CMU Daily 01.11.16: GEMA licenses YouTube after seven year stand off, Ferdy Unger-Hamilton to run Columbia Records UK

GEMA licenses YouTube after seven year stand off
Larry looked over his dominion and smiled. His grand plan to transform this land into the ultimate winter sports resort had finally come to fruition, thanks to a very surprising climatic shift that few had ever even dreamed to believe could actually occur.

But Larry was nothing if not a dreamer. And now, look at it, the lake of fire burned no more, in its place the greatest, largest, most impressive ice rick that anyone had ever seen. At last, that risky acquisition of Styx Ferries was going to pay off; and to think they had laughed when he hired the maverick Mr Charon to head up his transport business on such an expensive retainer. "But they'd laugh no more", Larry mused to himself, smiling as a cold breeze chilled even his body. Mr Lucifer Page was finally in business.

So yes, GEMA has licensed YouTube. That's right, fucking GEMA has only gone and fucking licensed fucking YouTube. It's a cold day in hell that's for sure. Who'd have thought it possible? Though, given that GEMA led the "YouTube is evil" campaign back when the rest of the music industry was in the midst of an early days love-in with the Google video site, it's perhaps apt that the contrary German collecting society chooses to play ball now that everyone else in the music rights business has bought into the Larry 'Lucifer' Page meme I just made up.

"Today is a big day for music in Germany", declared the Google company on a blog post this morning. "YouTube has reached a landmark agreement with the Germany-based music rights organisation GEMA, meaning that starting today, more music will be available on YouTube in Germany. This is a win for music artists around the world, enabling them to reach new and existing fans in Germany, while also earning money from the advertising on their videos. And for YouTube users in Germany, who will no longer see a blocking message on music content that contains GEMA repertoire, for the first time in seven years".

German song rights society GEMA has played hardball ever since the early days of digital, and especially streaming music. Some see the collective management organisation as being a true defender of songwriter rights, refusing to sign up to questionable business models offering only nominal royalties, while others see GEMA as being far too conservative and unwilling to experiment, and responsible for the German digital market being years behind that in Scandinavia, the UK and the US.

GEMA's stand off with YouTube was particularly legendary, beginning in 2009 just as the Google site was becoming a real hub for music content, and meaning a flood of music videos, and videos containing music, were blocked in the country. At the heart of the dispute was royalty rates, though the German society also went legal over YouTube's responsibilities - or not - to police videos uploaded by its users containing songs repped by GEMA, a legal battle that tested just how the often controversial safe harbours worked in Europe.

In the aforementioned blog post, YouTube's Head of International Music Partnerships Christophe Muller writes: "This agreement reflects a long-held commitment that composers, songwriters, and publishers should be paid fairly, while ensuring fans can enjoy their favourite songs and discover new music on YouTube. That commitment has helped YouTube evolve into an important source of promotion and revenue for musicians. As such, we continue to invest in our rights management system, Content ID, to protect rights owners while continuing to innovate and create new and exciting YouTube features such as VR and 360°, that can heighten the music experience on YouTube even more".

The GEMA deal comes amid efforts by the record companies and music publishers to have European safe harbour rules reformed so to increase the obligations of sites like YouTube. Music rights owners hope that this change will strengthen their negotiating hand, therefore forcing the Google service into deals more in line with those negotiated with streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. These services generally pay higher rates and, crucially, commit to minimum guarantees in addition to revenue share arrangements.

Specifics of GEMA's YouTube deal are not yet known. Though the arrangement comes as the German society starts to collaborate with its UK and Swedish counterparts, PRS and STIM, offering combined licences through their ICE joint venture. ICE did its first big deal with Google's other music set up, Google Play, earlier this year, and has just inked an agreement with another one-time controversial safe harbour dweller, SoundCloud. GEMA's stand off with YouTube seemed to suggest ICE wouldn't be able to get involved in any licensing deal with the video site, but today's deal means perhaps that will eventually happen.

After all, even if you're one of the songwriters or music publishers who believes that YouTube sits at the very bottom of the pit of hell, I hear there's plenty of ice down there now to get things started. Well done Larry.

US Supreme Court seeks government viewpoint on dancing baby case
Prince may be dead, but the dancing baby case that features his 1984 hit 'Let's Go Crazy' continues to rumble on. The US Supreme Court is currently considering whether to review the case, which centres on the obligations of rights owners when issuing takedown notices against sites like YouTube. And this week the court asked the US Solicitor General for his opinion on the whole matter, which possibly suggests they might take the case on.

As previously reported, this is the famous case where a woman called Stephanie Lenz posted a video of her child dancing to the Prince track onto YouTube in 2007, which Universal Music Publishing then subsequently had taken down on copyright grounds using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's takedown provisions. But Lenz argued that the video was 'fair use' under US law, and then - with support from the Electronic Frontier Foundation - sued Universal for abuse of the DMCA.

The case asked the question of whether or not rights owners should consider if an unlicensed used of their music is covered by the 'fair use' principle under American copyright law before issuing a DMCA takedown.

The dispute spent years going through the motions, before the Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals ruled last year. It said that yes, rights owners must indeed consider fair use rules before issuing a takedown notice. So, success for Lenz. Except the appeal judges then said that this consideration need not be too rigorous, and providing that the label genuinely doesn't think fair use applies, well, that's alright then. So, success for Universal, sort of.

Though the major was less happy on the appeal court's judgement that if Lenz pushed for damages over this whole matter, she didn't first have to prove "actual monetary loss", something the music publisher wanted judges to insist on in order to reduce the chances of it ever having to pay the dancing baby's mother any money.

Both sides subsequently referred the matter to the Supreme Court. On the potential damages front, the top court has now said it won't review Universal's ongoing arguments. But on the matter of quite how much consideration a rights owner must actually give on the fair use point before issuing a takedown, Supreme Court judges might yet review the Ninth Circuit's judgement.

To that end, it yesterday invited the aforementioned Solicitor General in the US Department Of Justice for his opinion on this particular element of the whole safe harbour and takedown procedure set out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Although the Supreme Court could as yet refuse to consider the entire case, Billboard reckons the fact it is consulting the DoJ makes it a little more likely that it might take on the dispute.

Ferdy Unger-Hamilton to run Columbia Records in the UK
Sony Music UK yesterday announced that Ferdy Unger-Hamilton had been appointed President of its Columbia Records division, replacing Alison Donald and Mark Terry, who have together headed up the unit since 2012.

Unger-Hamilton has been expected to launch a new joint venture business with Sony since he departed his previous job running Universal's Polydor label. And that is still seemingly part of the plan, though Unger-Hamilton - who previously worked with current Sony Music UK boss Jason Iley when they were both Universal execs - will also have all things Columbia UK on his plate too.

Says Iley: "Ferdy is a true artists' man; someone who has an unparalleled track record for nurturing and breaking artists on a global scale. I am delighted to have such a world-class executive joining Columbia Records and am also particularly looking forward to renewing our working relationship, which has proved so successful in the past".

Noting one of the Sony label's most famous artists, Unger-Hamilton himself adds: "I was about thirteen years old when I first heard Bob Dylan after my mum left a cassette of 'Biograph' lying around. Columbia Records changed my life! It has always been the ultimate artist company. The US team has done such an incredible job - and you can't imagine how much it means to me to be asked by Jason to lead the UK company. I will try to do it justice".

Last time Iley and Unger-Hamilton collaborated at Universal they co-launched Keane and their six million selling debut album 'Hope & Fears'. But don't worry, I'm sure it'll all be fine this time. Besides, Iley is one of the names being mooted as a possible replacement for Rob Stringer over at Columbia US after he moves up to the overall top job at Sony Music.

Axed Guvera staff in Americas reportedly still waiting for owed wages
While former employees of flagging streaming service Guvera's Australian business generally received what they were due financially when the digital firm put two of its subsidiaries into administration earlier this year, axed staffers in the US and Latin America say they have not benefited from such formalities.

As previously reported, Guvera put two of its Australian companies into administration and withdrew its service from various markets, including home territory Australia, after it was forced to abandon plans to IPO when the stock exchange it had chosen blocked the flotation.

Guvera had hoped to raise new finance via the Australian Securities Exchange despite its low revenues, heavy debts and some ongoing legal battles. And, unlike most streaming music firms, which see free streaming as primarily a marketing channel to upsell paid for accounts, Guvera insisted it was going to succeed by cornering the ad-funded side of the streaming business, especially in emerging markets.

After Guvera Australia and Guv Services went into administration, much attention was put on the firm's talks with its creditors, many of whom were ex-employees. But a deal was done and the company has seemingly met its obligations under that arrangement.

But those talks didn't include staff affected by Guvera bailing on various other markets. And according to The Sydney Morning Herald, those former employees are still trying to get monies owed to them, or indeed simply a response from the streaming firm.

The paper says that the former staff sent a letter to directors of the company in September, addressed to Guvera co-founder Claes Loberg, who became CEO after the failed IPO, asking for an update on the money they are owed.

It reads: "When the IPO failed, we understood that in the absence of funding, hard choices would follow. While it was still a shock to be informed of the closure of our markets on June 30, we understood the economic reality facing Guvera and the decision to refocus on the most viable markets".

It then notes the deal that has been done with former staff in Australia, before stating: "Claes, it is now more than three months since any of us received any monies from Guvera. No administrator has been appointed. No payment plan has been presented".

Guvera is yet to respond to the Herald's story. In the UK, former employees of Blinkbox, the Tesco-owned streaming service Guvera acquired in a failed bid to launch over here, took the firm to an Employment Tribunal over the way it bailed on its British business.

Loud And Quiet relaunches website
Independent music magazine Loud And Quiet yesterday launched a revamped website which, it says, now "shows off the work of our brilliant contributors as well as our printed paper does". The online version of the magazine will feature "in-depth interviews, opinion pieces and new music" plus podcasts and video content.

Says the mag's founder and Editor Stuart Stubbs: "The new site is something we've been working on all year. We wanted to make sure that it matched the feel of our magazine, where original photography and great writing is on an equal footing. Everything takes three times longer than you plan it to, of course, but I feel it's been worth it, and I'm excited that we now have a site that shows off the work of our brilliant contributors as well as our printed paper does. You can even read this one on your phone, too. Absolute progress".

Meanwhile the media firm's Digital Director Greg Cochrane added: "It's been exciting to launch so many new digital ideas with Loud And Quiet this year, and we're looking forward to taking things a step further with our plans in 2017, too".

Help Musicians UK announces results of mental health in music survey
Help Musicians UK has this morning published the findings of its research into the mental health of musicians and people working in the wider music industry. It shows that 71% of respondents believed they had experienced anxiety, while 65% had dealt with depression.

There were arguably a number of flaws with the survey used to collect this data - not least that the campaign promoting it was called Music And Depression, or MAD for short, potentially putting off many of the people whose input would be most valuable (seriously, try running that name past a mental health professional today). However, the findings do highlight serious problems in the music industry that have traditionally been swept under the rug, or worse celebrated as some sort of artistic badge of honour.

Of 2221 respondents, 39% identified as musicians, while 54.8% felt that there was not enough support available for music makers. Nevertheless, less than half (46.6%) felt that there should actually be a dedicated counselling service for musicians - though this would perhaps have been higher if people were more aware that traditional services struggle to offer advice based on the unique cycle of highs and lows in which musicians find themselves.

As one musician put it in their response to the survey: "My depression is made worse by trying to exist as a musician. Rarely has playing music been detrimental to my health, quite the opposite, but the industry and socio-economic pressures make this a fucking shitty industry to try and make a living in".

Mental health in music has been a more prominent topic this year, with a number of high profile musicians discussing the challenges they have faced. As previously reported, Zayn Malik earlier this year cancelled a number of solo sets, citing "extreme anxiety around major live solo performances". And now he has written in his upcoming autobiography about issues surrounding eating during his time in One Direction.

"When I look back at images of myself from around November 2014, before the final tour, I can see how ill I was", he writes in the book. "Something I've never talked about in public before, but which I have come to terms with since leaving the band, is that I was suffering from an eating disorder. I'd just go for days - sometimes two or three days straight - without eating anything at all. It got quite serious, although at the time I didn't recognise it for what it was. I didn't feel like I had control over anything else in my life, but food was something I could control, so I did".

On going public about his anxiety, he adds: "One of my team members offered to write a statement saying that I'd been taken ill, but I didn't want to do that. I was done with putting out statements that masked what was really going on. I wanted to tell the truth. Anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of; it affects millions of people every day. I know I have fans out there who have been through this kind of thing, too, and I wanted to be honest for their sake, if nothing else".

"When I was in One Direction, my anxiety issues were huge but, within the safety net of the band, they were at least manageable", he adds. "As a solo performer, I felt much more exposed, and the psychological stress of performing had just gotten to be too much for me to handle - at that moment, at least. Rather than hiding away, sugar-coating it, I knew I had to put it all out there".

Elsewhere, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Adele has spoken about her post-natal depression following the birth of her son Angelo, and ongoing issues with trying to balance being a parent and a working musician.

"I'm enjoying touring, but at times I feel guilty because I'm doing this massive tour, and even though my son is with me all the time, on certain nights I can't put him to bed", she says. "I never feel guilty when I'm not working. You're constantly trying to make up for stuff when you're a mum. I don't mind, because of the love I feel for him".

Commenting on its new research, Chief Executive of Help Musicians UK Richard Robinson says: "Sadly the results of this survey don't come as a surprise and paint a concerning picture of the conditions for those working in the music industry. This survey is a vital first step in helping us to establish the scale of the problem and it highlights the importance of the next phases of the survey, which will provide us with recommendations for launching the first music industry specific mental health service".

Further results from the survey are due to be announced early next year.

David Bowie drummer brands Lady Gaga's tribute "stupid" and "tacky"
Former David Bowie drummer Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey has branded Lady Gaga's David Bowie tribute/Intel advert at this year's Grammy Awards as "stupid" and "tacky". He also says that he and Toni Visconti were asked to get involved with the performance, but told organisers to "fuck off".

Woodmansey played in Bowie's Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars band from 1970-73, and in recent years has toured with Bowie producer Visconti with tribute show 'The Man Who Sold The World'.

Speaking to the NME, he said: "They asked Tony and myself would we do it, and we looked at it and it was going to be like fourteen or fifteen songs in the space of four minutes, and we just went 'no, fuck off, that's stupid, that's not going to represent anything good about him'".

"If there's a genuine heartfelt thing that you wanna do out of respect, then you'd probably pull it off", he continued. "But if there's any other reason, it just gets tacky, and obviously you can't stop that, they have a right to do it as they want to do it, but it doesn't help a lot, it doesn't do a lot".

Don't feel down though, Gaga. Mick doesn't think much of most of the Bowie tributes that have been made since his death. "I haven't seen many things that do represent it properly", he says. "It's nice that many want to do that, it's a great thing, but quality wise, there hasn't been many".

Logging his disdain for the Gaga/Grammy tribute in a more timely fashion, Bowie's son Duncan Jones tweeted at the time: "'Overexcited or irrational, typically as a result of infatuation or excessive enthusiasm; mentally confused'. Damn it! What IS that word?!"

The word is 'gaga', to save you googling it. And Lady Gaga didn't appreciate it. Also speaking to the NME earlier this month, she said of Jones's criticism: "It did hurt. But what are you going to do? It's his father, you know. Whatever he was feeling in that moment I have compassion and love for him. But yes, of course it hurt. I still have to trust and believe in myself as a Bowie fan. I'm not his family, and the thing is, that's his father. His father is not David Bowie, his father is David Jones".

Zaha Hadid announced as designer of 2017 BRIT Awards trophies
Architect Zaha Hadid, who died in March this year, has been announced as the designer of the 2017 BRIT Awards trophies.

Hadid took on the project at the beginning of the year, meeting with BRITs Chair (and Sony Music UK boss) Jason Iley in February to discuss rough ideas. "A couple of weeks later, as a guest of Sony at The BRIT Awards, she enthused, 'I know exactly how I want to do it! I have a vision for it'", recalls Iley. "Which was amazing as she was one of the most brilliant, forward thinking architects in the world. Zaha's work is innovative, original and recognises diversity in culture. It has much in common with music. She was the perfect choice for progressing the award into the future".

Following her sudden death a month later, the design of five different trophies has been completed under the guidance of Maha Kutay, a director at Zaha Hadid Design. She explains: "Zaha was truly excited to be doing this. Her vision was, being an architect, to focus our efforts more on the 3D element, as the statue had previously been used as a canvas for artists to paint on for the last few years. Our design expresses Zaha's unwavering belief in progress and optimism for the future and a break from the norm. The biggest challenge was to create something different within certain guidelines, yet achieving a result recognisable to the public. You have to respect the existing to create something new".

The final designs will be unveiled later this year, though Kutay says of the five statues: "The concept represents diversity, the family is connected by a wave of transition, they are different yet connected".

The BRIT Awards will take place at the O2 Arena in London on 22 Feb next year. For more Zaha Hadid music-related stuff, you can listen to her episode of 'Desert Island Discs', broadcast earlier this year, here. It's a good one.

Live Nation, Sigma, Lower Than Atlantis, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Live Nation has acquired a majority stake in Tennessee-based AC Entertainment, according to Billboard. Along with Superfly, the company co-founded the Bonnaroo festival. The live music giant acquired a majority stake in Bonnaroo itself last year, but has only now bought into the wider AC Entertainment business.

• Sigma have announced that they will release their new single 'Find Me', featuring vocals from Birdy, on 4 Nov. Here's a snippet.

• Lower Than Atlantis have announced that they will release new album, 'Safe In Sound', on 3 Feb. Here's a track from it, 'Dumb', in 360° video form.

• Rose Elinor Dougall has announced that she will release new album 'Stellular' on 20 Jan. Here's the title track.

• Daniel Avery has released new track 'A Mechanical Sky', taken from his DJ-Kicks compilation, which will be out on 11 Nov.

• Orka have released an extended mix of 'Dimmalætting' from their latest album, 'Vað'.

• The Weeknd will be touring the UK, including two nights at the O2 Arena, in March next year.

• Here's a video of Justin Bieber sitting on a wall in Kinross having a nice chat with one of the locals. "The man's a fuckin gimp", commented Keith Annandale, who posted the clip.

JB from JLS plays "pure bangers" on Sausage FM
While it may not be the first radio station to come across as a bit of sausage fest, a new one fronted by JB from JLS is probably the first to play the sounds of sizzling meat rather than music.

Launched to coincide with British Sausage Week, Sausage FM claims to be "the only radio station dedicated to pure bangers" and comes off the back of research that apparently shows that the sizzling of sausages cooking is one the UK population's favourite kitchen sounds.

Pig farmer, British Sausage Week Ambassador for 2016, former member of JLS and Sausage FM presenter JB Gill says of the new station: "It's not every day you're asked to DJ on a radio station which plays only the sounds of sizzling sausages! Being a huge fan of the British sausage I can't wait to pump out some bangers during British Sausage Week!"

We should mention that the entire output of Sausage FM is currently a single 45 minute recording posted on SoundCloud, though even that seems like a bit of an overkill of the 'bangers' pun.

Listen to Sausage FM here.