| We've covered the music business each day since 21 Jun 2002 Today's email is edition #5069 |
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| | Own Our Venues iniative acquires first grassroots music venue throught Music Venue Properties | Music Venue Properties - set up as part of the Music Venue Trust’s Own Our Venues initiative - has bought its first venue, The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester | | 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 | ONE LINERS | LEGAL | DEALS | LIVE | DEALS | LIVE | AND FINALLY |
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Music Venue Properties buys The Snug |
| BandLab, JKBX, Hafdís Huld + more | Hipgnosis exec Kenny MacPherson accused | Downtown partners with Outer Voice | Kilimanjaro opens new Welsh office | Warner inks HuManagement MENA alliance | BBC uncovers rogue security training scam | Geri far too busy and successful for Spice reunion |
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| Music Venue Properties buys The Snug | One Liners: BandLab, JKBX, Hafdís Huld + more | Hipgnosis exec Kenny MacPherson accused | Downtown partners with Outer Voice | Kilimanjaro opens new Welsh office | Warner inks HuManagement MENA alliance | BBC uncovers rogue security training scam | Geri far too busy and successful for Spice reunion |
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| Music Venue Properties buys its first venue, Atherton's The Snug | Music Venue Properties - the entity set up by the Music Venue Trust as part of its Own Our Venues initiative - has acquired its first venue, The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester.
The venue's Managing Director Rachael Flaszczak says: “The Snug being purchased by Music Venue Properties means everything to me, my team and our community, as it allows us to continue to provide this very important space to up and coming artists for many years to come".
"We now feel secure and confident to plan ahead knowing the venue is in safe hands with people that have a shared vision of the future of new music", she adds.
"To be the first of many serves as a light of hope that the preservation of grassroots music venues can be done when people pull together to make things happen, and The Snug can keep showcasing the cultural life within our community".
The Music Venue Trust launched its Own Our Venues initiative in May 2022. MVP was established as a charitable community benefit society, and people and companies were encouraged to invest in that entity so that it could buy the freeholds of a network of grassroots music venues. That would mean those venues have a landlord that exists to support the music community, providing more long-term security.
MVP confirmed yesterday that it has now "secured the freehold of the building occupied by The Snug and has placed it into permanent protected status”. “The venue’s current operators have signed a ‘cultural lease’”, it added, “which is an innovative agreement specifically created by MVP to guarantee that, as long as The Snug operates as a space for grassroots live music for their local community, they can enjoy the use of the building".
"Alongside the security offered by the new cultural lease", it continued, "The Snug is now directly supported in its ambition to bring music to its local community by a landlord that shares and supports that aim".
Having raised £2,318,210 from 1261 individual investors to finance a pilot scheme, MVP now plans to buy the freeholds on eight more venues, five in England, one in Scotland and two in Wales. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | BandLab, JKBX, Hafdís Huld, The Gaslight Anthem + more | APPOINTMENTS
BandLab Technologies have appointed former CD Baby exec Kevin Breuner to the role of Head Of Artist Development And Education, while Jessica Strassman joins from TikTok to become Head Of Industry Relations & Artist Services (Americas). Says BandLab boss Meng Ru Kuok: "Kevin and Jessica’s collective industry expertise brings tremendous real-world insights that will directly shape our future strategies and offerings, ensuring we stay ahead in serving both artists and the wider music community".
Kobalt has promoted Kat Basolo to SVP Creative Sync. Says the firm's Head Of Global Sync, Rob Christensen: “Kat has a strong history delivering for Kobalt and our clients, procuring thousands of sync opportunities since she joined Kobalt in 2014. But more than any stat, she has excellent relationships with so many of the world's top music supervisors because she works hard to understand their needs and then delivers time and time again".
New music rights investment platform JKBX has promoted Amanda Rae Kopp to the role of Chief Product Officer. She will be "responsible for aligning product strategies with the company's overall vision, driving innovation, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality products that meet the evolving needs of today’s investors".
RELEASES
Hafdís Huld will release new album 'Darkest Night' on 2 Feb next year and the title track is now streaming. The song tells the story of her great grandfather who formed the first union fighting for a fair wage for working class fishermen in Iceland. She says: “The owners of the fishing companies wanted to stop him, so they showed up in the middle of the night and removed him from his home. He was shoved in a sack and driven to Hvalfjörður, from there they took him out on a boat and threatened to drown him. When they got back to shore, they left him naked and cold hours away from home.
Miraculously he made it back, but he was never the same after that night". Hudson Mohawke and Tiga, collaborating as Love Minus Zero, will release an album called 'L'Ecstasy' on 1 Dec. A track from it, 'In Order 2', is now streaming. Says Tiga: "This song captures the whole reason we started making music together - Ross’s perfect melancholic chords allowed me to express a genuine longing that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise".
The Gaslight Anthem have released new single 'Autumn' from their upcoming sixth album 'History Books', which is due out on 27 Oct. Says the band's Brian Fallon: “I wrote that song on a really beautiful fall day, looking out the window and thinking, ‘How many days like this do we get to see?’ So much of life is just trying to get by, but every now and then you have those moments where you can really feel grateful for the small things”.
| READ ONLINE | |
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| | Hipgnosis exec Kenny MacPherson sued over allegations of sexual harassment and assault | Kenny MacPherson, the CEO of Hipgnosis Songs Group, has been accused of sexual assault by a former colleague from his time working at Chrysalis in the mid-2000s. The allegations have been made in a new lawsuit filed with the courts in LA.
The plaintiff, Sara Lewis, says that working in the Chrysalis A&R department was her dream job, but that - because of the sexual harassment and abuse she endured - the experience was "confusing, and devastating in every sense of the word".
A legal representative for MacPherson has denied the claims made in the lawsuit, telling Rolling Stone: “On behalf of my client Mr MacPherson, we vehemently deny all allegations made against Mr MacPherson in Ms Lewis’ unverified complaint filed earlier today".
MacPherson joined Hipgnosis after it acquired the US music publishing firm he co-founded, Big Deal Music. Hipgnosis Songs Group was created via that acquisition, described by the wider Hipgnosis group as "the home for our song creation and song administration activities".
Prior to founding Big Deal, MacPherson had an A&R role in the US division of the Chrysalis music publishing company.
According to Rolling Stone, in her lawsuit, Lewis claims that MacPherson began grooming and sexually harassing her shortly after she started working at Chrysalis, with things then escalating during a work trip to Vancouver in 2004. She alleges that, on that trip, MacPherson "invited himself" into her hotel room, “leaned over her, placed his hands on her thigh, and confessed that he loved her and could no longer control his feelings".
She stressed that she did not have similar feelings towards him. He then left her hotel room but, she claims, after that MacPherson’s conduct in the work-place worsened.
Among other things, the lawsuit says, MacPherson would corner her in the office, call her to discuss issues with his marriage, try to kiss her, and, “at work lunches and dinners, he positioned himself next to her at the table, visibly groping her legs and even her vagina”.
This had a significant impact on Lewis’s mental health, the lawsuit notes. Then, it's alleged, in 2005 - on another work trip - MacPherson sexually assaulted Lewis in her hotel room.
With no HR department at Chrysalis with which to file a formal complaint, Lewis says she reported MacPherson's conduct to her direct supervisor Jamie Cerreta. He was a long-time colleague of MacPherson and subsequently co-founded Big Deal Music.
After she made that complaint, Cerreta “did nothing and never mentioned the topic again". But, subsequently, MacPherson began to stonewall her, making it impossible to do her job. She eventually quit the music business.
BMG is also named as a defendant on the lawsuit, because it acquired the Chrysalis publishing company at the end of 2010. Although the alleged events described in legal filing happened in the mid-2000s, before the current iteration of BMG even existed.
It said in a statement last night: “BMG stands solidly against all forms of discrimination and abuse and we are shocked and dismayed by the allegations made by Sara Lewis. As a point of fact, BMG did not exist until October 1, 2008, years after the alleged events had taken place, and did not acquire Chrysalis until years later in 2011".
Lewis is able to file a new lawsuit relating to alleged sexual abuse in the mid-2000s - even though the statute of limitations for such claims in California is usually ten years - because of the state's Sexual Abuse And Cover-Up Accountability Act.
That legislation provides a one year window in which legal claims relating to historic sexual abuse can be filed where there is an entity that has some responsibility for any damages. It is similar to the Adult Survivors Act in New York state that led to lawsuits being filed in relation to allegations of sexual assault against late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.
Lewis notes that some people will question why she took so long to file legal proceedings in relation to her allegations against MacPherson.
She says: “You almost snicker because the typical thought in a lot of these stories is ‘she came forward so many years after being silent'. And largely, I’m beginning to find out many of us were not silent. I told people … and collectively everybody turned a blind eye because - I can’t speak for them - but I imagine it’s because they were concerned for their own situation". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Downtown announces deal with The Outer Voice Company | Downtown Music Publishing has announced a partnership with The Outer Voice Company - which "exists to create unprecedented opportunity and representation for South Asians in American entertainment" - and which has now set up a music publishing division.
Under the partnership, Downtown will work with Outer Voice founders JAM & Philly "in a shared commitment to drive impactful exposure, promotion and awareness for South Asian songwriters and their catalogue. Both companies will be administering works globally, procuring sync placements, and creating original composition opportunities for a wide-ranging roster of songwriters across the South Asian diaspora".
Say JAM & Philly: "Publishing is an often missed and misunderstood side of the industry for independent artists. As we were working with artists on the label side, we learned that many had not even known to register with a [collecting society] to collect composition royalties. Publishing administration and sync placements are critical to earn a full-time living through music, and only more so for an underrepresented community like ours".
Jedd Katrancha, Chief Commercial Officer at Downtown Music Publishing, adds: "It is a significant and crucial time for South Asian creators in the music industry. Downtown aligns with and deeply supports the vision of Outer Voice to break down cultural barriers and see a new wave of songwriters take centre stage. We look forward to working closely with the Outer Voice Publishing team and providing their songwriters with the resources needed to establish South Asian voices and drive impact across their catalogue". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Kilimanjaro Live opens new office in Wales | Kilimanjaro Live has announced it is opening a new office in Wales as part of a plan to increase the number of shows it stages in the country.
It will be headed up by Pablo Janczur, who was previously MD at Orchard Live, the Cardiff-based concert promoter. It was put into voluntary liquidation in August with its directors, including Janczur, stating that the impact of the pandemic, and the increase in production costs and competition following the end of the COVID shutdowns, had resulted in "unsustainable losses".
Kilimanjaro Live and its parent company DEAG have been expanding their regional presence across the British Isles in recent years, backing Singular Artists in Northern Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland, and acquiring Scottish promoter Regular Music. Although Kilimanjaro has already promoted plenty of shows in Wales, the new focused office will seemingly grow its activities there.
Says Kilimanjaro CEO Stuart Galbraith: “With over 20 years of experience in live entertainment across Wales, we’re very pleased to welcome Pablo into the Kilimanjaro Live fold. His knowledge and energy within this sector is second to none, and to have him on board will bolster our live music offering across the country, linking in with Kilimanjaro Live in London, Regular Music in Scotland and Singular Artists in Northern Ireland and Eire".
Janczur adds: "I’m delighted to be joining Kilimanjaro Live and bringing my experience and expertise in the Welsh market gained over the past 20 plus years. Our combined strengths in the indoor and outdoor sector has great potential for growth and innovation. I’m excited about the next chapter working alongside the team and contributing to further growth here". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Warner Music expands presence in MENA market with HuManagement alliance | Warner Music has announced it has made a strategic investment in Middle East-based HuManagement, which currently represents over 300 creators from across the music, film, TV, sports and digital sectors in that region.
The new deal, we are told, "establishes a long-term A&R scouting agreement, in addition to marketing and branding opportunities, empowering Warner Music to identify and amplify artists with the potential to integrate them into its expansive global network".
Plus, "HuManagement's cutting-edge expertise in marketing, PR, bespoke social media strategies and branding will be made available to Warner Music’s roster, ensuring a holistic approach to artist development and amplification". And why not?
Says Alfonso Perez-Soto, President of Emerging Markets at Warner Music: “As we continue to grow our operations in the Middle East and establish ourselves as market leaders, it’s imperative that we offer our artists an unrivalled service. By partnering with HuManagement, we are further enhancing the value we can provide to our roster and can guarantee them rounded end-to-end support, for the likes of live shows, sponsorships and brand developments".
HuManagement co-founder Hady Hajjar adds: "We believe this collaboration will usher in a new wave of innovation, creativity and unprecedented opportunities for the music and talent industry in the MENA region". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | BBC investigation says rogue companies are helping security staff to get licences without completing training | A new BBC investigation has alleged that a number of companies which provide event security training are offering rule-breaking short-cuts to people who want to apply for a licence from the UK Security Industry Authority.
In order to apply for an SIA licence, people must complete a six day training course. However, a BBC reporter found, some of the companies that provide that training offered an option to complete the course in three days, or even a day and half. Doing so meant missing some mandatory components of the training. The reporter was also told to fill out a time-sheet declaring that he had completed the full six days.
There is a test at the end of the course. But, with one of the training companies, "the reporter and a roomful of other candidates sat a final exam - but they were not given any questions. Instead, answer sheets to multiple-choice questions were handed out and everyone was told by the trainer what options to circle - A, B, C and so on".
The BBC's 'File On 4' programme says that it was prompted to investigate SIA approved course providers following its report earlier this year about the fatal crowd crush that occurred at the Brixton Academy last December. That report focused on allegations that security at the London venue regularly took bribes to allow people without tickets into shows.
That, the BBC said, resulted in dozens of whistleblowers contacting the broadcaster with other allegations of misconduct in the event security business. That included training companies helping unsuitable and untrained people to apply for SIA licences.
The SIA - created by the UK government in 2001 - declined to be interviewed for the BBC's report, but has issued a statement confirming it is investigating the claims made in the new ‘File Of 4’ programme.
It said: “We have launched an investigation into the findings of the undercover operation conducted by BBC ‘File On 4’. We are working with the qualifications regulator in England - Ofqual - and awarding organisations it regulates to further examine the issues highlighted”.
It added: “The Ofqual-approved awarding organisations have confirmed to the SIA that the training providers featured have been suspended pending further investigation. We have suspended the licence of one individual featured in this documentary and have referred the footage that indicates criminality to the Metropolitan Police Service”.
“Where qualifications that have been awarded by the awarding organisations are shown to be unsound and are withdrawn”, it also confirmed, “it will result in the suspension of a licence”. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Geri Halliwell too busy as a children's author for a Spice Girls reunion | Geri Halliwell has seemingly put an end to any hopes that the Spice Girls might reunite next year to mark the 30th anniversary of their formation in 1994. Because she, for one, is too busy being a children's author.
There was speculation earlier this year as to how the 30th anniversary of the Spice Girls might be celebrated. After Mel C performed a solo spot at the Glastonbury Festival and said “all of the Spice Girls would like to play Glasto, that is the truth”, some wondered if that might be where a reunion would occur in 2024.
But in a subsequent interview with the Sunday Times, Halliwell said no such thing had been discussed. Though The Sun then cited sources saying there had been some conversations about some kind of reunion tour taking place sometime next year, possibly alongside a planned 30th anniversary documentary.
However, in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight this week, Halliwell said: "For me, the Spice Girls belongs to the whole world - I’m really proud of that and I love being with the girls. But I think, when I engage with something, it’s like any project ... I want to give it my 150 percent".
And giving any project 150 percent of your attention is tricky at the best of times, but all the more so when you're busy promoting your new children's book 'Rosie Frost And The Falcon Queen'.
So, a reunion in 2024 doesn't seem likely. But, Halliwell added, “there will be a time when the … girls get together and that will be amazing and I always love [it] - we have such fun". | READ ONLINE | |
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