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Business News Week In Five
The music business week in five – 22 Jun 2012
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 22 June 2012
So, this would usually be Glastonbury weekend, so I imagine there’s quite a big hole in the lives of many CMU readers this morning, and a hole I’m not sure Radio’s 1’s Hackney Weekend can fill. Though, for me, the Glastonbury weekend is usually a marker that another even bigger festival – that being the Edinburgh Festival of theatre, comedy, music, musicals, dance, art and debate – is speeding into view, which is big news for us because we publish the biggest review media at it, ThreeWeeks. With just six weeks to go, the ThreeWeeks website is back up and running with preview content right now, so why not check it out and – if you’ve never been to the world’s biggest cultural party before – perhaps book in a few days right now? Meanwhile, back to music matters and this week’s week in five.
01: Capitol Hill debated Universal’s takeover of the EMI record company. There weren’t really any surprises though, as Universal and EMI’s respective bosses, backed by Live Nation’s Irving Azoff, told US Senators that a combined Universal/EMI would be a very fine thing and not at all damaging to the growth of the digital content sector. Former Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr and Beggars Group chief Martin Mills did not concur, of course. Elsewhere, the European Commission handed Universal its statement of objections to the proposed deal, which the major now has until 3 Jul to respond to. Meanwhile the New Zealand competition regulator green lighted the proposed merger, and a certain Sean Parker said he thought it was a good idea too. Congress report | Statement report
02: Officials in Toronto investigated a stage collapse at a Radiohead show. The roof of a temporary outdoor stage structure where the band were due to play last weekend collapsed an hour before audience members were due to be admitted, killing drum tech Scott Johnson and injuring three others. The decisions of four companies are expected to be scrutinised, including promoters Live Nation and Radiohead’s company Ticker Tape Touring. Some have speculated that too much lighting equipment had been hung from the stage’s roof. Meanwhile Radiohead have announced they will cancel seven concerts while they recover from last week’s tragedy. CMU report | CBC report
03: The Icebreaker music investment venture was under the spotlight, as part of a wider investigation by The Times into tax avoidance schemes. The broadsheet said that Icebreaker, which has invested in various artist and music ventures in recent years, was set up so that wealthy backers would profit from tax breaks even if the projects they were supporting failed. Three of Take That and the group’s manager were also revealed as financial backers of Icebreaker, though they insisted their involvement was not motivated by any tax avoidance advantages. CMU report | FT report
04: A key European Parliament committee opposed ACTA. Four other EU committees had previously opposed the controversial global intellectual property agreement, but the International Trade Committee’s opinion was most important, as its members will brief the wider European Parliament when it votes on the treaty next month. Earlier this week Alexander Alvaro, a German MEP, told a media conference in Germany he now expects the parliament to vote against ACTA, despite European Commissioners having been involved in negotiating it. Many EU member states have already signed up individually though. CMU report | Telegraph report
05: BT blocked The Pirate Bay, meaning all the major internet service providers in the UK are now blocking the controversial file-sharing site after record label trade body the BPI successfully won web-blocking injunctions. Though, of course, more web savvy users will be able to circumvent the blocks. Meanwhile another one of the Bay’s original founders, Peter Sunde, this week confirmed he would also take his case to the European Courts Of Human Rights in a bid to avoid a jail sentence handed down by the Swedish courts for his role in running the copyright infringing website. Fellow founder Fredrik Neij announced his intent to go the human rights route last month. BT block report | Appeal report
And that’s your lot for now. There’s no CMU Weekly podcast this week, but if you’ve not listened before, why not check out the archive over the weekend?
Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU
