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Five Day Forecast – w/c 21 Nov 2011
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 21 November 2011
Last week there was much debate about streaming services and whether or not it is good for artists and labels to have their music on them. The catalyst for much of this debate was distribution company STHoldings’ decision to remove all the music released by over 200 of the labels it represents off Spotify and other services. In case you missed it on Friday afternoon, here’s my take on the matter. Or, if you’d prefer an edited version: If you don’t want to be on Spotify, don’t be. But there’s no need to run around shouting “Fuck Spotify!” And don’t be surprised if your customers don’t follow you back to whatever service you want them to use. Anyway, here’s some stuff that’s happening this week.
01: CALM’s Topman takeover. As announced by Eddy Temple-Morris in his CMU column last week, this Friday between 11am and 8pm a whole load of DJs will be playing at Topman’s flagship Oxford Street store to raise awareness of suicide prevention charity CALM. It’ll be a classic ‘battle’ set up, except the idea is that the DJs will communicate, rather than fight, with each other with their music choices. You’ll be able to see Rob da Bank and The Maccabees, Zane Lowe and Eddy TM, Mistajam and Pixel Fist, Kissy Sell Out and Union, Hervé and Baxta, Sonny Wharton and Wideboys & Majestic, and The Loose Cannons and The Freestylers, plus Huw Stephens and Dan Le Sac to finish.
02: Record Of The Day Awards. This Wednesday, the music PR and journalism communities will all squeeze together in the Red Gallery in Shoreditch to talk, drink, and pick up some prizes at the Record Of The Day PR And Journalism Awards. Hosted by Huw Stephens, this year’s event will see Nick Kent will receive the Outstanding Contribution Award, and on the latest edition of the Guardian’s Music Weekly podcast you can hear him chatting about his life in journalism, from fanzines to the NME and beyond.
03: Pongathon. Capitalising on ping pong’s increasing popularity of late, the newly launched Pongathon night is taking over the Rich Mix venue in East London again tomorrow night, filling it with music, beer and ping pong tables. What better combination of things could there be? Come down and challenge Team CMU to a game, why don’t you? Unless you’re actually good at ping pong, in which case please don’t. You can come and say hello though, that will be fine.
04: New releases. My top tips for record purchasing pleasure this week are Bleeding Heart Narrative’s ‘Bison’ EP and Pyramid Vritra’s album ‘The Story Of Marsha Lotus’. You may also like Crushed Beaks’ debut single, and Salem’s new EP, Make Do And Mend’s acoustic EP, or even Rihanna’s 378th album ‘Talk That Talk’. And if you’re feeling Christmassy already and just can’t control yourself, you could pop out and grab Emmy The Great and Tim Wheeler’s ‘This Is Christmas’ or She & Him’s ‘A Very She & Him Christmas’. Should you wish to hide your festive feelings, try ’50 Words For Snow’ by Kate Bush, which isn’t Christmassy at all but does have ‘snow’ in the title.
05: Gigs. I am hugely excited this week to be finally seeing Amon Tobin’s ‘ISAM’ live show. I missed him last time he was in town and watching various videos of the amazing stage set has only built my anticipation. Tobin will play two nights at The Forum in London on Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll be there on Thursday night and I can’t wait. Following that, Chromeo will be at The Forum on Friday night, and also this week, James Blake, Oneohtrix Point Never and Widowspeak all kick off UK tours.
And don’t forget to listen to the latest CMU podcast. You almost forgot, didn’t you? Well, it’s lucky I’m here. You should go to www.completemusicupdate.com/podcast right now and stream or download it to hear Chris and I talking about all sorts of important stuff. Like what Tamarind Drink tastes like and how much fun it is to say “Bieber baby”.
Andy Malt
Editor, CMU
