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CMU Digest
CMU Digest 24.11.17: FanFair, MU, Vivendi, Route 91 Harvest, Pandora
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 24 November 2017
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
The FanFair campaign welcomed an announcement by Google that it would start regulating ads from ticket touts in the new year. Ticket resellers posting ads on the Google platform will have to commit to new rules, in particular making it clear that they are not an official seller. FanFair has previously expressed concern over how some secondary ticketing platforms buy their way to the top of Google search results and heavily suggest they are an official source of tickets for in-demand shows. [READ MORE]
The Musicians’ Union said “wholesale cultural change” is required to stop sexual harassment in the music industry. It also confirmed that, at a meeting with its counterparts in the Nordic region, it was agreed that tackling sexual harassment and abuse in the music community must now be made a priority. The announcement came as nearly 2000 women working in the Swedish music business signed an open letter calling out sexism and sexual harassment in the sector. [READ MORE]
The boss of Universal Music owner Vivendi suggested that the music major could be worth more than $40 billion, though he admitted that was higher than the estimates of most analysts in investment circles. There has been speculation that Vivendi might at some point sell a slice of Universal Music via an IPO. It’s true investment types are much more optimistic about the music rights sector at the moment, though $40 billion is still nearly double a valuation of Vivendi’s music assets earlier this year. [READ MORE]
More lawsuits were filed in relation to the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas last month. Both promoter Live Nation and hotel owner MGM Resorts are defendants in the legal action filed by victims of the shooting. The legal claims are based on allegations that MGM could have prevented the shooting by stopping the shooter from amassing weapons in his hotel room and that Live Nation staff could have been better trained and equipped to deal with the attack. [READ MORE]
Paypal dropped its trademark action against Pandora. The payment processing company objected to Pandora’s rebrand last year, arguing that the streaming firm’s new ‘P’ icon was too similar to its existing ‘P’ logo, especially on the digital music set-up’s app. Paypal sued back in May but confirmed an out-of-court settlement had been reached this week. [READ MORE]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Coalition Talent announced an alliance with Ministry Of Sound [INFO]
• Spotify bought Soundtrap [INFO]
• Music publisher Schubert Music bought Celsius Management [INFO]
• Global Radio bought stations The Bay and Lakeland Radio [INFO]
• Warner/Chappell signed Matt Clifford. [INFO]
