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How are Apple's plans impacting on the freemium debate? We all knew that, with download revenues peaking, and streaming growth not yet significant enough to compensate for that and continued CD sales decline, freemium streaming services would come under the spotlight this year. While Spotify argues that its freemium level is the main marketing channel for selling £9.99 a month premium subscriptions, some reckon (not Spotify mind) that the high numbers of people now using freemium streaming services is responsible for the decline in download sales in many key markets. And even if you don't buy that, it seems certain that the digital music sector needs to develop some mid-market streaming services for the majority not willing to pay £9.99 a month - so that streaming can go truly mainstream - but services like Spotify Freemium are so good, it's not clear what a £2 a month or £6 a month service might look like. Recent rumblings around Universal Music's HQ in LA, not to mention some remarks made by the major's chief overseer Lucian Grainge, have suggested that opinion there is swinging towards the mantra "Spotify Freemium Bad", with some wondering whether that shift in mood was in anyway linked to the recent departure of seasoned UMG digital execs Rob Wells and David Ring. Which makes the latest round of licensing talks between Universal and Spotify very interesting indeed. It was previously thought that the majors wouldn't rock the boat regarding Spotify's freemium-to-sell-premium business model this side of the streaming service's IPO, they being set to benefit from the big-bucks sale of the company from their minority equity stakes. But with Spotify now reportedly raising another half billion in finance, it's looking likely that Wall Street flotation is someway off, and maybe the labels can't wait. Meanwhile, as Universal possibly tries to persuade Spotify to make some radical changes to its freemium options, the major is also talking to Apple as it gets ready to relaunch the Beats Music streaming service within the iTunes ecosystem later this year. And according to Re/Code, Apple's music chiefs - including former Universal exec Jimmy Iovine - are likewise down on Spotify-style freemium, possibly because of the financial hit those digital firms offering such a service have had to take. Apple won't want to take that kind of hit, despite being one of the few companies who could afford to. Which means Apple is planning on retaining the Beats Music strategy of offering only a paid-for tier for its fully on-demand streaming set-up, albeit with a free trial period. Though that would make it harder for Beats to compete with Spotify, so presumably Iovine et al are putting further pressure on the Universal digital negotiators to persuade a rethink from the Swedish streaming firm. And word has it Apple reps are also talking up windowing and exclusives, making the newest and most prime of content only available to premium users, and preferably only Apple's premium users. That said, it's thought that the new-look iTunes platform will still include an element of freemium streaming in the form of iTunes Radio, the Pandora-style set up already live in the US. Which would put iTunes/Beats in similar territory to Rdio, which offers ad-funded personalised listening for free, and fully on-demand streaming for paying customers. Which all makes some sense, until you throw the YouTube issue into the mix. Which Spotify always will. So, fun times ahead. There are more thoughts about the problem with freemium in this CMU trends article from late last year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mike Weatherley MP welcomes IPO report on copyright crime penalties This disparity was something Weatherley raised in his 'Follow The Money' report on piracy last year, penned while he was David Cameron's IP Advisor. And last week the IPO said that its own investigation into the matter also suggested that UK copyright law should be amended so that serious online copyright infringement is treated in a similar way to offline activities that result in similar levels of harm to copyright owners. Though the IPO did also reference concerns that parties without criminal intent may become involved in online infringement in a way they wouldn't offline, adding that that fact needed to be considered too in any change in copyright crime penalties. Reporting back to Weatherley on the new report, IP Minister Lucy Neville-Rolfe wrote: "I am writing to update you on the study commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office into criminal sanctions available for online copyright offences. I know that you have taken a keen interest in this matter and that you have pressed for action to be taken to address what you felt was an anomaly in the level of penalties available for online copyright offences". Welcoming the IPO's report, Weatherley told reporters: "It is encouraging that evidence shows the need for legislation to change in order to harmonise penalties for physical and online offences. Bringing about this change has required significant pressure on Government, but I am pleased that this report once again entrenches the fact that the UK is leading the way on IP enforcement". Looking forward, he went on: "I hope that the Government after the next election will ensure that the recommendations in the report are adopted and that overdue changes in legislation are on the horizon. Additionally, I believe that the introduction of an IP Director General would hugely benefit the UK and be an important figure for international IP collaboration". -------------------------------------------------- Trial over Gregg Allman biopic train death to begin this week Director Randall Miller, his wife Jody Savin and Executive Producer Jay Sedrish have all pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing. They face up to eleven years in prison if convicted. As previously reported, in February 2014, the film's crew were setting up to film a dream sequence on a railway bridge in Georgia. Unexpectedly, a train emerged, striking a metal bed that had been placed on the tracks, breaking it into pieces which injured six crew members and killed Jones. In the aftermath, actor William Hurt, who had been playing Allman, pulled out of the film. Allman himself sued Miller to try and stop the director from reviving the production, later settling out of court. The company that owns the bridge said that it had twice refused Miller's production company permission to film at the location. However, in a civil case brought against the film's makers by Jones's family last year, Miller denied that he had knowingly put his crew in danger - noting that he was also on the tracks when the train appeared. He claimed to have been told that only two trains came across the bridge per day, and had not allowed anyone onto the tracks before both had come through. He also denied that it was his responsibility to ensure that permission for filming had been granted. The trial is expected to last a week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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More green festivals commended As much previously reported, these go to events that meet all kinds of eco-friendly criteria, helping punters separate the green festivals from those hell bent on bringing about the premature demise of on this Planet Earth and humanity's presence on it. Yeah, think about that while you're singing along to Sam Smith. And the latest batch of 2014 festivals getting the A Greener Festival honour are... Outstanding: Boom Festival (Portugal). Highly Commended: Glastonbury Festival (UK); Heart of Glass, Heart of Gold (France); Rocking the Daisies (South Africa). Commended: BBC Proms in the Park (UK), BBC Radio 2 Live in the Park (UK), End of The Road Festival (UK), Greenbelt Festival (UK), Hadra Trance Festival VII (France). Commenting on this latest batch, Awards Director Helen Innes told reporters: "The whole team at A Greener Festival are very proud of the achievements from all of our 46 winners this year and we would like to thank them all for their continued support for sustainability at events, and also for the campaigns we are working on such as our re-forestation project in Scotland, Festival Wood, and the 'Love Your Tent' campaign to reduce campsite waste - and for supporting each other by sharing achievements and successes globally". CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke led a panel discussion at last week's GEI conference on the way festivals communicate their green credentials, and you can read a report on that topic in the next edition of the CMU Trends Report, sent to all premium CMU subscribers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pandora to add one-day premium access In a statement to GigaOM, Chief Product Officer Chris Phillips said: "Pandora is committed to delivering an effortless, personalised experience and we recognise some consumers may want an ad-free experience but don't necessarily want to commit to a subscription. This offering will allow consumers to choose and explore what is right for them or suits a particular event or experience. Pricing and exact timing are yet to be determined but we expect it to be available later this year". Although the vast majority of Pandora's users opt for the ad-funded freemium version, the company does currently offer an ad-free option for $4.99 per month. A slide showing investors a prototype sign-up page for the new one-day option put the 24 hour subscription at 99¢. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sony rumoured to be dropping Union J Citing the disappointing performance of the group's second album 'You Got It All' as the reason for them being dropped, said source says: "Everyone on the label is sad to see them go because they are great guys, but at the end of the day it is a business. The lads have been told there are no future plans for any more releases and are obviously gutted. They have a core, dedicated fan base and sold lots of merchandise but the problem was lack of album sales". Union J initially signed to Sony's RCA after their 'X-Factor' jaunt - rather than Simon Cowell's 'X' owning Syco - later shifting over to another of the major's UK labels, Epic, for the second long player. So you'd think Sony would at least let them have a go on Columbia Records before exiling them. And hey, given how quickly the nostalgia train comes round these days, one more record and then they can probably ride the 'Let's-Remember-The-Heady-Days-Of-2012?' wave for a few years. -------------------------------------------------- Orion documentary to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival As previously reported, the film is directed by Jeanie Finlay, who also made 'Sound It Out', about the last record shop in Teesside, and 'The Great Hip Hop Hoax', about hip hop act Silibil N Brains, who tricked the music industry into believing they were from LA, when in fact they were from Scotland. 'Orion', meanwhile, tells the story of Jimmy Ellis, who wasn't Elvis, but managed to pass himself off as The King by wearing a mask and having a similar haircut. Sometimes that really is all it takes. He recorded a hefty number of albums under the guise too, many of them with Elvis's original label, Sun. More details about the screening here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sam Smith and John Legend record official Comic Relief single Sam Smith said: "'Lay Me Down' holds a very special place in my heart, not only did I perform it at the BRITs, I'm now going to perform it live on the Red Nose Day show with the extremely talented John Legend, which is so exciting. I recently visited a Comic Relief funded project in my home town, which supports the young LGBT community in London, I'm extremely proud that my single will help raise money for projects like this and many others in the UK and across Africa". John Legend said: "Sam is such a talented artist. We've been looking forward to working together for a while now. I'm so glad we could collaborate on such a great song and for such a great cause". Universal will donate all profits from the track to Comic Relief. Download the new version of 'Lay Me Down' on iTunes here, or stream it here. Or you can buy it in Sainsbury's if you want a CD. Anyone? You could wear it on your nose, I suppose. Get into the spirit of the day and all. -------------------------------------------------- First new Rock Band edition in five years announced 'Rock Band 4' is the first new iteration of the gaming franchise since 2010, and the first new version since MTV-owner Viacom sold the company behind it, Harmonix, as the pretend-to-play music game phenomenon ground to halt very quickly indeed just over four years ago. Available for PlayStation and XBox, a number of new features are expected to be revealed as 'Rock Band 4' approaches, plus we can expect a flurry of new tracks available to play in the game. Indeed, 'Rock Band 3' players can download a free play-along version of Frank Turner's 'I Still Believe' right now to celebrate the news of version four, providing they still believe there's a decent market for pretend-to-play music gaming presumably. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Gloaming take Choice Music Prize Anyway, well done to folk-style supergroup The Gloaming for taking the Choice Music Prize - sort of an Irish version of the Mercury Prize - for their eponymous album from last year. Taking the ten grand in prize money, The Gloaming beat new LPs from other Irish artists like U2, Sinead O'Connor, Damien Rice, James Vincent McMorrow and Aphex Twin, who you might have even forgotten is Irish, but not me, I recite the names of all Limerick-born musicians daily. A Song Of The Year prize was also presented, and that went to The Script for their track 'Superheroes' from the long player 'No Sound Without Silence'. Though they're from Dublin, so Song Of The Year or not, I ain't reciting their name every morning. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Slipknot sock puppets, and non-sock puppets making music Other notable announcements and developments today... • Are you sick of having to get normal planes all over the place? I know I am. Luckily, private jet chartering firm Victor has launched a new service just for the music industry. I still can't see how it might be different from any other private jet chartering service, but maybe I just don't get enough private jets to understand the nuances. • The band no longer known as Crazy Penis (except in my head every single time I see their name), Crazy P, will release a new album, 'Walk Dance Talk Sing', on 11 May. Here's a song called 'Witch Doctor' (which is on it). • Producers Todd Edwards and Billion have recorded a track together called 'Don't Be Givin Up', taken from the latter's new EP 'Dive In', which is out on 6 Apr. • PC Music's GFOTY and Spinee have teamed up for a new mix, titled 'Dog Food Mix 1'. Listen and download here, man. • Tove Lo has added guest vocals on the new single by Swedish group Urban Cone. What sort of a name is that for a band? I don't know. Well, here's the song, it's called 'Come Back To Me'. • Låpsley's very buzzy, isn't she? So buzzy that playing one date in London isn't enough. Now, as well as playing at The Brewery on 22 Apr, she'll also play the same venue on 23 Apr. Madness. • Aw, cute. Slipknot as sock puppets. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No money for bands playing McDonald's SXSW showcase, but at least fans won't go hungry Still, the great thing about all of it is that McDonald's is mega rich, so will be able to pay the artists for the uncomfortable feeling of having fat men in suits trying to rub off some of their coolness onto themselves. Possibly literally. And that means that everyone gets something out of it worth having. I mean, imagine if a company like McDonald's claimed not to have any money. Ha! One band apparently asked to play the showcase was approved duo Ex Cops, though they turned down the opportunity. The major reason for doing so was this sentence in the proposal from McDonald's: "There isn't a budget for an artist fee (unfortunately)". Detailing the whole sorry incident on Facebook, the band's Brian Harding wrote: "In lieu of being paid like a real artist, or anyone who is employed to do a service, McDonald's assures us that we will 'be featured on screens throughout the event, as well as POSSIBLY mentioned on McDonald's social media accounts like Facebook (57 million likes!)'". There would also apparently be free food for the audience. Which is nice for them. Or would be, but I presume it'll be McDonald's food. Anyway, Harding continued: "I will also go ahead and save time for any schill/troll rebuttals: 'Are the other showcases paying you? No one is holding a gun to your head!' This is true. It is our choice (pretty much) to fly to Austin, play shows without soundcheck, and get paid nothing to a little. But hear this loud and clear, we LOVE making music, it is what we do, and despite some of its very apparent flaws, SXSW still provides a decent venue to be heard by some people who are really there to hear new music and not just do blow with dudes who wear square toe loafers". But, he added: "It is a horrifying and gross reality when one sees the true nature of corporations and their pathetic attempts to achieve relevance with millennials. Doritos received a lot of flack for their stage a couple years ago, but I'm going to assume they paid Lady Gaga". Indeed, you may remember at the time that at least one Doritos exec expressed disappointment that after paying $2.5 million for the show, instead of running through the hits, Gaga rode around on a mechanical bull while someone was sick on her. This is still, to my mind, the greatest thing Lady Gaga has ever done. McDonald's did not respond to a request for comment from CMU, but did get back to Rolling Stone. That's favouritism for you. Anyway, a PR rep said: "We follow the same standard protocol as other brands and sponsors by inviting talented and emerging musicians to join us at the SXSW Festival. We look forward to serving McDonald's food, drinks and fun in Austin. #slownewsday". Yeah, chiiiiiiiiiiiiiill, dudes. Bands not getting paid by billion dollar multi-national corporations to play their music events is such a non-story. It's so not a thing, that it's appropriate to dismiss the whole notion with a hashtag. Sure, when Harding was shown this response by Rolling Stone, he noted that smaller brands had offered performance fees to play their showcases, but are those brands going to be handing out floppy, tasteless burgers? Are they? Huh? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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