| We've covered the music business each day since 21 Jun 2002 Today's email is edition #5066 |
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| | Arrest made in Tupac Shakur murder case | Las Vegas police have arrested a man in relation to the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis has long been linked to the case and prosecutors now say that they have evidence that he "ordered the death" of Shakur | | LATEST JOBS | CMU's job ads are a great way to reach a broad audience across the industry and offer targeted exposure to people at all levels of seniority who are looking for new jobs. Our job ads reach tens of thousands of people each week, through our email, and our dedicated jobs pages.
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| | Today's music business news |
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| TOP STORY | DEALS | LEGAL | POLICY | ARTIST NEWS | DEALS | AND FINALLY |
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Keffe D "ordered the death" of Tupac say Vegas police |
| Loreen signs to TaP Music after Eurovision win | Logging infringers' IP addresses doesn't breach EU Law | New anti-harrassment body starts work | Sam Fender tops Absolute Radio poll | Gamma announces Rick Ross Meek Mill tie up | "It's bad enough being Bob Geldof" says Bob Geldof |
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| Keffe D "ordered the death" of Tupac say Vegas police | Loreen signs to TaP Music after Eurovision win | Logging infringers' IP addresses doesn't breach EU Law | New anti-harrassment body starts work | Sam Fender tops Absolute Radio poll | Gamma announces Rick Ross Meek Mill tie up | "It's bad enough being Bob Geldof" says Bob Geldof |
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| Police announce arrest in Tupac Shakur murder investigation | Police in Las Vegas have charged a man with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis was indicted on Friday.
A former leader of the South Side Compton Crips gang, he was arrested near his home and appeared before a grand jury in Nevada the same day. Prosecutor Marc DiaGiacomo said in court that he was the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death" of Shakur.
Announcing the arrest at a press conference, Kevin McMahill - Sheriff at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department - said that “for 27 years the family of Tupac Shakur have been waiting for justice”.
“There have been many people who did not believe that the murder of Tupac Shakur was important to this police department”, he went on. “I’m here to tell you: that was simply not the case. Our goal at LVMPD has always been to hold those responsible for Tupac’s violent murder accountable”.
Security video footage from the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas, recorded on the night of Shakur’s murder in 1996, was shown at the press conference. In it, a group of men, including the rapper, are seen attacking Orlando Tive ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson, a member of the South Side Compton Crips and Davis’s nephew.
“It is this incident right here that would ultimately lead to the retaliatory shooting and death of Tupac Shakur”, police officer Jason Johansson explained.
Shakur and his associates had been at the hotel to watch a boxing match. One of the group saw Anderson and told Shakur that he had tried to rob him earlier that year. A fight ensued, which was ultimately broken up by hotel security. Later that night, a car pulled up alongside the vehicle in which Shakur was travelling and opened fire, hitting the rapper four times. He later died in hospital.
Anderson was named as the shooter by the Los Angeles Times in 2002, but he had been killed in an unrelated shooting in 1998. He had been interviewed by police once after Shakur’s death, but denied any involvement.
Three other men were also accused of being in the car from which Shakur was shot, but Davis is the only one still living. Johansson noted at the press conference that Davis is “the only living suspect related to this case”.
He added that the case had been reviewed a number of times over the years, and that new information that came to light in 2018 had “reinvigorated” the investigation and ultimately led to Davis’s arrest. In particular, he mentioned Davis’s “own admissions” in the media that he had been in the vehicle from which Shakur was shot.
It became clear that the LVMPD was actively investigating Shakur’s murder once again back in July this year, when officers carried out a search at a home in Henderson, the suburb of the city where the rapper was killed. A spokesperson for the police department then confirmed that search was “part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation”.
At the time of his death, Shakur had been involved in a feud with rapper Notorious BIG - real name Christopher Wallace - relating to a robbery at a New York recording studio in 1994, during which Shakur was shot. Shakur claimed that his former friend had prior knowledge of the attack, escalating the East-West Coast rap rivalry.
Wallace was accused a number of times of having some involvement in the shooting that resulted in Shakur’s death, although he always denied this. He himself was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997.
| READ ONLINE | |
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| | TaP Music signs Eurovision winner Loreen | Management firm TaP Music may have stepped away from its involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest, but it isn’t leaving the world of Eurovision entirely. The company has just signed two time Eurovision winner Loreen to its management roster.
Confirming the deal, TaP says: "We are beyond excited to be working with Loreen. The world saw her mind-blowing performance at Eurovision, but there is so much more to come. The new music has got us itching to get started and we believe Loreen's vocal, writing and performance talent deserves a truly world stage. We hope to be part of that journey for a long time to come".
And Loreen herself adds: "I am very excited at working with people that I feel love creativity and music so much and who I vibe with on such a deep level". Loreen will be managed day to day by Tony Beard, alongside TaP co-founders Ben Mawson and Ed Millett.
She scored her second Eurovision win in Liverpool back in May, when the TaP-selected UK entrant Mae Muller came in second from last. The music firm, which had more success the first year it worked on Eurovision in 2022, confirmed in August that it would no longer be involved in choosing the UK entry for the big song contest. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | EU Advocate General says anti-piracy policy can access IP addresses without breaching data law | The Advocate General of the European Union, Maciej Szpunar, last week reaffirmed his position that, under EU law, data linked to the IP address of an internet user may be accessed and stored by an authority seeking to stop online copyright infringement.
That position has been stated as part of an ongoing debate about how to balance laws that seek to protect privacy with those that seek to prevent piracy, which was instigated when concerns were expressed about the work of the French anti-piracy agency Hadopi.
The passing of the anti-piracy laws that created the Hadopi agency back in 2009 was controversial at the time, although the most controversial element - allowing the internet access of repeat infringers to be suspended - was abolished a few years later.
In order to send warning letters to - and pursue legal proceedings against - people who upload, download and generally share copyright-protected content online without licence, entities like Hadopi need internet service providers to reveal the identities of individuals connected to IP addresses where alleged piracy is occurring.
Some have raised privacy and data protection concerns about such information being made available to copyright owners or anti-piracy agencies. In the context of Hadopi, that led to some claiming that the French anti-piracy programme breached EU data protection laws.
Along the way, France's Council Of State sought clarity from the EU Court Of Justice. Szpunar actually provided an opinion on this debate a year ago, but there have been additional hearings on this issue in the court since then.
Having considered the subsequent discussions, Szpunar confirmed last week that he still "takes the view that EU law does not preclude providers of electronic communications services from being required to retain IP addresses and corresponding civil identity data and does not preclude an administrative authority responsible for protecting copyright against infringements of those rights committed on the internet from obtaining access to such addresses and data".
Such an authority having access to that data "does not make it possible to draw precise conclusions about the private life of the person presumed to have infringed copyright". And getting such data is "the only means of investigation that make possible the identification of the person to whom that address was assigned at the time when the infringement was committed".
Szpunar's conclusion on all this is not binding, but is very influential. The judges of the EU court will now make a final decision informed by what Szpunar concluded last week. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | UK Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority to start considering cases from next year | The UK government's Department For Culture, Media And Sport last week confirmed that the new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority - backed by key companies and organisations in the UK TV, film, theatre and music sectors - will be ready to start considering cases from next year.
The new authority aims to help prevent and tackle bullying and harassment across the UK creative industries. It has been in development for a while now, informed by discussions led by Creative UK and various culture ministers. Current culture minister Lucy Frazer says: “We want to maximise the potential of our creative industries to create growth and jobs across the country.
Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy a creative career, while feeling safe and working in a professional environment. It’s important that industry comes together to tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination, so Britain’s creative sectors remain some of the best in the world to be a part of".
Within the music community, Rebecca Ferguson has been particularly vocal about the need for an entity like the CIISA. Calling for the music industry to embrace the new authority, she says: “There is an opportunity to change the way creatives are treated in our country”.
“By supporting this you are making history”, she continues. “CIISA is a monumental step: they will support future creatives, which could include your children, grandchildren or family members. By supporting CIISA you are making our industry safer and impacting people’s lives in a very positive way".
Various music industry organisations are also supporting the scheme, including the BPI, which has contributed to the funding of the authority. Its CEO, Jo Twist, states: “There is no place for harassment and discrimination in our society or in the creative industries”.
“The BPI is pleased to provide funding to support this next stage in the development of CIISA”, she adds, “which can play a valuable role, particularly for the freelance workforce, alongside the many actions that our label members are already taking. We look forward to CIISA involving all parts of the music industry in the coming months".
Find out more about the CIISA here. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Sam Fender tops Absolute Radio poll for best track of the last fifteen years | Last week it was fifteen years since the original iteration of Virgin Radio UK re-branded as Absolute Radio. And to mark the occasion, the now Bauer-owned station asked its listeners to vote for their favourite song of the last fifteen years. Which is never a good idea. Unless you're a Sam Fender fan. In which case, it all turned out fine.
Because yes, on Friday afternoon the station's Sarah Champion and Ben Burrell revealed that its listeners' favourite track of the last fifteen years was Fender's 'Seventeen Going Under'.
And if you're thinking that's because Absolute listeners have short memories and therefore Fender's 2021 release had an advantage, actually songs from the early years of the radio station's existence generally did better than newer tracks.
In the overall top 50, eight tracks came from 2008, eight from 2009 and nine from 2011. And Fender's record was the only 2021 release to make the chart. Says Fender: “'Seventeen Going Under’ has been awarded the best song of the last fifteen years! Not sure I agree with that one! Nevertheless I’m buzzing. That’s so wild - thanks to everyone who voted. Happy fifteenth birthday Absolute Radio!"
Here is the top five - and click here if you're interested in the full top 50. Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under (2021) Elbow - One Day Like This (2008) Muse - Uprising (2009) Foo Fighters - Walk (2011) Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire (2008) | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Gamma announces partnership with Rick Ross | Gamma, the music and content company launched by former Apple music exec Larry Jackson earlier this year, has formally announced a partnership with Rick Ross and his Maybach Music Group.
“Rick Ross epitomises the multimedia and multi-faceted content pioneer that Gamma was created to amplify", reckons Jackson. “We couldn’t be happier to formalise our relationship, welcome him to the Gamma family, and propel the trajectory of an already well-established empire. We’re beyond excited for the world to experience his surprise, highly anticipated collab reunion album with Meek".
Oh yes, the partnership covers the latest collaboration between Ross and Maybach artist Meek Mill, which is somehow both highly anticipated and a surprise at the same time. I guess the concept of another Ross/Mill tie up was highly anticipated, while the reality of it is the surprise? Here's a new collab single from the promised album.
Another Ross collaborator - this time on the business side - has also allied with Gamma, that being producer, manager and label exec Breyon Prescott. He and his Chameleon Entertainment company are also joining the Gamma group, where Prescott will becoming EVP Content.
On that appointment, Jackson continues: “I have known Breyon for over 20 years since my formative days at J Records and he’s consistently been a consummate entrepreneur and trailblazer. He’s always delivered hits and we are proud to have him on the team here at Gamma".
Revealing that the partnership with Ross and Prescott has actually been underway for a while, Jackson adds: "Rick Ross, by way of Breyon, was one of the first artists to believe in Gamma and sign to us before we even launched. That meant a lot to me and I am so THRILLED to make the long overdue announcement of this partnership". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Bob Geldof supports Live Aid musical, despite discomfort seeing himself played on stage | Bob Geldof has given his approval to a new musical based on the 1985 Live Aid concert, which is set to be staged at the Old Vic theatre in London early next year. Although, he warned, “it better not be shit”.
Called ‘Just For One Day’, the show has been developed with the permission of the Band Aid Charitable Trust, which will receive 10% of ticket sale monies. Written by John O’Farrell, the story traces how the Band Aid single and subsequent Live Aid concert came together, coupled with a love story inspired by real events.
Speaking on stage at the Old Vic as the show was announced, Geldof stressed that it will not feature actors portraying the performers involved in the concert, despite their music being used.
"This isn't a tribute thing”, he said, according to the BBC. “I wouldn't have anything to do with that. So, there isn't a person dressed up as Freddie wearing a crap moustache. The songs drive the drama along. The story is based on actual testimony from the day. It's real people telling their story throughout this. So it's complex theatre”.
There may not be a ropey Freddie Mercury on stage, but Geldof himself will be represented, played by actor Craige Els.
Geldof said that he’d agreed to let the show go ahead after being “blown away” by early workshops. However, he added, he found it difficult seeing himself played by Els.
"Let me be completely blunt, it's bad enough being Bob Geldof”, he said. “It's slightly worse seeing someone else pretending to be you. The one upside for me is that he's got an amazing voice, stage Bob, so that people will think I actually sing as good as that”.
And the script for the musical also gets “the language right”, Geldof noted, referencing his famous demand live on BBC One during the event for the public to “give us your fucking money”.
‘Just For One Day’ is set to run from 26 Jan to 30 Mar next year, featuring the music of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Who, U2, Queen, The Police, Elton John, Paul McCartney and more from the original concert. Tickets will go on general sale on 6 Oct. | READ ONLINE | |
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