MALAYSIAN
STAGE COLLAPSE LEAVES TWO INJURED 29/06/04
Thousands of Siti Nurhaliza's fans returned home frustrated when her concert was cancelled at the eleventh hour as the main stage collapsed after a thunderstorm wreaked havoc. More than 20,000 fans had flocked to the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Suka Menanti here to watch the "Siti Nurhaliza Fantasia Tour" but were told to disperse at about 8.30 pm by the police. Co-promoter Astro said the 6.45 pm thunderstorm completely damaged the stage and the giant TV screen put up outside the stadium. Two Astro employees were injured in the incident.
RADIO 1 LAUNCH OFFICIAL DOWNLOAD CHART 29/06/04
BBC Radio 1 has announced that it will launch an official download chart as the new digital download market begins to overtake CD singles in volume. Apple's i-Tunes online music store has sold 500,000 tracks at 79p each (E1.18) since it launched two weeks ago. Download retailers including Mycokemusic.com, playlouder.com and Virgin all provide paid for downloads.
To be eligible tracks will have to be 10 minutes or less and retail for at least 40p (E0.60) online. The BPI has sanctioned the chart which will be sponsored by Coca-Cola. Current unofficial download chart toppers are the Pixies, Maroon 5, Outkast, Keane, Jet, Rasmus, The Corrs and Anastacia.
Source: The Times June 29 2004
BEENIE MAN SHOW CANCELLED AFTER COMPLAINTS OF ALLEGED HOMOPHOBIC LYRICS 29/06/04
A London concert by Jamaican dancehall star Beenie Man has been cancelled after complaints it might provoke violence towards gay men. Police spoke to Beenie Man after a complaint that some of his songs contain "lyrics
that are an incitement to homophobic murder and violence". The performer, real name Anthony Davis, was due to appear at the Ocean club in Hackney in East London which cancelled the show on the grounds of concerns for public safety after talks with Police officers.
The performer was not arrested or spoken to under caution and it is reported that the Police did not ask for the concert to be cancelled. Beenie Man was among Mobo-nominated performers included in a dossier presented to Scotland Yard's Race and Violent Crime Taskforce by gay rights campaigners last September. Refunds have been offered to those with tickets for the show.
Source:news.bbc.co.uk
GLASTONBURY PUSHES CD SALES 28/06/04
The 2004 Glastonbury Festival saw pre-festival rain turn to early sunshine which again turned to to heavy rain only to end up with sunny weather as punters left the site. The Festival was generally thought to be one of the most succesful ever with 112,500 paying guests and headline performances from Oasis, Sir Paul McCartney, Muse, Morrissey, Chemical Brothers and Orbital.
Other hits of the festival included the Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand. The festival also featured a peformance of Act III of Wagner's The Valkyrie performed by the English National Opera with a full orchestra watched by over 20,000 amazed fans. The Festival now has massive radio, television and internet coverage with over 35 hours of live radio programming from BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music alongside other coverage from Radio 4 and Radio 5 with 12 hours live on BBC2 and 21 hours live on BBC3. This year the BBC had an additional interactive channel and webcasting on BBCi.
Performances at the festival have already seen a positive impact in terms of sales. Just hours after Glastonbury performances were broadcast live on BBC Two, albums by artists performing experienced a surge in sales on Amazon.co.uk. The Oasis album '(What's the Story) Morning Glory' experienced a 333% increase in sales since the beginning of the festival. Other artists whose performances led to albums experiencing sales surges were Paul McCartney, Franz Ferdinand and Muse, whose albums 'Back in the World', 'Franz Ferdinand' and 'Absolution' rose by 300%, 300% and 240%.
Source:news.bbc.co.uk
LONDON DOME FIASCO CONTINUES 20/06/04
The never ending saga of the London Dome continues after the Government was forced to admit that the Dome will
cost an additional £33 million (E50 million) on top of the £800
million already spent (E1.2 billion). Thought by many as a tribute to political
vanity, a lack of imagination and poor planning the Dome never captured the public's imagination and original forecasts for attendances were found to be wild over estimates. The Dome was championed by Prime Minister Tony Blair. However plans to build housing, retail and leisure facilities on the reclaimed peninsula are now advanced and local authority Greenwich Council says that the new plans will provide 24,000 new jobs and huge regeneration in the area.
Anschutz Entertainment Group will begin building a new 20,000 seat arena and say that they have reached outline agreement with South African gambling and hotel magnate Sol Kerzner to build a giant new casino next to the Dome subject to a relaxation of the UKs gambling laws.
EU TO CLEAR BMG-SONY MERGER 19/06/04
Mario Monti , The European Union's competition commissioner has reportedly approved a merger between Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and Bertelsmann AG's BMG Entertainment after a review failed to support charges that the deal would harm consumers by raising CD prices. A number of reports say that Japanese group Sony and German group Bertelsmann's music joint venture will be cleared without any major conditions.
It is reported that Monti had met with the case team, which had previously been considering blocking the deal, and decided their economic analysis did not show that the remaining music majors would be collectively dominant and more inclined to keep CD prices high. The European Union, which has until July 22 to reach a decision.
Source: BizReport
RIAA SEEK REGULATION FOR DIGITAL RADIO 19/06/04
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has said that the new high-definition radio, if left unprotected from copying, would create vast opportunities for piracy. In submissions to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The RIAA argued that "unprotected
high-definition radio could become a popular substitute for unauthorized peer-to-peer
networks, as consumers could acquire all the music they want from free over-the-air
broadcasts with CD-like quality".
It argued that consumers could use automated search functions on digital broadcasts to find and record music, and then re-distribute the music over the Internet. The group said the FCC should require encryption of music or "audio protection flag" technology to identify the source of the music. "The potential upside of digital radio for fans, artists and labels, broadcasters and others in the music chain is tantalizing," said RIAA chairman Mitch Bainwol but added that "for the potential to be fully realized, we need the help of the FCC to approve some common-sense safeguards. Given the enormous damage of peer-to-peer piracy, a little advance prudence would go a long way". However consumer groups have argued that argued that any copy protection requirement would "stifle innovation, chill technological progress, and deny US consumers the non-commercial recording rights upon which they have come to rely."
SCOTTISH TICKET COUNTERFEITER SENTENCED 19/06/04
A Scottish judge has told a man that he undersold fake tickets for Celtic's Uefa Cup game in Seville last year. Sentencing Alan Cloughley to community service, Sheriff Deirdre MacNeill QC said the forged tickets were of a convincingly high standard but she remarked that Cloughley,
who sold each ticket for £5, could have got more than 10 times that amount.
The 23-year-old economics graduate was caught by police at his Glasgow home
just days before the game.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that Cloughley produced and sold hundreds of fake tickets for Celtic's Uefa Cup Final clash with FC Porto. He appeared for sentence on Friday having earlier admitted two breaches of the Trade Marks Act.Sheriff MacNeill said it had been a "sophisticated and well planned operation" but the court heard that people who bought tickets from Cloughley were aware that they were fakes. Sheriff MacNeill said the seriousness of the offence warranted a prison sentence, but she was prepared to order him to do 260 hours of community service. Acting on a tip-off, police raided Cloughley's home and seized 291 tickets and £300 in cash. He claimed he bought a legitimate ticket and copied it to produce fakes, selling about 100 before being caught. Cloughley, who works as a nightclub bouncer, carried out the scam using his home computer and specialist printing equipment he purchased over the internet. A Celtic spokeman said thatCloughley's actions provided a "security nightmare" for those involved in the planning of such a big occasion and that printing additional tickets raises serious issues regarding crowd control. The case is thought to be the first successful conviction of its kind against a counterfeiter in Scotland.
Source:news.bbc.co.uk/
UK LEG OF MISSY AND KELIS TOUR CANCELLED 19/06/04
The 'Hip Hop Dont Stop' tour featuring Missy Elliott and Kelis has been cancelled as it appears that there are not adequate buses to accommodate Missy's touring entourage. The tour was due to hit theUK on June 19but due to these circumstances and various other production issues the British leg of the tour will now not take place. www.nme.com reports that a hold-up with part of Missy's set and equipment has also been blamed for the cancellation. The shows booked for Amsterdam on June 26 and Paris on June 27 will still go ahead. A press release explains that "special
circumstances" have been arranged for these performances.
DOUBLE BUBBLE FOR SUPERGRASS 17/06/04
Supergrass have pulled of a unique double at Glastonbury 2004 after they stepped in to fill the hole on the Pyramid Stage's lineup on Sunday night at 19.15 after the Libertines had to pull out. But in a long planned date, Supergrass, a Glasto favourite, also have their new DVD being screened in the Cinema Marquee on Saturday evening at the Festival at 5.00pm meaning that they are the only band to be playing live on a stage and featuring on the silver screen as well. The band have a new CD and DVD out called 'Supergrass is 10 - The Best of 94-04' on Parlophone and the label have helped sponsor the Glastonbury Cinema Marquee for 2004.
Website:www.supergrassis10.com
MAJORS TIGHTEN GRIP ON WORLD MARKET 16/06/04
The latest figures published by the IFPI show the majors still controlling 75% of the world market in recorded music although the figures exclude digital downloads. The 2002-2003 figures show that:
The proposed BMG-Sony merger (which is being scrutinised by EU competition regulators at the moment) would mean a joint venture which would rival Universal in market share based on sales value but would mean that just four companies could control 75% of a world market.
RAY CHARLES DIES AT 73 16/06/04
Ray Charles who redefined black music by fusing blues,
R&B and gospel has died at home aged 73. he was surrounded by friends
and family. The blind musician who was a gifted pianist and saxophonist. Ray Charles Robinson was born to a poor family in 1930 in Albany, Georgia when much of the US was segregated.
At the age of five he saw his bother drown in a laundry tub and by the age of seven he was blind. His career as a musician really took of in the 60s with hits such as 'Hit The Road Jack', 'I Can't Stop Loving You' and 'Busted'. His version of 'Georgia on My Mind' was adopted as the state's official song in 1979. he died from liver complications.
IFPI ANNOUNCES POSITIVE RESULTS AFTER FIRST WAVE OF EUROPEAN LEGAL ACTIONS 16/06/04
The recording industry has announced the first positive results from its international deterrence campaign against illegal file-sharing and warned that a new wave of litigation will take place in new countries within months. The results show that legal awareness among the European public has increased and the number of pirate files on the internet has fallen steadily.
Meanwhile, the number of legal sites where consumers can buy music has risen to over 100 globally - five times the number of one year ago. Legal cases have been concluded in Denmark and Germany, with 17 Danish individuals agreeing to pay compensation averaging several thousand euros. A 23 year oldGerman file-sharer is to pay compensation of 8,000 euros: He had 6,000 MP3 files on his computer and 70 CDs containing further files In Italy, 30 individuals have been charged with copyright infringement. The IFPI has confirmed plans to extend the litigation internationally. A further 24 legal actions are being announced today against individuals in Denmark. Other countries such as France, Sweden and the UK have already launched high-profile warning campaigns that they will prosecute file-sharers if necessary.
Source:www.ifpi.org
SCOTTISH OPERA CUTS BITE DEEP 16/06/04
Almost half of the company of Scottish Opera is to be made redundant under restructuring plans. By the end of June 2005, 88 of the current 205 strong company will be gone. It is feared that the cuts will the Opera's chorus and will lead to a cessation of min-scale productions. The company will also give up their permanent base at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. The Opera has said that the cuts are vital for the long term stability of Scottish opera.
MIDNIGHT OIL'S GARRETT OFFERED SAFE SEAT IN AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT 16/06/04
Peter Garrett , former lead singer with Midnight Oil and a green activist has been handed a safe seat for the Australian Parliament by the opposition Labour party.
The singer has previously campaigned on a variety of environmental isues and Aboriginal land rights and narrowly missed being elected to a state senate position. Garrett has been chairman of the Australian Conservation Foundation for ten years.
Source: The Guardian.
APPLE NAMES DATE FOR I-TUNES IN EUROPE 16/06/04
Apple is expected to launch its i-Tunes service in Europe in the week commencing the 21st June. In the US the service has sold more than 70 million legal downlaods at 99c each. But Apple will have to compete with the re-launched (and now legal) Napster download service whch has already launched accross Europe. Downlaods will be at 79p each in the UK (E118, S1.42 against) 99c in the US.
SANCTUARY SHOWING A HEALTHY RETURN 16/06/04
Hit albums from Belle & Sebastian and The Strokes along with succesful touring, merchandising, music publishing and management operations have pushed up Sanctuary's
turnover by 41% for the six months to 31 May 2004 with revenues of £89 million (E125 million, $160 million). Pre-tax profit climbed t £3.8
million.
The Group 's broadly based music business model seems to have shielded it against the downturn in CD sales blamed, amongst other things, on illegal music downloading. Future record releases from the Group include Alison Moyet and Saint Etienne. The Group who have made a success of picking up established artists will; no doubt be looking at the fall out from the majors as they cull their rosters of what are precieved as unsuccessful acts. The Group are also looking to expand their music publishing interests according to the Guardian newspaper.
AURA FUNDS DISAPPEAR 16/06/04
The Association of United Recording Artists , a UK based
collection society which distributes upwards of £2 million annually (E2.8million, US3.6 million) to recording artists, has found a £700,000
hole in their accounts and have obtained a high court injunction against
its membership secretary Peter Horrey, freezing his assets. Mr Horrey is a long term membership and the societies sole full time employee but has been sacked by the society. The Society's auditors have found serious irregularities' the society's accounts London's Evening Standard reports.
BRAZIL'S KING OF PIRATES CAPTURED 16/06/04
IFPI 's anti-piracy unit in Brazil (APDIF) has confirmed the capture of Brazil's most notorious pirate, Law Kim Chong. Law was apprehended as he attempted to bribe the chairman of Brazil's Congressional Anti-piracy Committee (CPI), set up in 2003 to tackle the huge problem of piracy in the country. The arrest comes after two months of investigation by the Brazilian authorities. A recent operation by CPI had dealt a severe blow to Law's business when tonnes of counterfeited and smuggled goods were seized during raids in his shopping centres.
The piracy overlord was planning to bribe the CPI to write a positive report on him and leave his pirate business intact. Law had orchestrated several meetings with a policeman working for CPI. These meetings were recorded on tape and camera at the request of the CPI Chairman, Luiz Antonio de Medeiros, and monitored by the Intelligence Bureau of the Federal Police in Brazilia as well as the General Attorney's Office in Sao Paulo. The surveillance resulted in Law's arrest on June 1, 2004. During the first few meetings with the CPI policeman Law's lawyer, Pedro Lindolfo Sarlo, offered to pay the CPI Chairman between US$1million and US$2.3 million in return for a favourable CPI report on Law's business.
At the fourth meeting Law himself clinched the negotiations directly with Mr. Medeiros, reiterating the offer in return for the CPI's report to "protect and exempt me".The courts then allowed the Federal Police to monitor the payment of the first instalment of the bribe (US$75,000), after which Law and his lawyer were arrested.
Piracy in Brazil has exploded during the past five years, soaring from 5% of the CD market in 1997 to 53% in 2002 (equivalent to 114 million pirate units). In the past two years, piracy has directly contributed to the closing of two thousand legal points of sale and in the loss of an estimated 55,000 jobs. The legitimate cassette market has ceased to exist.
Source:www.ifpi.org
ILMC SFG REACHES SAFETY RESEARCH TARGET BUT URGES THE INDUSTRY TO KEEP THE DONATIONS COMING 16/06/04
The ILMC Safety Focus Group is well on its way to raising the 40,000 euros it needs to secure a E160,000 grant from the European Community. To date, the total amount of money either donated or pledged to the ILMC Safety Focus Group (SFG)'s European project stands at E44,628 euros. The core of this support has come from live music agents, promoters and support services.
In addition, the ILMC SFG is hoping to raise further funds to help secure the future of the group and to start work on other industry-led safety projects, in particular a crowd safety project. It is planning a second fundraising campaign for Autumn 2004, with a target of E20,000. SFG member Bert van Horck of ICMS urged live music professionals, "Please continue to donate. Any funds raised for the ILMC Safety Focus Group above the original target will allow us to research future projects such as crowd safety. We estimate that the group needs a further E20,000 before ILMC 17 to secure its immediate future as an effective lobbying force."
"Any funding you provide the ILMC Safety Focus Group now will ensure that the live music industry has its own voice on safety issues on an international and government level."
RUMOURS POINT TO WARNERS CULL 07/06/04
The new Warner Music Group reportedly plans to drop almost half of its 170 artists after letting go more than 1,000 employees in March.
Rolling Stone said Friday that sources indicate The Breeders and Third Eye Blind may be among the first victims, with Stereolab already gone. In February, a group of private investors, including former Universal Music Group chief Edgar Bronfman Jr., bought the label group from Time Warner for $2.6 billion.
In an effort to save more than $200 million the Elektra, Atlantic and Lava Records were combined and top staff shuffled. Rolling Stone point out that the cull will affect bands who are not big sellers - Stereolab have sold only 40,000 copies of their recent album, 'Margerine Eclipse' and The Breeders' last CD, 'Title K', moved barely 45,000 units. Third Eye Blind, whose 1997 debut sold 6 million copies, didn't reach gold with 2003's 'Out of the Vein'.
KOREAN PHONE DOWNLOAD ARRANGEMENT FAILS 03/06/04
The Korean Association of Phonogram Producers said that it is going to sue the mobile operator LG Telecom for distributing MP3 capable handsets. The network operator has sold 80,000 of the devices in two months. In a compromise reached in April, LG agreed to limit the capabilities of the phones. Technology was developed so the MP3 files would self-destruct 72 hours after being downloaded onto the handset. But the Korean record industry, reports the Korean Herald.
The producers' association has now promised to file an injunction against LG and vowed to boycott the carrier. The dispute being closely watched by operators in countries outside Korea. Korea has a high uptake of high speed mobile bandwidth in comparison to the slow adoption of 3G networks in Europe. Korean operators managed to convert a third of their subscriber base to 2.5G data networks within the first eight months of operation.
UK COURT OF APPEAL LIMIT LIABILITY FOR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS 03/06/04
In a welcome judgement, the Court of Appeal have limited the
liability of venue owners, promoters and nightclub's to ensure that their contractors
have public liability insurance. In Payling v Naylor ( Times
Law Reports, 2 June 2004 ) the Court held that whilst there was a duty on a
club owner to take reasonable steps to ensure that any contractor engaged security
services was competent, there was no free-standing duty, except in exceptional
circumstances th ensure that the contractor had public liability insurance.
In the earlier decision of Bottomley v Secretary & Members of Todmorden
Cricket Club (
www.ilmc.com RTC News November 2003, www.musiclawupdates.org archive November
2003 ) the court had held that there was a duty on a venue owner who allowed
dangerous practices on his land (pyrotechnics) to ensure that a subcontractor
was had public liability insurance.
The Court of Appeal in this case could understand that the lack of public liability insurance might be a relevant factor in assesing the competence of a contractor; However and overturning a judgement by Judge Murphy QC, the Court felt that as the security firm were licensed, accredited and approved under a scheme operated by the local authority and the police. The club's public entertainment licence required the nightclub to use door security staff accredited under the scheme. The nighclub had had a significant period in which to assess the competence of the security firm. However, Lord Justice Neuberger qualified what might be 'special circumstances' by saying these might be where the nightclub owner was under a duty to insure himself or where insurance would be for the proper protection of the public.
BRITNEY'S CHINESE TOUR A GO-GO 03/06/04
Britney Spears ' first Chinese tour has been approved by the country's Culture Ministry, but they want to know what she's wearing before she hits the stage, the official China News Service reported today. Spears, who is currently on a world tour to promote her latest Jive album, "In
the Zone" will perform five concerts in Shanghai and Beijing sometime next year.
Wang Enqiang , an agent for Spears' Chinese promoter, Beijing Poly Culture and Art Co. Ltd., said the star planned to come to the mainland in 2004, but he had no information about ministry concern. However whlst Spears has said she will not have any specially designed clothing for the Chinese leg of her tour it is expected that she will adhere to Ministry wishes.
OLYMPIC TORCH CONCERT IN LONDON 02/06/04
Rod Stewart , Ozzy Osbourne and James Brown are to sing at a free concert to celebrate the Olympic torch's return to London. They will be joined by Kelly Osbourne, McFly, Will Young, Emma Bunton and Jamelia.
The pop, rock and soul legends will perform at a concert on June 26 that is set to turn The Mall into a colourful spectacle for the 70,000 lucky ticket winners. Applications are already open for tickets, which will be allocated by ballot to the public via telephone or online. It will be the first time the torch has been in the UK since London hosted the world's greatest sporting event in 1948.
LONDON COUNCIL TAKES ON MUSIC BUSINESS FLYPOSTING 02/06/04
Camden Council in London is taking on music industry bosses over flyposters. The Council are bringing Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO) against music industry bosses, claiming they've received more than a thousand complaints about the posters which are placed across the borough. Camden is one of the main focus points for alternative music in London, and is famous for its live music venues like The Barfly, Electric Ballroom and Underworld.
BBC news reports that if the posters continue to appear, executives of Sony and BMG could face five-year prison sentences. Chief executive Alan Woods said: "BMG and Sony save themselves over £8m a year on advertising by fly posting illegally in Camden alone". Council leader Jane Roberts said that flyposting makes the local area "seem uncared for and an unpleasant place to be". But what of our dear leader, Martin Hopewell, who runs a street poster competition at the ILMC every year virtually encouraging illegal postering? Learned counsel have advised that the dear boy is liable for conspiracy and inducement charges - at least - and more likely will face charges of a far more serious nature - if anyone tells. He has been warned.
Source:www.nme.com
US RECORDING INDUSTRY SUES ANOTHER 439 DOWNLOADERS 01/06/04
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed papers and sued 493 more people it said were illegally sharing music across the Internet. The latest round of lawsuits means that nearly 3,000 people have been sued nationwide by recording companies.
As in previous cases, the recording industry filed its latest complaints against "John Doe" defendants, identifying them only by their numeric Internet protocol addresses. It said lawyers will work through the courts to request subpoenas against universities and some commercial Internet providers to learn the defendants' names. The RIAA said none of the lawsuits filed Monday targeted Internet users at colleges or universities and that all 493 defendants were subscribers with commercial Internet accounts. Not one of the RIAA infringement actoins has gone to trial as yet but 486 people so far have agreed to pay financial penalties of about $3,000 as settlements.
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL WELCOMES MELTDOWN AND MORE 01/06/04
London 's South Bank Royal Festival Hall is presenting its now annual Meltdown Festival in June 2004, this year curated by Morrissey. Performances include three nights of the Mancunian man himself, two nights with the legendary New York Dolls, Loudon Wainwright III, Sparks, Nancy Sinatra and an acoustic evening with Gene.
Other nights include Jane Birkin Arabesque, the films of Bob Gruen, the London Sinfonia plays Gorecki Symphony No 3 and an evening with Alan Bennett.
Morrisey 's June 27 Glastonbury performance is due to be beamed live onto the outside of the venue as a free show. The RFH is also planning a number of shows in July and August under the banner 'Heroes and Villains' including Brian Wilson (24/25/27/28/30/31 July), Spiritualized (01 August), AIR (03 August) and Badly Drawn Boy (06/07 August).
Websites:www.rfh.org.uk/meltdown