Anti-hate organisations urge online creators to not provide Kanye West with a platform
Five Jewish and anti-hate organisations in the US have asked online creators to resist the temptation to provide Kanye West with further opportunities to share his racist and antisemitic views, given that to date the rapper has met the backlash to his controversial statements by simply ramping up his dangerous rhetoric.

While more mainstream media - and social media platforms - have started to cut off West since he started pushing a racist, antisemitic agenda, he still has various channels online to share his views, and an interview with the rapper can get those online channels a lot of attention.

He recently appeared with far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his 'Infowars' show. Although even Jones seemed taken aback when West declared that: "I see good things about Hitler … Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler".

The new message urging online creators and influencers to not provide a platform for West has come from the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Jewish Committee, StopAntisemitism and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

In part they were responding to news that white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has become an ally of West of late, has been talking to popular Twitch gamer Adin Ross about arranging an interview with the rapper.

Ross, who is Jewish, has reportedly said that he was planning to "stand up for the Jews" in any interview. However, campaigners say - while that might be an admirable aim on Ross's part - providing any opportunity for West to speak at the moment could have negative and dangerous consequences.

NBC News quote Liora Rez, Executive Director of StopAntisemitism, as saying: "Anybody who gives [West] a platform, you're basically complicit at this point. The only goal of his is to spew hatred and further vilify Jews".

Even if Ross sought to challenge West's views, Rez added, the interview could still stoke antisemitic violence. "I would hope and we would hope that Aiden Ross' ratings and follower base are put secondary to the safety of Jews", she added.

Meanwhile Daniel Kelley, Director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center For Technology And Society, said: "When you give an antisemite a megaphone to shout their antisemitism, whether that's a large mainstream platform where they have a following or whether you're a streamer who is giving over your audience to them, I think it normalises antisemitism and it makes it so that Jews are less safe".

West sharing his views via a platform like Twitch could be particularly damaging, Kelley added. "We are seeing the continued normalisation of white supremacist ideas in gaming spaces", he explained. "I think there is a real danger to giving a platform to this kind of conversation in that space".

Ross himself hasn't commented on any plans to interview West via his Twitch channel, though some have speculated that while a conversation was considered, it is not - in fact - going ahead.

If that is the case, Kelley added, Ross should say so. "I think that would be a really powerful statement", he went on, "and it would say something to the audiences that these streamers reach, that is, 'You know, we thought about it, and by giving a platform to Kanye West we would be amplifying and normalising antisemitism'".

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Austrian collecting society AKM allies with licensing hub ICE
Austrian song rights collecting society AKM has announced a new deal with licensing hub ICE, meaning it will directly participate in the ICE Core venture, which negotiates licensing deals with multi-territory digital music services on behalf of various music publishers and collecting societies.

The society was previously connected to ICE Core via a partnership with German collective management organisation GEMA, which is a co-owner of the licensing hub. But AKM is now participating directly.

Its CEO Gernot Graninger says: "The ICE Core reflects the best licensing solution for online music services, with the best value for our members".

"We will receive services which combine market leading expertise and state-of-the-art technological systems, without our members needing to face the costs of large-scale investments", he adds. "In these times more than ever, societies need to find the right services at the right value".

ICE COO Ben McEwen adds: "We're very happy to welcome AKM into the Core. The collaboration to make this happen reflects all parties working together in the interests of rightsholders, the very DNA of everyone who is part of the ICE hub".

Noting that AKM initially worked with ICE via GEMA, McEwen goes on: "It's a real strength of the ICE Core that you can join as a member of any scale; new rightsholders can come in through existing ICE Core members, getting the same ICE Core rates and also benefiting from additional value-add services to meet their needs. Or, in circumstances where systems, capabilities and volumes support it, rightsholders can come in directly".

"In turn", he concludes, "each new member enhances the collective, with the ICE Core repertoire benefiting greatly from the inclusion of additional society and publisher repertoires".

Other collecting societies participating in the ICE Core venture include the three that own ICE - so the UK's PRS and Sweden's STIM as well as GEMA - plus Ireland's IMRO and Belgium's SABAM.

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Ticketmaster apologises after Bad Bunny fans denied entry to Mexico City show
Ticketmaster has apologised after large numbers of Bad Bunny fans were denied entry to a show in Mexico City on Friday night. The company blamed "an unprecedented number" of fake tickets being presented at the doors, which resulted in "some legitimate tickets being denied".

Exactly how many customers with legitimate tickets were refused entry to the show at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium is unclear - reports range from hundreds to tens of thousands. But either way, it's unfortunate timing for the ticketing firm, with these issues around the Bad Bunny show coming so close to the recent controversy over its pre-sale of Taylor Swift tickets in the US.

In a statement - written in Spanish - Ticketmaster said at the weekend that the issues "were the result of the presentation of an unprecedented number of fake tickets", resulting in an unusually large number of people trying to gain access to the show, which overwhelmed the system.

"This generated confusion and complicated entrance to the stadium, with the unfortunate consequence of some legitimate tickets being denied entrance", it said.

The company added that it offered its "most sincere apologies" to anyone affected, and promised that anyone who bought legitimate tickets who was unable to gain entry to the show would be given a full refund.

Last month, there was a flood of outrage on social media as many Swift fans with access to the pre-sale of tickets for her 2023 tour experienced issues with the Ticketmaster platform.

In response to that, the ticketing firm admitted on its own social media at the time that "historically unprecedented demand" was creating delays, but it encouraged fans to "hold tight" and thanked them for their patience.

This has led to Swift fans suing the company and US politicians putting the spotlight back on Ticketmaster's dominance in the ticketing market, and the fact that it is owned by live music giant Live Nation. While this latest controversy is not a US-based story, it won't help Ticketmaster having yet more negative news to respond to.

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New R Kelly album briefly appears on streaming services
A new R Kelly album briefly appeared on the streaming services last week with the provocative title of 'I Admit It'. However, legal reps for the jailed musician have denied that he had any involvement in the release, which was basically a compilation of tracks from Kelly's archives, a number of which had been officially posted online in the past.

When 'I Admit It' arrived on the digital platforms it was listed as being released by Legacy Recordings, which is a label owned by Kelly's former record company Sony Music. However, both Sony and Legacy also denied any involvement in the release, and it later transpired that the record had been delivered to the streaming services via Universal Music owned distributor Ingrooves.

As soon as execs at the distributor became aware that the new Kelly album had been delivered via their platform they requested that the record be removed by the streaming services. Sources have told Billboard that the company is now investigating how the Kelly record got through, and has also ended its deal with the client that actually uploaded the album, which is reportedly LA-based Real Talk Entertainment.

Kelly, of course, is in prison having been found guilty in the New York courts of running a criminal enterprise to access and abuse women and teenagers. He was also subsequently convicted of enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity and of filming that abuse in his home city of Chicago.

It's not clear how or why Real Talk Entertainment came to be uploading a new Kelly album. It was recently claimed that the musician had sold a stack of music rights to a childhood friend last year, allegedly in a bid to stop those rights from being seized by a court in order to pay damages to Heather Williams, who accused Kelly of sexual abuse and won a lawsuit by default in 2020. However, those were meant to be interests in Kelly's songs rather than his recordings.

The title of the short lived new Kelly album comes from a previously released 2018 track in which the musician responded to the various allegations that had been made against him over the years. Despite the title, in it he denies all the claims of abuse and criminal conduct.

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Taylor Swift to write and direct her first movie
Taylor Swift is to write and direct her first movie having signed a deal with Searchlight Pictures, it has been announced.

"Taylor is a once in a generation artist and storyteller", say Searchlight Presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield. "It is a genuine joy and privilege to collaborate with her as she embarks on this exciting and new creative journey".

Swift has experience of writing and directing music videos - including the recent 'All Too Well: The Short Film', a fourteen minute piece that was screened at the Tribeca and Toronto film festivals earlier this year. She's also acted in films, including 2019's 'Cats', but the less said about that the better probably.

Of course, Swift recently released a new album and will be heading out on a US tour in March, with worldwide dates to follow. So it's not exactly clear when this film will actually get made.

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Slaves change name to Soft Play
Slaves have announced that they are changing their name, in response to long-standing criticism of the use of that word as a moniker for a duo consisting of two white men. They will henceforth be known as Soft Play. Not sure if that means they're also pivoting into making music for children.

"When we called our band Slaves, it was intended solely as a reference to the grind of day to day life", they say in a statement posted on social media. "As younger men, we responded to criticism of the name from a place of fear and defensiveness. Feeling backed into a corner, our own pride caused us to fight for a name we weren't even sure we wanted anymore. It felt at times as if our band name had defined us and we were scared of what might happen if we changed it".

"However", they go on, "we now recognise that our original intent doesn't change the fact that the name Slaves is an issue. In this day and age we believe it is very important that people change and make improvements no matter how far down the line they are. The name doesn't represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer. We want to sincerely apologise to anyone we've offended".

"We are aware that people have differing opinions on the name, we hope you can accept and respect our decision and not continue the argument between yourselves", they conclude. "When it comes down to it, the music and the community surrounding our band are what matter the most and we don't want anything to stand in the way of that community being as inclusive as possible. Our music is for anyone and everyone".

There's no word on when we can hear their first music as Soft Play, but the implication is that something will be happening imminently.

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Radio 1 presents its Dance Awards for 2022
BBC Radio 1 dished out its Dance Awards for 2022 on Friday night, basically bigging up what the station's dance music centric DJs and producers reckon are the best acts, mixes and releases of the last twelve months.

The Dance Awards programme also celebrated The Jaguar Foundation - which is seeking to make the dance music world more diverse and inclusive - and presented an Outstanding Contribution To Dance award to Chase & Status.

Says Radio 1 DJ Danny Howard: "2022 has been an amazing year for dance music in terms of releases, new artists breaking through and in the mainstream. More importantly, it's the first full year we've had back in the clubs, Ibiza and festivals since the pandemic which has created so many great moments".

"The Radio 1 Dance Awards is the perfect reflection of what has been a monumental year for the scene, so I'd like to big up everyone shortlisted and say congratulations to all the winners", he adds. "Thank you for the music and memories!"

And here are the winners...

Dance Vocalist Of The Year: Clementine Douglas
BBC Introducing Dance Artist Of The Year: Taahliah
Breakthrough Artist Of The Year: Nia Archives

Dance Track Of The Year: LF System - Afraid To Feel
Bass Track Of The Year: Goddard & Venbee - Messy in Heaven
Electronic Chill Track Of The Year: Kx5 - Escape (feat Hayla)
Dance Album Project Of The Year: TSHA - Capricorn Sun
Viral Moment Of The Year: Fred Again

Mini Mix Of The Year: Gardna
Essential Mix Of The Year: KH

Dance Impact Award: The Jaguar Foundation
Outstanding Contribution To Dance: Chase & Status

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LadBaby rework Do They Know It's Christmas for fifth festive number one attempt
When LadBaby - aka Mark and Roxanne Hoyle - teamed up with Ed Sheeran and Elton John last year, I think it's safe to say that a lot of people assumed that was the end of their run of Christmas number one singles. I mean, how do you top that? Well, they're back, and this time they're teaming up with financial expert Martin Lewis. So, er… yeah.

Oh, alright, they're doing a bit more than just collaborating with everyone's favourite money saving expert. They're actually going to release a reworked version of Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' with an all-star cast of singers performing under the name Food Aid.

We don't yet know who will be joining LadBaby on the track, but we do know that they collaborated with songwriter Amy Wadge - best known for her work with Ed Sheeran - on the new lyrics.

The new version also has the blessing of the song's original writers, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. The proceeds from the release will be split 50/50 between food bank charity The Trussell Trust and the charity set up off the back of the original Band Aid release, the Band Aid Trust.

"We never intended to release a fifth Christmas single", say the Hoyles, "but as ambassadors of the Trussell Trust we were not prepared to sit back and do nothing in a year when people are struggling more than ever".

"The Trussell Trust, which supports more than 1300 food bank centres, has told us that the cost of living emergency has created a 'tsunami of need', as people struggle to survive amidst the soaring costs of living", they go on. "With need outstripping donations for the first time in its history, we need to help ensure that food banks keep going this winter. Working households, families and disabled people are all really struggling".

"So, a few months ago we approached Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and the Band Aid Trust to ask permission to rework the most iconic Christmas track of all time 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'" they explain. "And we were truly honoured when they said yes! So today we are announcing Food Aid to raise as much money as we possibly can for the Trussell Trust and the Band Aid Trust".

As for how Lewis came to be involved, they add: "We knew we needed to enlist an icon to launch this year's campaign, and we're so excited to announce that the people's champion, and fellow supporter of the Trussell Trust, Martin Lewis is joining us on this year's track".

"An exciting variety of yet to be announced musical collaborators will also be announced in due course", they go on. "We have to do whatever it takes to build a future where all of us can afford to go to sleep with a full stomach. We hope everyone can support us as much as they can!"

Lewis also comments: "When Mark and Roxanne contacted me out of the blue to ask if I'd join them in Food Aid I thought they'd confused me with someone else. The nearest I've ever got to thinking about a Christmas number one is going to the loo on Boxing Day after too much orange juice the day before. Yet once I knew they were serious, and it was for the Trussell Trust, a hugely important charity I've a history with, I decided to give it a go and do it with gusto".

Are we just going to ignore the joke he included there and carry on without mentioning it? Yes, I think that's for the best. He continues: "This has been a tough year for many, prices have rocketed. Advice charities and food banks are swamped".

"Deficit budgeting is becoming more common - meaning even after everything has been cut to the bone - people still have less income than expenditure", he adds. "It's going to be a tough winter, and things aren't likely to ease much in 2023. So the need to help and support people struggling across the UK is profound. Hopefully this LadBaby song and their lyrics will raise some cash and awareness".

The new version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' is set for release on 16 Dec - when the Christmas number one chart race will begin. It's not clear if the cast of vocalists on the track will be revealed before then or not. I'm going to call one thing now though - Mark Hoyle will take the Bono line and it will have been changed to have something to do with sausage rolls.

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