News archive items listed by month below (click here).
MAMA TO BID FOR SANCTUARY? 24/07/06
It appears that Kasier Chief's management company MAMA whose assets include the BarFly chain of venues and the Channelfly magazine are lining up a bid for Sanctuary. The deal wouLd involve selling of all of Sanctuary's record label assets. MAMA, led by Adam Driscoll and ex Mean Fiddler CEO Dean James aim to re-structure Sanctuary into three industry divisions: artist management, merchandising and live.
KYLIE SELLS OUT, BOB BOMBS 24/07/06
Tickets for Kylie Minogue's 'comeback' shows at Wembley on 2nd and 3rd January sold out in a matter of minutes but Bob Geldof has had to cancel his Italian Tour after only 45 people turned up to Milan's 12000 capacity Civic Arena.
STONE TOP TOUR SO FAR THIS YEAR 24/07/06
The Rolling Stones Bigger Bang tour has been the most successful tour so far this year
despite Keith Richards' tree related shenanigans. Their tour grossed $147.3 million between November 2005 and May 2006 (Billboard), making it the biggest live music operation during that period. U2 came in second although they also had to postpone a number of dates during that time period due to family illness. U2 grossed $73 million in those seven months. Following them in terms of tour revenues were Bon Jovi ($65 million), Billy Joel ($47.4 million), Cirque du Soleil's Delirium ($38.7 million), Aerosmith ($35 million), Coldplay ($29 million), Luis Miguel ($25 million), Trans Siberian Orchestra ($24 million) and Paul McCartney ($17.6 million). Despite concerns that rising ticket prices could threaten recent successes in the live sector, Billboard reports that ticket revenues from live music events in the US between January and June this year were up 24.6% - though
attendance was up just 5.4% with those rising ticket prices adding to the overall revenue rise. Worldwide revenues were up 13.3%, with a 2% attendance rise. The top ten grossing world tours played a significant role in the overall increases in both revenue and attendance.
MERCURY NOMINEES ANNOUNCED 20/07/06
Jools Holland was on hand in London yesterday to announce the nominees for the annual Mercury Music Prize. As ever the list is eclectic and the nominees are - take a deep breath - Monkeys for 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not',
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - 'Ballad Of The Broken Seas', Editors - 'The Back Room', Guillemots - 'Through The Windowpane', Richard Hawley - 'Coles Corner', Hot Chip - 'The Warning', Muse - 'Black Holes & Revelations', Zoe Rahman - 'Melting Pot', Lou Rhodes - 'Beloved One', Scritti Politti - 'White Bread Black Beer',
Sway - 'This Is My Demo', Thom Yorke - 'The Eraser'. Revealing this year's nominees, chair of judges Simon Frith hailed the artists for reflecting contemporary life. The overall winner of the £20,000 prize will be announced on September 5. Last year's prize was won by Anthony & The Johnson for the album 'I Am A Bird Now'.
JAPANESE MARKET GROWS 20/07/06
Music sales in Japan have increased 3% to 142.7M units in the first half of the year. The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) reports that the market had a wholesale value of Yen 166.9B (around $1.4B) in January-June, which was an increase of 2% from the same period in 2005. While the market rose 3% (in units), so too did the production of both domestic repertoire and international repertoire. The biggest boom in production was in music video and music DVD which increased by 47% to 23.3M units. Earlier this year the IFPI reported that the DVD market had suffered its first dip (in terms of global sales) last year but Japan may have bucked this trend.
ARE PUNTERS REBELLING OVER FESTIVAL TICKET PRICES? 20/07/06
A new study by TNS has found than many UK consumers (especially older ones) believe festivals are too expensive. What is most interesting in the study is the average price that consumers are prepared to pay for a weekend festival - across all those surveyed, the average was £59 (basically half of the current prices) while it did go up slightly (to £81) for those aged 16-24. At the upper tier, only 3% of those aged 55-64 would pay £101-150 for a ticket while 22% of younger consumers would. However with the prices for re-sold and touted tickets on Ebay soaring, and with the huge demand for Glastonbury tickets each year (last year 112,500 cusomers paid £125 each) and the 35,000 'early bird' tickets sold for next year's T In The Park in Scotland within an hour of going on sale the survey is perhaps a little out of step with what consumers will really pay. However, one concern is that the live industry may be on the cusp of a decline as consumers revolt against ticket price increases as was seen in the US in 2005. In this month's Five Eight magazine Geoff Huckstep (chair of the National Arenas Association) and Alan Krueger (professor of economics at Princeton) both comment on what value for money is in the live sector and what power, if any, consumers have to resist continual price hikes.
BMG BIDDERS STAND UP TO BE COUNTED 20/07/06
EMI and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) have joined forces in the $1.5 billion (£822 million) auction for BMG Music Publishing, Bertelsmann’s music publishing business, and are thouht to through to the second round of the bidding process. They are joined by Vivendi Universal and Warner Music who have also passed the first hurdle. It is also thought that venture capitalist BC Partners, but Sony and GTCR Golder Rauner, the Chicago buyout firm are also still in the bidding. But in the wake of the European Court of First Instance's decison to annul the approval of the Sony BMG merger there clearly are competition law issues for a number of the bidders. A combined EMI/BMG (the worlds no 1 and no 3 music publishers) would have an approximate 33% global market share, Warner/Chappel are the world's no 2 music publisher and Universal the world's No 4 so any merger raises issues of collective dominance. The European Court was highly critical of the European Commission's decision in the SonyBMG merger and it is likley the Commission will now look very carefully at any bid by a major publisher or any at more concentration of ownership by the majors in the music industry. In fact the SonyBMG merger was only the two record labels and Sony's and Bertlemann's music publishing business were separated out. To be fair there are some diferences between the sound recording and music publsihing markets -in music publishing their are some large independent music publishers such as Bucks Music, Carlin, Chrysalis Music and Bug Music. And the markets are different - in fact with music publishing some prices are overtly fixed accross markets by the collection societies such as the SACEM, the PRS/MCPS and GEMA and although it should be noted that the collection societies themselves are facing investigations by the European Commission pricing in the music publishing industry this is possibly less of an issue than the problems wth CD and download pricing by record labels highlighted by the European Court. But even market differences and joint ownership with venture capitalists may not be enough allay fears of collective dominance.
UK GOVERNMENT MARCHES INTO TICKET WARS 18/07/06
The UK government is finally listening to complaints about ticket touting and the re-selling of tickets with excessive mark-ups. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told reporters: "The innocent victim of ticket touting is the fan who has to pay through the nose for a vastly overpriced ticket to see their sporting, stage or musical hero. These are the people we
must protect." No new laws will be introduced at this stage regarding ticket touts,
although Jowell did not rule out the need to legislate at some point in the
future to protect consumer interests. Rather oddly Jowell said: " The industry should consider itself on notice. If it hasn't come up with a workable solution to stamping out the
most unscrupulous touts by next summer, where there is clear evidence it's
needed, we may consider targeted action and changes in legislation to ensure
genuine fans are protected from exploitation." We say this is odd as the industry has been ASKING for legislation for some time now. The DCMS are now going to survey the public to guage public opinion and the so-called 'touts summit' outlined the proposed government response which has not been to make touting illegal, but rather to make it 'unattractive' for touts to operate. The measures include creating a website (run by the Concert Promoters Association) for consumers to re-sell tickets they can no longer use - and sold at face value . But services such as ScarletMist have been allowing consumers to do this since 2003, so it's not exactly a radical step by the government. In fact, the more cynical might see it as too little, too late. The government is also drafting a 'code of practice' for primary and secondary sellers of tickets, although it is still unclear what form that will take. A recent ICM survey found that 87% of eBay users wanted the right to re-sell tickets, but this was only because they found it infuriating trying to get a refund from the promoter if they could not attend the event. The current issue of Five Eight takes a look at the impact that ScarletMist and other re-seller sites are having on traditional retail.
FORUM FIGHTS OFF MOSH PIT CLAIM
LIVE INDUSTRY SPEAKS UP AT BPI 15/07/06
Live Nation's Graham Pullen and Chris O'Donnell both spoke at the 2006 British Phonographic Industry AGM about the burgeoning UK festival scene although they added words of caution that the festival scene may be nearing 'saturation' with too many 'copycat evnts'. They also stressed the importance that festivals play in allowing fans to discover new bands and in driving record sales. Whilst welcoming the rise in boutique festivals, Glastonbury's Martin Elbourne also warned that the saturation point was near in the UK. Elbourne also commented on the disasterous effect the World Cup had on live music in the UK, noting that there had been a huge drop in the number of events promoted during the 2006 competition. Live Nation also presented details on their 'Instant Live' CD innovation which allows fans to purchase CDS of gigs at the end of the event. On a recent Wet Wet Wet tour 20% of the audience brought a CD.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/music/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002839278
EUROPEAN COURT ANNULS SONY BMG MERGER 13/07/06
The European Court of First Instance has annulled the European Commission approval of a 2004 merger between Sony Music and BMG, which allowed the music industry to shrink from five major companies to four. The case, brought to court by IMPALA on behalf of European independent record companies, has been closely watched by Warners and EMI for any signs of how Europe's top antitrust authority will react to a possible merger between the two. The Court held that "The Commission did not demonstrate to the requisite legal standard either the non-existence of a collective dominant position before the concentration or the absence of a risk that such a position would be created as a result of the concentration". EMI's shares dropped 8.5% on the news. The EC must now review its decision and has said "We will review the ruling. But if a merger decision is annulled, the European Commission must re-examine the case". The Commission can appeal the decision.
MUSIC TANK EXPLORES LIVE INDUSTRY 13/07/06
A Music Tank session chaired by Kieth Harris has been looking at the live music industry and its relationship with the record industry. Under the title "the Great Gig Grab" keynote speaker Ben Challis (www.musiclawupdates.com) and panellists Pete Wilson (3A), Tony Moore (the Bedford), Geoff Huckstep (NAA) and MJ (Live Here Now) looked at the resurgence of the live market as well as current industry problems including ticket touting the lack of mid range venues and new business models. Opening up the floor to questions one of the most interesting comments came from veteran artist manager Pete Jenner who said that as there was no legislation on ticket touting in the UK except for football tickets, 'flexible' ticket pricing reflecting demand might be one way of fighting the ever increasing problem of the eBay tout. Jenner suggested that prices could reflect early demand just as train and plane operators such as EasyJet change their pricing structures to reflect demand. Other new opportunities such as live recordings and instant uploads from events were also debated by the panel with a lot of valuable audience input. Details of the session will shortly be available at www.musictank.co.uk. The evebnt was sponsored by IQ magazine.
T-IN-THE-PARK SELLS OUT 35,000 EARLY BIRD TICKETS FOR 2007 FESTIVAL 12/07/06
Scotland's biggest festival, T-in-the-Park, has sold 35,000 'early bird' tickets for next year's festival. The tickets went on sale on Tuesday 11th July, just two days after the 2006 Festival ended and sold out within one hour. We have to congratulate organiser Geoff Ellis for putting on what must be a brilliant party! The Festival is on the 7th and 8th July 2007.
MUSIC INDUSTRY GROUP LAUNCH NEW DISCUSSION ON COPYRIGHT
BPI ASK INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS TO POLICE WEB 11/07/06
The British Phonographic Industry has written to Tiscali and Cable & Wireless asking them to shut down the accounts of 59 internet users which the BPI alleges are used for widespread illegal filesharng activities. BPI chairman Peter Jamison said that the record labels trade association had provided "unequivocal evidence" of illegal file swapping on an "industrial scale". In a separate matter ten British Internet Sercice Providers including BT and NTL have ben ordered by the High Court to hand over details of 150 customers suspected of illegally sharing computer software. The action here was brought by FACT, the Federation Against Copyright Theft.
UK APPEAL FOR FAST TRACK US VISAS 11/07/06
Tessa Jowell, the UK's Culture Secretary, is to ask for a fast tack visa system for UK rock and pop bands wanting to visit the US. A number of UK artists missed the South by SouthWest Festival this year (SXSW) because of visa difficulties.
PEOPLE IN MUSIC 11/07/06
Ted Casey has left his post as head of mobile music at Verizon Wireless. He is now SVP of business development and partner relations at MusicNet. At the MCPS, Paul Clements has been promoted from senior media licensing manager to licensing director. He replaces Sharon Dean who is leaving to form her own company. Mark Lawrence becomes operations director. Steve Levine and Ian Wright are named as MCPS board directors. Jason Boyarski is named as VP of legal and business affairs at BMG Music Publishing: Jay Gilbert is promoted to the role of VP of new media/online marketing at Universal Music Enterprises: Fontana promotes David Zierler to the post of VP of business development and finance. Fontana is the independent distribution arm of Universal Music Group Distribution. Ged Doherty is to take over as UK boss of Sony BMG from Rob Stringer who moves to the same position in the US. EMI have announced the apointment of Mark Poston as director of Angel Music and Elias Christidis as A&R Director. Elin Falk joints as Head of Marketing and Sarah Freeman as Director of Artistic Development at Angel. The Orchard has appointed Paul Verna as director of corporate communications, based in the USA. Former Sky One director of original programming Jo Wallace has joined Remedy Productions the indie behind E4 music. Patrick Zelnik, President of Naïve, has been elected IMPALA President, with Martin Mills, Chairman of Beggars Group, taking up the newly created role of Chairman. They will take over from Michel Lambot (Co-Chairman of PIAS Group/Vital) who resigned after a seven year tenure leading the association ever since it was established in 1999. Michel Lambot will remain on the Board of IMPALA
US TOUR REVENUE UP 15% 11/07/06
The New York Post reports that the US concert industry found salvation in the first half of 2006 from a trio of long established acts. Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Billy Joel ranked as the three highest-grossing tours through June 30 and helped the top five acts post revenue of $243 million, a 30 percent increase over the $187 million brought in by the top 5 concert tours last year. The report is based on data from Pollstar. The top five tours - which also includes a Faith Hill-Tim McGraw double bill and Cirque du Soleil's Delirium - sold a healthy 12 percent more tickets in the first half of this year than last year up from 2 million to 2.24 million. Pollstar estimate that overall tour revenue will be up about 15 percent and attendance up roughly 10 percent.
BBC LAUNCH THE ELECTRIC PROMS 11/07/06
The BBC is to promote a new live music event - a five day rock and pop festival in London, inspired by the Beeb's Proms programme. The new venture, to be called the Electric Proms, will see gigs staged in a number of North London venues featuring both established and emerging music talent. The programme will also feature film screenings, art and masterclasses. Confirming the new project, the Electric Proms director, Lorna Clarke, told reporters yesterday that "our ambition is to stage an event that will create new musical moments and foster interesting collaborations between big-name artists alongside exciting performances from up-and-coming talent". The event will take place at various Camden venues, centring on the recently reopened Roundhouse, from the 25th to 29th October but some critics are already commenting on the broadcaster's wisdom in spending licence fee monies on a music event.
PAVAROTTI FAREWELL TOUR CANCELLED AFTER EMERGENCY SURGERY 10/07/06
Pavarotti has been forced to cancell the remainder of his farewell tour after undergoing emergency surgery after a routine medical test. Doctors found malignant pancreatic mass and this was removed by surgery. The 70 year old was said to be 'recovering well'. The Farewell tour has been dogged by helath problems. After the first half of the tour Pavarotti was forced to withdraw with back pain in April and May, cancelling ten dates. He then underwent surgery on vertebrae. The 20 tour dates remaining have been provisionally re-scheduled for early 2007
WARNERS INCREASE MARKET SHARE IN US 10/07/06
Nielsen Soundscan has issued sales figures and label market share for Q2 in the US which could have a significant bearing on what way the EMI/Warner tie-up now goes. Warner Music was the only major to see its market share increase (by just under 3% to 19.3%) and also saw its album sales leap by 11%. EMI saw its album sales drop by 8% and its market share dipped by 0.4% to 10%. It will be interesting to see what bearing this shift in the US market power balance has on ongoing EMI/Warner negotiations. (The US, let's not forget, accounts for one-third of global sales.). However the impending deal may well dtill fall at the regulatory hurdle: The European Union second highest court's ruling on Impala's opposition to the approval of the 2004 Sony BMG is due this Thursday and follows intense lobbying by Imapla (representing the European independents) that claims the EU failed to adequately investigate the potential damage of a merger on the market, especially in regard to collective dominance and market access. Impala's case is against the European Commission (rather than Sony BMG) and the findings will clearly affect how and if EMI/Warner can move ahead:
source: FiveEight magazine
NEW LABEL HERALDS A NEW WAY OF DOING BUSINESS 06/07/06
EMI is funding an new style record label that could hasten a shift in the long-standing balance of power between record companies and their artists. EMI is funding the label set up by US heavyweight management company The Firm. The label is trying to move from the 'advance culture' where artists are paid lots upfront and then find themselves seriously unrecouped. Under this new model, artists become partners with The Firm and share ALL revenue streams (not just recorded music ones). EMI will earn its cut as a distributor: The Firm, based in Los Angeles, represent a number of top sellig artists including Kelly Clarkson and Ice Cube. The label has already signed up Mandy Moore and Army of Anyone, which includes former members of Stone Temple Pilots.
HMV REPORT PLUMMETTING HIGH STREET SALES 06/07/06
HMV has reported worrying financial figures as competition from the Internet and supermarkets continues to erode its market share.the music, video and books retailer announced that like-for-like sales of music were down a staggering 17% in the six weeks to 1st July, making a drop of 6% for the year to date. The result sparked a 21% drop in pre-tax profits, which were down to £98.2M. The news saw shares tumble 2.9% to 168.25 pence, now well below the 210p per-share conditional approach offered by private equity firm Permira that HMV rejected earlier in the year. Despite the figures, HMV has hit back by unveiling plans for a new store format that focuses on a simpler floor layout and lines of cheaper CDs and DVDs. HMV also said that it was planning to ramp up its under-performing online operation and introduce widespread price reductions. In the US the Hollywood Reporter says that physical album sales are down 4.2% in the first half of the year compared to the first half of 2005. Digital, however, fared much better. Digital album sales were up 126% and single tracks were up 77% over the same period. With digital and physical combined total sales are up 0.1%.
HOUSE OF BLUES GOES TO LIVE NATION 06/07/06
Live Nation will acquire the House Of Blues group in a deal worth $350M. The former Clear Channel operation will take control of one of America's most recognisable and thriving live music brands incorporating 10 city venues and eight outdoor amphitheaters across the US.
UK DOME ROW AFTER PRESCOTT STAY AT ANSCHUTZ RANCH 06/07/06
A massive political row has broken out in the UK after it was revealed Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and a “small number” of his civil servants had stayed at the 19,000-acre ranch of AEG boss Philip Anschutz in July last year as part of a nine-day, four-state US trip. Mr Prescott has strongly denied that the men discuss businessed and has said that his Permanent Secretary was informed in advance and he subsequently made a donation for the value of a hotel room to a July 7 charity. However, Opposition MPs said that the incident once again raised questions over Mr Prescott’s judgment (alreday on the ropes after an affair and being photographed playing croquet with staff on the lawns of his official residence). On Monday Hugo Swire, the Tory Shadow Culture Secretary, will write to Mr Prescott demanding to know about the links between Mr Anschutz, his companies and government ministers. Mr Prescott has publicly defended the government deal to sell the Dome to AEG. Last year he insisted that the sell-off represented “fantastic value for money, both for the taxpayer and local residents alike. In June 2004 English Partnerships concluded the deal with Meridian Delta Ltd and the Anschutz Entertainment Group for the redevelopment over 20 years of the whole of the northern Greenwich Peninsula, including the Dome. The deal was overseen by English Partnership’s sponsoring department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, a spokesman insisted that Mr Prescott played no personal role in the negotiations or the drawing up of contracts. The Dome was handed over to the consortium free, although taxpayers will receive returns expected to be £216 million over the course of the contract. This is dwarfed by the near £1 billion spent by taxpayers on building and running the Dome which ended up as a major flop with visitor numbers way below government estimates. AEG wants to reopen the Dome next July as a £600 million arts centre, with a 23,000-seater stadium, an 11-screen cinema, a nightclub, bars and restaurants, an ice rink, a 350-room hotel and a 'super casino'.
EMI-WARNERS SAVINGS ADD UP - BIDS ADD UP TOO 06/07/06
Warner Music's cash offer for EMI of 320 pence ($5.84) per share, valuing the company at £2.5 billion ($4.6 billion), has been rejected by EMI , calling the "wholly unacceptable". That offer came four days after EMI bid $31 per share to acquire Warner Music, valuing the company at $4.2 billion, EMI said. Warner rejected that offer. EMI said it also rejected Warner's bid of 315 pence per share made June 14. A combination of EMI and New York-based Warner Music would control about 25 percent of the recorded music market, surpassing SonyBMG in the rankings and moving into second place behind Universal, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. And prevous estimnated savings from the merger of £160 million ($290 million) in year one have been revised upwards to savings in excess of £200 million ($360 million). EMI shares gained 9.3 percent to 310 pence ($5.65) on the London Stock Exchange. Shares in Warner Music Group Corp. were up 2.1 percent to $27.80 on the NYSE. EMI and Warner attempted to merge in 2000 but the combination was vetoed by European authorities.
BB KING BIDS AN EMOTIONAL FAREWELL TO MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL 06/07/06
B.B. King and his guitar Lucille, on ther final tour in Europe, bid an emotional farewell to fans at the Montreux Jazz Festival, where the undisputed "King of Blues" has performed for more than 20 years. Now 80 and suffering from diabetes, BB King was joined on stage by a host of performers at the end of Monday night's concert in the resort town on Lake Geneva. Singers Gladys Knight, Barbara Hendricks, Randy Crawford and Leela James, jazz guitarists John McLaughlin and Stanley Clarke, keyboarders Joe Sample and George Duke, and saxophonist David Sanborn paid tribute to the King of Blues. "Maybe I should quit every night," quipped King. King, who sat through the two and a half hour performance finally said "I'm going to cry again. This is the icing on the cake - I could never be sent off better". The live music industry has been honoured by BB King - What a gentleman.
UK ANALOGUE RADIO STATIONS MAY GET WINDFALLS 06/07/06
UK media regulator Ofcom has said that iy will review the cost of analogue radio licences to operators after it said that there is a "reduced value" in analogue licences in a radio market as it moves towards digital. To this end, Classic FM, TalkSport and Virgin Radio could, between them, make savings of £5.5M a year if Ofcom slashes their annual license fees at the start of their next four-year licence renewal period in September next year. Classic FM, for example, currently pays an annual licence fee of £1.2M and 14% of 'qualifying revenue' but this could be slashed to £50,000 and 6% of 'qualifying revenue'. The 'digital revolution' is still, however, some way off in the UK. RAJAR recently reported that just over 50% of the UK population has access to digital radio, but only 13.6% of people have invested in a standalone DAB set. Most people had access to digital DAB stations digital TV (eg Freeview) or online. Source: FiveEight manazine.
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