Also today: Majors ask Supreme Court to intervene in Cox dispute

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each day since 21 Jun 2002

Today's email is edition #5284

Wed 21 Aug 2024

In today's CMU Daily: Rachel Chinouriri was due to support Remi Wolf on her US tour later this year, but she has pulled out because the economics of the shows just don't work. Touring is a challenge for many artists, with increases in US visa fees not helping what is already a precarious situation for many


One Liners: Beyoncé’s whisky deal with MoĂ«t Hennessy, Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy SiriusXM podcast deal, Create Music Group x Cheat Codes, HarbourView x James Fauntleroy, Warner Records + Rusia IDK x Rusowsky, ADA x FTS Global Management, Benztown Production Music; plus streaming, AI + more


Also today: The major record companies have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in their dispute with Cox Communications. They had been set to receive a billion dollars in damages, but an appeals court ruling could see that figure slashed. The majors want the appeals ruling reversed


Rachel Chinouriri cancels US support shows, putting the spotlight back on the ‘cost of touring crisis’

Singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri has pulled out of a number of festival appearances as well as support slots on Remi Wolf’s US tour because the financial strain of touring has become “too much”.


The announcement puts the spotlight back on the challenges that all but superstar artists face when planning tours and live shows, as well as the significant increase in visa costs that British artists now incur when performing in the US, with some artists facing a near four-fold increase in the cost of visas.


“I’m deeply saddened to announce that I have to withdraw from the Remi Wolf tour and several festivals”, Chinouriri announced on social media yesterday. “This year I’ve invested all my savings and earnings into my shows, styling and band to be able to tour”.

Read more about the 'cost-of-touring' crisis

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ONE LINERS

Deals


  • BeyoncĂ© has partnered with billionaire trinkets company LVMH to launch her own brand of whisky, SirDavis. The joint venture with LVMH subsidiary MoĂ«t Hennessy, set to debut in September, claims that it will “redefine” the taste of American whisky, which frankly can’t be that difficult.

  • Alex Cooper has signed a new multi-year $125 million deal with SiriusXM, bringing her top-ranking podcast Call Her Daddy and her Unwell Network’s roster of programmes to the audio entertainment company, after a previous three year $60 million deal with Spotify expired.

  • Create Music Group has partnered with Los Angeles-based electronic trio Cheat Codes to release their upcoming music.

  • HarbourView Equity Partners has purchased select publishing assets from songwriter and producer James Fauntleroy.

  • Warner Records has signed Madrid-based pop singer and multi-instrumentalist Rusowsky via a joint venture with Rusia IDK, an artist collective led by Rusowsky and singer-producer Ralphie Choo. 

  • Warner Music’s ADA has signed a global distribution deal with FTS Global Management, the independent label founded by former athlete and banker Travis Wilson. Benztown has launched 

  • Benztown Production Music, a new production music library aimed at the film and television industries.

  • Max Wolfgang has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Kobalt. 


Appointments


  • TikTok has upped two executives - Toyin Mustapha and Nichal Sethi - to key roles covering the UK, Ireland, EMEA and Sub-Saharan Africa regions.

  • Margrethe Vestager - the European Union’s competition commissioner who imposed multi-billion euro fines on major US technology companies, including a €1. 8 billion fine for Apple - will not return for a third term.

  • Warner Music Finland has promoted Isadora Kamotskin to the role of Marketing Director.

  • Confetto Productions has launched Confetto Artist Management and appointed Mike Williams as Executive Vice President of Artist Management & Talent Acquisition.

  • All Things Live Denmark has made two additions to its promoter team, hiring Louis Andersen-Risager and Snorri Astradsson. 

  • ASM Global has appointed Meg Walker as Group Director Of Arena Operations for the Asia Pacific region from October. 


Streaming, Digital & Broadcast


  • Music journalist and software developer Christopher R Weingarten has launched Fuzzzel, a new “artisanal white noise” app, which features contributions from a number of notable musicians including Owen Pallett, Mary Lattimore, Kelly Moran, Eluvium, clipping and Chris Watson.

  • Musical AI has partnered with Symphonic Distribution to offer Symphonic’s music catalogue to AI companies for legal model training. 

  • will.i.am has launched a new AI-driven interactive radio service called RAiDiO.FYI which allows users to converse with AI DJs about topics ranging from music to breaking news, creating personalised listening experiences. 

  • OpenAI has signed a multi-year content partnership with CondĂ© Nast to display content from the publisher’s brands within OpenAI’s products, including ChatGPT and its SearchGPT prototype.

Live


  • The Association Of Independent Festivals has reported that 60 UK festivals have announced postponement, cancellation or closure for 2024, bringing the total number of UK festivals lost since 2019 to 192. 

  • Aitch, Caity Baser and Sugababes are set to perform at the ParalympicsGB Homecoming event on 12 Sep at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena. 

  • Coldplay has achieved the highest-grossing rock tour of all time with their ‘Music Of The Spheres’ world tour. 

  • KVU - Kirche von Unten, a Berlin music venue and youth centre, has announced its impending closure after its rental contract was cancelled for the second time.

  • Australian venue operator Playbill Group has entered into a partnership with AEG Presents and Frontier Touring. 


Artist News


  • Gunna has partnered with the Black Music Action Coalition to launch the Gunna x BMAC 30349 Guaranteed Income Program, which will provide a $1000 monthly stipend to 30 families in South Fulton, Georgia for one year.

  • Lorde has returned to the studio, working with producer Jim-E Stack. 

  • Phil Collins has reportedly begun working on new music, according to an Instagram post from Simon Napier-Bell, who interviewed him for an upcoming documentary about legendary London music venue The Marquee Club.

  • Metallica has donated $40,000 to People Serving People, Minnesota’s largest organisation providing services for homeless people and families, through the band’s All Within My Hands foundation. 

Releases & Tours 

👉 Read today's One Liners in full

The majors also want the US Supreme Court to intervene in the Cox case

The major record companies have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in their legal battle with American internet service provider Cox Communications. 


Facing the prospect of their billion dollar damages award being slashed because of an appeals court judgement, the majors have asked the Supreme Court to rule on what exactly is meant by the principle of ‘vicarious copyright infringement’. 


Vicarious infringement applies when a company has profited from someone else’s direct copyright infringement, but there is - unsurprisingly, given the amounts of money at stake - a big disagreement between Cox and the majors over exactly what is meant by ‘profited’ in that context. 


The majors argue that if an ISP sells an internet access package to a customer who it knows is pirating music, then it is profiting from that customer’s illegal conduct, and should therefore be liable for vicarious infringement. Cox counters that for vicarious infringement to apply, it would need to be directly profiting from the piracy itself, not from selling an otherwise legitimate service that is then used to commit piracy.



Read the full story