CMU Daily 07.03.19: R Kelly returns to jail after failing to meet unpaid child support deadline, Eventim launches new division to bring together European promoters

R Kelly returns to jail, after failing to meet unpaid child support deadline
R Kelly is back in jail after failing to pay over $161,000 in child support. He returned to police custody yesterday, less than two weeks after being freed on bail in relation to charges of aggravated sexual assault.

Kelly currently owes his former wife over $169,000 and was ordered to pay $161,663 by 6 Mar in order to avoid being in contempt of court. At a hearing yesterday, Kelly's attorney Stephen Greenberg said that the musician's finances are a "mess" and that he would be unable to pay the outstanding sum. He was jailed until the amount is handed over.

Outside the court, Kelly's publicist said that his client had offered to pay some of what he owed, expecting that to be enough for the court. "He came here in good spirits, expecting to walk out", said Darrell Johnson, according to CNN. "He came here to ... make some arrangements with what he had, I think it was $50,000 or $60,000 that he was willing to pay".

Kelly spent three nights in jail after being charged with sexual assault last month, because he was unable to pay the $100,000 - 10% of his $1 million bail - required to secure his release. That amount was eventually paid by a woman who listed herself as "a friend" on court documents.

It had already been reported that a number of female fans of the singer had called the court asking to pay for his bail, and Johnson hinted yesterday that a similar benefactor was being sought to pay the outstanding child support bill.

The debt dates back more than a decade. In early 2009, Kelly was ordered to pay it off in monthly instalments of just under $21,000. However, he failed to attend that hearing. Which is partly why the court is now coming down hard over the lack of payment - hence its unwillingness to do a deal and instead ordering Kelly's imprisonment.

There had initially been a question over whether he would have to pay off the child support arrears before being allowed to post bail in relation to the abuse charges, although in the end it was confirmed the two matters would be dealt with separately.

Kelly's financial issues have been well publicised in recent years - his attorney Stephen Greenberg last month blaming "mismanagement", "bad deals" and "hangers-on" for that situation. As well as failing to pay child support, he also owes more than $166,000 in rent on his Chicago studio. Landlords have been attempting to evict him over the late payments.

Last month Kelly pleaded not guilty to ten counts of aggravated sexual assault against four women - three of whom were underage at the time of the alleged incidents. Yesterday, 'CBS This Morning' aired the first part of an interview with Kelly about the accusations he faces. In it, the music star argued that the charges were "untrue", "not fair" and "stupid".

On the allegations that he has had sex with underage girls - of which there have been many over the last two decades, beyond those now subject to these formal charges - he denied this. He said that he felt he had already "beaten" these claims, because he was acquitted of filming himself abusing a child in 2008. That was the only previous criminal case in relation to the various abuse allegations made against Kelly, and his acquittal came after defence attorneys argued that it was not possible to identify the girl in the video, and therefore her age could not be verified. The musician has settled various other civil cases in relation to abuse allegations out of court.

At times in the CBS interview, Kelly became emotional, his voice cracking as he said he was "fighting for [his] fucking life". At one point he also leapt out of his chair and beat his chest. Interview Gayle King remained unmoved, continuing to press him on the accusations and charges. The second part of the interview is set to air at midday UK time today.

Kelly is next due in court in the child support case on 13 Mar. After that, the next hearing on his assault charges is set for 22 Mar.

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ReDigi planning on taking 'first sale doctrine' case to Supreme Court
ReDigi has confirmed that it plans to take its long running copyright infringement case to the US Supreme Court, but it has asked for a little more time to prepare its formal submission to American's most senior judges.

The ReDigi company operated a marketplace where people could sell their second-hand MP3s. No one is the slightest bit interested in reselling MP3s online any more, of course, but they were in 2012 when EMI first sued the company.

At the heart of this case is the question of whether or not the so called 'first sale doctrine' - the principle under US copyright law that says you can resell a CD without the copyright owner's permission - should also apply to digital content.

The record industry has always argued "fuck no!", on the basis that when you resell a CD no new copy of a recording is made. But by definition, when a digital file is transferred from one machine to another, copying has to occur, even if the software facilitating the copying tries to ensure the original copy is deleted at the end of the process.

The courts sided with the record industry in 2013 and then again on appeal last year. Meanwhile ReDigi suspended its operations and sought chapter eleven bankruptcy protection. And then, of course, downloads peaked, the streaming boom began, and the idea of anyone wanting to buy a second-hand MP3 all started to seem a little bit quaint.

But some people think that that core question about the first sale doctrine in the digital age is still important enough to be considered by the highest court in the land, even if the ReDigi business model itself has become redundant.

In theory you need to file a request for the Supreme Court to consider a case - aka a 'cert petition' - within 90 days of your appeals court ruling. But with that deadline imminent, lawyers working for ReDigi have asked for an extension to 13 May to get their arguments together and to allow other interested parties to submit their viewpoints.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in a letter to Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ReDigi's current legal rep wrote: "The petition raises novel and important legal questions about copyright law. These questions include whether, under the first sale doctrine, a person who lawfully acquires a digital file through the internet has the right to resell it".

It remains to be seen if ReDigi is granted an extension to get its petition filed. And then whether the Supreme Court will hear to case.

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Dolly Parton signs with Sony/ATV
Sony/ATV has signed a new deal to administer the song catalogue of Dolly Parton in North America and various other territories.

"Dolly Parton is a true musical icon and we are unbelievably excited to get the chance to work with her again", says soon-to-depart Sony/ATV boss Marty Bandier, who won't really get much of a chance to work with her again, given his imminent departure.

"Her importance, influence and legacy as a recording artist is recognised the world over", he adds. "But more than anything she stands out as an exceptional songwriter with a peerless catalogue of songs, which we are honoured to represent".

Parton herself chips in: "I am very excited to be working with Sony/ATV. They know my catalogue and they know me. Get ready, you're going to be hearing a lot more from me!"

Meanwhile, her manager, CTK Management CEO Danny Nozell, muses thus: "With so many years of Dolly's career being under Sony, we feel this is a great home for her publishing administration and we're looking forward to the partnership".

Parton controls her publishing rights through her own Velvet Apple Music company. In 2017, she signed a deal with Concord Music Group to represent those rights in various territories, including the UK, Germany, France and Latin America. The new Sony/ATV deal runs alongside that arrangement and, in addition to North America, covers any other territories where existing deals are not in place.

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Scott Cohen moves to futurist role at Warner Music
Having departed The Orchard last month, Scott Cohen has confirmed he is heading to Warner's recorded music business where he will take up the new role of Chief Innovation Officer. His job will be to point the mini-major towards new tech trends.

In a statement, Warner's recorded music CEO Max Lousada says: "Scott spots and champions emerging technology with the same level of passion, creativity and ambition that our A&Rs bring to artist development. A valuable addition to our senior team, he'll be an amazing brand ambassador and thought-leader, who joins a great lineage of maverick entrepreneurs at the independent major".

Cohen himself adds: "It's no longer enough for entertainment companies to merely embrace change, they need to create the future themselves. What attracted me to Warner was the sense that Max and his team are building an environment where truly original, disruptive ideas can flourish. Warner is uniquely positioned to take an agile but principled approach to growing the universe of opportunity for music".

See, I think this is probably a cool job, but both of those quotes prove it's quite hard to talk about stuff like this without it sounding like nonsense.

But whatever. Cohen, of course, co-founded The Orchard in 1997, developing it into one of the earliest and most successful digital distributors, which subsequently became the label services division of Sony Music. So he does have form in this innovation sort of thing.

He's also the co-founder of CyborgNest, which I think is something to do with humans implanting technology into their bodies. So he does scary innovation too.

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Eventim launches new division to bring together European promoters
German ticketing giant CTS Eventim has been steadily expanding its other interests in the live music business in recent years. And now it is launching a new division to bring together the various tour promoters it has majority stakes in.

That includes concert and festival makers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the Nordics, though the new business - Eventim Live - will be headquartered in London. Eventim founder and CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg will head up the new division alongside Frithjof Pil, although each of its constituent businesses will still have its own MD.

Schulenberg says that the aim of the new division is to make it easier for artists and agents to access the company's network of promoters around Europe. It will also provide marketing, data and technology support to all the promoters in that network.

All this was unveiled by Schulenberg at the ILMC conference in London yesterday. He said: "Eventim Live offers artists of all genres the most convenient access to the largest possible audience in Europe. Anyone who plans their performances with one of our promoters gains access to a unique network that transcends national borders. Eventim Live combines international reach with local know-how, entrepreneurial spirit with financial solidity and the biggest festivals in Europe with the most exclusive club concerts".

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National Football Museum removes Michael Jackson statue
The National Football Museum in Manchester has removed a statue of Michael Jackson. Although not because of the new documentary on abuse allegations against the late pop star, it insists. More just because it makes basically no sense to have it there.

A spokesperson for the museum said: "Plans have been under way for a number of months to remove the Michael Jackson statue from display as part of our ongoing plans to better represent the stories we want to tell about football. As a result of this, the statue has now been removed".

There is a football connection to the statue though. It was erected outside Fulham FC's Craven Cottage stadium in 2011, at the behest of then owner of the club, Mohammed Al Fayed.

Commissioned after the musician's death, the original plan had been to put the monument inside the Harrods department store. However, it was completed after Al Fayed sold his retail business, hence the location change to Fulham's ground. Although Jackson's only connection to the club was that he had attended a match there once.

At the time, Al Fayed disputed that there was anything strange about his chosen location for the Jackson statue, saying: "Why is it bizarre? Football fans love it. If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift they can go to hell. I don't want them to be fans. If they don't understand and don't believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else".

It was not popular with fans though, some even believing it had brought the club bad luck. The statue was removed shortly after Shahid Khan took over Fulham FC in 2013. Al Fayed then donated it to the National Football Museum.

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Hozier, Stephen Malmus, Meg Myers, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Hozier has released the video for new single 'Dinner & Diatribes'.

• Stephen Malkmus has released new track, 'Come Get Me', from his electronic album, 'Groove Denied', which is out on 15 May.

• Meg Myers has released a cover of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill'. "This song to me, represents an opening of our hearts and a possibility of acceptance for all", she says. "And to me, this is an important message for the world we are living in right now​​​".

• Matmos have released another track from their upcoming 'Plastic Anniversary' album. This is 'The Crying Pill'.

• Sarah P has released the video for 'Maenads', the third in a trio of videos for tracks from her latest EP, also called 'Maenads'. Symbolising mental health, you can read about the exact meaning behind the video here.

• Com Truise has announced that he will release a new album, 'Persuasion System', on 17 May. From it, this is 'Existence Schematic'.

• Oozing Wound have released the video for recent single 'Tween Shitbag'. Their new album, 'High Anxiety', is out next week.

• Currently putting the finishing touches on their second album, Whitney have announced that they will be touring the UK and Ireland at the end of the year. The run of dates will include a show at The Roundhouse in London on 29 Nov.

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

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Lizzo out-flutes Ron Burgundy
There are lots of fun things you can say about rapper Lizzo. One of the most fun is "classically trained flautist". And yet there are still people out there who don't believe that she's really that skilled with it comes to tooting the flute.

Last year, to prove her credentials, she released a live track showing off her flute playing, the flutily-titled 'Bye Bitch'. Then, because the world isn't always entirely awful, Will Ferrell - as 'Anchorman' character Ron Burgundy - sent of a video challenging her to some sort of flute-off.

I think Ferrell just thought that would be a funny thing to do. He probably didn't expect a response. Much less that Lizzo would film a parody of the very scene in 'Anchorman' where Burgundy is revealed to have a secret talent for jazz flute. She has though, featuring a cameo from Este Haim and a fluted-up version of Lizzo's recent single 'Juice'.

And that is the story of how Lizzo continues to be awesome. Here's the video.

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