UNIVERSAL AND SONY OFFER UP MIXED RESULTS 29/07/05
Sony have dramatically reduced profit forcasts whereas Universal are upbeat in latest financial statements. Both companies are conglomerates and the Sony elecontronics, entertainment and media group has lowered its earnings forecast by 90% after a second quarter of losses. The group reported Q2 losses
of 7.3bn yen (£37m) compared with a 23.3bn yen profit last year. The
news compounds the pressure on Howard Stringer, Sony's first non-Japanese chief executive who is expected to announce a radical business strategy in September that could see several ailing business divisions culled. Vivendi Universal has posted a 9% increase in first-half sales, with strong performance from its games division and French mobile operator SFR.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
NEW YORK'S CBGB AT RISK AS LEASE EXPIRES 29/07/05
A series of benefit concerts have been planned at legendary New York venue CBGB as the venue struggles to extend its soon to expire lease. Punk acts young, old and reunited have pledged their support including the Misfits, Dead Boys, Gorilla Biscuits and The Vandals will perform at a series of benefit concerts at the club in the coming weeks to raise funds for the effort. The Save CBGB fund is earmarked for the club's legal fees as it lobbies its landlord, the Bowery Residents Committee (BRC), a not-for-profit organization that provides services and shelter to homeless and disabled New Yorkers.
Other acts such as the Bangles, Elvis Costello and Sting have donated memorabilia for a fundraising auction, and the E Street Band's Steve Van Zandt has made efforts to personally negotiate with the BRC. Former Talking Heads vocalist David Byrne has also offered to assist in mediation. Rent rises and a dispute about interest have caused problems between the club owner, Hilly Kristal and the BRC. In May, the committee cut off negotiations with Kristal to renew the lease on his space.
Source: Billboard
SONY BMG SETTLE PAYOLA CLAIM AT $10 MILLION 26/07/05
Sony BMG is paying $10M in settlement following the Eliot Spitzer-led payola investigations in the US. The money will be paid to nonprofit organisations that promote music education. To get Franz Ferdinand played on WKSE, the label paid $4,000 to send radio executives to Miami. It is also said to have disguised 'payoffs' such as flat-screen TVs by referring to them as "contest
giveaways". It is expected similar settlements with the other majors will be arrived at soon. Sony BMG responded by firing its promotion executive at Epic and disciplining four other executives at SonyUrban and Epic. Spizer is expected to target radio stations next.
Source: FiveEight magazine
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL MOVES TO USA 26/07/05
The UK's Download Festival is being transported to the US. It will take place at the Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View, in California on 8th October and features The Killers as headliners. Also on the bill are Modest Mouse, The Arcade Fire, Doves, H.I.M. and Mindless Self Indulgence.
Tickets go on sale this Sunday. Like the U.K. version of the event, which drew 150,000 people this year to Donnington Park, the U.S. edition will offer cutting-edge technology and media experiences.
SONY BMG TO SETTLE PAYOLA CLAIM 25/07/05
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is expected to announce a settlement with Sony BMG in the US following his recent paoyla investigations. The other majors are expected to enter settlement talks soon if the Sony BMG agreement can work as a viable negotiating blueprint. The NY Times reports that Sony BMG is "expected
to admit to misconduct in its radio promotion practices" and may end its use of independent promoters as it moves to fall in line with tighter regulations.
Source: FiveEight Magazine
USE OF 'DOORS' NAME RESTRICTED 25/07/05
The recent Doors outing (with original members Ray Manzarek and Robby Kreiger along with Ian Astbury on vocals) have been banned from using the band's name while touring. This follows legal action brought by original drummer John Densmore and the family of Jim Morrison in the United States.
Keyboard player Manzrek, guitarist Krieger and Astbury have been touring as the Doors of the 21st Century since 2002 but the court has held that this breached an agreement struck in 1971, following Morrison's death in Paris, all three surviving members, as well as Morrison's estate, must agree on any use of the Doors name and logo. The LA court order also requires Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger to share profits from their group with the original Doors partnership.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
ASHANTI'S ORIGINAL PRODUCER WINS ROYALTY CLAIM 25/07/05
A US judge has ruled that that Ashanti owes $630,000 to her first producer for breach of contract. The singer was not in court when the jury returned its verdict in favor of Genard Parker, who worked with Ashanti in 1996 and 1997 when she was 16. Ashanti testified during the four-day trial that Parker did not live up to the terms of their deal as he helped her create music in a home studio that was so crude she sang in the bathroom.
Parker claimed that he was due a royalty on Ashanti's album after Ashanti's mother approached him in 1996 and he produced tracks for Ashanti in anticipation of future compensation. Parker and his team claims that Ashanti and her mother broke the contract and owed them "certain benefits and fees" to the tune of $4 million. Parker argued that Ashanti eventually signed with a record company and that he released her from his contract with the understanding that he could produce two songs on her first album. Ashanti, now 24, has sold more than 6 million copies of two albums, including " Ashanti", her debut, which garnered a Grammy Award in 2003 for best contemporary R&B album.
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com & www.ashantidaily.com
BLOC PARTY AND KASIER CHIEFS BOOKIES' FAVOURITES FOR 2005 MERCURY 20/07/05
Bloc Party 's album 'Silent Alarm' and the Kaiser Chiefs' 'Employment' are the favourites for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize but the prize could go anywhere in a very open field.
The nominations also include:
Chair of judges Simon Frith commnented that almost all of the nominees for the £20,000 prize were live touring bands and the bands are about 'live performance'.
JAPAN'S MOBILE COMPANIES DIAL UP VIRTUAL CASH 11/07/05
Japan 's big three mobile phone operators , Sony, NTT and DoCoMo have launched a chip which enables consumers to use their mobile in place of cash and credit cards. 'Edy to Edy' allows consumers to text money to friends, family an retailers and will soon extend to the Vodafone and KDDI networks.
In addition payment can be made at retail outlets by swiping the phone over a sensor. More than 20,000 Japanese retailers alreday accept 'Edy' payments and the numnber is expected to double in the next twelve months. The Edy chip can be charged with a maximum of £250 on a system related to the Oyster travel/ticket charge system used on London's underground which allows customers to swipe a card in over a sensor to pay for their travel. The Edy system needs a password for text sending of cash to prevent fraud.
Source: The Times Saturday July 9th
FINAL LIVE 8 PUTS POVERTY ON POLITICAL AGENDA 09/07/05
Bob Geldof and Bono hailed the Live8 campaign a major success as the G8 summit ended with positive moves to tackle poverty in Africa. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said that whilst there was no way the G8 could 'make poverty history' there was now a political will to deal with issues of world debt, trade and poverty. Leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations, at the close of a summit staged "in
the shadow of terrorism," announced that they will give $50 billion in aid to impoverished African nations and as much as $3 billion for the Palestinian Authority.
The final Scottish Live8 concert attracked more than 50,000 concert goers to Murrayfield Stadium with performances from Annie Lennox, Wet Wet Wet, Snow Patrol, The Proclaimers, Texas, Dido and Travis.
LONDON TERRORIST ATTACK FORCES CANCELLATIONS 08/07/05
The June 7th terrorist bombings in London have forced the cancellation or postponment of a number of concerts in the city. They include Sum 41's show at the Astoria, The Prodigy at London Carling Brixton, Nate James at Shepherd's Bush Empire and El Presidente at the Underbelly.
The 8th June planned gig in Hyde Park by Queen and Paul Rodgers has been postponed until July 15, while R.E.M.'s Saturday show at the same venue has been moved to July 16. Tickets for the postponed dates will be valid for the new shows. Queens of the Stone Age have also cancelled two shows and the UK Government have cancelled plans for a triumphal homecoming celebration for the victorious 2012 Olympics team.
RAPPER LIL' KIM SENTENCED TO A YEAR IN PRISON 07/07/05
Grammy-award winning rapper Lil' Kim was sentenced today (July 6) in New York to a year and a day in prison and fined $50,000 for lying to a federal grand jury to protect friends involved in a 2001 shootout outside a Manhattan radio station.
The artist, real name is Kimberly Jones, could have faced up to 20 years from US District Judge Gerard Lynch, five years each on three counts of perjury and and another five years on one count of conspiracy. Jones was convicted of the charges in March.
Source: Billboard.com
US LIVE MARKET TAKES A POUNDING 07/07/05
The average ticket price for concerts in the US is now $50.27. This is 6% lower than the end of last year and the first time ticket prices have dropped in over 10 years. Total ticket revenue is down 17% to $731M.
Promoters have blamed excessive artist fees for high ticket prices particulalry in the 'heritage' market where $100 plus tickets were the norm. Promoters now say that fees are reducing to realistic levels. U2 had the biggest grossing tour of the year so far in the US, pulling in $48.4M. The top 100 concert tours during the first half of the year saw 14.5M tickets being sold.
LUTHER VANDROSS 1951 - 2005 07/07/05
Luther Ronzoni Vandross , the silky-voiced R&B crooner
who had huge hits with romantic ballards including "Here and Now" and "Any
Love," died on Friday, July 1st, 2005 at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, NJ. He was 54. The highly admired singer/songwriter/producer has sold in excess of 30 million records worldwide, winning eight Grammy Awards, numerous Soul Train, BET, NAACP Image and American Music Awards.
He ranked as one of the most successful R&B singers of the 1980's and broke through to even wider commercial success in 1989 with the Best of Luther Vandross, the Best of Love, which included the new song "Here and Now", his first Grammy winning hit which became a signature wedding song.
EBAY AGREES TO REMOVE PIRATED DVDS 06/07/05
Internet auction site eBay has confirmed that it has begun removing illegal DVD copies of last weekend's Live 8 concerts from its Web site as well as Glastonbury performances from the previous weekend after the record industry and the BBC complained.
Some of the pirate Live 8 recordings on the site early today were on sale within 24 hours of the conclusion of the Saturday event, and have been attracting bids of up to £16.99 ($31) each. It is expected that worldwide TV audiences topped 2 billion and AOL confirmed that the webstreams had made Live 8 the biggest online event ever.
Source: www.billboard.com
U2 STYLIST MUST RETURN ICONIC STETSON 06/07/05
District Court Judge Michael Deery has ruled that Lola Cashman, a former stylist for U2, must return to lead singer Bono a range of clothes, including his 'iconic' cowboy hat and earrings, and nearly 200 backstage photographs which are in her possession and which Cashman was planning to auction. Justice Deery said in Dublin that he didn't accept Lola Cashman's claim that Bono gave her the clothes as gifts at the end of the U.S. leg of U2's 1987 tour. He ordered her to hand over the disputed property within a week.
LIVE 8 PUSHES UP ALBUM SALES 05/07/05
The 'Live 8 Effect' is seeing the big-name acts shifting a lot of records as a result. On Monday, Pink Floyd's 'Echoes' album saw its sales grow by 1343% at HMV. The Who's 'Then & Now' compilation was the second-best performer, rising 863%.
Of the 23 albums listed in the NME's coverage, 11 were Best Ofs/Greatest Hits. Seven of the top 10 were Best Ofs. On TV in the UK, BBC1 coverage of Live 8 peaked at 9.6M for Robbie Williams' performance.
Conversely the BBC has received over 400 complaints about the swearing on Live 8 from the likes of Greenday and Razorlight.
Source: media.guardian.co.uk
SWEDEN BANS PEER 2 PEER
FILE SWAPPING 05/07/05
With one of the highest P2P usage rates in the world (10%
of the population it is now illegal to download copyrighted material in Sweden.
Sweden was the only EU nation that allowed people to download for personal
use, but the change in the law is designed to bring it in line with the rest
of Europe. It is estimated that one in every 2,000 Swedes has now received
a letter saying they are infringing copyrighted works (compared to one in every
7,000 in most other territories). Back in May, Thomas Bodstrom,
Sweden's justice minister, urged labels to stop releasing copy-protected CDs.
He argued that consumers should be able to make copies of CDs they bought for
personal use, but agreed the government needed to push through tougher anti-piracy
measures: The law, which takes effect July 1, also bans technology and software
used to circumvent protections on copyright material, including music, movies
and games mirroring similar legislation in the USA. Previously whilst it was
prohibited in Sweden to make copyright material available for others to download,
downloading itself was legal. The new law also makes it illegal to copy an
entire book, including text books, on a copying machine. Sweden does not forbid
making a copy of a CD or DVD for personal use but there is a 24% tax on recordable
CD and DVD-discs.
LIVE 8 WATCHED BY THE WORLD 05/07/05
Massive TV audiences watched the world's Live8 concerts from London's Hyde Park, The Eden Project, Berlin, Paris, Italy, Philadephia and Moscow with the cream of the world's talent on stage including Madonna, Bon Jovi, Elton John, Coldplay and a reformed Pink Floyd. The London concert was marred by a very late running schedule which left thousands who had been urged to use London Transport trapped in London without transport home as public services shut down. The Universal Music group has rush-released Paul McCartney and U2's version of 'Sgt. Pepper...' (which opened Live 8 in London) to 200+ download services. All proceeds go to Live 8.
FLY POSTING COSTS CAMDEN MONEY 05/07/05
In a letter to the UK's Guardian newspaper Peter Strange, The London Borough of Camden's
boulevard project manager quite rightly points out that for years music companies
have bolstered their profits by illegally advertising in towns and city centres
by flyposting their products. In Camden, he calculated that the music industry
was saving in excess of £10m a year on advertising costs, with direct costs to us of more than £250,000
to clean up after them.
Camden took the threat of Asbos (Anti Social Behaviour Orders issued by courts) against senior label executives to make some of them wake up. This has stopped flyposting in Camden, but Mr Strange points out that music companies continue to flypost to the detriment of areas that have failed to follow Camden's lead. Mr Strange adds that in light of this, it is difficult to feel much sympathy for the BPI in its crusade against teenage down-loaders!
NIKE FACE A MAJOR THREAT 05/07/05
Mid-80's hardcore punk band Minor Threat are considering legal action against Nike after they noticed a strong similarity between one of the band's album covers and a flier and Web ad promoting the "Major
Threat" skateboarding tour sponsored by Nike.
Minor Threat and Dischord Records, which is co-owned by the band's singer, Ian MacKaye, are known for being anticorporate. Dischord received some e-mail messages expressing disbelief that such an emblem of punk-rock integrity could sell out so completely, while others asked how Nike could steal an image so blatantly. Nike had not contacted the band before releasing the remixed image, in which someone looking much like the slumped figure on the Minor Threat cover is wearing Nike sneakers. The music site Pitchfork ( www.pitchforkmedia.com ) published an article taking Nike to task, and days later the company withdrew the offending flier and apologized in a statement it posted on its skateboarding site.
Source: New York Times