IDOL // UK Label Manager (London/Hybrid)

Nonclassical // Executive Director (London)

Free Trade Agency // Office Co-Ordinator (London)

AEG Presents // Senior Marketing Manager – Festivals (London)

Ninja Tune // Social Media Coordinator (London)

Ambassador Theatre Group // Ticketing Operations Specialist (London)

Lex Records // Worldwide Retail Operations Manager (London)

EmuBands // Artist Relations Assistant (Glasgow/Hybrid)

Today's music business news

TOP STORY

Hipgnosis Songs Fund scraps interim dividend after reducing expectations from Copyright Royalty Board windfall

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund told its investors this morning that it now expects a windfall relating to the US Copyright Royalty Board rulings on streaming royalties to be less than half the amount previously anticipated. As a result, it is withdrawing a proposed dividend payment to shareholders

 The news has, unsurprisingly, hit the fund's share price which dropped from 73.9p a share when markets closed on Friday to 65p a share when markets opened this morning - which represents a discount of nearly 50% from its peak price of 129.2p in November 2021.

In the US, the rates paid by the streaming services on the songs side are ultimately set by a panel of judges - aka the Copyright Royalty Board - because a compulsory licence applies with the mechanical rights.

The rates are set for five year periods. For the period 2018 to 2022, the CRB decided to instigate a number of staggered increases so that, ultimately, the services would pay over 15.1% of their revenues to songwriters and music publishers, rather than the previous 10.5%.

Many of the streaming services appealed that decision, resulting in a bitter legal battle between the music publishers and the digital companies. Ultimately the rate increases were kept in place, albeit with a few concessions for the streaming services on some of the other technicalities in the compulsory licence. A deal was then done between the publishers and the services for the 2023-2027 rates.

Once all of that was confirmed and the formalities were finally completed, some maths needed to be done to work out what the publishers should have been paid by the streaming services between 2018 and 2022 given the final rates. And then, how that compared to what had actually been paid during that period. And how much the music firms were therefore owed.

The publicly listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which controls a stack of valuable song catalogues, initially reckoned that once all the sums were done it could expect top up payments of $21.7 million.

However, its new estimate is more like $9.9 million. The previous calculation was seemingly too high because the amount that the streaming services were already paying was underestimated.

The Fund said in a statement to investors earlier today: "The board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited announces that it was notified on 13 Oct 2023 that Citrin Cooperman, the company's independent portfolio valuer, has materially reduced its expectations of industry-wide retroactive payments in relation to the US Copyright Royalty Board's decision in relation to royalties payable to songwriters for the period covering 2018-2022 for its valuation of the company's portfolio as at 30 Sep 2023".

"As a result", it went on, "the board now expects to receive significantly lower retroactive payments in relation to [2018-2022] and therefore intends to reduce its ... retroactive accrual to $9.9m, from $21.7m as at 31 Mar 2023".

That being done, "the board has decided to withdraw the proposed interim dividend of 1.1325 pence per share announced on 21 Sep 2023 in order to ensure compliance with its revolving credit facility's fixed charge cover ratio covenant".

Investors have already expressed frustration at the Fund's share price, which is now even lower following this morning's news.

The board is proposing to sell some of the Fund's catalogue to another Hipgnosis entity, with plans to use the profits from the sale to buy back up to $180 million worth of shares and to make some payments on its credit facility, with the aim of boosting the share price.

However, not all investors back the proposed Hipgnosis-to-Hipgnosis deal, reckoning that the catalogues being sold have been undervalued. Meanwhile, investors are also getting ready for a continuation vote to decide whether the music rights owning Fund should continue to operate.

ONE LINERS

Ghetts, Mxmtoon, Warner Music Finland + more

APPOINTMENTS

Producer Jukka Immonen has been hired as Head of A&R at Warner Music Finland. He will officially take up the role on 1 Jan 2024. “The Warner Music Finland team is full of talented and driven execs and I’m looking forward to working with them in the new year”, he says. “I feel there’s real potential to connect with teams around the world and help establish more Finnish artists on the global stage”.

Simon Phillips has taken over the weekday afternoon slot on Jazz FM. Moving over from afternoons on Magic, he will present his new show from 2-6pm from 23 Oct. The new programme replaces that presented by the late Jamie Crick, who died in August. “It goes without saying that Jamie has left some big shoes to fill and this is a very bittersweet moment”, says Phillips. “But I’m incredibly excited to join this incredible team of tastemakers, pioneers and passionate music lovers on a station I have listened to religiously since I was a kid”.

RELEASES

Paloma Faith has announced that she will release her sixth studio album ‘The Glorification Of Sadness’ on 16 Feb. Guests on the LP include Chase & Status, Kojey Radical, Maverick Sabre, Lapsley, MJ Cole and Amy Wadge. Out now is new single ‘How You Leave A Man’.

Ghetts has announced that he will release new album ‘On Purpose, With Purpose’ on 5 Jan 2024. According to a press release, it will see the rapper expanding “his sonic palette by incorporating elements of wider musical influences”.

GIGS & TOURS

Liam Gallagher has announced tour dates to mark the 30th anniversary of Oasis’s debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’ next summer. The run will include three nights at London’s O2 Arena on 6, 7 and 10 Jun. Tickets go on sale on Friday. Here’s a trailer.

Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer have announced a co-headline tour of the UK and Ireland next summer, including a show at the O2 Arena in London on 8 Jun (in case you were wondering why Liam Gallagher wasn’t doing three consecutive dates). Tickets go on sale on Friday.

Mxmtoon has announced that she will play Omega in London on 27 Nov. Her new EP ‘Plum Blossom (Revisited)’, a collection of new versions of early songs, is out on 10 Nov. From that, here’s ‘Feelings Are Fatal (Revisited)’.

LEGAL

Megan Thee Stallion has "no label right now" and that's how she wants it

Megan Thee Stallion has told her fans that she will be releasing her next album independently because she has "no label right now" and has no desire to sign to one. Rather, she says, "I just want to do it myself".

It's not clear what we should infer from the comments made during an Instagram Live stream regarding the rapper's legal battle with her former label 1501 Entertainment.

There have been various legal run ins between 1501 and Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete. She originally claimed that her deal with the label did not follow music industry conventions and was unfairly skewed in 1501’s favour. There were also allegations that the label was unfairly stopping her from releasing new music.

Her record deal was amended, but then another dispute got under way pretty much immediately. The 1501 deal obliged Pete to deliver three albums. She argues that she has done that with 2020's 'Good News', 2021's 'Something For Thee Hotties' and last year's 'Traumazine'. But 1051 reckons that the second release - a collection of freestyles and archive tracks - does not qualify as a proper album.

Pete sued, asking the court to confirm that she had delivered the three albums due under her record deal and that she was owned more than a million dollars in unpaid royalties. The label then countersued, insisting 'Something For Thee Hotties' doesn't count and it is still owed a third album, as well as arguing that it is owned payments from Pete in relation to other revenue streams in which it has an interest.

Whatever the status of the legal wrangling, Pete is clear that she is currently a free agent when it comes to her recordings. Which means she is financing and releasing her next record herself via her own company.

"I have no label right now and we’re doing everything funded straight out of Megan Thee Stallion’s pocket", she said on Instagram.

"The budget is coming from me, motherfucking Hot Girl Productions. It’s all coming straight from Megan Thee Stallion - Megan Thee Stallion's brain, Megan Thee Stallion's wallet… we in my pockets, hotties, so let’s do our big one!"

"We’re doing something for the first time independent since it was just me and my mama", she added. "I’m so excited cause it’s literally just me this go round, until we sign to a new label, but I don’t want to sign to a new label right now because I just want to do it myself".

Presumably there are plenty of distributors who would be keen to work on an independently released Megan Thee Stallion album. Though whether 1501 would have an opinion all that remains to be seen.

SETLIST PODCAST

Easy Life agree to change their name for an easyLife

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week.

On this edition, British band Easy Life agree to change their name following legal action from owner of the EasyJet airline EasyGroup, and Coldplay’s ongoing legal battle with their former manager Dave Holmes.

GIGS & FESTIVALS

S Club postpone second night of reunion tour after venue fire

S Club were forced to postpone the second night of their reunion tour in Liverpool at the last minute on Friday. This comes after the opening night of the tour on Thursday was reportedly almost cancelled too.

The show at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena was pulled with just two hours notice. In an initial statement, the band told fans that there had been “an unforeseen technical issue impacting their power supply and therefore your safety”.

In an update on his Instagram story later that night, the band’s Jon Lee explained: “There was a fire in the building which knocked out some of the electrics, which meant it was completely unsafe for us to allow an audience into the arena”.

“It was not our decision”, he added. “We were fighting to perform to you guys right down the last minute. But unfortunately it's health and safety, and your safety is paramount to us. We just weren't allowed to perform tonight”.

The show has now been rescheduled for 30 Oct. Refunds are available to anyone unable to attend the new date.

Meanwhile, Popbitch reported last week that the first night of the tour at Manchester’s AO Arena was also almost cancelled at the last minute. In that case, the impediment was Madonna, who was using the venue to rehearse for her shows at London’s O2 Arena, which got underway on Saturday.

Those rehearsals were reportedly significantly overrunning, and it was feared that Madonna’s crew would not be able to load out in time for S Club’s to load in. Thankfully, according to Popbitch, Madonna’s team made it out with 30 minutes to spare.

LEGAL

ISP trade bodies support US internet company as it appeals $46.8 million judgement in record labels legal battle

Two organisations representing US internet and telecoms companies have submitted an amicus brief in support of Grande Communications as it continues its legal battle with the record industry through the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court.

USTelecom and CTIA argue that internet firms disconnecting users who repeatedly use their connections to infringe copyright is not a "simple" or "basic" sanction, as was assumed in the copyright case pursued against Grande by the record companies.

They also cite a recent Supreme Court ruling that considered the obligations of Twitter to block terrorist content on its platform.

Grande was one of the American internet service providers sued by the music industry for not doing enough to combat infringement and infringers on its networks.

The record companies successfully argued that Grande did not do enough to deal with repeat infringers among its customer base and should therefore be held liable for those customers' copyright infringement. A jury ordered Grand to pay the music companies $46.8 million in damages.

In the amicus brief submitted at the end of last month, USTelecom and CTIA say that the precedent set in this case - and others - could compel ISPs to "engage in wide-scale terminations to avoid facing crippling damages", basically cutting off large numbers of users who are suspected to have infringed copyright.

But this, they argue, conflicts with long-term efforts by US Congress to make sure every American has internet access. "Terminating a customer’s internet access prevents anyone from using that connection not just for copyright infringement, but also for any other purpose", they write. "Termination is thus not ‘simple’ or ‘basic’, as the district court believed".

They also note that people other than the actual infringer can be affected by such terminations, something that has been discussed a lot over the years whenever internet disconnections have been considered as a sanction for online copyright infringement.

"Termination prevents everyone - in a household, coffee shop, office, school, library or hospital - who relies on a shared internet connection from using the internet for any purpose, whether remote work, accessing educational or health resources, seeking news or other information, or for entertainment", they write.

Elsewhere the two trade groups discuss the big Supreme Court ruling from earlier this year regarding terrorist content on Twitter, reckoning that the way the top court limited the responsibilities of the social media firm in the context of harmful content should also be applied to ISPs and copyright infringing content.

In the Grande case, they argue, "the district court ... instructed the jury that it should find Grande liable based on the very facts ... held insufficient [in the Twitter case]: knowledge that wrongdoers were infringing using Grande’s internet service and Grande’s passive failure to stop them. That was error, and this court should reverse the judgment".

LABELS & PUBLISHERS

Kanye West in talks with distribution partners around new album

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign have a new collaborative album ready to go and are currently looking for a distributor to get the release to market, according to sources who have spoken to Billboard.

Last year, pretty much all of West's business partners cut their ties with the rapper as he made that series of racist and anti-Semitic statements. And his former partner on the recordings side - Universal Music's Def Jam - stressed at the time that its alliance with West and his GOOD Music label venture had already concluded at the end of 2021.

Many music companies will still be nervous about working with West, even though sources stress that the lyrics on his new tracks are in no way controversial. But who knows what controversial and offensive remarks West could make in the future, especially given the escalating conflict in Gaza.

As a result, it's no surprise to hear that some labels have passed on the opportunity to work on his new release.

However, according to Billboard, five distributors have made an offer and West is expected to make a decision on who to work with soon, with plans to release the new record at some point in the next few weeks.

AND FINALLY

Garrix to sell his own currency at ADE

Attendees of this week’s Amsterdam Dance Event will be able to head to an ATM and withdraw cash. That doesn’t really sound like news, I know. But this cash will have Martin Garrix’s face on it.

The producer is selling the ‘Garrix 10’ notes in aid of the SOS Children’s Villages and War Child charities. Each note will set you back €10 and can be spent… absolutely nowhere. But you will be able to withdraw it from a number of special ATMs set up around Amsterdam, which sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Why would you want to spend it anyway? As a press release declares, the notes are “a true collector’s item”. So, if you get one, you can feel the warm glow of being confirmed a true collector. And giving your actual money to charity, of course.

As well as featuring a banknote-style illustration of Garrix’s face, the notes will also carry a list (in very small font) of every song he has released to date, and well as other imagery that will only be visible under UV light.

“The charity note is not just a symbol of Martin Garrix's musical journey but also a powerful statement of his commitment to making a difference through his music”, adds the press release.

The notes will be available from ATMs at Art’Otel, Niewendijk 47, Madame Tussauds, Groene Paleis Rokin 65, Andaz Hotel, Reguliersbreestraat 35, Club Air and RAI Amsterdam. Any leftover notes will be sold online after ADE finishes.

Garrix will also be performing at RAI Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday night.