| We've covered the music business each day since 21 Jun 2002 Today's email is edition #5352 |
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| | | In today’s CMU Daily: Drake has accused Universal Music of employing stream manipulation and other dodgy marketing tactics to boost the streams of Kendrick Lamar’s Drake-dissing ‘Not Like Us’. The major insists those claims, made in two legal filings with courts in New York and Texas, are “offensive and untrue”
Also today: In October, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst accused Universal Music of operating a system to “conceal artists’ royalties and keep those profits for itself”. He also wants to terminate his old deals with the major. In a formal response, Universal says Durst’s claims are “based on a fallacy”
Plus: A German appeals court has upheld a ruling secured by the record industry ordering Uberspace to takedown a website about stream-ripping code youtube-dl. Meanwhile the US Supreme Court has invited the Solicitor General to share her views on the big legal battle between the majors and ISP Cox Communications
Approved: Ethel
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| | | “Offensive and untrue” says Universal Music after Drake accuses major of streaming fraud in Kendrick beef | | Universal Music recently launched a $500 million lawsuit against Believe accusing the distributor of facilitating streaming fraud via its TuneCore business.
Though if Universal really wants to crackdown on streaming fraud it could begin by having a stern word with its own marketing executives who know a thing or two about manipulating streams. Or at least, that’s according to bombastic legal filings made by a superstar with a longstanding alliance with the major music company: Aubrey Drake Graham - better known as Drake.
In the first of two filings, this one with the courts in New York, Drake’s company Frozen Moments accuses Universal of employing all sorts of dodgy tactics to boost the streams of certain tracks. But not the Drake tracks it distributes and promotes via its Republic division.
No, actually, the very opposite of that. Because the dodgy tactics were employed to boost Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’, one of a series of diss tracks targeting Drake. Which means yes, the long running pop feud between Drake and Lamar has finally reached a court of law, ramping everything up to almost K-pop levels of pettiness.
But beyond the tabloid drama of a silly feud, for Universal - keen to position itself as a leader in the battle against streaming fraud - some of the allegations in Drake’s legal filings are potentially very damaging. Which is presumably why it has already dubbed those allegations “offensive and untrue”, while insisting that Drake’s legal arguments are “contrived and absurd”.
Some of the promo tactics Universal allegedly employed to boost streams of ‘Not Like Us’ are pretty standard, including influencing the Spotify algorithm by basically utilising the streaming services’s controversial but legit Discovery Mode system. But some of the alleged tactics are less legit and, in some cases, outright illegal. | | Read the full story | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 👉 See all current jobs at https://completemusicupdate.com/jobs | | | Horizon is CMU's weekly newsletter that brings you a hand-picked selection of early-stage career opportunities from across the music industry. Whether you're looking for your first job in music or you're ready to take a step up, Horizon is here to help you find your dream job faster.
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| | Fred Durst’s $200 million lawsuit against Universal “based on a fallacy”, says the major | | Universal Music says that an explosive lawsuit filed against it by Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst is “based on a fallacy” and that an email exchange actually cited in that lawsuit “eviscerates” his core claim. Which means Durst can’t terminate his old deals with the major, a move that he said meant Universal now owed him at least $200 million.
That core claim was that the major “designed and implemented” a royalty system “deliberately designed to conceal artists’ royalties and keep those profits for itself”. However, insists Universal in its own legal filing, the email exchange cited by Durst shows that it proactively reached out to try to pay the musician royalties he was due, but a business manager incorrectly stated that the Limp Bizkit frontman had sold his royalty rights to a third party.
Durst said in his lawsuit that his team only discovered that he was owed millions in royalties after business manager Paul Ta contacted Universal in April this year. But, the major claims, the email exchange shows that, “over a year earlier, a senior director in the royalties department at UMG had unilaterally and affirmatively reached out to that same business manager” to say they needed to get Limp Bizkit set up on their system so they “could start making royalty payments to the band”.
It was then that Ta allegedly told Universal that Durst and most of his bandmates had sold their royalty rights to a third party. It’s increasingly common for successful artists who allowed their labels to own the copyright in their recordings to then sell their royalty rights for a big upfront payment. Under their original record deal, the artist will be due a royalty from their label. The buyer of the royalty right acquires the right to receive those royalties.
| | Read the full story |
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| | | Signposting youtube-dl streamripper not allowed confirms German appeals court, as US Supreme Court weighs in on majors v Cox | | There have been developments on both sides of the Atlantic in relation to the music industry’s legal efforts to tackle online piracy. In Europe, a German court has upheld a ruling in relation to the stream-ripping code known as youtube-dl. Meanwhile, in the US, the Supreme Court has invited the Solicitor General to express a view on the major label’s legal battle with internet service provider Cox Communications.
The youtube-dl case involved a hosting company that was home to a website giving information about how to use the stream-ripping code and which was ordered by the Hamburg Regional Court to take that page down. The hosting company appealed that judgement, but the Hamburg Appeal Court has now upheld it.
Welcoming the news, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry says the appeal court’s ruling sends “a powerful message not only to those operating ripping services that they should cease their illegal activity, but also to online intermediaries providing services to infringers that they cannot continue to benefit from illegal activities without consequences”.
Stream-ripping sites - which allow users to grab permanent downloads of temporary streams - have been a top piracy gripe of the music industry for some time. A number of stream-rippers have been targeted with legal action over the years, including YouTube-MP3, FLVTO and Yout.
Many of those sites use the youtube-dl code, which is public domain software created by a disparate community of hundreds of software engineers, each contributing improvements and fixes to the core code.
With the code of youtube-dl being released under an “unlicense license”, which puts it into the public domain, anyone can use that code for any purpose, including creating and distributing their own versions of the code, or amending and repackaging it for pretty much any purpose.
That means it’s very difficult - and some would argue futile - to go after any one individual or organisation involved in the creation of the code, which means there’s an almost perpetual game of whack-a-mole by organisations trying to enforce anti-piracy measures.
| | Read the full story |
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| | | 🎧 Approved: Ethel | | Paris-based songstress Ethel has cultivated a sound that feels both intimate and otherworldly - perfect for late-night introspection.
She’s already been quietly reshaping alt-pop with her ambient, moody and ethereal soundscapes, and her new single ‘Availability’ is a continuation of that journey, with a funkier twist. The track is a meticulously crafted pop anthem, driven by gently syncopated beats and laced with modern R&B harmonies. The track pulses with funk energy while maintaining Ethel’s knack for emotional nuance.
Speaking about the meaning behind ‘Availability’, Ethel shares, “The song captures the isolating ache of wanting to connect but feeling distanced. It speaks to those moments when someone gives you their all, yet an invisible barrier keeps you apart, leaving you yearning for intimacy that remains just beyond your grasp”.
🎧 Listen to ‘Availability’ here | | Read online |
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