Well, thank God for ITV and its passion for good time keeping at non-sport related events, ensuring there was at least a tiny little bit of scandal to spice up the 2012 BRIT Awards. The UK record industry’s annual back slapping fest has become a rather slick affair in recent years, especially since its move east to The O2, which makes for a good live show if you’re there, but pretty lacklustre television. Perhaps I’m showing my age, but for me, unless a bum is wiggled, a political leader drenched, or a pissed up DJ offends a rock icon, well, British music hasn’t been truly celebrated. And dragging Blur on stage for the finale surely only reminded older viewers of those heady days of BRIT Awards chaos in the 1990s.

But, just as it looked like the newspapers were going to have to lead with “everyone we thought would win won”, or possibly “George Michael sufficiently not dead to present an award”, ITV handed The Sun and The Mirror their front pages as it insisted host James Corden cut off the undeniable star of the evening, double award winner and Britain’s biggest selling singer of the moment, Adele, as she tried to deliver her second acceptance speech. It seems that if ITV viewers don’t get their scheduled news fix at 10pm they are liable to riot (word has it that’s what happened last August), and while Damon Albarn’s inane rambling earlier in the evening had probably pushed everything behind schedule in the first place, that was no reason to cut the Blur end-of-show set, “so get that bloody Adkins woman off the stage would you, Corden?”

Adkins, presumably inspired by MIA, gave the cameras the finger (a “fuck off” to the show’s producers, she later clarified), providing the perfect photo for what was now everyone’s lead BRITS story. So much so, the PR machine was in action by midnight, with ITV telling reporters “the BRITs is a live event. Unfortunately the programme was over running and we had to move on. We would like to apologise to Adele for the interruption”.

A BRITs spokesman added: “We regret this happened and we send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short this evening due to the live show over-running. We don’t want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night’s biggest award. It tops off what’s been an incredible year for her”.

So there you go, “ITV and BRIT bosses conspire with Mastercard to embarrass Britain’s favourite singing sensation”. Thank God for that, prior to Cut-Short-Speech-Gate I had literally nothing to say about this year’s BRITs. And look, now I’ve managed 448 words without even saying, here’s a full list of this year’s winners…

British Male Solo Artist: Ed Sheeran
British Female Solo Artist: Adele
British Breakthrough Act: Ed Sheeran
British Group: Coldplay
Critics’ Choice: Emeli Sandé
British Producer: Ethan Johns

British Single: One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
British Album: Adele – 21

International Male Solo Artist: Bruno Mars
International Female: Rihanna
International Group: Foo Fighters
International Breakthrough Act: Lana Del Rey

Outstanding Contribution To Music: Blur

Watch the video below to see Adele explain why she raised her middle finger after her acceptance speech was cut off:

A judge has agreed to remove AEG Live from Joe Jackson’s wrongful-death lawsuit, meaning the late king of pop’s father is now just suing Dr Conrad Murray and a Las Vegas pharmacy he bought prescription drugs from.

Jackson Senior’s original lawsuit specifically targeted Murray, the doctor convicted last year of involuntary manslaughter in relation to Michael Jackson’s 2009 death. But then the singer’s mother chose to sue AEG, promoters of the ill fated ‘This Is It’ show, who were paying Murray’s fees. Katherine Jackson argued that, as Murray’s effective employer, the live firm must accept some liability for her son’s death at the hands of the medic.

Joe Jackson then added AEG as a defendant on his lawsuit too, possibly recognising that even if he won against Murray, the doctor has no money. But AEG’s lawyers argued that if Joe Jackson wanted to sue the company, he should join his wife’s lawsuit, rather than pursuing his own litigation. They also argued that Mr Jackson was not a legitimate heir to his son’s fortune because he was estranged from the singer and excluded from his son’s will.

And, according to the City News Service, the judge overseeing Jackson Senior’s litigation yesterday agreed, dismissing AEG as defendants. The judge particularly agreed with the argument that it was inappropriate for two separate heirs to pursue separate litigation over the same issue. Joe Jackson’s people are yet to respond to the ruling.

In related news, the prosecution in the criminal case against Murray have, unsurprisingly, formally objected to the doctor’s application for bail. As previously reported, Murray last month requested that he serve his jail term out of prison, possibly under house arrest, so that he can better prepare for his appeal.

However, prosecutors yesterday said the prison sentence should be enforced, claiming Murray remained a hazard to society, that he could flee California if let out of jail, and adding that the doctor was still remorseless about his part in Michael Jackson’s death. Prosecutors David Walgren and Deborah Brazil have told the courts: “Based on his failure to accept responsibility for the decisions he made, his complete lack of remorse and lack of insight into the danger of his criminally negligent conduct, he remains a danger to the community”.

The LA courts are due to consider Murray’s bail application on Friday.

Lawyers working for Sugarland have possibly put the country duo in a tricky PR position after filing legal papers that seem to argue that fans injured when that stage collapsed at last year’s Indiana State Fair were in part to blame for their own injuries, for failing “to exercise due care for their own safety”.

As previously reported, seven fans died and 40 more were injured when staging collapsed in freak high-speed winds shortly before Sugarland were due to take to the stage at the State Fair last August. Various legal claims have been made since the incident, with the band themselves being hit with litigation because their contract with the State Fair gave them the right to cancel the show in extreme weather conditions.

Lawyers for some victims have claimed their failure to exercise that clause makes them liable for the deaths and injuries caused by the stage collapse. There have also been allegations that the band knocked back proposals to postpone their performance to let the storm pass, something which might have led to the area near the stage being cleared before the high speed winds hit, though exactly what was discussed back stage before the tragedy isn’t especially clear.

Indeed there were reports it was the band’s tour manager who requested a delay in starting the Sugarland set, a decision which arguably reduced the impact of the staging collapse because fewer fans had moved close to the stage.

Some commentators have expressed surprise that Sugarland’s lawyers would even suggest fans should accept some liability for their own injuries, when it would seem more logical to try to land all the blame with State Fair organisers and the company which put up the staging.

The former have already paid out $5 million in damages to those affected by the incident, which is the most the State is allowed to pay out under Indiana State law, though word has it there are moves to make a one time exception in order to hand over more cash to those still paying medical bills in relation to their injuries. Nevertheless, lawyers for the victims are still looking for other routes to higher compensation.

As criticism emerged online and in the media to Sugarland’s latest legal filing yesterday, the band issued a vague and non-committal statement saying: “Sadly when a tragedy occurs, people want to point fingers and try to sensationalise the disaster. The single most important thing to Sugarland are their fans. Their support and love over the past nine years has been unmatched. For anyone to think otherwise is completely devastating to them.

Pan-European indie label trade body IMPALA yesterday confirmed once again that it will urge the European Commission to block Universal’s proposed acquisition of the EMI record labels, as the major formally submitted its proposals to the EC for consideration.

IMPALA first voiced its concerns about Universal’s plans, as well as Sony/ATV’s bid to buy the EMI publishing business, before even current EMI owner Citigroup announced its intent to sell to those bidders last November.

The indie trade body says the two deals, which will enable the two biggest music companies dwarf the biggest of the independents and even their last remaining major label rival Warner Music, will create a powerful duopoly, in which Universal and Sony – already business partners via the VEVO venture – will hold all the cards in both recorded music and music publishing.

Noting that Universal had now formally submitted its bid proposals to the European competition regulators, IMPALA’s Executive Chair Helen Smith said yesterday: “The clock has finally started ticking in Europe. Ultimately we expect this to lead to an outright rejection of both the Universal/EMI and Sony/EMI mergers. Keeping the online market as open as possible is essential for competition and for responding to piracy, as well as other market problems. Turning music into a two-horse race would hamper the natural development of the market and increase prices. No level of divestments or behavioural undertakings would prevent that from happening”.

As previously reported, Universal will argue that the music industry has moved on since the last time European competition regulators considered a major merger, and that therefore its latest acquisition should be approved, despite officials previously expressing concerns about even the firm’s current size the last time it expanded through a big takeover, ie the purchase of the BMG music publishing catalogues in 2007. The company will also likely argue that in the all important digital domain prices are determined by the big download platforms, mainly iTunes, and possibly that while piracy remains rampant price rises will always be limited to an extent by the availability of free illegal content.

But the independents are likely to dispute all those arguments. They will counter that the music rights sector has not changed as dramatically as Universal suggests, and that in the digital domain Apple’s market dominance will only decline as newer rivals and alternative digital platforms mature, making the download space more competitive, and increasing the power of mega-rights owners in any negotiations.

They might also point out that, while Apple may have set the original price point in the download space, the majors, led by Universal, were still able to pressure iTunes into introducing the variable pricing model they had always advocated, despite Apple’s initial insistence on a one-price-for-all model.

It will be interesting to see how the Commission responds. It yesterday confirmed that it had now received Universal’s proposals, and had set an interim deadline for phase one of its investigation of 23 Mar Interested parties, including IMPALA and Warner Music, who have also announced their intent to lobby against the EMI deals, will now be asked to fill out a questionnaire about Universal’s bid. Phase one could be extended to up to 35 days to allow that information to be gathered and considered.

In theory the Commission could rule on Universal’s bid, one way or another, at the end of the first phase of its investigation, though nobody, on either side of the argument, expects that to happen. Certainly if the Commission is in any mood to clear the merger, then it will need to consider a plethora of related issues, and that is unlikely to be achieved in 35 days.

Regulators will also likely remember how their initial approval of the SonyBMG merger in 2004 was overturned by the European courts because they hadn’t gone into enough detail in their initial investigation. Officials, therefore, will presumably be extra careful to ensure their ruling on this consolidation can’t be undone at a later stage on procedural grounds.

Assuming, therefore, that this investigation does go into phase two, that will add anything between two and four months to the proceedings, and there could be another month or two in between the two phases to allow interested parties to prepare more evidence. So, unless officials are in a mood to shock everyone, it seems likely no decision will actually be made this side of summer.

Sony/ATV is expected to submit its bid proposals to regulators any day now, and that investigation will then have the same initial timelines. As also previously reported, some reckon the investigation into that deal may be quicker, though it is likely the impact of a duopoly in music publishing on the collecting society system will be considered, and any consideration of the future of the collecting society system is rarely done quickly.

In related news, the New York Post yesterday claimed that Universal had provided guarantees to Citigroup regarding its EMI bid, so that if the merger fails at the regulatory hurdle in either the US or Europe the bankers won’t lose out. The arrangement means that if the deal falls through and Citigroup is forced to find a new bidder, and if the subsequent sale generates less than the $1.9 billion Universal offered for the EMI labels, then Universal will cover the difference.

Which would allow Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik to buy the EMI labels at the price he thought was fair (somewhat less than $1.9 billion), while also allowing Citigroup to recoup the bulk of the losses it made by backing Terra Firma’s EMI acquisition in 2007, all at Universal’s expense. Of course if Universal bosses have made such guarantees, that reaffirms just how confident they are that their merger plans will ultimately be approved. Time will tell, of course.

As the British record industry prepares for its big party at The O2 tonight, label chiefs were already celebrating yesterday after scoring a win in the first stage of their legal efforts to force ISPs in the UK to block access to The Pirate Bay.

As previously reported, record label trade body the BPI took aim at The Pirate Bay last year after the landmark ruling in the Newzbin case, in which a British judge, for the first time, ordered an internet service provider to block access to its customers to a file-sharing website, after the operators of that site tried to circumvent an earlier court ruling against them by moving their service outside the jurisdiction of the UK courts.

Following the precedent set in the Newzbin case, the BPI asked various British ISPs to voluntarily block access to The Pirate Bay. When the net firms refused the trade body went legal, and stage one of that litigation asked the question “is The Pirate Bay liable for the infringement it enables, even if the Pirate Bay servers themselves do not host any unlicensed music files?”

And the answer, in the words of High Court judge Ricky Arnold, is: “Yes, it fucking is, man, it fucking is”. Well, I am paraphrasing ever so slightly, but that’s basically what he meant.

If you’d prefer Arnold’s exact words, they went something like this: “In my judgment, the operators of [The Pirate Bay] do authorise its users’ infringing acts of copying and communication to the public. They go far beyond merely enabling or assisting. Despite their ability to do so, and despite the judicial findings that have been made against them, the operators of [The Pirate Bay] take no steps to prevent infringement. On the contrary … they actively encourage it and treat any attempts to prevent it (judicial or otherwise) with contempt. I [therefore] conclude that both users and the operators of [The Pirate Bay] infringe the copyrights of the claimants (and those they represent) in the UK”.

Welcoming that ruling, BPI boss Geoff Taylor told reporters: “The High Court today ruled that The Pirate Bay is illegal. The site defrauds musicians and causes huge damage to the music industry and wider creative industries. We will now proceed with our application to have the site blocked to protect the UK’s creative industries from further harm”.

Of course it’s no real surprise that The Pirate Bay has been labelled a copyright infringer by the UK courts, it having lost similar legal cases all across Europe (though it’s true the English law concept of ‘authorising infringement’ is less well tested when it comes to certain file-sharing services), and therefore phase two of this litigation will be more interesting, ie whether the Newzbin principle will be extended forcing ISPs to finally block access to the rogue file-sharing site. A ruling on that matter is now expected in June.

The Pirate Bay, of course, carries on regardless. More committed users of the file-sharing site will almost certainly be able to circumvent any blockades put in place by the ISPs, while the Bay’s previously reported move to listing magnet rather than BitTorrent files reduces the size of the site’s database significantly, enabling users to download and host their own copies of The Pirate Bay website.

And if all those alternatives fail, the filesharing community is already talking up ‘Tribler’, an alternative BitTorrent client that circumvents existing blocks and takedowns by bypassing the need to use a website entirely. So, file-sharing can continue – though, the big rights owners might argue, the pursuit of accessing and sharing illegal free content gets ever more geeky, and that should achieve their objectives of reducing piracy amongst mainstream consumers.

Live Nation has confirmed that its Olympics activity will operate under the banner BT London Live, with the phone firm presumably covering most of the costs. As previously reported, the live music conglom will operate stages in Victoria Park, Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square during the London games.

These will mainly offer free access to large screens covering key Olympic events plus other assorted low-key entertainment and sporty shenanigans, though there will also be two big concerts at the start and end of the games. The closing show on the 12 Aug will be headlined by Blur with The Specials and New Order also set to play a night dubbed ‘Best Of British’. Tickets at £55 go on sale on Friday. The line-up for the opening show on 27 Jul is still to be announced.

Confirmation about Live Nation’s Olympic stages follows a decision made by Westminster Council last week about the live firm’s ongoing summer presence in Hyde Park, where it traditionally stages a season of concerts and festivals. There had been fears the company’s operations there could be severely hindered after complaints about noise levels by local residents, but an agreement was reached that will see the number of shows overall reduced, capacity curtailed, new safety and clean up provisions introduced and measures taken to monitor low-level bass sound. However, proposals to cut overall sound levels – which Live Nation said would make staging concerts in the park unfeasible – were rejected.

Welcoming last week’s council decision, Live Nation’s COO John Probyn told reporters: “Live Nation is delighted with the outcome of the meeting. This is good news for the thousands of Londoners and visitors from overseas enjoying all concerts we have in place and also the London 2012 events in Hyde Park this summer. We have listened to the concerns of the residents and will continue to do so while working closely with Westminster council and The Royal Parks”.

Kobalt Music Group has announced the appointment of former IODA UK MD Pete Dodge to the role of General Manager of its new artist and label services division. He will report to Paul Hitchman, confirmed as chief of the new Kobalt unit last month.

Confirming the new hire, overall Kobalt boss man Willard Ahdritz told CMU: “The future is now, and in response to our clients’ needs we are investing on many levels including the hiring of top experienced and dynamic executives such as Pete Dodge and Paul Hitchman. We are committed to empowering artists and labels with the same high level of transparency, creative, technology, accuracy and efficiency for their recording rights as Kobalt has successfully provided to songwriters and other owners of copyrights”.

Dodge himself said: “I am looking forward to joining the Kobalt team and working with the management team at AWAL. Artists, labels and managers want fair, transparent and effective routes to market, as well as global reach and expertise in dealing with the representation of their rights. These are the principles on which Kobalt has built its business and I’m excited to help the team expand the Kobalt approach into artist and labels services”.

AEI Media, the operator of dupstep and drum n bass focused media platforms like UKF and Drum&BassArena, last week announced the launch a of a new music publishing business that will specialise in the genres the company’s media champion. AEI Music Publishing is a joint venture with a New York-based independent publishing firm called Verse Music Group.

Confirming the new division, AEI Media Director Karl Nielson told CMU: “The music market now has a specialist bass music publishing house with scale, muscle and a passion for the genre. This is a serious publishing entity with true independence – something we protect fiercely – and the ability to compete at the highest level”.

Confirming their involvement in the new venture, Verse Music President Michael Stack added: “Verse Music Group is thrilled to commit to a partnership with AEI Media, a company that is the leading exponent in its field. This venture is focused on creating licensing opportunities on a global basis for the remarkable talent that Karl and the AEI Media team continue to discover and nurture. Collectively we provide a solid base for songwriters and artists to enjoy even greater success as the global, cultural influence of dubstep and the bass genre in general grows”.

Universal’s takeover of the EMI record companies entered a new phase on Friday when the major submitted its acquisition proposals to the European Commission, where competition regulators will now consider whether to approve the deal.

The major remains confident it can win approval from European regulators, despite EC officials having previously expressed concerns about the further consolidation of the music industry, and amidst strong opposition to the latest merger deal from both the independent sector and rival Warner Music, which will be dwarfed by a combined Universal EMI.

Universal will argue that the music industry has moved on hugely since the last time the EC considered the sector with the mergers of the Sony and BMG record companies and Universal and BMG publishing catalogues in 2004 and 2007 respectively; and that in the increasingly crucial digital domain pricing is basically controlled by the market leader download stores (Apple and Amazon), the indies have proven their ability to compete via Merlin, and Universal has a good record of licensing new digital ventures (albeit at a price).

Officially Universal expects both US and European regulators to pass its EMI deal without remedies, though most outsiders reckon that the EC, if only to be seen to do something, will demand the combined EMI/Universal offloads some of its assets in order to win deal approval, maybe a sizable chunk of catalogue (such as the Virgin divisions) and perhaps the VEVO business, through which Universal arguably controls an important route to market for content owners. A few in the indie sector, meanwhile, remain optimistic the deal may be blocked outright.

Sony/ATV is expected to submit its papers to EU regulators regarding its bid for EMI Music Publishing any day now too. In theory the two EMI deals can be considered separately, and many think Sony’s acquisition might get approved faster, because the entertainment conglom only owns half of Sony/ATV, which in turn will not own EMI Music Publishing outright (the company is leading a consortium). That said, collecting societies, and to what extent European societies should compete, remains a hot topic for some EC officials, and such people are generally only concerned with the publishing sector’s collecting agencies, and if the Sony/ATV deal gets caught up in all that, months could be added to the regulatory process.

So much so, it seems unlikely either of these deals are going to speed over the regulatory hurdles, however optimistic Universal, Sony and EMI’s current owners Citigroup are that ultimately their proposals will get the nods they require. Meanwhile the US Federal Trade Commission is already underway with its investigation into the two EMI deals, and according to the FT officials there have just sent out a second call to the various parties for further information.

Whatever the outcome, expect some interesting exchanges between Universal, Sony, Warner and the indies in the coming months.

Well, it’s like I’m always saying, you can’t have too many Michael Jackson lawsuits, so thank God the late king of pop’s estate has initiated another one.

The estate is suing Thome R Thome, the business advisor who was Jackson’s quasi-manager in the last eighteen months of his life. Thome reckons he is owed fees from work he did for the pop star prior to his untimely demise in June 2009, and that he might be due a cut of money generated by the estate since the singer’s death too. He last surfaced in 2010 demanding access to confidential contracts entered into by the estate, so he could work out whether he was due any commissions.

The estate seemingly concedes that Jackson did enter into various agreements with Thome in the last year of his life, in relation to the advisor’s role in refinancing the then under threat Neverland ranch and negotiating the deal for the ill-fated ‘This Is It’ residency in London. But, the estate’s executors argue, those contracts were “self-serving and unconscionable”.

The estate’s lawsuit wants those agreements declared void, Thome’s claims to a share of estate revenues dismissed, and the return of various items belonging to the singer which the estate claims the former advisor is hanging on to.

Thome is yet to respond to the estate’s claims, though it is thought he is already busying preparing his own lawsuit after over a year of negotiations with Jackson’s executors failed to reach a conclusion, and the estate’s own litigation is something of a pre-emptive strike.

So here we go again, another Friday for you, this one sitting in the middle of the music business’s Winter awards season. The Grammys dominated the American industry’s collective minds last weekend – albeit with Whitney Houston’s sudden death packaged in with it this time (though even Houston’s mentor and close friend Clive Davis went ahead with his pre-Grammy party, four floors down from the bathroom where the singer had literally just died, proving even the passing of one of US pop’s biggest ever stars can’t stop the Grammy machine). Here in the UK we have the somewhat smaller but as such much less tedious BRITS to come next week, while the Music Producers Guild Awards kept everyone in a gong-based frame of mind last night. Good times. But what else has been happening in music of late?

01: SOCA took rnbxclusive.com offline. The UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency claimed that the music blog was providing access to hundreds of unlicensed music files, and profiting by selling advertising. Not only did they seize the site’s domain and take it offline, they also arrested the man who ran it on charges of conspiracy to defraud. Though what stood out the most was the warning SOCA posted in the website’s place, telling users that downloading unlicensed music files from a site like rnbxclusive.com could result in arrest and ten years in jail. Which isn’t true, but nevertheless possibly taught thousands of the site’s former users to be more careful where they download music from. The stern and somewhat misleading message was removed after 36 hours. CMU reports | Wired report

02: EMI was pulled into the digital royalties dispute by Kenny Rodgers. The country star sued the record company over various royalty issues, though perhaps most important was his claim the major was incorrectly classifying download revenue as record sales rather than licensing income. Rodgers, like many heritage artists, contractually gets a bigger share of the latter than the former. The country singer is the latest in a number of artists with pre-internet record contracts to sue on this issue, meaning Universal, Warner and EMI now all face litigation in this domain. Sony previously successfully fought off similar lawsuits from the Allman Brothers and Cheap Trick, though the new lawsuits hope to prevail based on the precedent set in the more recent FBT Productions v Universal case. CMU report | Hollywood Reporter report

03: Sony apologised for a temporary post-death price hike on Whitney Houston albums. The major’s UK division increased the digital wholesale price of Houston’s two hits compilations in the hours after the singer’s sudden death last Saturday, resulting in a £2-3 increase on iTunes. The originally prices were restored later on Sunday, but not before the seemingly opportunistic price rise had been noticed. Sony subsequently said the price increase had been a mistake, pointed out the error was quickly rectified, and added “we apologise for any offence caused”. CMU reports | Telegraph report

04: MySpace announced its user-base was up, citing its revamped music player and integration with Twitter and Facebook as being behind the flagging social network’s improved stats since December. Newish owners Specific Media said they’d had a million new sign-ups since the new player went live, adding that this was the start of a new era for the web platform, which had been in decline for years prior to the more recent user boost. CMU report | Register report

05: Ticketweb investigated a database hack. Customers signed up to the Ticketmaster UK operated grass roots ticketing service received dodgy phishing emails via the Ticketweb platform last weekend. It’s not clear how spammers managed to access emails on the Ticketweb system, though Ticketmaster said it had taken “immediate action to close the vulnerability”. The hackers had not gained access to credit card information via the Ticketweb database, though the phishing email they sent out did request such information, and the ticketing firm said that if anyone had provided credit card numbers to the spammers they should inform their card provider asap. CMU report | Inquirer report

And that’s your lot. There is no CMU Weekly Podcast this week, with Andy being at by:Larm in Oslo, but you can check out last week’s edition – if you haven’t done so already – at www.theCMUwebsite.com/podcast.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

MP3 resale website ReDigi – which is caught up in a legal battle with EMI, of course – is reportedly pissed off that the major has stepped in to cut off its supply of artwork and music previews.

As previously reported, EMI, and the wider US record industry, reckons ReDigi, which lets people resell MP3s, and supposedly forces the seller to delete their copy of the digital file after sale, is actually a platform that simply enables individuals to profit from copyright infringement. EMI’s Capitol division is suing the digital start-up, though failed to get a summary injunction against the resale site earlier this month. It was confirmed this week that that case will now go properly to court in August.

Meanwhile, according to Wired, ReDigi has had to stop including artwork next to MP3s being sold on its platform, and is now relying on YouTube for preview clips of tracks, after US-based streaming service Rdio pulled out of a partnership with the resale site, allegedly at EMI’s insistence. Obviously Rdio needs to stay on the right side of the major labels to ensure it still has access to their music for its core subscription-based streaming music service.

Wired quote from a letter written by ReDigi’s lawyer Ray Beckerman seemingly filed with the courts, in which he confirmed Rdio had suddenly stopped providing artwork and previews to his clients. He also claims that was as a result of action by EMI, after ReDigi confirmed where it sourced said content from in a previous court submission. Beckerman: “Apparently, having been denied an injunction, they [EMI] have sought to use extrajudicial tactics to accomplish what they were unable to obtain in a court of law”.

Of course, depriving ReDigi of its album cover jpegs and in-platform previews doesn’t actually stop it reselling MP3s, even if its service will replicate iTunes less as a result of the move. EMI, of course, hopes to put the MP3 resale site totally out of business once this case goes to court this summer.

Plan B yesterday announced he was teaming up with EMI Music Publishing to launch his own publishing venture, Temperamental Music. The new business will see Plan B, real name Ben Drew, scouting young and new songwriters, with EMI bringing administration, licensing and sync expertise to the table.

Confirming his new venture and EMI partnership, Drew told CMU: “I’ve always wanted to be in control of my destiny and build my own empire, and this is one step closer to that. I feel I can help young musicians progress and plant some positive seeds in their heads. Before I made it I was trying to help other people, the only difference is now I’ve got a budget”.

From EMI’s side, the UK and Europe President of the major’s publishing business, Guy Moot, added: “You have to have a huge amount of respect for all that Ben has achieved not just as an artist but as a writer in the last five years. He knows what it takes to become a successful writer, and he recognises real talent when he sees it. He will bring the same strong creative vision to his publishing company that he brings to everything he else he does, and we at EMI Music Publishing are looking forward to building this new long-term relationship with him to maximise the opportunity for the writers he signs to have their music heard on a global platform”.

The MD of London based entertainment marketing agency Media Junction, Giles Cooper, has been appointed CEO of the estate of Stuart Sutcliffe, the founder member of The Beatles, whose influence on the band is widely recognised, despite him leaving before the fab four found fame.

Sutcliffe, of course, died aged just 21 after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 1962, but he had already created a substantial collection of paintings, visual art being his true passion. Those artworks form a bulk of the estate, which is valued at £5 million, along with an array of memorabilia from The Beatles’ early days performing in Hamburg. Cooper has been asked to oversee the estate by Stuart’s sister Pauline and Diane Vitale, who has previously helped Pauline manage her late brother’s artwork.

Confirming his new responsibilities, Cooper told CMU: “It’s a tremendous privilege to be appointed CEO of the Stuart Sutcliffe Estate. Stuart was an incredibly talented man and despite dying at the very early age of 21, his influence has radiated the world-over for almost 50 years. I would like to thank both Stuart’s sister, Pauline Sutcliffe, and Diane Vitale for the trust they have placed in me and I look forward with excitement to promoting Stuart’s name and work over the coming years”.

Well, it’s nice to be invited to a party, isn’t it? And EMI has just been invited to the digital royalties dispute party, via a lawsuit from Kenny Rogers. What fun.

As previously reported, the digital royalties dispute currently rocking the US record industry revolves around whether download revenue should be treated as record sales or licensing income (there are arguments for both interpretations). It’s an important distinction, because many pre-internet record contracts, which obviously don’t specifically mention downloads, pay out a considerably higher royalty to artists if revenue comes in from licensing deals rather than record sales.

Record companies have always treated download sales as the digital equivalent to record sales and paid heritage artists the smaller royalty. But many of those artists aren’t happy with that situation. Early efforts to fight that interpretation in the American courts, however, were not successful, but things changed when FBT Productions, who have a stake in the early Eminem recordings, successfully sued Universal Music for the higher pay out on download sales.

Universal insists the ruling in the FBT case only relates to that specific contract, and does not set a more general precedent. But that hasn’t stopped Rob Zombie, Chuck D and the estate of Rick James from suing the major over their old record contracts. Earlier this month Sister Sledge pulled Warner Music into the dispute by suing over their digital pay outs, and now Kenny Rogers wants the courts to force EMI to pay the higher royalty on his download sales. That only leaves Sony Music out of the proceedings, though interestingly it was Sony which successfully fought off some of the earlier lawsuits in this domain, led by the Allman Brothers and Cheap Trick.

Rogers is the first to file his digital royalties lawsuit in the Tennessee Court, which, of course, will be more convenient for those artists whose music industry base is Nashville, should Rogers be successful. Major label lawyers remain confident that – while certain contracts may enable certain artists to get a higher pay out on downloads – there will be no general ruling on this issue, and in most cases their interpretation of what constitutes record sale and licensing income will prevail. But if the heritage artists win, the impact could be huge on the labels, with the Future Of Music Coalition estimating the majors might have to hand over $2 billion in extra royalties if they lose outright.

It’s worth noting that Rogers’ lawsuit isn’t just restricted to a disagreement on digital revenue, with other complaints also included, stemming from a number of royalty disputes that seem to have been rumbling on since 2007.

Reading and Latitude promoter Festival Republic will again host a conference focusing on combating crime at British music festivals next week.

It will be the fourth year that promoters of many of the UK’s music festivals have come together with law enforcement agencies to share intelligence, discuss best practice and “communicate a strong and cohesive message to criminals that their actions will not be tolerated”. Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn will chair the event alongside Chief Superintendent Andy Battle of West Yorkshire Police.

The conference, takes place next Wednesday, and will include reps from the Glastonbury, Leeds, Reading, Latitude, Electric Picnic, Bestival, Rockness, Download, Isle of Wight, T In The Park, V, Womad, Creamfields, Secret Garden Party, Global Gathering, Hackney Big Weekend, Great Escape, Oxegen, Green Man, Sonisphere and Wireless festivals.

Fancy owning a collecting society anyone? Well, SESAC is for sale if you’ve got a spare half billion. The owners of America’s third publishing rights body have been considering selling the organisation on and off for a few years now, but according to the New York Post have now hired bankers at Allen & Co and Goldman Sachs to actively pursue a sale. The asking price is reportedly $500 million, somewhat lower than prices previously suggested by the current owners.

Unlike BMI and ASCAP, the two better known rights organisations that represent American songwriters and music publishers (and, for that matter, their UK counterpart PRS For Music), SESAC is a profit-making company. It represents a smaller roster of artists, but on that roster are some key American songwriters, including Bob Dylan, and some important songs, meaning that most music TV and radio stations can’t afford not to be licensed by the firm.

Various private equity outfits are expected to discuss taking ownership of the rights agency, though the Post reports that Warner Music has also expressed an interest. That said, Warner taking ownership of the rights body might cause concern amongst some of the songwriters and publishers it represents, Warner itself being a music publisher, so some commentators reckon that deal wouldn’t go ahead, even if there really was interest on the major’s part.

A private funeral for Whitney Houston will take place this Saturday in the singer’s hometown of Newark at the modest Baptist church where she first sang in public. It will be an invite-only occasion, though a separate public memorial service at a later date has not been ruled out.

Funeral Director Carolyn Whigham said that Houston’s family thanked the singer’s fans for their prayers and condolences, but that they had requested a private funeral service. Whigham: “It was the family’s decision. They have shared her for 30-some years with the city, with the state, with the world. This is their time now for their farewell to their daughter and mother”.

As previously reported, Houston’s body was flown from LA to New Jersey on Monday, being driven from Teterboro airport to Newark in a gold-coloured hearse. Fans were already gathering outside and leaving floral tributes at the city’s New Hope Baptist Church even before it had been announced as the venue for the private funeral.

Elsewhere in Houston news, online sales of the late singer’s work have continued to boom since her death. According to the Official Charts Company, 20 Houston songs should be in the UK Top 200 this weekend, seven in the Top 40, with her cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ likely to chart highest.

The singer’s two compilation albums are also both currently in the top five on iTunes UK, while in the US ‘Whitney: The Greatest Hits’ entered the Billboard Top 200 at number six yesterday having shifted 64,000 copies, despite there only being one full day between the singer’s death and the American chart week ending.

Back in the UK, Sony Music has issued a short statement regarding the revelation that the wholesale prices of Whitney’s greatest hits albums were increased shortly after her death this weekend, only to be dropped again later on Sunday. As previously reported, just hours after the singer’s premature demise the price for Whitney’s ‘Ultimate Collection’ rose on iTunes UK from £4.99 to £7.99. It turns out the singer’s other hits album, the more extensive ‘Whitney: The Greatest Hits’, also went up in price temporarily, from £7.99 to £9.99.

It’s been confirmed that the price rises only occurred in the UK, the wholesale price being increased only by Sony’s British division. Needless to say, the price hike – even though it was, as it turns out, only temporary – does not reflect well on the major, making it look like the label, which is set to benefit the most from Houston’s death anyway in terms of new record sales, was trying to cash in even more.

A source previously told The Guardian that a Sony exec, when checking what Whitney albums were stocked on iTunes after her death, noticed her compilations had previously been logged with Apple at the wrong price, and therefore the price rise was simply rectifying a previous error. Whether there is any truth in that we don’t know, but Sony didn’t rely on that excuse in its official apology.

It said yesterday: “Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the UK iTunes store on Sunday. When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologise for any offense caused”.

The error – described as an “internal mistake due to an employee error” by a Sony insider to Billboard – only affected UK music stores, though there is some confusion as to whether the price hike was limited to iTunes, or whether Amazon and possibly HMV were also informed of the price change.

As Spain gets ready to put its new Sinde Law into action, which will make it easier for rights owners in the country to get injunctions to block access to copyright infringing websites, another civil case on file-sharing has found in favour of the file-sharing service provider, as has been the norm in the Spanish courts.

Cinetube helps web-users navigate film files online and the majority of the movie files it links to are unlicensed. In some jurisdictions just linking to infringing content – if that forms the core of a site’s operations and no efforts are made to filter out or warn against unlicensed music or movies – constitutes pretty straightforward copyright infringement in itself, though in Spain generally the courts have been unwilling to hold such websites liable, especially if they are not run for profit.

The landmark ruling in Spanish law is that involving links service Sharemula which – although distinguished in another more recent Spanish case last April where the operator of a file-sharing links service profited from ad sales and SMS services – was deemed to set the precedent in the latest Cinetube case. So much so, the file-sharing service was able to successfully fight off copyright infringement litigation from the movie industry.

However, that might change if and when the new Sinde Law goes live in March, as Cinetube is known to be high up on the target list of the content industries, who hope the new web-blocking law will circumvent past precedents and enable them to force ISPs to block access to such websites. Though, as previously reported, the new web-blocking system may be delayed somewhat as Spain’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments from the Association Of Web Users which claims the Sinde Law is unconstitutional.

HMV is seemingly joining the anti-LVCR party, albeit now that all the food has been dished out, drinks poured and music played, and with only the most hardline party goers still in the house, most passed out of the floor. Oh well, perhaps HMV can help with the post-party mopping up.

Low Value Consignment Relief is the much previously reported tax arrangement which means that mail-order CD sellers based outside the European Union don’t need to charge VAT, giving them a 20% advantage on mainland sellers. As also previously reported, the tax relief was used on a grand commercial scale by mail-order firms based on the Channel Islands, where the logistics of shipping product en masse over from the UK and then posting it back to mainland Britain was relatively simple.

LCVR exists mainly to save the tax authorities from the hassle of having to administrate the VAT charged on low value goods sold into the UK from outside the EU, on the basis such sales were traditionally so low it wasn’t worth the cost and time involved.

However, once numerous mail-order operations started selling low-value goods, like CDs and DVDs, from the Channel Islands over the internet, the original logic of the tax relief system no longer stood up, and the continued use of relief by said operators on a mass scale breached European tax laws, because it distorted the British retail market.

After years of campaigning by smaller retailers, including some indie record sellers (campaigning met with lip service from the Channel Island authorities and UK government, and outright hostility from the Inland Revenue), Chancellor Of The Exchequer George Osborne finally announced last year that he was withdrawing the low value product tax relief from Channel Island-based companies. The VAT loophole will formally close in April.

As previously reported, many of those who operated mail-order businesses on the Channel Islands – including those who always insisted they were there because of the nice sea air and not the VAT breaks – are now looking for other bases outside the EU where it would be commercially viable to set up shop, the LVCR ban only applying to the Channel Islands in the short term.

Channel Islanders are not pleased with that turn of events, obviously, while some others have expressed concerns that, if every mail-order operator just moves to Switzerland (assuming the Swiss would have them), the problem of offshore CD sellers having such an advantage over mainland companies will only be temporarily addressed. Some of those who campaigned against LVCR on the Channel Islands, though, are hopeful a precedent has now been set that any future abuse of the tax relief system will be stopped much more quickly.

Anyway, to HMV. Former bosses at the high street CD seller adopted an ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ approach to the Channel Island VAT dodge, choosing to base their own mail-order operation offshore, rather than join the fight for the tax relief abuse to be stopped. Had HMV chosen the latter option, many campaigners believe, the VAT dodge enjoyed by Amazon, Play.com and The Hut et al would have been closed much sooner, reducing the negative impact many believe it had on the UK high street entertainment retail sector.

But now HMV boss Simon Fox, who’s been generally quiet on this issue since taking over at the retailer in 2006, has spoken out, confirming he is now one of those who fears the online retailers will all move en masse to Switzerland and so the VAT dodge party can begin anew.

Speaking to gaming industry magazine MCV, Fox said this week: “For many years we have said we would like to see a level playing field. Unfortunately, the [new] legislation closes down Low Value Consignment Relief only from the Channel Islands. It remains to be seen what our competitors will do, but undoubtedly there’ll be a temptation to go to Switzerland or wherever. It can’t be helpful to have your VAT rate as a determinant of where you put your warehouse. It’s a basic distortion to fair competition. The closing of LVCR rules is a good thing, but the way it has been implemented doesn’t necessarily solve anything”.

Expanding his tax concerns to the providers of digital content also, who may charge VAT, put who benefit from other tax breaks by basing themselves outside the UK, Fox added: “[The situation] is absolutely nuts. Just as it’s nuts for digital service providers – like iTunes and Amazon Kindle – to be located in low tax locations. Unfortunately all of the high growth digital markets are not delivering the government tax revenue. It is absolutely idiotic”.

Whether this means Fox will now ally himself formally with those in the independent retail sector who have been fighting LVCR abuse for years, and who want to ensure measures are taken to stop VAT dodging from other non-EU bases, remains to be seen.