This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Business News Week In Five
The music business week in five – 16 Sep 2011
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 16 September 2011
So, hello there one and all. I hope you’re enjoying the revamped CMU Daily, and you’re following these links at the top of the bulletin through to theCMUwebsite.com, which is possibly quite a bit bigger than you realised! While you’re there, don’t forget to check out our CMU Training courses (there’s a training button right at the top), which kick off again in Shoreditch next week. But for now, let’s review the five big events in the music business in the last seven days, a week that was a bit dominated by copyright (as you’ll see when you download this afternoon’s CMU Weekly podcast!). But some other stuff happened too:
01: The European Union extended the sound recording copyright term. As expected, ministers from each EU member state rubber stamped proposals that will mean the copyright term for sound recordings will increase from the current 50 years to 70 years across Europe. Although much was made of the artists who will benefit, including aging session musicians who earn a cut of public performance royalties, in reality it is record companies who will get the biggest financial boost by having another 20 years of control over 1960s hits. Although much of the music industry spoke out in support of the move, some in the tech sector and those who advocate copyright reform in favour of users said the development was a disaster. CMU report | Guardian report
02: The government announced another consultation on live licensing. Because you can’t have too many consultations. Though the live sector generally welcomed the move, which it is hoped will, once and for all, remove some of the red tape put in place by the 2003 Licensing Act, which many argue makes it too hard for pubs and smaller venues to stage live music, a fact that reduces the opportunities for grass roots musicians to play. The government’s consultation may inform or add to Lord Tim Clement-Jones’ Live Music Bill, which already addresses a number of these issues. CMU report | Stage report
03: ERA called for faster DEA implementation. The entertainment retailer’s trade body, meeting for its AGM this week, said the government is taking too long to implement the copyright section of the Digital Economy Act, which will result in warning letters being sent to suspected file-sharers and, ultimately, ‘technical measures’ being used against those who ignore the warnings. It is now unlikely the DEA’s graduated response system won’t go live until late 2012, a delay which, ERA argued, is contributing to a slump of millions in music and DVD sales in the UK. CMU report | Retail Gazette report
04: MOG and Rdio both announced that they will launch free-to-use streaming services in the US. Both currently offer only subscription-based offers, but are working on free-to-use options paid for by advertising and sponsorship. The US services now face competition from Spotify, which, of course, has an ad-funded freemium element used to upsell its subscriptions. MOG also implied that the opportunities that will be presented by Facebook Music – which will bring existing music platforms into the Facebook interface – were also motivating them to launch a free-to-use version. CMU report | LA Times report
05: Beggars chief Martin Mills said that 360-degree record deals are a “lose/lose”, adding that, unlike some majors, Beggars wasn’t, in the main, interested in taking a cut of artists’ non-recordings based revenue. Speaking to CMU as he was presented the Industry Champion prize at the inaugural Artist & Manager Awards, Mills said: “I believe that 360-degree deals are a lose/lose. They mean you pay more than you should do for rights that aren’t within your skillset. Most of the time you just lose more money, and with the ones that work you end up with a resentful artist because you’re getting part of their income they think you don’t deserve. We’re good at releasing recorded music, and that’s what we do”. CMU interview
Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU
