| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 25th November |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- BT hope new platform will give labels more control of their digital music
- Police searching woman who broke into George Michael's home
- Weller dates rescheduled
- Capital plough more into Xfm and Choice marketing
- American indie acts re-record fifties classics for game soundtrack
- REM to re-release whole back catalogue
- Eminem Encore still selling well
- Rejigs at IPC
- Morrissey retiring?
- Majors sign up to new legal P2P service
- Hal Christmas show
- AIM offer legal tips for indie labels
- Dropped X Factor finalist threatens to boycott spin off tour
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VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK OF 2004
Currently doing well in the voting stakes: Mylo, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Delays, Max Sedgely and Kasabian - but what is your favourite track? Email your vote and a 50 word description of why it is your favourite to vote@cmumusicnetwork.co.uk
GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR LONDON BASED STUDENTS
The College Media Network is recruiting London based students to join its team of music and entertainment reviewers. If you want to join the review team, get free training and reviewer access to film, theatre, music and entertainment in London then email your CV and a review of something you have seen / heard / read recently to recruit@thisweeklondon.co.uk. Meanwhile, if you are working in college media and are not a member of the College Media Network - well, join - you will find an application form at http://www.collegemedianetwork.co.uk
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SAME SIX QUESTIONS: SSR
How did you start out making music for a living?
I truly wish I could answer this question.
What inspired your latest album?
Warm days, empathy, fear, love and laziness
What process do you go through in creating an album?
The honest answer is bursts of enthusiasm and creativity followed by a lot of self mockery.
What artists influence your work?
So many, it would be quicker to list the ones that don't . . . sorry!
What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Are you gonna buy it?
What are your ambitions for this album, and for the future?
I wish it every happiness for the future, I'm gonna make another one.
SSR will play at Sunday Best's Christmas Party at the ICA on 19 Dec - you can preview SSR's music, and tracks from various Sunday Best artists, this week on the London Music Network - http://www.bigtime.tv/sundaybest (you will need the unlock code published in today's MetroLife magazine, free with the Evening Standard. None Londoners can find the unlock code at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/musicnetwork from tomorrow.
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SIZZLA WON'T APOLOGISE FOR HOMOPHOBIC LYRICS
Reggae star Sizzla did his bit to calm the increasingly angry gay community yesterday by telling BBC 1Xtra: "They can't ask me to apologise. They've got to apologise to God because they break God's law."
Gay-rights groups have been calling on Sizzla et al to apologise for the homophobic lyrics contained within their songs. As previously reported, Sizzla's UK tour was cancelled after gay rights campaigners from OutRage lobbied both host venues and the Home Office claiming he incited violence against gay people in his lyrics.
Speaking to the BBC, Sizzla denied being a threat to gay men, saying: "I sing 'fire burn for homosexuals' and sometime in some street I walk, I see them and me no touch them. If I don't like what you're doing I don't come there, if you don't like what I'm doing or what I say you don't come where I'm at. Everyone's entitled to life, freedom of security and person."
But he maintained his stand of no apology - saying "Why must I apologise to corruption? How can I do that? They've got to apologise to God because they break God's law."
God was unavailable for comment - as usual.
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BT HOPE NEW PLATFORM WILL GIVE LABELS MORE CONTROL OF THEIR DIGITAL MUSIC
BT have announced plans to launch a new digital music service which they claim will "revolutionise" the music industry.
Produced in association with technology firm Blueprint, the new service is being tagged the Open Royalty Gateway. It will provide a facility where content owners can store and manage music, video and editorial for online distribution. Labels load content up to a central BT server and can then control themselves which websites, media or retailers have access to the content, and in what way - the service can supply content to middle men websites or direct to consumers.
On the flip side BT will offer the service to media and retailers offering a one-stop shop for online music content.
Richard Bron, one of the music industry veterans involved in the project, told reporters that BT's new distribution channel was designed to help record labels take control of their digital assets, implying an intent to reverse a trend in the digital music sector which, some say, has given the online retailers like iTunes and Napster too much power. Bron: "At the moment, we're seeing a retailer setting the wholesale price, which doesn't seem to be quite right".
BT will make its profit by taking a small cut of every transaction that takes place via its platform. Insiders say that for that to be viable the company will need to get most of the major labels and retailers on board. Bron remains confident that BT will achieve that once the service properly launches early next year, revealing that they had already tied up a deal with EMI to manage music, videos and exclusive footage from Robbie Williams, and that Australian music retailer Sanity was on board to use the service.
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POLICE SEARCHING FOR WOMAN WHO BROKE INTO GEORGE MICHAEL'S HOME
Police have confirmed they are looking for a woman who broke into George Michael's home earlier this month. The woman was found in his Hampstead house on 4 Nov, but had fled by the time police arrived.
It's not entirely clear if it was the same woman who has been stalking George of late. A woman was cautioned for harassing the singer in Oct after she broke into his house - the singer didn't want to press charges for breaking and entering - hence the simple harassment charge.
Michael is presumably used to these things. He recently revealed a female fan hid under his floorboards for four days last year. Meanwhile, two and half years ago thieves stole hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of stuff from his home.
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WELLER DATES RESCHEDULED
Paul Weller is feeling better again (he had that serious throat infection if you remember), which means those previously cancelled gigs are back on, dates as follows:
17 & 18 Feb: Manchester Apollo
19 Feb: Hull Arena
21 & 22 Feb: Glasgow Armadillo
24 Feb: Newcastle City Hall
27 Feb: Nottingham Arena
28 Feb: Blackpool Opera House
2 & 3 Mar: Wolverhampton Civic Hall
4 Mar: Cardiff International Arena
6 Mar: Plymouth Pavillion
7 Mar: Brighton Centre
9 & 10 Mar: London Hammersmith Apollo
Tickets for the previous dates will be valid for these new shows and returns can be made at point of purchase.
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CAPITAL PLOUGH MORE INTO XFM AND CHOICE MARKETING
Good news for beanie hat makers - Capital is ploughing an extra £1.5 million into marketing Xfm and Choice, which surely means even more Xfm hats can be given away on the station's breakfast show?
Capital boss David Mansfield has revealed he plans to transfer some of the money saved by canning sports commentary into better promoting the group's younger stations. He told reporters yesterday: "Xfm is an excellent product with a loyal listenership and we know from research that if more people were aware of the radio station they would listen to it". On Choice, he continued: "Our ambition is to attract new listeners by raising awareness and becoming more accessible whilst maintaining our relevance to the community we serve".
Mansfield continued: "what these stations need to do is create a positive word-of-mouth through opinion former networks like the CMU Music Network and the College Media Network - they offer some great well priced marketing services". Oh hang on, that might have been me.
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AMERICAN INDIE ACTS RE-RECORD FIFTIES CLASSICS FOR GAME SOUNDTRACK
The great and good of America's indie community are providing cover versions of classic fifties songs for the soundtrack of a new video game called 'Stubbs The Zombie'. The soundtrack will be released on Aspyr in the US - no word yet on a UK release
The track-listing runs as follows:
Ben Kweller - Lollipop
The Raveonettes - My Boyfriendís Back
Death Cab for Cutie - Earth Angel
Rogue Wave - Everyday
Cake - Strangers in the Night
The Walkmen - There Goes My Baby
The Dandy Warhols - All I Have to Do Is Dream
Oranger ñ Mr. Sandman
The Flaming Lips - If I Only Had a Brain
Clem Snide - Tears on My Pillow
Rose Hill Drive ñ Shakiní All Over
Milton Mapes - Lonesome Town
Phantom Planet - The Living Dead
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REM TO RE-RELEASE WHOLE BACK CATALOGUE
Good news for REM fans. Well, those with some money to burn. Stipe and co are going to re-release every album they've ever made, from 1988's 'Green' to this year's 'Around The Sun'. The new special editions will each come with two discs - one carrying the original album, the other a DVD featuring the album remixed in surround sound plus documentary and video footage. Top. Set for release on 14 Feb.
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EMINEM ENCORE STILL SELLING WELL
Eminem's 'Encore' is the fastest selling album of the year in the US, having shifted in excess of 1.7 million copies in its first ten days on sale. The new album is comparing well with last long layer 'The Eminem Show', which sold 1.3 million in its first week, before going on to sell 9.2 million. Such is the continuing demand for Eminem's new record that Destiny's Child have been deprived of a number one slot for new album 'Destiny Fulfilled', despite selling 500,000 copies in their first week.
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REJIGS AT IPC
All change at IPC following the announcement by Georgina Crace that she is leaving her job as MD of IPC Advertising to go and run Trinity Mirror's regional output; and the news that the Director Of Brand And Business Development Pippa Pollard is to join parent company Time Inc early next year.
There will be a rejig in top roles following the departures. The most important part of that rejig for us music types is the promotion of Neil Robinson, currently Publishing Director for NME and Uncut, to the role of Publishing Director for the TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and Soaplife. No word just yet on who will take over in the Publishing Director role for the group's main music titles.
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MORRISSEY RETIRING?
Presumably having fulfilled all his ambitions now that he is number six in the NME Cool List, word has it Morrissey is planning on retiring next year.
One source told the papers: "Morrissey has been making hints during his shows, telling fans that this could be his last tour. The word is, he'll release his final single early next year. He has never wanted to become an ageing rocker."
However Morrissey's spokesperson said: "I honestly don't know. The fans probably know more than we do."
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MAJORS SIGN UP TO NEW LEGAL P2P SERVICE
The bid to create a legal P2P network that replicates the Kazaa system, but in a way that rewards content owners, is hotting up. Latest word is that a new system called Peer Impact, which is being developed by New York-based Wurld Media, has now signed up three of the four major labels (Warner, Universal and SonyBMG) and is preparing for a public launch in early 2005 - with hopes that EMI will also be on board by then.
Exactly how the service will work is unclear but, according to Reuters, Wurld Media are confident they have found a business model through which consumers can share music, video and other digital content online while providing "due compensation" to content owners.
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HAL CHRISTMAS SHOW
Rough Trade band HAL have announced a special Christmas gig for 16 Dec at London's Borderline - guests tba. Entrance is £6 in advance or with a Club Fandango flyer, which can be found at http://www.clubfandango.co.uk. Press info from Anglo.
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AIM OFFER LEGAL TIPS FOR INDIE LABELS
Legal firm Steels and the Association of Independent Music is running a special event offering an introduction to the legal issues faced by an independent record label. The seminar - called 'Making the Most of Your Rights' - will take place in London on 30 Nov from 5.30pm-8.30pm. Topics up for discussion include:
Recording Agreement (Net Profits)
Recording Agreement (Points)
Record Licence (In & Out)
Publishing Agreement
Producer Agreement
Remixer Agreement
Ringtone Licence (Master use)
Synchronisation Licence (Master Use)
Standard Terms & Conditions of Employment
Employment Policies
Director's Service Agreement
On the panel will be AIM boss Alison Wenham, Cooking Vinyl MD Martin Goldschmidt, Geraint Howells of Willott Kingston Smith and Cheryl Edmonds and William Everitt, both of Steeles.
Commenting on the event, Michael Fuller, Head of Legal and Business affairs at AIM, told CMU: "Small labels have traditionally not had access to a professional business affairs resource. However, the new opportunities that are now becoming available in online and mobile formats also present new challenges, and, with the public continuing to look for new and innovative ways of consuming music, it has never been more important for labels to find out how to effectively exploit their rights and maximise the return on their catalogue."
The seminar costs £25, but is free for AIM members. For booking info contact marketing@steeleslaw.co.uk.
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DROPPED X FACTOR FINALIST THREATENS TO BOYCOTT SPIN OFF TOUR
X Factor reject Verity Keays is reportedly threatening to boycott the upcoming tour of the finalists because she feels she was treated unfairly on the show. According to Now magazine Keays says she became a pawn in the feud between Simon and rival judge Sharon. She is also angry that Cowell refused to give her a recording contract telling her that, despite having talent, she would not sell records.
All finalists are contracted to take part in the tour and a spin-off album - though the shows producers are said to be using the softly softly approach to try and persuade her to participate.
