CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week. On this edition, competition law expert (as well as musician and label owner) Amelia Fletcher's letter to Spotify boss Daniel Ek about the streaming service's plan for a two-tier royalty system, and the rickrolling takedown battle between two stream-ripping platforms. 



SECTION TIMES

01: Spotify (00:04:27)

02: Stream-ripping (00:19:56)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK

• Spotify two-tier payment “discriminatory and exploitative” says competition law expert

• Stream-ripper gets court order to identify who is behind rick-rolling Google takedown notices



ALSO MENTIONED

• Music industry contributes £6.7 billion GVA to British economy

• Download the UK Music This Is Music 2023 report

• Amelia Fletcher's full letter to Daniel Ek


Competition law concerns over Spotify’s royalty plans

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On this week's show we discuss the calls on both sides of the Atlantic for new AI laws to protect creators, the big love-in between Universal and TikTok as they finally resolve their differences, and more.



SECTION TIMES

01: AI laws (00:07:00)

02: News in brief (00:20:29)

03: Universal x TikTok (00:23:20)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• MPs call on UK government to create “a pro-creative industries AI bill”

• FKA Twigs and Warner boss tell Senators about the urgent need for a US-wide law to regulate deepfakes

• Universal and TikTok are best buds again

• Universal boss Lucian Grainge talks up the new TikTok deal which “will protect the integrity and value of human artistry”



NEWS IN BRIEF

• EU TikTok ban “is not excluded” says European Commission President, as FCC Commissioner says US ban won’t be scuppered in the courts

• CEO of NewJeans label Ador refuses to convene board meeting as parent company HYBE tries to push her out

• R Kelly fails to overturn Chicago conviction

• Astroworld victims want first trial to be livestreamed

• Taylor Swift and Record Store Day push UK vinyl sales reach highest level since 1994



ALSO MENTIONED

• Could Co-op Group terminate Manchester arena naming rights deal? Fury mounts as safety incident forces yet more Co-op Live show cancellations


Calls for urgent new AI laws in UK and US

On this week's show we discuss the bidding war compounding the latest in a long line of dramas at Hipgnosis, the faltering start for Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena and more. 



SECTION TIMES

01: Hipgnosis (00:04:59)

02: News in brief (00:18:48)

03: Co-op Live (00:12:15)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• Hipgnosis debacle might be over as Concord offers to acquire entire share capital of SONG - but there’s a catch…

• Blackstone tops Concord offer for SONG, hints at invoking call option

• The state of Hipgnosis

• To the moon! Concord reaches for the high notes as it ups its SONG bid to $1.25

• Co-op Live GM says grassroots venues are “poorly run”, before cancelling thousands of tickets to test event at the very last minute

• Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena cancels launch shows as power issues delay opening



NEWS IN BRIEF

• The clock is now TikTokking as US Senate votes through sell-or-be-banned law

• Amazon AI employee claims she was told to breach copyright rules because “everyone else is doing it”

• Moving BBC radio to an ad-funded model would be a disaster, says Radiocentre

• Drake threatened with legal action over AI Tupac in Kendrick diss track



ALSO MENTIONED

• AI and music one year later: What happened? And where are we at? (Spot Festival, 3 May, 1pm)

• Dissecting The Digital Dollar: What’s changed? (Spot Festival, 4 May, 11.45am)

• The new pay-out models: What are the consequences for you as an artist and as a songwriter? (Spot Festival, 4 May, 1.15pm)

• The great streaming swindle: That’s how much money is swindled every year in the music industry (Spot Festival, 4 May, 2.15pm)

Hipgnosis v Hipgnosis - the saga continues…

On this week's show we discuss the warning from UK politicians that there need to be “tangible steps to improve musicians’ remuneration and performer rights” by this time next year, and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree’s class action lawsuit against PRS For Music over songwriter royalties, and more.



SECTION TIMES

01: Performer remuneration report (00:05:39)

02: News in brief (00:14:53)

03: Dave Rowntree v PRS (00:19:23)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• “Fundamental reform of music streaming” must come soon, say MPs

• Blur’s Dave Rowntree leads class action lawsuit against PRS For Music seeking “hundreds of millions of pounds” for songwriters



NEWS IN BRIEF

• WIN renews shared values of the independent music community

• GEMA says German song right income is booming, but digital growth is lacking

• Timeline for TikTok law in Senate still to be confirmed, though Minority Leader says its deserves "urgent attention"

• Universal relaxes TikTok boycott - but only if your name is Taylor Swift

• Have a playlist idea but don’t know what songs to put on it? Spotify’s AI bot can help with that

• Spotify planning tools to allow users to remix tracks



ALSO MENTIONED

• Westway Lab






MPs want to see action on musicians’ income

On this week's show we discuss UK Parliament's Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee's hearing on the grassroots live music crisis, and the Nirvana logo legal battle's return to court.



SECTION TIMES

01: Grassroots live music crisis (00:08:13)

02: News in brief (00:17:09)

03: Nirvana logo (00:21:43)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• MPs hear about the crisis in grassroots live music - a ticket levy might help, but how would that work?

• Nirvana ‘smiley face’ copyright dispute back in court



NEWS IN BRIEF

• Rapper ordered to pay $800,000 to Sony over TikTok hit with unlicensed sample

• Sean Combs properties raided in federal sex trafficking investigation

• Discrimination, lower pay and shorter careers are the norm for female musicians in the UK, study shows

• RIAA 2023 Year-End Music Industry Revenue Report



ALSO MENTIONED

• As BMG’s 2023 numbers show continued growth, could a merger with Warner Music or Believe be on the cards?


Make big shows fund grassroots music, politicians told

On this week's show we discuss the ruling in the long-running noise dispute involving Manchester's Night & Day that allows the venue to continue running club nights but potentially puts other nearby venues at risk, plus the BPI’s legal threats against a service that uses AI to create cover versions of songs in seconds. 



SECTION TIMES

01: Night & Day (00:08:13)

02: News in brief (00:15:15)

03: Voicify (00:19:57)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• Night & Day ruling makes it “open season” on Manchester’s night-time economy says Music Venue Trust boss

• BPI threatens to sue voice cloning site Voicify



NEWS IN BRIEF

• More performers seeking specialist health support, says BAPAM

• Music and visual arts organisations back new climate change charity Murmur

• Black Eyed Peas sued for licensing interpolation but not sample of Scatman

• IFPI report shows 10.2% growth in global recorded music market

• MIDiA shows $35.1 billion in global recorded music revenues - but what does that number actually mean?



ALSO MENTIONED

• Spotify publishes new Loud & Clear, says the focus now is artists “dependent on streaming as part of their livelihood”

• Thom Yorke calls Spotify 'the last desperate fart of a dying corpse' (The Guardian)


Competition law concerns over Spotify’s royalty plans

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