Ticketing Ops Senior Assistant // Ambassador Theatre Group (London)

Promo Dept Coordinator // Domino (London/Hybrid)

The Ivors Academy // Chief Executive (London/Hybrid)

Broadwick Live // Senior Operations Manager (London)

Today's music business news

TOP STORY

Music-makers urge MPs to help get creator remuneration discussions "back on track"

The UK's Council Of Music Makers has urged MPs to "hold the music industry's feet to the fire" in order to ensure ongoing issues around streaming remuneration are addressed. The call came as Parliament's Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee again put the spotlight on creator remuneration at a hearing this morning.

In a statement, the CMM - which brings together five organisations representing music-makers and their managers - said: "It's been over two years since the CMS Select Committee called for a complete reset of the UK's music streaming business to address a wide range of market dysfunctions. Their groundbreaking report brought the entire industry to the table for the first time".

“Despite some progress on improving data and transparency, the most contentious issues around music-maker remuneration are yet to be explored”, it went on. “This is an intolerable situation for the UK's artists, songwriters, musicians and producers. We urgently need MPs and the government to help get industry discussions back on track, so that together we can deliver solutions in 2024".

The Select Committee made its call for a "complete reset" of the digital music business in 2021 at the end of an inquiry into the economics of music streaming. In response, the UK government's Intellectual Property Office kickstarted three strands of work seeking industry-led solutions to issues around metadata, transparency and remuneration.

As a result, an industry code on metadata was launched earlier this year, and another focused on transparency is expected in the new year. However, there has been much less progress on remuneration issues. For the CMM, those remain the biggest issues. And they are the issues that MPs returned to earlier today at a session that included input from Nile Rodgers and VV Brown.

Representatives from the Musicians' Union and Ivors Academy - both CMM members - expressed frustration at the lack of progress around remuneration at a hearing of the Select Committee just over a year ago. In part responding to that, earlier this year the government announced it would convene a working group to specifically discuss those issues.

However, the CMM noted this morning, that working group is yet to meet. "We have no detail on who will be on the group or even its remit for discussion". As a result, it concluded, "we are again urging the CMS Committee to help pressure the UK government to 'walk the walk' and deliver the long overdue 'reset' of streaming that the UK's music community so desperately requires".

ONE LINERS

One Liners: Nicki Minaj, Amy Winehouse, Death Row Records + more

DEALS

Reservoir has signed a new publishing deal with Vulfpeck’s Theo Katzman covering his work with the band and on other projects. “I’ve been waiting my whole career to find the right publisher for my music”, he says. “Once I met David [Hoffman, VP A&R & Marketing], I knew Reservoir was it!”

UK collecting society PPL is to become the lead partner on the BRIT School’s Music Careers Programme in a new three year deal. "At PPL, we have seen first hand the enormous value the school brings to our industry - as well as to fans around the world”, says CEO Peter Leatham. “We are proud to become a lead partner for its music careers programme to ensure young people from all backgrounds have equity of access and opportunity to a potentially lifechanging education”.

APPOINTMENTS

Kat MacLean Daley has been appointed VP & Head of Publishing at Death Row Records. She joins from Universal Music. “Kat’s already a legend in the world of clearances and publishing, and her drive and discipline was what I wanted to bring to Death Row”, says Snoop Dogg, who acquired the label last year. “The talent that has been a part of Death Row for over 30 years deserves to have their songs heard, but also to be properly licensed and paid as songwriters and producers. I know that Kat is the right person to take care of our history, while also helping us write the story for the chapters to come. There's a Kat in the Dogg house now”.

Venue operator Oak View Group has promoted Francesca Bodie to COO. “OVG is the only company in history to build and open seven brand-new state-of-the-art venues within eighteen months, and Francesca contributed greatly to that growth and success”, says CEO Tim Leiweke. “As we look to the future, we’re honoured to have Francesca as OVG’s first COO to nurture and mature our current businesses and spearhead our next phase of growth in 2024 and beyond”.

US independent live music trade body the National Independent Talent Organization has appointed Nathaniel Marro as its first Managing Director. He was previously head of the organisation’s Ticketing Taskforce. "I am extremely excited to be named NITO’s first Managing Director”, he says. “The pandemic brought a lot of the challenges of this business to light but also brought together a lot of new voices ready to collaborate and fix these issues. I look forward to working closely with NITO President Jack Randall and the board of directors to make sure we are a leading voice fighting on behalf of artists and the clients we represent to ensure this industry is a better and safer space for all”.

DIGITAL

DIY distributor DistroKid has launched its first Android app. “DistroKid’s mobile app for iOS has been hugely popular”, says Chief Product Officer Matthew Ogle. “We’re so excited to give millions of Android users around the world access to the same streamlined experience, so they can distribute and manage their music directly from their mobile device”.

RELEASES

Amy Winehouse biopic ‘Back To Black’ is set for release on 12 Apr. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson - who helmed John Lennon biopic ‘Nowhere Boy’ - the film is backed by the Winehouse family.

Twin Atlantic have released new single ‘Asleep’. “We really managed to recapture the joy we’ve felt about being in our weird band our whole adult lives again”, says the band’s Sam McTrusty of writing and recording the single. “We feel like it’s the perfect mix of joy, melancholy, serious subject matters, but with a throwaway attitude. Hopefully it gives people who listen the same injection of excitement it gave us. Can’t wait to play this one live”. They’ve also announced a hometown show at the Glasgow Academy on 23 May. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.

GIGS & TOURS

Nicki Minaj has announced UK tour dates next May, including a night at the O2 Arena in London on 28 May. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.

Five Finger Death Punch have announced that they will play London’s OVO Arena on 23 May.

LABELS & PUBLISHERS

Hipgnosis Songs Fund confirms sale of catalogue of "non-core songs"

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund yesterday confirmed that it has completed the sale of about 20,000 songs in deal worth $23.1 million.

That price, an update to investors confirmed, "reflects a 14.2% discount to the valuation of the songs prepared by the company’s portfolio independent valuer as at 30 Sep 2023". The net proceeds of the sale, expected to be about $22.6 million, will be "used to pay down revolving credit facility drawings, providing the company with greater headroom under its future covenant compliance reporting". Which sounds like fun.

The publicly listed HSF announced back in September that it would sell a catalogue of what it dubbed "non-core songs". The works came from the catalogues Hipgnosis bought from Kobalt back in 2020 and, yesterday's update explained, "require time intensive, ongoing accounting and reporting obligations and do not all have perpetual ownership rights".

As a result, it added, "their eventual sale was part of the company's acquisition strategy". HSF will retain ownership of the "iconic songs" in the Kobalt catalogues which motivated that deal in the first place.

HSF had also planned to sell another set of rights - which included more valuable works - to the separate Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital in order to raise a chunk of cash that would be used to try to boost the HSF share price. However, that deal stalled when investors voted against the continuation of HSF in its current form in October.

A strategic review is now ongoing at HSF with the aim of identifying a future for the fund that is backed by investors. Yesterday's update also announced "the appointment of Singer Capital Markets as sole corporate broker and financial adviser and Shot Tower Capital LLC as lead adviser to conduct due diligence on the company’s assets as part of its strategic review".

ARTIST NEWS

easyGroup sues PC Music producer Easyfun

EasyJet owner easyGroup has launched another trademark lawsuit against a musician, this time producer Easyfun. Earlier this year the company forced the band Easy Life to change their name.

PC Music signed producer Easyfun - real name Finn Kean - is accused of “deliberate misappropriation” of the Easy brand by easyGroup in a new lawsuit. It also claims that Keane has attempted to “mimic easyGroup’s famous branding to create instant brand recognition for his DJing business”.

One specific instance of alleged infringement identified by easyGroup is the artwork for 2015 EP ‘Deep Trouble’. It showed an aeroplane with Easyfun’s name written on the nose styled similarly to the easyJet logo. Floating in the sea, passengers in swimwear are seen smiling, sliding down an escape slide towards bottles of champagne floating in the water.

“Not only is the artwork in bad taste but an association with such a tragic event risks seriously damaging the reputation in easyGroup’s trademarks, in particular easyJet”, says the lawsuit.

The company says it is seeking “substantial” damages from Keane.

Keane has responded by changing the artwork for the EP on digital platforms, and told easyGroup’s lawyers in an email: “If your client is annoyed at some of the artwork or images that they think mimics the easyFamily get up, that has always been completely tongue in cheek. It’s very obvious that it’s meant as a joke and I really struggle to understand why your client has any reason to be concerned about it”.

“That said”, he went on, “I obviously don’t want to be stuck in a legal dispute with a big company like your client and so I have removed the examples in your letter where I can and will seek to avoid similar artwork in the future”.

The band Easy Life initially resisted easyGroup’s efforts to get them to change their name earlier this year, but conceded defeat in October saying that they simply couldn’t afford to fight a legal battle with such a large company.

LIVE

AEG and Eventim among the bidders for See Tickets

Both AEG and Eventim have made bids to buy See Tickets according to sources who have spoken to the Financial Times.

Current owner Vivendi is reportedly hoping to make about €300 million from the sale of the ticketing company. A first round of indicative bids have been submitted in recent weeks, according to the FT, including those by AEG and Eventim.

Tour promoter and venue operator AEG launched its own ticketing company AXS back in 2011, a year after Ticketmaster merged with its main rival Live Nation. AXS currently operates in five markets but is most active in the US and a purchase of See Tickets would greatly increase its presence in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Eventim is already a major player in ticketing across Europe, although its presence and profile in the UK is less significant, and a See Tickets purchase would give the firm a boost here as well as a presence in the US.

It emerged in September that Vivendi was considering a sale of its interests in live music - of which See Tickets is the biggest asset - having concluded that its events and ticketing business Vivendi Village wasn't in a position to take on the major players in live entertainment, especially Live Nation and AEG.

Vivendi, of course, also used to own the most major of all the players in music rights, Universal Music, but spun it off as a standalone entity back in 2021, retaining just a 10% shareholding.

LEGAL

Epic wins its app store rule legal battle against Google

Fortnite owner Epic Games has won its court battle with Google over the web giant's app store rules, which will likely force a change of those rules in the new year.

The CEO of the gaming company, Tim Sweeney, declared on Twitter: "Victory over Google! After four weeks of detailed court testimony, the California jury found against the Google Play monopoly on all counts. The court’s work on remedies will start in January. Thanks for everyone’s support and faith! Free Fortnite!"

Epic, like Spotify and many other app makers, has long complained about the rules enforced by Apple and Google on their respective app stores and mobile operating systems. In particular, rules that force in-app payments to be taken on Apple and Google's commission charging transaction platforms, rather than the app makers’ own where they don't have to pay any commissions or fees.

Both Epic and Spotify argue that those rules are anti-competitive, and to that end have sought to force a change to said rules through both lobbying and litigation. Epic sued both Apple and Google in the US. In the Apple case, the judge mainly sided with the tech giant. But in the Google case a jury was involved and they sided with Epic.

Spotify has mainly focused on trying to persuade regulators around the world to force Apple and Google to make changes to their rules. Although, actually, the music service managed to negotiate a compromise with Google, details of which were revealed during the Epic court case.

Google has already vowed to appeal yesterday's Epic ruling. Its VP Of Government Affairs And Public Policy, Wilson White, said: "The trial made clear that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles. We will continue to defend the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem".

It remains to be seen quite what changes this ruling forces on Google, in the US at least. Both Google and Apple have been slowly making changes to their respective rules in recent years, in part in response to pressure from regulators.

From a music perspective, removing the rules around in-app payments would allow companies like Spotify to start signing up premium subscribers from within their apps again, but might also encourage and enable the addition of more direct-to-fan transaction tools within those apps as well.

AND FINALLY

Metallica announce marching band competition finalists

Metallica have announced the finalists of their inaugural For Whom The Band Tolls marching band competition, which they launched earlier this year.

“For whom the bells tolls, time marches on”, goes the line from the band’s 1984 song ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’. And somehow it took them almost 40 years to think to ask school and college marching bands to compete to create the “most exciting, unique and impressive performances of some of the band’s most beloved songs”.

Over 450 high schools and colleges in the US entered the competition after it was announced in April, hoping to win a share of the $150,000 in prize money on offer. Now 25 marching bands in five categories have been announced as finalists.

The top prize of $75,000 will go to a top level collegiate band. A lower ranking college band will receive $40,000. High school bands are divided into three categories by size, with each vying for $15,000. There are also $10,000 prizes for fan favourite college and high school bands.

While the finalists have been selected by a panel of professional judges, the website for the competition notes that “Metallica will select the final prize winners in each category”. The fan favourite categories will be selected based on fan voting on the website.

The final winners will be announced in the first week of January.