Plus: NO FAKES Act under fire from tech companies, Which? wants Oasis refunds

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each day since 21 Jun 2002

Today's email is edition #5297

Tue 10 Sep 2024

In today's CMU Daily: The White Stripes have fallen out with Donald Trump for a second time. After enraging the band in 2016 when he used their music in a campaign video, he’s done it again - and this time the band are going legal, saying his “flagrant misappropriation” of their music has left them “disgusted”


One Liners: Audius, Kobalt, haircare brand Redken, Inkbox, MV2, New Lost City Records, Moshi Moshi, Concord, IMPF, The Royalty Network, Global Music Junction, Recording Academy, Amuse, Sirius XM, Apple, Primary Wave, Fire Festival II, MMF, IFPI + more


Also today: The NO FAKES Act in the US - seen by many in the music industry as a break-through legislative safe-guard against the threat of AI - is actually a bit rubbish, say signatories to a new open letter; Oasis should have warned fans about dynamic ticketing price gouge says Which? - it thinks the band should now “do the right thing” and issue refunds


Plus: Moreish Idols are CMU Approved


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The White Stripes sue Trump campaign, “disgusted” by its “flagrant misappropriation” of Seven Nation Army

The White Stripes have sued Donald Trump and his election campaign over his use of ‘Seven Nation Army’ in a video that the campaign posted to social media at the end of August. Use of the track in the video without permission was a “flagrant misappropriation of the musical composition and recording”, which are, says the duo’s legal filing, “among the most well-known and influential musical works of all time”. 


Trump, continues the lawsuit, “as a self-professed sophisticated and successful businessman with decades-long experience in the entertainment industry”, should have realised that the use of ‘Seven Nation Army’ in the video “was unauthorised, and, therefore, violated [the band’s] rights under the Copyright Act”. 


Obviously this is not the first time that Trump has been on the receiving end of a lawsuit about music used as part of his campaign. Nor is it the first time he’s had a run-in with The White Stripes. Back in 2016, during his first run for President, he used ‘Seven Nation Army’ in another campaign video, which the band criticised on social media at the time.

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Horizon is CMU's weekly newsletter 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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ONE LINERS

Deals

  • Audius has signed a global licensing agreement with Kobalt. 
  • Haircare brand Redken has signed singer and actress Sabrina Carpenter as its first-ever Global Ambassador. 
  • Temporary tattoo company Inkbox has launched its second collaboration with drummer Travis Barker.
  • MV2 Entertainment and New Lost City Records have signed True Youngblood.
  • Alice Costelloe has signed to Moshi Moshi Records for her new EP 'When It's The Time'. 
  • Concord Music Publishing has signed country artist Erin Kirby to her first worldwide publishing deal.

Appointments

  • Global independent music publisher trade group IMPF has appointed Nicole Schulze as its new Secretary General. 
  • The Royalty Network, an independent music publishing company, has appointed Daniel Abowd as its new President & General Counsel.
  • Global Music Junction has appointed Akash Kumar Upadhyay as Associate Vice President. 
  • The US Recording Academy has appointed Taymoor Marmarchi as Executive Director for its expansion into the Middle East and North Africa region.
  • Amuse has launched an in-house sync department for licensed music in film, television and advertising, appointing Daniel Copleston to lead the new division.

Legal

  • Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been hit with a $100 million default judgment in a sexual assault lawsuit, according to TMZ. 
  • Apple has been ordered to pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland following a ruling by the Court Of Justice Of The European Union.
  • Primary Wave Music and Prince Legacy have issued a statement responding to reports of an unreleased documentary alleging abuse by the late musician Prince. 

Streaming, Digital, Broadcast & Retail

  • Sirius XM Holdings Inc has begun operating as an independent public company following the completion of its ‘split-off and merger’ transaction with Liberty Media. 
  • Audible has announced plans to use AI trained on professional narrators' voices to generate new audiobook recordings. 
  • BBC Radio 1 has announced its lineup for Live Lounge Month, which will commence on 30 Sep with Camila Cabello with performances by Shawn Mendes, Fontaines DC, Tom Grennan, and Little Mix members Jade and Perrie, among others.
  • Apple’s new iPhone 16 line-up will feature audio upgrades aimed at musicians and producers, with the company also adding multi-track recording to the Voice Memo app later this year.

Live

  • Billy McFarland has announced dates for Fyre Festival II. Andy King, a former investor in Fyre Festival, has expressed concerns about the event's planned reboot.
  • BeyoncĂ© has booked a series of stadium concerts in the UK for summer 2025, potentially including five nights at Tottenham Stadium, claims The Sun. 
  • Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, has postponed the remaining dates of his North American tour to focus on his physical health. 

Other Industry News & Events

  • The UK’s Music Managers Forum has announced details about its Manager Summit and Annual General Meeting on 17 Sep at London's 21Soho.
  • IFPI has released its inaugural 'Music In The EU: A Global Opportunity' report, examining the recorded music landscape in the European Union. 
  • Record Store Day and Breed Media have announced the return of the RSD Unsigned competition for 2024, offering one UK artist the chance to have their music pressed onto 500 vinyl records.

Artist News

  • Dominga of Chilean electronic group Föllakzoid has alleged she was the target of a transphobic attack at Sameheads, a nightclub in Berlin, on 6 Sep. 
  • Refused have announced their breakup and plans for a farewell tour in 2025.
  • Whiney racist Morrissey has again been talking about the stalled release of his fourteenth solo album, 'Bonfire of Teenagers', saying the record was "gagged".
  • Ellie Goulding has received The Perfect World Foundation's honorary Conservation Award in Gothenburg, Sweden.
👉 Read today's One Liners in full

NO FAKES Act is a “blunt solution” that “goes too far” say tech companies

The NO FAKES Act in the US has come under fire from organisations representing technology companies, libraries and digital rights advocates which insist that the proposed new legal framework to regulate AI-generated digital replicas “goes too far”. The proposals, formally introduced into US Senate in July and widely welcomed by the music industry, offer “a blunt solution before we understand the problem”, an open letter declares. 


“We understand and share the serious concerns many have expressed about the ways digital replica technology can be misused, with harms that can impact ordinary people as well as performers and celebrities”, the letter says, adding, “these harms deserve the serious attention they are receiving and preventing them may well involve legislation to fill gaps in existing law”.


However, regulation already exists at both a federal and state level, continues the letter,  through publicity rights, and laws relating to fair competition, false advertising and privacy. This means that Congress should concern itself with introducing new rules where there are actual gaps in the current legal framework, argues the letter, and that “The recently-introduced NO FAKES bill goes too far in introducing an entirely new federal intellectual property right”.



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UK consumer rights champion ‘Which?’ tells Oasis “do the right thing and refund fans”

UK consumer rights group Which? has called on Oasis and Live Nation’s Ticketmaster to “do the right thing” and refund fans who ended up paying much more than expected for tickets to the band’s much hyped reunion shows after dynamic pricing saw prices soar. 


People buying tickets for the shows, says Lisa Webb at Which?, “weren’t properly warned about the use of ‘in demand’ pricing until far too late in the purchase journey - leading to a nasty shock at the checkout”. For that reason, Oasis and Ticketmaster may “have breached consumer law”, she adds, and therefore “should do the right thing and refund fans”. 


The band have been keen to distance themselves from the decision to use dynamic pricing on tickets for their shows, saying in a statement last week that decisions around ticketing and pricing were made entirely by their promoters and management. 


Apologising is not really part of the Oasis brand, though, and, on X, Liam Gallagher has mainly responded to the backlash in a flippant way, joking about high ticket prices and telling aggrieved fans to “shut up” and buy “kneeling only” tickets. 



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🎧 Approved: Moreish Idols

South London’s Moreish Idols have showcased an evolution in their sound. Whereas their debut material featured a restless, jerky, jagged and rhythmically centered sound, influenced by energetic post-punk, their second EP revealed an entirely different side to the band.


This evolution saw the group weave together a looser constellation of ideas, combining swooning tremolo guitars, prickly melodic riddles, saxophone improvisations and flexible rhythms, sounding like 'Watery, Domestic'-era Pavement one moment and something Canterbury Scene-esque the next.


With their new single 'Pale Blue Dot', the band continues to transform and challenge their songwriting sensibilities. Blending subtly intricate, cyclical acoustic instrumentation that swells and breaks around the band’s gently layered vocal harmonies, the track once again sees the band reworking their sound to create something new, direct and honest.


🎧 Watch the video for ‘Pale Blue Dot’ here



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