marauder, Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears

Best Solo Artist: Christine & The Queens, Drake, Noel Gallagher, Janelle Monáe, Ed Sheeran, Sophie

Breakthrough Act: Amyl & The Sniffers, Goat Girl, Tom Grennan, The Magic Gang, Idles, Bugzy Malone, Nakhane, Novelist, Nadine Shah, Jorja Smith, Rejjie Snow

Best Live Act: David Byrne, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Liam Gallagher, Stefflon Don, Taylor Swift, Wolf Alice

Best Act In The World Today: The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine, Kendrick Lamar, St Vincent, Paul Weller

Best Festival/Event: All Points East, British Summer Time, Isle Of Wight Festival, Latitude Festival, Rize Festival, Spotify Presents: Who We Be

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Modern Sky, Lana Del Rey, Paul McCartney, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Chinese music company Modern Sky Entertainment has formed a joint venture with DJ Yousef's Circus Recordings. Through its UK division, Modern Sky will invest in the company, and seek out new opportunities in Asia. "Their ambition is strong and matches my goal to develop the label, along with both new and established electronic music artists in territories around the world", says DJ Yousef of his new partner.

• Lana Del Rey has released new track 'Mariners Apartment Complex'. Currently working on a new album with Jack Antonoff, set for release next year, she plans to release another new song, 'Venice Bitch', next week.

• Paul McCartney has released the video for new single, 'Fuh You'. Sounds a bit like "fuck you", doesn't it? "It's a schoolboy prank", he recently told GQ.

• Tom Waits provides vocals on a new track from guitarist Marc Ribot. A new version of a traditional Italian anti-fascist song, 'Bella Ciao' is taken from Ribot's upcoming new album 'Songs Of Resistance 1948-2018'.

• Jaakko Eino Kalevi has released new single 'People In The Centre Of The City', taken from upcoming new album 'Out Of Touch'. Inspired by his time working as a tram driver in Helsinki, he says of the track: "I began to notice that sometimes people in the city would have so much perfume on that the whole tram would smell really strongly but so perfectly".

• Beach House have released new track 'Drunk In LA'. It comes with a video directed by Spaceman 3's Peter Kember, of which the duo say: "We were out having dinner and [Kember] mentioned an idea for a video where the viewer is always looking up from the ground. When he sent it to us, we complimented and commented on the trippy, dreamlike nature of the video and he wrote that it was essentially just a day in his life".

• They Might Be Giants have released new single 'The Communists Have The Music'. The band will be playing UK shows next month.

• Peter Broderick is set to release a new EP, titled 'Two Balloons', featuring his score to a short film of the same name, on 9 Nov. Here's a track from it. Broderick begins a UK tour in Cardiff tonight.

• Soap&Skin has released new single 'Italy'. The song is taken from her upcoming new album, 'From Gas To Solid / You Are My Friend'.

• Jacco Gardner has announced that he will release new album 'Somnium', on 23 Nov. From it, this is 'Volva'.

• Rina Mushonga has released new single '4qrtrs'. She says of the song: "'4qrtrs' started in Zimbabwe and came together in London. It even references some of the local joints in Peckham. Its name comes from a video game bar I fell in love with when I first moved here and where I've spent many nights playing Pacman and Space Invaders with friends and local strangers".

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

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Taylor Swift wishes Ed Sheeran could walk faster
People use different things to motivate themselves when they're exercising. I have an app that regularly tells me I'm being chased by zombies and need to run faster, for instance. Ed Sheeran, meanwhile, has the actual Taylor Swift on hand to lay into his all round lack of physical fitness.

Swift last night shared a video on Instagram of her and Sheeran on some sort of hike. "You OK, bro?" she asks her companion sarcastically, as he huffs and puffs his way up a hill. He responds by giving her the finger.

"It's called exercise, have you ever done cardio?" she asks a bit further along.

"Huh, now and then", he manages to wheeze out.

"Strumming a guitar doesn't count", she adds witheringly.

Sandwiched in between these two clips is a breezier exchange, apparently filmed during happier times. A time before hills. A time before Taylor Swift had to drop her pace in order to rag on poor old Ed Sheeran. Here Sheeran holds the camera and asks who is going to win at the American Music Awards.

"Taylor, the AMA nominations just came out", says Sheeran. "It's me, you and Drake".

Both pick each other as the likely winner, then concede that actually Drake will probably win. Oh, they're so down to earth these guys. Although Swift does then spoil it by asking people to vote in the AMAs in the video's caption. She doesn't say who to vote for, but we all know what she's implying.

If you actually go and look at the AMA nominations, you'll see that they've already discounted other artists in their casual chit chat. While it is just Swift, Sheeran and Drake up for Best Pop/Rock Album, in the Album Of The Year category Post Malone and Imagine Dragons are also nominated. So that's clearly Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran stating that they're definitely better than Post Malone and Imagine Dragons.

To be fair, they are. But it's not really for them to say, is it? And I bet Post Malone is a champion hiker.

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