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PRS releases new figures on the ongoing gender imbalance within the society
The number of female songwriters and composers joining UK collecting society PRS for the first time is increasing year-on-year, with nearly twice as many new female members in 2020 compared to 2018. However, a significant gender imbalance continues at the organisation, both in terms of total membership, and royalties received by those members.

In new figures published to coincide with International Women's Day today, PRS says that last year 1971 women registered with the society. That's nearly double the 1097 who signed up in 2018, and also a 12.3% increase on sign-ups in 2019.

However, 81.7% of PRS's membership is male. And in 2020, the ten highest earning female PRS members together earned 70% less via the society than the ten highest earning male PRS members. The disparity in earnings actually widened last year, having been 67% in 2019.

Given that, in the main, when music is licensed through collecting societies everyone earns the same rate per usage - with rates differing according to the kind of usage rather than what songs are used - that means that music from male songwriters is being broadcast, streamed and performed significantly more than music by female songwriters.

When similar figures were recently published by the Danish collecting society Koda, British researcher and campaigner Vick Bain - whose current PhD research is documenting the careers of women in the music industry - noted that the reasons for that disparity "are many and complicated".

However, she told CMU, "research demonstrates women do not receive the same professional support in their careers – such as being signed by publishing companies – and in exploiting those works, such as receiving radio airplay or getting festival slots".

Various initiatives are seeking to ensure that more female music-makers have access to that support, of course. PRS notes that - in addition to the Keychange initiative led by the PRS Foundation - the society has also been supporting other programmes like Girls I Rate and Women in CTRL.

It adds: "Across the music industry, PRS For Music will be actively encouraging members and staff to support positive change to address current gender bias and inequality, singing to the tune of this year's International Women's Day 2021 theme, #ChooseToChallenge".

Meanwhile, PRS CEO Andrea Czapary Martin says: "Celebratory moments in the year like International Women's Day are an important opportunity to reflect on the progress being made for gender equality around the world".

"PRS For Music and our industry has a long way to go", she goes on. "Initiatives like Keychange, led by our charity partner PRS Foundation, are doing incredibly important work to create a more sustainable and stronger music community for all genders. Creating equity and access to opportunity should be at the forefront of everything we do".

And the recently appointed President of the PRS Members' Council, Michelle Escoffery, adds: "We are incredibly proud to welcome almost 2000 women joining the PRS For Music community as professional songwriters and composers in 2020, showing creativity is alive and well. Dedication to the craft is still thriving and music creators have shown great resilience through the pandemic".

"While promising, this number represents just a quarter of our new joiners", she notes. "We continue to work closely with our members and wider music community to inspire the next generation of music creators from all backgrounds, as we all work together towards a more balanced, representative music industry".

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Roc Nation wins legal dispute with insurer over Jordan Feldstein's death
A New York court last week ruled in favour of Jay-Z's Roc Nation in a dispute with UK-based insurance company HCC International relating to the death in 2017 of artist manager Jordan Feldstein.

Roc Nation had invested in Feldstein's Career Artist Management company, best known for managing Maroon 5, in 2016. Shortly after that deal, it took out key man insurance with HCC in relation to Feldstein, who was the principal business generator for CAM.

Feldstein then unexpectedly died of natural causes in December 2017, aged 40. Roc Nation subsequently claimed on its HCC policy, seeking $14.5 million for financial losses it claimed it had incurred as a result of Feldstein's death.

The insurer then began an in-depth investigation into the claim, ultimately only paying Roc Nation $1.1 million. The insurer claimed that it was able to deduct from any monies due the revenues Roc Nation earned as a result of CAM artists moving over to the parent company for management, or from termination clauses in other artist contracts. Roc Nation countered that only returns on its original CAM investment received prior to Feldstein's death could be deducted from its claim.

As the whole thing went legal, HCC also claimed that Roc Nation had failed to comply with its investigation, which also was grounds for not paying out on the policy.

However, last week the New York court pretty much sided with Roc Nation. Although it noted that there had been some tensions between the entertainment firm and the insurer during the latter's investigation, the court concluded that: "HCC has not carried its burden of showing that Roc Nation's lack of cooperation requires preclusion of its claim".

Meanwhile, it added, Roc Nation's interpretation of the insurance policy regarding the deductions of CAM-related revenues from its claim was basically correct. To that end, HCC's request for summary judgement in its favour was denied, while Roc Nation's request for partial summary judgment in its favour was granted. As a result Roc Nation was awarded $12.5 million in damages.

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Early investor in Zac Brown Band not due royalties on individual track sales, appeals court rules
An early investor in country outfit the Zac Brown Band has failed to overturn a previous court ruling that said he was not due a cut of monies generated by the sale of individual tracks by the band. The Georgia Court Of Appeal has ruled that a lower court was right in concluding that a 2007 agreement only provided Braden Copeland with a royalty on album sales.

Copeland first lent money to Zac Brown and his then fledgling band in 2006, to help fund recording and touring costs. The following year a deal was done whereby, instead of Brown repaying the loans, Copeland would get a royalty right on the recordings he'd help fund, as well as cut of revenues from the band's merchandise sales.

That deal had two sections to it. The first covered what royalties Copeland would be due while the Zac Brown Band was self-releasing their music, the second what would happen if the band got signed to a label. And that second section went into force the following year when the band signed with Warner's Atlantic Records.

The first section - ie while the band was self-releasing - had royalty provisions for both album sales and the sale of individual tracks. However, the second section - ie the one that went in force once the Atlantic deal had been done - only talked about Copeland's royalty share on album sales.

Which meant once the band was signed, Copeland only received royalties from the sale of albums, not individual tracks.

Of course, by that time the iTunes boom was underway and on-demand streaming was on the horizon, meaning that the music industry was shifting increasingly into a business where single tracks rather than albums were the bigger revenue generator.

Copeland first queried why he wasn't getting royalties from single track sales a few years later, initially not getting any clear answers from the band's accountants. However, he didn't actually go legal until 2014 when a separate dispute began over unpaid merchandise royalties.

The merchandise element of the dispute was ultimately resolved, but the question remained over whether or not Copeland should be getting royalties from the sale of individual Zac Brown Band tracks. The band said that the 2007 agreement clearly only provided Copeland with a royalty on album sales. But he argued that the relevant section of that agreement was actually somewhat vague on that point, partly because there was reference to "other sales" later in the clause.

However, the lower court agreed with the band that the 2007 agreement only gave Copeland an album sales royalty, and ruled in their favour by summary judgement. Copeland then appealed, arguing that the relevant clause of the 2007 contract was sufficiently vague that a jury rather than a judge should have interpreted what the deal between him and the band actually said.

But the Georgia Court Of Appeal has now concurred with the lower court, saying that the 2007 agreement is pretty damn clear on what rights Copeland enjoys royalties-wise, and therefore the judge in the original case was well within their rights to rule by summary judgement.

The appeals court states: "It is undisputed that [Zac Brown Band] entered into a recording contract with Atlantic in October 2008. So, from that point forward, the method by which royalties would be shared between Copeland and [the band] was governed by subsection B of the September 2007 agreement and, specifically, paragraph two".

"While paragraph two of subsection B explicitly provides the percentage Copeland was to be paid on sales of 'records embodying the entire album'", it goes on, "there is - in stark contrast to paragraph two of subsection A, which includes the term 'individual recordings from the album' - no mention of individual recordings, much less any method for calculating royalties for such sales. This omission is notable".

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National Album Day 2021 to put the spotlight on women in music
Organisers of the UK's National Album Day have announced that this year's edition, on 16 Oct, will specifically celebrate women in music, "shining a light on the huge contribution made by women and female-identifying artists to our music and culture through the art form of the album". This is being announced today, of course, to coincide with International Women's Day.

To accompany that announcement, record label trade group BPI and the Entertainment Retailers Association have also published two charts based on album sales and streaming data since 2000. The first is the ten best-selling female artists when UK album sales and streams are all added up, while the second is the ten best performing albums from female music-makers of the last two decades. Adele appears three times in the latter, meaning she - somewhat unsurprisingly - tops the former.

Commenting on all this, BPI boss Geoff Taylor and ERA chief Kim Bayley, say in a joint statement: "We are delighted that National Album Day is returning for a fourth edition, shining a light this year on the tremendous contribution women make to music through the album format, supported by our official partners Bowers & Wilkins and BBC Sounds".

"While the ways in which fans enjoy music constantly evolve", they add, "the album remains central to artists' self-expression and to fans' understanding of what an artist has to say. National Album Day is an opportunity for artists and fans alike to celebrate this much-loved artform and remind ourselves of its continuing power to tell stories, influence and inspire".

And here are those charts, based on all your favourite Official Charts Company data...

Top ten female album atists in the UK since 2000

1. Adele
2. Pink
3. Madonna
4. Rihanna
5. Dido
6. Amy Winehouse
7. Kylie Minogue
8. Beyonce
9. Britney Spears
10. Lady Gaga

Top ten albums by female artists in the UK since 2000

1. Adele - 21
2. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
3. Adele - 25
4. Leona Lewis - Spirit
5. Lady Gaga - Fame
6. Dido - No Angel
7. Dido - Life For Rent
8. Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
9. Adele - 19
10. Emeli Sande - Our Version Of Events

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Armenia withdraws from Eurovision
Armenia has withdrawn from this year's Eurovision Song Contest. National broadcaster AMPTV was somewhat vague about the reasons for the decision, although did blame a "shortness of production time" among other things.

In a statement, AMPTV said: "After careful and detailed discussions, the public television company of Armenia has decided to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, considering the latest events, the shortness of production time, as well as other objective reasons that make the proper participation of Armenia at ESC 2021 impossible".

Those "latest events" may be partly pandemic-related, although likely reference the ongoing fallout from last year's military conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan.

"The [European Broadcasting Union] community is deeply sorry that AMPTV has decided to withdraw from participating in this year's Eurovision Song Contest", says Eurovision Executive Supervisor Martin Österdahl. "Armenia have a great record at the Eurovision Song Contest and always bring excitement and quality performances to the stage. We understand the reasons for their withdrawal and we will miss their hard working and professional delegation in Rotterdam. We very much hope to welcome Armenia back in 2022".

Armenia first took part in the contest in 2006. In 2012, it withdrew from the event due to security concerns. The country also failed to qualify for the semi-finals in 2011, 2018 and 2019, while last year's contest, of course, was cancelled due to COVID-19. However, Armenia has finished in the top ten in seven of the ten years where it has reached the grand final.

Azerbaijan - which won in 2011, and hosted the 2012 competition from which Armenia withdrew - has also yet to put forward a song for this year. In March last year, its national broadcaster Ictimai TV said that Efendi, who had been due to sing the country's 2020 entry, would represent it in 2021. The titles of six possible songs were announced last month, with the final selection for Azerbaijan's entry set to be announced this month.

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UK Music calls for more support for music education as English schools re-open
Cross-sector trade group UK Music has called on the government to ensure that music education is high up the agenda as schools swing back into action across England today after the latest COVID lockdown. The various school closures that have occurred over the last year due to COVID have "severely curtailed" access to music education for tens of thousands of young people, UK Music says.

The group's CEO, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, said this morning: "The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on children's learning and music education has been amongst the hardest hit. As children return to school, it's mission-critical that music education is put front and centre of the efforts to catch up".

"It's vital that all children have a good musical education", he added. "Not just because of the positive benefits on other subjects, or the important mental health and wellbeing impacts, but because the UK's world-leading music industry relies on a strong talent pipeline. That pipeline has been badly damaged over the past year, and so it's imperative we now do what we can to protect and strengthen it".

Njoku-Goodwin also referenced past commitments by the current UK government regarding arts education, including so called Arts Premium funding, as well as pointing out that we are still awaiting another national plan for music education from ministers.

He continued: "Delivering the [Conservative Party's] 2019 manifesto commitment for an Arts Premium would help schools deliver the high quality music education that children deserve. The UK music industry is a key national asset that generates billions for the economy every year and boosts our global reputation. It relies on nurturing emerging talent – so strengthening that crucial talent pipeline is undoubtedly in our national interest".

Of course, there have been concerns for years that music education has been down-graded in many UK schools, with creative arts subjects in general not being seen as a priority and therefore not getting the investment required. Commitments such as Arts Premium were seen as a small step in the right direction to deal with that problem. However, disruption in the schools as a result of COVID have made the problem worse.

UK's Music's Director Of Education And Skills, Oliver Morris, added: "We must ensure COVID doesn't sound the death knell for music in schools and we urge the government to act decisively to protect it. Music has the power to provide a lot of positivity in these difficult times as well as assist pupils in their reintroduction to school life. It is also often at the cutting edge of innovation".

"Now is the time for the government to demonstrate its support for teachers, school leaders, music services and hubs, and community music organisations", he added. "Music must remain a part of school life so no matter what a pupil's socio-economic or geographical situation it is accessible to all".

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DEALS

Grimes has signed a new record deal with Sony's Columbia label, according to Billboard. The musician has worked with 4AD for the last decade, releasing three albums with the indie label.

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LIVE BUSINESS

The Music Venue Trust has launched new campaign #WomenToTheFront, highlighting women and female-identifying people who work in the grassroots music sector. "It's incredibly important to Music Venue Trust to be using International Women's Day 2021 as an opportunity to celebrate the women who play such an important role in the UK's grassroots music industry", says MVT's Sarah Claudine. "We are very proud to have so many remarkable women contribute to MVT, from our core team and coordinators to our board of trustees and patrons, and know that this diversity is reflective of the changing face of the wider live music community".

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DIGITAL & D2F SERVICES

TikTok has partnered with Shesaid.so to launch a series of Q&A and mentoring events. The first will be today, starting at 5.30pm UK time, featuring Grace Carter and Jyoty. "As a partner to the industry, we want to help create a more inclusive future for music", says Jana Ulaite, TikTok's Head Of Brand & Partnerships Marketing for Europe. "It's why we've made it our focus this International Women's Day and why we're raising the voice of women in music through our partnership with Shesaid.so, special performances and our #wearehere campaign".

Dance music platform Beatport has announced a month-long residency by Maya Jane Coles, which will see her highlighting women in electronic music through various special broadcasts. In a livestream on Beatport's Twitch, Facebook and YouTube pages today, she will highlight DJs including Charlotte De Witte, Honey Dijon and Yuki.

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MANAGEMENT & FUNDING

MMF and The Zoo XYZ will jointly host a discussion on black women in the music industry tomorrow. Taking place as part of the MMF Unite programme, panelists will include Whitney Asomani of Twenty:Two Marketing And Creative Agency, Shikayla Nadine of SNM Management, Shauni Caballero of The Go 2 Agency, and Nike Durosaro of Big Drum Entertainment. More info and tickets here.

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MEDIA NEWS

Jazz FM has announced a week of programmes celebrating women in jazz, soul and blues. "The jazz community is full of talented, strong, and passionate women – but the history and nature of the scene means we're outnumbered, and don't often enough get the respect we deserve", says Editor/Producer of Jazz FM Voices, Claire Umney. "This [International Women's Day] Jazz FM is inviting musicians, event producers, managers, activists, and CEOs to share their experiences, frustrations and hopes for the future… but why limit it to just one day? After all, we'll still be women come 9 Mar".

Pioneer DJ has partnered with women-led radio station Foundation.fm. They will team up for three shows this month - two round table discussions on 9 and 24 Mar, and a five hour takeover by a selection of female DJs on 19 Mar.

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RELEASES

Marshmello and 2kBaby have released a new single together, called 'Like This'.

Stefflon Don features on a new remix of Doja Cat and Saweetie's 'Best Friend'.

Duck Sauce have released new single 'Ask Me'.

SZA has released a video for her December 2020 single 'Good Days'.

A new compilation from Unsound Festival features a previously unreleased collaboration between Jlin and Sophie, titled 'Jsloipnhie'.

Mitski has released new track 'The Baddy Man', taken from her upcoming soundtrack to graphic novel 'This Is Where We Fall'.

Au/ra has released new single 'Dead Girl'.

Foxing have released new track 'Speak With The Dead', featuring Why?

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GIGS & TOURS

Fabric has announced plans for its first weekend of clubbing after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted - if all goes to plan and those restrictions are removed in June. Line-ups are yet to be announced, but the London club is promising 42 hours of music over 25-26 Jun. Details here.

Ghetts has announced UK tour dates in November, finishing with a show at the Roundhouse in London on 20 Nov. Tickets go on sale on Friday.

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

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Evan Dando performs in pharmacy after staff find lost wallet
Evan Dando recently performed in a New York pharmacy. Don't worry though, times aren't that tough for the Lemonheads frontperson, he was just saying thank you staff for finding his lost wallet.

Last month, Dando announced on Twitter that he'd lost said wallet. "I dropped my wallet with my driver's licence and two debit cards in it", he wrote. "I was walking from the Mariner Hotel to the Palmer Lot. Please have a look if you are on them streets".

You might think that tweeting about a lost wallet is a bit of an odd thing for an internationally known musician to do. You can't argue with the results though. Within minutes a tweet came back: "I work at Walgreens in Falmouth and your wallet was just turned in to us. I'll keep it in the office safe until you can get it".

Reunited with his wallet days later, Dando pulled out his guitar and played 1992 Lemonheads track 'Confetti' in the shop's aisles. Quite what shoppers made of this isn't clear. Given that he'd failed to bring a guitar strap with him, they were possibly too distracted by seeing a man fighting to hold his guitar while playing standing up to find out who he was or why he was there. Still, it happened.

This is not Dando's only lost property tweet of late. Over the weekend, he tweeted that one of his guitars had been stolen.

"Someone has stolen my most precious possession", he tweeted. "I should have put this up here a month ago around when it happened. It's a 1959 Gibson J-50 in perfect condition. Cost me over $5000. It was gonna make its money back soon as I planned to use her as my main live axe, but COVID plus SOME WANKER as stuffed all this up for me".

"I NEED A GREAT ACOUSTIC in my line of work", he went on. "There's a cigar burn on her top curvy hip. Only cosmetic. HHHEEEELLLLPPPP MMMMMEEEEE".

However, yesterday he tweeted blunty: "I found my guitar, false alarm".

No word on how he found it, nor whether doing so will result in another impromptu thank you performance. Or maybe an apology performance, for the benefit of "SOME WANKER", given it sounds like it wasn't actually stolen.

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