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TalkTalk buys Blinkbox movie service, not clear what's happening with music element It was known that Tesco was seeking to sell off its online content business late last year as the flagging retail giant's new CEO sought to refocus the company's efforts on its core business. Vodafone was first mooted as a buyer for Blinkbox, but TalkTalk emerged as a more likely acquirer over the Christmas break. TalkTalk will acquire the loss-making Blinkbox Movies debt free, reportedly for about £5 million in cash. The video-on-demand set up will be incorporated into the existing TalkTalk TV business. The ISP said in a statement this morning: "TalkTalk TV is already the fastest growing TV platform in the UK with over 1.2 million customers and Blinkbox will help accelerate the development of our platform by delivering a number of key initiatives significantly faster, such as offering a TV app to customers for in and out of home access to paid-for content across a range of devices". The firm added: "The integration of Blinkbox with our existing TV business is expected to begin immediately with the benefits of restructuring the combined platform and revenue synergies expected to flow from the end of calendar 2015". The deal does not include the non-video elements of Blinkbox, such as the streaming music platform that began life as We7 before Tesco bought it and relaunched the service under the Blinkbox banner. It seems unlikely that Tesco will want to keep the standalone music channel, though it might struggle to find a buyer, even though Blinkbox Music is one of the few UK services to operate a cheaper-to-run interactive radio service rather than fully on-demand streams. Tesco is yet to respond to a request for comment regards the future of Blinkbox Music. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As Blurred Lines case approaches, should the songs be played in court? And while the rape anthem makers and their business partners have claimed they'd prefer the case be dismissed before trial, we all know they're really well up for it. I know they want it, I know they want it, I know they want, hey hey, not many (alleged) song thieves can refuse this pimpin, etc etc. As previously reported, 'Blurred Lines' has gone legal not because of its dubious lyrical content, but because of the allegations Thicke and Williams borrowed heavily from the Marvin Gaye track 'Got To Give It Up' when creating their tune. This is partly down to the obvious similarities between the songs, and partly because Thicke once said of his hit in an interview: "I told Pharrell that one of my favourite songs of all time was Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up'. I was like, 'Damn, we should make something like that, something with that groove'. Then he started playing a little something and we literally wrote the song in about a half hour and recorded it". Though in the aforementioned deposition Thicke basically claimed that he'd been far too addled with drink and prescription drugs at the time to have given any such coherent instructions to his pop-making partner. So any song-lifting and abhorrent rape apologism must have been Pharrell's fault. Though both Thicke and Williams strongly deny the former allegation. Anyway, as both sides prep for the 10 Feb kick off for the big court case - which will basically consider that old copyright question, "When does inspiration become infringement?" - the latest side debate taking place, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is whether the jury should hear the Thicke/Williams song and Gaye's track side by side. Now, you might think that spinning a 'Blurred Lines'/'Got To Give It Up' mash up would be a given at the start of a case of this kind, and unsurprisingly legal reps for the Gaye family would very much concur. Plenty of people noted the strong similarities before this dispute even got off the ground, so the jury are sure to agree that there's definitely some crossover between the two songs. But lawyers for the 'Blurred Lines' twosome are demanding that no such airing of the tracks at the heart of this case take place. Their argument is based on some tedious copyright law that has already been acknowledged by the judge overseeing the case. The allegation here is that Thicke and Williams infringed the copyright in Gaye's song (not the recording), and - more specifically - in the composition as described in the sheet music for the piece. For Team Lines this is an important point. They argue that where there are elements of 'Blurred Lines' that are very similar to 'Got To Give It Up', those elements are not part of Gaye's formal composition, they are extra bits n pieces that were thrown in during the recording which are not - according to their interpretation of relevant American law - protected by copyright. To play a 'Lines/Give It Up' mash up, therefore, would be "unduly prejudicial" say lawyers, and "likely to confuse the issues, and likely to mislead the jury because numerous elements in the sound recordings... are not found in the deposit copy and hence are not probative of copying". Assuming that jurors won't be able to expertly scrutinise the sheet music for the two songs to assess similarities between the pieces, a compromise proposed by Thicke and Williams' lawyers is that the core compositions of the two tracks be played on a keyboard in court. But this is all just a nonsense, reckons the Gayes' legal man. He writes: "The musical composition 'Got To Give it Up' was created simultaneously as it was being recorded. Thus, the musical composition of 'Got To Give it Up' in total is embodied in the sound recording. Therefore, the sound recording is the best evidence for what is included under the intrinsic test". So there you go, that's kinda fun and this case hasn't even got properly started yet. Everybody get up. -------------------------------------------------- Iggy Azalea seeks injunction against former boyfriend over unreleased music As previously reported, Azalea met Williams, aka Hefe Wine, when she was seventeen. The pair worked on music together, as well as beginning a relationship. At some point during this time, her lawsuit alleges, "Williams downloaded the entire contents of Azalea's personal computer". In August, early Azalea tracks appeared on download stores, though were forced offline again with a cease-and-desist from Universal Music. These tracks were amongst the files Azalea says were stolen from her by Williams. He claims that he has a signed agreement granting him access to use the music in any way he sees fit, though the rapper's lawsuit says that this agreement is, in fact, a (not particularly good) fake. Williams also claims that the couple were previously married. A decision on whether or not to grant Azalea the injunction she seeks is expected today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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New report reckons plenty of challenges ahead as streamers aim for scale and profit There are still plenty of challenges to tackle, not least how royalties are split between different music industry stakeholders, how the streaming services can go properly into profit, how more mainstream consumers can be wooed, and whether - at the end of all this - the value of the recorded music market will go up, down or stay around about where it is now (which is about a third less than back in the heyday of CDs). Things aren't entirely pessimistic, even if there's a bumpy road ahead, though a new report from Boston-based research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics has plenty of gloomy stats and predictions to counter any positive thinking. The report, called 'Will Royalty Crisis Defeat The Music Streaming Industry?', reckons that while Spotify did, of course, see phenomenal growth last year, it's 'average monthly revenue per user' is down, 2% in the case of paid subscribers and 37% in the case of ad-funded users. The former possibly because of the rise in bundled subscribers (who get Spotify via a mobile or other package), the latter because ad sales aren't growing as fast as the freemium user base. Of course, Spotify, the market leading on-demand streaming service, is still very much in growth mode at the moment and even Pandora, the market leading interactive radio service that has already floated, is still seeking more scale in a bid to go profitable. Though, says Strategy Analytics, both services still face significant challenges to get into the black. "Most companies benefit from economies of scale", says the report. "[But] Pandora and Spotify's content acquisition costs increase in parallel with subscriber growth, preventing them from getting ahead of the cost curve". Of course, all players in the streaming sector are already aware of these challenges and presumably reckon they - and possibly only they - are equipped to meet them. Though success for the wider sector seems certain to depend on cracking the mid-level market, as we discussed in this CMU trends piece. Meanwhile the Strategy Analytics report's author Leika Kawasaki said this morning: "Technology is evolving and changing the way consumers discover, listen to, share, and interact with music, but it is also a significant factor in the decline of [record] industry revenues". "Many artists feel they are under-compensated by streaming services, but as currently structured the underlying economics won't support higher royalty payments ... particularly for free ad-supported services. As a result, we may never see the same levels of spending on [recorded] music as we did a decade ago". "The industry must increase music streaming services' ad revenue while simultaneously transitioning users to paid services. With too many competitors already in the space, music-centric companies are facing growing competition from tech giants that have a distinct advantage in terms of leveraging their vast product ecosystems to drive growth in the music space". Concluding, Kawasaki reckons: "Current music-centric services may not be able to overcome inefficiencies in music streaming economics and increased competition. As a result, we very well may soon be seeing changes in the balance of power". -------------------------------------------------- Pono unveiled, ready to order Who wouldn't want to pay $399 for a totally unhelpful triangular shaped digital music device in an era where people don't have standalone music devices anymore? Who wouldn't want to pay $22 to download an album to play on said device? Who wouldn't want to start building a high quality audio download collection in 2014 just as the world moves on to streaming, and equally high quality streaming services become available? Only a non-idiot wouldn't want admission to this party. Anyway, Pono is here, with Young using the CES convention in Las Vegas to properly unveil his Kickstarter-funded device. The Pono download store is open and you can order your triangular bit of high-quality nonsense now for delivery next month. Though wasn't it good of Sony to step in at the last minute with that £949 walkman to ensure the Pono doesn't seem quite so stupidly over-priced after all? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sound Women announces regional events The line-ups are as follows... 24 Jan: Brighton with Clare McDonnell (BBC Radio 5 live) and Angie Greaves (Magic 105.4). 31 Jan: Birmingham with Amy Voce (Gem 106) and Noreen Khan (BBC Asian Network). 7 Feb: Newcastle with Lisa Shaw (formerly Heart North East) and Charlie Charlton (BBC Radio Newcastle). Explaining why it's important for the group to stage events beyond London town, Sound Women's Regions Leader Lucy Duffield is quoted by Radio Today saying: "It's really important to Sound Women that it's not London centric. As an ardent northerner, I feel passionately about making sure there are events in the regions that are exciting for those wanting to work in the industry". "Many people don't have access to anything like this and we hope that our combination of speakers, workshops plus locations will attract a wide range of people. We've aimed to reach areas that are accessible from all corners of the UK, whether it's Cumbria or Scotland for our Newcastle event or Buckinghamshire for our Birmingham event". For links to tickets for each of the three events click here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lana Del Rey is recording a new album, as you might expect The machine-like new album will apparently be called 'Honeymoon', and currently has nine songs on it, including a cover of 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Del Rey said: "[The new album is] very different from the last one and similar to the first two, 'Born To Die' and 'Paradise'. I finished my last one ['Ultraviolence'] in March and released it in June, and I had a follow-up idea. It's growing into something I really like. I'm kind of enjoying sinking into this more noirish feel for this one. It's been good". She also recorded two songs for Tim Burton's new film, 'Big Eyes'. Have you seen it? It looks really good, but I don't trust Tim Burton anymore, so if you could let me know what it's like, that would be great. Here's one of those songs, also called 'Big Eyes'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Secret 7" announces return for 2015 As ever, seven acts will release 100 unlabeled seven-inches each, randomly slipped inside sleeves with artwork created by a long list of visual artists. Submissions for sleeve designs are currently being accepted through the Secret 7" website, by the way. The 700 records will go on sale at a month-long exhibition at Somerset House in London for £50 each on 4 May. And those records will be the following: The Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thom Yorke, Shakira, Deers (Not Deers) and a multipack bag of others Other notable announcements and developments today... • Thom Yorke didn't make $22 million from his BitTorrent solo album release, as was recently mooted. A spokesperson for the Radiohead frontman has said that this is "totally and utterly false". Because OBVIOUSLY he didn't, and anyone who thought those claims were true is a fucking idiot. • Shakira is working on a track with Iggy Azalea, according to El Mundo. And that seems like a pretty safe bet, even if it's only a guess. • Spanish garage rock band Deers have changed their name to Hinds. The move comes after the band "received an email from a Canadian lawyer" saying that the name Deers "created confusion with his band's name. And that name is not even Deers (LOL)". Other names considered were apparently Deets, Deeds, Deefs, Drees and Mac DeMarco. • That band you like, Belle & Sebastian, have aired a song from their new album 'Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance', which is out on 19 Jan. The song is called 'The Cat With The Cream' and you can listen to it here. • Barely a week goes by without The Body announcing some sort of collaboration or other. I mean, there was that album they did with Björk producer The Haxan Cloak. And that split LP with Sandworm. Look, I didn't say there was one EVERY week. There is one this week though, because the monstrous metal duo are putting out and album with Thou. On it they cover Nine Inch Nails' 'Terrible Lie', which you can hear here. • Future Sound Of London's psyche-rock side project Amorphous Androgynous are back with a new compilation album, which is good news for everyone. Titled 'A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding In Your Mind): The Wizards Of Oz' it'll feature a lot of tracks. One is 'Raga In Asia Minor' by Cybotron, another is 'Mercy Killing' by The Sunset Strip'. • Emika has announced her first album release through her new record label, Emika Records. Titled 'Klavirni', the record features a series of improvised solo piano pieces, performed on the piano she learned to play on as a child. It'll be available on 26 Jan and is very good. • 18+ will be in London on 28 Jan to perform at Corsica Studios. The duo released their debut album last month. You can download a track from it, 'Rebirth', for free if you sign up for their mailing list. • Jon Hopkins has signed on to headline the rejuvenated Bloc Weekend festival in March, joining a lot of other people who are good at electronic music. Details here. • Katy Perry is working on a "a visual or a lyric related jab" at Taylor Swift in her Superbowl performance next month, someone or other told Hollywood Life. So that's something to look forward to. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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One Show viewers not impressed by Rita Ora's breasts The BBC apparently received over 400 complaints after the new 'Voice' judge appeared on the BBC One show on Monday evening wearing a suit jacket and no blouse, the resulting low-plunging effect revealing the fact that she does indeed have breasts. Something that has been suspected for some time now. A BBC spokesperson said in response: "'The One Show' allows guests to choose their own attire and popstars often opt for something glamorous or striking. We didn't feel that Rita's outfit would be outside of most viewers' expectations of that of a major popstar, but we appreciate that tastes vary". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Send ALL press releases to musicnews@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - this is checked daily by the whole editorial team meaning your release will definitely get to the right person. For details of the training and consultancy services offered by CMU Insights click here - Andy and Chris are also available to provide music business comment, just email them direct. To promote your company or advertise jobs or services to the entire UK music industry via the CMU bulletin or website contact Sam on 020 7099 9060 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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