In today's CMU Daily: SXSW is coming to London, but not everyone is excited. There are fears that the event - planned for June 2025 - could upset the "delicately balanced” UK showcase festival ecosystem. Meanwhile, there are questions about the management of the event through an offshore company

One Liners: Lil Durk relaunches OTF; BMG, MVT, Frontiers, Pulse Music, See Tickets appointments; Spotify Loud & Clear UK; Linkin Park tribute show; The Waeve London gig; Billie Eilish “immersive” album paybacks; new music from Coheed And Cambria, Moonchild Sanelly, Erland Cooper, Flohio, O., Kučka, Martha Skye Murphy

Also today: Nine of ten wrongful death lawsuits filed over Astroworld now settled; EU urged to reject Apple’s updated App Store rules; Steve Albini “a hero to us all”; Minnesota passes new secondary ticketing laws

Plus: 7ebra are CMU Approved

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SXSW London could disrupt delicately balanced music ecosystem and should reconsider its date

Yesterday SXSW, which describes itself as the “world’s leading festival celebrating the convergence of creativity and technology”, announced that it would launch a “European edition” of its event in London in June 2025. Calling the festival - which does not yet have a firm date - “the most unmissable event in the 2025 European creative calendar”, SXSW said it would “take over dozens of venues, galleries, clubs and other spaces in Shoreditch, East London”. 

The announcement drew a number of positive responses on social media from some quarters of the music industry. However, it became clear to CMU over the course of wide ranging conversations with senior representatives of industry stakeholders that SXSW’s proposed entry into London was not regarded as a wholly positive move. One senior executive told CMU “they need to pick a different date”.

In conversations across the industry numerous people who spoke to CMU highlighted that the date chosen by SXSW London - “early June” - would put it in direct competition with four of the UK’s long-established home grown industry showcase and networking events, Wide Days (Edinburgh), Sound City (Liverpool), Focus Wales (Wrexham), and The Great Escape (Brighton), all of which usually take place in May.

One person involved in that showcase ecosystem told CMU, “I think this could impact on all of us. All of the trade organisations have limited funds, and another event will just dilute the pot”. 

In a call with CMU, SXSW London spokesperson Ben McKnight said that he was “not prepared to answer questions about other showcase festivals”, but that “there’s been a massive amount of research in terms of the date - I’m not going to go into detail what research has been done, I don’t think there’s more to add”.

In the same conversation McKnight told CMU that SXSW London was a “very different offer - it’s not a direct comparison, it’s an event that has an international and global perspective. It’s also going to be about the opportunities for artists to meet with European artists and European industry”.

Prior to McKnight’s current role, he worked for sixteen years in the Mayor of London’s press office as a senior press officer, with responsibilities that included “the Mayor’s cultural strategy for London”, as well as leading comms for “Festival UK*2022” and “Unboxed 2022” - better known as the UK’s “Brexit Festival”.

Widespread concern for UK’s homegrown showcase ecosystem

A key part of the existing UK showcase ecosystem is the involvement of international music export offices and countries who want to build links with UK industry, providing a hugely valuable opportunity for UK artists and industry to connect at an international level, but also a key element of the funding required to enable small showcase events to break even. 

One source involved in music export told CMU, “A lot of international music export offices already have significant relationships with SXSW through the Austin event, and so might be worried about doing anything to jeopardise that relationship. While many export offices have long standing and heavily embedded relationships with some of the bigger showcase festivals at a European level, such as Eurosonic and Reeperbahn Festival, there’s definitely a risk that SXSW coming to London could impact smaller showcase festivals who are reliant on export office partnerships - both within the UK, but also across Europe”.

A spokesperson for Arts Council England - whose CEO Darren Henley was included in a “quote sheet” circulated by SXSW London - told CMU that Arts Council England “has not directly invested in SXSW Austin or London, but we have supported artists to attend the festival in Austin through other programmes”. 

The spokesperson went on to say, “We hope that any new programming within the music sector complements, rather than duplicates, the work of existing events and programmes”.

In conversations with the SXSW London organising team it became clear that the potential impacts of the event on the UK showcase ecosystem had not occurred to them. 

Meanwhile, conversations with UK music industry stakeholders showed that there was significant concern about the lack of understanding that the impacts SXSW London could have on what one senior executive described as the “thriving, but delicately balanced” ecosystem, with another saying that SXSW was showing “arrogant disregard” for the existing network of showcase events.

Click through to see what UK Music, BPI and PPL told CMU about the potential disruptive impacts of the event - as well as the web of offshore companies behind SXSW London

Spiritmuse Records // Label Manager (London Hybrid)

Your Culture // Campaign Management Assistant (Brighton)

Gondwana Records // Part Time Social Media, Online Marketing & Digital Content Manager (Manchester Hybrid)

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.

👉 Click through to see the current selection.

ONE LINERS

Billie Eilish, BMG, Lil Durk + more

DEALS 

Lil Durk is partnering with AWAL to relaunch his OTF label. “This move was about winning as a family, never business”, says the rapper. “I’m excited to flood the streets with music!”

APPOINTMENTS

BMG has hired Kristal McKanders Dube to lead its global corporate communications. She joins from Warner Chappell. “Sharing the unique stories and perspectives of the artists, songwriters and the executives behind the music we love has always been a passion of mine”, she says. “As BMG, a rising innovator in the music industry, embarks on this next chapter with a new CEO, I’m eager to help evolve and amplify the company’s brand narrative, along with continuing to tell the remarkable stories of the people who propel the music business forward”.

The Music Venue Trust has announced three new appointments. Sophie Brownlee joins as External Affairs Manager, Kimberley Goddard is Fundraising Manager, and Sophie Asquith has been promoted to Venue Support Team Manager. “These new appointments will bring real experience and energy to Music Venue Trust”, says COO Beverly Whitrick. “It is vital that, at a time when the challenges facing the grassroots music sector continue to mount, we can offer support, expertise and guidance to the venues we work with. We are proud, therefore, to be able to attract the calibre of these new team members to allow us to continue doing that”.

Frontiers Label Group has hired Tom Lipsky as Head Of A&R for North America. “Frontiers is THRILLED to have such a respected and accomplished music industry executive on board to drive Frontiers into the future”, says label President Serafino Perugino. “Pairing Tom’s vision and the label’s 25+ year history of success will accelerate our goal of Frontiers becoming the leading label for the rock and metal genres across the globe”.

Pulse Music Group has promoted Annie Aberle to Senior Vice President/Head Of Creative. "I am THRILLED to continue providing our creative team with the kind of autonomy and mentorship I have been granted over the past six years”, she says. “Our A&R team is comprised of inspired, hardworking and dynamic individuals who each bring a contagious energy to the table”.

See Tickets North America has announced four promotions to its executive team. Phil Lawrence becomes SVP Business Development and Head Of Music, Tony DiCamillo is also SVP Business Development, Daniel Spicka is EVP and Director Of Strategic Partnerships, MaryMargaret Bilus is VP Sales Operations. “These leaders have each been integral to the expansion of the US business”, says MD Joe Salem. “Each displays the daily integrity and commitment to excellence it takes to drive profitable growth of our music business. I continue to be amazed by the talent on our remarkable team. I’m excited to see what they do next”.

GIGS & FESTIVALS 

A group of 1000 musicians - including members of Funeral For A Friend, The Blackout and Holding Absence - will perform Linkin Park songs at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on 18 Aug. The event is in aid of mental health charity Uprawr Foundation. Find out more here. 

The Waeve will play Village Underground in London on 29 Oct. Tickets are on sale now. 

RELEASES

Spotify and Billie Eilish have announced an “immersive listening experience” to mark the release of her new album ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’. The event will run ten times on 16-17 May at The Lightroom in London. More info here. 

Coheed And Cambria have released a new standalone single ‘The Joke’. 

Moonchild Sanelly has released new single ‘Scrambled Eggs’. 

Erland Cooper has announced that he will release ‘Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence’ - the album he recorded and then buried underground for three years - on 20 Sep. The world premiere of the record will take place at the Barbican in London on 8 Jun.

Flohio is back with new single ‘Make It Bang’. 

O. have released new single ’Micro’. Their debut album ‘WeirdOs’ is out on 21 Jun. 

Kučka will release her new album ‘Can You Hear Me Dreaming?’ on 12 Jul. Out now is new single ‘Wasting Time (Til The End Of The World)’. 

Martha Skye Murphy will release her debut album ‘Um’ on 14 Jun. Out now is new single ‘Pick Yourself Up’.

Approved: 7ebra

Lo-fi indie duo 7ebra - aka twins Inez and Ella Johansson - released their debut album ‘Bird Hour’ last year. Now they’re back with new single ‘Normal Song’ - a celebration of sadness that invites you to “cry in an open field”.

“I see the song being about trying to please everyone but failing, having a lot of things that need to get done, but all you want to do is close yourself off and cry in the corner”, says Inez. “But then you think about it and say no, actually, I shouldn't have to suppress this despair I'm feeling - I wanna cry in an open field. It's normal to feel these things and you don't have to hide it, if you don't want to”.

“When we originally had the idea for the song, it was sort of a lighthearted joke actually”, continues Ella. “But it quite quickly resonated with us, and we realised that this could maybe turn into a proper song. We recorded it with Jens Lindgård at Gula Studion here in Malmö, and I think his production matches the story and juxtaposition of the song perfectly. On first listen it maybe sounds like a lighthearted festival banger, especially with the big pumping chorus, but then you realise it's actually quite sad”.

You can catch 7ebra live in various venues around the UK supporting Arab Strap later this month, including a show at Koko on 24 May.

🎧 Listen to ‘Normal Song’ here

Nine of the ten wrongful death Astroworld lawsuits now settled, says Live Nation

All but one of the ten wrongful death lawsuits filed by families of victims of the 2021 Astroworld tragedy have now been settled, a lawyer for promoter Live Nation told a court in Houston yesterday. That includes a case that was due to go to trial this week, but which was postponed as a result of Apple’s ongoing efforts to be removed as a defendant.

That case involved the family of Madison Dubiski, one of the ten people who died when a crowd surge occurred at the 2021 edition of the Houston-based, Travis Scott founded and Live Nation promoted event. 

According to the Associated Press, Live Nation attorney Neal Manne told the court yesterday that the live giant had reached an out of court settlement with the Dubiski family. A legal rep for the family also confirmed this, adding that their case “is resolved in its entirety”. 

Responding to that news, a spokesperson for Travis Scott said, “Mr Scott is grateful that a resolution has been reached without the need for a trial. The confidential agreement will honour Madison Dubiski’s legacy and promote improvements for concert safety”. 

Hundreds of lawsuits were filed in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy in November 2021, by people who were injured, as well as the families of the ten people who died. The judge overseeing all the cases instigated a wide-ranging gagging order in February 2022, meaning that there has been very little reporting or out-of-court commentary on the litigation. 

Nevertheless, it emerged in October 2022 that two of the families of those who died - Axel Acosta and Brianna Rodriguez - had settled their cases. A third settlement with the family of John Hilgert followed in 2023. Then, earlier this year, an SEC filing from Live Nation stated that in total six lawsuits filed by the families of those who died had been settled, as had 29 other legal claims relating to the festival.  

Following Manne's update yesterday, the only wrongful death lawsuit remaining is that filed by the family of Ezra Blount, who was nine at the time of the tragedy and the youngest person to be killed. 

A meeting is now due to take place next week to discuss a schedule for that case to get to trial. A lawyer working for the Blount family, Scott West, yesterday told the court “this case is ready for trial”, but Manne said he and lawyers working for other defendants need more time to prepare. 

Although Live Nation and Scott were the key defendants in the Astroworld lawsuits, numerous other people and companies connected to the event were also named as defendants in many of the cases. Many of the listed defendants sought to get themselves removed from the lawsuits, some successfully. 

However Apple, which was named as a defendant because it livestreamed Scott's headline set at Astroworld, failed to get the case against it dismissed. It then appealed that decision, resulting in the trial to hear the Dubiski case being postponed. 

The out of court settlement that has now been reached by the Dubiski family settles all of their claims against all of the defendants in their lawsuit, including Apple. 

In addition to the wrongful death action filed by the Blount family, Live Nation’s attorney confirmed that there are still hundreds of other lawsuits pending involving injury claims. Because each of those lawsuits involves multiple festival-goers, there are - according to Manne - around 2400 individual claims to deal with.

Music services hit out at Apple’s plan to comply with EU in-app linking decision, call on European Commission to act

A trade group representing Spotify, Deezer and other music streaming services based in Europe has urged the European Union to reject Apple’s plan for complying with a recent regulator demand regarding in-app linking on iOS devices. It comes as a US judge scrutinises Apple's approach to complying with a similar order that was issued in the California courts. 

Back in March, Apple was fined €1.8 billion by the European Commission following an investigation into the tech giant's App Store rules regarding in-app payments. Responding to a complaint from Spotify, EU regulators focused on what is often called the anti-steering provision, which stops app developers keen to avoid using Apple's commission-charging in-app transactions system from linking to alternative payment options outside the app. 

That provision was deemed anticompetitive, with Apple told to change its rules as well as pay the mega-fine. In theory, Apple has complied. However, to include links to alternative payment options, app developers must sign up a ‘Music Streaming Services Entitlement’ document. And that involves committing to pay Apple a 27% commission on transactions stemming from an in-app link, only slightly lower than the 30% Apple charges on in-app payments. 

Spotify has already hit out at that new condition, and now trade group Digital Music Europe has sent a letter to the Commission urging it to “reject this solution and take immediate action to bring Apple to compliance, including daily penalties”. 

Complying with March’s decision regarding the anti-steering provision should have been “simple and straightforward” the letter adds. “All Apple needs to do is remove the unlawful anti-steering provisions from its App Store Guidelines. Instead, Apple is deploying the same playbook it has used time and time again in response to findings of abuse and illegal conduct by courts and antitrust authorities around the world”. 

“Apple's new entitlement for music streaming services is a discriminatory programme that forces competitors to opt into a new regime run by Apple”, the letter continues. “One where Apple still imposes anti-steering restrictions, and even a new 27% commission for purchases made on the web for music streaming competitors that attempt to give consumers direct links to easy purchasing”.

“Apple’s insistence on extracting a 27% commission for purchases of music streaming subscriptions taking place entirely outside the App Store leaves consumers with no additional or better options than before the decision”, it concludes. “Ultimately, Apple’s proposed ‘solution’ does nothing to address - and in fact furthers - the harm caused by its abusive anti-steering provisions”. 

In the US, a court in California ordered a change to Apple's anti-steering provision as part of a legal battle between the tech giant and Fortnite maker Epic Games. Apple’s plan for complying with that court order is more or less the same as the plan it is employing in Europe. 

Unsurprisingly, Epic is as outraged as Spotify, and has urged the judge who issued the order, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, to formally reject the plan. To that end, lawyers for both Apple and Epic were in court this week presenting their respective arguments to Rogers. 

Although Epic’s biggest grievance with Apple’s plan is the 27% commission, a hearing yesterday focused on other conditions Apple has put in place for app developers linking to external payment options. That included the fact that links can't be buttons, and the size of an alert that must be displayed telling the app user that “Apple is not responsible for the privacy or security of purchases made on the web”. 

According to Law360, Rogers didn't seem impressed with the excuses provided by Apple’s lawyers for these conditions, calling the privacy alert a “full-size takeover” employing “scare-tactic language”, and musing that the motivation for at least some of the new rules seemed to be “stifling competition”. 

Another session is scheduled tomorrow for Rogers to further scrutinise Apple’s plan.

Recording engineer Steve Albini dies

Musician and recording engineer Steve Albini died of a heart attack at his home in Chicago on Tuesday. He was 61. Prolific in his output, he worked on albums by Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker and many more. As a musician, he was best known for fronting the bands Big Black and Shellac. 

A statement on the website of Electrical Audio - the studio Albini founded in 1997 - reads, “On the night of May 7, our captain, Steve Albini, died unexpectedly. We are struggling to comprehend and process this loss”.  

“Steve was a hero to all of us, our friend and mentor”, it goes on. “He was one of the greatest living recording engineers, tirelessly dedicated to capturing the creative work of the bands and artists he worked with. He saw recording almost as an ethical imperative to document the music of the world around him”.

Born in Pasadena, California in 1962, Albini began playing bass guitar while recovering from a broken leg as a teenager. He cited being introduced to The Ramones as the key moment in his musical development that led him into what would become his career. 

Moving to Chicago to study journalism, he became heavily involved in the local punk scene, including writing for fanzines and managing bands. He first started engineering bands’ recordings in 1981, and formed Big Black the same year. The band released the influential albums ‘Atomizer’ (1986) and ‘Songs About Fucking’ (1987).

Big Black had already decided to split before the recording of ‘Songs About Fucking’, and afterwards Albini briefly fronted Rapeman - a name taken from a Japanese comic for which he expressed regret in recent years. In a viral thread on X in 2021, he said that he felt he and others of his generation had not been “held to task enough for words and behaviour that ultimately contributed to a coarsening society”. 

In 1992, he formed Shellac, another influential outfit who remained active for the rest of Albini’s life. His death comes a week before the release of their sixth album (and first for a decade) ‘To All Trains’. 

However, Albini was best known as a recording engineer - both for the impressive list of acts he worked with and his view on the process of working in the studio. 

Although widely considered to be a great record producer, he shunned the term, arguing that his job was to capture the sound of a band rather than direct what they should be doing. He preferred not to be credited on album artwork and also refused to take royalties from the sales of records he worked on, saying that doing so was unethical. 

Instead, he charged an affordable day rate - $900 at the time of his death - for the duration of the recording sessions.

He estimated that he had worked on over 1500 records, many of them lesser known as he chose to work with pretty much everyone who asked. There were many notable names on the list too though. Robert Plant - a fan of Big Black - hired him to record Page & Plant album ‘Walking Into Clarksdale’. Other notable names included Pixies, PJ Harvey, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, Bush, Joanna Newsom, The Cribs and Melt-Banana.

The album he is most often associated with is Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’, which he recorded over six days with the band in 1993. This despite the fact that Albini saw them as “unremarkable” and simply sounding like “REM with a fuzzbox". In fact, he reportedly said that he only took on the job because he felt sorry for them, seeing them as a band beholden to a major record label.

Albini captured a far more raw sound than that of the band’s previous album ‘Nevermind’. The band’s label Geffen and management did not like the results, and Nirvana themselves were unsure of them. Ultimately they decided that the guitar and bass were too low in the mix and asked Albini to remix the record. He refused, saying that he was happy with it, and also not wanting to get into a lengthy back and forth of being asked to make changes.

Instead, the whole album was remastered by Bob Ludwig, and the singles ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ and ‘All Apologies’ were remixed by REM producer Scott Litt. 

Despite the critical and commercial success of the final version, Albini dismissed it, saying that it did not “sound all that much like the record” that he had submitted. He also said that it caused him problems finding other work in the year after its release and was critical of the record label for - as he saw it - meddling in the sound of the album.

Being critical of the music industry was another recognisable aspect of Albini’s contribution to the world - both in interviews and articles he wrote for various publications. He was particularly critical of the major label system, which he viewed as exploiting artists for the financial gain of others. 

He also remained a staunch advocate of analogue recording, criticising digital technology from its inception - although he did later concede that it had made recording more accessible.

Numerous tributes were paid to Albini as news of his death broke yesterday, among them PJ Harvey, who said, “Meeting Steve Albini and working with him changed the course of my life. He taught me so much about music, and life. Steve was a great friend - wise, kind and generous. I am so grateful”.

Comedian and musician Fred Armisen wrote, “I love Steve so much. We said it more often to each other in recent years. I’m so glad I got to tell him. He was so funny, all the time. He sent me this text a few days ago, ‘I shouldn’t admit this but I don’t get cymbals. Like I can tell the difference between this one and that one but if I’m honest they both sound like cymbals and I don’t care’. I always loved hearing him say ‘I don’t care’”.

“He was such a good friend to me, endlessly”, he went on. “I admired his work ethic and his warmth. And his opinions on national flags. On everything. I always cherish getting to spend time with him and Heather [Whinna, his wife]. I’m really going to miss him. It’s a heavy loss”.

Meanwhile, indie label Polyvinyl described Adbini’s death as an “unfathomable loss” and said that it is “impossible to fully trace the profound impact he made on all of us, on the sound of music itself”.

🎙 Setlist Podcast: Calls for urgent new AI laws in UK and US

In this week's Setlist Podcast, Chris Cooke and Andy Malt discuss the calls on both sides of the Atlantic for new AI laws to protect creators, the big love-in between Universal and TikTok as they finally resolve their differences, and more.

Click here to listen - or search for 'Setlist Podcast'

Minnesota passes new laws regulating secondary ticketing

While various proposals for regulating the ticketing market continue to be debated in US Congress, some US states are passing new rules in relation to secondary ticketing. The governor of Minnesota signed new ticket resale rules into law earlier this week, and Maryland is set to introduce similar regulations. 

“We’re protecting consumers and holding ticket resellers accountable in Minnesota”, Governor Tim Walz wrote on X yesterday. Referencing the basketball team of Minneapolis, he later posted, “Whether Minnesotans are selling out Target Center to cheer the Timberwolves or catching a concert, they’re paying too many hidden fees. This law will change that”. 

The new rules in Minnesota prohibit both drip pricing and speculative selling, two practices in secondary ticketing that are frequently criticised. Drip pricing is where one price for a ticket is declared upfront but then fees are added later in the transaction. Speculative selling is where touts - or scalpers to use the American term - advertise for sale tickets they don't yet have access to. 

Regulation of secondary ticketing varies greatly around the world and, in the US, from state to state, although the use of bots to buy up tickets from primary sellers is prohibited across the US by federal law. Until recently, there seemed to be less support for stricter regulation of ticket resale in the US, especially when compared to Europe, although that has started to change. 

The meltdown that occurred when tickets for Taylor Swift's 'The Eras Tour' went on pre-sale in November 2022 put the entire ticketing sector back into the political spotlight, with various new laws being subsequently proposed in Congress. Both primary and secondary ticketing, plus the dominance of Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary, have been scrutinised by Congress members over the last eighteen months. 

However, similar proposals in some states seem to have got more momentum behind them. The new laws in Minnesota were also prompted by the Swift ticketing meltdown, with a sneaky Swift reference included in the official title of the new legislation, House File 1989. 

At one point lawmakers in Maryland were considering a much more radical proposal that would have basically outright banned the resale of tickets for profit, by putting in place a face value price cap on any resale transaction. That is now off the agenda - so that the new rules will be more like those in Minnesota - although lawmakers will ask the Maryland Attorney General's Office to undertake a study into the potential impact of resale price caps. 

Most ticketing companies - both primary and secondary - generally say they support being forced to display the total price of a ticket upfront, happy to do such a thing providing it is an industry-wide practice. Resale sites also generally don't outright oppose rules around ticket buying bots and speculative selling. But any regulation beyond that is strongly opposed.