Music Week articles from March 2009

Music Week archives from March 2009

UK to declare on 70 in term battle.
March 7, 2009... Government prepares the ground for official position on copyright term extension By Robert Ashton The industry's prize of copyright term extension is finally within its grasp as the Government prepares to throw its considerable weight...

Twenty names in the frame for anniversary award.
March 7, 2009... Legendary Beatles manager Brian Epstein, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and 19 Entertainment's Simon Fuller are among the contenders for a special Music Week award to recognise the most influential UK- based industry executive of the...

THE PLAYLIST: 07.03.09.
March 7, 2009... KIDBASS FEAT. SINCERE Goodgirls Love Rudeboys Relentless A huge single, all over 1Xtra and other specialist radio, this is a track with staying power at club level, and the commercial appeal to cross over. (single, April 20) ...

SIGN HERE: 07.03.09.
March 7, 2009... Fairwood Music Publishing has signed Noel Hogan, best known as the guitarist and co-writer with The Cranberries. Sunday Best Records has signed Ebony Bone. The label will release a single this summer. Mercury Records has signed The...

Duffy and Take That PRs in showdown.
March 7, 2009... Announcement of Music Week Awards shortlist sees MBC and Polydor go head to head The PR campaigns behind the two biggest albums of 2008 have been pitched against one another in the shortlist for this year's Music Week Awards. MBC PR's...

Selectadisc store succumbs to its losses.
March 7, 2009... Selectadisc owner Phil Barton has spoken of his deep-seated fears for Britain's independent music retailers after he was forced to pull the plug on his legendary Nottingham indie record store. Selectadisc, which operates from a central...

Accounts shed light on Pinnacle's #3.2m debts.
March 7, 2009... Figures reveal creditors' shortfall By Ben Cardew The full extent of Pinnacle's devastating collapse has come to light, with accounts revealing that the failed distributor owes around #3.2m to 571 creditors. Administrator BDO Stoy...

PRS targets Texas branding.
March 7, 2009... PRS for Music is building on its recent rebranding with a drive to cement new partnerships - starting at SXSW. The society has had a presence at the Austin, Texas, festival for the last few years, but membership development director Myles...

The BME has finally given showcase for British music.
March 7, 2009... Editorial Paul Williams A PERMANENT EXHIBITION TO THE UK'S COUNTLESS MUSIC ACHIEVEMENTS has been longer coming than a new Guns N' Roses album. Now it is here, though, the British Music Experience will not disappoint. This week's...

Past, present and future: an Experience fully worthy of UK talent.
March 7, 2009... Launched this week, the British Music Experience reveals an environment that takes it beyond the realms of the museum By Paul Williams THE ARTEFACTS ARE IMPRESSIVE ENOUGH - from Marc Bolan's guitar and Queen's bass drum to Dusty...

NEWS IN BRIEF: John Kennedy.
March 7, 2009... IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy has taken the stand in the Pirate Bay case, outlining the "significant damage to the music industry as a whole" that the service is causing. The founders of the filesharing site went on trial earlier this...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Record Store Day.
March 7, 2009... Organisers of Record Store Day in the UK have announced a fresh batch of exclusive releases to go on sale by participating retailers at the April 18 event. They are: Domino Recordings' vinyl-only compilation Blood On The Tracks; Jesus Lizard -...

NEWS IN BRIEF: eMusic.
March 7, 2009... Independent download store eMusic has announced a tie-up with Facebook, allowing users to share information about their musical tastes via their Facebook profile. eMusic subscribers will be able to log in using Facebook Connect and publish...

NEWS IN BRIEF: MSHK.
March 7, 2009... MSHK (formerly Ministry Of Sound), has issued a High Court writ against various parties connected to digital marketing and e-commerce services company Trinity Street, which ceased trading last week. Copyright: UBM Information Ltd.

NEWS IN BRIEF: Joe Cokewell.
March 7, 2009... Former Pinnacle Records managing director and Sanctuary CEO Joe Cokell has joined Cooking Vinyl/Essential Music and Marketing as director of business development. The newly-created position is part of the company's plans to grow the business...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Neil Hughes.
March 7, 2009... Polydor president Ferdy Unger-Hamilton has announced the promotion of Neil Hughes to senior director of promotions for Polydor. Hughes has worked for Polydor for eight years, including a six-year spell six as director of promotions. ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Bestival.
March 7, 2009... Kraftwerk, Massive Attack, MGMT and Fleet Foxes have been announced for the 2009 Bestival. The festival takes place on September 11-13 at the Robin Hill Country Park on the Isle Of Wight. Copyright: UBM Information Ltd.

Viewpoint: Rob Dickins, BME consultant.
March 7, 2009... Most of us have a timed door of entry that focuses specific and particularly formative times of our life on to certain musical styles. What books, museums and exhibitions allow us to do is to dig deeper and with music - like any form of...

PRS For Music for BME.
March 7, 2009... PRS For Music has been announced as the exclusive music industry sponsor of the British Music Experience. Within the BME, the organisation will greet visitors with a "songwriting connections" display highlighting UK songwriters on rotating...

MEDIA: Mongrel hope Indy's pedigree attracts fans.
March 7, 2009... Debut album to appear as covermount before release By Ben Cardew IN A FIRST FOR THE UK MUSIC INDUSTRY, The Independent plans to covermount a debut album from a major rock group. This Saturday's Indy will come bundled with a CD of...

MEDIA NEWS IN BRIEF: NME Awards.
March 7, 2009... Oasis won best British band at last week's NME Awards, but it was their old rivals Blur who stole the spotlight, with their first public performance since announcing their reformation. The band's singer Damon Albarn was joined on stage by...

MEDIA NEWS IN BRIEF: ABC.
March 7, 2009... ABC is to launch a new industry report detailing the issue-by-issue circulation details of more than 200 consumer magazines. The twice- yearly report will appear on March 12 and will sit alongside the ABC's regular half-year results. The move...

MEDIA NEWS IN BRIEF: Elbow.
March 7, 2009... The BBC recorded more than 1m red-button views of Elbow's recent Radio Two live session with the BBC Concert Orchestra, a number it says is its biggest to date. The concert took place at Abbey Road studios on January 17 and was then screened on...

AIRPLAY ANALYSIS: Take That rule the airwaves.
March 7, 2009... Greatest Day - the first single from Take That's current album The Circus - spent four weeks at number one on the airplay chart last November/December but has fallen rapidly in the past four weeks in tandem with the rise of follow-up Up All...

CAMPAIGN FOCUS: VV Brown.
March 7, 2009... ISLAND ACT VV BROWN has formed a unique partnership with Penguin author Marian Keyes that will see the two artists linked in a bespoke iTunes bundle. The bundle, released this week, will feature Brown's new single Leave, a recording of...

MEDIA: Former BBC head plans to light up music television.
March 7, 2009... Bea Ballard to look away from charts for TV success By Ben Cardew BEA BALLARD, THE FORMER creative head of BBC Entertainment and creator of TV shows such as One Night With Robbie Williams, is developing the Holy Grail of music TV: a...

MEDIA: Press explore covermount alternatives.
March 7, 2009... NME AND THE GUARDIAN are testing the water with digital offerings that could ultimately replace the covermounted CD. IPC title NME has signed a deal with ad-supported service We7 to offer NME.com users free listens of tracks by artists they...

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: ISP Tiscali.
March 7, 2009... A study by ISP Tiscali has found that 46% of online users access peer- to-peer services. It also revealed that 75% of those polled are fully aware of what is legal and what is illegal in their online activities. Some 83% stated they would still...

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: Mobile downloads chart.
March 7, 2009... Lily Allen's The Fear is the first number one of the Official Charts Company's new mobile downloads chart. The chart is based on full-track downloads to mobile in the UK. Copyright: UBM Information Ltd.

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: Amazon.
March 7, 2009... Strategy Analytics research has found that UK broadband users prefer Amazon to Apple for downloading music (26% compared to 23%) and video content (16% compared to 11%). Copyright: UBM Information Ltd.

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: Interscope Geffen A&M.
March 7, 2009... Interscope Geffen A&M has partnered with Kyte to offer dedicated iPhone applications for five of its acts - Lady Gaga, Pussycat Dolls, Soulja Boy, All American Rejects and Keri Hilson. The free apps contain video content, ads, click-throughs to...

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: iTunes Season Pass.
March 7, 2009... Depeche Mode will be the first act to issue an iTunes Season Pass. For $18.99 (#13.33), US fans will get the band's new album Sounds Of the Universe when it is released in April, as well as exclusive content such as singles, videos and remixes....

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: Pinch Media.
March 7, 2009... Pinch Media has found that fewer than 5% of Apple App Store customers are actively still using apps a month after downloading them. A concurrent study by ABI Research found that 16.5% of smartphone users spent between $100-$499 (#70 to #450)...

DIGITAL NEWS IN BRIEF: U2.
March 7, 2009... New U2 album No Line On The Horizon was accidentally added early to Getmusic.au by Universal Australia ahead of release and then spread to P2Ps. A similar problem befell Kelly Clarkson's new album All I Ever Wanted when it appeared temporarily...

DIGITAL: Music embraces the Twitter revolution.
March 7, 2009... Music industry is harnessing the networking power of hit blogging website By Eamonn Forde MICRO-BLOGGING SITE TWITTER launched three years ago but only really exploded into the public consciousness over the last six months. While...

DIGITAL: Embracing the inner twit key Twitter music services.
March 7, 2009... Twisten FM Developed by GrooveShark, Twisten FM allows the user to crawl Twitter for music-related postings, create a short link to a track you like and add to status updates. Clicking on the link will then send users to a GrooveShark...

LIVE: Nottingham Arena puts Members up for analysis.
March 7, 2009... Audience developers TLM to research online database By Gordon Masson NOTTINGHAM'S TRENT FM ARENA is aiming to build a better relationship with its customers after recruiting audience development agency TLM to analyse the venue's online...

Viewpoint: Graham Burns.
March 7, 2009... Chairman, Association of Secondary Ticket Agents THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY false dawns in the debate about secondary ticketing that you could almost hear the yawns from commentators - and indeed the ticketing industry itself - when Sports...

LIVE NEWS IN BRIEF: Live Nation/Ticketmaster.
March 7, 2009... The United States Congress held two separate hearings last week to discuss the proposed Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger. Both companies' CEOs appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with fellow executives such as JAM Productions...

LIVE NEWS IN BRIEF: The Gaymers Camden Crawl.
March 7, 2009... The Gaymers Camden Crawl has announced the first set of acts for this year's April 24-25-held event. Brakes, Datarock, Foy Vance, General Fiasco, Lion Club, Patrick Wolf, The Von Bondies and VV Brown are among the early names confirmed, with...

LIVE NEWS IN BRIEF: The Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
March 7, 2009... The Norfolk & Norwich Festival has confirmed Philip Glass, Ute Lemper, Dawn Upshaw and Wendy Cope among a host of acts to appear at the May 1- 16 event. The festival is promoting its classical music programme as one of its strongest elements...

LIVE NEWS IN BRIEF: Bruce Springsteen.
March 7, 2009... Glastonbury Festival has comfirmed Bruce Springsteen will be its Saturday night headliner, as rumoured over recent months. "I'm so pleased that Bruce Springsteen has agreed to come to Worthy Farm for the first time," says promoter Michael...

LIVE: Hooked On Music snares capital talent.
March 7, 2009... LONDON-BASED PROMOTER Hooked On Music has launched a residency programme aimed at helping young acts get a foothold in the capital. Hooked on Music's Tom Rose has expanded from promoting gigs at the 50- capacity room above Canal 125 just 18...

LIVE: Summer Sundae to raise new act ante.
March 7, 2009... THE ORGANISERS OF SUMMER SUNDAE WEEKENDER have announced they will be expanding its capacity and booking a host of top-name acts for this year's festival. The Streets will headline the independent Leicester event's Friday, August 14...

LIVE: Escape takes shape.
March 7, 2009... PLANS ARE COMING TOGETHER for this year's Great Escape festival's live music programme, with organisers already promising a 25% hike in attendees and top-line acts such as Kasabian and British Sea Power confirmed among the strongest line-up in...

PUBLISHING: UMTV tees up soundtrack.
March 7, 2009... "Flash mob" ad for T-Mobile spawns medley album By Chas de Whalley The online-only release TODAY (Monday) by UMTV of T-Dance - the soundtrack to T-Mobile's spectacular Life's For Sharing TV commercial - could mark a shift in the way...

PUBLISHING: OFFICE MOVERS AND SHAKERS.
March 7, 2009... Had you spent any time in a hotel lobby or office over the summer of 2008, odds are it would have been to the tune of Coldplay's Viva La Vida. The single shot to the top of the chart for most-played songs in general premises over the...

PUBLISHING: Bug acquires Stein scores.
March 7, 2009... One of the world's largest independent music publishers, Bug Music, has further bolstered its roster with the purchase of Perma Music, the cult film music catalogue of composer Ronald Stein Under the terms of the deal, Bug Music has...

PUBLISHING: Jeremiah jumps for Sony/ATV.
March 7, 2009... Sony/ATV has concluded a global publishing deal with Jonathan Jeremiah, securing the Brit talent ahead of his debut album release later this year. Jeremiah, who was one of four artists Music Week tipped for success in 2009, is currently...

UNEARTHED: Mercury has a Lott on its plate.
March 7, 2009... Mercury is to bolster its traditional launch efforts for British teenager Pixie Lott with the creation of an innovative online platform that will introduce the star to teen audiences. The major has teamed up with JJ Stereo to create a...

MUSIC WEEK ANNIVERSARY: WHO IS THE INDUSTRY LEADER?
March 7, 2009... As Music Week celebrates its golden anniversary this year, a panel of industry experts gathered to come up with a list of the 20 most influential UK music industry figures of the magazine's past 50 years. Ahead of an ultimate winner being...

KEY RELEASES: 07.03.09.
March 7, 2009... Out this week Singles * Kings Of Leon Revelry (Hand Me Down) Previous single (chart peak): Use Somebody (2) * Annie Lennox Shining Light (RCA) Previous single: Dark Road (58) * The Saturdays Just Can't Get Enough...

KEY RELEASES - 07.03.09: The panel.(Sound recording review)
March 7, 2009... Brad Barrett (Playmusic Pickup/Artrocker) New Rhodes: Everybody Loves A Scene (Salty Cat) New Rhodes have captured the essence of tight, spiky songwriting and wrapped it in pop melodies and billowing ambition. The progression from...

KEY RELEASES - 07.03.09: Single of the week.
March 7, 2009... The Saturdays Just Can't Get Enough (Fascination) The Comic Relief charity event is now in its 25th year, during which time it has scored 11 number one hits with the likes of Cliff Richard and The Young Ones, Spice Girls, Boyzone, Peter Kay...

KEY RELEASES - 07.03.09: Album of the week.
March 7, 2009... U2 No Line On The Horizon (Mercury) With a colossal reputation and near-mythological track record, U2 have not buckled under the weight of their own stardom, and instead delivered a solid and at times inspired 12th album that has won an...

KEY RELEASES - 07.03.09: The public say Yes to Pet Shop Boys.
March 7, 2009... THE PET SHOP BOYS' BRIT AWARD for Outstanding Contribution To British Music resulted in an immediate and major increase in sales of their 2004 compilation PopArt, and has also focused attention on their upcoming album, Yes. A week ago, the set...

KEY RELEASES - 07.03.09: CATALOGUE REVIEWS.(Sound recording review)
March 7, 2009... VARIOUS Gonks Go Beat/I've Gotta Horse (RPM RETRO 846) Their dated but delicious soundtracks to two British B-movies from 1965 are cult classics in their own right and were previously very difficult to find. Both have preposterous...

CHARTS CLUBS: Groove Armada revival can't spoil Sneak's week.
March 7, 2009... In 2007 - the last time they were active as recording artists - Groove Armada racked up a number one hit on the Upfront chart with Song 4 Mutya and reached number two with both Love Sweet Sound and Get Down. The first release under their...

CHARTS ANALYSIS: A good Omen for The Prodigy.
March 7, 2009... Analysis Alan Jones A week after introductory single Omen peaked at number four, The Prodigy debut atop the albums chart with their fifth studio set, Invaders Must Die. The veteran trio, formed in Essex in 1990, sold 97,254 copies of...

INTERNATIONAL CHARTS: Morrissey around the world.
March 7, 2009... The highest new entry in Britain last week, when it debuted at number three, quintessential Englishman Morrissey's Years Of Refusal has not gone down quite so well overseas but it has nevertheless made some excellent debuts around the world....

Amy agrees to Island's golden gigs.
March 14, 2009... Amy Winehouse will be part of the closing night's line-up during a week- long series of concerts in London in May to celebrate Island Records' 50th anniversary. The five-time Grammy winner will appear at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on...

Will IFPI sink Pirate Bay?
March 14, 2009... Torrent download site faces a one-month wait for court verdict Music piracy By Ben Cardew The days of the music industry's biggest bogeyman, The Pirate Bay, could be numbered with the IFPI confident its legal challenge against the...

THE PLAYLIST: 14.03.09.
March 14, 2009... CALVIN HARRIS I'm Not Alone Columbia Lulling you into a false sense of security with its acoustic beginnings, this climbs to a crescendo that will have you reaching for the glowsticks again. (single, April 13) THE YEAH YOU'S...

SIGN HERE: 14.03.09.
March 14, 2009... Ed Drewett, who we featured in the Music Week playlist last month, has signed a deal with Nick Gatfield at Virgin Records. Fiction has signed Detroit Social Club. The band's new single, Sunshine People, is released next month. ...

MUSIC PIRACY: Pirates' fate rests on legal interpretation.
March 14, 2009... Pirate Bay defence hinges on proving its "library indexing" intentions By Ben Cardew Industry lawyers say that the judge in The Pirate Bay case will now have to decide whether the high-profile site is merely a passive library of links...

Columbia appoints Somerside.
March 14, 2009... Columbia has appointed a new general manager in Angie Somerside, former managing director of Q Prime's UK operations. The move is a return to familiar territory for Somerside who previously worked for Sony BMG's Red Ink label as general...

Warp drives ahead with its20th anniversary live events.
March 14, 2009... Paris, New York, London and Tokyo to host events Warp, one of the industry's most influential indie labels, is celebrating its 20th anniversary later this year with a series of one- off live events around the world and a series of special...

Kasabian Bravia sync ups Underdog status.
March 14, 2009... WITH COLUMBIA PREPARING FOR THE SUMMER LAUNCH of Kasabian's third studio album, the band are already feeling the benefits of an international television platform that sees album track Underdog soundtracking the ad campaign for the new Sony...

Jacko's O2 gigs are perfect opportunity to re-establish his star legacy.
March 14, 2009... Editorial Paul Williams IT SAYS EVERYTHING ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON'S STATUS as a true musical icon that, even after the endless controversy that has surrounded him, his O2 residency this summer has every chance of becoming the live event of...

A new U2 Album is always a big deal.
March 14, 2009... A new U2 album is always a big deal, but the stakes seem much higher this time, with some commentators even suggesting pre-release that No Line On The Horizon's commercial performance would be a test case for the continuing commercial viability...

Keane reach out to fans with landmark 3D appearance.
March 14, 2009... Innovative promotional concert to be filmed at Abbey Road featuring a lengthy castlist of creative talent By Robert Ashton KEANE WILL CEMENT THEIR REPUTATION as one of the most technologically- friendly, envelope-pushing bands of the...

Merlin weaves magic with iMesh.
March 14, 2009... INDIE RIGHTS AGENCY MERLIN has announced a deal with US music subscription site iMesh, as the service prepares for an imminent global rollout. The deal allows iMesh, the third largest subscription site in US, to offer its consumers music...

Consultation bottleneck beckons.
March 14, 2009... THE COMING MONTHS WILL SEE a raft of documents pass between the music industry and ministers as the Government launches an unprecedented number of consultations and discussion papers, starting shortly with an options paper on the...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Apple Corps.
March 14, 2009... Apple Corps has announced more details of the forthcoming Beatles' Rock Band game. The Beatles: Rock Band will be released on September 9. Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles' Love album project, is serving as "music producer" on the game....

NEWS IN BRIEF: Spotify.
March 14, 2009... Management consultancy Deloitte has urged Spotify to tighten up security and "do a more comprehensive review of their application", after hackers last week broke into the online music site and stole the personal details of thousands of users....

NEWS IN BRIEF: Virgin Megastore.
March 14, 2009... Virgin Megastore's long US history seems to be nearing an end, with reports suggesting that the Virgin Entertainment Group North America is to be wound down. It follows the news that the retailer's store in New York's Times Square is to close...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Universal.
March 14, 2009... Universal managed to grow its profits in its fiscal 2008, despite revenue at the major falling slightly. For the full year 2008, Universal's revenue fell 0.2% at constant currency to E4.65bn (#4.17bn), driven by a fall in revenue from recorded...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Oasis.
March 14, 2009... Oasis' planned first shows in mainland China have been cancelled, after the Chinese Government revoked the band's performance licences. The band were scheduled to perform shows in Beijing and Shanghai on April 3 and 5 but the Government has...

NEWS IN BRIEF: The Media Village Group.
March 14, 2009... The Media Village Group (MVG), headed by Relentless Records founders Paul Franklyn and Shabs Jobanputra, is moving to a new Soho office, as it looks to increase the services it offers to artists. MVG houses The Village Agency, Big Wheel...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Extreme Music.
March 14, 2009... Extreme Music, the production music library unit of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, has signed Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer/ musician Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins as an executive producer. Copyright: UMB Information Ltd.

RADIO: Key radio figures in conference spotlight.(Conference news)
March 14, 2009... Radio Academy conference theme centres on change By Paul Williams One of Global Radio's key programmers will be in the spotlight later this month, when Paul Jackson is quizzed at a Radio Academy conference. Jackson, who is group...

MEDIA NEWS IN BRIEF: Simon Cowell.
March 14, 2009... Syco president Simon Cowell appears to be one of the few celebrities who will escape Michael Grade's axe, as the ITV executive chairman launches a major cost-cutting exercise. Already, hundreds of jobs are on the line and many programmes are...

MEDIA NEWS IN BRIEF: City Talk 105.9.
March 14, 2009... Bauer Media has appealed to Ofcom to allow it to air music on Liverpool's City Talk 105.9, currently the only all-speech commercial station outside of London. Bauer says that, following Ofcom's decision to waive the two-year change of format...

AIRPLAY ANALYSIS: Radio matters for Take That.
March 14, 2009... Alan Jones ALTHOUGH RELUCTANT TO MAKE THE TOP 10 of the OCC sales chart, Take That's latest single Up All Night handsomely increases its lead at the top of the radio airplay chart, with an extra 226 plays last week helping it to increase...