In today's CMU Daily: Ticketmasterhas denied that tickets for upcoming Taylor Swift shows could be replicated as a result of its recent data breach. It was responding to new claims from hackers who say they have barcode data connected to lots of tickets sold by Ticketmaster, including for Swift’s concerts. However Ticketmaster says its anti-fraud systems mean the barcode data can’t be used to gain access to any shows 

One Liners: Ministerial appointments in the new UK government of relevance to the music industry; O2 Silver Clef Awards presented; Barrie Marshall gets NAA award; Apple’s Eddy Cue interview; Stevie Nicks postpones shows; new music from Sault, Will Young, Cassyette and deadmau5

Also today: Coldplay settle legal dispute with ex-manager Dave Holmes to avoid a potentially explosive court case; US court rules against Prince family members in estate dispute

Ticketmaster denies data breach could result in replicated tickets for Taylor Swift shows

Ticketmaster has denied that tickets for upcoming events, including on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’, could be replicated as a result of the recent data breach which saw hackers claim to have accessed data about 560 million of the Live Nation owned ticketing company’s customers. Existing anti-fraud protections in its ticketing systems, a statement insisted, mean stolen barcode data cannot be used to gain entry into any shows.

The hackers, part of a group called ShinyHunters, made new claims about the data they accessed last week, including that they had obtained barcode data connected to tickets sold by Ticketmaster, including hundreds of thousands of tickets for Taylor Swift shows. They then reportedly published a sample of the barcode data for Swift concerts in Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis, with each barcode linked to a seat number and ticket price. 

There were reports that the hackers were seeking to hold Ticketmaster to ransom over the barcode data. One rumour had it that the ticketing company had been negotiating a $1 million payment to keep the hacked data private, but that the hackers then hiked the price to $8 million after reconsidering the vale of the data, seemingly employing the kind of dynamic pricing techniques that Ticketmaster has pioneered in the live music sector. 

According to PC Mag, a second possibly related hacking group called Sp1d3rHunters then posted 170,000 barcodes alongside the statement, “Pay us $2 million USD or we leak all 680 million of your users information and 30 million more event barcodes”.

The fear was that those barcodes could be used to create fake tickets that would gain entry into shows, causing chaos on the day of the performance. However, Ticketmaster is adamant that the static barcode data that was hacked can’t be used in that way.

Drumsheds, Broadwick Live // Senior Operations Manager (London)

Drumsheds, Broadwick Live // Duty Operations Manager (London)

Drumsheds, Broadwick Live // Operations Coordinator (London)

terrible* // Finance Assistant/Bookkeeper (London)

Sentric Music // Revenue Optimisation Manager (London/Liverpool)

Sentric Music // Copyright Manager (Liverpool/London)

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ONE LINERS

O2 Silver Clef Awards, Sault, deadmau5 + more

APPOINTMENTS 

Following last week’s UK General Election, new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been very busy appointing new ministers. The music industry lobbies various departments of government, but especially the Department For Culture, Media & Sport, which will now be led by Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, who has been appointed Secretary Of State For Culture, Media & Sport. The UK’s Intellectual Property Office, meanwhile, sits under the Department For Science, Innovation & Technology, which is now being run by the new Secretary Of State For Science, Innovation & Technology, Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade. 

AWARDS

The O2 Silver Clef Awards took place on Friday, raising lots of money for music therapy charity Nordoff & Robbins. Blur were presented with the flagship Silver Clef Award, while AC/DC won the Legend Award, Chaka Khan received the Global Impact Award and Mark Knopfler won the Music Icon Award.

The National Arenas Association has announced the recipient of its annual Outstanding Contribution Award, which is presented each year by the trade body to celebrate an individual’s contribution to the live entertainment sector. This year’s winner is promoter Barrie Marshall, founder and Chairman of Marshall Arts. NAA Chair John Drury says, “Barrie and his team have become almost as legendary as many of the acts they represent, and have been a consistent and welcome supporter of the UK’s arena business for many years. We’re so pleased to be able to present this well-deserved award to such an industry icon”. 

DIGITAL

Apple’s SVP Of Services Eddy Cue has given an interview on the SuperSaf YouTube channel  in which he discusses Apple Music and why people should choose it over other streaming platforms. Conceding that “everyone pretty much has all the same songs”, he reckons Apple's commitment to spatial audio, human curation and radio shows make its music service stand out. Yeah, maybe. “We still think there’s a people part here, as much as we love technology”, he says, according to 9to5Mac. “There’s still an aspect of people that’s critical to us. That starts with radio, where we do live radio shows with real DJs, and the playlists we’re creating that are algorithmic but always with a personal touch to it”.

GIGS & TOURS 

Stevie Nicks has had to postpone some UK shows, including a performance in Glasgow over the weekend and tomorrow’s gig in Manchester, after sustaining a leg injury. A performance at the BST Hyde Park festival in London on Friday should go ahead. A statement says, “Due to a recent leg injury requiring a minor surgical procedure that will need a few days of recovery time, Stevie Nicks’ scheduled performances in Glasgow and Manchester have been postponed. Ticketholders are advised to hold on to their tickets as rescheduled dates will be announced soon”. 

RELEASES

Sault have released their new album ‘Acts Of Faith’. It’s currently one 32-minute track available to download for free as a .wav file through a WeTransfer link that the group shared online. 

Will Young has released new single ‘Light It Up’, taken from his new album out on 9 Aug.

Cassyette has released new single ‘Friends In Low Places’, taken from her new album 'This World Fucking Sucks' out 23 Aug.

deadmau5 has released his new single ‘Quezacotl’.

Coldplay pays former manager seven figure sum to settle dispute

Coldplay have settled their legal dispute with former manager Dave Holmes, avoiding a very public airing of their business affairs in London’s High Court. The band reportedly agreed to pay Holmes an undisclosed seven figure sum back in May, according to The Sun.

The falling out came to public attention when Holmes sued Coldplay last year, after his long-term management relationship with the band crumbled in 2022. He claimed that his management deal was renewed for two more albums following the release of ‘Music Of The Spheres’ in 2021, extending his partnership with the band through to the end of 2025.

On that basis, he alleged, he began work on the next record, including negotiating a new deal with Warner Music, as well as beginning preparations for the band’s 2024/2025 world tour. However, he claimed, with that work already underway, the band said that they wanted to limit his role to working on their live activity, before later sacking him altogether. 

The lawsuit asked the courts to enforce Holmes’ management deal with the band and secure  him all the commissions due under that deal - or, at the very least, order the band to pay him for the work he had already done on the tour and album at the point he was sacked.

Court rules against Prince family members in dispute over running of estate

A Delaware court has ruled against Prince’s family members after they tried to oust two executives from Prince Legacy LLC, one of the companies that manages the late musician’s estate. The Court Of Chancery deemed the family’s attempt to amend the company’s operating agreement without involving L Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer invalid. 

McMillan and Spicer disagreed with the family on how that agreement should be interpreted. Chancellor Kathaleen St J McCormick ruled that McMillan and Spicer’s interpretation of the agreement was “the only reasonable one”, describing it as “unambiguous”. She added that accepting the family members’ interpretation of the rules would lead to “absurd results”.

The dispute hinged on whether Prince’s family members could call a meeting to amend the operating agreement without involving McMillan and Spicer, who run the business. Last year such a meeting was held and the agreement was amended to remove McMillan and Spicer as managing members of the company.