PPL // Senior Communications Manager (London/Hybrid)

terrible* // Production Assistant (London)

AEG Presents // Ticketing Manager (London)

Republic of Music // Digital Operations Manager (Brighton/Hybrid)

IDOL // UK Label Manager – London/Hybrid

ALSO TODAY

TOP STORY

Current Leadmill team raise safety concerns about the Electric Group at licensing hearing

A legal representative for the current operator of The Leadmill in Sheffield yesterday raised safety concerns about her client's landlord, the Electric Group, taking over the running of the venue, alleging that the company "has a fundamental disregard for safety". But the boss of the Electric Group - which already operates venues in London, Bristol and Newcastle - insisted "we have an outstanding track record of compliance".

These comments were made during a hearing of Sheffield City Council's licensing committee. It was considering an application by the Electric Group to secure a so called shadow licence covering The Leadmill. If issued, both the landlord and current Leadmill operator Phil Mills would have concurrent licences to run the venue, meaning - if and when the Electric Group evicts Mills - it can immediately start running the building.

The Electric Group bought The Leadmill building back in 2016. Mills and his team initially continued to run the venue, but were formally given twelve months to vacate the premises in March last year, so that the Electric Group can put its own management team in place.

Mills has so far refused to give up the building, instead running the Save The Leadmill campaign. This week's licensing hearing has become a key focus of that campaign, because if the Electric Group can't secure a licence to run the venue, Mills will have a stronger case for staying put.

However, Sheffield City Council can only legally decline to issue a licence if some very specific criteria are met. Principally, that blocking a licence request would ensure “the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; the protection of children from harm”.

This is why the legal rep for Mills, Sarah Clover, brought up safety issues at yesterday's hearing.

According to The Guardian, she said that the Electric Group's owner Dominic Madden was using his "wealth and celebrity connections" to push through a licensing application that was “unsafe”.

She then pointed to newspaper reports relating to Madden's other venues - including reports of a stabbing outside SWX in Bristol - and mentioned online reviews of Electric Brixton in London and NX in Newcastle.

Among other things, those reviews "complained that door staff failed to properly check IDs, that they were 'aggressive, unprofessional, rude, arrogant', and that the venue owners consistently oversold events, leading to overcrowding". Clover concluded: “It is a consistent theme ... Mr Madden has a fundamental disregard for safety".

Madden has been critical of the Save The Leadmill campaign, which he says has misled people into thinking the venue is facing closure.

He told yesterday's hearing: “The local campaign’s been utterly spirited, and I take my hat off to them, but I think they’ve crossed the line. What’s to stop them sending some kid down to Brixton to write a bad review? All the evidence you’re looking at are unverified Google reviews".

Several of the safety issues raised by the Mills side actually happened before he took over the running of his three current venues, he added, before concluding: “I’ve never had, and I’m delighted and proud to say that none of my premises have been subject to review … we have an outstanding track record of compliance".

About 100 people supporting the current Leadmill team gathered outside Sheffield Town Hall ahead of the licensing meeting to protest against the Electric Group’s plans to take over running the venue. Madden previously criticised that protest after it emerged that protestors had been offered £40 each for showing up.

The licensing committee should make a decision on the Electric Group's licence application in the next few days.

ONE LINERS

Blue Raincoat, Kim Petras, Simply Red + more...

DEALS

BDi Music has signed Jerub to a worldwide publishing deal. “We are super excited to be working with Jerub and his team”, says BDi Music MD Sarah Liversedge. “His live performance is awe-inspiring, his songwriting is jaw-droppingly on point, and he is one of the most humble people I have met in the industry. We are behind him all the way to the top”.

Eivør has signed to Season Of Mist to release a new album in 2024. "My team and I are incredibly proud and excited to work with Season Of Mist", she says. "After a few years of self-releasing my music, I am very much looking forward to becoming part of the SOM family and to all the new adventures that lay ahead”.

APPOINTMENTS

Blue Raincoat Music co-founder Robin Millar has announced that he is stepping down as Chair of the company, but he will continue to work with the business as a Creative Consultant. In that new role, the music producer and entrepreneur will advise "on creative decisions across the company’s roster, and will oversee mixing and mastering operations company-wide", including for the Chrysalis Records catalogue, which Blue Raincoat acquired in 2016 and now controls in partnership with Reservoir.

Warner Chappell has appointed Rachel Jacobson to the newly created role of Senior Vice President, Creative Sync. “We’re reimagining our approach to the creative side of sync at Warner Chappell to better align with the rapidly evolving media and streaming landscape”, says EVP Global Sync & Media Original Music, Rich Robinson. “Rachel is deeply engrained in the TV, film and advertising worlds, with strong ties to the songwriting community, making her the ideal leader to help us recalibrate our creative offerings and double down on writer development for sync. I’m THRILLED to have her join us for this new chapter”.

RELEASES

Kim Petras has surprise released previously shelved album ‘Problematique’, just as she prepares to begin touring her debut album ‘Feed The Beast’, which came out in June.

Mette has released new single ‘For The People’. Her new EP ‘Mettenarrative’ is out on Friday. She will also play a sold out show at The Lower Third in London on 28 Sep.

GIGS & TOURS

Simply Red have announced an arena tour to mark their 40th anniversary. “But they can’t have been around for 40 years yet”, I hear you cry. Well, they haven’t, these shows are going to take place in 2025. He’s a planner, that Mick Hucknall. “Fans can expect to hear all their favourite Simply Red tracks from 1985 to the present, and enjoy a memorable night celebrating the incredible journey that we've been on together over the past four decades”, he insists. Tickets go on general sale on Thursday.

Griff has announced that she will play EartH in London on 18 Oct. Tickets are on sale now.

LABELS & PUBLISHERS

OTM signs Sub Focus, hires Melissa Mason

Independent music publisher OTM has announced that it has signed DJ and producer Sub Focus - real name Nicolaas Douwma - to a worldwide publishing deal. In addition to that, the company has expanded its LA office with the hire of Melissa Maskan - who previously worked in A&R at Third Side Music - as its Head Of North America and SVP Creative.

"The signing of Sub Focus and hiring of Melissa represents how OTM is going from strength to strength”, says the publisher’s founder Alex Sheridan. “Already this year we have secured a string of fantastic artist signings which showcases how we are carefully adding to a roster of the most exciting songwriters and producers in the world”.

“Nick has been a dear friend for almost 20 years and as an artist he has never been bigger”, he goes on. “I’m so proud he’s entrusted us with his songs, we are beyond excited for what’s to come, both for his own artist projects and writing for others”.

“I’d known Melissa for some time and always held her in the highest esteem for what she’s built at Third Side”, he adds. “Her heading up our US business will add immeasurable value to our offering there and now provides OTM with a platform for further growth. I am delighted to have her on the team”.

OTM announced an alliance last year with Firebird Music, which has invested in the publisher. It also has an administration partnership with Sony Music Publishing.

Says Sub Focus: “I’ve been friends with Alex Sheridan of OTM for coming up to 20 years, so to have their expertise in tandem with working with Sony was a perfect combination. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together!”

Maskan adds: “It’s an exciting time to join OTM and head up its US operations. OTM has always invested in visionary artists and producers, and now with the incredible support of our parent company, Firebird, we have the ability to expand our vision even further. I am looking forward to helping the company grow and develop its roster by supporting our artists to fulfil their utmost creative endeavours”.

APPROVED: MONTAÑERA

Montañera - the stage name of María Mónica Gutiérrez - has just announced that she will release her new album 'A Flor De Piel' on 17 Nov. Out now is the first single from it, ‘Un Día Voy A Ser Mariposa’.

"It's a song that talks about the changes within me after a separation”, she says of the single, the title of which translates as ‘One Day I'll Be A Butterfly’.

“How painful, but also how transformative - becoming a butterfly - how new branches grew in me and sprouted flowers that I give to you. How painful it can be to be born, nonetheless, there is a light that guides me, that awaits me, that burns me, and blinds me. It's a song about being reborn”.

The wider album was initially inspired by a move to London from Bogota in Colombia, which sparked thoughts of metamorphosis.

“The album has accompanied me through inner journeys of finding myself in a new territory of redefining myself, of remembering who I am in a strange place”, she says.

'A Flor de Piel' is out on 17 Nov. Watch the video for ‘Un Día Voy A Ser Mariposa’ here.

LABELS & PUBLISHERS

BMG to move from ADA alliance to direct streaming deals

BMG has announced that it is ending its long-term partnership with Warner Music's ADA division and will start to enter into direct licensing deals with the streaming services later this year.

The current iteration of BMG launched in 2008 and - after several years of growing its recordings catalogue, both through acquisitions and new artist deals - it formed a distribution alliance with ADA in 2016. Prior to that, it had worked with various distributors, many of which had already been distributing the catalogues it had acquired.

Since 2016, ADA has delivered BMG's recordings to the streaming services under its licences. Given the size of BMG's recordings catalogue, which continued to grow, it became a very significant client for the Warner label services business. But no more.

BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld says: "Taking direct control of our relationships with streaming services is a major leap forward in our mission to offer artists the most effective and efficient service. The new set-up will enable us to better market, service and advise our great artists and will further improve BMG's relationship with key digital and physical partners".

The firm's COO Sebastian Hentzschel adds: "There are many advantages to third-party distribution in the early years of a new music company, but with BMG's annual streaming rate in excess of 80 billion streams this year, it is time to unleash the benefits in terms of market insight and leveraging data that going direct will bring".

BMG will gradually shift to direct deals with the streaming services, beginning with Spotify and Apple Music towards the end of this year. It will continue to outsource physical distribution via a new deal that is expected to be announced shortly.

In his statement yesterday, Coesfeld also thanks Warner and ADA for "their trustful partnership".

Meanwhile, the boss of Warner Music, Robert Kyncl, says: "We've always known that going direct on streaming was BMG's ultimate objective and we're proud to have helped them grow to the scale where they could achieve it”.

“Taking this step will mean we create more space for ADA to focus on developing new partnerships, and for WMG to continue to grow our investment behind artists, songwriters and labels”, he continues. “We wish BMG all the best and know that we will have many other opportunities for successful collaboration".

DEALS

Katy Perry sells music rights to Litmus in $225 million deal

Litmus Music has acquired a stack of rights from Katy Perry in relation to the five albums she released with Capitol Records between 2008 and 2020, in a deal reportedly worth around $225 million.

The deal covers both recording rights and song rights, specifically Perry's royalty rights in relation to the recordings on those albums and her stake in the publishing. Capitol - an EMI label when Perry signed to it in 2007, but now owned by Universal Music - still owns and controls the recording rights, so Litmus will now receive the artist royalties it pays out.

Dan McCarroll, who co-founded Litmus Music last year, previously worked with Perry during a stint as President at Capitol Records. He says of the new deal: “Katy Perry is a creative visionary who has made a major impact across music, TV, film and philanthropy. I’m so honoured to be partnering with her again and to help Litmus manage her incredible repertoire".

Litmus is backed by investment firm Carlyle, whose MD Matt Settle said of the Perry deal: “We believe this is a testament to the team’s ability to partner with the world’s top artists. Katy’s iconic songs have not only achieved outstanding commercial success but have significantly influenced popular culture".

LABELS & PUBLISHERS

Premium streaming and vinyl continue to power growth in US recorded music market

Revenues from the sale of CDs and vinyl in the US were up 5% in the first half of this year, meaning that physical product sales were at their highest level since 2013.

However, it was really the ongoing streaming boom that resulted in US recorded music retail revenues at large growing 9.3% to $8.4 billion between January and June this year, with streaming accounting for 84% of total income. Wholesale revenues - so the monies that flow from the digital platforms and retailers to the record industry - grew 8.3% to $5.3 billion.

This is according to the latest stats pack published by the Recording Industry Association Of America. The trade group's CEO Mitch Glazier says: “This report describes a thriving, growing music ecosystem that continues to reach new heights and shape our culture”.

“And”, he adds, “it reflects the creative human genius and hard work of all the artists, songwriters, labels, publishers and services who make the music happen, and meet fans and audiences where they are in today's forward-looking and innovative music community".

More than 75% of streaming revenues - and nearly two thirds of total recorded music revenues - come from premium streaming services. The RIAA reports that in the first half of this year "total revenue from paid subscription services grew 11% to $5.5 billion, compared with 6% growth for the number of accounts".

Given subscriber growth is slowing, it's important for the industry that the average revenue generated by each paying user increases, which is why the recent price increases at the streaming services have been so widely welcomed.

As for ad-supported streaming - both the free tiers of Spotify et al and the user-generated content platforms - revenues from these services "grew at a slower rate than paid forms of streaming ... up just 1% to $870 million. This follows a more volatile period when the effects of COVID-19 stalled growth in 2020 before rebounding in 2021 and 2022".

Physical products account for 11% of total recorded music revenues, though vinyl now dominates in that domain, accounting for 72% of this income. The RIAA notes that "revenues from vinyl records grew 1% to $632 million and ... for the third consecutive year, vinyl albums [also] outsold CDs in units - 23 million vs 15 million".

DOWNLOAD THE FULL RIAA STATS PACK HERE

LEGAL

Marilyn Manson ordered to do 20 hours of community service for blowing nose on videographer

A judge yesterday formally ordered Marilyn Manson to serve 20 hours of community service and pay around $1400 in fines in relation to his interactions with videographer Susan Fountain during a 2019 concert in New Hampshire.

The musician will be allowed to complete his community service in California and, outside the court, he said he planned to do so by working with "people in recovery". He will also have to alert local police if he plays any concerts in New Hampshire in the next two years.

Manson faced two assault charges over allegations that he spat at and then blew his nose on Fountain as she filmed his performance.

The musician initially pleaded not guilty, arguing that - by filming up close to Manson - Fountain had “consented to exposing herself to potential contact with sweat, saliva and phlegm in close quarters”, as this was commonplace in the musician’s performances over 20 years.

However, he subsequently pleaded no contest to the charge relating to the allegation he deliberately placed his hand over one of his nostrils and then launched a "significant amount of mucus" at the videographer. The other charge was subsequently dropped.

By pleading no contest, Manson was basically confirming that he would not contest the charge in court, but without admitting guilt. Doing so prevented the case from going to a full trial.

In a statement read in court yesterday, Fountain said: "I've never been humiliated or treated like I was by this defendant. For him to spit on me and blow his nose on me was the most disgusting thing a human being has ever done".

The judge overseeing the case described Manson's behaviour as "egregious" before confirming the fine and community service sentence.

AND FINALLY

Halle Berry says Drake asked to use her slime-covered image and she told him no

A dispute between Halle Berry and Drake, which began last week, has deepened. The actor has now revealed that she denied the rapper permission to use an image of her covered in slime for the artwork of his new single, but he still went ahead and used it anyway.

Drake released new track ‘Slime You Out’, featuring SZA, last week, complete with an image of Berry covered in slime at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards as its cover art.

Discussing this in Instagram comments when fans quizzed her on it, she said that the rapper "didn't get my permission. That's not cool. I thought better of him!"

She then added: “When people you admire disappoint you, you have to be the bigger person and move on!"

But this is the internet and moving on is easier said than done. It was quickly pointed out that the image was correctly licensed through Getty Images and therefore there was no need for Drake to get specific permission from her to use it.

This may be true. However, she has now clarified, he did ask her for permission nonetheless. And she declined to grant approval.

Asked why she was mad at Drake if he properly licensed the photo, she wrote: "Cuz he asked me and I said ‘NO’, that’s why. Why ask if you intend to do what you want to do! That was the fuck you to me. Not cool. You get it?"

In another comment, she added: “He did have his people call my people and I said ‘NO’. I didn’t like that image of slime all over my face in association with his song. And he chose to do it anyway! You see, that is the disrespect. Not cool!”

Although the image of Berry was initially shared as the artwork for the new track, streaming services are using an alternative image featuring a picture of a dog drawn by Drake’s son Adonis Graham, which is also the cover for the album on which the track will appear, ‘For All The Dogs’.