Cooking Vinyl launches "full service label division" in the US
Following the recent sale of its label services business to Sony, Cooking Vinyl is ramping up its US presence by opening a "full service label division" Stateside and hiring former Warner Bros marketing chief Howie Gabriel to run it.

The Cooking Vinyl Group has had a presence in the US market for some time, but the new Cooking Vinyl America has ambitions to be a much more prolific affair, both repping the indie label's existing artists in the States, and signing and developing domestic talent.

The New York-based division will work with RED - the Sony label services company that bought Cooking Vinyl's Essential business last week – on distribution in America, which will be a familiar partner to Gabriel, because he used to work there.

Commenting on his new gig, in which he will report into Cooking Vinyl chief Martin Goldschmidt, Gabriel said: "I have known Martin for many years both personally and professionally and have always admired the way he has developed Cooking Vinyl from humble beginnings into a hugely successful company".

He went on: "With a strong international infrastructure already in place, the time is right to build on that success by having a permanent base and a full service label operation in the US that can act as a home for the company's existing artists, while working with the best American talent. I am honoured to have been given the role of overseeing Cooking Vinyl America and am excited to be part of helping the company become a truly global independent label who can sign, develop and market artists on a worldwide basis".

The there mentioned Goldschmidt, meanwhile said, "The key challenge whenever our company expands into new territories, particularly a territory as important as the US, is finding the right person to oversee things. In Howie we have someone who has tremendous energy aligned with a proven track record of success in marketing and distribution, an understanding of both the US and the international markets, and above all a passion for music".

Universal Publishing signs REM
Your good friends over at Universal Music Publishing have only gone and signed a publishing agreement with REM that is, says this here piece of paper, both "exclusive" and "worldwide". My favourite kind of publishing agreement!

Seemingly pleased to now be repping the REM oeuvre, Universal Music Publishing boss Jody Gerson told reporters: "REM is one of a small number of benchmark artists who have changed the course of popular music during their renowned career and, over the past 30 years, they have been the model for every artist that wants to organically develop their career with the ambition of someday reaching 'best band in the world' status. We are honoured that REM has chosen us to take care of their generation-defining catalogue".

Speaking for the now defunct band, REM manager Bertis Downs said: "As a band and an organisation, we are excited to join forces with Universal Music Publishing for the next phase of REM's legacy career. [The band's] body of work stands alongside any artist and the Universal machine is unparalleled in terms of what we look for in a global publisher".

Talking of which, did Kenneth ever tell us what the frequency was? I don't think he did. The bastard.

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Kobalt signs Glee music chief
Kobalt has announced a worldwide administration deal with Adam and Nikki Anders, which will see the publisher rep the music-making couple's existing catalogues and future works, as well as the work of writers signed to Deep Well Publishing, the music publishing spin off of the Anders' label Deep Well Records, which is allied to Universal's Capitol Music Group.

Producer Adam Anders has worked with a plethora of pop stars, and on a multitude of movie and media projects, though is still perhaps best known for his work as Executive Music Producer on that 'Glee' thing. Nikki Anders began her music career as a vocalist before moving more into songwriting, though is probably best known for being a judge on 'The Glee Project', the talent show that spun off from 'Glee' and which we can confirm was an actual thing.

Says Kobalt's Global President Of Creative Sas Metcalfe: "Adam is a man of many talents and we are so happy to be working with him in Deep Well. He and Nikki have shown a great creative support of their artists and writers which aligns with Kobalt perfectly".

And the Anders sang in the kind of perfect unison that could have won them a place in the final of 'The Glee Project': "As a creative couple and team, we have built a catalogue of music throughout the years that we are extremely proud of. It was very important for us to find the right partners to help us continue to build and grow our existing and future personal publishing assets. Kobalt is that partner and we couldn't be more excited to be able to work with Sas, Sue and the entire Kobalt team".

Platform-agnostic streaming app officially launches at SXSW
The latest service that aims to allow users to play music from multiple sources in one place, so that playlists can feature tracks from Spotify, SoundCloud and YouTube, meaning holes in any one service's catalogue don't matter so much, is going properly live at South By Southwest as we speak.

The UK-based LOST app has teamed up with the British Music Embassy initiative at SXSW, and will feature artists playing at the UK industry's base and elsewhere at the Austin showcase festival. The app also lets you add gig times and locations, and moving forward will include musical tips from various media, with links back to those publication's coverage of the recommended tracks. All joined up in one place, see. That being the app's shtick.

Says British Music Embassy overseer P-C Rae: "We're pumped to be working with LOST on this year's British Music Embassy. The whole point of the venue is to give UK acts the best possible showcasing platform and working with a fantastic brand new app like LOST is a perfect fit for us".

Meanwhile Crispin Futrille from the team behind LOST itself adds: "It's great to be launching with the British Music Embassy and their curators like the NME, Clash Magazine and BBC Introducing at SXSW. The UK has always pushed boundaries when it comes to music, this is the first step for us in showcasing that talent within LOST".

BBC and ITV reportedly discussing online streaming JV again
The BBC has reportedly had talks with other broadcasters, including ITV, about possibly setting up a combined subscription video-on-demand service, taking on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime by raiding the participating broadcasters' vast content archives.

According to The Guardian, discussions between rival broadcasters are very much at an early stage so far, and neither the BBC nor ITV would comment on the speculation. But commentators reckon that such a joint venture, that could involve other broadcasters too, would ally with the current strategies of the bosses of both the BBC and ITV, Tony Hall and Adam Crozier respectively.

If this is all sounding a little familiar, it's because the BBC and ITV collaborated on a video-on-demand platform once before, in part inspired by Hulu, the streaming service set up by US broadcasters NBC, Fox and ABC. Originally going by the bizarre name Project Kangaroo, and later rebranded as SeeSaw, that JV – which also involved Channel 4 - was ultimately blocked by competition regulators. The broadcasters sold the platform they had built to Arquiva who, for a short time, ran it as an ad-funded and pay-to-view service.

But it's thought there wouldn't be similar competition concerns this time, partly because the proposed service wouldn't seek too many exclusives content wise, plus there are now sufficient other competitors in the market – YouTube in addition to Netflix and Amazon – that the prospect of conventional broadcasters colluding is less of an issue. Plus, despite Project Kangaroo being blocked by the regulator, the BBC and ITV did then collaborate with other broadcasters on the set-top-box-based video-on-demand service YouView.

For both the BBC and ITV, any new online service would be about driving all-important new revenues, especially beyond the UK, primarily by exploiting existing content and brands, especially those shows made by their own in-house production divisions where they are much more likely to control online and international rights.

Initial speakers announced for CMU Insights media session at Convergence
The team from CMU Insights have announced some more details about the event they are staging next week as part of the Convergence Sessions programme in Shoreditch, which will explore how the rise of the web, digital and mobile have impacted on media.

The session will be led by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke who says: "I often say that, as someone who owns a media company but writes about the music industry, I'm much more optimistic about the future of the music business than I am the media business! Just like with music, digital has opened up all sorts of opportunities in the media space, and enabled a plethora of new publications to exist. But, as with music, while digital provides the platform, and can unlock an audience, it remains a challenge turning all that into revenue".

In the CMU Insights session 'Making Money From Media? You Won't Believe What Happens Next!', Cooke will kick-start the proceedings with an overview of the media sector in 2016, and the challenges publishers and journalists now face. He will then discuss the different revenue streams media owners have experimented with - from ads to subscriptions to sponsorship to branded content and beyond - with media lawyer David Deakin of Lewis Silkin, who has advised numerous media companies on business models and monetisation.

In the second half of the session, the spotlight will fall onto music media, and how different publishers have sought to build a business around music journalism. DIY magazine Publisher Rupert Vereker and Loud & Quiet Editor Stuart Stubbs will both discuss their respective titles, and how they have evolved their businesses, both online and in print.

Continues Cooke: "If online media has to be free – and some would argue consumer-facing content does – then, as I see it, you either need to generate massive traffic by utilising clickbait-style content, so that banner ads generate enough cash, or you go the branded content route. Involving brands in your journalism can be exciting, but editorially speaking, can also be a concern. But are there any other models available? Or could we actually persuade people that they should start paying to access good journalism again?"

Cooke will provide more background on the session in a column for our sister title ThisWeek London later today, as part of its TW:Guide To Convergence, which you can check out here. And look out for news early next week on the full line-up of speakers set to take part in this CMU Insights session, which takes place at Shoreditch's Ace Hotel next Thursday, 17 Mar, at midday. Click here to get your tickets.

Swedish investigator clarifies comments that crash that killed Viola Beach may have been "deliberate"
The Swedish crash investigator trying to work out what caused the accident that killed up and coming UK band Viola Beach and their manager last month has clarified comments that were widely reported and which implied that the crash may have been deliberate.

As previously reported, all four members of the band, and their manager Craig Tarry, died after their car drove off a bridge near Stockholm and plunged into the canal below. The group were travelling back to the UK having played at the Where's The Music? showcase festival.

The bridge in question was raised at the time to allow a boat through, and investigators are trying to work out why the driver of the band's vehicle carried on driving despite red lights, two barriers and stationary traffic. Earlier in the investigation police said that they didn't think the driver – who has yet to be identified – was under the influence of drink or drugs.

This week comments by officials seemed to suggest police now thought the driver may have deliberately caused the crash. A police spokesman was quoted in Swedish media as saying that "the driver overtook parked vehicles, using an off-limits part of the bridge. It's not natural to carry on driving if there's a stop sign, parked cars and blinking red lights". They then concluded: "We can't find any secondary explanation. It looked like the driver acted deliberately".

But investigator Lars Berglund has now clarified what was meant by those remarks, which is to say that the driver deliberately drove past parked cars onto the off-limits part of the bridge, not that his intention was to then crash into the barrier. Berglund told The Mirror: "I have not suggested that [the driver] was doing this in order to kill himself or the band. I said he was making a move from the right lane to the left lane and that was not accidental. We can see the brake lights. His intention was to stop the car. But maybe his speed was too high and it was too late".

As previously reported, record label Communion, which worked with Viola Beach on their most recent release, has confirmed that proceeds from the sale of those records will go to the families of the band and their manager.

Adam Green unveils papier mâché movie project
Adam Green has released a track from his upcoming movie project 'Adam Green's Aladdin' which is, apparently, "a hyper-sensory, poetic and humorously subversive take on the classic 'Arabian Nights' tale". And why not?

The film, which has a soundtrack composed and recorded by Green, stars the musician in the titular role. Aladdin's lamp is a 3D printer while the princess in the story is a "decadent socialite". Oh, and the planet gets a sex-change while its population prints out an analogue version of the internet. Yeah, it's that kind of movie.

The film also features Macaulay Culkin as Ralph The Rebel Leader and Har Mar Superstar as British Druggie Guy, and was filmed on a set made entirely of out papier mâché. I did say something about it being "that kind of movie", didn't I?

Says Green: "With 'Aladdin', I wanted to create a single and unified experience to showcase my music, art and writing. When creating 'Aladdin', I approached the script like it was a song. It has been the creative journey of a lifetime, and I'm so excited to put this out!"

You can see a trailer for the movie here, and check out the video to first track 'Never Lift A Finger' here. Green will also tour the UK to promote the new project in May. Tickets will presumably be 3D printed in papier mâché.

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Patrick Wolf announces new album
Patrick Wolf is back everybody! After a five year hiatus, new album 'Wildawake' will be unleashed later this year, with first track 'Wild Life' out later this month.

Wolf's new LP will also come with a film (a documentary) and a May tour, though no papier mâché is involved as far as we are aware. But Wolf did give us a suitable bizarre quote, telling us: "Today I put my ear to the ground and heard the beat of dancing bears, roar of the captive crowd, these dismal stories do ourselves confound, but I just want to wild awake, wake the wild sound". Hmm, maybe those are lyrics. It's not clear.

But on first single 'Wild Life' Wolf is a bit clearer, declaring: "This is a big hit song that I have been sitting on for the sequel to 'The Bachelor' that I had plans to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest".

There's a snippet of the new track here, and you'll be able to download it for free from patrickwolf.com on 30 Mar.

CMU Beef Of The Week #297: Damon Albarn v Safe Artists
Hey artists. Stop being safe will you? Bloody safe artists. You know who I hate? Safe artists, that's who. I'm well with Damon Albarn on this one. Why can't everyone be more like Kanye West? There's nothing safe about him, mate. Dangerous Kanye West they call him. The enemy of health and safety officers everywhere.

"I'd rather people were like [Kanye] than just really safe" declares Albarn in an interview with Kano over on that there Noisey channel. Damon's a big fan of dangerous Yeezy, see. He loves the rapper's "brilliant" ideas. Though not so much the "really bad" ones. And the rapper probably needs to have himself a good cup of tea. Oh, and stop putting his music exclusively on Tidal. Actually, it doesn't sound like Albarn is such a big fan of risk-taking fearless mavericks like West after all.

Kanye came up in conversation because Kano and Albarn were discussing social media. "The thing about social media" said the Blur frontman, "is that it draws you in to what you are at that moment and doesn't let you go, especially when people respond to it. That's why I stay away from it, because I don't want to be restricted by something I said last night when I was drunk".

"I'm sure that I would be in so much trouble" he then mused, while imagining what he'd be like as a prolific tweeter, "because I have some quite strong opinions on occasion".

Talk of mad tweeting, of course, brought things round to Yeezy. Should West take a "more Damon approach" to all things social? "Well" said he, "I've known Kanye since he first arrived. Some of his ideas are brilliant, some of them are really bad, but that doesn't matter... He's interesting, definitely".

And that's all that matters people. Be interesting. Not safe. "I'd rather people were like that than just really safe" Albarn declared. Though, "if I somehow ended up managing Kanye West, fucking hell, I'd definitely start with a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake. Then I'd take it from there".

But what does Albarn reckon of West's latest batch of unsafe tunes? What, you've not heard 'The Life Of Pablo' yet? But it's up there right now streaming on Tidal. "He's put it on Tidal, has he?" Albarn says. "That's probably not the best place for it". Ouch. And there was me thinking that making your music exclusively available on the Tidal platform was the least safe thing an artist could be doing in 2016.

Meanwhile, West himself has been getting all excited about Ikea this week. Prompting this warning from the UK's former Deputy Prime Minister. Shut up Prescott, Yeezy's not into playing it safe. Which is why Damon Albarn loves Kanye West. And hates everyone else.