| We've covered the music business each day since 21 Jun 2002 Today's email is edition #5070 |
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| | Tour poster led to EasyJet trademark claim against Easy Life | A tour poster featuring a Photoshopped EasyJet plane is a key part of the trademark dispute between Easy Life and the EasyGroup | | 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 | DIGITAL | LEGAL | AWARDS | FUNDING | AND FINALLY |
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Photoshopped poster key to EasyGroup Easy Life spat |
| Hype & Petras, Cher, Manics & Suede + more | Influential Discord channel AI Hub goes offline | Songtradr responds to Bandcamp United union | Hipgnosis: MacPherson on leave after allegations | Scottish Album Of The Year shortlist announced | Beatport reveals Diversity + Parity Fund recipients | Ozzy Museum will promote music education |
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| Photoshopped poster key to EasyGroup Easy Life spat | One Liners: Hype & Petras, Cher, Manics & Suede + more | Influential Discord channel AI Hub goes offline| Songtradr responds to Bandcamp United union | Hipgnosis: MacPherson on leave after allegations | Scottish Album Of The Year shortlist announced | Beatport reveals Diversity + Parity Fund recipients | Ozzy Museum will promote music education |
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| Tour poster featuring Photoshopped plane plays a key role in EasyJet's trademark lawsuit against Easy Life | More details have emerged over the week about the big trademark battle that's underway between the band Easy Life and EasyJet owner the EasyGroup.
The band revealed in a social media post on Monday that they are being forced to change their name by the airline owner, which runs various Easy-branded services. In a bullish response, the EasyGroup said in a statement that it has "a long established record of legally stopping thieves from using our brands".
EasyGroup owns the registered trademark EasyLife in a wide-ranging category that includes things like CDs and DVDs. However, it only actually began registering that mark in 2020, three years after Easy Life the band formed. That trademark was formally entered into the UK trademark register in August last year.
However, in a lawsuit it has filed against the band, the EasyGroup says that - as well as registering the EasyLife trademark - last year it also entered into a deal with a mail-order website that has been using the EasyLife brand since the early 2000s, including for selling music products.
The EasyGroup previously took issue with the EasyLife mail-order business using that brand. But seemingly the two companies made up, and the former acquired any rights the latter had in the EasyLife brand, and then provided a licence so that the mail-order company could continue to operate under that name.
So that's all a bit completed, isn't it? Though, EasyGroup is also accusing Easy Life of infringing its flagship EasyJet trademark. And that's in no small part because of a poster the band used for their Life's A Beach tour in 2021 and 2022, which featured an image of an EasyJet plane, but with the EasyJet logo reworked to say Easy Life.
Says EasyGroup's lawsuit: "The airplane poster uses an image of an EasyJet plane with the words easyJet replaced with the words Easy Life in the same font and style as used by EasyJet and the other brands within the Easy family".
Around about the same time, EasyGroup adds, the band also sold t-shirts with EasyLife written in the style of the EasyJet logo, employing the airline's distinctive orange colouring.
But, is any of that enough to constitute trademark infringement? "Owing to the strength of the reputation in the aforesaid marks, in particular the EasyJet mark and the EasyJet livery mark [ie the designs used on its planes], the defendant knew and intended that the use of the Easy Life figurative sign and airplane signs would capture the attention of consumers".
And while Easy Life were clearly taking the piss with their poster and t-shirt design, EasyGroup goes on: "By wrongly creating a link with the claimant, the defendant benefits from an association with that positive view and vast brand recognition, regardless of whether the link was intended to be provocative or humorous".
The lawsuit then talks through various things the band have done which, it argues, damages the reputation of the EasyGroup because of the connection between their name and its brands.
That includes selling merch containing the slogan ‘Who Gives a Fuck?'; frontman Murray Matravers shouting “fuck the Tories”, “you’re all crazy cunts” and “you’re all crazy motherfuckers” during a set at last year's TRSNMT Festival; and a show in Oxford in August this year during which "a member of the band encouraged the audience to 'stay behind and take ketamine with them'".
It seems unlikely anyone really thought there was any formal connection between Easy Life and EasyGroup, even with the tour poster and t-shirt. But whether that will be sufficient to fight the trademark infringement claim in court remains to be seen. The band may as yet try to kill the case by simply having a rebrand and then trying to settle the lawsuit.
Though EasyMusic isn't an option for an alternative band name. The EasyGroup lawsuit reminds everyone it also owns that trademark, having orignally used it for a download service, then for a CD mail order site, then a karaoke set-up, and now a music news website. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | James Hype & Kim Petras, Cher, Manics & Suede + more | DEALS
BMG has acquired the global rights to the first three albums by Dope Lemon - aka Angus Stone. The label released a fourth LP, ‘Kemosabe’, last month. "Upon meeting the BMG team, I was captivated by their dedication and eagerness to embrace the unconventional ideas and adventures we wanted to embark on with building this project”, says Stone. “This is precisely what any company should do - stand by the artist and enable them to bring to life the unique universe that complements their music”.
INDUSTRY INITIATIVES
UK National Album Day has announced Shola Ama and The Corrs as ambassadors for this year’s 90s celebrating event, joining Gabrielle, Declan McKenna, Tricky and Nuno Bettencourt. Ama is “overjoyed”, while The Corrs are “delighted”. If you’re wondering when you should set aside some time to listen to an album or two, it all takes place on 14 Oct.
INDUSTRY EVENTS
Manchester has won the bid to host the 2024 edition of international music convention WOMEX. Says Debra King, Director of Manchester Music City: “As a city with music in its DNA, where better to host one of the most important international music events in the world. Bringing WOMEX to Manchester in 2024 demonstrates a strong commitment to the value of international music and of being connected to the global music industry". This year’s edition of the worldwide music expo takes place in A Coruña in Spain later this month.
RELEASES
James Hype has released new single ‘Drums’, featuring Kim Petras. “I came up with the idea for ‘Drums’ in 2019”, says Hype. “It was an instrumental called 'Everybody Dance', which I played in my sets. The Hypefam heard it and not only demanded I release it, they had already renamed it ‘Drums’ of their own accord! Fast forward to 2023, I met Kim in LA and we got together to create this version of ‘Drums’ you hear now”.
Cher has released new single ‘DJ Play A Christmas Song’. No DJ, don’t. It’s only October. The track is taken from Cher’s new Christmas album ‘Rejoice! Christmas With Cher’, which is out on 20 Oct and features guest appearances rom Darlene Love, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bublé, Cyndi Lauper and Tyga.
Abba’s Agnetha Fältskog has released two tracks from the upcoming rework of her 2013 solo album ‘A’ - titled ‘A+’. Those tracks are ‘Dance Your Pain Away’ and ‘Perfume In The Breeze’. The new version of the album is out on 13 Oct.
OMD have released new single ‘Veruschka’. “My attitude is like I say in this song: if you’re too afraid to jump off the cliff, you’ll never learn to fly”, says frontman Andy McCluskey. The band’s new album ‘Bauhaus Staircase’ is out on 27 Oct, and they will be touring the UK in March next year.
The Martinez Brothers and Tommy Genesis have teamed up for new track ‘PFW’.
English Teacher have released new single ‘Nearly Daffodils’. According to frontwoman Lily Fontaine it “is about heartbreak and acceptance of unfulfilled potential. How, no matter how much you may want something, no matter how much effort you may put into something’s growth or development, no matter how beautiful you can envision its fruition; life is a bitch and about as unstoppable as a freight train”.
GIGS & TOURSManic Street Preachers and Suede have announced a co-headline tour of the UK and Ireland next summer, finishing with a show at London’s Alexandra Palace on 18 Jul. Tickets go on general sale on 13 Oct. | READ ONLINE | |
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| | AI Hub on Discord goes offline, probably due to music industry copyright complaints | A Discord server called AI Hub has been taken down, most likely because of copyright complaints, probably from the music industry.
The increasingly popular AI Hub was a place for sharing information and updates on AI projects, as well as completed AI models. According to Torrentfreak, that included "voice models of popular musicians including Bruno Mars, Frank Sinatra, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder".
While much of the content shared via the Discord server was legit, some of it infringed copyright.
Back in May, the Recording Industry Association Of America started raising concerns with Discord that users of the AI Hub were sharing and linking to unlicensed music files, even though doing so broke the rules set by operators of the server.
To that end, it requested that the server be removed or disabled. That didn't happen at the time, but Discord did remove some files and links that were identified as problematic by the RIAA. In June the record industry trade group then secured a subpoena in the US courts forcing Discord to identify AI Hub individuals who had alleged shared unlicensed music via the server.
It's not clear what further legal action, if any, was pursued. But earlier this week AI Hub was taken down. No official reason for the takedown has been given, though it seems likely it was due to repeated copyright complaints. Digital platforms like Discord have an obligation, of course, under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act to respond to copyright complaints, in order to benefit from the safe harbour that stops them from being held liable for any infringing content they inadvertently host.
Torrentfreak reports that "a new server, which snatched the .gg/aihub invite link, now welcomes former members". That is not formally connected with the old server, but nevertheless claims that: “AI Hub was banned because of copyright, apparently someone did the trick of editing posts and added several links with copyrighted content, which left Discord with no option but to DMCA the server". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Songtradr responds to letter from Bandcamp union | Songtradr has confirmed that it is reviewing a letter sent by the union that represents workers at Bandcamp, the direct-to-fan platform it recently acquired from Epic Games.
Bandcamp employees started to unionise following the company's acquisition by Fortnite maker Epic in March 2022. According to Billboard, the union - Bandcamp United - was recognised in May and began bargaining for better terms in August. However, no deal had been done before Epic announced it was selling the business onto Songtradr at the end of last month.
Epic confirmed the Bandcamp sale at the same time it announced a round of job cuts within its core business. And earlier this week, the union revealed that Bandcamp employees have been told by Epic that there will be some downsizing within the direct-to-fan company as it changes ownership.
Alongside its letter to Songtradr, the union said in a statement: “Bandcamp United is demanding employment offers for all workers; clear, consistent and equitable voluntary severance offers; and recognition of their union at Songtradr with a speedy continuation to bargaining while maintaining all the progress that has been made at the table".
Responding to the letter, Songtradr said yesterday: “We have received Bandcamp United’s letter and are reviewing it. Supporting the Bandcamp community will be our number one priority once the purchase is completed".
"Songtradr does not own or control Bandcamp yet", it added. "We are in the process of acquiring Bandcamp from Epic Games, and we expect the transaction to close within the next few weeks. Epic has committed to running [the monthly] Bandcamp Friday [promotion] as planned and will ensure Bandcamp can continue to operate and support artists through this transition".
As for workers at the company, the Songtradr statement confirmed: "Not all Bandcamp employees will receive offers from Songtradr. Based on its current financials, Bandcamp requires some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans long into the future".
"Those that don’t receive offers within the next few weeks will receive severance from Epic as part of their layoffs as communicated on 28 Sep", it then said. "We will work towards a fair and equitable outcome for the global members of the Bandcamp team". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Hipgnosis confirms Kenny MacPherson is on leave of absence following sexual assault allegation | Hipgnosis has confirmed that the CEO of its Songs Group business, Kenny MacPherson, has been placed on a leave of absence following the filing of a lawsuit by a former colleague from the 2000s who accuses him of sexual harassment and assault.
According to Billboard, MacPherson has also voluntarily stepped down from the board of the US National Music Publishers Association, which he joined in 2018 before Hipgnosis bought his music publishing company Big Deal Music in 2020.
The new lawsuit has been filed by Sara Lewis, who worked with MacPherson at the Chrysalis publishing firm in the mid-2000s. She claims MacPherson began sexually harassing her shortly after she started her dream job in the Chrysalis US A&R department, with things subsequently escalating and a sexual assault occurring during a work trip.
She says that she formally complained about MacPherson's conduct to her direct supervisor at Chrysalis, Jamie Cerreta, who subsequently co-founded Big Deal Music. She claims Cerreta “did nothing and never mentioned the topic again", but after she made her complaint MacPherson stonewalled her, making it impossible to do her job. She ultimately quit the music business.
A legal rep for MacPherson has denied all the allegations in the lawsuit, stating earlier this week: “On behalf of my client Mr MacPherson, we vehemently deny all allegations made against Mr MacPherson in Ms Lewis’ unverified complaint filed earlier today".
Confirming MacPherson was now on a leave of absence, Hipgnosis said in a statement that it "has a policy of zero-tolerance to harassment or abuse. While the company is not a defendant to these historic allegations which relate to a period fifteen years before Hipgnosis was founded, Kenny MacPherson was placed on leave of absence from Hipgnosis Songs Group as soon as it became aware of the allegations. Our rigorous procedures for dealing with such matters have commenced".
Although Hipgnosis is not named as a corporate defendant in the case, BMG is - because it bought the Chrysalis publishing company at the end of 2010. Though it too did not exist as a business when the alleged harassment and assault took place.
It said earlier this week: “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 1 Oct 2008, years after the alleged events had taken place, and did not acquire Chrysalis until years later in 2011". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Scottish Album Of The Year Award shortlist announced | The shortlist for this year's Scottish Album Of The Year Award has been announced, with ten albums still competing for the £20,000 prize.
One of the shortlisted records was selected from the previously published longlist of 20 by music fans, while the other nine were put through by the SAY Award judging panel. It was Paolo Nutini's 'Last Night In The Bittersweet' that got through with public support.
Whatever happens next, Nutini will definitely be a winner on the night of the awards show, because his 2006 album 'These Streets' will be presented with this year's Modern Scottish Classic Award, voted for by this year's longlisted artists.
Five finalists for the Sound Of Young Scotland Award have also been announced. They are: Danny Cliff, Pearling, Pippa Blundell, No Windows, and Queen Of Harps.
Says the Interim CEO of SAY Award organiser the Scottish Music Industry Association, Robert Kilpatrick: "Congratulations to the ten incredible albums that have made The SAY Award shortlist, as well as to our Sound Of Young Scotland Award finalists and this year's Modern Scottish Classic Award winner – Paolo Nutini's iconic debut 'These Streets'. This is a fantastic representation of the strength and diversity of Scottish music; past, present and future".
"The SMIA is proud of its ongoing commitment to the value of music in Scotland, and The SAY Award is an essential part of that work. Thanks to our partners for their invaluable support, and we look forward to what will be an incredible night to remember at our ceremony in Stirling later this month". And now, here is the shortlist for this year's SAY Award...
Andrew Wasylyk - Hearing The Water Before Seeing The Falls Becky Sikasa - Twelve Wooden Boxes Bemz - Nova's Dad Brìghde Chaimbeul - Carry Them With Us Brooke Combe - Black Is the New Gold Cloth - Secret Measure Hamish Hawk - Angel Numbers Joesef - Permanent Damage Paolo Nutini - Last Night In The Bittersweet Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Beatport Group reveals latest organisations to get support from its Diversity + Parity Fund | The Beatport Group has announced the next batch of organisations that will receive support from its Diversity + Parity Fund, which seeks to "accelerate gender parity and diversity across the music industry".
Having established the fund last year, Beatport says that the second round of supported organisations are involved in a broad range of activities, including festivals, conferences, writing camps and queer film screenings. Over the next year Beatport will provide each recipient with strategy, community outreach, editorial and social media support, as well as grant funding.
The six supported organisations are Change The Beat in Canada; Last Night A DJ Saved My Life in the UK; One Off Traks in Australia; Other Village People in South Africa; Saffron in the UK; and We Are Moving The Needle in the US.
Says Beatport Group Chief Community Officer Sofia Ilyas: “The electronic music community is filled with vibrant groups of creative people who want to make our industry and world better. The recipients of our second annual Diversity + Parity Fund exemplify the spirit of positive change, and it is our hope that their endeavours will resonate in powerful ways across our industry". | READ ONLINE | |
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| | Ozzy Osbourne museum and music school to open in Birmingham | Plans to open an Ozzy Osbourne museum in the musician’s hometown of Birmingham have been announced. As well as housing Osbourne's archive of memorabilia from his career, it will also have a focus on music education.
Speaking on a new episode of ‘The Osbournes Podcast’, Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne explains: “We’re gonna do it totally interactive - every video, every live show … everything there. It’s more of an educational thing for musicians and artists that want to see that you can come from nothing, and if you work hard enough this is what you can get”.
As for what will be on display, she says that the museum will include “all of his awards, all his stage clothes, posters … I’ve got so much memorabilia”.
But beyond that, she goes on, “we’re going to have a café, and in there we’re going to have every instrument you can think of. Music students can come in and we’re gonna do music classes, because there’s no music at schools anymore. We’re gonna get friends, other musicians to come in”.
There’s no word on when this museum might open as yet, but you can listen to the full podcast episode here. | READ ONLINE | |
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