Business News Week In Five

The music business week in five – Friday 15 Oct 2010

By | Published on Friday 15 October 2010

So, hello from Manchester where the third and final day of In The City is in full swing. It’s been a busy few days, especially for me, with three CMU seminars in The Hive educational section to run and two panels to take part in within the main conference. Phew. Sorry to everyone at ITC for having to listen to so much of me talking! At least that was countered with a particularly impressive line-up of bands in the evening. And I’m pleased to report my two favourite bands this year were both on the unsigned stage, and without a synthesizer in sight. It’s nice to be reminded that magnificent things can still happen with just three guitars and a drum kit on stage. It’s probably time for a straight guitar band revival, and I do hope Frontiers and Oberhofer can be part of that. Except Oberhofer do have a glockenspiel on stage as well, but I think we can sneak that through under the guitar band banner. Anyway, enough of that, how about a quick review of the biggest industry stories this week?

01: The world got ready for Terra Firma v Citigroup. OK, not the world, they were too busy watching miraculous rescues in Chile. But the City is definitely lining up for a good nosey in on what some business journalists have dubbed “the trial of the century”, Terra Firma’s lawsuit against bankers Citigroup over the allegedly duff advice the latter gave the former before its takeover of EMI. Out of court negotiations continued this week, but it seems certain the case will now go to court on Monday. CMU reports | WSJ report

02: Irish courts said no obligation on ISPs to operate three-strikes. The infamous anti-piracy system is already underway in Ireland via an agreement between the record industry and the country’s largest ISP, Eircom. But the labels hoped to force other ISPs to introduce similar systems via a lawsuit against net firm UPC. But the judge said that, while he felt the growth in online piracy was bad for Irish music, there is no obligation under current Irish law for ISPs to get involved in policing such things. CMU report | Guardian report

03: The Pirate Bay trial v.2 rumbled on. So far very little has been said this time round that wasn’t said in the original trial last year. The rogue file-sharing site’s founders and funder are appealing their copyright infringement convictions. The prosecution found time to say the one year jail sentences dished out last time but not yet served were justified and should stand. The defence are summing up their arguments right now. CMU reports | Torrentfreak reports

04: There were more iTunes subscription service rumours. According to the New York Post, this time Apple really are investigating the possibility of launching a subscription element to iTunes, and are talking to US labels about it as we speak. The service would cost between ten and fifteen dollars per month. It’s not clear if it would be stream or download based, though rumour has it Apple chiefs are urging their label contacts in America not to licence Spotify over there. CMU report | NY Post report

05: There were rumours Chris Moyles is planning his exit from Radio 1. Possibly wanting to jump before he’s pushed, various media reported that the DJ is in talks with Global Radio about joining the soon-to-be-expanded Capital FM network when his contract with the BBC runs out next year. Moyles is good friends with Global chief Ashley Tabor, so it’s all very possible. That said, Global denied any active talks were taking place, and the BBC said Moyles would certainly not be leaving their station mid-way through his current contract, which runs until July. CMU report

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

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