In today's CMU Daily: Live Nation has launched its first formal rebuttal against the US government’s antitrust lawsuit, which accuses the live giant of anticompetitive conduct and aims to force a sale of its Ticketmaster business. In a letter to the court, Live Nation’s lawyers present some technical defences, disputing government claims over a ‘tying arrangement’ and arguing that other claims made under state law are “threadbare and conclusory”

One Liners: Enter Shikari’s football strip, Warner Chappell and 300 Publishing team up, Armada x Deep Dish, Calvin Harris catalogue bought by Shamrock, Reservoir signs Wrabel. Plus: appointments at Splice, Activist Artist Management and Warner Music Nashville, Serato x Pioneer, Priscilla Presley lawsuit, former Atomic Kitten’s accountant admits fraud, DJ Ron Trent accuses booking agent, Moonbug asks for more damages in Cocomelon trial victory, R Kelly live shows lawsuit settled plus releases, tours + more

Also today: Sony Music’s $600 million deal with the Michael Jackson estate looks likely to proceed after a court tentatively rejected objections made by Katherine Jackson

And finally: NASA sends Missy Elliott to Venus, Blur’s Graham Coxon mouths off about Coachella audiences, JCB’s monster deal with Eagle Joe Walsh, Britney v The Osbournes and Soulja Boy’s Tasha K lawsuit

Live Nation fights back in antitrust battle with US government

Live Nation has launched its first formal rebuttal against the US government’s antitrust lawsuit, which accuses the live giant of anticompetitive conduct and aims to force a sale of its Ticketmaster business. In a letter to the court, the live giant’s legal team highlighted a number of technical defences, noting that the judge overseeing the case recently invited them to identify key issues that will form part of a future motion for dismissal.

We’ve already had some arguments from Live Nation’s public affairs team against allegations made by the US government’s Department Of Justice, including that the company’s net profits do not suggest monopoly power, that the live events market is more competitive than ever, and nothing proposed by the government department will reduce ticket prices. The lawyers, however, have honed in on legal technicalities rather than big bold statements.

They say the government accuses Live Nation of creating an “unlawful tying arrangement” between its amphitheater venues and concert promotions business. However, any exclusivity arrangements between the company’s venues and promoters are actually protected, rather than forbidden, by US federal competition law, aka antitrust law. Meanwhile allegations Live Nation has violated state-level laws lack detail and, in some cases, have been made too late.

A tying arrangement, according to the Legal Information Institute, is “an agreement in which the seller conditions the sale of one product (the ‘tying’ product) on the buyer’s agreement to purchase a separate product (the ‘tied; product)”. Tying arrangements are not necessarily unlawful, but can be if they are used to augment market power or impair competition.

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ONE LINERS

DEALS

Enter Shikari has renewed their shirt sponsorship with St Albans City FC for the upcoming football season.

Apple has announced an upcoming immersive concert experience featuring The Weeknd, set to debut exclusively on Apple Vision Pro later this year.

Warner Chappell Music and 300 Publishing, both part of the Warner Music Group, have launched a joint venture to sign and develop songwriters.

TikTok and DistroKid have launched a platform integration allowing DistroKid members to create official TikTok Artist Accounts directly from their dashboard.

Armada Music has announced a partnership with production duo Deep Dish, acquiring management rights to a portion of their catalogue.

Reservoir Media has signed a new publishing deal with singer-songwriter Wrabel, covering his future works.

NetEase Cloud Music has announced a partnership with Timbaland-founded Beatclub to bring “hundreds of signature, premium beats” to NetEase-owned Beatsoul.

Richard Marx has signed with Word Collections for global publishing administration.

Cloud-based music workspace Bridge.audio has secured a €3 million funding round to further develop its AI-powered sync discovery platform.

Shamrock Capital Advisors has acquired a substantial portfolio of film, TV and music rights from Vine Alternative Investments Group, including the catalogue of Calvin Harris.

Songwriters Guy Chambers and Amy Wadge have been tapped to create original music and songs for the upcoming animated musical ‘The Night Before Christmas In Wonderland’.

The Prodigy is reportedly planning to launch their own line of alcoholic beverages, according to The Sun.

DIGITAL

LANDR, the AI-driven music production platform, has launched its ‘Fair Trade AI’ programme, offering musicians a new way to monetise their data while participating in AI development.

The Manc Group has launched Audio North, a new platform showcasing the music scene across Northern England.

Key Production has launched ‘SMART formats’, a new technology blending physical music products with bonus digital content accessed via NFC-enabled smartphones.

APPOINTMENTS

Splice has appointed Kenny Ochoa as Senior Vice President Of Content, overseeing the platform’s global content team and royalty-free sample catalogue.

Activist Artists Management has hired Karly Brecher as an Artist Manager in its Los Angeles office, where she will work with The Pretty Reckless and other artists.

Warner Music’s Nashville division has upped Victoria ‘Torie’ Mason to Senior Vice President Of Marketing And Analytics.

LEGAL

The proposed acquisition of audio software business Serato by AlphaTheta, Pioneer DJ’s parent company, has been blocked by the New Zealand Commerce Commission.

Priscilla Presley has filed a lawsuit against four former business associates, accusing them of financial elder abuse and allegedly swindling her out of over $1 million, as well as rights to her name and likeness.

Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona has responded to news that her ex-accountant, David Williams, also known as David McHugh, has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in Dublin.

DJ Ron Trent has publicly accused booking agent Darren James-Thomas of fraud in an Instagram post.

Moonbug Entertainment, creators of the popular children’s YouTube channel CoComelon, has requested an additional $7.5 million from Chinese rival BabyBus following its $23.4 million copyright trial victory last year.

The legal battle between Epic Games and Apple over App Store payment policies continues to escalate, with Epic accusing Apple of “strategic delay” in producing court-ordered documents.

A failed 2016 concert series featuring R Kelly at Foxwoods Resort Casino has resulted in a $897,000 settlement between investor Tourbook LLC and promoter Commission Touring LLC.

LIVE BUSINESS

UK drug harm reduction organisation The Loop has expanded its educational outreach with a new series of online training courses beginning on 30 Jul.

Festival Creamfields has launched Cleanfields, a comprehensive three year sustainability plan for its 600-acre festival site, in partnership with betternotstop.

Eastern Margins will present Margins United, a new festival celebrating East and South East Asian culture, on 28 Sep at EartH Hackney in London.

OTHER INDUSTRY NEWS

A widespread IT outage linked to a CrowdStrike software update has impacted various companies in the music industry, as well as a number of broadcasters.

YouTube's Foundry programme, an incubator for independent music artists, has relaunched with its first three artists of 2024: Cash Cobain, Orion Sun and Tommy Richman.

The Record Plant, a Hollywood recording studio infamous for its rock n roll excess, is shutting down after 55 years.

BRITs Week 24 for War Child raised £430,000 from thirteen shows held across the UK in February and March.

Sky has announced the inaugural Sky Arts Awards, set to take place on 17 Sep at The Roundhouse in London.

RELEASES

Role Model has released his new album ‘Kansas Anymore’.

COBRAH has collaborated with Amanda Lepore on new remix ‘LET’S GET FUCKED (TEQUILA Remix)’.

Paris Paloma has released her new single ‘the warmth’. Her new album ‘Cacophony’ is out 30 Aug.

Joe Jonas has released his new single ‘Work It Out’. His new album ‘Music For People Who Believe In Love’ is out 18 Oct.

Lil Yachty has released his new single ‘Let’s Get On Dey Ass’.

Porter Robinson have released their new single ‘Kitsune Maison Freestyle’. Their new album ‘SMILE! :D’ is out 26 Jul.

Stray Kids have released their new album ‘ATE’, alongside the video for track ‘Chk Chk Boom’.

TOURS

Sabrina Carpenter has announced the UK/European leg of her ‘Short n Sweet Tour’. Including a show at London’s O2 on 8 Mar. Tickets will be available here.

Sony Music’s $600 million Michael Jackson deal set to progress after court rejects his mother’s objections

A US appeals court has tentatively ruled in favour of Sony Music’s $600 million deal to acquire half of Michael Jackson’s music catalogue, rebuffing efforts by the late pop star’s mother Katherine Jackson to block the transaction.

The court said that it was “tentatively inclined to affirm a probate court’s order” granting estate executors permission to close the Sony deal. “Katherine’s challenge fails on the merits”, it added, “because the probate court’s order does not violate the terms of Michael’s will”.

The latest development follows the probate court’s earlier approval of the deal which Katherine subsequently appealed. While this ruling still needs to be finalised, it seems likely that this will happen in due course.

According to sources, Sony’s deal with the Jackson estate will give its 50% ownership of Michael’s songs and recordings, and possibly a catalogue of songs written and performed by other artists which are owned by the musician’s Mijac company. Sony had a long-time business partnership with Michael before his death in 2009, including via their music publishing joint venture Sony/ATV. The major previously bought the estate out of that JV in a $750 million deal.

Because the Jackson estate is somehow still pending before an LA probate court more than fifteen years after the musician’s death, the latest Sony deal, negotiated by estate executors John Branca and John McClain, had to be signed off by a judge. That process began late last year, which is when Katherine, initially backed by Bigi Jackson - Michael’s son, better known as Blanket - asked the probate court to block the deal.

And Finally… NASA sends Missy Elliott to Venus, Blur’s Graham Coxon mouths off about Coachella audiences, JCB’s monster deal with Eagle Joe Walsh, Britney v The Osbournes and Soulja Boy’s Tasha K lawsuit

🚀 NASA has made interplanetary music history by beaming Missy Elliott’s 1997 hit ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ to Venus, marking the first hip hop song transmitted into deep space. The historic broadcast took place on 12 Jul from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, traveling 158 million miles in fourteen minutes via the Deep Space Network. Elliott celebrated the milestone on social media, exclaiming: “YOOO this is crazy! We just went #OutOfThisWorld with NASA and sent the FIRST hip hop song into space through the Deep Space Network. My song ‘The Rain’ has officially been transmitted all the way to Venus, the planet that symbolises strength, beauty, and empowerment”. While it’s unclear if Venusian life forms will appreciate Elliott’s innovative beats, Earth-bound fans can rest assured that her music is now truly universal. Nasa’s JPL, which manages the Deep Space Network, is also responsible for missions like the Mars rovers and Voyager programme.

🥱 Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has addressed the band’s lacklustre Coachella 2024 performance, telling GQ: “I’m perfectly happy on stage, but sometimes, like at Coachella or something, it’s taken you fourteen hours to get there, and then you’re playing to people who don’t give a shit. They’re looking at you like ‘who’s this old git?’” Coxon’s comments come after frontman Damon Albarn’s visible frustration with the unresponsive crowd during their mainstage set in April. The guitarist revealed his strategy for dealing with uninterested audiences: “I just enjoy what I’m doing. I smile at the grumpy faces a couple of times just to see if I can change their expression, then I just get on with what I wanna do”.

🚚 Construction and agricultural equipment behemoth JCB has struck what has to be one of the most left-field brand partnerships in recent years, cosying up to Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh to raise money for US military veterans charity VetsAid. The collaboration has been spearheaded by Alice Bamford, granddaughter of JCB’s founder, and her partner Ann Eysenring. Bamford, now a biodynamic farmer based in Malibu California, previously founded noughties garage label E-Mancipated, releasing early tracks from Lemar and garage pioneers Ramsey & Fen. The track Walsh created - called ‘Dig It’ - features his brother-in-law Ringo Starr on drums and premiered at Monster Jam, London’s “full throttle family fun” monster truck festival last weekend, where it was the anthem for the JCB DIGatron monster truck. Watch DIGatron’s performance and listen to the track here.

🖕 Britney Spears has fired back at the Obsournes after Ozzy Osbourne said that he was “fed up with seeing poor old Britney Spears on YouTube” and that seeing her dancing on social media was “very, very sad”, while Sharon Osbourne added that it was “heartbreaking” to see. Hitting back via Instagram, Britney told the Osbournes to “kindly f*** off”, and said that they were “the most boring family known to mankind”, adding that she “hardly ever” dances. The singer went on to praise actress Kate Beckinsale for her own gutsy response to similar online vitriol saying, “I realised how incredibly cruel people were talking about her, saying she needs more age-appropriate content”, adding, “What are you gonna do to help someone out and bring their dreams to life beside being like me and Kate’s haters saying we’re too old or don’t have appropriate content?”

💰 Soulja Boy has filed a $16 million defamation lawsuit against podcast host Tasha K and reality star William The Baddest after a podcast episode in which William detailed an alleged gay relationship with the rapper, including lurid descriptions of an alleged sexual encounter. A clip from the podcast later went viral online, leading to Soulja Boy asking the podcasters to retract their claims. They didn’t, and William The Baddest later showed off a purple ink tattoo of Soulja Boy’s name on his cheek. The lawsuit follows an earlier legal spat between Tasha K and Cardi B which saw the rapper win millions of dollars in damages, punitive damages and legal costs.