Loading...
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Click JUMP to skip direct to a section of this email or ONLINE to read and share stories on the CMU website (JUMP option may not work in all email readers). For regular updates from Team CMU follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CMU Jobs is a proven way to recruit the best music business talent for roles across the industry at all levels, from graduate to senior management. To book an ad contact Sam on 020 7099 9060 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A guide to upcoming events from and involving CMU, including seminars, masterclasses and conference sessions from CMU Insights and workshops from CMU:DIY, plus other events where CMU journalists are speaking or moderating. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul McCartney has filed the paperwork to reclaim his Sony/ATV-controlled songs Aside from the Lennon and McCartney songs being such a valuable asset for Sony/ATV, the latter Beatle has another association with the publisher, of course, thanks to that popular music publishing story that it was McCartney who advised a then young Michael Jackson to invest his growing wealth in song rights. Only to see the king of pop take control of the famous Beatles songs by buying up ATV, which had in turn outbid Lennon and McCartney when they tried to buy the fab four's original publisher Northern Songs. This soured McCartney's friendship with Jackson, with the one time Beatle, on occasion, complaining about having to pay the popstar to perform his own songs, though Macca insists he got over that frustration long ago. That's possibly because McCartney's reversion right dates started to appear on the horizon. Because, thanks to a change to American copyright law in the 1970s, songwriters who assigned their rights to publishers get a one-off chance to claim their copyrights back. The reversion right usually kicks in at 35 years after assignment, though for songs published before 1978 it is 56 years after the original deal was done. Which means old man McCartney's reversion rights are still to kick in, but the dates are now looming pretty close. To exercise this right, a songwriter must file paperwork with the US Copyright Office no later than two years before the revision right date. And, according to Billboard, McCartney - who has talked about exercising his reversion rights with the media in the past - has now filed the paperwork for 32 of his Sony/ATV published songs. Many of the songs listed in that paperwork won't actually revert until 2025, though given the works will have another 70 years of protection after McCartney's death, it's certainly worth taking the copyrights back. Once the rights have reverted, McCartney could negotiate a new deal with Sony/ATV, or with another publisher, or keep the copyrights for himself and hire a rights administrator. The reversion only applies to the US, and only covers McCartney's share in the songs he co-wrote with John Lennon. Yoko Ono seemingly reached a new deal with Sony/ATV years back over Lennon's share in the songs, which means the reversion right at 56 years no longer applies. As for the impact McCartney exercising his reversion rights has on the publishing company Sony just spent $750 million to wholly own, well, the firm has known for decades that this is coming, and it won't affect their existing rights in the famous Beatles songs outside the US. Plus the company could still try to negotiate a new deal with McCartney, perhaps offering better terms on the rest of the world to continue repping the works in America. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sainsbury's stores now stocking vinyl Tesco having decided that vinyl was a product of interest to its demographic last year, rival supermarket chain Sainsbury's is now following suit. From today, 171 Sainsbury's stores in the UK will begin stocking selected vinyl titles by the likes of Adele, The Beatles and Amy Winehouse. The retailer's Head Of Music & Books Pete Selby told Music Week: "We don't see this as a novelty gifting fad but a complementary part of our existing music offer with a long term future in our stores. Vinyl is definitely experiencing a revival with demand growing stronger year on year. It is our aim to make the vinyl experience easy and pleasurable for our customers who are ready to re-engage with a format that resonates with them on an emotional level". Yeah, sure. Of course, some Sainsbury's customers might not actually own a turntable. Not to worry, the supermarket will also be selling £80 Crossley Cruisers in store. A turntable of which What Hi-Fi? said: "The tinny sound quality is hardly worth paying the sub-£100 price. So, good to see a world of warm, high quality audio is being opened up to the wider public. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Universal Music announces partnership with watchmaker Raymond Weil Hmm, good times. And how will the watch people pay tribute to its "dear source of inspiration"? With its own digital music service developed with, no doubt, to-the-second precision, by the time-keepers in chief over at Universal HQ. Oh, and a "multi-channel campaign" including lovely adverts and marvellous cross-promotional activities. How fucking thrilling. "We are THRILLED to partner with Universal Music, the world's leading music company, and to associate our brand's name to such an iconic actor of the industry", says Raymond Weil CEO Elie Bernheim. "[We have] always been strongly committed to promoting music of all kinds. With this exclusive entertainment service, we offer our clients access to the best music artists and an undisputable added-value". And, if you're still not convinced, just think about. Watchmaking and music-making are basically the same thing. "Fine watch making is about precision, harmony, elegance, good taste, trendsetting, heritage and innovation, just like great music", adds Universal Music's Adrien Garrault. Ah, of course! "Universal Music is delighted to work with Raymond Weil, a company that shares the same passion for music and artists". Brilliant. Though I'd bank that cheque quick if I was you, Adrien. Just in case the watchmakers find another "dear source of inspiration" and call time on this partnership deal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sony and SoundCloud confirm and comment on licensing deal So yes, Sony Music's long awaited deal with SoundCloud has now been confirmed, and it's a "landmark agreement", according to both the major and the streaming platform. Which is nice. Though isn't that a bit of a slur on SoundCloud's previous deal partners? I suppose the Warner deal was a "landmark" because it was the first with a major rights owner. And the Merlin deal was "landmark" because it covered so many indies. And the Universal deal was "landmark" because it's the biggest record company. And the Sony deal is "landmark" because it means all the majors are now on board. So many landmarks. We should try to monetise them somehow. The deal covers Sony Music itself, its label services division RED, and its distribution company The Orchard. SoundCloud gets music owned and distributed by Sony for its evolving ad platform and in-development streaming service. Sony artists get insights and promo tools and lots of lovely money. And some equity. Some lovely equity. "We are pleased to be making content from Sony Music Entertainment available to SoundCloud's large userbase of highly-engaged, passionate music fans", said Sony's President of digital gubbins and Amercian sales, Dennis Kooker, on Friday night. Which, technically speaking, is when I stopped shivering. But that wouldn't have sounded so dramatic in the intro to this story. "This agreement creates a business framework for the use of Sony Music songs on the SoundCloud platform that meets the needs of our artists and labels", Kooker continued. "And supports the growth of SoundCloud through its new premium on-demand music tier". Meanwhile SoundCloud chief Alexander Ljung, declared that: "Today is of particular significance to us as a company, as the addition of SME means we now have deals in place with all of the major music labels". That's Sony Music Entertainment he's referring to there. Not a "small and medium-sized enterprise". Sony Music isn't a "small and medium-sized enterprise". SoundCloud has no interest in them. Ljung continued: "With SME now on board, we continue on our journey building a unique platform, empowering our community of more than eighteen million artists at every stage of their careers to share their work and connect with their fans, and enabling listeners to discover and be inspired by new music and audio. We are very excited to be working with SME and cannot wait to see what we can achieve together as we continue to transform the future of music online". Ah, the future of music online. That old thing. I look forward to it, everybody. Will there be cheese? If so, can it be Cheshire cheese? -------------------------------------------------- Drip not closing following alliance with Kickstarter The Drip business announced it was planning to wind down its operations last month, with Friday due to be the final day. At the time, the people behind the company said: "At the top of the year we took a hard look at Drip, our future, and the various routes we could take to get there. Between timing, funding, and everything needed to realise this future, we made the decision that now was the time for Drip to come to a conclusion. For now, we'll be taking this moment to regroup and refocus". But there's no time to regroup or refocus following the announcement on Friday that "Drip is joining Kickstarter today". The boss of the crowdfunding set up, Yancey Strickler, wrote in a blog post that: "Many of us at Kickstarter have admired Drip over the years. At heart, we've been on similar paths. Strengthening the bonds between artists and audiences, and fostering the conditions for a more vibrant creative culture is at the core of our work at Kickstarter too". But how does this change things? That's what I was wondered. "So how does this change things?" wrote mind-reader Strickler. "In some ways, not at all", he responded. Phew. I suppose a commitment to servicing creators is hardcoded into the missions of both Drip and Kickstarter, I then mused, even though that's a nonsense thing to say. "Our commitment to serving creators is hardcoded into our missions", Strickler continued, demonstrating we have a common commitment to nonsense. "[And it] continues to guide us". So, while it's business as usual, "in other ways, we're excited to discover where it leads". On a more practical level, Drip co-founder Miguel Senquiz will join the Kickstarter team as part of the deal. And however he and Strickler maybe hardcoded, I liked the idea of Drip, so hurrah for Kickstarter stepping in and keeping the whole thing going. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Björk announces virtual reality exhibition "I felt it was time to premiere my recent virtual reality stuff and am delighted to do so in Sydney", says the musician. "We have made seven 360° videos for 'Vulnicura' and I am enthusiastic about this natural continuity of the music video - the intimacy, total merger of surround sound and vision makes VR an ideal home". The exhibition will be open to the public from 4-18 Jun. More details here. And if you're interested in all things VR, our sister title ThisWeek London spoke to the boss of creative agency Onedotzero ahead of a session it hosted on the topic at the Convergence festival this weekend just gone. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Radar announces new awards for emerging music video talent Both directors and artists are currently being invited to put themselves forward for the awards, which will take place at the YouTube Space in London on 14 Jul. Various media partners will be supporting the event and the nominees selected, including your best mate CMU. Radar chief Caroline Bottomley says she's "chuffed" about CMU's involvement. She did say "THRILLED" to wind us up, but we insisted on a more original emotion. "It's very exciting to be launching these awards at YouTube", Bottomley continued. "There's so much creativity in music video, we want to amplify the best ones and welcome entries from directors, artists, bands, managers and labels from far and wide". For more info click here, and to put your work forward click here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bat For Lashes, Rae Sremmurd, Olga Bell, more Other notable announcements and developments today... Â Bat For Lashes has released the video for 'In God's House', taken from her new album 'The Bride', which is out on 1 Jul. Â Rae Sremmurd have released a video for new track 'By Chance'. Have a watch. Â Here's a new Olga Bell track, 'Randomness'. It's taken from her debut album 'Tempo', which will be out at some point, I assume. Â Kaytranda will release his debut album, '99.9%', through XL on 6 May. From it, this is 'Bus Ride'. Â Jonnie Common will release a new album on 9 May. Titled 'Kitchen Sync', all sounds on the record are sampled from items in his kitchen. Watch a preview video here. Â Roniia, a trio including Dark Dark Dark's Nona Marie Invie, will release their debut EP 'Sisters' this Friday. From it, this is 'Love Me'. Â Maths And The Moon are gearing up for the release of their debut album, 'Familiar Strange', next month. Here's new single 'Futurist'. Â Adele is headlining Glastonbury. Though if you care, you already knew that. So I'm not sure why I'm even telling you. Especially as I don't particularly care. And yet I know. Which possibly means everyone who doesn't care also knows. Making this the most pointless one liner ever. Â Thom Yorke is "as fucked off as you are" and is "only human". This news follows Radiohead tickets going on sale last week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Old man doesn't understand young people, assumes they're wrong As previously reported, it was announced in February that the 2016 edition of the Bloc weekender at Butlins in Minehead would be the last such event for the company. Speaking to Resident Advisor, the festival's other co-founder Alex Benson said that operating a venue and providing studio and workspace to a community of artists had become more of an appealing mission to focus on. Putting things in more blunt terms in an article for The Spectator last week, Hull said that the end of the festival had come about because "young people these days just don't know how to rave. They are too safe and boring". The last generation who actually knew how to have fun are now middle-aged and can't come out anymore, he added. "Instead we have hipsters - a subculture so spineless that it had to borrow its name from its parents. Hipsters are an uptight bunch. They like dance music, but they lack the sense of abandon that made raving so much fun". He then hit out at "regulatory pressures" that mean outdoor dance music events now generally finish, rather than start, at 10pm. And also at ticketing systems that offer cheaper tickets to those who book early, which ensures that spontaneity has been all but removed from nights out. Though the real problem, he mused, is not so much that these problems exist, but that young people quite like them. "Organised and particular, hipsters know to detest big business", he writes. "Instead, they fetishise the authenticity of an independent operator. Yet they expect a level of service that can only be delivered by a multinational corporation". He concluded: "Under the hipsters' watch, dance music has become tedious and diluted. A monstrous cabal of overpaid circuit DJs titillating a precious and unimaginative bunch of wimpy pseudo-hedonists at a carefully designed 'safe space'. In broad daylight. If that's your idea of raving, you can keep it. I'm out". Yeah, fuck off young people. Read Hull's full article and find out why you/they are idiots here. -------------------------------------------------- Old man doesn't understand new music industry, assumes it's wrong The problem is that no one is buying physical records anymore, he says. Except him. He sometimes listens to stuff on the Spotify premium account he was given for free, but then he will go and buy it later if he likes it. Which is something only he has thought of, apparently But what about all the young people? His teenage son "streams [music] but he also watches YouTube", Gillespie told the BBC, as if the two are different. "He loves music but he wouldn't buy it. It's just the culture they were born into. You can't turn it back but as an artist, I have to try and express myself and the best way to do that is to make albums". It's not like in the old days. These days "[major labels] beholden to shareholders ... only invest in Ellie Goulding or puppet girl singers or boybands they know they can make a killing on. They'll never invest in art, they're not artistically driven people". That statement, of course, could definitely not be applied to any other time in music. He continued: "In the 90s and early 2000s, we could sell hundreds of thousands of art rock albums, but it's not like that anymore". Yes, remember the 90s when every art rock band was guaranteed to sell at least 100,000 albums? Although Gillespie does then admit that his band's biggest successes were with more commercially-minded tracks, saying: "We're commercial songwriters, 'Movin On Up' was a commercial song, 'Come Together' was, 'Rocks' was written as a commercial rock song, we have got that side. It's not like a pressure but to fund the band, to fund this art project, you need commercial success. We don't have a massive label giving us money anymore, so commercial success would be great because it keeps things going". Of course, it is possible that the label giving Primal Scream money back in the 1990s - which in turn was backed by a major likely sitting on cash it made from selling records by chart-topping boybands - helped with the hit making. Which then assured Primal Scream a decently sized audience to sell tickets to. Not that that's any fun either. "At the level we're at and a lot of other people are at, you've just got to get out and play lots of gigs, but it means the gig circuit is choc-a-block", he says. So chock-a-block, I imagine, it almost impossible to sell any tickets these days. Primal Scream will play three sold out shows in Glasgow, London and Manchester starting later this month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Send ALL press releases to musicnews@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - this is checked daily by the whole editorial team meaning your release will definitely get to the right person. For details of the training and consultancy services offered by CMU Insights click here - Andy and Chris are also available to provide music business comment, just email them direct. To promote your company or advertise jobs or services to the entire UK music industry via the CMU bulletin or website contact Sam on 020 7099 9060 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Loading...
Loading...