U2 TOP BILLBOARD LIVE AWARDS 27/10/05
U2 came away with the most honours at the October 26th Billboard Roadwork '05 Touring Awards, winning top tour for its Vertigo trek, top draw and top Boxscore for its June 24-27 dates at Croke Park in Dublin. The event took place at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.
Other big winners include Clear Channel Entertainment, which was honored with top promoter; Jam Productions, winner of top independent promoter; Principle Management, which received the top manager award; and William Morris Agency, the winner of top agency.The Dave Matthews Band received Roadwork '05's Humanitarian Award for the band's philanthropic efforts. Pioneering promoter Jack Boyle, chairman emeritus for Clear Channel Entertainment and founder of Cellar Door Concerts, received the Legend of Live Award.
Awards are based on box office performance reported to Billboard Boxscore from November. 20th 2004 through to September 30th 2005.
Source: www.billboard.com
NEW UK LICENSING LAW PROVIDES MORE CONTROVERSY 24/10/05
Amid fresh warnings from the police that the real ramifications of the UK's 2003 Licensing Act will be binge drinking and late night violence and crime local London authority Camden Council have pointed out that as the fees set to administer licences are based on the so called ratable value of a building (in general terms the value of the building for local tax purposes), institutions such as the British Library, The Royal College of Physicians, Birkbeck College and the Royal Free Hospital School will be paying more for their bar licences than mainstream pubs and clubs even though the bars are only a secondary use by such institutions.
Only 9% of Camden's pubs and clubs face higher level licence fees whereas five of the eight cinemas and six of the eleven theatres in the borough face high level fees for licensing. The Government has now asked for a review on behalf of the Department
of Culture Media & Sport headed by Sir Lew Elton.
MUSIC MAKERS TOLD TO TARGET FILM, ADVERTISING AND TV WORLDS 24/10/05
A large delegation of British record label executives is heading to the Billboard
Film & TV Conference in Los Angeles next month sponsored by the British Phonographic Industry. The BPI is trying to pursuade labels to look at the growth opportunities in advertising, film and television as traditional revenues sources such as CDs decline and internet piracy remains a serious problem. The BPI estimates that currently about £25
million annually is generated for British music from films and television. The LA trips follws a trip to the E3 Games Festival to tap into the huge market for music in the games industry.
YOUR LIFE IN MUSIC 24/10/05
A UK study has shown that the average person spends £21,270.00 (approx ¤31,500.00) on music during their life although a 'diehard' music fan will spend over double that. The study, from insurer Prudential, shows that the bulk of the money is spent on equipment on hardware - CD and DVD players, iPods, Walkman, stereo systems and car radios. The average person invests about £900.00 in equipment and spends about £200.00 on CDs, DVDs and downloads, another £200.00 on live events and £14.00 on music magazines.
The highest number of serious music lovers live in London and spend £1,500.00 per year on equipment, £600.00 each year on CDs/downloads and about about £300.00 each year on live music and events.
PEARL JAM GRAB SAN PAULO SHOW 21/10/05
After weeks of doubts, Sao Paulo's mayor had agreed to allow Pearl Jam to perform in the Brazilian city's biggest stadium. More than 40,000 fans are expected for the December 2nd and 3rd shows at the Pacaembu Stadium, which will mark the Seattle-based band's debut in Brazil.
Mayor Jose Serra had suspended shows in Pacaembu after complaints from residents of the posh neighborhood around the stadium about noise and mess. The show must end at 9.45pm and there are strict noise limits and restrictions on rehearsals.
Source: www.billboard.com
NEW US VISA RULES 21/10/05
From the 4th October 2005 it is mandatory to provide complete address details of any travellers first night's stay in the USA advises Ron Zeelans of RAZco Visas. This information will be collected at the time a person checks in for a flight to the USA.
The new legislation requires that, in addition to normal passport and visa requirements, a genuine accommodation address for the first night's stay in the United States must be supplied when you check in for your flight. The address should contain a hotel name if applicable, street number and street name, city, state and zip code (postal code). Passengers who are transferring directly to a cruise after arrival in the USA will need to give full details of that cruise including where they will board the cruise and the name of the cruise line and persons transferring to other flights out of the USA without a stopover will need to to give full details of that flight including airline details, departure details and destination details.
GUY DEPARTS FROM MEDIA TRAVEL 20/10/05
After 20 years in the music biz side of the travel industry, Guy Lindsay-Watson is making his farewell at the end of October, and handing over the reins of Media Travel to his long time business partner Fran Green.
Guy, who will be relocating to Thailand to pursue his other business interests, commented: "I
feel now that the time is right for me to step down and let Fran and
our team take the company onwards, I have had enormous fun over the years,
have made many friends in the industry and there are a lot of people I will
really miss".
MTV LATIN AWARDS CANCELLED IN FACE OF HURRICANE WILMA 20/10/05
Global warming? what global warming? The MTV Video Music Awards Latin America 2005 have been cancelled in the face of Hurricane Wilma. The category five storm - the most powerful hurricane on record - is currently in the Gulf of Mexico and is headed for Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
The VMALAs 2005, which were to be hosted in Mexico¹s Playa Del Carmen, were initially to be held a day early to avoid the storm. But today MTV Latin America issued a statement postponing the awards until further notice spelling out the risks of jeopardizing the creative integrity of the show given the risk of talent cancelations and the dismantling of a production this size and more importantly the risks to staff, audience, talent and clients. Among those set to perform at the ceremony were Shakira, Ricky Martin and Foo Fighters.
Press Release: www.mtv.co.uk
BONO WANTS TO GET BOOSEY? 20/10/05
Elevation Partners , the venture capital company co-funded by Bono from U2 is seeking to buying Boosey & Hawkes for £180M. Elevation apparently has $1.8B to 'splash out' on media and entertainment assets. Elevation is one of what is thought to be eight bidders for the big music publishing indie.
EMI COLLECT LOTS OF GONGS AT THE DIGITAL MUSIC AWARDS 19/10/05
The BT sponsored Digital Music Awards. iTunes got Best Music Store, Coldplay got Best Digital Music Community, Live 8 got Best Event or Performance, depechemode.tv got Best Unofficial Site, LiveGigsOnline got Best Use Of Broadband, Napster To Go got Best Innovation and the Natasha Bedingfield Mobicast got Best Use Of Mobile. EMI acts dominated by winning seven of the awards (Coldplay got three of those and Gorillaz got two).
C-WORD T-SHIRT PUTS TEENAGER IN THE DOCK 18/10/05
Sporting a Cradle of Filth T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'Jesus is a c**t' has left a UK teenager with an 80 hour community penalty (unpaid work). The 19 year old teenager, Adam Shepherd, also has to pay £40.00 costs at Weymouth Magistrates Court. Shepherd's girlfriend was wearing the T-shirt when this was reported by a member of the public.
When approached by the police the two teenagers swapped shirts but Shepherd then refused to take of the offending T-shirt. The teenager was convicted under new UK race hate laws. In the punk era Stiff Records had product banned for being offensive ('if it aint Stiff it aint worth a F**k' being one memorable T-shirt slogan) and even the Sex Pistols' 'Never Mind The B**locks' album was removed from many shop windows after a call from PC Plod.
ONE STOP LICENCING FOR DOWNLOADS IN EUROPE 14/10/05
The European Communities Internal Market and Services Commissioner: Charlie McCreevy has said that online music service in Europe such as Apple's iTunes will be able to aquire a single licence to use songs from one of the European Collection Societies.
Currently use requires the consent of dozens of license holders from each country
where the service wants to operate ‹ from record labels or their collections
societies for the use of the sound recording and from music publishing royalty
collection societies (such as the MCPS and PRS) or music publishers for the use of the song.
In some instances consent will be needed from the artists themselves. The resulting lengthy negotiations have pushed back the launch of services such as iTunes and Napster and some popular U.S. music services such as Yahoo have yet to appear in Europe in part due to the complexity of the rights situation. The new move is hoped to make the launch of new online services in Europe easier and hopefully will facilitate better artist and songwriter payments.
GLASTONBURY 2005 SAFEST YET 13/10/05
Police and Local Authority representatives were full of praise for the 2005 Glastonbury Festival despite the flooding caused by torrential rain. The report, presented by Mendip District Council's Business Manager in Planning and EnvironmentCharles Uzzell, acknowledged that this year's event, headlined by The White Stripes, Coldplay and Basement Jaxx was 'more successful' than 2004, with noise control improved and the impact on local communities lessened.
It was noted that the rain was extraordinary and prhaps a 'one in a hundred years' event and the Report praised the Festival's response. Almost all of the site's main venues were up and running within a matter of hours.The main criticism was insufficient space for camping. There was a 14% decrease in the number of arrests and a 19% drop in arrests, excluding drug offences. Superintendent Adrian Coombes from Avon and Somerset who said the festival was the 'safest yet'. Organiser Michael Eavis is taking a year off in 2006, returning to promote the Festival in 2007.
A new Glastonbury feature film, directed by Julien Temple, will be released in 2006.
MICROSOFT
SETTLES FOR £435 MILLION WITH REALNETWORKS 13/10/05
Microsoft has reached a US$761 million settlement with RealNetworks which arose from the allegations of anti-competitive behaviour by the software giant in the Eurpoean market. The settlement, which includes a £460
million cash payment to RealNetworks also includes a promise by Microsoft to promote RealNetworks music and games networks through Microsofts online services and software. RealNetwork's services include RealPlayer and the Rhapsody music subscription service.
RealNetwork 's shares soared 33% on Wall Street after the news. Microsoft will rceive a credit for each subscriber it drives to Real. The parties will also collaborate on technology initiatives in the future. Microsoft have already had to agree to 'unbundle' their MediaPlayer software, pay a substantial EC fine of (£331 million (¤497 million) and allow competitors access to its software protocols (although it is clear that the unbundled software is not selling). It is thought that Microsoft has paid out nearly $3 billion in settlements over its anti-competitive behavour in recent years including settlements with IBM, TimeWarner and Sun Microsystems.
SONY AND BMG ROW OVER SPRINGSTEEN? 13/10/05
The UK's Times newspaper (12 Oct) reports that the reason why SonyBMG CEO Andrew Lack has not had his contract extended is because of a row between the two partners in the world's second biggest record label. The row, over a proposed £30
million ($50 million) contract with Bruce Springsteen, meant that BMG parent company Bertelsmann refused to confirm Mr Lacks re-appointment. Lack is seen as a Sony appointment. Springsteen's current album 'Devils & Dust' has approaching 2 million sales globally.
OASIS AND COLDPLAY Q UP 11/10/05
Oasis and Coldplay made up at the Q Awards with Oasis winning best album and the 'Peoples Choice' award voted for by readers of Q and Coldplay winning Best Act In The World. Other winners included Gorillaz who won Best Video for 'Feel Good Inc' and Best Production for Demon Days. James Blunt won Best New Act and KT Tunstall won best track for 'Black Horse' and 'The Cherry Tree'.
SANCTUARY TO SHED 25% OF STAFF 11/10/05
Sanctuary has said it is cutting 175 jobs worldwide as part of its efforts to stabilise its fortunes. The Group, which employs 300 peole in London, is trying to recover from a string of profit warnings which have pushed its shares to an all time low of 6.1p yesterday from 43p in June 2005.
UK Q3 CD SALES RISE 11/10/05
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reports that in the 2005 third quarter (Q3) artist album sales rose 6.9% in the UK, with big-name releases from the likes of James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Coldplay and Kaiser Chiefs driving sales. Seven of the top 10 albums were by UK acts (three of which were debut albums). A decline in the compilations market meant that the overall album rise was 1.4%. In terms of digital, 16.9M downloads have been sold so far this year in the UK compared to 5.7M in all of 2004. Around half a million downloads are sold each week and they make up 25.5% of all sales in the top 75 singles. Physical single sales were down 21.8% in Q3, but digital sales rose 288% to push the overall singles market up 49%.
STONES MANAGE TO AVOID CANCELLING BUT DEAD KENNEDY'S WALK OUT 10/10/05
A bomb threat halted a Rolling Stones concert in Charlottesville on the 6th October almost resulted in a cancelled show after just eight songs but Mick, Keef, Ronnie and Charlie returned to the stage about 45 minutes later, officials said on Friday. The threat was made in a phone call just before 9 p.m. and was "specific
to the stage area" of the concert at the University of Virginia's Scott Stadium, which was packed with 50,000 fans.
Elsewhere in the USAThe Dead Kennedys have pulled out of an October 29th Los Angeles show, citing sponsorship by Coors Brewing Company as the reason. The veteran punk group was to play along with Suicidal Tendencies, The Germs, Flipper and Marky Ramone at the event, dubbed 'Walking the Dead'. The group claimed it was unaware of any corporate sponsorship for the concert until the Coors logo appeared in a printed advertisement. Unable to work out a reasonable compromise with the organizers of the show, the band cancelled its appearance.
WARNERS CHIEF CASTS DOUBT ON EMI MERGER 10/10/05
Whilst most of the record industry just presumes that Warners and EMI will merge their labels leaving just three 'majors' each with about 25% of the global market (the other two being Universal and Sony-BMG) Paul-Rene Albertini, head of Warner Music International, thinks that the 4th and 5th biggest record labels in the world should remain independent and that he was 'not aware' of any merger talks in an interview with the UK's Times newspaper. Warners recent run of success with artists such as James Blunt, David Gray and Damien Rice have shown the strength of the label's artist roster and industry analysts doubt if a merger would produce the same sort of savings as the Sony-BMG merger as both Warners and EMI have already undertaken substantial cost cutting exercises.
FOLK IMPRESARIO HAROLD LEVENTHAL DIES 10/10/05
Folk impresario Harold Levethal who worked with clients such as Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie, Bob Seeger and Joan Baez has died aged 86. He is survived by his wife Natalie and two daughters. Variously a manager, promoter and publisher, Harold grew up in New York on the Lower East side and found his first job in the music industry as a song plugger for Irving Berlin.
Becoming a manager Leventhal pushed the Weavers to be a million selling band although the band were held back by Bon Seeger's openly left wing views in the McCarthy witch-hunt era. and eventually disbanded. Leventhal then took on Woodie Guthrie whose song 'This Land is Your Land' was recently re-used by diasffacted Americans. Leventhal went on to be a successful promoter and widended his touring client list to include Jacques Brel, Miriam Makeba and Ravi Shankar in USA.
Much to Harold's amusement he was the inspiration for the folk 'impreasrio'Irving Stienbloom in the 2003 spoof rocumentary 'A Mighty Wind', the same year as he was honoured with a tribute concert at Carnegie Hall.
WHITE STRIPES, IGGY AND FRANZ TO HAVE A BIG DAY OUT 07/10/05
The White Stripes, Iggy & the Stooges and Franz Ferdinand lead the initial list of performers for the 2006 Big Day Out festival tour of Australia and New Zealand. The event will begin on January 20th in Auckland and move on to Australian shows in Gold Coast (January 22), Sydney (January 26), Melbourne (January 29), Adelaide (February 3) and Perth (February 5). Among the other acts confirmed to perform are Kings Of Leon, The Mars Volta, AFI, Sleater-Kinney, Soulwax / 2ManyDJs, The Magic Numbers, The Living End, Cut Copy, The End Of Fashion and Youth Group.
Website: www.bigdayout.com
JACKSON - AVRAM DISPUTE RUMBLES ON 06/10/05
Michael Jackson filed a lawsuit on the 3rd October against a concert promoter Marcvel Avram to prevent arbitration over a disputed 1999 Millennium Show concert contract. Jackson and his company, MJ Company, sued Marcel Avram and his German-based company for breach of contract, according to court papers. The lawsuit also seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent Avram from proceeding with arbitration. In November 2002 Jackson testified in a $21 million lawsuit brought against him by Avram, who accused the entertainer of backing out of two concerts on New Year's Eve 1999. A Santa Barbara County jury in March 2003 ruled that Jackson must pay Avram $5.3 million.
DVD FORMAT WAR HOTS UP 05/10/05
The format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray DVD has hotted up after Sony's Blu-ray won a key defection as Viacom said it would support the Japanese conglomerate's format. Paramount switched from unequivocal support for Toshiba's HD-DVD to endorsing both standards. Sony now have support from Warner Bros, Disney, MGM, Sony and 20th Century Fox as well as computer firms and manufacturers such as HP, Dell, Apple, Philips and Samsung.
Both formats are set to hit high street shops next spring but are incompatible because the technology behind the two are different. Retailers and Hollywood are bracing themselves for a battle reminiscent of the Betamax - VHS format war - a battle which Sony lost. But Toshiba's HD formsat still has strong support including the joint endorsement from Paramount and Sanyo, NEC, chip makers Intel and computer giant Microsoft who will build HD-DVD drives into new XBoxes....
FATAL STAMPEDE AT KOREAN SHOW LEAVES 11 DEAD 04/10/05
Reuters report that thousands of people stampeded at a Korean holdiday music concert organised by broadcaster MBC which led to 11 deaths and 76 injured fans. More than 5000 fans surged at a stadium gate in the Southern city of Sangui crushing those at the front.
A preliminary police investigation showed the accident occurred when one of the main gates was opened earlier than others for the unreserved-seating concert that had attracted a crowd of about 10,000. People rushed to the open gate, causing a surge that quickly turned into a stampede, according to police. Park Yun-sok, an official with the city government's disaster management division, said the number of the dead could rise by one or two because some of the injured are in a serious condition. The victims were mostly elderly and children as they were all either in their 50s or older, or children younger than 14. At the time of the accident, there were 100 security personnel, including 30 police and 70 people from the event agency, who were responsible for keeping the stadium gates closed until the concert began.
REUNITED FUGEES PLAN EUROPEAN OUTING 03/10/05
After releasing their first single in nearly a decade, the Fugees continue their reunion with a set of European tour dates planned for the end of the year according to billboard.com. The tour will open November 30th in Vienna and over the following three weeks will make stops in Finland, France, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, with their last scheduled gig scheduled December 20th in Switzerland. No US dates have been announced as yet.
PETE DOHERTY ARRESTED AND BAILED ON DRUGS CHARGES 03/10/05
Babyshambles frontman and ex-Libertine, Pete Doherty whose on-off relationship with Kate Moss has sparked a UK tabloid press frenzy was arrested after a show. The singer, who has claimed to be off drugs and who has put on substantial weight had just finished performing at the Music Hall in Shrewsbury when West Mercia police attended. The singer was arrested and held for 12 hours before being released on bail. The Babyshambles gig in Norwich last night (2nd October) was cancelled. It is believed members of the tour support, the Littl'ans, were also arrested. Doherty has protested his innocence saying officers mistook a prescription implant to stop drug abuse as drugs.
DIGITAL SALES TRIPLE TO 6% OF INDUSTRY RETAIL REVENUES AS GLOBAL MUSIC MARKET FALLS 1.9% 03/10/05
Booming demand for music on the internet and mobile phones nearly offset the decline in physical formats as recorded music sales fell 1.9% to a retail value of $US 13.2 billion in the first half of 2005, compared to $US 13.4 billion in the same period of 2004. The IFPI has estimated the retail value of the digital music market in order to be consistent with its reporting of physical sales, and to allow year-on-year comparisons. On that basis, digital music sales in the period amounted to approximately $ US 790 million, up from $ US 220 million in the first half of 2004. This is the equivalent of 6% of total record industry sales. On a trade basis, excluding the retail margin, digital sales in the first half of 2005 totalled $US 440 million.
This includes sales from a-la-carte download stores, music subscription stores and from mobile music services such as downloads and 'ringtunes'. The figure does not include revenues from monophonic and polyphonic ringtones. The surge in digital music sales is being driven by the growing uptake of broadband, increasing penetration of 3G mobile phones and portable music players, and a series of successful launches of new music services in different countries over the past year. The digital music market has now overtaken the value of the global singles market. The figures show online and mobile sales making a significant impact on the world music market for the first time. The digital music business is so far being driven largely by the world's top five markets - US, Japan, UK, Germany and France - but is expected to spread rapidly and will benefit many other markets in the coming months.
IFPI Chairman and CEO John Kennedy said:
"The digital music boom is continuing and it is growing at an exciting pace for the music industry, for online retailers and for consumers. More and more people in a growing number of countries are turning to the new legal ways of downloading music on the internet or via mobile phones" .
"Meanwhile,
there has been other good news in 2005: our actions to contain internet
piracy, whether by education or by litigation, are working. And the legal
environment is improving, with a series of recent decisions against unauthorised
file-swapping services such as Kazaa helping to shift the balance in favour of the legitimate business.
There is a long way to go - digital and physical piracy remain a big threat
to our business in many markets. Our industry's priorities are to further grow
this emerging digital music business while stepping up our efforts to protect
it from copyright theft."
Physical music sales in the first half of the year, by contrast, fell by 6.3% in retail value to $US 12.4 billion, and by 6.6% in units, compared to the same period of 2004. this drop is attributed to a number of factors, including lower retail prices, a small decline in DVD music video sales, which fell 3.1% in value and 1.6% in units.
Despite falls in continental Europe and Asia, DVD music video sales value grew in parts of Latin America, UK (18.3%), US (3.7%) and France (3.9%). Globally DVD music video accounts for 7.2% of sales value - approximately the same proportion as in the first half of 2004; the continued impact of illegal downloading and CD burning and other factors such as release schedules, commercial piracy and competition from other entertainment sectors.
The US saw a drop in physical sales of 5.3% in value and 5.7% in units, but a counterbalancing strong increase in digital music sales. Sales of single track downloads alone in the US were up almost threefold in the first half of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004, totalling 159 million.
Different forms of piracy, such as illegal downloading and CD burning, are having a significant impact on the US market while the record clubs segment continues to decline. The overall fall in sales is accentuated as a result of the strong first half sales in 2004.
Source: www.ifpi.org (3rd October 2005)
IFPI LIST BEST SELLING ALBUMS OF H1 2005 03/10/05
The IFPI has released details of the best selling albums from the first half of 2005. These include;
Source: www.ifpi.org
UNIVERSAL TO PLACE TV PROGRAMMES ON AIR 02/10/05
Universal Music in the US is moving into infomercials as a means of selling its back catalogue. The Universal Music Enterprises arm will be targeting consumers aged 40+ with specially-commissioned half-hour TV shows specialisng in music from the 1960s and 1970s. This is partly in response to the market power of key retailers such as Wal-Mart that almost exclusively concentrate on new releases. It is expected that the infomercials will cost up to $800,000 each to produce and will feature key classic artists.. The TV-selling of music (and music memorabilia) has a long history in the US and - increasingly so - in Europe, but FiveEight magazine suggest thar this is the first time a label has stepped so squarely into the market, claiming that it will overturn the 'kitsch' nature of such infomercials by placing an emphasis on high production values.
IN THE CITY PUTS ON 600 BANDS AT 60 VENUES IN 4 DAYS! 02/10/05
In the City , the Manchester based international music convention in the UK has wracked up a massive show of 600 bands in a 4 day period. The convention, headed up by ex Factory Records boss Tony Wilson featured a keynote speach from UK veteran Ralph Simon on the role of mobiles in the digital world as well as panels on convergence, new methods of retailing music, the 'festivalisation' of music and the ITC Urban Summit. ITC has previously been a launch pad for bands as diverse as Oasis and The Darkness. Sponsors for the event included Radio 1 and the PPL.
GOLD DIGGER STILL ON TOP IN USA 02/10/05
Kane West 's "Gold Digger" featuring Jamie Foxx continues its domination of several Billboard charts again this week. On the Billboard Hot 100, it is No. 1 for a fourth straight week and is the greatest airplay gainer on the chart. In addition to extending its weeks at No. 1 on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (three), Pop 100 (three), Hot Digital Songs (four) and Hot Ringtones (four) lists, "Gold
Digger" also advances to No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart, where Bow Wow's "Like
You" featuring Ciara falls to No. 2 after four weeks on top.