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 A round up of music and music business events happening in the next seven days... Jacksons v AEG Live trial starts. This has been a very long time coming, with plenty of pre-trial legal scuffles along the way, but now the jury has been selected and The Jacksons v AEG Live is ready to go. The Jackson family, should you need reminding, says that AEG Live is responsible for Michael Jackson's demise in 2009 because it hired Conrad Murray, the doctor found guilty of causing the singer's death through negligence. AEG counters that Jackson chose and managed Murray himself, the company just paid the bills. Bull & Gate's final weekend. If you have a burning desire to see a gig at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town, you'd better get on and do it this week. Come 4 May, the venue will no longer be, it closing down to make way for a new gastro pub. Ed Harcourt will headline a farewell party on Saturday night. National day of mourning. This Sunday, if you're in New York, you can watch The National perform their song 'Sorrow'. And not just once, approximately 108 times, by my maths. The band are playing at the MoMA PS1 exhibition space as part of an art performance piece by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson called 'A Lot Of Sorrow'. And as titles go, you don't get much more descriptive than that. ATP I'll Be Your Mirror curated by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be playing and curating the latest edition of ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror festival at Alexandra Palace in London this Saturday. As well as playing themselves, they've drafted in the likes of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Locust, The Field and Dirty Beaches amongst others. Liverpool Sound City. Liverpool's music showcase festival and conference, Liverpool Sound City, takes place from Thursday to Saturday this week. Artists performing include Noah And The Whale, The Walkmen and Enter Shikari, while amongst the speakers at the conference are Andrew Loog Oldham and Tracey Thorn. SPOT Festival. One of our favourite city-based festivals, SPOT takes place in Denmark's second city, Aarhus, on Friday and Saturday this week. Loads of great Nordic acts fill the line-up, including MØ, When Saints Go Machine, Hamferð and The White Album. New releases. This week Rudimental release their debut, Groove Armada's Andy Cato releases his solo debut, Neon Neon return with their second album, Iggy & The Stooges are back with the first album to feature the surviving members of the original line-up since 1973's 'Raw Power', Sean Nicholas Savage releases his eighth album in as many years, and Os Mutantes are back with their latest instalment too. Our top tip for this week though, is the excellent debut from House Of Black Lanterns, 'Kill The Lights'. Gigs and tours. Launching their new album, 'Praxis Makes Perfect', Neon Neon will be taking up residency in the National Theatre Wales Warehouse from 2-5 May for a series of shows. If you can't get to one of those, then maybe instead you could check out performances by Beyonce, Leona Lewis, Major Lazer, Bring Me The Horizon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (in addition to ATP IBYM), Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Angel Olsen, Chvrches, Mt Wolf, Deptford Goth, R Stevie Moore or Van Dyke Parks. You could even head down to the Ed Banger label's birthday party or the London launch of Sweden's Way Out West festival.  MURRAY COMMENTS AGAIN AS JACKSONS V AEG LIVE CASE APPROACHES KICK OFF As previously reported, the Jackson family is claiming that AEG Live, promoters of Michael Jackson's ill-fated This Is It show, should be held liable for the late king of pop's death, because it hired Murray. AEG counters that while it paid Murray's bills, Jackson himself recruited the medic, and managed him on a day-to-day basis. That Murray's negligence caused Jackson's demise will be taken as read in the civil case, but the former doctor is trying to appeal his 2011 conviction. And in a new interview with America's Today Show, Murray said: "I hope the court will see that an injustice has occurred on this occasion. If that is the case, I will have my [medical] licence back and I will continue to practice medicine". Asked if he accepted any responsibility for Jackson's death, he added: "Not any responsibility that relates to his death. I am sorry that I have lost Michael as a friend and as a patient... It's a tremendous loss... It's going to remain with me for the rest of my life, but I am not going to accept responsibility for anything I did not do. [He] caused his own demise". Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for negligently administering Jackson with the surgical anaesthetic propofol in a domestic environment as a treatment for insomnia, and for failing to monitor his patient after administering the drug. Murray claimed that the amount of propofol he administered couldn't have killed Jackson, with his legal team proposing the patient had himself added to the dosage. The doctor also insisted that he was trying to wean the singer off propofol, adding that other medics who had helped get Jackson hooked onto both the anaesthetic and other prescription medications should also be held liable for the pop star's untimely demise. But the prosecution successfully argued that Murray's theory that Jackson had increased his own dosage of propofol was fanciful and, even if it was true, that the doctor was still negligent for allowing his patient access to the drug. Meanwhile the judge in the criminal case said that Jackson's alleged dependency on prescription painkillers was irrelevant, because they weren't in the singer's system when he died. Those aspects of Jackson's life, though, could be debated in more detail in the civil case that kicks off today, and which could last for up to three months. -------------------------------------------------- GEORGE JONES DIES Jones had a string of number ones in the US from the 1950s through to the 1990s, and was married to Tammy Wynette for six years in the early 1970s, during which time the couple recorded several songs together. In addition to the awards and hits, Jones' battle with alcoholism and cocaine addiction also captured the headlines at times, and often threatened to derail his career. Indeed at one point he earned the nickname No-Show Jones because of the frequency with which he cancelled gigs. He overcame his inner demons, in the main, after marrying his fourth wife Nancy in 1983, though was seriously injured after crashing his car while DUI in the late 1990s, leading to another spell in rehab. Nevertheless, he continued to play live until the end of his life, and was mid-tour at the time of his death. Amongst those to pay tribute after Jones' passing was confirmed was Faith Hill, who wrote "we lost one of the best voices God created this morning; our hearts are saddened to hear that George Jones has passed away... our thoughts and prayers are with Nancy and all of the family", while Keith Urban tweeted: "If I'm blessed enough to make it there, I look forward to you giving me the grand tour. Rest in peace George Jones!"  JESSIE J SETTLES WITH FORMER MANAGER Raymond Stevenson of management firm 141a said that he originally discovered the singer while she was still attending The BRIT School, and helped her develop the style and persona that delivered so big once she signed to the mega-major. And while he was already out of the picture by the time that deal was struck, he reckoned that his efforts to put the singer in front of industry execs on both sides of the Atlantic played a crucial role in her subsequent successes. He also said that he put £70,000 of his own money on the table to buy J out of her deal with Gut Records when that company went under in 2008. J then moved her management allegiances to Crown Talent before signing with Universal, which released her debut album 'Who You Are' in 2011. The dispute between J and Stevenson has been rumbling on for two years, but both sides in the squabble have now issued a joint statement that says, simply, "the parties have reached an amicable resolution". Stevenson added: "141a is very proud of Jessie's achievements - she is a very talented artist". The terms of the settlement are not known, but The Sun says Stevenson will get £1 million, said to be about a fifth of the earnings of 'Who You Are'. The paper quotes a source as saying: "This is an absolutely massive payout. Jessie is signed to the type of huge label who usually just get what they want. Ray is extremely well respected, but he runs a relatively small operation and Jessie's people thought he would just roll over". SANDÉ BREAKS BEATLES CHART RECORD OCC boss Martin Talbot told CMU: "It has been an incredible past fifteen months for Emeli Sandé - and to break a record which was set almost 50 years ago by The Beatles is arguably the greatest achievement of all. Across her 63 top ten weeks, she has been top five for almost 75% of the time - a remarkable record, by one of the most remarkable new British acts to emerge for many years". While Sandé herself added: "I'm completely lost for words and this is something I could only have dreamed of. The Beatles are the greatest band of all time and their legacy lives on and continues to inspire all of us that make music. I'm so happy that so many people have connected with the stories and the songs on the record, this really is our version of events now. I'd like to say thank you to everyone that has bought, played or shared my music in the last year, without your support this would never have been possible". THE WANTED BEQUEATH NEW SINGLE TO RIHANNA'S WALK The track, a Dr Luke creation, is based around the lyrics: "She can't sing/She can't dance/But who cares?/She walks like Rihanna". Is that a slight against Rihanna's singing/dancing abilities? Again, I can't say, you'd have to ask The Wanted. When I asked the band's Tom Parker to say things about the single, there was no mention of Rihanna's singing, dancing or walking. Instead he said: "We are really excited about this single. We feel it's a little different from the usual Wanted sound, we've stripped it back to pure pop, it's just a feel good, fun track". He alluringly added: "Fun is a good word to describe the video too. Let's just say it's got a lot of character". Said video will have its 'international premiere' on 7 May, by which time we'll all have heard the single played to death. The end. NICKI MINAJ TO ACT IN LAW-COM FILM Having teased her potential new live-action part in an MTV interview earlier this month, Minaj is, says The Hollywood Reporter, in final talks to play Diaz's 'opinionated assistant' in the 'The Other Woman', a comic vengeance romp set in a law firm. Shooting is set to start later this year. GLASVEGAS ADD JUNE DATES 18 Jun: Newcastle, The Cluny ------------------------------------------------- SPECTOR, THEME PARK, WILLY MOON PLAYING RAY-BAN SHOWS Each act will headline a date at a site that Ray-Ban thinks represents a particular quality of a pair of it glasses. So, to illustrate what the heck that means, Spector are starting off at Manchester's Deaf Institute - as (so Ray-Ban says) stands for the 'Long Lasting'-ness of a Ray-Ban shade - on 14 May. If that makes any sense to you at all, apply for free tickets to one/all of the Envision shows at this link. ------------------------------------------------- MOUNT KIMBIE ANNOUNCE LONDON SHOW Buy tickets to the Bussey show at this link. FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE And hurrah again, because Bobby Womack is a late-ish new arrival to this year's Glastonbury cache, and will close the Worthy Farm fest's West Holts stage on Sunday 30 Jun. Womack, who confirmed he had Alzheimer's disease earlier this year, will make Glasto his only UK festival date of 2013, playing live with his Bravest Band, as features Damon Albarn and Richard Russell. And och, hark at the new bill additions at this year's T In The Park, The Balado-based rock/pop jamboree having signed the likes of Travis, Johnny Marr, Willy Mason and DIIV to its Rihanna/Killers/Mumford-capped cause. Ecstatic at the idea that long-time T faves Travis will play the fest once again, TITP MD Geoff Ellis says: "Travis have given us some epic performances at T In The Park over the past 20 years, including at our very first outing back in 1994 and incredible headline sets in 2000 and in 2005. They've been there since day one, and it really does feel like they are part of the fabric of T In The Park. Our 20th year celebrations - it wouldn't have felt quite right without them". Ah, that's heart warming, But what of Johnny Marr, doesn't his joining the line-up warrant any congratulations? Well, yes: "Johnny Marr is a true legend and we're honoured that he'll be joining us for our 20th year celebrations, alongside all the other great acts announced today. It's going to be a great weekend". So that's all great, but it isn't over, because we have more of the same c/o ATP's last ever event-in-a-holiday-park End Of An Era, Belgium's Dour, new London date East End Live (a live sonic add-on to this year's East End Film Festival), Serbia's very enterable Exit, Stockton's self-named Weekender weekender, and the Wickerman: ATP'S END OF AN ERA, Pontins Holiday Park, Camber Sands, 22-24 Nov/29 Nov - 1 Dec: Television, LOOP, Chelsea Light Moving, The Pop Group, Dinos Chapman, Les Savy Fav, 23 Skidoo, múm, Oneohtrix Point Never, Hebronix, Mike Watt, Forest Swords, The Haxan Cloak, Demdike Stare, Wolf Eyes, BEAK>, Eraas, Fennesz, Edan (DJ set), The KVB, Dirty Beaches, Eaux, Hookworms, Thought Forms. www.atpfestival.com DOUR, Plaine De La Machine À Feu, Dour, Belgium, 18-21 Jul: The Horrors, Two Gallants, Dan Deacon, The 1975, The Van Jets, Superlux, Piano Club, We Are Enfant Terrible, Exsonvaldes, AmenRa, Kadavar, Holograms, Le Prince Harry, Pale Grey, Paon, Recorders, Raketkanon, Robbing Millions, Hudson, Billions Of Comrades, Salut c'est cool, Hugo Freegow, Cupp Cave. www.dourfestival.be EAST END LIVE, various venues, London, 13 Jul: TOY, Wet Nuns, Perspex Flesh, Charles De Goal, Scott & Charlene's Wedding, Moon Zero, Skinny Girl Diet. www.eastendfilmfestival.com/east-end-live ELECTRIC PICNIC, Stradbally Hall Estate, Co Laois, Ireland, 30 Aug - 1 Sep: Fatboy Slim, Björk, Arctic Monkeys, My Bloody Valentine, The Knife, Franz Ferdinand, Wu-Tang Clan, David Byrne & St Vincent, Disclosure, Noah and the Whale, Warpaint, Eels, The Walkmen, Hurts, Johnny Marr, Mick Flannery, Ocean Colour Scene, Tiga, Black Uhuru, The Strypes, Hudson Mohawke, Savages, Baauer, Polica, Chvrches, Palma Violets, The 1975, Parquet Courts, Deap Vally, MS MR, Peace, Merchandise, Mano Le Tough, Mount Kimbie, Blondes, Clinic, Nina Nesbitt, Soak, The Dublin Gospel Choir, Luke Sital-Singh. www.electricpicnic.ie EXIT FESTIVAL, Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia, 10-14 Jul: Jeff Mills, Mathew Jonson, Gregor Tresher. www.exitfest.org GLASTONBURY, Worthy Farm, Somerset, 26 Jun - 1 Jul: Bobby Womack And The Bravest Band. www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk STOCKTON WEEKENDER, Stockton Riverside Park, 27-28 Jul: Frankie And The Heartstrings, Bo Bruce, BEAK>, Sparrow And The Workshop, The History Of Apple Pie, Brown Brogues, Hey Sholay, The Sons of Bido Lito, Palace, The Panoramic, The Jar Family, Abel Raise The Cain, Sons And Lovers, Tusk, Weird Shapes, and Wild Smiles, Sarah Proctor, James Skelly And The Intenders, Alistair Sheerin Band, The Purnells, The Roundels, Rob Heron And The Tea Pad Orchestra, Little Violet, Holy Moly & the Crackers, and Old Muggins, Boy McIlroy, Year of Birds, Oxfam Glamour Models, Retriever, The Approved, Marfo, Stanley Odd. www.stocktonweekender.co.uk T IN THE PARK, Balado, Scotland, 12-14 Jul: Travis, Johnny Mar, Willy Mason, DIIV, James Skelly, Jack Savoretti, Foy Vance, Steve Mason, Milo Greene. www.tinthepark.com WICKERMAN, East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, 26-27 Jul: Dave Clarke, Kissy Sell Out, Elite Force, Justin Robertson, Kryder, Andi Durrant, DOD, Felix Leiter, Nick Coulson b2b Junior J, Aitchie, Dave Tunstall, Duology, Filth Wizard, Joe Phuture & Breadman, Lee Clark, Elite Force, Meat Katie, Simon Jackson, Resistance, Ash Howell, Mark McIver, Louise O'Donnell, Justin Robertson, Rebecca Vasmant, DJ Ray McKinney, Carsin Therain, Stav, Struan. www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk PALMER URGES MORRISSEY TO CROWDSOURCE In the Guardian piece, Morrissey - forced to break from touring recently due to ill health - says: "I have a lot of songs. We could record three studio albums immediately, very easily. But none of the majors are interested. [They] are only interested in very young people who will fly by and ask for nothing in return". But surely Morrissey - reckons Ms Palmer - you don't need a label in this here online age because, while you may not have embraced social media and online fan engagement like the former Dresden Doll, you have an incredibly loyal global fanbase. And a quick Twitter survey of Palmer's own fans saw 1400 people immediately confirming they'd pledge five dollars to access some new Morrissey material. And, writes Palmer in an open letter on Salon.com: "OK, that would only yield you about $7,000, but you... you're actually Morrissey. You have some of the most fanatical fans in the world; caring and devoted people from countries far and wide who would be really, really happy to support you at levels far beyond $5 just to have the songs in their ears. You're possibly one of the best candidates on the planet to use crowdfunding, because of who you are and what you mean". Palmer then goes on to explain why Morrissey, of all people, no longer requires the services of a traditional record company, and why he should seriously consider fan-funding. Though, she adds: "Since I know you almost definitely won't do this and that you may well think I'm a bothersome asshole for writing you this open letter, I'd just like to say this: You may be the end of a family line, but you have spawned a lot of singing, songwriting children, whether you like it or not, and I proudly count myself as one of them". She continued: "The Buddha once said that 'if you were to carry your parents around with you for their whole lives - your father on one shoulder and your mother on the other - even to the point where they were losing their faculties and their excrement was running down your back, this would not repay your debt of gratitude to them'. As your devoted songwriting-spawn, I must say: I cannot get on board to quite this gruesome extent. But I'd be totally keen to help you crowdfund". ------------------------------------------------- NETTWERK SECURES NEW FUNDING FOR GROWTH The Nettwerk Music Group, which includes a management division, and label and music publishing businesses, previously raised funding from Beedie Capital, used in the main to expand the group's publishing interests. According to Billboard, the latest round of funding comes from Beedie again, plus HMC Investments and the group's four founding partners, Terry McBride, Ric Arboit, Dan Fraser and Mark Jowett. Confirming his firm's new involvement, HBC Investments' Peter Brodsky told reporters: "Nettwerk has emerged as a successful and thriving music company that is uniquely positioned to create long-term value in its clients' musical works and content. The investment comes at the perfect time where the music industry is experiencing a resurgence with explosive growth in monetisation opportunities across diverse worldwide retail and distribution models". back to top AMAZON SEES REVENUES RISE BUT PROFITS FALL The slip in profits is mainly down to Amazon's recent investments in the form of acquisitions, new distribution centres, further global expansion, and the development of new digital content services, an area which is becoming an increasingly important part of the web giant's business. On-demand film and TV services are at the heart of that growth, though digital music is also likely to be part of the mix.  THE PIRATE BAY MOVES TO ICELANDIC DOMAIN As previously reported, shortly after the US authorities shut-down MegaUpload in January 2012, The Pirate Bay announced it was shifting its operations from its .org domain to a .se address, registered it the site's home country Sweden, to keep the URL out of the reach of the Americans. But then earlier this month concerns were raised that the Swedish authorities might swoop to take the Bay's domain name off them. Pre-empting that move, TPB moved its primary domain to Greenland. For about two days. Because the domain registry there quickly blocked the new Pirate Bay address, citing a court ruling against the file-sharing operation in the Danish courts (Greenland being a self-governing province of Denmark). But it seems that nothing about The Pirate Bay's operations specifically violates terms and conditions set out by the Icelandic domain authority ISNIC, and it has said that it won't take any action to stop thepiratebay.is working unless specifically ordered to do so by the Icelandic courts. Which would presumably require the content industries to launch a new bit of litigation, which would be costly and time consuming. Hence why the Bay thinks it will be safe with its new .is domain for the foreseeable. Of course in some countries, like the UK, direct access to The Pirate Bay is blocked by most internet service providers at the order of the courts. Which means that Bay users rely on proxies that circumvent the blockades, and providing those stay up to date with any movements in TPB's TLDs and IP addresses, then none of this will have much of an impact on said users. -------------------------------------------------- AOL MUSIC IS WOUND UP Word that some serious downsizing was underway at the US music division of the internet firm first came via the Twitter feed of Spinner, part of the AOL Music offering since 1999. The tweet, deleted soon after, read: "Hey guys. Just found out from AOL that we're shutting down. Today is our last day. Seriously". Spinner Editor Dan Reilly then tweeted from his personal account: "Well, we all just got laid off. AOL Music is finished". Quite what the line "AOL Music is finished" actually means in terms of which of the web company's services will be shutdown isn't clear, as we wait official confirmation, though insiders say other music news sites operated by the firm, including The BoomBox, The Boot and Noisecreep, will also go. Though AOL Radio will remain, with that service's Programme Director Thomas Chau tweeting: "AOL Radio will continue but everyone I work with will be unemployed as of today". Very much like Yahoo, AOL was an early innovator in online music, offering a combination of news, streaming content and exclusives, but soon lost ground after the rise of iTunes, the launch of free-to-access websites by traditional music media, and the growth of the music blogosphere. The British side of those music operations were always smaller, and were axed sooner, with AOL Music UK being wound up in 2011. WILLIAMS WANTS MORE ANGER IN MUSIC The early days of Britpop is the last British musical movement Williams can think of that provided something for angry people to latch onto, which I'm pretty sure ignores an urban music movement or two that have occurred since, but then Dizzee Rascal went and made all that too cheerful didn't he? According to The Sun, Williams said: "Once, you'd go from mod to new romantic to punk, and then rave and then [Britpop], and then... nothing. There has not been that same spirit ever since, I don't think". He continued: "There used to be something to rebel against. I think there is plenty to rebel against right now, especially with what is happening with the world, with how people are being treated by governments and the recession. Normally this is the time of great upheaval and great voices that rise and say, 'No we are not fucking having this'". He conceded that he himself isn't doing anything about it, noting "I'm in a mansion in Los Angeles, what do I know?", but concluded: "There seems to be a great apathy. Where are the BILLY BRAGGS and THE CLASHES? It's good to have a place to go and complain". | |||||||||||||||||||||
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