CMU Daily 07.12.18: Kim Dotcom extradition process may only now be reaching half-time, Sam Fender wins BRITs Critics' Choice

Kim Dotcom extradition process may only now be reaching half-time
Next month it will be seven years since the American authorities shut down the MegaUpload digital locker and video sharing platform on the grounds of copyright infringement. But efforts to extradite its management team to face criminal charges in the US continue to go through the motions, with a lawyer representing American prosecutors telling the Supreme Court in New Zealand this week that those efforts may only now be at "half-time".

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom and three of his former colleagues - all currently based in New Zealand - continue to deny the various criminal charges filed against them in the US.

They have also argued at length that they cannot be extradited to America because New Zealand's extradition treaty with the US doesn't cover copyright infringement. For their part, American prosecutors have argued that by allegedly allowing and encouraging rampant infringement on their networks, there are grounds for accusing the MegaUpload team of conspiracy to defraud, which would be sufficient to allow extradition to go ahead.

To date, the courts in New Zealand have mainly sided with American prosecutors. Judges first said that there were sufficient grounds for extradition back in 2015. That decision was then upheld by both the High Court and the Court Of Appeal.

Dotcom et al are now trying to take the matter to the New Zealand Supreme Court. But at a preliminary hearing in that court earlier this week, legal reps for the US argued that yet another appeal hearing is not an option for the MegaUpload team.

Whether or not a third appeal should be allowed depends on how you interpret changes to New Zealand law since this whole case began back in 2012. The US argues that because no further stage of appeal would have been available back then, it shouldn't be available now. Legal reps for the MegaUpload defendants disagree.

It was while presenting America's arguments on that point that lawyer David Boldt remarked that efforts to extradite Dotcom and friends are still only at the halfway point, even if the Supreme Court declines to consider the Mega team's arguments one last time.

Boldt probably didn't mean that he expects another seven years of delays and deliberations before America's extradition attempts reach their conclusion. More he was pointing out that there are two stages to the extradition process in New Zealand and everything to date has been stage one, the judicial stage.

Even if the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case and the Court Of Appeal's ruling stands, the matter would then go to the country's Minister Of Justice, who must decide whether or not to surrender the accused to the US authorities. This process could also take years and see past arguments re-presented.

According to Stuff, Boldt observed that "after seven years we might almost be at half-time, but that's just the way this particular case has gone".

Back in the US, both the music and movie industries also sued Dotcom and the old MegaUpload business over the copyright infringement the defunct company allegedly facilitated. Those civil cases, though, have been on hold for years pending the outcome of the criminal case, which in turn is waiting for the snail's pace extraction process to reach its conclusion. Still, at least that's now approaching half-time!

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Former Spotify and YouTube people among new hires at JAAK
London-based JAAK - a start-up business seeking to address the music industry's big data problem with a funky blockchain solution - has made a number of new senior appointments, while revealing that it will release its first commercial product next year.

The new appointments include musician DA Wallach, who was previously Spotify's Artist In Residence, and David King, who developed YouTube's Content ID system, who will both advise the business moving forward.

Meanwhile Dom Lovett, formerly with Universal Music Publishing, joins the company in a full-time role as Head Of Music Copyright. Other new hires announced yesterday include Hari Ashurst-Venn, Alina Colceag, Samir Rashed and Philippe Rixhon.

Confirming all that, JAAK CEO Vaughn McKenzie-Landell said: "Tackling such a complex problem with new technology requires not just incredibly talented people but also voices, ideas, and experiences from businesses across the entire supply chain - including creators".

"DA and David's insight and experience increase the effectiveness of our efforts and the depth of our relationships", he added. "Combined with Dom, Hari, Alina, Samir and Philippe, our team integrates deep expertise in rights administration, copyright policy, and creator services with digital infrastructure, royalty payments, content identification, distributed systems and product design".

The company says that its first commercial product, due next year, will "lower the barriers to music innovation by simplifying the licensing and back-office processes for music rights holders and developers".

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US diversity initiative plans biggest global database of women in music
She Is The Music, a US-based initiative that seeks to drive "equality, inclusivity and opportunity for women across the music community" has announced plans to launch "the largest global database of female creators and professionals". The new database, which is backed by US industry trade mag Billboard, will go live next year.

The people behind SITM - which include Alicia Keys, Universal Music Publishing's Jody Gerson, WME's Samantha Kirby Yoh and Jungle City Studios' Ann Mincieli - say that the new database will "span female songwriters, engineers, producers, studio positions and live / touring professionals, with more roles to come". They hope that it will help in SITM's wider ambition to "increase job opportunities and grow the talent pipeline for women in music".

One of a number of programmes around the world seeking to encourage and enable more women to pursue careers in music - especially in areas, on and off the stage, that are frequently male dominated - SITM was launched in response to a recent study by the University Of Southern California. The report by USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative revealed distressingly low percentages of women working in music. SITM is also organising songwriting camps and a mentoring programme in addition to the database project.
More info at sheisthemusic.org

Here in the UK a similar database of women working in music was established by Deviate Digital founder Sammy Andrews at the start of last year, partly in response to widespread criticism of the lack of diversity at many music industry conferences and events. The aim was to help connect the organisers of such events to a diverse mix of music industry executives who were happy to talk about their areas of expertise on stage.

That initiative, under the banner 'Let's Be The Change', was also behind the series of adverts recently run in the UK music industry press celebrating countless women working across the music industry, mainly in response to the woeful lack of female execs on the shortlists at this year's Live UK Awards.

There is more info about that initiative at letsbethechange.co.uk

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Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley dies
Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley has died, the band confirmed in a statement last night. He was 63.

"It's with great sadness that we confirm the death of Pete Shelley, one of the UK's most influential and prolific songwriters and co-founder of the seminal original punk band Buzzcocks", the statement reads. "Pete's music has inspired generations of musicians over a career that spanned five decades and, with his band and as a solo artist, he was held in the highest regard by the music industry and by his fans around the world".

The band's management told the BBC that Shelley died from a heart attack in Estonia, where he was living.

Shelley and vocalist Howard Devoto formed the Buzzcocks in 1976 in Bolton after travelling to London to see the Sex Pistols perform. They convinced Pistols manager Malcolm Mclaren to book them as support act for an upcoming Manchester show, although the initial Buzzcocks line-up disbanded shortly before the day of that gig. However, they did manage to play a show weeks later, when the Pistols returned to the city.

Although inspired by the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks developed their own more pop and more polished sound and style within the confines of punk. They recorded their first EP, 'Spiral Scratch', at the end of the year. Released in January 1977, it was one of the first punk releases, and by putting it out on their own New Hormones label, they became the first punk band to self-release a record.

Devoto left the band shortly afterwards, later forming Magazine. Shelley replaced him as frontman and his vocal style fully cemented the band as being different from other punk acts of the time. The band went on to release their first two albums the following year, in 1978. The second spawned the band's best-known song, 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)'.

The band split in 1981 while working on demoes for their fourth album. They reformed in 1989, with Shelley and guitarist Steve Diggle the only constants through to the present day. They recorded six more albums, up to 2014's 'The Way', and their enduring appeal saw them tour with Nirvana in 1994 and Pearl Jam in 2003.

The band were still actively playing live shows at the time of Shelley's death, with dates booked into 2019. The surviving members have not yet indicated their future plans.

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Health announce slavish new album and fearful tour dates
Health have announced that they will release their fourth album, 'Vol 4: Slaves Of Fear', on 8 Feb. They've also released the more or less title track, 'Slaves Of Fear', as one of those single things they have now.

Slam the video for 'Slaves Of Fear' into your unprepared eyes here.

Tour dates are coming too. The band will travel to London on a fact-finding mission in January, with a one-off show at the Brixton Academy on 30 Jan. They will then return in March for more performances.

Dates? Dates:

30 Jan: London, Brixton Academy
24 Mar: Manchester, Yes
25 Mar: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
26 Mar: Glasgow, CCA
27 Mar: Bristol, The Exchange
28 Mar: London, Oval Space
29 Mar: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
30 Mar: Brighton, Patterns

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Sam Fender wins BRITs Critics' Choice
So, take note, Sam Fender is the man all the critics think is going to be the absolute biggest thing in 2019. I wouldn't want to place too much pressure on him so early in his career, but I am absolutely confident that he will sell 600 million albums (or the streaming equivalent, whatever that means) before next Christmas.

Fender beat Mahalia and Lewis Capaldi to win the new talent championing BRITs Critics Choice prize, after they failed to draw enough critical support. Sadly, they are both now banned from releasing or even making any music ever again. Them's the breaks. I assume.

"I am truly humbled to win the BRITs Critics' Choice award", breaths Fender heavily. "Being nominated was crazy enough, never mind winning it".

"I'm so grateful to everyone back home for believing, and to my band and team for all their hard work", he continues. "We've played literally hundreds of shows this year, and we're going to go even harder in 2019. Most importantly, a big shout to my fans. I've met a lot of you over the last few years and it's truly an honour to get up and play night after night to such a wonderful bunch of people. To everyone who's taken a punt on me so far, thank you. Here's to next year!"

BRITs Chair and Sony Music UK boss Jason Illey adds: "Many congratulations to Sam Fender on winning the BRITs Critics' Choice Award. He is an exceptional young artist, with a bright future ahead of him. This award has shone a spotlight on some of the most successful new acts for more than a decade, who between them have sold more than 90 million records, from Adele to Sam Smith, Florence And The Machine to Rag N Bone Man. I wish Sam the very best and that he enjoys the same success as many of the previous winners have before him".

Wow, the other winners have only sold 90 million albums between them? Well, move out of the way, guys. Adele who? Sam's in town.

Here's the future most successful artist of the 21st century performing his song 'Dead Boys' at that Abbey Road Studios.

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Spotify, BTS, Coldplay, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• If you're the one Spotify user yet to share all your vital statistics for 2018 on your social feed of choice, don't forget you can currently log in and access all sorts of facts and figures about your listening habits this year. Most important: the most common star sign of artists you listened to. Sagittarius was mine.

• Boyband BTS have won this year's Time Person Of The Year readers poll. How can a band be a person? Idiots. In second place came Planet Earth. I mean, what is even the point of asking the public their opinion on anything?

• BTS also feature on Bloomberg's list of the 50 most influential people in the world in 2018. As do Taylor Swift, Daniel Ek, and 47 people who don't work in music, and therefore mean absolutely nothing to me.

• Coldplay have released a new live album, concert film and documentary, the catchily-titled 'Live In Buenos Aires / Live In São Paulo / A Head Full Of Dreams (Film)'. Here they are performing 'Parrot Eyes' in São Paolo.

• Queens Of The Stone Age have released two Christmas songs, 'Silent Night' and 'Twas The Night Before Christmas'. And all for charity too.

• Broken Bells - aka Danger Mouse and The Shins' James Mercer - are back with new single 'Shelter'.

• Flohio's just knocking out track after excellent track at the moment, isn't she? Now she's teamed up with Clams Casino and Cadenza for 'Pounce'. She and Clams Casino will both support Pusha T at Manchester's Warehouse Project on 8 Dec.

• Cat's Eyes' Rachel Zeffira has released three tracks from her soundtrack to upcoming film, 'Elizabeth Harvest'.

• Myrkur has released the video for her version of traditional Danish folk song 'Bonden Og Kragen', which appears on the b-side of new single, 'Juniper'.

• True Adventures is back with new single, 'Better Tomorrow, Today'. "Songwriting is my way of trying to make sense of what's around me", he says. "I often only realise what a song is about until I've sung it a thousand times, or someone asks me about it. The best thing is hearing from someone that your song got to them in some way, often with a different meaning than the one you imagined". Watch the video here.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.

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Beef Of The Week #433: Beyonce's clothes v Ed Sheeran's clothes

INT. CORRIDOR BACKSTAGE AT CONCERT VENUE - LATE AFTERNOON

[Ed Sheeran and Beyonce are chatting. Beyonce stands, wearing a tailored suit. Sheeran slouches against the wall, wearing blue jeans and a black short sleeve t-shirt over a white long sleeve t-shirt.]

ED
Oh right, I thought you were just complimenting her hair.

BEYONCE
Did you even listen to that album?

ED
I suppose having good hair differentiated her from all the other Beckys.

BEYONCE
[frowning]
What other Beckys?

ED
[flustered]
What? Oh, I think they're calling us.

BEYONCE
I didn't hear anything.

ED
Um, maybe we should get into our outfits anyway.

BEYONCE
Good idea. I need to make sure everything's... perfect.

ED
Ha ha. I can't wait to see what you've put together.

FADE OUT

SFX: DISTANT CROWD NOISE

FADE IN

[Two hours later, we return to the same corridor backstage at the same concert venue. Ed stands alone, slouched against the same wall as before, staring at his phone and whistling a Marvin Gaye song. He wears blue jeans and a black short-sleeve t-shirt over a white long sleeve t-shirt.]

BEYONCE
[off screen]
Ed! I thought you were going to get ready!

ED
[confused]
I did!

BEYONCE
You look exactly the same as when I left you. Have you even moved?

[Beyonce enters the frame, wearing an elaborate, ruffled pink gown with hair crimped to match.]

ED
[staring at Beyonce]
Is that what you're wearing?

BEYONCE
Yeah, Ed, this is what I'm wearing. I thought I'd make an effort, you know?

ED
I know what you mean. You have to look good for stuff like this.

BEYONCE
[irritated]
I'm still not convinced you've left this spot.

ED
[perplexed]
What do you mean? This is a whole new outfit. I even changed my underwear. To be honest, I had to.

BEYONCE
[raising a hand]
I don't want to know. But you're not going to go on stage like that, are you?

ED
What do you mean? I always go on stage like this.

BEYONCE
Yeah, but usually you're on your own. And that thing where you look like one of your own fans who's just walked onto the stage by mistake is almost cute. But look at me, Ed. Look how tall I've made my shoulders.

ED
Yeah, they kind of look like wings.

BEYONCE
You're fucking right they look like wings, Ed. Big fucking pink wings. You haven't even done your hair... or fucking shaved even!

ED
[shrugging]
This is my 'look'! This is how people will expect me to be dressed. They might not know it's me if I change into something else.

BEYONCE
Edward Christopher Sheeran, did you dress like that when you got your MBE from the Queen?

ED
Prince Charles gave me my MBE.

BEYONCE
It doesn't matter Ed. What did you wear?

ED
[sheepishly]
A suit.

BEYONCE
That's right. A fucking suit. And did Prince Charles not know who you were because you weren't wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt over a long-sleeved t-shirt?

ED
I think he had my name written on his hand.

BEYONCE
[interrupting]
Shut up, Ed. Just go and get changed.

ED
I don't have anything else except the stuff I was wearing before. And I spilled some baked beans on that other t-shirt. And I really can't put those pants back on.

[Beyonce rolls her eyes]

ED
[cont'd]
Look, it doesn't matter. Everyone will just see me exactly as they expect. They'll be looking at you anyway. I mean, you're Beyonce. And your shoulders really are massive. I don't think anyone will even comment on my clothes.

CUT TO:

INT. ON STAGE AT FNB STADIUM, JOHANNESBURG - NIGHT

[Beyonce and Ed stand close together on stage performing their song 'Perfect Duet'. It's the first time they have ever sung it together live. Beyonce and Ed are both dressed exactly as they were in the corridor. Ed is playing a weirdly small guitar.]

BEYONCE
[internal monologue]
Maybe if I get one of my giant shoulders across him it'll look like we're wearing matching outfits.

ED
[internal monologue]
I'M SINGING WITH BEYONCE!

Overlay news headlines:
"Ed Sheeran got criticised for underdressing for Beyonce duet at festival"
"Ed Sheeran's VERY casual appearance on stage next to a glamorous Beyonce during Mandela concert sparks furious row on Twitter"
"People are angry Ed Sheeran wore a t-shirt while Beyonce wore couture during their Global Citizen performance"
"Beyonce Ed Sheeran and our expectations of men and women"
"These pictures of Beyonce and Ed Sheeran have sparked a massive debate about double standards"

CUT TO:

INT. CORRIDOR BACKSTAGE AT FNB STADIUM, JOHANNESBURG - NIGHT

[We return again to the same corridor in which we started. Ed looks dishevelled. Still.]

ED
See, I don't think anyone even noticed. Anyway, they'll all be talking about the great job we've done for charity. No one would possibly overlook all that charity work just to tweet about what clothes we were wearing. And if someone does, I'll joke about it on Instagram. Then everyone will remember to focus on the charity thing again.

BEYONCE
I hope you're right, Ed. For all our sakes, I hope you're right.

FADE OUT. END.

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