| TOP STORIES | Prolific ticket touts found guilty of fraud READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| LABELS & PUBLISHERS | Vivendi puts IPO back on the agenda for Universal Music IMRO announces Concertify tie up READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| DIGITAL & D2F SERVICES | Coldcut release new music-making app READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| RELEASES | Jacknife Lee announces new album READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| GIGS & FESTIVALS | JLS reform for arena tour READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ONE LINERS | Sam Smith, Grimes, Tim Burgess, more READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| AND FINALLY... | Billie Eilish to perform Bond theme at BRITs READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| 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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SECRETLY GROUP - PROJECT MANAGER (BLOOMINGTON/BROOKLYN/LA) Secretly Group is looking for a motivated, ambitious and enthusiastic full-time Project Manager. The position will be based in one of our three main US offices: Bloomington (IN), Brooklyn (NY), Los Angeles (CA). 2-4 years of music industry experience are essential. For more information and to apply click here. |
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UNION CHAPEL - HEAD OF EVENTS & COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES (LONDON) Union Chapel looking for an experienced Head of Events and Commercial Activities with a keen interest in events management, programming and income generation for the benefit of the arts, culture, social justice and heritage. For more information and to apply click here. |
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WARP RECORDS - LEGAL AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS ASSISTANT (LONDON) Warp Records is seeking a legal and business affairs assistant to join its team in London. The role will also give the opportunity to work closely with other parts of the Warp Group, including Warp Publishing and its retail and technology businesses. For more information and to apply click here. |
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SNAPPER MUSIC - DIGITAL MARKETING COORDINATOR (LONDON) Experienced digital marketing person required to work within long established independent record company Snapper Music in central London. The label covers a broad section of music from alternative rock to metal. Knowledge of this music genre is not essential but a passion for digital marketing is. For more information and to apply click here. |
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CHERRY RED RECORDS - SYNC MANAGER (LONDON) Cherry Red Records is looking for a dynamic, self-motivated Sync Manager to join its existing team. Applicants must have a good level of experience and contacts in the world of synchronisation, and an interest in music's rich and varied past. For more information and to apply click here. |
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PRS FOR MUSIC - CONTENT EDITOR (LONDON) PRS For Music is looking for an experienced Content Editor with a flair for creating engaging copy and rich media to play an integral role in the organisation's Creative Services team. For more information and to apply click here. |
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DOMINO - HEAD OF MARKETING (LONDON) Domino Recording Company seeks a full time UK Head of Marketing. The Head of Marketing will lead Domino's marketing strategy delivering compelling and innovative (digital-first) experiences to engage our artist's audiences. For more information and to apply click here. |
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SECRETLY GROUP - OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR (LONDON) Secretly Group/Secretly Distribution requires an Office Administrator. Located in the Shoreditch office, this is the perfect position for anyone with office administration or management experience. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ERASED TAPES - DIGITAL CONTENT & COMMUNITY MANAGER (LONDON) Erased Tapes is seeking a dynamic and highly organised digital creative to develop engaging content for strategic social media campaigns around our artist releases, tours and label events across all platforms, working 2-3 days per week. For more information and to apply click here. |
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MINDS ON FIRE - PUBLISHING ASSISTANT (LONDON) Minds On Fire is looking for an aspiring professional with outstanding administration skills to join our team based out of its new office in Kings Cross, London. The ideal candidate will have had some music publishing experience in a relevant role either as an employee or as an intern. For more information and to apply click here. |
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YOUR ARMY - INFLUENCER PROMOTIONS MANAGER (LONDON) This role is to launch a new exciting service at Your Army, creating moments in the real world that will impact on the digital space. The ideal candidate will have a comprehensive understanding of Influencer and DJ culture and a love of pop, dance and urban music. For more information and to apply click here. |
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AUDIO NETWORK - COPYRIGHT ADMINISTRATOR (LONDON) Audio Network is looking for an experienced and highly organised Copyright Administrator to join its publishing team, responsible for the end-to-end copyright and royalty payment processes through registering and managing PRO works data (via CWR), to running royalty distributions to our composers/artists. For more information and to apply click here. |
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STAY LOOSE - SENIOR PRESS OFFICER (UK - FLEXIBLE) Stay Loose is hiring for a full-time publicist with at least two years of PR experience. The ideal candidate will be driven, highly-organised and with proven experience in managing campaigns for returning names and helping break new artists. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ADELPHOI MUSIC - PRODUCER/MUSIC SUPERVISOR (LONDON) Adelphoi Music is seeking a Producer/Music Supervisor to join its London team. You will manage production and music supervision ensuring high-quality output in order to increase conversion rate. For more information and to apply click here. |
Prolific ticket touts found guilty of fraud
Two of the UK's most prolific ticket touts have been found guilty of fraud at the conclusion of a criminal case that could set some interesting precedents regarding what British law says about the unofficial resale of tickets for profit online.
The case was pursued by National Trading Standards, which began investigating various industrial-level ticket touting operations after the UK government's 2016 Waterson Report declared that consumer rights law needed to be better enforced in the secondary ticketing domain.
The defendants were Peter Hunter and David Smith, who operated as Ticket Wiz and BZZ, and who were dubbed as "dishonest fraudsters motivated by greed" when the case against them arrived in Leeds Crown Court last year. That the two men ran a prolific ticket touting operation was not disputed, the question was whether their operations broke any laws.
Yesterday the jury concluded "fuck, yeah", with both men being found guilty of fraudulent trading and possessing an article for fraud. Earlier in the case, the prosecution explained how, through Ticket Wiz and BZZ, the defendants used bespoke software and a specialist browser to hoover up tickets from primary ticketing sites, using multiple identities and credit cards to circumvent rules that limit how many tickets any one person can buy.
They were also accused of failing to warn buyers that touted tickets might be cancelled by a promoter, and of speculatively selling tickets they hadn't actually acquired yet.
Quite what wider impact yesterday's ruling has on other industrial-level touting operations - and the websites they used to sell their tickets - remains to be seen. Whereas National Trading Standards has gone after the actual touts, the Competition & Markets Authority has taken the lead in scrutinising the operations of the resale sites, which these days mainly means the soon-to-merge Viagogo and StubHub.
Yesterday's ruling was welcomed by those who have campaigned against online ticket touting, including the FanFair Alliance and MP Sharon Hodgson.
Adam Webb from the former said: "Today's verdict shines further light on the murky world of secondary ticketing, and the dependency of websites such as Viagogo and StubHub upon large-scale commercial ticket resellers. We strongly suspect Peter Hunter and David Smith are not exceptional, and that other suppliers to these sites may also acquire tickets by unlawful means - no questions asked".
"Given the outcome of this case", he went on, "it is now urgent that National Trading Standards are resourced to increase the scope of their investigations, and for the Competition & Markets Authority to apply further scrutiny towards the secondary ticketing market overall. If the likes of Viagogo, StubHub and other secondary sites operate without due diligence then their directors must be held to account".
Meanwhile Hodgson, who has long campaigned on this issue, added: "This hugely significant verdict is vindication of the years of campaigning by people who have been ripped off by ticket touts, often with devastating personal consequences. As someone who has been fighting against some of the worst offenders in the secondary ticketing market for years now, I hope that this verdict sets a clear precedent moving forward".
"I have been calling for the National Trading Standards to be resourced sufficiently in order to increase the scope of their investigations, and for the Competition & Markets Authority to apply further scrutiny towards the secondary ticketing market overall", she continues. "For far too long, people motivated by greed have been abusing the goodwill and desperation of genuine fans, and that must end".
Vivendi puts IPO back on the agenda for Universal Music
Vivendi has announced that it will IPO its music division Universal. Despite having previously opted not to IPO its music division Universal. Maybe it saw the modest flutter of excitement that followed Warner Music's IPO announcement last week and got jealous. Now it can have its own modest flutter.
French conglom Vivendi formally announced its intent to sell off some of the Universal Music Group in 2018, it being keen to cash in on the streaming boom. There was talk of an Initial Public Offering back then, but in the end Vivendi opted for a series of private deals with "strategic partners".
The first of those deals was agreed at the end of last year with a consortium led by Chinese web giant Tencent. We knew talks were ongoing with other possible "strategic partners". But it was in an investor update yesterday that it was announced that the plan to offload some stock via an IPO was back on the agenda.
The investor update began with some chatter about the Tencent deal, which will see that consortium take 10% of Universal now, with the option to take 10% more down the line. The update added: "This agreement will be shortly complemented by a second agreement allowing Tencent Music Entertainment to acquire a minority interest in the share capital of UMG's subsidiary that houses its operations in Greater China".
Then it said: "Vivendi's Supervisory Board was informed of ongoing negotiations regarding the possible sale of additional minority interests". And that: "Eight banks have been mandated by Vivendi to assist it in this matter". Oh yes, and "an initial public offering is currently planned for early 2023 at the latest".
So there you have it. But what's changed since 2018? According to the FT, when asked that very question, Vivendi boss Arnaud de Puyfontaine said the market used to be "sceptical on the reliability of our business model in emerging markets". The alliance with Tencent in China could help address such concerns. He went on: "Given the progress that we have made and the current situation we're in, what was ruled out at the time now is obviously not anymore".
Of course, since 2018, interest in music rights among the investment community has only risen, and the Tencent deal proved there was sufficient demand to value Universal Music at around $33 billion. All of which might have also helped motivate the change in plan.
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IMRO announces Concertify tie up
Irish song rights collecting society IMRO has announced that it is employing a technology called Concertify which, it says, will "help songwriters, composers and music publishers to receive royalties faster after live music concerts" in international markets.
IMRO has already been piloting the data platform for six months. Meanwhile, the Finnish company behind it, Mind Your Rights, has worked with a number of other societies to hone the service, including PRS in the UK, and especially Finland's Teosto.
In the official blurb, Concertify is described as a platform that "simplifies data and the transfer of data between stakeholders including artists, event organisers, copyright societies, copyright owners and music publishers. The efficiencies gained through Concertify ultimately achieve faster foreign royalty collection".
Confirming IMRO's involvement, the society's Sean Donegan says: "At IMRO, our focus has always been on innovating to drive efficiencies for our members, affiliates, and partners. Concertify has the potential to become an essential tool in the advancement of live music reporting, distribution and interaction within the entire royalty collection society network".
The boss of Mind Your Rights, Roope Pajasmaa, adds: "We are excited to be working with IMRO, alongside other societies, to take concert copyright management to a new level. Concertify offers societies new digital toolsets, contributing to IMRO's data-driven and digitally innovative approach to rights management".
Coldcut release new music-making app
Ninja Tune and Coldcut have released a new iPad-based music-making app called Jamm Pro - a new version of the existing Ninja Jamm app.
Designed by one half of Coldcut and Ninja Tune co-founder Matt Black, the app was originally intended as a tool for Coldcut live shows and has existed in various forms for 25 years. Encompassing a variety of sequencers, the key upgrade in this version is the ability for users to input their own sounds - either through pre-recorded samples, using the iPad microphone, or taking sounds from other apps, or from instruments such as guitar and keyboard.
"Sound is living data, like DNA", says Brown. "Just as information wants to be free, not fixed, sound can be fluidly mixed, mutated, and recombined in infinite ways so the mix is never finished, it stays alive".
The app is available in Apple's App Store now. Watch a video demonstration here.
| CMU Insights: Download the first Pathways Into Music guide Yesterday at the Output conference in Belfast, CMU launched the first in a series of Pathways Into Music guides, which are mapping music careers, and proposing how music education and the music industry could better support young music-makers. The first guide reviews the frontline artist career, breaking that pathway down into ten steps, from hobbyist to headliner. The traditional music industry gets involved in a focused way at around about step four, making steps one to three the DIY Phase. A key question being tackled by the wider project is: what do artists need to do to progress through the DIY Phase, and what support is available to help with that process? The guide identifies DIY services, industry organisations, mentors, peers and educators as all playing a key role during those first three steps. One way to ensure that more DIY Phase artists have access to that support is to enable them to identify and connect with a local music industry. To help with that process, Pathways Into Music has also developed a taxonomy and methodology for mapping local music communities, which will be outlined in the next guide. All of this will be discussed in much more detail at the Music Education Conference as part of The Great Escape in May. That is open to all TGE delegates, plus standalone tickets are also available for £75 - info here. You can download a free copy of the first Pathways Into Music guide here. |
Jacknife Lee announces new album
Producer Jacknife Lee has announced a new album of his own, although he's got a long list of collaborators on there, including Aloe Blacc, Beth Ditto, Petite Noir, and Open Mike Eagle.
The album, he explains, began as a way for him to break out of his usual ways of working, while also giving him a good excuse to record music with other artists purely because he admired them. "It's usually my job to organise the sessions and to a certain extent be the grown up in the room", he says. "This is me not being that".
First single from the record is 'Made It Weird', with rapper Open Mike Eagle. Of the track, Jacknife Lee says: "Open Mike Eagle was on my dream list of collaborators but I didn't think he'd do it. His flow is ridiculously clever and smooth. I've been a fan of his for ages. Once he was convinced to come to [my studio in] Topanga we just hung out, listened to records and I played him the beat and he took it away. And then this happened. He makes it sound so so easy but he's doing some mad shit in there".
Titled 'The Jacknife Lee', the album will be released through Slow Kids Records on 29 May. Here's 'Made It Weird'.
JLS reform for arena tour
JLS have confirmed that they are reforming, with tour dates planned for November and December this year.
In a statement, the group say: "We are so excited to be working together as a group again. We've always been like family, and now we feel that this is the right time for us to get back on stage and perform in front of our loyal fans. Even though it's been seven years, you can be sure that it's going to be as high energy as ever".
Get ready for those backflips then. Tickets for the tour go on sale on 21 Feb. Here are the dates:
12 Nov: Dublin, 3Arena
13 Nov: Belfast, SSE Arena
15 Nov: Brighton, Centre
16 Nov: Bournemouth International Centre
18 Nov: Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
19 Nov: Hull, Bonus Arena
20 Nov: Sheffield, FlyDSA Arena
21 Nov: Newcastle, Utilita Arena
25 Nov: Leeds, First Direct Arena
26 Nov: Glasgow, The SSE Hydro
27 Nov: Manchester Arena
28 Nov: Birmingham, Resorts World Arena
30 Nov: Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
1 Dec: London, The O2
2 Dec: Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
RELEASES
Sam Smith's new album will released on 1 May, titled 'To Die For'. The title track is out as a single today. "I'm more proud of this album than anything I've ever done", says Smith. "I've really set myself free the last two years whilst writing this and I hope you can dance and relate to these stories".
Grimes has released new single 'Delete Forever', which she says is about "losing friends to the opioid crisis and the self-hatred that arises when the grieving process mimics the behaviours that cost your friends their lives".
Tim Burgess has released new single 'Empathy For The Devil', and announced that he will release new solo album, 'I Love A New Sky', on 22 May through Bella Union.
Producer RAC has released a cover of Third Eye Blind's 'Never Let You Go', featuring Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma. "This started as an inside joke, something we were doing just for the fun of it", says RAC. "I think you can hear that in the song. Sometimes the best things come out when you're not really trying".
Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes have announced collaborative album 'What Kinda Music', set for release on Blue Note on 24 Apr. Here's the video for the title track.
Knxwledge has released two new singles, 'Learn' and 'Howtokope'. Both are taken from his forthcoming album '1988', out through Stones Throw on 27 Mar.
Coriky - comprising Fugazi's Ian MacKaye and Joe Lally, and The Evens' Amy Farina - have announced that they will release their debut album on 27 Mar. From it, this is 'Clean Kill'.
Moaning have released new single 'Fall In Love'. The track is taken from their new album 'Uneasy Laughter', out through Sub Pop on 20 Mar.
Scandal have released the video for 'Tonight', from their latest album 'Kiss From The Darkess'.
Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.
Billie Eilish to perform Bond theme at BRITs
Billie Eilish will debut her James Bond theme song 'No Time To Die' at next week's BRIT Awards. That's quite a coup, because everyone thought she was going to do it at last weekend's Oscars. Although it's not that much of a coup, given that the song was released this morning, so it's not really a debut at all.
Alright, it's a debut performance, I guess. So long as she doesn't accidentally sing it somewhere else first. She only has to keep quiet until Tuesday night, so fingers crossed.
On the recorded version of the new track, Eilish is backed by an orchestra, conducted by Hans Zimmer. Imagine if they got Hans Zimmer to do the BRITs with her too. And an orchestra. Well that would be quite a coup. That would never happen though, would it? Well, apparently yes. This is all according to the Daily Mail, by the way.
Asked to describe the song recently, Eilish said, "I guess it's a ballad". I guess it is too. By which I mean, I have heard it and here it is.
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