FEAT // Junior Policy Officer/Industry Liaison (Remote/London)

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Erased Tapes Records // Label & Production Manager (London)

ICE Licensing // Senior DSP Audit & Assurance Manager (London)

ICE Licensing // DSP Audit and Assurance Manager (London)

Today's music business news

TOP STORY

Hipgnosis Songs Fund headhunts former Chair of the Round Hill Music Royalty Fund

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund has appointed Robert Naylor as its new Chair after shareholders opted not to reappoint Andrew Sutch in that role at last month's continuation vote.

Naylor is CEO of Intuitive Investments Group, but - more importantly for shareholders in the Hipgnosis fund - until recently he was also Chair of the Round Hill Music Royalty Fund, the catalogues of which have just been acquired by Concord in a $468.8 million deal.

In his new role, he will oversee a strategic review of the Hipgnosis fund that seeks to allay ongoing concerns among its shareholders. “I’m excited to be joining Hipgnosis Songs Fund”, he says. “I look forward to working with the board and shareholders as we conduct the strategic review and put forward proposals for the future of the company".

Many shareholders in the music rights-owning Hipgnosis Songs Fund have been critical of late about the publicly listed entity's board and their advisors at Hipgnosis Song Management. Which is why, at last month's routine continuation vote, the vast majority voted against continuation, forcing a "reset" of the Fund's operations.

A key concern of investors is the Fund's share price. The board had proposed selling a number of its catalogues to the separate Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital, with a plan to use the profits to buy back shares and service a credit facility. The aim being to boost the Fund’s share price.

However, there was criticism of the Hipgnosis-to-Hipgnosis deal among shareholders. Some felt that the price being offered by the other Hipgnosis entity was not high enough. Sources said that that opinion was partly influenced by the Round Hill Music Royalty Fund’s agreement with Concord, which had been announced a week earlier.

The board also instigated the strategic review and Sutch confirmed that he would stand down at some point in the next year. Two other directors then also announced that they were standing down. But none of that was enough to get investors to back the continuation vote or reappoint Sutch.

Naylor is also joined on the board by another new director, this time music industry exec Francis Keeling, who previously had stints at Universal Music and Spotify, and is currently EVP of Business Development at Orfium. He was also a non-executive director of the Round Hill Music Royalty Fund prior to the sale of its catalogues to Concord.

“On behalf of the board, we are delighted that Robert and Francis have agreed to join Hipgnosis Songs Fund”, says senior independent director Sylvia Coleman. “Robert and Francis’s appointments follow extensive engagement with shareholders, and their experience and knowledge working with investment companies, most notably at Round Hill Music Fund, will be invaluable to Hipgnosis as we look ahead to the next chapter".

ONE LINERS

Aurora, Marika Hackman, Julia Holter + more

APPOINTMENTS

The Barbican has announced Helen Wallace as its new Head Of Music. She joins from another London arts venue, King’s Place, where she was Executive & Artistic Director. “The Barbican is a place of soaring, international ambition and progressive thinking”, she says. “It has given me, as an audience member, some of the most transformative music experiences of my life. I want to unlock those experiences for a wider audience across the whole of the Barbican’s venues. I’m passionate about breaking down hierarchies and giving space to a multiplicity of musical voices, including the audience’s own”. She will officially take up her new role in February.

LABELS

Applications are open for Sony Music’s A&R Academy internship programme, a twelve month, paid scheme with roles available at the Columbia, RCA and Ministry Of Sound labels. Applications close on 20 Nov. Find out more here.

FUNDING

Applications for the latest round of Music Export Growth Scheme funding open today. Managed by record industry trade group the BPI, and backed by the UK government’s Department For Business And Trade and the Department For Culture, Media & Sport, MEGS supports British independent music companies seeking to grow outside the UK with grants of between £5000 and £50,000. Find out more here.

RELEASES

Aurora has released new single ‘Your Blood’. “The world is always bleeding”, she says of the inspiration for the song. “And you never know what is going on under people's skin. I think it’s only when we reach out to each other that we understand what compassion and beauty we are capable of as human beings”.

Marika Hackman has released new single ‘Slime’. The song, she says, “tracks the excitement of falling in love, tinged with the chaos of watching the fallout from it happen around you”. Her new album ‘Big Sigh’ is out on 12 Jan.

Julia Holter is back with new single ‘Sun Girl’.

Fucked Up have released new single ‘What The Sun Saw’.

Heartworms has released new single ‘May I Comply’. “When I wrote this track I just wanted to get over an ex and to tell my little brother he’s good enough”, says the musician. “Turned out to be a lot darker than I thought”.

Chemtrails have released new single ‘Detritus Andronicus’ and announced that they will release their third album ‘The Joy Of Sects’ on 19 Jan. “For this song we started by ripping off the four-on-the-floor disco drum beat from ‘Stayin’ Alive’ and then tried to write an evil bassline”, say the band. “To stop things getting overly funky it seemed right to add some demonic choir-style backing vocals singing the incredibly high-brow fake Latin song title”.

LEGAL

Campaign launches to support introduction of US radio royalties

US artist rights organisation the musicFIRST Coalition has launched a new Music Fairness Action campaign. It aims to rally musicians and music fans to support the American Music Fairness Act, which would introduce - for the first time - a royalty from the broadcast of sound recordings on AM and FM radio stations in the US.

The campaign is fronted by Dionne Warwick, who says in a statement: “Everyone deserves to be paid for their work. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. That’s a bedrock American value that most people in this country stand by. And that’s why artists across genres and generations - from Frank Sinatra to Common to Randy Travis, Becky G and so many others - have been speaking out in support of fair pay for AM/FM radio plays for decades”.

US copyright law is unusual, compared to most countries in the world, in that it does not provide full performing rights for sound recordings. As a result, AM and FM radio stations do not need to secure a licence to play recorded music (although they do for the songs), nor do they have to pay any royalties to artists and record labels for the music they play.

“This injustice has gone on for too long”, Warwick continues. “I’ve been fighting this fight since the 80s and others were fighting long before me. It’s time to finally right this wrong. I urge my fellow music-makers and music lovers to join me in calling on Congress to pass the American Music Fairness Act”.

The American Music Fairness Act was first put forward in Congress in 2021 and was passed by the House Judiciary Committee the following year. It was then reintroduced to Congress earlier this year.

Co-Chair of the musicFIRST Coalition, former senator Mark Pryor, says of the new campaign: “The United States is the only democratic country in the world where artists are not paid when their music is played on AM/FM radio”.

“We’re currently lumped in with the likes of Iran and North Korea when it comes to perpetuating this injustice - and that’s not the type of company that America ever wants to keep”, he goes on. “It’s time for Big Radio to compensate these hardworking artists for the use of their intellectual property, just as we expect of every other industry and music platform”.

‘Big Radio’ is, however, lobbying hard against the new act, and is also pushing its own proposals - the Local Radio Freedom Act - which would ensure that the status quo remains.

Check out the website for Music Fairness Action here.

DIGITAL

TikTok to close its Creator Fund

TikTok has announced that its Creator Fund will close later this year. The focus - when it comes to allowing creators to monetise their content on the platform - is now the Creativity Program which the social media firm began piloting earlier this year.

The Creator Fund was launched in 2020, with TikTok committing to pay out a billion dollars to creators on the platform over the following three years. Along with things like digital gifting and brand partnerships, it was one of the ways that online creators could generate income from their TikTok videos.

That said, it was always somewhat vague as to how payments were made and on what basis. Some creators made decent money, while others complained that they earned very little. And for some, payments were unpredictable.

With the new Creativity Program, payments are more directly linked to views for those creators who have enough subscribers and traffic to qualify. TikTok claims that most creators will make significantly more from the new Program than the old Fund - as much as 20 times more.

Although some creators involved in the pilot have complained about how the payment per 1000 views set for any one creator seems a bit random.

Also, interestingly, the Creativity Program only pays out on videos that are more than one minute long, part of TikTok's slow shift towards encouraging creators to post longer content.

TikTok says that creators in the US, UK, Germany and France who previously earned money from the Fund will be able to roll over to the Creativity Program, with the Fund set to formally come to an end on 16 Dec.

AWARDS

Parliament's culture select committee to win Industry Champion prize at Artist & Manager Awards

The UK's Featured Artists Coalition and Music Managers Forum have announced more details about this year's Artist & Manager Awards, which take place in London later this month. That includes an Industry Champion award for the MPs on Parliament's Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee.

During the pandemic, the Parliamentary committee staged an inquiry into the economics of music streaming, giving music-makers and their managers a formal forum in which to raise their concerns about the way streaming works, including around remuneration, data and transparency.

That resulted in a number of government-led programmes that have been seeking voluntary industry solutions to deal with the concerns.

The FAC and MMF note that "in 2023, those programmes are finally seeing tangible progress, albeit at a slower pace than many would like. With MPs on the committee also weighing in on important issues such as AI and Brexit, and now promising to turn their collective eye to the live market, the FAC and MMF would like to thank them for their help and intervention and for their championing of the music-makers who contribute so much to British culture".

Other winners newly confirmed include Jorja Smith - who will receive the Artist Of The Year prize - and Tinie Tempah. He will be named Entrepreneur Of The Year, in no small part for his Imhotep business, which began as a music publisher and has since evolved into a full-service creative agency.

Also getting an award is the band formerly known as Easy Life who will be presented with the Artists’ Voice Award. Not so much for their recent legal battle with EasyJet, but rather in recognition of how they have "taken to social platforms and the wider media to highlight many of the everyday challenges faced by artists and music-makers".

Say FAC CEO David Martin and MMF CEO Annabella Coldrick: “We are really proud to reveal the final line-up for the 2023 Artist & Manager Awards in association with beatBread. There is so much talent within our two communities and we are overjoyed to announce Jorja Smith as our Artist Of The Year, Tinie Tempah and Imhotep as our Entrepreneur, and the band formerly known as Easy Life for our inaugural Artists’ Voice award. All are very special talents".

"We are also delighted", they add, "to recognise the important work of the Culture Media & Sport Committee. The UK remains a beacon for great music, and for that to continue it is vital those who create, record, produce and perform that music are given all possible support to reach their potential".

LIVE

Legends buys venue operator ASM Global

US-based hospitality and events company Legends has acquired venue operator ASM Global in a deal which will see the former "expand its geographic reach and range of services as it continues to innovate and create data-driven solutions tailored to the needs of each individual client".

"By adding ASM Global’s complementary capabilities", an official statement continues, "Legends will be able to support its clients from project conception and planning to venue development and management, content and event booking, revenue strategy and sales execution, as well as omnichannel merchandising and hospitality services".

ASM Global - which manages UK venues like the Wembley Arena in London, Hydro Arena in Glasgow and Bridgewater Hall in Manchester - was created in 2019 by the merger of AEG Facilities and SMG. As a result of that deal it became a joint venture co-owned by the AEG live entertainment group and Onex, the private equity outfit that had bought SMG in 2017. Both AEG and Onex are selling their respective stakes in this new deal with Legends.

Legends began in 2008 as an operator of concessions at sports venues in the US, but has since grown the services it offers to venues, and the sports and entertainment industries more generally. The ASM acquisition will greatly expand its work in venue management. Although ASM Global will no longer have AEG as a shareholder, it will still provide services to some of the live giant's venues.

The value of the deal has not been confirmed, although sources recently told Bloomberg that Legends was in discussions with private credit firms about securing a $1.85 billion financing package to fund an ASM deal and refinance existing debts.

LEGAL

Travis Scott and Live Nation sued by Astroworld business partner

Travis Scott and Live Nation are facing another lawsuit in relation to the 2021 Astroworld Festival, though this time from a business partner that remains out of pocket from its involvement in the event which was cancelled at the end of its first day following a fatal crowd surge.

Ceremony Of Roses was hired to organise and deliver “carnival-style games and amusements on the festival grounds" as part of the 2021 edition of the Scott-founded and Live Nation-promoted event. It covered the costs of providing those entertainments, with its deal with Live Nation allowing it to recoup that money from payments made by festival-goers to access the amusements. Profits would then be split 50/50.

Ten people died and hundreds more were injured when a crowd surge occurred during Scott's headline set at the end of the first day of the two day festival. In the wake of that tragedy, the second day of the proceedings was cancelled. As a result, Ceremony Of Roses was not able to recoup its costs related to, and make a profit from, the amusements it was running.

In a lawsuit seen by The Blast, Ceremony Of Roses states that it had a reasonable expectation that Scott, Live Nation and its Scoremore subsidiary would run a safe event.

“At the very minimum, defendants owed COR a duty to exercise ordinary care in maintaining a safe and secure environment for COR’s business activities and festival attendees", the legal filing states. "Defendants negligently and wilfully breached this duty in numerous respects".

Hundreds of lawsuits were filed in the wake of Astroworld 2021, most from those who were injured during the crowd surge, as well as the families of those who died.

However, there was also a lawsuit in relation to the financial losses of festival-goers, involving people who had pre-bought digital vouchers - specifically ‘magic money’ - that would be used to access amusements at the event. And which could not be redeemed after the second day of the festival was cancelled. Ceremony Of Roses was a defendant in that lawsuit.

The new lawsuit filed by Ceremony Of Roses doesn't state what damages are being sought from Scott and Live Nation, though it does state that the company invested at least $700,000 in setting up the amusements.

Interestingly, Ceremony Of Roses - a management, merchandising and events company - formed an alliance with Sony Music last year. The major invested in the business and moved its own merchandise operations under the Ceremony Of Roses banner. Sony is, of course, also Scott's label.

AND FINALLY

‘Led Zeppelin IV’ cover star’s identity revealed after 50 years

The identity of the man who featured on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s fourth album has been discovered more than 50 years after the album’s release, and 120 years after the picture was taken.

The original image was discovered in a photo album by academic Brian Edwards, who has been conducting research into the regional history of Wiltshire, according to the Guardian. He's also a Led Zeppelin fan, which meant the picture jumped out at him as soon as he came across it.

The photo was captioned “a Wiltshire thatcher”, with further research uncovering that it shows a man named Lot Long, who lived in the village of Mere and died in 1893.

“Led Zeppelin created the soundtrack that has accompanied me since my teenage years, so I really hope the discovery of this Victorian photograph pleases and entertains Robert, Jimmy and John Paul”, says Edwards.

The colourised and framed version of the photograph of Long that appears on the cover of ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ was apparently bought by vocalist Robert Plant in an antique shop in Berkshire before becoming the centrepiece of the 1971 album’s artwork.

The newly discovered original will go on display at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes early next year as part of an exhibition titled ‘The ‘Wiltshire Thatcher: A Photographic Journey Through Victorian Wessex’ .