| We've covered the music business each day since 21 Jun 2002 Today's email is edition #5234 |
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| | In today's CMU Daily: A lawyer representing Madonna and Live Nation in a legal battle over the singerâs time-keeping has accused their accusersâ legal team of enacting a âharassment campaignâ. This comes after the fansâ attorneys told the court that a settlement had been reached, which Madonna and Live Nationâs rep denies
One Liners: Mount Kimbie, NTIA deals; Diddy honorary degree revoked; Black Keys on tour cancellation; Beabadoobee, Jamie xx, Shout Out Louds live dates; new releases from Nilßfer Yanya, Berwyn, Hayden Thorpe, Fucked Up, Sløtface, Heartworms, Piglet x Jemima Coulter
Also today: MVT lobbies prospective MPs; Artists shun traditional success metrics; Pink Floyd seek to block unofficial merch website Plus: Treanne is CMU Approved
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| Madonna accuses litigious fans of âharassmentâ | Madonna and Live Nation have accused lawyers working for two fans who sued over the musicianâs time-keeping at concerts of instigating a âharassment campaignâ. That allegation came amid a dispute over whether or not the fansâ lawsuit had been settled. The fansâ attorneys said it had, but representatives for Madonna and Live Nation were adamant it had not.
Madonna and Live Nation, says their attorney Jeff Warshafsky, arenât ânecessarily opposed to settlement if certain terms can be reachedâ. However, a court filing last week stating that a settlement had been agreed was simply wrong, he insists. They will ânot be harassed into settlementâ and cannot âabide false statementsâ being submitted to the court.
That false statement, he goes on, is âpart and parcel of the harassment campaignâ that the other side âhas been waging againstâ Madonna and her business partners âin hopes of extorting a lucrative settlementâ. Part of that strategy is to force his clients to âincur unnecessary legal feesâ, he claims.
Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden sued Madonna in January in relation to shows that took place in New York last December. They claimed that the concert was scheduled to start at 8.30pm but Madonna didnât arrive on stage until after 10.30pm. That meant the concert didnât finish until after midnight, and Fellows and Hadden were âconfronted with limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costsâ.
It's not the only lawsuit filed this year over Madonnaâs slack time-keeping. In April, three fans who attended a show in Washington DC last December went legal, and then another lawsuit was filed last month over a show in Inglewood, California. That latter lawsuit also raised other grievances with Madonnaâs performance, including that it included sexualised content, which somehow surprised at least one litigious fan.
Where Madonna showed up late, the lawsuits accuse her and promoter Live Nation of breach of contract, false advertising and negligent misrepresentation. Lawyers for the artist and live music giant have strongly contested those claims, reckoning that itâs pretty standard with pop concerts that, when a start time is advertised as 8.30pm, you donât expect the headline act to be on stage at that time.
According to TMZ, in a recent legal filing responding to the Fellows and Hadden lawsuit, Madonna and Live Nation stated that, any fan with any familiarity with the musicianâs concerts, "would surely know that Madonna typically takes the stage well after the ticketed event time (after an opening act, set transition, and so on) and plays late into the nightâ.
It's not currently clear why lawyers working for Fellows and Hadden thought a settlement had been agreed with Madonna and Live Nation. In a letter to the court, Warshafsky says that a possible settlement was discussed in May, but on 4 Jun he informed the other side that his clients would not be proposing any settlement in writing at this time.
Then, on 6 Jun, Fellows and Haddenâs lawyers sent over a settlement agreement they had written for approval, and - before Warshafsky could query that document - it had been filed with the court as a notice of settlement. Warshafsky says he doesnât know what the other sideâs lawyers âbelieve they are accomplishing or trying to accomplish with the false noticeâ. Unless itâs to buy them more time to respond to Madonna and Live Nationâs motion for dismissal.
Either way, in response to Warshafskyâs letter, the judge overseeing the case rejected the notice of settlement. Fellows and Hadden now have until 1 July to respond to Madonna and Live Nationâs objections to their lawsuit.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Horizon is CMU's new weekly newsletter - published each Friday - that brings you a hand-picked selection of early-stage career opportunities from across the music industry.
Whether you're looking for your first job in music or you're ready to take a step up, Horizon is here to help you find your dream job faster.
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| Diddy, Black Keys, Beabadoobee + more | DEALS
Mount Kimbie have signed a new worldwide publishing deal with Concord Music Publishing. âWe are delighted to move into a new era for Mount Kimbie partnering with the fantastic global team across Concord, developing Mount Kimbie and both Kai and Domâs solo writingâ, says their manager Rich Austen-Smith of Giant Artist Management.
The UKâs Night Time Industries Association has announced a partnership with KUVO Powered by DJ Monitor to increase the number of venues where music recognition technology is monitoring tracks played by DJs. Venues can participate at no cost. âThe roll out of this cutting edge technology in the UK will go a long way to developing stronger, more tangible insights into the music being played within businesses across the UKâ, says NTIA CEO Michael Kill. âThe developments within music recognition technology software over the last few years will also allow for more accurate data to be delivered to the music rights industry, ensuring that music creators get paid royalties for what is played by DJs at eventsâ.
ARTIST NEWS
The board of directors of Howard University in the US has unanimously voted to rescind an honorary degree given to Sean âDiddyâ Combs in 2014. The decision was made following the recent publication of video footage of Diddy assaulting former partner Cassie Ventura which, the university says, is âso fundamentally incompatible with Howard Universityâs core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institutionâs highest honourâ. It will also return a $1 million donation from the music mogul and end a scholarship programme established in his name.
Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney has commented on the bandâs recent US tour cancellation and split from their management. âWe got fuckedâ, he wrote on X. âIâll let you all know how so it doesnât happen to you. Stay tunedâ. Irving Azoffâs Full Stop Management has previously said that the split was âamicableâ.
GIGS & FESTIVALS
Beabadoobee has announced UK tour dates in November, finishing up at Londonâs Alexandra Palace on 21 Nov. Tickets go on general sale on 21 Jun.
Jamie xx has announced a second night at Alexandra Palace in London on 25 Sep, after the previously announced 26 Sep date sold out. Tickets on sale now.
Shout Out Louds will mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album âHowl Howl Gaff Gaffâ with a show at The Dome in Tufnell Park, London on 16 Nov. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.
RELEASES
NilĂźfer Yanya will release her third album âMy Method Actorâ on 13 Sep. Out now is new single âMethod Actorâ.
Berwyn has announced that he will release his debut album âWho Am Iâ on 12 Jul. Out now is new spoken word track âDear Immigrationâ.
Former Wild Beasts frontman Hayden Thorpe has announced that his new solo album âNessâ will be out on 27 Sep. Out now is lead single âTheyâ.
Fucked Up have released new single 'Stimmingâ. New album âAnother Dayâ is out on 9 Aug, and the band will be in the UK for live shows in October - including a performance at Oslo in London on 26 Oct. Sløtface have released new single âLadies Of The Fightâ and announced that they will release their third album âFilm Buffâ on 27 Sep. There are also UK and Ireland tour dates in the offing, starting in September and finishing with a show at The Underworld in London on 3 Oct. Tickets are all, like, available and that.
Heartworms is back with new single âJackedâ. She is also set to play UK shows next month, including at Londonâs Moth Club on 17 Jul.
Piglet and Jemima Coulter have teamed up for new single âPanicâ. | Read online | | Approved: Treanne | Following a US tour with Sampha and a three week residency at Young Space - the London collaborative workspace run by indie label Young - singer-songwriter Treanne recently released her debut EP â20/20â.
Preferring to keep instrumentation stripped back, her understated arrangements sound effortless while actually doing a huge amount of work to ensure they deliver the maximum emotional impact.
On a song like âPleaseâ, subtle shifts in the tempo of a very simple guitar underline particularly emotive lyrics. On âSharing My Bodyâ, the core piano riff repeats throughout almost without variation, grounding the song when the vocals on the chorus attempt to pull away. đ§ â20/20â is out now. Watch the video for âSharing My Bodyâ here
| Read online | | Music Venue Trust seeks to gain political momentum with Manifesto For Grassroots Music | The UKâs Music Venue Trust has published a âA Manifesto For Grassroots Musicâ. It is seeking to ensure that the recent momentum the organisation has achieved within the political community is maintained after next monthâs General Election. That includes the recent recommendations made by Parliamentâs Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee.
MVT External Affairs Manager Sophie Brownlee explains that the manifesto will be sent to every prospective MP, âwith the request that they come out in support of it as part of their campaign to be elected. Music communities across the country will also be asking the candidates where they stand on the future of live music in our towns and citiesâ.
The challenges faced by artists, promoters and venues operating at the grassroots of live music were put into the spotlight earlier this year by an inquiry staged by the CMS Select Committee. MPs heard that, while the upper end of live music has bounced back since the COVID shutdowns, the grassroots sector is in crisis.
A subsequent report from the committee in May backed many of the recommendations made by the grassroots music community to help overcome those challenges. That included the proposal, led by MVT, that a levy be applied to tickets for large-scale shows to generate funds that would then be distributed to artists, promoters and venues working at the grassroots.
MPs said the industry should seek to get a levy scheme of that kind in place by September and, if it failed to do so, that âthe government should introduce a statutory levy at the earliest subsequent opportunityâ.
A week after the report was published, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a General Election and Parliament was subsequently dissolved. In an open letter, Chair of the CMS Committee, Caroline Dinenage, urged future MPs and the next government to continue to work on changes proposed by her committee in the last Parliament. And that includes the proposals for grassroots live music. MVTâs manifesto sets out its five key priorities for how MPs in the next Parliament can maintain recent momentum and address many of the issues. The levy system is priority number one. Another common request from the live sector, a cut on VAT on tickets, is also included, as is another initiative proposed by MPs, a âfan-led reviewâ of the live music ecosystem.
| Read online | | Musicians now see success from a more long-term perspective, study finds | Streaming has changed how musicians measure their own success, with existing metrics like radioplay and chart positions too short-term in their viewpoints. This is according to a new report published by digital distributor Amuse and research company MIDiA.
With more artists releasing music than ever before, the vast majority - around 95% - are independent. All but 2% of those have never signed to a label. These artists prize connecting with listeners - regardless of the size of that audience - and creating a sustainable career most highly. Their outlook and view of what is successful is more long term, less predicated on finding fame, and largely uninterested in traditional music industry metrics.
âWe started tracking the growth of the independent and DIY movement already in 2019 together with MIDiA, and are happy to announce our third deep dive into the marketâ, says Amuseâs Director Of Communications Sofia Green. âUsing MIDiAâs fifth annual survey of global independent music creators, along with in-depth interviews with artists and secondary research on longevity and success, we were able to re-evaluate what success looks like for the modern-day music artistâ.
As well as hoping to âshed light on what artists themselves consider success metrics todayâ, she adds that the research provides insight into âwhat type of partners they prefer to build their careersâ.
Good news for Amuse, itâs not labels that artists are most likely to approach. The majority prefer to maintain their independence, working with distributors or artist services companies. The third preference was indie labels, while just 6% of artists surveyed said that they would want to sign to a major label.
âOnly one out of five artists in the survey consider being signed by a record label as a metric of success, which represents a big shift in the industryâ, says Amuse Head Of A&R John Dahlbäck. This represents a major shift, the report reckons, and shows that the record industry is currently not set up to work with musicians in the way that they would like.
MIDiAâs Consulting Director, Keith Jopling says, âOver the past decade, the music industryâs approach to talent discovery, marketing, and artist careers has become too data obsessed, near sighted, and damaging to the industryâs lifeblood. Artists are being sold short and, in turn, this has created a dysfunctional creative-commercial ecosystemâ.
With so many people now making and releasing music, there is still a place for companies that can help musicians to navigate the industry and find their audience. But, concludes the study, that should be based on a more long-term outlook. Industry partners should support artists in seeking to create a sustainable career, rather than short-term successes that push them into a cycle of being âalways onâ as they jump from target to target.
| Read online | | Court orders domain of unofficial Pink Floyd merch website to be disabled | A US court has ordered an unofficial Pink Floyd merchandise website to stop infringing the bandâs trademarks, on both the products it sells and the website itself. It has also instructed the registry that issues .com domain names, and the registrar through which the site bought its domain, to disable pinkfloydmerch.com. The end result of which will be that people are unable to visit the online store using that domain name.
These demands are made in a temporary restraining order that was issued in response to a lawsuit filed last week by Pink Floyd (1987) Ltd, the UK-based company that manages the bandâs intellectual property. The lawsuit accuses pinkfloydmerch.com of operating âa fake online storefrontâ designed to look like it is offering official Pink Floyd products when, in fact, it is selling âinferior imitationsâ.
The bandâs company says it has filed the lawsuit in order to protect the trademarks it owns around the Pink Floyd brand, and also to âprotect unknowing consumersâ from inadvertently buying knock-off merch online.
Ultimately, the company wants pinkfloydmerch.com to be permanently banned from exploiting the band's brand. It also asked for a temporary restraining order so that it can quickly stop the sale of unofficial merch while its lawsuit goes through the motions.
The operator of pinkfloydmerch.com claims to have an office in California. However, the Pink Floyd company says it suspects that âaddress is fictitiousâ because, when it undertook an online search, it found âthere is no building with that number on that streetâ. The pinkfloydmerch.com website also lists a warehouse address in China.
Itâs because the rogue merch operation is based outside the US that it makes sense for the Pink Floyd company to after the websiteâs domain, which obviously also includes the bandâs trademark protected brand. Enforcing the restraining order in China will be tricky, which makes it easy for the rogue merch seller to basically ignore the legal action in the US.
Most domain names - including those ending .com - are distributed on a first come first served basis and a company owning a trademark in a brand name doesn't necessarily give it the automatic right to a domain that matches its trademark. However, trademark owners can seek to seize a domain name where they can demonstrate that the current owner of the domain has acted in bad faith.
The âbad faithâ element of this is critical, however. Just because a domain name has been registered and is being used does not necessarily give a trademark owner the right to stop the activity or take the domain. For example, a legitimate fan site operating using a bandâs domain name would not necessarily be considered to be operating in bad faith. Where the use of the domain name is misleading, or misrepresents its relationship with a particular trademark, it becomes easier to make that bad faith argument.
âDefendant has registered and/or used its respective cybersquatted subject domain name with the bad faith intent to profitâ from the Pink Floyd trademarks, the lawsuit insists.
The bad faith claim here is mainly based on the argument that fans are being tricked into thinking that they are buying official merchandise. The website does state that it is âthe OFFICIAL merchandise store for Pink Floyd fansâ. Thatâs s a sneaky way of not actually claiming to be officially connected to the band, but very heavily implying it.
Having accepted the need to quickly issue a temporary restraining order, the court has ordered the domainâs registry and registrar to disable the domain within seven days, and then keep it âinactive and untransferable until further order by this courtâ.
While thatâs a positive development for Pink Floyd (1987) Ltd, the companyâs own lawsuit concedes that rogue merch sellers are adept at switching domain names and internet providers as intellectual property owners target them with takedown notices and legal action. It says that protecting the bandâs trademarks has become akin to a game of whack-a-mole, a common complaint by those seeking to protect and enforce trademarks and copyright.
Though, for now, the band's company will be hoping that, at the very least, the pinkfloydmerch.com domain will soon stop operating.
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