Sales of new Avenged Sevenfold LP could impact on Warner legal battle
Bosses at Warner Music might have been slightly annoyed at the surprise announcement during a virtual reality gig last week that Avenged Sevenfold were releasing a brand new album via Universal's Capitol Records, what with them being in the midst of litigation over a claim the metal outfit unfairly bailed on their previous deal with the Warner Bros label. Though lawyers for the mini-major might have actually been smiling at the news.

As previously reported, Warner sued Avenged Sevenfold earlier this year after the band declared that they were no longer signed to the major, despite having only delivered four of the five albums they committed to release with the record company back in 2004. The Californian band cited a law that exists in their home state that frees people from 'personal service' contracts after seven years.

The so called 'seven year rule' has been employed numerous times within the Californian entertainment industry, often resulting in debates about the exact nature of contracts between performers and entertainment businesses. The principle interferes with record contracts in particular, because they are normally based around a set number of albums rather than a set number of years.

When it went legal in January, Warner argued that it had already invested significant funds into Avenged Sevenfold's new recordings which, it said, it had been led to believe would be released by Warner Bros like the outfit's previous four LPs.

The band's lawyer, Howard King, denied his clients had misled the label while adding that, anyway, even if they had been working with the major on new material that didn't stop them from employing the seven year rule. He also added that the band decided to leave Warner because there had been so many executive changes at the company, all their key contacts there had now left the business.

Warner, meanwhile, has decided to release a best of collection from the Avenged Sevenfold catalogue it controls, seemingly without the band's involvement, according to King. Whether or not the band pre-empting that best of with a new record damages the potential impact of that catalogue release is debatable, arguably it makes the band newsworthy again potentially boosting sales of the Warner compilation record during the Christmas period.

Though that's not why Warner's lawyers might be glad that Capitol has already put out a new record from the band. The Wall Street Journal points out that there is a little used proviso to California's seven year rule that says that if an artist uses it to end a relationship with a record company before delivering all the albums required by their record deal, the music firm could sue for damages over the undelivered recordings.

So, if Warner accepts that the seven year rule allows Avenged Sevenfold to go their own way and sign up with Universal, can it nevertheless go to court to try and cover its losses in relation to the lost album? And if so, what damages can it claim?

Some legal experts reckon that if and when Warner does seek damages, the financial performance of new record 'The Stage' could prove useful in trying to ascertain what the mini-major lost by the band not delivering the five albums committed to by their 2004 record contract. If that new LP had not been released before any such claim got to court, then it would be harder to estimate what Warner might have made on album number five.

Though, of course, King reckons that the potential sales of 'The Stage' should have no bearing on the Warner dispute. "We don't know what Warner could have done with an Avenged album other than screw it up", he told the Journal. Warner, after all, aren't so proactive in all that new fangled VR nonsense that helped launch the band's new record. "These are two completely different companies", the legal man added.

So we'll see. Warner hasn't remarked on the potential of 'The Stage' sales helping in its legal battle with the band, saying it doesn't comment on pending litigation, though it would like the world to know that "we're proud of our partnership with Avenged Sevenfold over four great records". By which they possibly mean "please buy the new album, it will really help us when this gets to court".

Live Nation fails to have fatal stage collapse case dismissed
A judge in Ontario last week rejected efforts by Live Nation to dismiss the criminal action that followed the death of drum tech Scott Johnson, who died when staging collapsed ahead of a Radiohead show in Toronto in 2012.

As previously reported, Johnson was killed and three others injured after a scaffolding structure collapsed onto the open-air stage on which Radiohead were due to perform. The show was promoted by Live Nation and the live music giant was subsequently charged under the Ontario's Occupational Health And Safety Act. Optex Staging & Services Inc was also charged over four alleged breaches of health and safety laws, while an engineer working on the show, Dominic Cugliari, received one charge.

The criminal case arrived in court last year, but hopes of a speedy resolution were not met, and further hearings have taken place at various points this year. It's thought a verdict could now follow next January, but Live Nation and Cugliari recently requested that the case be dismissed because of the "unreasonable delay". They made the claim based on a recent precedent in Canadian law over unreasonably long court battles.

Judge Shaun Nakatsuru last week rejected the call for dismissal, arguing that the case against Live Nation and Cugliari was complex, with expert witnesses and technical reports required to inform the proceedings, and with that in mind the fact the criminal case had been slow-going was excusable.

Johnson's family back in the UK had criticised Live Nation's bid to end the case without a proper conclusion, and his father, Ken, who travelled to last week's hearing welcomed Nakatsuru's conclusion. He told the Toronto Star that "without the trial being completed, nothing would have been learned", adding that "I would really like to speak with Live Nation and tell them to get on with it. I think they're starting to damage their reputation ... Now there's an opportunity for Live Nation and Mr Cugliari to present their defence".

The trial is now set to resume in early December.

--------------------------------------------------

Yet more people want a co-write on Uptown Funk
Maybe we should all be given a songwriting credit on the Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson hit 'Uptown Funk', just in case.

An American electro-funk band called Collage have sued the dynamic duo and all their music business pals claiming that 'Uptown Funk' rips off their 1983 single 'Young Girls'. Actually, only one of Collage is still alive, Larry White, though the estates of his two former bandmates are also listed as plaintiffs on the action.

According to Pitchfork, the lawsuit claims that "many of the main instrumental attributes and themes of 'Uptown Funk' are deliberately and clearly copied from 'Young Girls', including, but not limited to, the distinct funky specifically noted and timed consistent guitar riffs present throughout the compositions, virtually if not identical bass notes and sequence, rhythm, structure, crescendo of horns and synthesisers rendering the compositions almost indistinguishable if played over each other and strikingly similar if played in consecutively".

So there you go. As previously reported, The Gap Band were added as co-writers on 'Uptown Funk' because of its similarities to their 1979 hit 'Oops Up Side Your Head', while earlier this year another group called The Sequence accused Mars and Ronson of ripping off their 1979 song 'Funk You Up', though they are yet to go legal.

Music Venue Trust criticises peer for comments on anti-terror training
The Music Venue Trust has hit out at comments made by Ruth Henig, a member of the House Of Lords, over whether or not music venues are doing enough to provide staff with training on how to deal with any potential terrorist attack.

The ability of venues to deal with such incidents has been increasingly debated in the last year, of course, since the terrorist attacks on the Bataclan venue in Paris last November. Henig told the BBC's 'Victoria Derbyshire' programme last week that she thinks the Licensing Act 2003 should be amended to include mandatory anti-terror training.

She told the BBC: "There are clearly a number of venues - often the larger venues, I think, but not always - who have airport-style security, who, for example, do have metal detectors, who do have very well-trained security personnel and they top up this training regularly".

"But I think at the other end there is a tail of venues who aren't taking it seriously", she continues. "Who don't co-operate, who don't take up the offers that are made to them and where I think there are some concerns. And the issue is, how do you get to that tail of venues who are perhaps not doing as much as they should be about security?"

Henig has extra knowledge on security matters - though might also be slightly biased on the requirements of venues in this domain - because she happens to be Chair of security firm SecuriGroup, which, amongst other things, provides event and venue security services.

However, the Music Venue Trust's Mark Davyd told IQ that Henig seemed to be unaware of work already underway in this domain, saying: "It is unfortunate Baroness Henig should have made such an ill-judged statement without contacting us. We would have been able to reassure her that small music venues are fully engaged with [the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism initiative] Project Griffin, which was presented at Venues Day 2016 and was warmly received by over 200 music venues".

He goes on: "There is no evidence to suggest that music venues are averse to engage with the police or any other non-commercial security agencies when it comes to issues surrounding the safety of the public. [And] if any grassroots music venue feels under-informed about Project Griffin, Music Venue Trust is working with the Met and we are happy to supply further information".

--------------------------------------------------

Twickets launches new funding round
Twickets has announced a new funding round, which will see existing as well as new investors put more money into the face-value ticket resale platform.

"With significant support from the entertainment industry and our loyal followers, we will continue to grow and develop the platform, making it easier and more efficient for fans to resell tickets", says Twickets CEO Richard Davies. "We have been extremely encouraged by the level of interest that we've received from industry for this round so far, and now look forward to opening up the opportunity to our own community".

Original backer, co-founder of Chrysalis Records Chris Wright, who has agree to pump further money into the project, adds: "Online ticket touting is damaging to the industry and deeply affects loyal groups of fans who are ripped off and left empty handed. In the last eighteen months, Twickets has been steadfastly innovating across the business to make face value resale a convenient solution for fans, so I'm very happy for the opportunity to re-invest".

Originally launched in 2011 as a Twitter account promoting tickets being resold at face value or less, the service has since developed into a full-scale resale platform. It aims to rival bigger name services where tickets are routinely sold for prices greatly in excess of their original prices.

As previously reported, earlier this year, it launched a new ticket reissue and waiting list system with the End Of The Road festival, making the process more efficient and less open to abuse.

Shut up, Bob Dylan does want his Nobel Prize
Bob Dylan is totally chuffed to have won the Nobel Prize For Literature and would very much like to attend the prize-giving ceremony. Oh what, you thought he was being aloof? That's your problem, because you want everything now, now, now.

Speaking to The Telegraph last week, the musician finally acknowledged the award, saying that it was "amazing, incredible" and adding, "Whoever dreams about something like that?" He also said that he would "absolutely" turn up to receive his prize in Sweden "if it's at all possible".

Though it's not really The Telegraph that needs to know all this, given that the organisers of the Nobel prizes had been getting increasingly tetchy about the singer-songwriter's failure to confirm that he would accept their award. But don't worry. Dylan subsequently picked up the phone to the Swedish Academy too.

According to a statement from said organisers, he told the Academy's Sara Danius: "The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless. I appreciate the honour so much".

So, there you go. He wasn't being "rude and arrogant" in his silence, he just needed a moment to collect his thoughts. Maybe you're the rude and arrogant one. Huh? Did you think of that? I hope you're sorry. The big question now, of course, is will Anthony Kiedis win the prize next year?

--------------------------------------------------

Morrissey and Marr discussed Smith reunion
In recent years, The Smiths reunion has been "not happening", "never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever" happening, and not happening because "not everybody is a fat old slag". Also, anyone who thinks that there should be a reunion should "go and find a hobby". Which all sounds pretty definitive. Although it now turns out that Morrissey and Johnny Marr did actually decide to reunite eight years ago, but just never got around to it.

"The conversation about re-forming came out of the blue", Marr tells The Guardian, recalling an afternoon spent in the pub with Morrissey in 2008 - their first meeting for more than a decade. "I didn't go there with that in mind. But there had been quite a few rumours about it, so naturally we discussed it. 'It could happen...' 'How d'you feel about it?' 'What if?' And off we went. I think we were both as keen as each other".

Discussions apparently continued, then Marr went off on tour with The Cribs and never heard from Morrissey ever again. I don't know if we should take this as a comment on Marr's time with The Cribs. Possibly. Maybe not.

As for whether Marr thinks the two could at least be friends again, he says: "I don't. I think it's run its course. I don't feel unfriendly in any way towards Morrissey - there's just no need for it. One of the things we had in common was that we lived for work, and we're too busy doing what we're doing now".

So, there you go, we never knew how close we came to real disaster, ie an actual Smiths reunion. Someone should make a film about this with Bruce Willis as Morrissey.

--------------------------------------------------

Letter from John Lennon to The Queen discovered in carboot haul
A letter written by John Lennon to the Queen listing reasons for returning his MBE has been found tucked into a record sleeve bought at a carboot sale. The reasons included then current events in Nigeria and Vietnam, and that week's Top 40.

The letter reads: "I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against [Plastic Ono Band's] 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts".

Lennon originally accepted his prize from the monarch in 1965 (along with the other Beatles), but returned it in 1969. The letter was found among a collection of second hand records bought for £10, and was valued last week at £60,000.

Music memorabilia expert Darren Julien told the BBC that it was an "incredible find", though doesn't think it's the letter that was actually sent to The Queen.

"My theory is that John Lennon never sent this draft because of the smeared ink", he said. "If you're writing to the Queen, you want the letter to look pretty perfect, you don't want the ink to be smudged. This suggests that he wrote a second version of the letter, which was the one that was actually sent".

The content of the letter doesn't seem massively respectful, so I'm not sure that theory about Lennon worrying about a smudge holds entirely true. Also, I did hear a while ago that Her Majesty was planning to sell off her vinyl collection at a carboot sale after she bought a Super Audio CD player.

Charli XCX, Frida Sundemo, Tanya Tagaq, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Having released new single 'After The Afterparty' last week, Charli XCX has now put out the video for the track. "The song is about partying into the afterlife and nobody does that better than zombies", she says of her undead co-stars in the video. Happy Halloween.

• Frida Sundemo has released new single 'We Are Dreamers', with more new music promised in 2017.

• Tanya Tagaq has released new single 'Retribution' and announced that she will be playing UK shows in January next year.

• Dream Wife have released new single 'FUU', featuring rapper Fever Dream.

• George The Poet has released a new single, 'Wake Up'. He performs at the Screen On The Green cinema in Islington on 15 Nov.

• Hinds have released a new track, 'Holograma', taken from the deluxe reissue of their debut album 'Leave Me Alone'. The band will be on tour in the UK next month.

• Harleighblu and Starkiller will release a "dystopian future love story" concept album called 'Amorine' on 4 Nov. Here's a trailer, featuring album track 'Finish Me (I'm Done)'.

Non-robot Justin Bieber highlights the UK's listening divide
Justin Bieber attempted to explain his headline-grabbing actions at recent UK shows on Sunday. Then he remembered that he doesn't need to explain himself to you, or anyone for that matter, and quickly deleted a tweeted statement.

Bieber rounded off his latest UK tour in Glasgow on Saturday night, after a rough couple of weeks spent trying to stop his British fans from screaming. On Sunday morning, he tweeted a statement attempting to explain his pleas across the tour, which had led to him branding some fans "obnoxious" and walking off stage in anger at another show.

"People tend to want to shut you down", he began, with the text of a speech apparently given on stage in Glasgow the previous evening. "What I mean by that is, people try to twist things, some people don't want to listen. But I simply feel like, if I didn't use this platform to say how I truly feel, and if I didn't use this platform to be the man that I know I am, and speak from what's in my heart, then I'm doing myself injustice, and I'm not doing anybody in this audience any justice".

He's nothing if not fair, it's true. But even the world's greatest human can make mistakes. "There's going to be times where I say the wrong thing, because I'm human", he said. "But I don't pretend to be perfect and I hope to God that, you know, I don't say the right thing all the time because if that was the case then I'd be a robot, and I'm just, I'm not a robot. There's times when I get upset, times when I get angry, there's times when I'm going to be frustrated. But I'm always going to be myself on this stage".

I think that's possibly the first official confirmation we've had that Justin Bieber is not, in fact, a robot. He's a human. A great human. A great human with feelings, who doesn't like it when shitbags in the press - you know, like me - say that he is angry at his fans. Even when he does things that make it really look like he's angry at his fans.

"When people try to twist things and say - 'Justin's angry at his fans. He doesn't want his fans to scream' - that's not at all what I was doing", he went on. "All I was simply doing was wanting people to listen; to kind of hear me out a little bit. Certain people, certain cities aren't going to want to hear me out, and you know, sometimes it's my job to just say 'Hey, I'm not going to try to force anything'".

So when he said he didn't want people to scream, that wasn't what he was saying. And when he walked off stage, he wasn't angry. It's just that some whole cities are filled with idiots who aren't interested in actually listening. Well, that's my media shitbag interpretation of all this, which is possibly why Biebs immediately deleted his words.

Having silenced the UK, Bieber now heads off around the rest of Europe, starting in Dublin tomorrow. He'll then have a final crack at making British audiences listen with two nights at the O2 Arena in London at the end of the month.