In today’s CMU Daily: Earlier this year, UK MPs said that the live music industry should launch a new levy on tickets for large-scale shows to support the grassroots community, and if it didn’t the government should introduce a statutory levy. The FAC and MU wants to make sure that’s still on the agenda 

Also today: Promoters reckon they have found 50,000 tickets for next year’s Oasis shows being touted on the resale platforms - now they plan to cancel those tickets and put them back on sale on Ticketmaster; DistroKid “preached of doing right by their artists and their employees” in the past, but are now laying off 50% of their unionised workers in the US to move their jobs overseas, according to the union representing the distributor’s employees

Plus: Freak Slug is CMU Approved

Artists call for government to implement ticketing levy to support grassroots live music, but live industry still split on issue

The Featured Artists Coalition and Musicians’ Union have published an open letter urging the UK government to follow the recommendations of Parliament’s culture select committee regarding introducing a £1 ticket levy on arena and stadium concerts to support grassroots live music. In particular that ministers consider a statutory levy, and that any funding scheme should benefit artists and promoters as well as venues. 

In a report in May, the select committee said that the industry should put in place a blanket levy system to support grassroots music by September this year and, if that didn’t happen, that “the government should introduce a statutory scheme”. No such system is as yet in place. 

A small number of big name artists, including Coldplay, have committed to voluntarily support grassroots venues via the Music Venue Trust. However, according to the FAC and MU - while that is to be welcomed - “a blanket levy would ensure a consistent and reliable flow of funding, and allow for a fair distribution to all relevant parties at grassroots level for the long-term future”. 

The committee's report followed a public hearing where both artists and venues told MPs that, while the upper end of the live sector has fully bounced back following the COVID pandemic, the grassroots is in crisis. FAC CEO David Martin was among those to give evidence. Launching the new open letter, he says, “We made it clear to MPs that any solution to the ‘cost of touring crisis’ facing UK grassroots music must involve the direct funding of artists”. 

MPs agreed with that position, he adds, and “concluded that a proposed levy on arena and stadium shows must benefit artists and independent promoters - as well as grassroots venues. However, since the publication of their report, the FAC has become increasingly concerned about the direction of travel”...

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Oasis promoters take action against touts, will cancel more than 50,000 scalped tickets

Promoters of next year’s Oasis reunion shows in the UK have said they will cancel more than 50,000 tickets that were resold on unapproved secondary ticketing sites. 

The terms and conditions of tickets to the Oasis shows prohibit resale, allowing promoters to cancel any ticket that has been touted. To that end, a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM says that the promoters will “start the process of cancelling tickets that are believed to have broken the terms and conditions put in place for the tour in the coming weeks”. 

The cancelled tickets will then be made available once again on Ticketmaster. In the meantime, “all parties involved with the tour continue to urge fans not to purchase tickets from unauthorised websites as some of these may be fraudulent and others subject to cancellation”. 

As the cancelations go ahead, people who bought tickets from a tout on a resale site will have to claim a refund via that resale site, and then try to secure new tickets on Ticketmaster. 

Although that’s a hassle, and the fan could miss out on a ticket entirely, if they are able to secure one through the new round of primary sales, they will likely save money compared to what they paid the tout. Especially if Ticketmaster does not apply dynamic pricing on primary ticket sales this time round, given the backlash that occurred last time...

DistroKid’s face-off with employee union over plans to fire support team and move jobs overseas

A union representing American employees at music distributor DistroKid has said that the company plans to lay off about 50% of its unionised staff this weekend. It follows a previous statement revealing that 37 employees had been placed on “administrative leave” less than an hour before negotiations between union representatives and DistroKid’s lawyers were due to begin. 

In a new update on Instagram, the union says “DistroKid plans to lay off 50% of its unionised staff on 2 Nov. This decision impacts 37 dedicated employees, including five of the seven bargaining committee members. No non-union staff have been placed on administrative leave”.  

While there has been lots of downsizing in the music industry in the last year, the potential PR damage is higher for those companies that work directly with independent artists, and even more so when it involves going into battle with a union. 

Bandcamp had a similar PR challenge when it instigated job cuts following a change in ownership last year, with the downsizing being heavily criticised by the union that represented its employees. The PR damage can also be higher if...

🎧 Approved: Freak Slug

Freak Slug, the eclectic project helmed by Mancunian multi-hyphenate Xenya Genovese, mixes elements of dreamy alt-pop with a distinct 90s nostalgia, blending sweetness with just enough edge. Genovese’s moniker itself seems to embrace her sound’s curious, offbeat charm, capturing both whimsy and bite.

Leading her debut album is the single ‘Spells’, a track that prowls with a serpentine bassline and a nervy electronic pulse. Influenced by Gorillaz, it’s a song “for the lovers and the I-don’t-knowers”, an anthem for anyone caught between bliss and bewilderment. 

In recounting the song’s genesis, Genovese explains, “‘Spells’ is a track I made with Alex from Jadu Heart and it’s the first song we ever made together on the album. We worked fast together in a hyper environment where the sun was shining through the windows and I was stealing his cigarettes smoking in the garden in excitement from making the song”.

Her debut album, ‘I Blow Out Big Candles’, drops on 8 Nov, promising a record that feels both warmly familiar and refreshingly strange.