US Department Of Justice to amend collective licensing consent decrees in the one way the publishers don't want
So this will be interesting. Slash annoying. Slash significant. Slash possibly game changing. Slash potentially a "clusterfuck". And that last one, in case you wondered, is the conclusion of an unnamed music publishing executive who spoke to Billboard.

The US Department of Justice has seemingly decided not to amend the so called consent decrees that regulate the two big collecting societies in America, except to force onto the PROs the one thing the music publishers definitely didn't want added. So that's fun.

Whenever the music industry licenses collectively it raises competition law concerns, so it's common for copyright law to apply some extra regulation in collective licensing scenarios. In the US, that regulation comes via the consent decrees, agreements between the DoJ and the two biggest songwriter societies - BMI and ASCAP - in which the PROs agree to certain regulations to overcome anti-trust concerns.

In recent years the music publishers have been calling for the consent decrees to be revised, arguing that the agreements - which date from the 1940s - aren't fit for purpose in the digital age. A key change that the big publishers have been seeking is the right to partial withdrawal, basically to force digital services into direct deals with the publishers, rather than them getting licenses from the societies at rates usually set by the courts.

Such partial withdrawal is already possible in Europe, but when the major publishers in America told Pandora that they would stop licensing digital through the collective licensing system, the courts that oversee the consent decrees said they couldn't do that - the rule, the judges said, was that with collective licensing you are either all in or your all out.

Which means that the only way to stop Pandora from licensing the song rights through the collecting societies would be pull from ASCAP and BMI entirely, meaning the publishers would have to license every radio station, gig venue, bar and restaurant directly too. No one really wants to do that, but Sony/ATV chief Marty Bandier said he'd consider it. Though some lawyers argue that the publisher's songwriter contracts wouldn't allow such a unilateral move, and the consent of the writers would be required.

Either way, the DoJ announced a review of the consent decrees, which meant that the stand-off on partial withdrawal was postponed, with the publishers hoping to get partial withdrawal rights via the review, so they could just pull digital out of the system. Meanwhile some digital services - Pandora in particular - started doing direct deals with some publishers anyway, because in the US the licensee can circumvent the societies if it so wishes, even though the publishers are obliged to license via the collective system.

According to Billboard, the publishers are not going to get the big change they wanted to the consent decrees on partial withdrawal. Instead, the DoJ is going to introduce the one big change the publishers did not want - 100% licensing.

Basically, this mean that if BMI controls 50% of a song, and a licensee has a BMI licence, it will be able to make use of that song without getting a licence from whoever controls the other 50%, which might be ASCAP, or one of the smaller US societies, SESAC and GMR. The licensee will pay 100% of the royalty at the rate it agreed with BMI, which will then be responsible for passing half the money onto the other party.

In theory this system already exists in the US for direct licensing, in that any publisher with a stake in a song has the power to license that song in its entirety, providing it shares the money with whoever else has a stake. Though in reality agreements between songwriters and publishers mean this rarely happens. Nevertheless, the DoJ wants to force the 100% licensing principle onto collective licensing.

Because so many songs are co-written and therefore co-owned - and in the US, therefore, represented by multiple societies - many publishers fear that this move will enable licensees to push down the rates by licensing songs in their entirety by whichever society offers the best deal - possibly to the detriment of songwriters who possibly chose one of the smaller societies to get a better rate in certain scenarios. It's also not clear how BMI, for example, would pay an ASCAP member, and whether two commissions would be applied to that income before it reached the songwriter (ie if it went from BMI to ASCAP to writer).

Hence "this decision will create a clusterfuck of epic proportions for the US music publishing industry". BMI and ASCAP have to agree to the revised-in-the-wrong-way consent decrees, so could fight the DoJ's decision through the courts. Plus the rate courts that oversee collective licensing Stateside need to approve any amendments too, and the publishers hope that they might have an opportunity to object at that point. So the battle isn't lost as yet.

Though if none of that is successful, the publishers have to decide whether or not to go for the nuclear option - pull from collective licensing in its entirety, even though that raises all those legal questions around songwriter consents, not to mention issues with the non-US repertoire BMI and ASCAP represent through their reciprocal agreements with societies elsewhere in the world. Clusterfuck indeed.

ASCAP and BMI have confirmed that they met with the DoJ this week to discuss the proposed amendments of the consent decrees, adding: "We are both evaluating the information presented and informed the DOJ we will respond to its proposal in the near term".

Officials at the department are expected to meet with publishers and digital services next week to discuss the revisions, after which the publishing sector will have to decide it's next move. Which will be interesting. Slash... well, you decide.

Kobalt's AWAL announces alliance with Music Glue
The Kobalt digital distribution service AWAL has announced a new alliance with direct-to-fan platform Music Glue, with the two companies saying that they will both now "explore ways in which they can continue adding value to artists they work with by building out supplemental services for clients".

Which presumably means offering each other's services to their respective customers - AWAL being all about getting content into digital platforms, while Music Glue provides tools for selling digital content, merchandise and tickets direct.

Kobalt Label Services boss Paul Hitchman says: "Kobalt's partnership between AWAL and Music Glue is an exciting extension to the services we both offer, and another step toward creating a network of technologically advanced solutions for our clients. We look forward to working with the team at Music Glue to explore all the ways in which we can effectively help each other's artists and label clients".

While Music Glue's Mark Meharry added: "One of the key philosophies we share with Kobalt is a desire to empower artists. Our new partnership will offer AWAL's clients the freedom to take control of more aspects of their businesses and to engage directly with music fans in a powerful, creative and commercial relationship".

MPA chief Jane Dyball comments on Brexit at AGM
There was lots of news from within her own industry and organisation to comment on yesterday, but the boss of the UK's Music Publishers Association Jane Dyball also used her group's AGM to comment on that other big news story of the moment: bloody Brexit.

"Before we finish we have to mention the referendum", said Dyball in her speech to the general meeting. "To those who voted differently to us it's time to be friends again. To our European colleagues who have made the UK their home, we still love you. To the EC with whom we have had a love hate relationship we say 'you haven't seen the last of us - everything you do affects our truly international business'".

Acknowledging that post-Brexit key areas currently under the remit of the European Union, like copyright reform, will fall back to UK legislators, Dyball added: "To those governing us in the UK, we say 'be gentle with us. We have adapted our businesses wholesale over the past 40 years and are true Europeans. It will be hard and expensive for us to dismantle our world'. To the marketplace we say 'we are a business ready willing and able to adapt'. Our business continues to evolve over its 200 year history. I myself have learned something new every day for the past 30 years".

Earlier in her speech, Dyball referenced the recent overhaul of her organisation, which now formally trades as the MPA Group Of Companies, with the licensing bodies MCPS, IMPEL and PMLL now more closely aligned to the trade association which owns them. With four businesses within the group, it means there is lots to get through at the AGM.

Referencing some of the conversations that preceded her speech at the 'annual rightsholder meetings' for the different parts of the group, she observed: "At the PMLL ARM, we heard about this surprising business that licences the copying of print music, and which went from £0 to a £3m-plus turnover a year right from the get-go ... [and] about the significant scope for extending this business. [And] at the IMPEL ARM we heard about our digital business, about its growth both in terms of membership and turnover, and about the challenges ahead and how we are planning on facing them".

And as for MCPS, she commented on the previously reported move to put the operations of the mechanical rights society - currently handled by performing rights organisation PRS - out to tender. "I do not propose getting into detail here but we were delighted at the response we have received to the RFP process and are reviewing responses". It will be interesting to see quite what decisions are now made on that front, and what Dyball and MPA will be reporting to their members in a year's time.

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Brooklyn Brewery launches label venture with The Graveltones
Well, we all know bands selling beer has become a thing in recent years, so why not beer brands selling music? The Brooklyn Brewery has announced a new label venture which will see it release music recorded at live shows it stages in the UK involving independent acts.

The first is a limited release from The Graveltones recorded at a gig at London's The Lexington last October. The performance was captured and pressed straight to vinyl. Explains the band's Jimmy O: "We wanted to do it in an old school kinda way, really raw and truthful to the show, no studio wizardry and all that stuff - just hit record and print. Brooklyn was thinking the same thing so it was all pretty instant".

For its part, the Brooklyn Brewery says it hopes to make the gig-record-release initiative something it does on a regular basis under the Brooklyn Brewery Records brand. "The goal is to produce a set of carefully curated live albums that preserve each show in all its glory", says the beer firm.

To celebrate the release, the brewery are staging two in-stores with The Graveltones, at Flashback Records in Bethnal Green on 6 Jul and Rough Trade in Nottingham on 7 Jul. Meanwhile you can listen to 'Catch Me On The Fly' live at the Lexington here.

US senator hits out at Apple for abusing market dominance to hinder streaming music rivals
US Democrat senator Elizabeth Warren has hit out at Apple, Google and Amazon for using their mega-size to "snuff out competition" in a speech at an event in Washington called 'America's Monopoly Problem'.

Picking out individual examples of how the three big tech giants have each arguably abused their market dominance to the detriment of smaller rivals, Warren said, according to 9To5Mac: "Google, Apple and Amazon have created disruptive technologies that changed the world, and ... they deserve to be highly profitable and successful. But the opportunity to compete must remain open for new entrants and smaller competitors that want their chance to change the world again".

Although the music industry prefers bashing Google to Amazon and Apple these days, it was the latter where Warren picked a music-based example, noting that the IT firm "has placed conditions on its rivals that make it difficult for them to offer competitive streaming services".

That particular issue was back in the news relatively recently, of course, when Apple announced it would cut the commission it charges other companies - like streaming services - which collect subscriptions through their iOS apps. Though, as previously reported, when that was announced, Spotify remained critical of Apple, which is now a direct competitor in the streaming music space, of course.

After Warren's remarks, Re/code spoke to Spotify for an immediate response. "Apple has long used its control of iOS to squash competition in music, driving up the prices of its competitors, inappropriately forbidding us from telling our customers about lower prices, and giving itself unfair advantages across its platform through everything from the lock screen to Siri", said Spotify's top comms man Jonathan Prince.

He went on: "You know there's something wrong when Apple makes more off a Spotify subscription than it does off an Apple Music subscription and doesn't share any of that with the music industry. They want to have their cake and eat everyone else's too".

Ah, cake, that would nice wouldn't it? They sell really good banana cake in the hotel I'm currently staying in. But anyway, take that Apple. And Amazon. And Google. And Spotify. Oh no, not Spotify. You're all groovy. Elizabeth Warren says so. Have some cake to celebrate.

Brexit "needs to happen", says Bat For Lashes
Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, has said that she feels the UK's exit from the European Union "needs to happen to revolutionise the structures on which we build our society".

Answering a fan question about the result of the UK's EU Referendum in a Q&A on the Guardian website, Khan said: "I'm obviously devastated by the message that this choice has put out to the world, because I'm a product of a multicultural society. My mother lives in Germany, I have French aunties and uncles and cousins, and I've benefitted from being part of the European community. And my dad is Pakistani, an immigrant in this country, and met my mother and I was born out of his ability to come and live and work here".

However, she continued, while in the near term we are facing some difficult times, "from a grander perspective, [Brexit is] an important part of the breakdown of outmoded political and economic models".

"I hope this helps us to break down the things that aren't working for us any more", she said. "And to bring about more emphasis on community, loving our neighbours, re-educating ourselves that we are all global citizens, and start to rebuild structures we're facing in the future, like stopping wars that create the immigration crisis, environmental issues we've been ignoring for too long, and the fact we need to reach out to each other as a global human race".

"Obviously this sounds like a fairly idealistic view", she added, before you could beat her to it. "But I do believe the breakdown of the EU, whether I agree with it or not, is a symptom of a greater breakdown, and although it's painful for us in the near future, including for artists and musicians, I somehow have the sense it needs to happen to revolutionise the structures on which we build our society. It's a wake-up call. I'm working out my opinions on it still - it's still fresh".

If you have some thoughts on the UK leaving the EU, don't forget to let your MP know about them.

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Paul Simon preparing for retirement
Paul Simon may be preparing to retire, following a final tour to promote his recently released new album, 'Stranger To Stranger'.

Speaking to the New York Times, he said: "You're coming towards the end. Showbiz doesn't hold any interest for me. None".

While that does sound fairly final, he added: "It's an act of courage to let go. I am going to see what happens if I let go. Then I'm going to see, who am I? Or am I just this person that was defined by what I did? And if that's gone, if you have to make up yourself, who are you?"

Moddi releases cover of 'banned' Kate Bush song
Moddi has released another track from his upcoming album covering banned songs by other artists, 'Unsongs'. This latest effort is a version of Kate Bush's 'Army Dreamers', the original version of which was banned by the BBC, eleven years after it came out, at the start of the First Gulf War.

"'Army Dreamers' became one of Kate Bush's most popular songs and was widely played on radio and TV until the First Gulf War in 1991, when it suddenly disappeared from all BBC playlists", says Moddi.

Though whether it was actually banned is not 100% clear, he admits: "The BBC has had an absolute 'no comment' policy on this issue. It has been impossible for me to verify that it has even been removed from radio airplay".

Moddi's last single from 'Unsongs' was his cover of Pussy Riot's 'Punk Prayer', an unauthorised performance of which in a church landed three members of the Russian group in prison.

'Unsong' is due out through Propellor Recordings on 16 Sep. You can catch Moddi live in London on 3 Oct at St Giles-In-The-Fields.

Rita Ora, Musical.ly, Metallica, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• A man accused of breaking into Rita Ora's North London home and stealing £200,000 of goods has been found guilty.

• Lip-syncing video app Musical.ly - via which people record themselves reacting to short snippets of top pop tunes - has done its first major label deal with Warner Music, it's been confirmed. Apparently the lip-sync-tastic app already has 90 million users worldwide.

• Ice-T's Body Count have signed to Century Media and are set to release a new album, 'Bloodlust', in 2017. "It's cool to be a member of the Century Label Group", says Ice-T.

• Arwen Curson, formerly a UK-based artist manager with ATC, has joined Universal Music Publishing Australia & New Zealand as VP Creative. She was most recently with that Crowdmix thing, also in Australia. She's "stoked" about the new job. There you see, you don't have to be "THRILLED", there are, in fact, other words available.

• Italian menswear brand Brioni has hired Metallica to star in its latest advertising campaign.

• Angel Olsen has released another song form her forthcoming new album, 'My Woman', which is out in September. Here's 'Shut Up Kiss Me'. She's touring the UK in October too, finishing up at Koko in London on 17 Oct.

• Agnes Obel has released new single, 'Familiar'. She's also announced UK tour dates in November, including a show at Shepherds Bush Empire in London on 27 Nov.

• Sofi Tukker have released a new song called 'Awoo'. And here it is.

Aphex Twin premieres new EP at trade fair
Last week the world of musical instrument buyers and sellers convened on Nashville for the annual National Association Of Music Merchants' summer trade fair. As well as browsing the latest in musical instruments, attendees could attend the finals of the World's Fastest Drummer competition, sit in on an extended session titled 'The Dumbest Things Music Retailers Do', and check out a stall promoting the new Aphex Twin EP, 'Cheetah'.

Yeah, Aphex Twin had a stall at a trade fair, what of it? It is seemingly the latest step in a promotional campaign to mirror the actual marketing of the Cheetah MS800 synth he used to create the EP.

The producer's own Cheetah MS800 synth was displayed on the stand, along with what is believed to be one of the last remaining original boxes, and a print out of its user manual. Now a rarity, the early 90s synth failed to find success because it was notoriously difficult to programme, explains Synthopia. Which, of course, means it was pretty much made for Richard D James.

Having already published an advert mimicking the original trade press ad for the MS800, a stall at a trade fair was the next obvious step. Take a tour of the stand here.