CMU Daily 09.01.19: State Attorney calls for alleged R Kelly victims to come forward, Channel 4 takes complete ownership of The Box Plus Network

State Attorney calls for alleged R Kelly victims to come forward
The State Attorney of Cook County, Illinois has urged alleged victims of abuse by R Kelly to come forward in order to build a criminal case against the musician. The county contains Kelly's hometown of Chicago, where many of the allegations against him are said to have taken place.

The call by State Attorney Kim Foxx follows the recently aired six-part documentary series 'Surviving R Kelly', which was broadcast on US TV last week.

The programme featured a number of women who claim to have been abused by Kelly, and the family of another woman who, they allege, is currently being held in a 'sex cult' by the star. Friends of Kelly as well as family members, former business partners and celebrities - including John Legend and Chance The Rapper - also contributed to the series.

Despite the recent swell in the number of new allegations made against the singer, only one has resulted in legal action, and so far no new criminal proceedings have been brought against him. Allegations of physical and mental abuse have followed Kelly throughout his career and he has settled many civil cases out of court. Though the one time he was put on trial to face criminal charges relating to abuse allegations he was acquitted.

It has been reported that, following the show's broadcast, there was a spike in people contacting law enforcement authorities demanding that something be done.

"We cannot do anything related to these allegations without the co-operation of these victims", said Foxx in a press conference yesterday. "I am here today to encourage victims of sexual assault or domestic violence related to these allegations to please get in touch with our office. Please come forward".

Saying that her team is currently "in the process of trying to get information", Foxx said that they have already spoken to Chicago police and a number of families, adding: "I was sickened by the allegations. I was sickened as a survivor, I was sickened as a mother, I was sickened as a prosecutor".

Kelly's stance on the increasing number of new allegations being made against him over the last year has always been that certain people have a vendetta against him and that the women who have made the allegations are all hoping to become famous. In a new interview with NBC5 yesterday, his attorney, Steven Greenburg, held to that line.

Greenberg said that Foxx's call for possible victims to come forward was "unprecedented", and that he was sure that his client would be exonerated.

"There's not gonna be any physical evidence, no confirmatory evidence", he said. "[Kelly's accusers] want fifteen minutes of fame and [Foxx is] encouraging that. People know how to call the cops. People call 911. Nobody's done that because nothing has happened".

Sources who spoke to TMZ following the airing of 'Surviving R Kelly' said that the singer was "disgusted" by the show and planned to "sue everybody" involved in it. Meanwhile, the family of the woman still involved with Kelly also reported that they had been threatened by his manager prior to the first episode of the programme being broadcast.

While Spotify reported a spike in streams of Kelly's music after the first episode of the series went out, some US radio stations are now banning his music from their programming. Morning show presenter on Dallas station KRNB, Claudia Jordan, said - according to Complex - that "in good conscience, we just can't continue to support this guy".

Meanwhile her counterpart on another Dallas station, K104, DeDe McGuire, said: "I'm glad that radio is taking that stance. Radio has always played a major role in the black community... That goes back to the civil rights movement. We have to take care of our own. If the courts won't take care of him in terms of punishing him, then we'll stop playing his music as punishment".

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Synergy Concerts promoter launches new Scottish live music firm
Scottish concert promoter Brian Reynolds has launched a new Glasgow-based live music firm called 432 Presents. The new venture follows Reynold's decision to part company with Synergy Concerts, where he has worked for six years with that firm's founder Grainne Braithwaite-Vedamanikam.

Braithwaite-Vedamanikam will continue to run Synergy, though many of its people and projects will move over to Reynold's new business.

Through 432 Presents, Reynolds will continue to operate Glasgow venues The Hug And Pint and Blue Arrow Jazz Club, and will also still promote The National Whisky Festival Of Scotland. Among other projects, collaborations will also continue with Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival and with the Edinburgh International Festival each August.

Reynolds and Braithwaite-Vedamanikam say that the decision to part ways is "entirely amicable" and "presents an exciting opportunity for the strategic development of both companies".

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Channel 4 takes complete ownership of The Box Plus Network
Channel 4 has taken complete ownership of The Box Plus Network, buying Bauer Media out of the music television venture.

The UK division of Bauer, then called EMAP, bought into independent jukebox TV channel The Box all the way back in 1997. One of the early UK music telly channels, it made most of its money through the premium phone numbers people had to call to request a video be played, some idiots being willing to do such a thing in the pre-YouTube age.

EMAP built a wider TV business around The Box as cable and satellite television boomed, often launching channels to accompany the music-centric brands owned by its magazine and radio divisions. It then sold 50% of that telly business to Channel 4 in 2007, a few months before German media group Bauer bought much of the EMAP company. The following year this new Bauer/Channel 4 joint venture rebranded one of its channels as 4Music.

It's no secret that music television channels have been heavily hit by the rise of YouTube and other online music services. Most broadcasters have tried to adapt by launching websites, apps and even their own channels on YouTube, though it's still a challenge to stay relevant, especially with younger consumers who have only ever known a world where music videos are always available on demand on any device for free.

In some cases, music TV makers have shifted more to long-form programming and general entertainment content to stand out, while also pushing into the brand partnerships game to boost revenues.

What became known as The Box Plus Network currently operates seven TV channels: 4Music, The Box, Box Upfront, Box Hits, Kiss, Kerrang! and Magic. Channel 4 yesterday said that, by taking complete control of the business, it will be able to increase value across the Box network itself and the wider Channel 4 portfolio. Meanwhile Bauer confirmed it will continue to license its Kiss, Magic and Kerrang! brands to the telly firm.

Announcing the deal, Channel 4's COO Keith Underwood said: "This transaction brings the UK's largest and most-watched music television network fully into the Channel 4 family. As part of a broader channel portfolio, we will work with the management team of the Box Plus Network to amplify the value of the assets acquired. This acquisition forms part of our wider strategy to enhance engagement with youth audiences".

Meanwhile Bauer UK CEO Paul Keenan said: "Channel 4 are best placed to realise the full potential of the Box Plus Network as 4Music increasingly moves towards broader, entertainment and long form programming".

Namechecking the MD of The Box Plus Network, Matt Rennie, Keenan added that he'd like to "thank Matt and his talented team at Box for great work and give our best wishes for the future".

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Expanded Wide Days programme planned for 2019
Scottish music convention Wide Days has announced some details about its 2019 programme, a tenth edition that will see additional and new strands added to the proceedings.

Innovations include a new event on the Saturday aimed at artists and extra live music showcases in which three Scottish festivals will each curate a venue. The core conference will take place on the Friday, which will again include some practical workshops presented by CMU:DIY. There will also be a spotlight on music publishing and a session in which music journalists and music PRs will be invited to, well, 'constructively criticise' each other.

Confirming the innovations and expanded programme, Wide Days founder Olaf Furniss says: "Over the past two years there has been a huge rise in interest in Wide Days from the international music community and our colleagues in the rest of the UK. The expanded programme is a great way to highlight what is happening in Scotland, while at the same time developing opportunities internationally for our artists, festivals and music businesses".

Wide Days 2019 takes place from 11-13 Apr in Edinburgh. Early bird tickets are now on sale at widedays.com.

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Oh Land announces new album, Family Tree
Oh Land has announced that she will release her fifth studio album, 'Family Tree', later this year. The first single from it, 'Human Error', is out now.

"Since the release of my last album, I've experienced the biggest ups and downs of my private life", she says. "Everything I'd been working on musically suddenly seemed unimportant and irrelevant to the new life I had to slowly piece together. So I ditched all the songs and recordings I had done and started writing from the uncertainty of where I was".

"Music has, for me, always been the friend who listens and never judges", she goes on. "As I have often found it, music is the best listener when you pour your heart out. In melody and music I've found some healing and the songs that have come out of it are deeply personal. I never planned to make this album, and yet the songs I've written couldn't have been anything other than what's here".

'Family Tree' is scheduled for release on 3 May. You can watch Oh Land performing a live acoustic version of 'Human Error' here.

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Guided By Voices announce first UK show for over fifteen years
Guided By Voices have announced that they will play their first UK show for more than fifteen years this summer. The band will play London's Village Underground on 5 Jun.

A new GBV album, titled 'Zeppelin Over China', is set for release on 1 Feb. You can listen to new track, 'The Rally Boys' here.

Tickets for the London show will go on sale at 10am this Friday.

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Au/Ra, DJ White Shadow, Scott Storch, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Warner/Chappell has signed a publishing deal with that there Au/Ra, aka Jamie Aura Stenzel. Warner's Mike Smith reckons his new signing is "infectious". Well, her melodies are "infectious". No need to vaccinate.

• Primary Wave Music has signed an administration and co-publishing deal with Lady Gaga collaborator and W Hotels music director Paul Blair, aka DJ White Shadow. "He is an innovator", insists Primary Wave's Sarah McCann.

• CTM has extended its worldwide publishing deal with veteran writer/producer Scott Storch, who has worked with the likes of Dr Dre, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and, most recently, the still surprisingly CV-friendly 6ix9ine and Chris Brown.

• The Association Of Independent Music has announced more speakers for its AIM Sync event, which takes place in London on 28 Jan. They include Charlotte von Kotze from Vice, David McGinnis from Mute Song, Harriet Moss from Manners McDade, 'Breaking Bad' music supervisor Thomas Golubic and artists Sebastian Plano, Paul Wolinski and Imogen Heap. Info here.

• The Chemical Brothers have released new track 'MAH', with a video filmed at their recent Alexandra Palace shows.

• Karen O has released new track 'Anti-Lullaby', which features in new Amazon Prime series 'Hanna'.

• Janelle Monáe has released the video for 'Screwed' from her 'Dirty Computer' album. She's also be confirmed to headline the West Holts stage at Glastonbury this year.

• Sharon Van Etten has released 'Seventeen' from her upcoming new album 'Remind Me Tomorrow'. She is also set to play live dates in the UK and Ireland in March.

• Fat White Family have released a new video to announce that they will release an album called 'Serfs Up!' this year.

• Girlpool have released the title track from their upcoming new album 'What Chaos Is Imaginary'.

• Anna Von Hausswolf has released a 20 minute live version of 'Ugly And Vengeful' from her 'Dead Magic' album.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.

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Kate Bush: Not a Tory
Kate Bush is not a supporter of the Conservative Party and she'd really rather like it if you'd all stop saying that she is. Because that's something some people have been saying for more than two years now, ever since she said in an interview that she thought then and somehow still UK Prime Minister Theresa May was "wonderful".

The interview with Canadian magazine Macleans came shortly after the election defeat of Hillary Clinton by then and somehow still US President Donald Trump. In it, she was asked about a comment that her 1985 song 'Waking The Witch' was about "the fear of women's power" and if that fear was "stronger than ever" in the wake of the presidential election.

Bush responded by saying: "We have a female prime minister here in the UK. I actually really like her and think she's wonderful. I think it's the best thing that's happened to us in a long time. She's a very intelligent woman but I don't see much to fear. I will say it is great to have a woman in charge of the country. She's very sensible and I think that's a good thing at this point in time".

You could have taken issue with that statement on a number of levels at the time, based on May's past political record and more recent actions as PM - and even more so now as the Brexit shambles drags on. Though most people's response to that statement, then and since, has been something along the lines of: "Oh my God, as if the world wasn't already bad enough, now I've discovered that Kate Bush is a massive Tory".

Now, more than two years later, Bush has said that she's given up hoping that that comment will go away on its own accord and so has decided to give it a kick. Actually, I think the problem is more that the comment itself did go away quickly, but the received wisdom that Kate Bush is a massive Tory remained. Either way, she would like you to know that this is not the case.

In a new update on her website, Bush says that her comment was "not meant to be political but rather was in the defence of women in power".

She explains: "I felt [the interviewer] was putting a really negative slant on powerful women, referring to a witch hunt involving Hillary Clinton. In response, I said that we had a woman in charge of our country, and that I felt it was a good thing to have women in power. I should have been clearer when I then said it was the best thing that had happened to us for a long time - because I greatly disliked the behaviour of the previous PM, who at that point I felt had abandoned us and everybody felt angry and let down".

Referencing the continued life of her original quote, she notes that "it could make it seem like I am a Tory supporter which I want to make clear I am not".

So, hey, maybe 2019's going to be alright after all.

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