A round up of music and music business events happening in the next seven days...

Amy Winehouse house auction. Amy Winehouse's former home in Camden, where the singer was found dead in July last year, is to be auctioned by McHugh & Co today. At one point intended to be used as an HQ for the charity set up by the Winehouse family in Amy's memory, the Amy Winehouse Foundation, the building was put up for sale in May with an asking price of £2.7 million. A buyer having so far not been found, it will now be auctioned with a guide price of £1.8 million.

Spotify press conference. Spotify is holding a press event in London this week, with invitations promising attendees the opportunity to "discover what's next". So, we'll go and do just that on Thursday afternoon.

MusicTank. The latest MusicTank Think Tank event will take place this Wednesday with a focus on ticketing. The event will include two panel debates, one looking at innovations in the primary ticketing market, and the other at the continued issues around resale services, both involving artists, managers and promoters, and ticketing experts. Aline Renet of French live industry body PRODISS will keynote the secondary ticketing session, while We Got Tickets founder Dave Newton will lead the innovation panel.

UK Festival Conference and Awards. The 2012 UK Festival Awards will be handed out at a ceremony at The Roundhouse in London this evening where, it was announced last week, Live Nation COO John Probyn will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. The event takes place after the UK Festival Conference at the same venue, which will include sessions on retaining audience, accessibility, eco-matters, new revenue streams and generating value on tight budgets.

Artrocker Awards. Artrocker will hold its second annual awards show this week, after launching the Artrocker Awards last year. Voting in the various categories closed on Saturday, and the prizes will be handed out at the Sebright Arms in London on 7 Dec.

Beck song recital. Carl Barat, Ed Harcourt and The Duke Spirit's Leila Moss will perform songs from Beck's new 'album', 'Song Reader', which has just been issued in sheet music form (the only format it will be available in). They will appear at Rough Trade East tonight to play a selection of the 20 new songs that feature in the book.

New releases. This week, should you so wish, you could listen to new albums by Ke$ha, Scott Walker, Willy Mason and Memory Tapes, then round it all off with Domino's re-issue of 'Ekstasis' by Julia Holter. What a day that would be! Do it. Do it. Do it.

Gigs and tours. So, getting us in a Christmassy mood this week is Capital FM with its Jingle Bell Ball, featuring Girls Aloud and One Direction, amongst others. Or if that doesn't suit, why not head up to Sheffield for Pulp's festive homecoming show? Other folks with one-off (or at most two) shows this week are Michael Kiwanuka, Wild Beasts, Mark Lanegan, Kurt Vile, Big Deal, US Girls, Petite Noir, Suuns and Skaters. Touring up and down the place are Florence And The Machine, JLS, Ellie Goulding, Orbital, Enter Shikari, Waka Flocka Flame, Alexisonfire, James Blake, Madeon, Yeasayer, Gary Numan, Sharon Van Etten, Ben Gibbard, Stealing Sheep, Mono, Deerhoof, Fidlar and Local Natives.

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CMU TO PROGRAMME GREAT ESCAPE CONVENTION AGAIN IN 2013, POLAND CONFIRMED AS LEAD INTERNATIONAL PARTNER
CMU will programme the convention side of The Great Escape for the third year running next May, it has been confirmed today. The CMU team has co-ordinated the UK's premiere music business conference since 2011, working with a number of content partners to bring together an unrivalled programme of panels, conversations, insight briefings and networking events, all sitting alongside Europe's leading festival for new music, taking place in venues right across Brighton.

Confirming CMU's involvement in The Great Escape in 2013, the festival's Managing Director Kat Morris told CMU: "The Great Escape is all about new music and the new music business. The CMU team - as they monitor, report on and analyse everything that is happening in the wider music industry on a daily basis - are perfectly positioned to ensure our convention is built around the most relevant and most current topics and people. We are thrilled they will be programming our panels, conversations and networking programme for a third year".

CMU's Publisher and Business Editor Chris Cooke, who also heads up the CMU Insights training and consulting division and leads on the programming of the TGE convention, added: "When you write about the music industry every day, especially at a time when the business is still in flux, having the opportunity to bring together such enlightened and experienced speakers - the risk takers and alternative thinkers in this new music sector - to share ideas and insights, and to sit back for a moment to assess where exactly we are at, is a real joy".

He continued: "We already have some great panels and speakers planned for next May. Meanwhile, one of the particular successes of 2012 was our stepped up networking programme, and we will be moving that up another gear next year, so that our networking strand operates at the same level as our panels programme. The Great Escape truly is the place to learn more about our changing business, and then to do business; while catching some of the world's most exciting new bands".

Also just confirmed is The Great Escape's lead international partner, the country that will be specifically under the spotlight at both the TGE festival and convention next May, and in 2013 that country will be Poland, via a partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which will be presenting a special Don't Panic! We Are From Poland programme.

Confirming that partnership, Adam Mickiewicz Institute Director Paweł Potoroczyn told CMU: "Since we established the first Don't Panic! We Are From Poland event in 2008, this showcase of current Polish music has become an identifiable brand throughout Europe and North America. Its recognition and reputation opens the door for music from Poland to be presented at the most important global music business events. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is delighted to strengthen its relationship with The Great Escape, as host country, having being involved with the festival for the last four years. Absolutely don't panic! And pay attention to Central Europe".

Meanwhile Morris says of this partnership: "We're thrilled to be presenting Poland as lead country partner for The Great Escape 2013. We have showcased Polish artists at TGE for the last four years and have been greatly inspired by the new talent and music businesses that have emerged during that time. 2013 feels like the perfect opportunity to put the spotlight on Poland and we're really looking forward to unveiling the full line up in the new year".

The Great Escape 2013 will take place from 16-18 May. Delegate passes, which gain you access to all the panels, networking events, showcases and parties in the core convention programme, plus priority access into TGE festival venues (subject to capacity) are now available for just £145 from this link.

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METALLICA TAKE OWNERSHIP OF MASTER RECORDINGS, LAUNCH LABEL
Metallica have announced that they have taken control of all the master recordings in their back catalogue, having completed their most recent record contract with Warner Music. It seems that the metaller's most recent deal with the major, in 1994, as well as giving the band more immediate control over their catalogue, also included a buyout clause enabling the catalogue acquisition now.

In a statement issued on Friday via their official website, the band announced the launch of a new independent record label to be called Blackened Recordings, which moving forward will manage the outfit's catalogue and all new releases. It's thought a partnership will remain with Warner in the US, with its Rhino division handling distribution for the new label there, though Universal has got the distribution deal outside of the States.

The band wrote: "We like to make it a point here not to bore you with the not-so-exciting business aspects of making and sharing music, but we're so psyched about our new adventure that we just had to tell you about it as we officially launch our very own record label, Blackened Recordings".

They continued: "Some of you, who have followed along throughout the years, are aware that in 1994 we renegotiated our contract with the Warner Music Group, which resulted in a joint venture [between us and] our record company for releasing all of our recordings, including long form videos. Per that agreement, as of today we have taken ownership of all of our master recordings, and Blackened Recordings will be the home of all of our current albums and videos along with all future releases".

Finally they said: "You may have heard us say it once or twice, or a thousand times, before, but it's always been about us taking control of all things Tallica to give you 110% on every single level every single time. Forming Blackened Recordings is the ultimate in independence, putting us in the driver's seat of our own creative destiny. We're looking forward to making more music and getting it all out to you in our own unique way".

The first release through the new label will be the band's 'Quebec Magnetic' live DVD and Blu-ray, which is due out on 10 Dec.

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FULLER MAY BID FOR US INDEPENDENT CONCORD TOO
Simon Fuller doesn't just have his eyes on the Parolophone label, according to Sky News. It seems the 'Idol' creator and XIX Entertainment chief is also interested in buying American label the Concord Music Group, which counts recordings from the likes of Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis and Dionne Warwick on its roster.

The Concord Music Group was created by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records in 2004, and was the Starbucks chain's industry partner in its short-lived label adventure Hear Music, via which Concord hooked up with Paul McCartney, who then moved the distribution of his solo catalogue from EMI to the independent in 2010.

Concord's current owner Village Roadshow has put the business up for sale, and Fuller is said to be considering a bid. As previously reported, the 19 Entertainment founder and talent manager is also leading a consortium bidding to buy many of the assets Universal is being forced to sell in Europe as part of its deal with regulators regards its EMI acquisition.

It seems almost certain that if Fuller were successful in both his bids for Concord and EMI's Parlophone Music Group, he would merge the two entities, one having a stronger foothold in the US and the other in the UK, therefore making them a good combination for anyone looking to launch a new music rights company with established operations on both sides of the Atlantic.

So much so, Sky's Mark Kleinman reckons other Parlophone bidders may also concurrently bid for Concord, adding that bankers co-ordinating the Parlophone sale for Universal have gone as far as advising bidders for the EMI assets that a combined Parlophone/Concord business is worth considering.

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MUSE CANCEL SHOWS AFTER MATT BELLAMY BREAKS FOOT
Muse have cancelled three shows on their European tour in Oslo, Stockholm and Malmo, after frontman Matt Bellamy broke his foot. The tour is expected to restart with a show in Helsinki on 10 Dec.

In a statement on the band's website Team Muse said: "The band have made the difficult decision to cancel these gigs as they feel that they will not be able to do justice to their live show, and the fans who have bought tickets, with Matt performing on crutches. Matt's progress will be monitored over the next few days, but the remaining dates on the tour are still scheduled to go ahead as planned".

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NEW DEADLINE FOR STUDENT BANDS COMPETITION
A student bands competition called the Uni Music League has extended its applications deadline for this year, meaning student musicians now have until 14 Dec to put themselves forward.

32 bands will be selected to take part in the Uni Music League for this academic year, each of which will get the opportunity to play various venues, with the overall prize for the winner including studio time from Metropolis, a three month PR campaign, professional photo shoot and a support slot at Koko.

Info on how to enter is now online at www.unimusicleague.com

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GIRLS NAMES SET 2013 DATES, DETAIL NEW LP
CMU approved quartet Girls Names have just pre-arranged a six-date tour to coincide with the 18 Feb release of their new LP, 'The New Life'.

The band's Cathal Cully fetes the new record, the successor to 2011's 'Dead To Me', thus: "Not to dwell on the past, 'The New Life' is what happens when you reset everything back to zero and start again, but try to perfect. It starts back at zero the minute the needle hits the groove but we're also starting back from zero once the needle lifts at the end of the record. Ad infinitum. 'The New Life' is what follows now".

Take a look at those live dates, and/or a listen to just-premiered LP track 'Hypnotic Regression':

20 Feb: Belfast, The Menagerie
21 Feb: Dublin, The Grand Social
22 Feb: Leeds, The Cockpit
24 Feb: Glasgow, Broadcast
25 Feb: Manchester, The Castle Hotel
26 Feb: London, Sebright Arms

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TOM ODELL TO TOUR
Earnest studio artist and natural blonde Tom Odell is set to be the star attraction of his very first headline tour, as starts on 1 Mar 2013 at Birmingham's The Rainbow.

A video featuring Tom playing new single 'Another Love' live on 'Later' is screening here, and here's the list of live dates:

1 Mar: Birmingham, The Rainbow
2 Mar: Leeds, Cockpit
3 Mar: Glasgow, King Tut's
5 Mar: Manchester, Night & Day
6 Mar: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
8 Mar: Bristol, Thekla
10 Mar: Brighton, Komedia Studio Room
11 Mar: Southampton, Joiners
12 Mar: London, Dingwalls

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP ADDITIONS
So in festival additions news, Nottingham 'lad' Jake Bugg is going to be playing the first night parties of Mallorca and Ibiza Rocks in 2013, an honour awarded to Biffy Clyro, Plan B and Ed Sheeran in past years.

Says the young Bugg, who's the only artist confirmed at either festival so far: "I'm really looking forward to playing Ibiza Rocks in 2013. I did it as support earlier this year with Ben Howard, so it's great to be invited back to play a great outdoor headline set. It seems like every time people say guitar music is dead, that's when it comes back. I think people are hungry for it".

They sure are. Trace Bugg's above-mentioned movements, plus the first sign of what's destined to be a fine new alt-dance weekender, Pleasure Principle, via the following listings:

IBIZA ROCKS, Ibiza Rocks Hotel, Ibiza, Spain, 4 Jun - 18 Sep 2013: Jake Bugg. www.ibizarocks.com

MALLORCA ROCKS, Mallorca Rocks Hotel, Mallorca, Spain, 5 Jun - 19 Sep 2013: Jacke Bugg. www.mallorcarocks.com

PLEASURE PRINCIPLE, Trevelgue Holiday Park, Cornwall, 26-28 Apr 2013: TNGHT, Rustie, Oma S, Joy Orbison, Jackmaster, Just Blaze, J-Rocc, Robert Hood, Blawan, Ben UFO, Levon Vincent, DJ EZ, Oneman, Loefah, Floating Points, Redinho, Legowelt, Space Dimension Controller, Move D, Deadboy, Maurice Fulton, John Talabot, Spencer, Koreless. pleasureprinciple.net

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SPEAKERS CONFIRMED FOR MIDEM, BY:LARM AND EUROSONIC
The MIDEM, By:Larm and Eurosonic music business conferences have all announced some more speakers who will appear at their respective 2013 events.

Blink 182's Mark Hoppus will appear at MIDEM, which takes place in Cannes from 26-29 Jan, as part of the conference's 'Artists Speak To Artists' sessions, which will see artists conversing directly with the audience. Amongst others speaking will be Amanda Palmer's manager Kevin Wortis, Creative Artists Agency's Head Of Digital Strategy & Marketing Glenn Miller, peermusic's Mary Megan Peer, and Justin Kalifowitz from Downtown Music Publishing.

Norway's annual By:Larm bash, meanwhile, will feature Q&As with Neneh Cherry, St Etienne's Bob Stanley and journalists Barney Hoskyns and Matt Thorne. You can catch all that and more from 13-16 Feb in Oslo.

And finally, Eurosonic, which will happen in Groningen in The Netherlands from 9-12 Jan, will welcome Beggars Group's Martin Mills and Tunecore founder Jeff Price, plus Songkick founder Ian Hogarth presenting his company's new project, Detour.

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ONE DIRECTION DESIGNING PERFUME
One Direction are set to rival young Justin Bieber in the adolescent-boy-branded perfume game. The band will release their very first fragrance in 2013, having refined it over the past six months in collaboration with luxury scent experts Oliviann Beauty.

Confiding in fashion and beauty site WWD.com, Oliviann President Dana Kline said the purchase date for eau de 1D will fall in Autumn 2013. She also said it'll be allocated first to places where One Direction happen to be touring, which makes sense.

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KATY PERRY FRAGRANCE FRANCHISE ACQUIRED BY COTY, NEW SCENT "ALMOST FINISHED"
Beauty brand Coty has acquired the rights to Katy Perry's line of fragrances, as so far comprises past scents 'Purr' and 'Meow'. Perry's third perfume is on its way in the new year, apparently, and will presumably be titled something like... well, I'm guessing it'll be a cat noise. Or something less imaginative, like 'Cat'.

Billboard quotes Perry as saying: "Coty has become my partner. We are working on the next fragrance, which is almost finished. Everything is like a year off. It's not because we need the year. It just takes that much time".

Coty President Renato Semerari added: "We are thrilled to have an artist as creative and talented as Katy Perry join us at Coty. Katy is original and daring, and her unique approach to music and life will serve as the inspiration behind her innovative new scents and allow us to explore new avenues of scent creation".

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CHARLIE SIMPSON BREAKS RECORD FOR COLDEST EVER GIG
Charlie Simpson has achieved his aim of playing the coldest ever gig. As reported earlier this year, Simpson headed to Oymyakon, Siberia last month in order to carry out the Jägermeister-sponsored stunt, which saw him perform in temperatures of -30˚C.

It took the musician and a three-strong support team four days to reach Oymyakon, which is apparently the coldest permanently inhabited place on the planet. Once there, he played a fifteen minute set of songs from his debut solo album, 'Young Pilgrim'. There's perhaps a mild irony in the fact that almost the entire original stock of that album was destroyed in the Sony DADC fire just prior to its release in August 2011.

Simpson told CMU: "This has been a trip of a lifetime and a gig unlike anything I thought I'd ever experience in my career. The town has no TV or radio, so they've had little to no contact with rock music before. This was definitely a world first in many respects!"

He continued: "It was unbearably cold and playing guitar with gloves on wasn't an option. We had to pack hand warmers into my sleeves before the performance to keep my blood warm and stop my fingers from getting frostbite. It was hard for the whole team but the experience has definitely brought us all closer together and we're all firm friends now".

Of the many potential problems facing the record attempt, one was perhaps less expected, explained Jägermeister Music Manager Tom Carson, saying: "One of our biggest concerns was Charlie's guitar, as they are not designed to be exposed to those temperatures. We were warned that it might just disintegrate because the glue won't be able to withstand the cold. That's certainly not a factor we've ever had to consider with our other gigs".

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LIVE NATION COO SAYS FESTIVAL FANS ARE MORE DEMANDING IN 2012
John Probyn, the COO of Live Nation in the UK, has said that - aside from wobbly ticket sales, weather issues and a possible lack of new headline acts, all previously noted as challenges for the festivals sector - another challenge for the live industry is that punters are simply becoming more demanding, possibly as a result of the festival market expanding its consumer base so that the average age of a festival-goer is quite a bit higher than it was.

In an interview with The Guardian, ahead of him being presented with a lifetime achievement prize at tonight's UK Festival Awards, Probyn admitted: "The public are much pickier than they used to be. Fans now expect spectacular shows, with good quality sound and great entertainment - they are looking for that wow factor. [And] we've had people getting in touch to complain that it rained at an outdoor event! One group of girls got in touch because they were unhappy about standing on grass because they were wearing high heels that sunk into the ground. But, you know, this is a customer-driven industry and the customer is always right".

Asked about that other issue, the perceived lack of new headline acts coming through, especially on the rock side, resulting in the higher reaches of rock festival line-ups being dominated by veterans and reunions, Probyn added: "Are there big new bands out there? Probably not as many as there used to be. But that doesn't mean there won't be in the future - that's just where the industry is at the moment. On the main stage at Download the average age is probably 102, but on the other stages they are kids".

Probyn will pick up the lifetime achievement prize at tonight's UK Festival Awards, which follow the UK Festival Conference that takes place today. Commenting on the award for the Live Nation COO, Festival Awards co-founder Steve Jenner told CMU: "John's contributions to event production have raised the bar in safety, comfort and enjoyment for millions of live music fans across the festival spectrum, worldwide, extending far beyond his own events. For this reason alone this award is overdue".

He added: "However, I feel passionately that credit is also very much due for John's commitment to engaging directly with his audiences through digital channels as well as regular fan-forum meet-up events. This has been key to the stand-out success of events like Download Festival and has driven forward the evolution of the wider marketplace in no small strides".

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PRS FOR MUSIC LAUNCHES NEW CODE OF CONDUCT
Publishing rights collecting society PRS For Music last week launched a revised Code Of Conduct, which takes into account the previously reported 'Minimum Standards For UK Collecting Societies' recently published by the Intellectual Property Office.

Confirming the launch of the new code, PRS boss Robert Ashcroft told CMU: "This revised code builds upon and consolidates PRS For Music's existing licensee and membership codes. Its launch underpins our commitment to excellent service and high standards in all that we do".

Code of conduct fans can check out the all new code in full at www.prsformusic.com/codeofconduct

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BPI ANNOUNCES NEW LIBRARY ARRANGEMENT
Yeah, we all obsess about why certain artists choose not to make their new music available via the streaming services from initial release (yes, Ms Rihanna, we are looking at you), but what about CDs available for borrowing from libraries? CDs and libraries still being things that exist. Apparently.

Record label trade body the BPI last week announced that, from the new year, libraries will be able to stock new albums on CD for lending as soon as said new records are released.

A previous agreement between the UK record industry and the library sector said that libraries would wait for three months after a new album was released before making it available for borrowing, so that labels could have time to persuade people to actually buy a new release before they could go nab it for free borrowing from their local book repository.

The new arrangement will kick off in the new year, initially for a six month pilot period.

Confirming the new deal, Kiaron Whitehead, the BPI's General Counsel, told CMU: "This arrangement demonstrates the flexibility of copyright. It enables public libraries to test the demand of customers to lend CDs at the same time they are released for sale".

Meanwhile Phil Bradley, President of the Chartered Institute Of Library And Information Professionals, added: "CILIP believes fiercely in the need for libraries to be able to give users exactly what they want. In a world where instant downloads, Spotify and streaming are the norm, we hope that this new agreement will help to do that. We will monitor this six month trial closely, and if successful we hope to make it permanent".

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MARY ANNE HOBBS TO JOIN 6MUSIC
Following her recent somewhat sudden departure from Xfm, Mary Anne Hobbs has announced she is joining BBC 6music to present the weekend breakfast show. Hobbs will start presenting the weekend programme, which comes for the BBC's Salford studios, from 5 Jan.

Confirming her latest radio gig, Hobbs wrote on her blog this morning: "I'm delighted to be able to tell you that I'm joining BBC 6music. For me: Music Is Life. I'm so excited to join a family with such depth and diversity of knowledge, pure passion and ingenuity".

She continued: "I look forward so much to the challenge of creating beautiful new programmes which embody the whole Spirit Of 6 and allow me to explore my passion for arts and culture on some fascinating new radio terrain. I'd be thrilled to bits if you would join me".

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TOTALROCK RELAUNCHES AS BLOODSTOCK RADIO
Online metal radio station TotalRock has rebranded as Bloodstock Radio, following a new alliance with the people behind the Bloodstock Festival.

The relaunch, which took place on Saturday, also sees a new line-up on the station, combining some existing TotalRock shows and presenters with programmes featuring DJs and presenters from the Bloodstock team and other media partners, including Metal Hammer and Iron Fist.

The new station is online at www.bloodstockradio.com

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MCFLY SAY FIFTH ALBUM THEIR LEAST FAVOURITE
I think there's a new magazine feature or TV programme format in this. Featuring any artist with a greatest hits album to flog, it's called 'Which Was Your Shittest Album?' First up, McFly: fifth and most recent studio album 'Above The Noise', no question.

Well, the band's Tom Fletcher, promoting best of collection 'Memory Lane', says 'Above The Noise', the group's most conventionally pop album, is his "least favourite", though he adds that he enjoyed experimenting with a new sound and working with American pop producer Dallas Austin.

He told Digital Spy: "We thought we'd try something really drastic and try a completely different producer from a different genre of music. Universal heard a couple of demos and said they were interested in re-signing us [the band having self-released their fourth album]. They set us up with Dallas Austin and we recorded the whole album with him. It was a great experience and it was fun to shake things up a bit".

But the band weren't completely pleased with the results, it seems. And drummer Harry Judd also questions the choice of first single off that record, which he reckons wasn't a great track. Said Judd: "If it was up to us we would have released 'If U Seek Kate' as the first single. None of us wanted to release 'Party Girl'. It didn't even cross our minds that it would have been a single. It was like a bad version of a Lady Gaga song. Looking back, it really wasn't us".

Though Fletcher did add that, while 'Above The Noise' was his least favourite McFly record to date, he still has "fond memories" of working on it, and that actually he listened to it just the other day and it was better than he remembered.

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