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Business News Week In Five
The music business week in five – 27 May 2011
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 27 May 2011
Well, hello there, and well done for making it through another week. And as a reward, have a Bank Holiday Weekend, on me. No, don’t mention it, it’s yours. For free. Though it does mean you won’t be getting a CMU Daily on Monday. What we do have next week, though, is the latest CMU Training course, this one on all things music PR and promotions. It’s taking place in Shoreditch on Wednesday. Why not start June better informed on how to build profile and buzz for your bands and projects? More details at theCMUwebsite.com/training. Meanwhile, here’s your week in five…
01: More artists sued Universal over digital royalties, following the court victory of Eminem producers FBT Productions in arguing that download revenues should be treated as licensing rather than record sales income, on which they contractually earn a bigger cut. Universal insist the ruling in the FBT case does not set a precedent that applies to all pre-internet record contracts, but Rob Zombie, Whitesnake and Dave Mason all followed the lead of the Rick James estate this week in begging to differ, and filing a class action lawsuit that calls for all legacy artists to get the higher share of digital monies. CMU report | Reuters report
02: Leaked Katy Perry rider shows insider touting. Among various diva-ish demands on the Perry rider, published by The Smoking Gun, was one that said promoters should set aside a number of tickets per show for the singer’s team to resell via ticketing agencies of their choice, which might include secondary ticketing auction sites. That some artists and managers tout their own tickets for profit isn’t a secret, but Perry is possibly the first high profile artist to be outed as a touter in this way. Some will argue the singer is ripping off her fans by letting her people sell tickets at hiked up prices. CMU report | Smoking Gun report
03: The European Commission set out its intellectual property plans, which included the usual stuff (for EC statements on IP) about the music industry making pan-European licensing simpler, with various further calls for collecting society reform. Perhaps more interesting were commitments to taking EC-level action to curb illegal file-sharing and other online piracy, even if this paper was vague on what form that action might take. CMU report | European Patent Office Announcement
04: Concerns were raised about the Police Reform Bill, which some say will make licensing music events, especially festivals, more difficult, even as the Live Music Bill tries to simplify such things. Campaigner Hamish Birchall told Music Week that by pursuing both the Live Music Bill and the licensing section of the Police Reform Bill the government was trying to both deregulate and regulate at the same time. The police bill was being discussed by a Lords committee this week. CMU report | Event Industry News report
05: There was chatter about a Facebook and Spotify alliance, which Forbes span as Facebook launching its own Spotify-powered streaming music service. Though some think that Facebook is actually talking to numerous content providers, including various digital music players, about them offering some of their services within the Facebook environment. Some sort of music partnerships announcement from Facebook is expected soon though. CMU report | Billboard report
And that’s your lot – enjoy thank bank holiday now.
Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU
