| Available to premium subscribers, CMU Trends digs deeper into the inner workings of the music business, explaining how things work and reviewing all the recent trends. | |
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CMU TRENDS IN FIVE STEPS: SAFE HARBOUR As the draft new copyright directive in Europe reaches its final stages, the safe harbour reforms it contains remain very much in the spotlight. But what is the safe harbour and why does it need reforming? CMU Trends explains. [READ MORE] |
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CMU TRENDS GUIDE TO MUSIC RIGHTS This three part CMU Trends guide provides a beginner's guide to music copyright and the music rights business. In it, we cover ownership, controls and licensing, and review key trends in streaming, physical, sync and public performance. [READ MORE] |
| TOP STORIES | Ticketmaster US continues to push back following touting exposé READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| LEGAL | Latest draft of MMA approved by House Of Representatives BMI heads to the rate court over live industry royalties READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| EDUCATION & EVENTS | Doc N Roll film festival announces 2018 programme READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| RELEASES | Wilco's Jeff Tweedy announces new solo album READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| GIGS & FESTIVALS | Childish Gambino postpones final tour due to injury READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ONE LINERS | New Hope Club, National Album Day, Arctic Monkeys, more READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| AND FINALLY... | Lil Xan hospitalised after gorging on spicy snacks READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| CMU Insights is our training and consultancy business providing training courses, conference sessions and research reports for music companies. | |
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MAKING MONEY FROM MUSIC COPYRIGHT SEMINARS Three weekly evening seminars from Monday 17 Sep These three seminars provide a concise guide to how music copyright works, the ins and outs of music licensing and current trends in the music rights sector. [READ MORE] |
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MECHANICS OF MUSIC MANAGEMENT SEMINARS A new five part seminar series starting Tuesday 2 Oct The Music Managers Forum has teamed up with CMU Insights to present a new five part training programme exploring best practice and current trends in artist management. [READ MORE] |
| Check out all the latest job opportunities with CMU Jobs. To advertise your job opportunities here email [email protected] or call 020 7099 9060. | |
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THE ORCHARD - INTERACTIVE MARKETING MANAGER (LONDON) The Orchard is looking for a savvy, seasoned digital music marketer to promote its distributed artists in Europe and beyond. The ideal candidate will come from a label or distribution background and have an exceptional understanding of the digital space. For more information and to apply click here. |
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DOMINO - PRODUCT MANAGER (BERLIN) Based in our Berlin office, Domino Recording Company is seeking a full time Product Manager to run artist campaigns for the German market. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ONE LITTLE INDIAN - HEAD OF RADIO/TV (LONDON) One Little Indian Records is looking for Head of Radio/TV. You will oversee the National Radio/TV for our roster. You will initiate, coordinate and implement the promotional strategy for artists on our roster. For more information and to apply click here. |
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FABRIC - SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER (LONDON) Fabric is looking for a savvy and experienced marketing person with an expert touch on digital. The successful candidate will work alongside the Booking & Promotions Team and lead the fabric communications requirement. For more information and to apply click here. |
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BIMM - EVENTS & CAREERS ASSISTANT (LONDON) This role provides a unique opportunity to assist the BIMM Artist Development, Events, Guests and Careers teams. The position will involve assisting with day to day administration as well as getting involved with hosting masterclasses and assisting at the external BIMM events. For more information and to apply click here. |
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MANCHESTER ACADEMY - OPERATIONS MANAGER (MANCHESTER) The University of Manchester Students’ Union and Manchester Academy is looking for two enthusiastic Operations Managers. Our Operations Managers make sure all our clients, visitors and customers receive an excellent service experience, whilst ensuring the safe and legal operation of the venues. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KILIMANJARO LIVE - PROMOTER ASSISTANT (LONDON) Kilimanjaro Live have a vacancy for a Promoter Assistant. The role requires a high level of accuracy and attention to detail, a great work ethic and good language and spreadsheet skills. It would likely suit someone who is looking for progression from their first or second admin role. For more information and to apply click here. |
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WARP RECORDS - UK PROMOTIONS CO-ORDINATOR (LONDON) Warp Records has an exciting opportunity for a UK Promotions Co-ordinator, to be based in their London office. The full-time role is part of the UK team, supporting creative and effective campaigns for the label’s roster of ground-breaking artists. For more information and to apply click here. |
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SECRETLY DISTRIBUTION - DIGITAL MARKETING CO-ORDINATOR (LONDON) Secretly Distribution seeks a full time Digital Marketing Co-ordinator based in our London office. This individual will work closely with our international and digital teams in a wide reaching role that will focus on sales and marketing in multiple territories outside of the US. For more information and to apply click here. |
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PARAMOUNT ARTISTS - JUNIOR BOOKING AGENT ASSISTANT (BRIGHTON) This is an exciting opportunity for a hard-working, enthusiastic individual to join a sociable, dynamic and successful agency as a Junior Booking Agent Assistant to work on the Steve Aoki, Cheat Codes and Martin Jensen team. For more information and to apply click here. |
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DOMINO - DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER (LONDON) Based in our London office, Domino Recording Company is seeking a full time Digital Marketing Manager. The Digital Marketing Manager is our central conduit for all digital marketing and advertising initiatives. For more information and to apply click here. |
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WARP PUBLISHING - ROYALTIES & COPYRIGHT MANAGER (LONDON) Warp Publishing, an independent music publishing company with offices in London and Los Angeles, is looking for a Royalties & Copyright Manager, with a strong focus on data analysis and reporting, to be based in the North London office. For more information and to apply click here. |
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MANCHESTER ACADEMY - ASSISTANT TECHNICAL MANAGER (MANCHESTER) The University of Manchester Students’ Union and Manchester Academy is looking for two Assistant Technical Managers to help make our events shine. You'll need a keen eye for details and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders to deliver first class events. For more information and to apply click here. |
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MPA GROUP OF COMPANIES - CHIEF EXECUTIVE (LONDON) The Music Publishers Association Group of Companies is recruiting a Chief Executive Officer to run its three companies – the MPA, the MCPS and PMLL. This is one of the most important positions in the UK music industry and comes at a time of great opportunity and significant change. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT MUSIC GROUP - SENIOR DIRECTOR, AWAL LABEL MANAGEMENT (LONDON) Kobalt is looking for someone to be responsible for the day to day management of the UK AWAL Label Management team. You’ll be looking after a small roster of the higher profile clients while also managing the label managers. For more information and to apply click here. |
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KOBALT MUSIC GROUP - INCOME TRACKING ANALYST (LONDON) Kobalt is looking for an Income Tracking Analyst. This is a completely new role where you would be responsible for implementing and maintaining efficient royalty tracking and analysis processes for income receipts from Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) around the world. For more information and to apply click here. |
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BNDR MUSIC - PRODUCT MANAGER (LONDON) BNDR Music is seeking a Product Manager. Duties include, compiling and implementing artist marketing campaigns, plugging artists at radio, liaising with online and national PRs, and working closely with A&Rs and the Label Manager to schedule release roll outs. For more information and to apply click here. |
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SJM CONCERTS - MARKETING COORDINATOR (MANCHESTER) We are looking for a Marketing Coordinator to implement marketing campaigns to generate sales for new tours and events via various platforms including press, radio, TV, digital and print. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ELITE MUSIC MANAGEMENT – ADMIN ASSISTANT/ASSISTANT BOOKING AGENT (BRIGHTON) We are looking for a dynamic, talented individual to work as part of a hard-working team. You will be required to assist the agents and directors with admin tasks for the acts we represent. For more information and to apply click here. |
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THE O2 – PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT (LONDON) We are looking for a Programming Assistant to join the programming team at The O2 and provide them with business support information paying particular attention to the analysis of key sales information, the reporting of ticket figures and the production of venue hire contracts. For more information and to apply click here. |
Ticketmaster US continues to push back following touting exposé
Live Nation's Ticketmaster in the US continues to push back against criticism over its involvement in the secondary ticketing market Stateside following last week's exposé by the Toronto Star and CBC. In a new post on the company's corporate blog, the ticketing giant's President Jared Smith insists that at least some reporting and commentary around last week's revelations are based on a misunderstanding of what the firm's TradeDesk product does.
The Toronto Star/CBC report centred on a trade fair in Las Vegas for ticket brokers - aka touts or, given we're in North America, scalpers - where Ticketmaster was promoting its TradeDesk service, which helps touts manage and organise tickets they have acquired for resale. Ticketmaster, of course, operates both primary and secondary ticketing platforms, and although it is now closing down the latter in Europe, it remains active in both in the US.
In last week's report, a Ticketmaster employee is seen candidly discussing how he knows that users of the firm's TradeDesk product routinely break rules on the main Ticketmaster.com primary site in order to access larger quantities of tickets for resale. Primary ticketing set-ups routinely limit how many tickets any one customer can buy. In the conversation filmed by the Toronto Star and CBC, the Ticketmaster rep discusses how his TradeDesk clients therefore have multiple Ticketmaster.com accounts so to hoover up more tickets.
The Ticketmaster employee is very blasé about all this, noting that a tout couldn't make a living if he or she only had the six to eight tickets for in-demand shows that his own company's primary site allows them to purchase. He also insists that the TradeDesk side of the Live Nation business won't share this knowledge with the primary side of the company, which is meant to be cracking down on touts buying up large numbers of tickets to shows.
In a subsequent interview with Billboard, Smith conceded that last week's report shows "there's clearly some things that we're not doing well enough". However, he also insisted that the Toronto Star/CBC story was "predicated on misinformation and a misunderstanding". In the new blog post, he says that he feels many people have inferred that TradeDesk is a tool to help touts actually access tickets, which it is not. Rather it is a platform that helps them manage tickets they have already acquired elsewhere.
There are reasons beyond the bad PR caused by last week's exposé for why Ticketmaster is keen to communicate precisely what services TradeDesk provides. In 2016, a law was passed at a federal level in the US outlawing the use of special software to hoover up tickets from primary ticketing sites. The banning of such software, usually referred to as bots, is generally seen has the most basic of ticket touting regulation, and such bans are usually supported by most of the secondary ticketing companies, including Ticketmaster.
Following last week's report, the senators who led on 2016's Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act in Congress - Jerry Moran and Richard Blumenthal - sent a letter to Live Nation chief Michael Rapino. The letter stated that "given our ongoing interest in protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices, we seek clarification on the use of [the TradeDesk] program". It then asked four specific questions about the TradeDesk service and how the company enforces the ticket limit policies on its primary site.
In his blog post, Smith states: "Let me be absolutely clear and definitive that Ticketmaster does not have, and has never had, any program or product that helps professional resellers gain an advantage to buy tickets ahead of fans. Period. We would never make anything like that, which would go against the very core of who we are and what we do".
As for what TradeDesk does, Smith says it is simply "an inventory management tool for professional ticket resellers (brokers)". Name-checking the competition, he goes on: "Like StubHub's product called Ticket Utils or Vivid Seat's Skybox, TradeDesk is used by brokers to manage tickets they already have".
Adding that "these tickets could have come from Ticketmaster, from other ticketing systems or could have been purchased directly from a team, a venue or another reseller", he then adds that "TradeDesk is overwhelmingly used to manage season tickets for sporting events".
Although TradeDesk is just another inventory management tool like those offered by StubHub and Vivid Seat, Smith adds that - because it is linked to the main Ticketmaster platform - his product can validate some of the tickets uploaded to it, meaning it provides some protection for resellers and the people they resell their tickets to. Which is why it's a good thing that Ticketmaster is in the secondary game, he implies.
Continuing on that theme, he writes: "We are aware that many people don't believe we should be working with ticket brokers at all. But as long as there is a massive disconnect between supply and demand in live event tickets, there is going to be a secondary market. Choosing not to participate would simply push resale back to those who care less than we do about artists and fans". Lawyers might call that the 'Viagogo defence'.
As for the bloody bots, of which TradeDesk is not, remember, Smith then writes: "The frustrating thing about this article is that Ticketmaster is by far the leader in fighting for fans and against scalpers using tools that let them cheat. We have invested more than anyone else in an arms race against the use of bots. We have also worked with multiple regulatory and law enforcement bodies to protect real fans, pursued lawsuits against abusers of our systems and fought hard to help enact the federal law banning the use of bots".
Concluding Smith states: "Nevertheless, we agree these are important issues that can be complex and confusing. We are committed to helping create more understanding and to building products to do what we can to improve the ticket buying process for all fans".
Of course, what's interesting is that while some of what Smith has been saying in the last week relates to the specifics of the American ticketing market, a lot of it echoes arguments previously presented by Ticketmaster in Europe. In particular the line that if a good guy like Ticketmaster isn't involved in the resale market, it would be dominated by all the bad guys.
That didn't stop Ticketmaster Europe ultimately bailing on traditional resale declaring: "That's right, we've listened and we hear you: secondary sites just don't cut it anymore and you're tired of seeing others snap up tickets just to resell for a profit".
It remains to be seen if Ticketmaster can weather this storm Stateside and then carry on working with the touts in peace, touting being generally less controversial over there than it has been over here (beyond a little bots bashing). Although if there are anti-touting artists and promoters in America who would like to put the secondary market there under pressure, as has happened in Europe, now might be a good time to rally the troops.
Latest draft of MMA approved by House Of Representatives
America's Music Modernization Act now just needs the signature of Donald Trump - last seen performing a little stand-up at the UN Comedy Club - in order to become law. The President is expected to provide that signature with little fuss, after which he'll presumably brag loudly about how he personally made the music industry great again.
The House Of Representatives yesterday unanimously approved the latest draft of the copyright reforming legislation, which had been amended while in Senate. The lower house of US Congress speedily passed an earlier version of the MMA back in April. Getting it through Senate proved a little more taxing - with spats involving SESAC and SiriusXM along the way - but the upper house hotlined an amended version last week. Which is what the House Of Representatives approved yesterday.
The MMA, of course, brings together various music copyright reforms. Perhaps the most important is an attempt to fix the way mechanical royalties are paid to songwriters and publishers in the US, an initiative which will result in the creation of a new collecting society. The act also fixes the pre-1972 quirk in US copyright law and changes the way the Copyright Royalty Board and the rate courts consider what royalty rates are fair for compulsory licences and licences issued by song right collecting societies BMI and ASCAP.
The final version of the act has been named after Orrin Hatch, one of the key backers of the legislation in Congress. Speaking before yesterday's final vote in the House Of Representatives, he said of the act: "There's a reason this bill passed the Senate unanimously, and why it will shortly pass the House with overwhelming support. And that's because all sides of the music industry came together to find a way to make our music laws better. To make them function properly. To update them for the digital age".
He added: "No side got everything it wanted. But everyone got something. And at the end of the day, we have a piece of legislation we can all be proud of".
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BMI heads to the rate court over live industry royalties
US collecting society BMI has gone legal in a dispute with the North American Concert Promoters Association over what rates the US live industry should pay for staging public performances of its members' songs.
The song right society says that is has been negotiating with reps for the American live sector for nearly five years to try to agree new rates. It wants to increase what its members receive when their songs are performed live, an increase which, it says, would bring its rates more inline with what is being paid to other societies, in both the US and beyond.
The American live sector generally pays much lower royalties to songwriters and music publishers than elsewhere in the world, and especially when compared with Europe. Even with the not insignificant increases BMI is now pushing for, rates would still generally be quite a bit lower than those charged by most European performing rights organisations.
BMI has now filed a petition in the federal rate court in a bid to seek a resolution. The society's EVP of Licensing & Creative, Mike Steinberg, said yesterday: "The music created by songwriters and composers and enjoyed by American music fans is the backbone of the live concert industry, yet the rate paid to BMI for the use of its affiliates' music vastly undervalues that contribution".
He went on: "We have spent nearly five years attempting to finalise new rates with NACPA that more closely align with the higher rates NACPA members have already agreed to pay to other PROs, both internationally and in the US".
"Instead", he concluded, "NACPA is attempting to shortchange BMI affiliates and rely on outdated rates that do not reflect the evolution of the music industry or take in to account the expanded revenue streams that result from the performances of BMI music. We believe we have a compelling case and look forward to presenting our positions to the court".
Doc N Roll film festival announces 2018 programme
The Doc N Roll music documentary festival is set to hit London for the fifth time in November. This year, the event will screen 28 films, covering a wide range of countries and genres.
Included in the programme is the premiere of 'Our Most Brilliant Friends', a film about Slow Club. The duo will take part in a Q&A as part of the screening at the Barbican on 1 Nov, which will open this year's festival.
"Our fifth London edition is the culmination of five years of relentless DIY spirit - blood sweat and tears from ourselves and a passionate volunteer group of independent film and music fanatics", says event founder Colm Forde. "Along the way, we've grown an ever expanding young audience of underserved fans across the UK, while inspiring many flattering imitators and upsetting the industry dinosaurs".
He continues: "Our programme of 28 films includes sixteen first-time directors who champion the power of music and film as universal languages of hope and inclusion".
In addition to all that, the festival will also be presenting screenings around the country next year. Forde continues: "We are also delighted to bring these amazing films on tour in 2019 to many alternative music cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Brighton and Nottingham - come and get em!"
Elsewhere in the programme, films will look at artists including Badly Drawn Boy, The Wedding Present, Kojey Radical, Anti-Nowhere League, Sepultura and Chilly Gonzales, as well as the Trojan and Blue Note labels, and genres including punk, grindcore, and Detroit techno.
| Approved: Bliss Signal Bliss Signal sees producers Jack Adams (aka Mumdance) and James Kelly (aka Wife) come together to blend black metal and electronic music to incredible effect. Drawing on Kelly's previous experience with experimental metal outfit Altars Of Plague, the pair create heavy instrumental music that is rich in atmosphere and flits between punishing and euphoric. Following the release of their debut EP, 'Drift', in August, they are set to release their debut album, 'Bliss Signal', this week. Following title track 'Bliss Signal' - which also featured on the EP - and another called 'Surge', the latest track to be released from the album is 'Tranq'. Check that out here.Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column by subscribing to our Spotify playlist. |
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy announces new solo album
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy has announced that he will release a new solo album, titled 'Warm', in November. The announcement coincides with the release of the video for new song 'Some Birds'.
The clip is directed by Seth Henrikson, who says: "When I got the call to collaborate with Jeff on the video for 'Some Birds' it was a thrill and an honour. The concept for the video naturally highlights Jeff's amazing songwriting and lyrical genius. However, it also exploits another of Jeff's gifts - his uncanny sense of men's fashion and hairstyles".
The album is out on 30 Nov. Watch the video for 'Some Birds' here.
Childish Gambino postpones final tour due to injury
Donald Glover has postponed dates on what he has said will be his final tour as Childish Gambino, after reportedly breaking his foot.
It is as yet unclear how many shows will be postponed, although LA's Forum venue has confirmed that tonight's planned show will not go ahead.
On Twitter, Glover's manager Fam Rothstein said: "'This Is America' tour is postponed, not cancelled. My guy played through the pain, but has to sit some dates out. Back before the year's over".
Glover ended a show in Dallas around 30 minutes early on Sunday, after apparently injuring himself. But sources later told TMZ that the injury did not occur on stage in Dallas, as had originally been reported, rather an existing injury was causing new pain.
He is said to have arrived for a show in Las Vegas on Friday in a wheelchair and wearing a leg brace, taking it off before getting on stage.
New Hope Club, National Album Day, Arctic Monkeys, more
Other notable announcements and developments today...
• Warner/Chappell has signed New Hope Club to a worldwide publishing deal. For recordings, the band are signed to The Vamps' Virgin/EMI imprint Steady Records. "It made sense that The Vamps were given their own label, it's clear that the boys have the ability to spot amazing talent - and they've proven this with New Hope Club", says W/C MD Mike Smith.
• The Association Of Independent Music has announced an event in partnership with Pitchblack Playlist and MQA for that National Album Day thing on 13 Oct. Running throughout the day, music fans will have the chance to listen to six albums in high quality audio, including records by Mogwai and Gil Scott-Heron, in total darkness. More details here.
• Arctic Monkeys are auctioning twelve limited edition, framed prints of the band in aid of homelessness charity Centrepoint, signed by both band members and photographer Zackery Michael. More details here.
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra have already released one album this year - 'Sex & Food' - back in April. They're back already with another though, 'IC-01 Hanoi', which will be released on 26 Oct. From it, this is 'Hanoi 6'.
• She Drew The Gun have released the second track from their upcoming second album, 'Revolution Of Mind'. This is 'Resistor Reprise'.
• Vessel has released new single 'Argo (For Maggie)' from upcoming new album 'Queen of Golden Dogs', which is out on 9 Nov.
• Yaeji has released new track 'One More'. Of it she says, "'One More' is about enduring and coming to terms with pain until you have the strength to forgive and move on".
• Murphykid has released new single 'Wolf'. "The 'Wolf' from which this song takes its title is the old black dog", he says. "[It was] written at a time where the coming of night was something I didn't look forward to because it exposed anxieties easier to ignore with the distractions of daytime". The song is taken from his debut album, 'Skeletons', which is out on 12 Oct.
• Haiku Hands have announced UK tours dates for next month, including a show at Corsica Studios in London on 23 Oct.
• Stefflon Don has announced that she will play the Hammersmith Apollo on 29 Nov.
• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.
Lil Xan hospitalised after gorging on spicy snacks
With a US tour scheduled to begin tonight, now is not the greatest time for rapper Lil Xan to reveal he's been hospitalised. Everything's still on track though, even though he was apparently vomiting blood at one point. But it's not as serious as it possibly looked, the rapper apparently having been diagnosed with eating too many spicy snacks.
"I just wanna let everybody know, I was in the hospital", he said in a video on Instagram yesterday. "Not due to any drugs but, I guess I ate too many Hot Cheetos and it ripped something in my stomach a little bit, so I puked a little blood. [But] we good".
In the caption on the post, he added: "Just wanna let everyone know that I'm good, healthier than I've ever been and ready to kick of my third tour in NY ... Also be careful, Hot Cheetos are one hell of a drug".
As unlikely as this sounds, the spicy version of Cheetos have apparently been causing doctors concern for a number of years.
In 2012, CBS reported on the high number of children being taken to hospital over concerns relating to eating the snack. A doctor explained that while most cases were not serious, "a number of patients who have consumed these Cheetos in excess have complained of pain in their upper abdomen".
The Chicago Tribune also reported on the potential addictive quality of the snack, causing children to overeat them. One convenience store owner told the newspaper that they were his "number one seller". "Kids get em for breakfast too", he said. "They're crazy about them".
The company that makes Cheetos, Frito-Lay, has said that it is "committed to responsible and ethical marketing practices, which includes not marketing our products to children ages twelve and under". Maybe this policy should also include SoundCloud rappers of all ages.
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