Pandora founder returns as CEO as streaming firm overhauls senior management
With Pandora having put much effort of late into improving its fractious relationships with the various strands of the music industry, members of that community will no doubt be now wondering what an executive shake-up at the top of the digital music firm yesterday means. Even if co-founder and former CEO Tim Westergren - who always bigs up his own credentials as a musician and record producer - is back on top.

Investors in the loss-making streaming firm will also be wondering the same, with the news of an executive overhaul causing the company's share price to wobble somewhat yesterday, after a week of share price increases caused by yet more rumours that the Pandora company may be acquired.

Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews is out as a result of the rejig, which also sees Mike Herring promoted to the role of President as well as his existing job of CFO, with a wide-ranging brief including revenues, licensing, finance, legal and IT. Sara Clemens becomes COO with responsibility for growing the business, including new markets and new revenue streams, with international operations and the company's ticketing business Ticketfly under her rule.

Pandora, of course, is a major player in the streaming market in the US, where its personalised radio service can be licensed on the recordings side via the compulsory licence administered by SoundExchange.

Various attempts over the years to reduce its royalty obligations to both the labels and the music publishers resulted in frosty relations, though the company has put a lot more effort into building bridges of late, partly because of plans to move into on-demand streaming and new markets, where it won't be able to rely on the SoundExchange licence.

Currently only available in three countries, and predominantly based in the US, Pandora was very early to market, which gave it a big head start on its competitors in the streaming domain, both personalised radio and fully on-demand.

It has never really managed to get its paid-for version - which offers personalised radio ad-free and with more skips - off the ground, while recent plans to diversify suggest that the company isn't confident its core ad-sales business will ever pay all the bills. Especially in the face of competition from iHeartRadio, which has a nationwide sales team through its traditional radio business.

Westergren has been CEO of Pandora before, way back in the early days of the business, before switching to the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Back in the top job, the Pandora co-founder insisted that his business was now on the "cusp" of "realising an extraordinary vision". To which, many artists and songwriters might reply, why still only on the cusp?

But, continued the new Pandora chief: "We are pursuing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a massive, vibrant music marketplace. We have the audience, the technology infrastructure, the monetisation engine and most importantly the right team with the passion and commitment to do it. I'm 100% committed to Pandora's growth strategy, as is our executive team and board".

Outgoing chief McAndrews also welcomed the executive changes, possibly in a bid to reassure investors that there's not been some kind of crazy coup at the top of the firm. Even though that's what everyone will still assume.

Saying he was proud of what had been achieved while he ran the company, McAndrews said: "We have put in place a robust strategy to make Pandora the go-to source for fans and artists and position the company for long-term success in a highly dynamic space. With the team and strategy in place and execution underway, I am passing the baton on to Tim. I wish the company all the best as it continues on its next phase of growth".

Meanwhile, speaking for the firm's board, Chairman Jim Feuille told reporters: "Tim is the ideal CEO for Pandora as we embark on our next phase of growth. As the original founder, Tim carries the vision for how Pandora can transform the music industry and he is uniquely able to connect with listeners, music makers and employees".

Lil Wayne sues Universal over his label venture with Cash Money
Lil Wayne's ongoing legal battle with his record label partners was ramped up somewhat yesterday when he filed litigation against Universal Music, parent company of Cash Money Records, to which the rapper is signed, and with which his own label Young Money had a joint venture. Collecting society SoundExchange is also named as a defendant.

Following various legal wranglings with Cash Money itself over his long awaited album 'Tha Carter V', Wayne is now suing Universal over allegations it has taken his cut of the profits from records released by the Young Money label in order to repay a $100 million advance that the major paid over to the Cash Money record company.

However, says the litigation, Wayne is due 49% of the profits generated by Young Money - from releases by the likes of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga - and that profit share should not have been subject to Cash Money repaying its advance.

Says the lawsuit: "With Universal's knowledge of Lil Wayne's rights to partial ownership and profits from those artists, Universal and Cash Money entered into a series of agreements which, among other things, diverted Lil Wayne's substantial profits to repay debts of Cash Money. As a result, 100% of the profits that should have been paid to Lil Wayne as a result of his ownership of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga records have been seized by Universal to repay debts that were neither incurred by nor were the obligations of Lil Wayne".

SoundExchange is listed as a defendant because, Wayne claims, Universal has taken 100% of the label's share of the cash collected by the body for Young Money tracks, and as such, the rights organisation is refusing to pay any royalties directly to Wayne's companies.

Confirming the legal action, Wayne's legal rep Howard E King said in a statement yesterday: "Universal should be grateful and respectful to Lil Wayne for the millions of dollars in distribution fees and profits they have earned on the artists he brought to the company, instead of seizing all of his profits on those artists in a desperate attempt to recoup the tens of millions of dollars they are owed by Cash Money Records".

A spokesperson for Universal hit back, telling media: "These claims are entirely without merit. It should be no surprise that we learned of the lawyer's complaint through the news media. We don't intend to dignify this with further public comment except to say that we will vigorously contest it and that the merits of our case will carry the day".

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Former NWA manager allowed to proceed with defamation suit against Straight Outta Compton
A US judge has allowed a defamation lawsuit filed by former NWA manager Jerry Heller to proceed, but only just. As previously reported, Heller has sued pretty much everyone who had any involvement in the NWA biopic 'Straight Outta Compton' claiming that the way he was portrayed in the movie constituted defamation.

The former manager also sued for misappropriation of likeness, tortious interference, breach of a settlement agreement and copyright infringement, the latter claims relating to an old contract he had with the hip hop group and scripts he contributed to which, he says, the 'Straight Outta Compton' screenplay was based on.

The film's producer tried to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing free speech rights amongst other things. Judge Michael W Fitzgerald, overseeing the case, concurred with the producer on some points, though he didn't go so far as to dismiss the case outright, and legal reps for Heller now have an opportunity to resubmit their legal complaint in a way that overcomes the issues raised by the defence.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Heller's attorney Michael Shapiro welcomed the decision, noting "the court's made it clear we have one more shot at this".

As it issues 200 millionth takedown against Google, BPI calls for web giant to do more to keep piracy sites out of search
Hey Spotify founder Daniel Ek, bragging about your 30 million premium users, here's a stat to put that into perspective. UK record industry trade group the BPI has now issued 200 million takedown requests against Google Search. And that's only in the UK since July 2011. You've been going since 2008 and are in loads of countries, with Indonesia to follow this bloody week. And there was you thinking there was a business in putting content online. Taking content offline, that's there the real opportunities lie.

Though the BPI, of course, would rather not be the world's takedown king, issuing a flood of requests to Google demanding it remove links from its search engine to copyright infringing content. The web giant is obliged to respond to such requests in order to benefit from the safe harbours of European and US law that ensure it can't be held liable for copyright infringement of the sites to which it links.

Google isn't so keen on receiving all those requests either, but - the record industry would argue - it is responsible for the flood by refusing to operate a system whereby, once a link to a bit of infringing content has been removed once, alternative links that are attached to the same bit of content on the same site can't then be added.

Or even better, Google would just delist any links that point to a site that has been declared by the courts as a rampant copyright infringer (especially if said courts have also issued a web-block injunction to internet service providers against the infringing site). Google, in the main, has always resisted such anti-piracy approaches.

With the 200 millionth takedown moment approaching, the BPI last week used the occasion to again call on Google to do more on this front, noting that the UK government has set up a roundtable to bring stakeholders together to consider the issue. The record industry group argues that the proliferation of links to piracy sites on Google - despite the 200 million takedown requests - hinders the development of legit digital music services.

The BPI revealed last week some of the proposals it will take to that roundtable session, including: "A lower threshold for the number of notices required to de-rank an illegal site and transparency over that threshold; improved discoverability of genuine sites to help consumers towards legal content; automatic de-listing of sites that have been ruled illegal by the High Court; action to prevent illegal sites avoiding demotion by swapping domain; and 'notice and stay down' - once a piece of content has been notified for removal, it should not be indexed again for the same site". So, quite a wide-ranging list then.

Says BPI boss Geoff Taylor: "The BPI believes that people who make music or other entertainment deserve to be rewarded for their work and creativity. Only when consumers support legitimate sites can labels, studios and broadcasters consistently invest in the best talent to make high quality entertainment we can all enjoy".

He goes on: "The notice and takedown system, as currently structured, cannot represent an effective response to piracy and requires urgent reform. Internet intermediaries like search engines clearly need to take more active responsibility to stop directing business to the black market".

Taylor concludes by revealing he's heard of search engines other than Google, stating that: "We are calling on Google and Bing to show their undiluted commitment to artists and the creative process by implementing a more pro-active solution to illegal sites appearing in search results. This will avoid the cost for both of us in dealing with hundreds of repeated notices for the same content on the same illegal sites".

Latest Momentum Music Fund grants confirmed
Your good friends over at the PRS For Music Foundation last week announced another round of momentum-giving goodness in the form of the latest grants from the Arts Council England-backed and Spotify-supported Momentum Music Fund.

Who are those artists whose momentum is set to increase in the coming months? Well, Babeheaven, Beaty Heart, Dapz On The Map, Jay Prince, Robyn Sherwell, Salute and The The Youth are all getting financial support for upcoming touring activity, Daniel Woolhouse, Frank Carter And The Rattle Snakes, Luke Sital Singh and Manu Delago are getting some cash towards recording projects, while Mic Righteous, Joel Culpepper and Laurel are going to spend their momentum monies on some marketing.

Says PRS For Music Foundation's Vanessa Reed: "As we approach our third anniversary of running the Momentum Music Fund in partnership with Arts Council England, and more recently in association with Spotify, it's clear from the number and strength of the applications we receive that talented artists from across a broad range of genres need support to push their career to the next level. Huge congratulations to all of the artists supported in this latest round, I look forward to seeing the impact this funding has on their next steps and the number of fans they can reach as a result".

On top of the latest grant awards, the Foundation also announced that it will be presenting a Momentum Music Fund showcase at The Great Escape in May featuring four artists supported by the funding scheme. More info on that very soon.

The Life Of Pablo track appears on non-Tidal streaming services
When Kanye West said on Twitter that "my album will never never never be on Apple... and it will never be for sale... you can only get it on Tidal", the key word there was presumably 'album'.

Because one track from the rapper's latest long-player 'The Life Of Pablo' is now very much on Apple, it having been added to various streaming services other than Tidal, including Spotify, Google Play and Apple Music. It's just one track, mind. And with an insane nineteen tracks on 'The Life Of Pablo', West could still drip feed seventeen more songs to Apple Music et al without actually going back on that 'never never' tweet.

Plus the version of 'Famous' that has appeared on non-Tidal streaming services is apparently slightly different. So he could probably put all nineteen tracks on Apple Music and argue that - because they are not the original album versions - he's still now broken his 'never never' pledge, he's just made a compilation of the alternative versions of all his 'The Life Of Pablo' songs.

So that could be a fun new trend, couldn't it? Artists making eternal exclusivity pledges, and then immediately finding technicalities to get around them. What an age in which to be alive!

CMU Insights to dissect the digital dollar at AIM's Music Connected
CMU Insights has announced it is presenting an insight session as part of the Association Of Independent Music's Music Connected conference in London next month.

CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke will give a 50 minute presentation based on the report he authored for the Music Managers Forum last year, 'Dissecting The Digital Dollar'. He will explain in simple terms how both labels and publishers are licensing streaming services, and what happens to monies paid into the music industry by a Spotify-type platform.

Says Cooke: "With streaming now set to become the biggest revenue stream for the record industry, it's important to understand how streaming services license content from both labels and publishers, and how income is then shared between the rights owners, collecting societies and, crucially, artists and songwriters. Even those pumping content into the streaming platforms often don't fully understand how this works, and we'll explain all the basics in our session at Music Connected".

The CMU session was confirmed alongside a number of other Music Connected speakers and panels last week. Also on the agenda is data, social marketing and playlisting, with Spotify's Will Page, Communion Music Group's Claire Mas, Method Music's Katy Ray, Kobalt's David Emery, Slice Music's Justin Barker and Absolute Label Service's Adam Cardew amongst those set to take part this year.

For info on the CMU session click here, meanwhile for the full Music Connected programme as announced so far click here.

In other CMU Insights news, the next edition of our acclaimed seminars programme has been announced, taking place in June and July in Shoreditch. Once again this will consist of eight two hour sessions exploring how artists generate revenue, the deals they do to unlock income and investment, how music rights work, the role of media and social media in fanbase building, and how artist businesses and label deals are evolving. Each session runs from 4-6pm on Monday afternoons, with full info here.

Diiv cancel European tour dates due to "urgent health issue"
Diiv have cancelled the remaining dates on their European tour, including two UK shows, due to an "urgent health issue".

The announcement was made by the Liverpool Arts Club, where the band were due to play on Sunday. A statement on the venue's Facebook page said: "Due to an urgent health issue, we regret that Diiv will be cancelling the remaining shows of their European tour. The band express their sincerest apologies to the fans, and will be working to get the shows rescheduled for a later date".

As well as the Liverpool show, the final date on the band's UK tour, at The Haunt in Brighton tomorrow night, was also cancelled. According to Pitchfork, touring is set to resume in New York on 7 May.

Axl Rose rumoured to be new AC/DC frontman
Hives frontman Pelle Almqvist may as yet be disappointed, because the rumour going around at the moment is that Axl Rose has signed up to replace Brian Johnson as AC/DC's frontman.

As previously reported, the band postponed their remaining US tour dates earlier this month after Johnson was told that he risked "total hearing loss" if he did not stop performing with immediate effect. The band then promised to rescheduled the missed dates, saying that it was likely that they would work with a replacement vocalist in order to do so.

Rumours that Rose is being lined up to step in started circulating last week, and on Friday the Guns N Roses frontman and AC/DC guitarist Angus Young were photographed separately emerging from the same rehearsal studio by TMZ.

It was also reported by Alternative Nation last week that Ross Young, son of former AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young, actually confirmed the news in two now deleted Facebook posts.

Bieber fans face financial dilemma over cancelled meet and greets
Justin Bieber fans who forked out up to $2000 for subsequently cancelled meet and greet sessions with the singer are facing a double loss. In order to have their money refunded, they must also give up their tickets for the show they were planning to attend after the meeting and a greeting was due to take place.

As previously reported, Bieber announced last week that he was putting a stop to the fan photo calls at his various tour dates because "I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people's spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy". There was also a security issue at one of the recent sessions, which may have had something to do with the decision too.

The top level VIP ticket package for Bieber's shows include front row seats, in addition to the meet and greet session and other perks. Fans who bought these packages have reportedly found that there are no partial refunds available, and so the only option is to give up the entire package and try to buy standalone tickets - which, in many cases, are only available at an inflated price on the secondary market.

Though, according to reports, fans who took the hit and still attended a show in Las Vegas on Friday as VIPs were given the opportunity to have a photograph taken with a cardboard cut out of Bieber. And in terms of the experience provided by your average popstar meet and greet, it's probably not that much different.