Setlist

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Spotify's new pilot scheme allowing artists and labels to influence its music-selecting algorithm in return for a lower royalty rate, plus Live Nation's beaming positivity in the face of another round of definitely not positive financial results. 

SECTION TIMES
01: Spotify algorithm (00:07:01)
02: Live Nation finances (00:27:39)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• Spotify to allow artists and labels to influence its curation algorithm – in return for a royalty discount
• Live Nation summer revenues down 95%, but company talks of cautious optimism and being prepared

ALSO MENTIONED
• IMPALA and CMU partner to launch digital intelligence facility One Step Ahead

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU's end of year webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including global collecting society grouping CISAC's positive revenue stats for 2019 and very gloomy predictions for 2020, and the news that Harry Styles has invested in a new arena venue in Manchester.

SECTION TIMES
01: CISAC figures (00:04:45)
02: Harry Styles (00:20:16)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• Song right societies saw collections grow 8.4% in 2019, but fear a 35% drop in 2020 due to COVID
• Harry Styles invests in new Manchester arena Co-op Live

ALSO MENTIONED
• Spotify boss discusses price rise strategies in latest investor report
• US musicians group calls for cent-per-stream payouts in Justice At Spotify campaign

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU’s end of year webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the UK competition regulator's conclusion that a merged Viagogo and StubHub would likely result in a “substantial lessening of competition in the online secondary ticketing market” and proposal that the whole thing be called off, plus the new report that warns that 170,000 live industry jobs are at risk as a result of the UK government's response to COVID-19.

SECTION TIMES
01: Viagogo/StubHub on the rocks (00:09:48)
02: Live music jobs in doubt (00:25:03)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• UK competition regulator remains opposed to Viagogo/StubHub merger after phase two investigation
• Nearly 170,000 UK live sector jobs will be lost by the end of the year, industry warns in new report

ALSO MENTIONED
• Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland launches podcast from prison to tell his side of the story
• Rishi Sunak forced to offer multibillion-pound job package as Covid fears mount (The Guardian)

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU's Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the announcement that the culture select committee of the UK Parliament is opening an inquiry into the economics of music streaming, and the music industry's positive response to the number of venues, festivals and other music organisations who will receive support from the Culture Recovery Fund.

SECTION TIMES
01: Streaming inquiry (00:05:38)
02: Culture Recovery Fund (00:27:44)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• Parliament’s culture select committee to investigate the economics of music streaming
• UK music industry welcomes Culture Recovery Fund support for numerous venues and festivals, though COVID challenges remain
• The Lexington still in perilous position despite receiving Culture Recovery Fund grant

ALSO MENTIONED
• BTS management company Big Hit proves a big hit on the South Korean stock market
• CMU and MMF's 'Dissecting The Digital Dollar' project
• UK govt advert encouraging re-skilling for cyber jobs implodes spectacularly (The Register)
• Government job retraining recommendations website offers little hope for musicians

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU's Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including BMG's announcement that it is eliminating a controversial, artist unfriendly clause from its record contracts and whether other labels might follow suit, plus what the members of BTS serving military service could mean for both the band and the South Korean economy.

SECTION TIMES
01: BMG’s contracts (00:04:26)
02: BTS’s conscription (00:18:22)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• BMG to eliminate ‘controlled composition’ deductions in all record contracts
• South Korean politician suggests BTS members should be offered “special alternative” to mandatory military service

ALSO MENTIONED
• Kickass founder disappears halting US extradition attempts
• BTS are on the brink of enrolling in a major military nightmare (Wired)

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU’s Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Travis Scott being sued by gaming accessory company KontrolFreek over some (allegedly) dodgy thumbsticks that (allegedly) rip off the company's designs, and why John Lennon's former personal assistant is being sued for speaking publicly about his time as John Lennon's personal assistant. 

SECTION TIMES
01: Travis Scott sued over thumbsticks (00:08:08)
02: John Lennon's former PA sued for talking (00:18:13)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• Travis Scott sued over his Cactus Jack thumbsticks
• Yoko Ono sues former John Lennon assistant over recent interview

ALSO MENTIONED
• Capital launches new 24/7 dance music radio station
• McDonald’s recruits Travis Scott to sell burgers to The Kids
• Bill Murray responds to Doobie Brothers’ copyright infringement claim
• 'Good Ol Freda' trailer (YouTube)

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU's Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including OfCom's announcement that it intends to investigate whether the BBC Sounds app is competing with commercial media, and YouTube hitting back at a lawsuit arguing that it should not enjoy protection under the copyright safe harbour because it doesn’t make its Content ID rights management system available to everyone. 

SECTION TIMES
01: OfCom to investigate BBC Sounds (00:05:19)
02: YouTube defends Content ID access policy (00:20:42)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• MPs call for OfCom review of BBC Sounds app after new dance music service added
• OfCom allows Radio 1 24/7 dance stream launch to go ahead, but will look at market position of BBC Sounds app
• YouTube hits back against lawsuit over Content ID access

ALSO MENTIONED
• Kanye West says he'll give GOOD artists back their masters; Big Sean, Desiigner & 070 Shake rejoice (Billboard)

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU's Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Kanye West's big dispute over the structure of record company deals with artists (and the contents of the deals he dumped on Twitter), and Facebook's deals with the music industry to include music in video game livestreams on its Twitch rival Facebook Gaming.

SECTION TIMES
01: Kanye v Universal (00:05:19)
02: Facebook Gaming (00:29:51)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• Kanye West hits out at Universal and Sony in latest Twitter rant
• Kanye West publishes his Universal Music contracts as anti-label Twitter rant continues
• Facebook secures music deals for its gaming app
• SACEM announces licensing deal with Twitch

ALSO MENTIONED
• Nicki Minaj wins one element of her Tracy Chapman copyright dispute, but the wider case will go to a jury

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU’s Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the increase in US record revenues, the cost of ‘Boris’ Johnson’s ‘Operation Moonshot’, the boost in users of Fender’s guitar tuition app, the settlement reached in the legal battle between Sony Music and the estate of 1950s pop star Ricky Nelson, and the festivals people have most been pining for on Spotify.

SECTION TIMES
01: RIAA figures (00:06:32)
02: Operation Moonshot (00:15:50)
03: Fender sale boom (00:22:48)
04: Ricky Nelson (00:26:50)
05: Spotify festival playlists (00:31:05)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• RIAA stats show record industry mainly COVID immune thanks to streaming
• UK government’s Operation Moonshot could get full-capacity gigs back up and running – but experts question how realistic the plans really are
• Everyone is playing guitar now
• Sony Music settles dispute over deductions on foreign streaming royalties 

ALSO MENTIONED
• Hipgnosis buys independent publisher Big Deal 

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU’s Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the Ford motor company's accusation that production music library Freeplay Music intentionally chose a name to make it seem like its music was free to use in order to sue it (and others) for copyright infringement, plus the crackdown on the boom in illegal raves during the pandemic.

SECTION TIMES
01: Ford v Freeplay Music (00:04:59)
02: Crackdown on illegal raves (00:22:29)

STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK
• Ford accuses music library Freeplay of "bait-and-switch", because its free music isn't always free
• UK police have a go at cracking down on some COVID-rule-busting illegal raves

ALSO MENTIONED
• BBC backtracks on wordless Rule, Britannia plan

MORE FROM CMU
• Book your place on CMU's Autumn Webinars
• Buy the new Dissecting The Digital Dollar on Amazon
• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin