Stability AI launches Stable Audio, generative AI for music

Stability AI yesterday launched Stable Audio, which it says “will empower music enthusiasts and creative professionals to generate new content with the help of AI”

  ONE LINERS  

Music Support, Round Hill Music, Dream Wife + more

DEALS

Cooking Vinyl Publishing has signed Rikke Normann - who performs as Rikke - to a worldwide administration deal. Says the publisher's Ryan Farley: “I’m delighted to bring Rikke into the Cooking Vinyl Publishing family. She is a fantastic storyteller as well as a fun and engaging live performer and I look forward to seeing her career develop further from here".

Round Hill Music has acquired Rident Royalties, a neighbouring rights agency that works with film/TV composers and production music. The purchase expands Round Hill’s neighbouring rights platform Sound Hill. “The combination of Rident and Sound Hill’s advanced repertoire, claims technology and deep expertise creates an unequalled service provider in this area of the market”, says Round Hill CEO Josh Gruss. “With this new addition to its stable, Round Hill will continue to apply its expertise to managing and maximising the value of our music catalogues”.

APPOINTMENTS

Live-streaming platform On Air has appointed Paul Cheetham as Talent & Event Booker, Brian Rucker as Business Development Manager and James Goodhall as Brand Partnerships Director.

Nashville-based country label Triple Tigers has appointed Kevin Herring and Annie Ortmeier as co-Presidents, following the departure of former President Norbert Nix. Herring moves up from his previous role of SVP Of Radio Promotion, while Ortmeier joins from Universal Music Nashville.

INDUSTRY INITIATIVES

Music Support, which provides help and support to anyone working in music affected by mental ill-health and/or addiction, has announced a new partnership with the Christopher Meredith Foundation which will enable it to grow existing support schemes and develop new programmes. That will include a programme providing resources and support for the families and friends of those struggling with problematic drinking, drug use or other addictions.

RELEASES

Sufjan Stevens has released new single ‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me?’ His new album ‘Javelin’ is out on 6 Oct.

The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst, Souxie & The Banshees’ Budgie and producer Jacknife Lee have released new single ‘Ghosted At Home’, featuring Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. The trio’s debut album ‘Los Angeles’ is out on 3 Nov.

Big Thief have released new single ‘Born For Loving You’.

Sega Bodega and Safety Trance have teamed up for new track ‘Arena!’ “I came round to hang at Luis flat in Barcelona one afternoon and we jammed, this one idea that we started became 'Arena!'”, says Sega Bodega. “I love his drums so much and his sense of rhythm, so to be able to work with him was such a gift!”

Dream Wife have released new single ‘Love You More’ - an outtake from recording sessions for their latest album ‘Social Lubrication. “‘Love You More’ is not your typical love song, but a love song to the self and choosing to love perfectly imperfect bodies”, say the band. “It has a gritty underbelly, dealing with self-acceptance, body dysmorphia, disaster capitalism, climate collapse and depression. From the micro to the macro, the song explores the relationship between the self and both the body and the earth as experiences of home, as a vessel for feeling”.

bby have released new single ‘Money Body’.

GIGS & TOURS

Jorja Smith has announced intimate shows in as yet unnamed venues in Birmingham, Manchester and London in November. Tickets go on general sale on 22 Sep. Her new album ‘Falling Or Flying’ is out on 29 Sep.

Read the One Liners online

  MANAGEMENT   

MMF publishes AI guide and elects new board members

The UK's Music Managers Forum yesterday published a 'Music Manager's Interim Guide To AI', produced with CMU, as the trade group's Manager Summit put the spotlight on challenges and opportunities created for the music industry by AI technologies.

The Summit was followed by the organisation's Annual General Meeting, which saw Ray Black of Craft Management join the MMF board for the first time, with Ellie Giles of Step Music Management, Kerry Harvey-Piper of Red Grape Music, Sumit Bothra of ATC Management and Vicky Dowdall of VDM Music all re-elected.

Commenting on the board election, MMF Chair Paul Craig says: “What Ray has achieved in Scotland with Craft Management is astonishing, as is his enormous contribution to Scottish music. We’re absolutely delighted that his knowledge and expertise will now be heard at the MMF board table, and also that we’ll retain such influential figures as Ellie, Kerry, Sumit and Vicky".

The 'Music Manager's Interim Guide To AI' is part of the MMF's 'Dissecting The Digital Dollar' series, produced by CMU. It looks at how artists and managers are making use of AI in their businesses today, and also summarises the debates around the training of music-making generative AI models, and what kind of consent and licences AI companies need in order to make use of existing music in the training process.

READ THE FULL STORY AND DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE

  APPROVED: TEENAGE SEQUENCE  

Teenage Sequence - aka Dewan-Dean Soomary - is set to release his eponymous debut album next week. Marrying upbeat, hook-heavy indie-disco tracks with biting social commentary, it’s an urgent and world-weary collection of tracks telling vivid stories.

Out now is ‘Tell Me Your Name’, a tale of being turned away from a nightclub due to the colour of your skin. Soomary explains: “I wanted to create a pastiche of a pastiche and leaned heavily into sounds and arpeggiators that one might find on a mid-2000s indie-disco record that itself was trying to replicate that post-disco pre-dance late 1970s sound”.

“I wanted to create something familiar, comfortable, and then juxtapose this really bleak story against it”, he goes on. “I tried to create something that upon further listens becomes quite uncomfortable - because to me that is what 90% of racism is, everyday normal events having the potential to turn into something uncomfortable due to someone else’s prejudice and us being powerless to do anything about it”.

“Like, I have experienced more visceral and violent forms of racism, that goes without saying, but for some reason it's stuff like not getting into a club for no other reason than skin colour that stays with me the most”, he concludes. “I really hope that this song does the other people who were with me justice. I personally think it’s the best song I’ve ever written, but really in this my opinion doesn’t matter”.

Turning to the project as a whole, he says: “I come from a background in explicitly political bands who used music as a platform for political standpoints. Teenage Sequence isn’t that; I simply write about my life, the world as I understand it and as I’ve experienced it. If that then becomes a social or political statement - and I know it does - then it is because my existence is a social or political statement”.

With the album out on 22 Sep, you can also catch Teenage Sequence live at Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes in London on 29 Sep.

Watch the video for ‘Tell Me Your Name’ here.

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  DIGITAL & D2F  

DistroKid buys Bandzoogle

DIY distributor DistroKid has bought direct-to-fan platform Bandzoogle, meaning that artists will be able to "power digital, physical and on-demand merch and music sales seamlessly within the DistroKid ecosystem".

Bandzoogle was first launched 20 years ago and says it now powers more than 60,000 websites and online stores. As well as facilitating the online sale of downloads and merchandise, it can also be used to sell tickets, and to manage membership or crowd-funding programmes.

Confirming the acquisition, DistroKid founder and CEO Philip Kaplan  says: “At DistroKid, we’re always working on innovative ways to help artists. Bandzoogle has built incredible tools that make it super easy for every artist to set up an impactful public website and e-commerce store".

Bandzoogle CEO Stacey Bedford adds: "After 20 years of helping artists build effective websites and sell over $100 million in commission-free music, merch and tickets, this is an exciting new chapter for Bandzoogle. DistroKid has always put artists first, just like we have, so we’re THRILLED to join forces to continue to empower artists".

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  LEGAL  

Cannabis marketplace settles legal dispute over Tupac photo

Online cannabis marketplace Leafly has reached a settlement with a photographer who accused the company of copyright infringement after it used a photo he had taken of Tupac without permission.

Legal reps for Leafly hadn't filed a formal response to the lawsuit filed by T Eric Monroe with the courts in New York in July, but this week submitted a notice of settlement, requesting that the judge suspend the current deadlines set in the case.

Monroe's lawsuit claimed that the Leafly website used one of his Tupac photos alongside some copy about blunts, ie hollowed out cigars filled with cannabis. “Blunts are durable, deliver a powerful high and are hard to visually differentiate from tobacco-filled cigars”, the website noted.

“That combination makes them more convenient than joints or pipes for smokers in places that heavily criminalise the plant”, it went on. “Especially for communities that were impacted by harsher marijuana laws and biased enforcement during the war on drugs”.

The picture of Tupac was featured alongside this copy because the short article also contained the following bit of top blunt-based trivia: “In 1993, New York native Tupac taught Snoop Dogg how to roll a blunt in California, turning Snoop off of joints forever”.

“Defendants … have willfully copied, reproduced, and distributed the subject photography for financial benefit”, the lawsuit then stated.

This week's court filing says: "Defendant Leafly Holdings Inc hereby notifies the court that it and plaintiff T Eric Monroe have reached an agreement in principle to settle all claims between them in this matter and are in the process of documenting and performing their settlement obligations".

Needless to say, no details of the settlement deal was provided. A free supply of extra big blunts for life, maybe?

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  MANAGEMENT  

Disgraced J-pop management firm announces judge-led scheme to compensate victims of its founder

Japanese talent management company Johnny & Associates has announced that three former judges will oversee a scheme to provide financial compensation to the hundreds of men who were sexually abused by the firm's late founder Johnny Kitagawa, who died in 2019.

As more people come forward to confirm that they were abused as boys or young men while working with Kitagawa's J-pop powerhouse, a website has been launched so that they can provide information about the abuse they suffered and negotiate a financial settlement.

The company said in a statement: “We recognise that the late Johnny Kitagawa carried out sexual assaults over a long period and we apologise to the victims from the bottom of our hearts. We vow to carry out compensation and prevent a recurrence".

These moves follow the recent independent investigation instigated by Johnny’s into all the allegations that were made against Kitagawa over the decades. It concluded that the firm’s leadership should accept that the abuse took place, apologise to the victims and offer them financial relief.

It also recommended that Kitagawa’s niece Julie Fujishima, who was President of the company, should step down. She has now done that, being replaced by Noriyuki Higashiyama, who for 35 years was a member of one of the pop groups Johnny’s managed.

However, the executive rejig might not be enough to help Johnny’s put the decades of abuse and cover ups behind it. Fujishima still owns the company and sits on its board, and Higashiyama has also been accused of inappropriate behaviour in the past.

The commitment to compensate Kitagawa's victims through a scheme led by judges with no ties to the company is part of a wider bid to win back the trust of the public, and all the brands that are currently cutting their ties with Johnny’s-signed artists.

According to the Associated Press, the firm has also announced that it won't be taking any commissions from the artists it represents for the next year, so that any people or companies supporting those artists won't be inadvertently funding the management business.

Now that Kitagawa's conduct has been confirmed by his company - after decades of denial - Japan's media are facing criticism for having consistently ignored the widely known allegations against the J-pop boss while he was alive.

In 1999 Shukan Bunshun magazine did publish an article about the allegations. Kitagawa successfully sued the title for libel, although the judgement was partially overturned on appeal. Other media organisations chose not to cover the story, fearing that doing so would lose them access to the pop stars Johnny’s managed.

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  RETAIL  

Rough Trade expands into Europe with new Berlin-based operation

Independent music retailer Rough Trade has announced that it is expanding into Continental Europe with the launch of a new EU operation, based in Berlin. It will initially launch an online store for EU-based customers before opening a new physical shop in the German capital.

Launching with the backing of German investors Christof Ellinghaus and Kurt Thielen, the EU business will be overseen by Curt Keplin - who joined from FUGA as Managing Director EU in May. This month he was joined by Connor Boshuijer as Head Of Buying, Nina Scherer as Digital Marketing Manager and Daniel Ellis as Warehouse & Fulfilment Manager.

“As a kid, I always dreamt of having a record store, now getting the chance of running one for such an iconic brand like Rough Trade with great history feels surreal”, says Keplin. “At the same time, vinyl is back in full swing, so for Rough Trade, expanding to Europe is the right step at the right time”.

Lawrence Montgomery, Managing Director of Rough Trade UK adds: “This growth is a great reflection of the work put in by our teams over the recent years. We are incredibly proud to be opening a store in Berlin, which has a rich cultural and music history that we’re excited to become a part of”.

“The expansion of our e-commerce operation will bring great scale for our label partners”, he goes on, “as we will be able to sell and promote their artists and releases across three major territories - UK, US and EU”.

The online store is set to begin trading next month, with the Berlin shop expected to open in the second quarter of 2024. It will feature 270 square metres of retail space, a 600 capacity venue, food market and rooftop garden.

Back in the UK, Rough Trade has announced a new partnership with suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably, which will kick off with an event at Rough Trade East in London later this month.

All proceeds from the show on 16 Sep will be donated to CALM, with attendees treated to performances from Floodlights, Human Interest and Hatchie.

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  AND FINALLY...  

Madonna pleased that Pepsi is now celebrating her cancelled ad from 1989

Madonna has thanked Pepsi for putting the spotlight back on an advert she made with the company all the way back in 1989 around the release of 'Like A Prayer'.

Pepsi is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary and, as part of all that, has posted to YouTube a number of its old pop star fronted adverts, including those featuring Madonna, Britney Spears, Tina Turner, Robert Palmer and Ray Charles. Two of them, the Madonna and Britney ads, were also aired during this week's MTV Video Music Awards.

The Madonna advert is the most notable of the bunch because of the controversy it caused when it aired in 1989.

The ad itself - which sees Madonna reliving childhood memories and dancing in the street, all soundtracked to the then new 'Like A Prayer’ - was not controversial. But Pepsi was more generally involved in the launch of that track and the follow-on tour, and therefore got caught up in the controversy that surrounded the official 'Like A Prayer' video.

The religious imagery in that video caused outrage among Christian groups around the world, with the Vatican and the American Family Association among those going very public with their outrage. Calls to ban the video extended to calls to boycott Madonna's big brand partner, resulting in Pepsi quickly pulling the advert.

Madonna got to keep the $5 million Pepsi had paid her for the brand partnership though, and such a major global brand being being pulled into the big old hoo haa around her music video only enhanced the marketing value of the controversy.

Commenting on Pepsi broadcasting the 1989 ad again, Madonna wrote on X: "34 years ago I made a commercial with Pepsi to celebrate the release of my song 'Like A Prayer'. The commercial was immediately canceled when I refused to change any scenes in the ['Like A Prayer' music] video where I was kissing a black saint or burning crosses".

"So began my illustrious career as an artist refusing to compromise my artistic integrity", she added. "Thank you Pepsi for finally realising the genius of our collaboration".

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