AEG TALKING TO LABELS ABOUT EQUITY PARTNERSHIPS
According to the New York Post, AEG Worldwide has been talking to Universal Music for nearly a year now about the record company taking a stake in its tour promotion business AEG Live. Not only that, the Post reckons the AEG parent company has now opened similar talks with Sony Music and Warner Music, and is ultimately considering totally off loading its concert business to one of the major music companies.

Though the paper stresses all talks are at early stages, with a source saying that "the talks are still going on, there is no definitive agreement".

We've long said that a more logical music industry consolidation than, say, a merger of the EMI and Warner record and publishing companies, would be for one of the major music firms to merge with a live music company with global interests, thus bringing together the two main strands of the wider music business, and perhaps enabling the integration of live, recording and publishing activities.

A merger between a music major and Live Nation previously seemed like an obvious deal to be done, though Live Nation's more recent merger with Ticketmaster arguably makes that company too big for further consolidation, in the short term at least.

AEG's tours company is the next obvious contender for such a deal. Bosses at AEG Live kept there options open when responding to the Post's story this weekend, saying, simply: "There are a variety of substantial organisations that have contacted us over the years and recently about investment opportunities in AEG Live. While we happen to have all of our funding in place and have no need for additional investors and have never found anybody to be a good fit, we continue to speak to many to determine if they would bring proper assets to the table to warrant consideration".

For their part, Universal denied they were in active talks with AEG this weekend, while Sony and Warner chose not to comment one way or the other.

Of course, it's widely known that the live sector has been in rude health throughout the last decade while the traditional record industry has seen sales and profits slide. This is frustrating for the record companies, who argue that the live industry primarily profits from the touring of big name artists, who only become big names because of the expensive marketing work of the labels. With that in mind some record companies have been trying to get a slice of live revenues, either by starting to operate in the live sector directly, or by simply demanding a slice of an artist's live profits as part of a record deal.

Though, as also previously reported, some in the grass roots live sector would argue the wider live industry has never been as buoyant or profitable as conventional wisdom would suggest, and recent reports in some of the US music and business press have suggested even the bigger promoters are suffering from a slump in ticket sales this year. Which might be why AEG Live is stepping up its search for business partners elsewhere in the music industry.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

ARE HEADLINE ARTISTS ASKING FOR TOO MUCH CASH FROM FESTIVALS?
Talking of the challenges faced by the grass roots end of the live sector, Ben Turner of the Association Of Independent Festivals has asked headline-level artists, along with their managers and agents, to be more aware of the impact their ever increasing fee demands could have on the independent festival sector.

It's no secret that some big name artists demand very big fees for performing live, touring often being their best earner, especially if their recording and publishing revenues are still paying off label and publisher investments. It's also no secret that major league artists charging ever higher performance fees has played its part in the significant rises that have occurred in average concert ticket prices in recent years.

These ever increasing fee demands are very challenging for the independent festival sector, Turner argues, where profit margins are often tight at the best of times. And more so than ever because, he adds, performance fees have continued to rise during the recession, even though promoters have had to limit ticket price rises to ensure their events remain affordable to festival-goers.

Turner told 6music last week: "Prices for talent increases and increases and increases every single year. I think it's something that agents, managers and artists need to be more aware of, that these [independent and grass roots] festivals that they supposedly love, they need to show some support for that. There comes a point where a promoter has to go, 'Do you know what? I'm not going to pay that far'".

Some indie promoters would probably argue that their bigger rivals add to this problem by complying with their headliners' increasingly unreasonable fee demands. Though some of those bigger promoters would argue that a festival is only as good as its list of headliners (and often the bigger the festival the more true that is), and that therefore those top level acts are justified in demanding top dollar.

Live Nation's Andy Copping told Radio 1's Newsbeat: "Big bands have to get paid and get paid big money because they're the ones that are pulling in the people. It's always been there and it's always going to be there. The younger bands, smaller bands, only pull a certain amount of people. The bigger bands pull a big amount of people and they need to be remunerated for that".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

YES, JACKO NEWS IS BACK!
Michael Jackson's three children are still fighting a "daily battle" to cope with life without their father, says the late king of pop's mother Katherine.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror as the first anniversary of Jacko's death approaches, the Jackson matriarch said: "It has been a daily battle to cope with our huge loss... I wanted to hang pictures of flowers or ballerinas in Paris' room, the sort of things I expected a girl would like. But she went into a closet and she brought out seven or eight pictures of Michael and she told me, 'No, I want Daddy hanging in my room'. So she goes to bed looking at him and wakes up looking at him. She said, 'I always want to be able to see him'".

Katherine added that, while the three siblings have plenty of cousins, aunts and uncles to look after them, she feels they need friends outside the family. Currently they have none, mainly because of their home schooling. But, she added: "[The kids] don't have any friends. They don't go to school, they have private lessons at home - but that will change in September, when they are due to enrol at private [school]".

According to TMZ, Katherine plans to take her grandchildren back to Gary in Indiana, the Jackson clan's home town, for the first anniversary of their father's death, partly to be away from the hoo haa that is expected to occur in LA as Jackson's fans prepare to commemorate the first anniversary of their hero's sudden demise.

There will be a little bit of hoo and possibly some haa on that anniversary in London too, with plans to erect a plaque paying tribute to Jackson at the Lyric Theatre in the West End, which has been hosting the 'Thriller Live' show since the start of last year. The plaque will be unveiled on 24 Jun, the evening before the actual first anniversary of Jackson's death.

Elsewhere in Jacko news, AEG Live, producers of the big Jacko memorial event that took place at the Staples Center in LA last July, have announced that they and the Jackson estate will donate a million dollars to the city to cover the costs incurred by local authorities and police as a direct result of the memorial show.

As previously reported, some local politicians hit out at the cost to the city of policing the event, and called on the Jackson family and/or AEG to reimburse the city for its expense. Mayor Antonio Villargaigosa initially said the cash-strapped city could afford to cover the costs associated with the memorial show, but last week welcomed the million dollar commitment made by the live music giant and the Jacko estate.

He told reporters on Friday: "I applaud this team effort and thank everyone involved for doing what was best for the people and the city of Los Angeles. Through the continued good corporate citizenship of AEG and the Michael Jackson Estate, we will be able to promote and support important civic events that hold so much meaning for the people of Los Angeles and bring us together as a city".

AEG will also make a $300,000 donation to the city's Police Foundation. $90,000 in cash had already been committed, raised through the sale of suites at the Jackson tribute show. They will donate an additional $210,000 of equipment to the city's police force.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

NEW YORK MAGAZINE DENIES SCREWING UP FREE DRAKE GIG
The media company behind last week's cancelled Drake street gig in New York has denied it is responsible for the violent outburts that occurred at the event, which mainly consisted of a fractious crowd throwing bottles and such like.

As previously reported, a free gig set to feature both the Canadian actor-turned-rapper and those lovely Hanson boys was cancelled last week after nearly twice as many fans showed up for the event as organisers had anticipated. Police quickly became concerned about the risk of over crowding. The resulting delays caused some Drake fans to get a little restless.

The event was organised by Paper magazine and promoted via the title's website. But Paper's publishers argue that they weren't incompetent in failing to foresee just how many Drake fans would show up. All would have been fine, they argue, had local radio stations not started promoting the free show.

Paper editor David Hershkovitz told New York gossip column Page Six: "We didn't send out any invites. We announced it to our readers online late last week. Eventually, this info got onto the radio, which brought it to a whole different level and type of audience that didn't really know anything about Paper".

He added that any unrest at the cancelled show has been exaggerated, saying: "This has been characterised as a riot, but to me it was more of a riot averted. If it were a riot, a lot more people would have been injured and a lot more damage would have been done".

Another street gig in New York was cancelled last week, though this one well before fans had turned out to see it. Jay-Z had planned to play a open-air tea-time gig on the balcony above the doors of the Ed Sullivan Theatre this week, but the New York's mayor's office refused permission on Friday, again over crowd control concerns.

But some open-air gigs in New York do go ahead without too much drama. Miley Cyrus and Bret Michaels played for hundreds of fans in the city's Central Park on Friday morning, for a performance aired on US TV show 'Good Morning America'. And yes, that's Poison frontman Michaels back on stage performing despite him suffering from a near-fatal brain haemorrhage in April.

back to top

KANYE AND SUGE FAIL TO REACH SETTLEMENT OVER PARTY SHOOTING
Kanye West and Suge Knight were both in court in New York last week to try to settle the latter's previously reported lawsuit relating to a shooting that took place at a pre-VMAs party organised by the former in Miami in 2005.

Knight blames West and the venue's owners for failing to provide sufficient security after the one time hip hop mogul was shot in the leg during an incident at the pre-awards bash. Police investigations failed to lead to any charges being pressed in relation to the shooting. Knight is suing for a million dollars.

A proper court hearing relating to the case has been set for December, but last week negotiations took place behind closed doors in a bid to reach a pre-hearing settlement.

According to the New York Post, West himself refused to speak at the six hour meeting, so most of the proceedings were led by the two sides' lawyers. The Post quote Knight's lawyer Marc Brumer as saying: "He [West] basically put his hands over his head and didn't say anything for six hours. He evidently doesn't know anything about anything, despite the fact that he hosted the party".

It seems the six hours of discussions didn't achieve much. Knight told reporters he was disappointed with the outcome of Friday's negotiations, adding: "I figured I could sit him down, man to man, and get this resolved".

back to top

OTHER BANDS JOIN BP BOYCOTT
A number of other US artists have followed the lead of metal types Korn in boycotting BP on their current tours in protest at the oil giant's handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico.

As previously reported, Korn announced earlier this month that they'd not be using BP fuel to power their vehicles as they tour with the North America-wide Mayhem festival this summer. Frontman Jonathan Davis told reporters: "We need to do our part to let BP know there are consequences for causing something like this. We want to send a message to corporations like BP so that they will take more preventative measures in the future. The more costly their punishment, the more money they will spend to make sure disasters like this don't happen again. It's plain and simple capitalism".

Last week the founder of Mayhem, Kevin Lyman, announced that the rest of the tour would follow Korn's lead and boycott BP. The Mayhem tour is already known for using biofuels where possible, but Lyman has confirmed these won't be bought from BP or their affiliates either.

Meanwhile other bands from outside the Mayhem tour have also announced they will join the boycott. These include Lady Gaga, Backstreet Boys, Disturbed and Megadeth.

back to top

BT DIGITAL MUSIC AWARDS SUBMISSIONS OPEN
Organisers of the BT Digital Music Awards, the annual awards bash for digital music services and promotions, launched its submissions process for 2010 last week.

There are ten categories, and artists, labels and digital service providers are encouraged to enter all that are relevant to them. Among the new categories added for 2010, the award's programme's tenth year, are Best Event and Best Music App, while this year's public voted prizes will be for the sites and services that are best for discovering, hearing and buying music.

Details of how to put your projects or services forward for consideration for both judging panel and public voted gongs are online at www.btdma.com.

back to top

WILL BRIAN WILSON REUNITE WITH BEACH BOYS FOR 50TH?
US entertainment journalist Robin Leech has claimed in the Las Vegas Sun that Brian Wilson may rejoin Mike Love on stage to celebrate the Beach Boys' fiftieth anniversary next year, which would be big news given all the bad blood that has existed between the various former Beach Boys over the years, Wilson and Love in particular.

Wilson stopped performing with the Beach Boys in the mid-sixties, even though he was still a member of the band until 1970. He last joined them on stage in 1985 at Live Aid. Wilson, of course, has performed as a solo artist with increased frequency in recent years, often playing Beach Boys songs.

Leech recently interviewed Love, and wrote last week: "The Beach Boys are gearing up for next year's 50th anniversary, and Mike Love told me that his cousin, founder and longtime member Brian Wilson, is reuniting with them for celebration concerts".

back to top

ARCADE FIRE TRACKLISTING
The tracklist has been published for the new Arcade Fire album which, as previously reported, will be released via Mercury on 2 Aug. And look, here it is...

The Suburbs
Ready to Start
Modern Man
Rococo
Empty Room
City With No Children
Half Light I
Half Light II (No Celebration)
Suburban War
Month of May
Wasted Hours
Deep Blue
We Used to Wait
Sprawl I (Flatland)
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
The Suburbs (continued)

The band have also announced they will play a secret gig in London in July, ahead of their appearance at this year's Oxegen Festival in Ireland. To get tickets for the gig, you have to pre-order the album from Universal's online store. Full details can be found here: store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/Arcade-Fire-Exclusive-Ticket/page/arcadefirepresale

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

NEW LES SAVY FAV ALBUM OUT IN SEPTEMBER
New York indie rockers Les Savy Fav will release their next album via Wichita on 13 Sep, it has been confirmed. The follow up to 'Let's Stay Friends', the new album is called 'Root For Ruin', and of it guitarist Syd Butler says: "I think [this album] somehow captures all the best parts of Les Savy Fav. We went into it with no expectations - and super excited with what came out - all the songs are my favorites".

Fans of tracklistings, here comes your second treat of the day, the 'Root For Ruin' song line up...

Appetites
Dirty Knails
Sleepless In Silverlake
Let's Get Out Of Here
Lips n' Stuff
Poltergeist
High And Unhinged
Excess Engergies
Dear Crutches
Calm Down
Clear Spirits

back to top

SKINNY PUPPY TOUR
Canadian electro-industrial-rock types Skinny Puppy will play three gigs in the UK next month, with promises of a career-spanning set and the customary impressive visuals.

Dates as follows:

18 Jul: London, The Forum
19 Jul: Manchester Moho
20 Jul: Glasgow Classic Grand

back to top

FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

LOVEBOX, Victoria Park, London, 16-18 Jul: Crystal Fighters, We Have Band, O.Children and The Correspondents are amongst the latest additions to this summer's Lovebox line-up, along with The Bang Bang Club, Midnight Beast, Laurel Collective, Kirsty Almeida and The Grand Majestic. www.lovebox.net

back to top

ALBUM REVIEW: Various Artists - Sex And The City 2 OST (Sony)
For those of you who have had the pleasure of seeing the absolute shitfest that is 'Sex And The City 2', you may or may not be surprised to hear that the soundtrack is just as awful and tedious as the film itself. Did I have high hopes for it? Not exactly, but as a huge fan of the TV series I was willing to give it - and its songs - one last chance. I feel, for a lack of a better word, cheated.

Contemporary bland songstresses Dido, Alicia Keys and Leona Lewis contribute to the mix, snuggled a little uncomfortably between the legendary Ms Cyndi Lauper and, most sinfully, Liza Minnelli attempting to cover Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' (taken from a scene that will forever and ever be scarred onto my mind - fuck you very much, Carrie Bradshaw).

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the fact that the compilers of the soundtrack decided to include Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte's Abu Dhabi karaoke track (sung by themselves) as well as three - yes, three - songs by the 'Sex And The City Men's Choir' (as featured on Anthony and Stanford's wedding, a match I hereby declare as one made in hell) - I'm forever left stunned and appalled by how a once smart and classy series has stooped so low, into shiny, monotonous, consumer-led distaste. TW

Physical release: 24 May
Press contact: Sony IH

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

back to top

HMV SHARE PRICE UP, ARE PRIVATE EQUITY BID RUMOURS CREDIBLE?
HMV's share price jumped 8% on Friday despite the music company making no real big announcements, leading some to speculate that rumours that someone out there in private equity land is about to bid to buy the live, management and retail group are true.

In its coverage of HMV's share price rise - it was up 12% over the week - the Mail points out that takeover rumours remain sketchy, and that last week's rise may simply be because City types have recognised they have been unfair to the music firm in recent months.

A slowing down of sales in HMV's stores at the start of the year caused the firm's share price to wobble, even though some music industry experts reckon HMV CEO Simon Fox's diversification strategy, especially the acquisition of the buoyant MAMA Group, means the company's fortunes are no longer exclusively tied to the foibles of the still gloomy high street retail sector, and that the firm should therefore, in theory at least, have a better share price.

As previously reported, there has been speculation HMV is a hot target for private equity for a few months now, partly because the firm's share price is relatively low, even despite last week's rise.

If you are of the opinion that that is because City types unfairly still treat HMV as primarily a retail organisation, rather than a multifaceted entertainment group, and that in doing so said City types are undervaluing the HMV company... well, that makes it an attractive buy for a bullish private equity group. If only Terra Firma had waited three years before jumping into the music business.

back to top

FRENCH DATA PROTECTION AGENCY GIVE TROIS-STRIKE MONITORING THE ALL CLEAR
The French data protection regulator CNIL has given the green light for record companies and music publishers to automatically track the IP addresses of suspected illegal file-sharers, meaning the French music industry's long journey towards getting a three-strikes anti-piracy system up and running has passed one of its final hurdles.

The French government was one of the first to respond to the music industry's call for new laws that force internet service providers to take a more proactive role in policing online piracy, by sending warning letters to and ultimately cutting off persistent illegal file-sharers.

Though, while the launch of a trios-strikes system has seemed certain for some time now, there have been various set backs along the way, not least the French Constitutional Council's insistence the government rework its three-strike plans so that a judge would be involved in any disconnections.

But since last Autumn three-strikes has, in theory, been on the French statute book. However various other steps needed to be taken before warning letters could be mailed, CNIL giving the all clear to music companies to snoop on file-sharers being a key one. Music rights holders need permission to be able to legitimately track file-sharing, so to initiate the three-strikes process against suspected copyright infringers.

With that permission now given, there remains just one more step to be taken, some government decrees need to be issued. That should also be done within in the month, and the government agency set up to administer trios-strikes, Hadopi, has said it is ready to start sending out warning letters in July. It's not clear how long the three-strikes process will take, ie how long it will be before we see the first disconnections of French file-sharers.

back to top

DROWNED IN SOUND PLANNING TENTH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Music website and online community Drowned In Sound will hit its tenth birthday in October, and has confirmed it will publish a range of special content to celebrate, including DiS's fifty favourite people discussing their favourite albums and a rerun of the greatest online spats from the last decade. Founder Sean Adams will also host a 6 Mix on 6music which will feature 20 landmark songs from throughout the site's history.

More about all this soon at www.drownedinsound.com, I'd imagine.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

UNDERCOVER PUBLISHERS COMPLETE MERGER, PLAN WEB TV SERVICE
The publishers of Aussie music website Undercover have completed their three way merger with communications firm GoConnect and artist management come production company PLW Entertainment.

The three companies announced their intent to merge back in February. A statement from the newly combined company issued last week said the firm would now "expand to create a new platform bringing its various media, technology and music operations together, to take advantage of the emerging global IPTV market with the launch of a unique and exciting international music channel, uctv.fm".

This new web TV service will go live in Australia next month, with plans to roll it out globally later in the year.

back to top

CHART UPDATE
Presumably England fans are now shouting along with Dizzee Rascal and James Cordon not out of excitement but out of rage? I'd expect so. Either way, there was enough shouting going on last week to ensure the rapper and actor type stay at number one in the singles chart this week with their World Cup anthem 'Shout'. There was seemingly plenty of flag waving last week too, because K'Naan's 'Wavin Flag' moves up a place to number two.

New entries on the singles chart this week come from Example with 'Kickstarts' at three, Kylie with 'All The Lovers' at four, Robyn with 'Dancing On My Own' at eight, Team Glee with 'Over The Rainbow' at 30, Kele Okereke with 'Tenderoni' at 31, and Team Glee again with 'Any Way You Want It/Lovin Touchin'Sque' at 32'.

On the albums chart, the Oasis retrospective come cash in 'Time Flies' goes straight in at one, getting the slightly irrelevant but somehow noteworthy accolade of being the 900th number one in the history of the albums chart. At two is Team Glee, yet again, with 'Journey To Regionals', a six tracker featuring songs from the TV series' season one finale, I think.

The other new entries on the albums chart are Crowded House at twelve with 'Intriguer', Drake at fifteen with 'Thank Me Later', Gaslight Anthem at eighteen with 'American Slang', Kasabain with their albums multi-pack at 22, and Tom Petty at 38 with 'Mojo'.

The charts are shouted out very loudly to anyone who will listen, each Sunday afternoon, by the Official Charts Company.

back to top

WEILAND DOWN ON ONLINE JOURNALISM
Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland has been dissing online media and the blogosphere, telling Xfm that the big bad internet has "destroyed modern journalism".

According to Gigwise, Weiland told the radio station: "I read written reviews in major newspapers, but online stuff is like just a hyper-version of the telephone. It's ridiculous. There are a lot of great things that have come from it [the internet], but I think there's a lot of bad things [too]. I think it's destroyed modern journalism. It's turned things incredibly tabloidesque. Anyone who thinks they have passed basic creative writing 101 can be a blogger. Though I should add, the CMU Daily, that's online only, but that's fucking brilliant journalism. So, that's the exception that proves the rule".

Strangely, Weiland didn't mention the tendency among some online-only journalists to randomly add sentences to rock stars' quotes.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

LENNON LYRICAL SCRAWL GOES FOR OVER A MILLION
I like 'A Day In The Life'. I'd go as far as to say it's one of my favourite Beatles songs. But I wouldn't pay $1.2 million for Lennon's original scrawlings of the lyrics (his bits, presumably, Macca wrote the "woke up, fell out of bed" verse I think), not least because the song achieves its classic status as much for its crazy orchestrations as its words.

But that didn't stop some rich nutter writing a cheque that big for Lennon's lyrical notation at an auction in New York last week. The piece of paper, which reportedly had a messy version of the lyrics on one side and a neater re-writing of them on the other, both written by Lennon, was sold to an anonymous American collector. The final price was well above expectations.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

OZZY DIDN'T LIKE BEING A REALITY TV STAR
Ozzy Osbourne has revealed that he didn't especially enjoy starring in the reality TV show 'The Osbournes'. Given we didn't particularly enjoy watching it either, what was the point then? Oh yes, it made the family millions, ensured wife/manager Sharon celebrity status on par with her husband, and got two of their kids admission to the celebrity e-list. Job done.

Speaking to ITN, Ozzy said: "I didn't like being on TV. My ego did for five minutes, but then it got old very quick. Be careful what you experiment with because sometimes it takes off. I began to get camera shy. When you have a camera crew living in your house all the time it takes its toll".

Osbourne also denied rumours Johnny Depp would play the rocker in a biopic. Ozzy said: "I want to get an English person because I'm not American. I'd like to get a guy from Birmingham you know, an unknown actor".

back to top