Sony Corp's move to take full control of Sony/ATV is complete
Sony Corp has completed its acquisition of the Michael Jackson Estate's half of music publishing giant Sony/ATV, meaning the songs business is now wholly owned by the consumer electronics and entertainment giant. Though there remain other shareholders in Sony/ATV's EMI Music Publishing subsidiary, including the Jackson Estate.

Sony announced its plan to buy out its long-term partner in its music publishing business back in March, though the deal required regulator approval. In Europe there was opposition to Sony - which also owns the second biggest record company in the world - taking complete ownership of the biggest music publisher, with reps for both the indie labels and indie music publishing community speaking out against the deal.

However, the European Commission's competition regulator green-lighted the acquisition in August, stating that "the transaction will not materially increase Sony's market power vis-a-vis digital music providers compared to the situation prior to the merger".

That decision may have been influenced by the fact that, in Continental Europe, the collecting societies rather than the music publishers actually control all the elements of the song copyright that the streaming services wish to exploit, reducing the power of individual publishers in the digital domain.

Michael Jackson first bought ATV Publishing - what had begun as the music rights spin-off of UK TV company ATV - in 1985. He then went into business with Sony, with whom he was signed for recordings, ten years later, with the two firms merging their respective music publishing businesses to create Sony/ATV.

Sony paid $750 million to buy out the Estate, though an official statement said that "the payment also reflects certain contractual and accounting adjustments related to the Sony/ATV joint venture and other commercial opportunities involving Sony and the Estate". With those technicalities accounted for, Billboard reckons the deal valued the publisher at somewhere between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion.

Confirming the deal had now been completed, Sony/ATV boss Marty Bandier told reporters: "The completion of this deal is terrific news for Sony/ATV and everyone who works for the company. It marks the start of an exciting new chapter in our proud history and we cannot wait to get started as a 100% Sony-owned company. Sony Corporation has shown absolute faith and support in us and what we do by undertaking this deal and we are ready to repay that trust in the months and years ahead".

It will be interesting to see if this deal results in the Sony record company and music publisher becoming more closely aligned. Although most music companies that have interests in both recordings and songs tend to keep the two businesses separate, some have tried to better integrate the two sides of music rights, especially in the sync domain. But to date the different ownership structure has generally meant Sony Music and Sony/ATV have continued to operated very autonomously.

Jay-Z signs film and TV production deal with The Weinstein Company
Jay-Z has signed himself a film and TV deal with The Weinstein Company, which is pretty fancy. The deal will give TWC first dibs of any film or TV projects the rapper comes up with in the next two years, according to The Hollywood Reporter. I'm particularly looking forward to 'The Tragic Tale Of A Tidal Takeover'. Which I'm sure is in development.

"I'm excited to tell stories from real life prophets who, through their struggles, have changed the world for the better and others whose stories are filled with fantasy and delight", says Jay-Z. Hmm, no tragedy then. "Harvey and David [Weinstein] are visionaries, both of whom have done this time and time again. I'm already passionate about what we currently have in the pipeline, and I'm looking forward to discovering others".

Projects like this aren't something the Roc Nation chief is new to either. Jay-Z's name appears on various projects as a producer already, including the remakes of 'Annie' and 'The Great Gatsby'. And of course, we all await with some anticipation 'The Tragic Tale Of A Tidal Takeover'.

AEG Live nabs Live Nation execs to head up UK business
Former Live Nation UK execs Toby Leighton-Pope and Steve Homer have been appointed joint-CEOs of rival AEG Live UK, it has been announced. Rumours of the move have been circulating for some time, though they apparently only officially took up their new roles last month.

Kicking off their joint role with a joint statement, they say in glorious unison: "It's been rumoured for a while and so we're pleased to announce our move to AEG Live UK. Together we are excited to work with a great team with the aim of growing AEG Live UK".

AEG Europe chief exec Tom Miserendino adds: "I am excited to welcome Toby and Steve to AEG and look forward to working with them as we continue to grow our business in the UK and Europe. With their leadership at AEG Live, I'm very confident we have a bright future ahead of us".

Leighton-Pope and Homer spent more than fifteen years with Live Nation, as Senior Vice Presidents.

Music Managers Forum to launch part two of Digital Dollar report this week
The Music Managers Forum will this week publish Part Two of its report 'Dissecting The Digital Dollar', which has been produced by CMU Insights, the training and consultancy wing of this here CMU.

As previously reported, Part One of the 'Digital Dollar' report was published just under a year ago. It set out to explain in one place how streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are being licensed by the music industry and what happens to digital royalties as they work their way from the streaming services through to artists and songwriters.

The report also provided an overview of the copyright law, contractual conventions, collective licensing rules and other music industry practices that influenced how streaming services ended up being licensed, and outlined seven issues that artists and the wider music community now face as streaming becomes the single biggest revenue generator for the recorded music industry.

MMF commissioned Part One to both inform managers so that they could better advise their clients on the streaming market, but also to instigate a debate. And to that end, this spring the MMF staged a series of roundtable discussions involving artists, songwriters, labels, publishers, lawyers, accountants and lots and lots of managers, to discuss the key themes raised in Part One, and to assess the opinions of managers and their clients, and the wider music community, on each of those issues.

Part Two summarises those roundtables, covering - among other things - how digital income is shared, data, transparency and the debate around safe harbours and YouTube. Off the back of the report, MMF will set out the position of the managers it represents on a number of key topics in the streaming domain.

The new report will be launched in London on Thursday, with CMU Insights MD Chris Cooke joining MMF's Annabella Coldrick and Jon Webster in running through the findings, at a press event in the morning and an event for members in the evening. Cooke and Coldrick will also present key findings at the MaMA convention in Paris next week, on Thursday 13 Oct.

If you've still not read Part One, well, you've got three days to digest it all. You can download the full version or the exec summary here.

Former Culture Secretary to lead BBC radio from next year
Former Labour Culture Secretary James Purnell will soon be in charge of BBC Radio, following the announcement last week that the Beeb's current radio boss Helen Boaden is retiring. Purnell, appointed Director Of Strategy & Education in the relatively recent management rejig at the Corporation, will now become Director Of Radio & Education.

It's thought that when BBC Director General Tony Hall set about his rejig of senior management at the Corporation - partly to reduce spend, partly to restructure the organisation for this brave new digital age - he was initially hoping to have just three top directors other than himself and a Deputy DG. The simpler, streamlined BBC would then be structured around the three remits that original chief John Reith famously decided the Corporation should fulfil: inform, educate and entertain.

In the end Hall's restructured senior management was more complicated than that, for various reasons. Though it was thought one reason was that Hall couldn't quite work out where veteran BBC exec Boaden would fit into that grand plan. Whether lumping radio entirely in with education makes sense - given some BBC stations are there very much to entertain, and others to inform - isn't certain, though it will definitely save some money in the executive salaries budget.

Embarking on something of a ramble as he announced Purnell's new gig, Hall said on Friday: "I've talked a lot about a BBC that's more digital, more open and more global than ever. And, with the [new BBC] Charter [from government] now all but done, I need the right top team in place, with the right responsibilities, to deliver just that. There are three big challenges".

"First of all, how do we best compete in a world full of ideas", he went on. "I want to connect great thinkers inside and outside the organisation; to partner more closely with other great institutions. Secondly, how we connect with young audiences. They're digital; they're demanding in the very best sense of the word and we need to do more to engage them. And finally, there's so much more to offer globally in music, arts, speech radio - things our country excels in".

Concluding, he mused: "Our role, reflecting the UK to the world, has never been more important. BBC Radio is the best there is and I know it can speak - and sing - even more loudly the world over. I want real ambition: a powerhouse for radio - and our education mission around the world. I know we've got the people, programmes and ideas to do just that".

Purnell himself added: "I grew up loving the BBC, so it's been a privilege to work here, fighting for a licence fee increase in the 1990s and now working on Charter review. I'm delighted to have been asked to lead the new division, Radio And Education, bringing together arts, music and network radio with children's and learning".

He went on: "We're the best public service broadcaster in the world in all these areas. They're unique, but face common challenges - from reaching younger audiences to workings in partnership. We've got a singular advantage in all our areas: we either have or could get global rights. I want us to use this advantage to think about how we could take on the world for the benefit of our audiences and for Britain".

So there you go. If you're worried that the former politician and strategy man won't know a great deal about making good radio, don't worry, a more junior Director Of Radio will be appointed, reporting into Purnell, who will hopefully know something about modulating some frequency.

Lady Gaga to play Super Bowl
Lady Gaga has confirmed the rumours that she will headline the Super Bowl half time show next year. What will she do to top all the big moments from recent years though? There's always a big moment. And she's already had someone throw up on her.

Well, I guess we'll find out when it all comes round next February. But confirming that she would be interrupting the sporting event, Gaga tweeted on Friday: "It's not an illusion. The rumours are true. This year the Super Bowl goes Gaga!"

You hear that? The rumours are true. The rumours... are... true.

Elbow announce new album, tour
Elbow will tour the UK and Ireland in February and March next year. Why are they touring? Well, they're releasing a new album on 3 Feb, that's why. Well, that's if all goes to plan. The band are currently recording said album at Blueprint Studios in Salford.

Presumably they're confident that they're going to be finished in the next three or four months. Otherwise why would they announce the release date and the tour? I don't know, maybe it's going badly and they feel like they need a really solid deadline to work towards. Did you consider that? Maybe they haven't written any songs yet. Maybe they don't have any songs left in them. There's not even a title for the album. Oh God, this could be a real disaster.

No, it's probably fine. Definitely book tickets for these shows when they go on sale on Friday. Here are the dates:

26 Feb: Dublin, Olympia Theatre
27 Feb: Dublin, Olympia Theatre
1 Mar: Birmingham, Academy
2 Mar: Birmingham, Academy
4 Mar: London, Eventim Apollo
5 Mar: London, Eventim Apollo
6 Mar: London, Eventim Apollo
8 Mar: Bournemouth, International Centre
9 Mar: Plymouth, Pavilions
10 Mar: Newport, Centre
12 Mar: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
13 Mar: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
14 Mar: Bridlington, Spa
15 Mar: Doncaster, Dome
16 Mar: Leicester, De Montfort Hall
18 Mar: Manchester, Apollo
19 Mar: Manchester, Apollo
20 Mar: Manchester, Apollo

New club night series announced in support of Fabric's fight against closure
A series of nights in support of Fabric have been announced for later this year, under the name #SaveOurCulture Series. Taking place at the Great Suffolk Street Warehouse in London, the first of the three shows will take place on 15 Oct, Fabric's seventeenth birthday.

The nights are being put together by The Warehouse Project, Circus, Chibuku, Team Love, Motion, The Blast, Sub Club, Eastern Electrics and Resident Advisor, with profits going to Fabric's #SaveOurCulture campaign.

Here are details for each show:

15 Oct: Craig Richards, Ricardo Villalobos, Seth Troxler, Ben Klock, Rødhåd, Terry Francis
Tickets

3 Dec: Nina Kraviz, Craig Richards, Alan Fitzpatrick, Barker and Baumecker (live), Terry Francis
Tickets

10 Dec: Craig Richards, Jamie Jones, Kink (live), Luke Slater, Function, Terry Francis
Tickets

For more info, check out www.saveourculture.uk

Kimbra, P Money, Tycho, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Kimbra has released a new track, 'Sweet Relief', which you can listen to here.

• P Money will release his debut album, 'Live & Direct', on 25 Nov. There'll also be a launch party at XOYO in London on 1 Dec. Watch the video for 'Panasonic' here.

• Tycho surprise released a new album last week, titled 'Epoch'. You should check it out immediately.

• Daedelus will release a new album, 'Labyrinths', on 28 Oct. Here's the title track.

Liam Gallagher on solo album, Noel, new bands and "emotional" Oasis documentary
Liam Gallagher has said some things about some stuff. The usual stuff, like his brother and young bands not being lairy enough, plus some new stuff about his solo album and that Oasis documentary. Four stuffs then, which we will now go into in more detail.

The solo album - a thing he previously said he would never make - is "the last chance to dance", he told The Telegraph. I think he means that with Oasis still not reunited and Beady Eye burnt out, he doesn't have a lot of options left.

"There'll be some rock n roll bangers on [the album]", he says. "But also some softer, John Lennon-y things. That's who I am. You know, I can't cook. I fucking refuse to cook. All I can do is do what I do".

Further drifting into weird analogies that I don't quite understand, he told The Sunday Times: "There's disbelief, without a doubt. That spurs me on. It's like when people body-shame someone, and two minutes later they've got a six-pack ... I think it will put a few people in their place".

His brother Noel - "the Ronnie Corbett of rock" who "dresses like Gary Barlow" - may or may not be one of those people. Either way, their relationship remains sour: "The olive branch has been put out many times, and he's blanked it. It is a shame. I don't see his kids, he doesn't see my kids, and it hurts my mum, and all that tackle. It's all very childish and ridiculous, but there you go. I'm quite enjoying it, actually".

Speaking of being childish and ridiculous, he reckons bands these days are all too safe. Mainly because they're only interested in music, he says. "If it's all about music, then it's Coldplay. The most rock n roll thing Chris Martin did was wear a leather jacket. I thought, 'Go on, lad. That's a start'".

A start it may be, but how far should new bands take it once they've got that jacket? "If I was a 20 year old in a band and somebody stuck [an iPhone] in my face, I'd stick it up their arse, or mine", he offers. "There is no excuse for young bands to act like grown men. When you're older and have kids, cool it out a bit, but I get up to more mischief in my butcher's than [they] do on their fucking tours".

I'm sure his butcher loves him for that. But Liam G does have a softer side. In the Telegraph interview, he notes that watching new Oasis documentary 'Supersonic' is "emotional - seeing us all together, starting off young, not knowing where we'd end up. And then the way it ends - with me and our kid".