| TOP STORIES | TikTok ends its beef with ICE, agrees licensing deal READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| LABELS & PUBLISHERS | Sony Music Brazil launches digital accelerator programme READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| INDUSTRY PEOPLE | Stagehand launches prize draw to provide more support to COVID-hit live event workers READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| GIGS & FESTIVALS | Pete Tong's Ibiza Classics show to be livestreamed from O2 Arena READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| AWARDS | Grammys fail to avoid controversy with 2021 nominations READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| ONE LINERS | PPL, Liam Gallagher, D Double & Skepta, more READ IN THIS EMAIL | READ ON THE WEBSITE |
| AND FINALLY... | Taylor Swift says she's improving old songs with new recordings 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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NINJA TUNE - MARKETING ASSISTANT (LONDON) Ninja Tune is seeking an enthusiastic and driven Marketing Assistant, to support its UK based team on a full- time basis. This is a perfect opportunity for someone looking for an entry level role into the music industry, eager to learn and does not mind rolling up their sleeves, to get things done in a team environment. Please note this role is admin based. For more information and to apply click here. |
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FKP SCORPIO - UK & EUROPEAN TOURING HEAD OF MARKETING (LONDON) FKP Scorpio is looking for someone to lead the marketing team, creating and managing marketing campaigns for concerts, tours and festivals across the UK, plus overseeing and coordinating marketing for our European Touring division. For more information and to apply click here. |
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ERASED TAPES - PRODUCTION ASSISTANT (LONDON) Erased Tapes is currently seeking a highly organised Production Assistant to support the company Director and Production Manager in their regular administrative duties. The chosen candidate will assist with the production and distribution of Erased Tapes products (digital and physical), including vinyl records, CDs, and label merchandise. For more information and to apply click here. |
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SECRETLY DISTRIBUTION - DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER (LONDON) Secretly Distribution is looking for a Digital Content Manager to be based in London (this position will be work from home until further notice). For more information and to apply click here. |
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JUNO RECORDS - DJ & STUDIO EQUIPMENT SERVICE AND SUPPORT ASSISTANT (LONDON) Juno is looking for an experienced music equipment service and support assistant to assist with product testing, customer support and related administration. For more information and to apply click here. |
Taking place every Tuesday afternoon at 2.30pm London time, these one hour online training sessions are delivered by CMU's Chris Cooke.
Each webinar presents timely and easy-to-understand insights about a different music business topic, with plenty of opportunity to ask questions.
Attendees can also access online resources - including downloadable slides - and a recording of the webinar available for a month after the live session.
BOOK NOW at special rates - access to each individual webinar is just £25, plus there are further discounts if you book into multiple sessions.
| THE EVOLUTION OF MUSIC PIRACY Tuesday 1 Dec 2020 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS As the legitimate digital music market has evolved so has online music piracy. This webinar looks at the piracy challenge over the last 20 years, how the music industry has sought to tackle the problem, and which anti-piracy tactics actually work today. |
| THE EVOLUTION OF ARTIST MANAGEMENT Tuesday 8 Dec 2020 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS The role of the artist manager has changed dramatically over the last two decades as artists themselves seek to take more control over their recorded music and fan relationships. What does management now involve, what skills and knowledge are required, and what should management deals look like? |
| MAKING MONEY FROM MUSIC COPYRIGHT Tuesday 12 Jan 2021 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS The music rights business makes money by exploiting the controls that come with the copyrights in songs and recordings. Get to grips with all the basic principles of copyright law and how music copyright makes money in this user-friendly easy-to-follow webinar. |
| COLLECTIVE LICENSING EXPLAINED - GET PLAYED, GET PAID Tuesday 19 Jan 2021 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS Sometimes the music industry licenses through direct deals, other times it employs the collective licensing approach. Fully understand how collective licensing works - in the UK and around the world - in this user-friendly easy-to-follow webinar. |
| MUSIC RIGHTS DATA MADE SIMPLE Tuesday 26 Jan 2021 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS Getting songwriters and artists paid when their songs and recordings are played often comes down to whether or not the right data is in the system. But what data? This webinar runs through all the key data points and explains how to get information into the system. |
| STREAMING EXPLAINED - THE DIGITAL MARKET IN 2021 Tuesday 2 Feb 2021 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS Streaming now accounts for more than half of recorded music revenues worldwide - and in many countries it's much bigger than that. Get fully up to speed on all the key trends and developments in the global streaming music market in this super timely webinar. |
| STREAMING EXPLAINED - HOW DIGITAL LICENSING WORKS Tuesday 9 Feb 2021 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS The streaming business is complex in terms of how services are licensed, and how artists and songwriters get paid. Get to grips with it all via our concise user-friendly guide to digital licensing and streaming royalties - explained in full in just ten steps. |
| STREAMING EXPLAINED - HOW MONEY GETS SHARED Tuesday 16 Feb 2021 | 2.30pm | BOOK TICKETS Streaming is a revenue share game, with digital dollars shared out each month between artists, songwriters, labels and publishers. We explain how the money is currently split up and talk through why some people in the industry believe a different approach is needed. |
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| NEW! Artist And Songwriter Rights In Ten Steps A ten step guide to the rights artists and songwriters enjoy over their music |
| Music Rights Data In Ten Steps A ten step guide to music rights data, data standards and databases |
| Music Industry Basics In Ten Steps A ten step guide to all the different strands of the modern music industry |
| Streaming Challenges In Ten Steps A ten step guide to the challenges facing the streaming business in 2020 |
| Collective Licensing In Ten Steps A ten step guide to the collective licensing system |
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TikTok ends its beef with ICE, agrees licensing deal
TikTok has agreed a licensing deal with ICE, which brings to an end a legal dispute between the video-sharing app and the copyright hub that is owned by collecting societies STIM, GEMA and PRS.
That legal dispute began in July last year when it emerged that TikTok was taking ICE to the UK copyright tribunal, a special court that can intervene when there is a licensing dispute between a user of music and a collecting society.
That dispute came as TikTok was busy trying to get licensing deals in place with both the record industry and the music publishing sector to cover all the music that is swimming around the video-sharing platform.
ICE's Core licence covers a load of song rights, including the repertoires of Swedish society STIM and German society GEMA, and those works controlled by UK society PRS and Irish society IMRO that are not otherwise covered by publisher negotiated deals.
The Anglo-American catalogues of some of ICE's publisher clients - like Concord, Downtown, Songtrust and Peer Music - are also part of that licence.
TikTok's decision to go to the copyright tribunal suggested that ICE was driving a hard bargain in its licensing talks. Had that legal action gone through the motions, it would have been interesting to see how the tribunal responded.
That court exists mainly to overcome the competition law concerns created by collective licensing, when the music industry basically licences as one. But - while some PRS rights are included in the ICE Core licence - it does not include the full PRS repertoire. So, from a UK perspective, you could argue there aren't any competition law issues when ICE negotiates digital deals.
However, the legal manoeuvre was possibly always more of a negotiating tactic than anything else. At the time TikTok said: "We look forward to continuing the conversation with ICE and reaching an agreement that furthers the opportunity for artists and songwriters on the platform".
Though ICE stated that it was looking forward to "representing our rightsholders' interests and securing appropriate value for the vast scale of usage of their repertoire on the platform".
Whatever, a deal has now been done.
The two parties said in a short matter-of-fact statement earlier today: "ICE and TikTok announce that they have reached agreement on terms to license the TikTok platform in respect of the musical works represented by the ICE Core. This multi-year deal covers TikTok - and its predecessors - from launch and establishes a flow of royalty payments to songwriters and publishers".
TikTok's predecessor, of course, is Musical.ly, the lip-syncing app TikTok absorbed on its way to becoming a global phenomenon.
Elsewhere in TikTok legal news, the US government has again extended the deadline for the app's owner Bytedance to comply with the second of President Donald Trump's TikTok-targeting executive orders, the one stating that China-owned Bytedance must sell off all its American assets.
Bytedance is hoping that a deal with American companies Oracle and Walmart will sufficiently placate its critics in Washington and result in that executive order - and another currently-on-hold order banning Americans from using TikTok - being withdrawn.
The asset sale order was due to come into force earlier this month, but the deadline was then pushed back to today. It's now been extended to 4 Dec. It remains to be seen if Bytedance can persuade Team Trump to approve its Oracle/Walmart deal and call off its executive orders by the end of next week.
Sony Music Brazil launches digital accelerator programme
Sony Music Brazil has launched a new 'digital accelerator programme' which will, and I quote, "drive artificial intelligence and machine learning developments in the Brazilian music market ... that can support artist career development and better fan experiences". And why the hell not, say I.
"We are excited to announce the launch of our new digital accelerator programme as we work to use digital innovation to help further grow the reach and commercial opportunities for artists and provide more transparency and ownership for artists of their own data", says Paulo Junqueiro, MD of Sony Music Brazil.
"By deepening our partnership and engagement with the vibrant Brazilian developer and start-up communities", he adds, "we want to deliver more connections between music lovers and artists and help artists expand their reach to new audiences".
The programme began with a hackathon involving 300 developers, designers and marketeers. Standout projects created during that event, says Sony, include an AI tool that seeks to help the hearing impaired to enjoy music, an app that matches playlists to images, and a project that promotes fan engagement through a series of social media based challenges.
Stagehand launches prize draw to provide more support to COVID-hit live event workers
Stagehand - the charity that provides hardship funding to live event workers - has launched a prize draw seeking to raise money that will allow it to continue to financially support production staff and crew that have been without work for much of the year as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown.
A stack of artists have donated prizes for the campaign. They include handwritten lyrics from Robbie Williams, Florence Welch and Years And Years; clothing worn on stage by FKA Twigs and Royal Blood; the mixing desk that Craig David used for his third album; and the Roland 303 synth that The Chemical Brothers toured with.
Plus there's a wide range of guitars donated by Nile Rogers, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Liam Gallagher and Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey, the latter of which he played at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985. Oh, and John Otway is also offering a gig in your front room.
Basically, you pick whichever of those you'd like to win and enter that specific prize draw for just £5 a time. Monies will support live event workers who have faced huge challenges during the COVID pandemic, and especially those freelancers who - for one reason or another - have been unable to access the government's COVID support schemes.
The fundraising campaign was initiated by artist manager and promoter David Stopps and Stagehand's Andy Lenthall and Mike Lowe, with support from manager Ian McAndrew and agent Tom Schroeder. It's being powered by Crowdfunder, which is waiving its fees on this initiative.
Commenting on the prize draw, Stopps said: "When I heard about the tenth suicide among stage crew in late August I knew I had to do something. Stage crew are not only suffering great financial hardship but nearly all are saying they are also suffering with mental health issues. Money raised from these prize draws will actually save lives".
Meanwhile, Mike Lowe, Chair of Stagehand's board of trustees, added: "We know that when live shows can take place again in financially viable ways, the industry will be extremely busy. Artists, festivals and venues just want to get back to work and the public are hungry to see live entertainment again".
"No live show of any kind can happen without the skills and expertise of the army of live events workers", he went on. "I am sure that the live events industry workers who we can help, will join me and my fellow trustees in expressing our massive appreciation for making all of this happen in the most difficult and unprecedented of times".
You can find out more about the campaign and enter the various prize draws here.
| CMU Insights Webinar: The Evolution Of Music Piracy CMU's Weekly Webinars continue every Tuesday at 2.30pm. We are currently presenting a number of sessions looking at the evolution of different aspects of the music industry. The next of those puts the spotlight on 'The Evolution Of Music Piracy'. It looks at the piracy challenge over the last 20 years, how the music industry has sought to tackle the problem, and which anti-piracy tactics actually work today. Topics covered include... • What the law says about copyright infringement. • The rise of online piracy in the 2000s and the industry's initial response. • The rise of stream ripping and today's piracy challenges. • What the industry at large can do about music piracy today. • What individual rightsholders can do about music piracy today You can book a place on this webinar - and watch it live or on-demand, or both - for just £25. Or book into a number of CMU's upcoming webinars to get further discounts. Get all the info you need here. |
Pete Tong's Ibiza Classics show to be livestreamed from O2 Arena
Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra have announced that they will perform the first show to take place at London's O2 Arena since March next month, with their Ibiza Classics show. Want to be there? Well you can't. Obviously. But they will be livestreaming it.
"2020, our whole year has been lost, no tours, no shows, no exceptions", says Tong. "We can't be together in clubs or concert arenas but we can still put on a show for you. We're going to perform from the floor of the O2 Arena and broadcast it right into your homes. The rave will be back one day but for now we are going to make the most of what we have!"
O2 Programming Director Christian D'Acuna adds: "We are very excited that Pete Tong and The Heritage Orchestra ... are returning to The O2 with their Ibiza Classics show for a fifth consecutive year - no pandemic will get in the way of this annual tradition. It will be the first time The O2 has had any live music performed in the venue since March and despite there being no fans in the venue, it's great to return to live with one of our favourite shows".
The show will take place on 19 Dec and will be streamed on LIVENow. Tickets are on sale now here.
Grammys fail to avoid controversy with 2021 nominations
With this week's Grammy nominations, as ever, came controversy, as numerous artists were seen to have been snubbed by the awards.
The Weeknd in particular has accused organisers of corruption after he received no nominations. Which, to be fair, is weird in a year when he's been everywhere and released by far some of the year's most successful music. Justin Bieber, meanwhile, is cross not at a lack of nominations (he got four) but at the categories in which he was placed.
"The Grammys remain corrupt", tweeted The Weeknd on Wednesday. "You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency".
In an interview with Billboard, the boss of Grammy makers the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr, said: "We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathise with what he's feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone's admiration".
"Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists", he went on. "But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognise and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community".
Bieber, meanwhile, took exception to three of his four nominations being in pop categories for music he says should be recognised as R&B.
"I set out to make an R&B album", he said on Instagram. "'Changes' was and is an R&B album. It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album, which is very strange to me. I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound".
"For this not to be put into that category feels weird", he went on "considering from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style, all the way down to the hip hop drums that were chosen, it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B album".
"To be clear, I absolutely love pop music", he added. "It just wasn't what I set out to make this time around. My gratitude for feeling respected for my work remains and I am honoured to be nominated either way".
Another act who received no nominations this year (although they've not actually had a nomination since 2006) were The Killers.
In their response on social media, they channelled Donald Trump, writing: "OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. WE WON THE GRAMMYS, GOT LOADS OF LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. DOZENS OF BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM! #RIGGEDGRAMMYS #WEWON".
APPOINTMENTS
Jackie Davidson and Peter Thoms were elected Performer Directors of UK record industry collecting society PPL earlier this week. "We warmly welcome Jackie Davidson MBE and Peter Thoms to PPL as new Performer Directors, whose experience will play a crucial role in PPL's continued strong performance", says PPL CEO Peter Leathem. "I would also like to thank Crispin Hunt and Mark Kelly, as they step down, for their commitment and contribution to our work".
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RELEASES
Liam Gallagher has released new single 'All You're Dreaming Of'. It's "an instant classic that is perfect for this time of year", he says modestly. "Considering the year that we've all had, I hope this brings back some much needed love and hope. Bing Crosby would have been proud".
D Double E and Skepta have released new collaboration 'Don'.
Christine And The Queens and Indochine have released a new single together called '3Sex'. The song rework's Indochine's 1986 track '3e Sexe'.
Saint Jhn has released new single 'Smack DVD', featuring Kanye West.
Fred Again... has released new single 'Julia (Deep Diving)'.
Jamie Cullum has released the video for 'Hang Your Lights', from his 'The Pianoman At Christmas' album.
Youmeatsix have released new single 'Suckapunch'. It's "about reclaiming your own consciousness when you've lost it along the way", says frontman Josh Franceschi. "[The line] 'rise from the wreckage that you left behind' is really something that we've collectively experienced as a band. It's a universal statement for recovering from a difficult time when you've been left behind".
Balthazar have released new single 'You Won't Come Around'. Their new album, 'Sand', is out on 26 Feb.
Roxanne de Bastion has released new single 'Heavy Lifting'.
Maddox Jones has released new single 'World's Gone Mad'. "The song is about being there for each other in these crazy times", he says. "We've obviously been going through a lot this year and I think what's really kept it all together is having your friends around or having your partner, and just holding each other up".
Yergirl has released new single 'Until We Meet Again'. It's "about breaking up with someone you still love", she says. "I wrote 'UWMA' after a very amicable break up and we were saying that we'd like to get together again if our life situations allow".
Unknown P has released new single 'Piers Morgan'. "Unknown P comes to burst the bubble of what the stereotypical drill artist and fan 'should' look like", says comedian Munya Chawawa, the creator of the character. "He's a pheasant-eating, Brexit-backing Tory who loves the genre as much as the next man and furthermore, he's a decent drill artist in his own right".
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GIGS & TOURS
Chilly Gonzales will live stream 'A Very Chilly Christmas Special' on 23 Dec, with guest appearances from Jarvis Cocker, Feist and more. Tickets and details here.
Greg Puciato will perform a livestreamed show, under the title 'Fuck Content', on 11 Dec. "This for me is a release, as much as any other, it's not a livestream, it's not some way to placate people who aren't seeing shows, or to keep me busy", he says. "It's something we sank our teeth into creatively, as much as a record, and I'm excited for everyone to see and hear what we've got to show them". Tickets here.
Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.
Taylor Swift says she's improving old songs with new recordings
Taylor Swift has revealed a little more about her efforts to re-record each of her first six albums, saying that so far she's enjoyed most revisiting some of her earliest songs.
The project, of course, is - first and foremost - an act of spite, as a result of Swift's anger that her former label Big Machine - and the master recording rights in those albums - were sold to Scooter Braun last year. Having attempted and failed (twice now) to acquire those rights herself, she is instead recording new versions of all of her Big Machine albums.
Recently she said that part of the reason for this is so that fans can stream and buy those older songs without feeling guilty that they are putting money into the pocket of big bad Braun.
Although, as she has also been blocking any sync deals involving the original recordings - able to do so because she is in control of the accompanying publishing rights - it seems that she will also be pushing the new recordings to TV, film and advertising companies too.
As she is basically seeking to replace those older recordings, there had been speculation that she would attempt to painstakingly recreate them, so that the new versions sound exactly like the old versions. Not so, she now says. In fact, she thinks she's now able to make them better.
"I'm having a really good time", she told 'Good Morning America' of the re-recording process. "It's a really amazing, fun adventure. So far, of the ones I've recorded, I think it's been the most fun doing [2008 track] 'Love Story', because the older music, my voice was so teenaged and I sometimes, when I hear my older music and my young teenage voice, it makes me feel like I'm a different singer now".
"So it's been the most fun to re-record ones that I feel like I could actually possibly improve upon the song", she then added. It remains to be seen if she's right, and if fans of those original songs will want to hear and stream the new "improved" versions.
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