CMU Daily 30.11.16: Flo & Eddie's Sirius settlement could net $99 million, Kobalt on its new 'pre-save' marketing tool

Flo & Eddie's pre-1972 settlement with Sirius could net $99 million for heritage artists
US satellite radio station Sirius XM could hand over nearly $100 million to heritage artists as part of a settlement with one-time Turtles Flo & Eddie over pre-1972 sound recordings.

As previously reported, it was announced earlier this month that Sirius had reached a deal with Flo & Eddie ahead of a scheduled court hearing that was set to discuss what damages the media firm must pay in relation to recordings previously played that pre-date 1972.

Flo & Eddie sued Sirius in three American states over a dispute as to whether or not Sirius was obliged to pay royalties to artists and labels when it plays recordings from the 1950s and 1960s, like those of the plaintiffs' former band The Turtles. This was up for debate because of some complexities in US copyright law.

In America, unlike most other countries, AM/FM radio stations only pay royalties to the owners of song copyrights and not sound recording copyrights. But US-wide federal copyright law does say that online and satellite radio services must pay artists and labels as well, usually via the Sound Exchange system.

However, said Sirius, federal copyright law only covers sound recordings since 1972, with earlier records protected by state law. Given state-level copyright law doesn't tend to distinguish between AM/FM and satellite radio - and given AM/FM stations aren't paying any royalties on sound recordings - Sirius shouldn't have to either on older tracks, or so argued the media firm.

Not so, said the Californian courts, which reckoned that, actually, sound recording owners probably were due royalties under Californian law when their older tracks were broadcast, even though that technically meant AM/FM stations should also have been paying royalties on those older records and never had.

Following that ruling, Sirius subsequently reached a $210 million deal with the major labels regarding their old catalogue, but that settlement didn't include Flo & Eddie, or other artists and independents in a similar situation to the former Turtles who could also benefit from the latter's successful lawsuit as a result of it being granted 'class action' status.

It was this month's settlement that benefited Flo & Eddie themselves and other members of their class and, according to Reuters, terms of that proposed settlement were filed with the court on Monday for judicial approval.

Under the deal, Sirius commits to pay at least $25 million to cover past uses of pre-1972 recordings. That figure could rise to $40 million, depending on the outcome of Flo & Eddie's other lawsuits on this issue in New York and Florida, which are both currently subject to appeal. The deal also sets out a ten year licensing arrangement that could be worth an estimated $45 to $59 million, again depending on the outcome of the outstanding litigation. The package could, therefore, total $99 million.

Sirius, which denies any wrongdoing in the settlement, has yet to comment on the arrangement, though a legal rep for Flo & Eddie told reporters that his clients "had the tenacity to stay the course over three gruelling years of litigation on behalf of all members of the class, because they believed in what was right".

Warner Music headhunts Sony's Ole Obermann for key digital role
Warner Music chief Stephen Cooper has been out poaching again, sneaking into the part of the musical forest they call Sony Vale to capture himself an Ole Obermann. And blimey, if he didn't just nab himself the best of all the Ole Obermanns, aka Ole Obermann.

"With two decades of diverse digital experience, Ole has the special skill-set needed to forge new business models with tech start-ups and big players alike, while nurturing WMG's existing partnerships", declared the Coop, having put away his musket and poaching net and set the newly captured Obermann free in among the slightly smaller but nevertheless well-kept corner of the aforementioned pop forest that is colloquially known as Warner Wood.

"He brings a deep understanding of both global and local streaming markets, data-driven commercial acumen, and a principled, artist-centric sensibility to his new post", the poacher-in-chief continued. "We are committed to championing the value of music, expanding the universe of opportunity for our artists, and helping them create change, not merely embrace it. Ole's vision and leadership will make him a valuable asset in achieving our mission".
"It is an exciting time to be joining Warner Music Group, as we accelerate streaming growth and partner with emerging technology companies to open up new sources of revenue for our artists", reckons the Obermann, who seemingly appreciates the greenness of the grass on this side of the forest. "I look forward to working closely with Steve and our global leadership to sharpen Warner's competitive edge, and build on the company's position as the most artist-friendly and innovative music company".

Yeah, whatever. Obermann used to work at Sony Music and is now Chief Digital Officer and Executive VP of Business Development at Warner Music, something I'm sure you all successfully garnered in amongst all that musical forest nonsense.

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Caroline International hires Ministry Of Sound's Nicola Spokes as UK Label Head
Universal Music's label services business Caroline International has announced Nicola Spokes will join the firm next year to head up its UK operations. Spokes joins from Ministry Of Sound, where she is currently Marketing Director.

"Michael [Roe] and Jim [Chancellor] have assembled an exceptionally strong team at Caroline International and in the short space of three years have built a very successful business providing an exceptional service to a diverse and high profile roster of artists", says Spokes.

She continues: "Leaving Ministry Of Sound after fifteen years with the company and seven years working in the artist label with David Dollimore and Dipesh Parmar, whom I have a huge amount of love and respect for, was a really difficult decision for me to make but joining Caroline International as UK Label Head is a great opportunity for me, and I'm really excited to become part of the team".

Spokes will take up her new role next April, when current holder Emma Greengrass leaves to become Managing Director of management firm Wildlife Entertainment.

Team behind Glastonbury's Shangri-La to launch new festival in Torquay
The company that curates Glastonbury Festival's Shangri-La zone - as well as Bestival's Caravanserai, Boomtown's Ballroom Stage and Wilderness' Carousel, among other events - has announced it will launch a brand new festival next spring, and only in bloody Torquay.

Across fifteen stages with 200 acts, and no less than "myriad musical genres", are being promised by Continental Drifts via its new event Grinagog, which will take place in venues around the seaside town from 7-9 Apr 2017. Akala, Jah Shaka, Sam Lee And Magpies Nest, Electro Swing Circus and the one-and-only Steve Davis are amongst the line-up already confirmed.

Continental Drifts man and Torquay native Chris Tofu says: "All my life, I've looked at Torquay and seen it as one humongous great festival site... with no mud! The place is like the ultimate festival venue, and I should know because I've started loads of festivals. I'm putting everything I possibly can into making an extremely diverse, cultural offering for young people in Torquay. We're bringing together all the amazing promoters and cultural workers who are in the town and the surrounding area already into one big pot to create a cultural explosion that we hope can really be a place maker for this town".

The mayor of Torbay, the borough in which Torquay sits, Gordon Oliver, adds: "Through funding from the Coastal Communities Fund and the Mayor's Events Fund, Torbay Council is proud to facilitate this wonderful music festival. This event will provide access to great artists right on our doorstep and will be enjoyed by many of our young people and visitors to the Bay. Continental Drifts has been procured through a rigorous tender process and they bring a wealth of experience in the festival market ensuring that we host a high quality event. We are particularly excited to offer the residents in Torbay something very unique in the South West and I believe this festival will do this".

Kobalt unveils new pre-save button with Laura Marling release
In this new-fangled age of streams and sustained listening and repeat micro-payments over an undefined period of audio re-engagement, the savvy music marketers know that the old fashioned declaration of "buy my record now!" has no currency.

Oh no, in this brave new world the marketing message artists need to shout at every appropriate opportunity is "save me, save me!" Even though that could back fire somewhat when the 'cry wolf' effect kicks in on the day the artist is actually really drowning. But, then again, these are the harsh realities of the modern music business, I'm afraid.

By the same logic, the notion of the album 'pre-order' is starting to become an out-dated concept too, what we need here is a 'pre-save'. And on my Lord, if the super savvy music marketers at Kobalt haven't only gone and thought of that. Save me, save me!

So, yes, when pre-orders starting being plugged for the new Laura Marling album earlier this week, some people noted that amongst the menu of plug-buttons on the artist's own website was one saying 'pre-save', which will automatically save the new long player to a user's personal Spotify library as soon as it is released next year.

Marling is self-releasing new record 'Semper Femina' via her own label More Alarming Records in conjunction with Kobalt, which reckons that - with its pre-save button innovation and the proprietary software that powers it - it "again positions itself as a pioneer of technology, data and the digital streaming revolution by optimising creator opportunities and ensuring fans have the power to maximise their listening experience". Yeah, maybe.
Says David Emery, VP Global Marketing Strategy at what they're now calling Kobalt Music Recordings: "For an artist of such talent as Laura Marling, we wanted to come up with a way of making sure that her fans - a lot of whom are using streaming services now - didn't miss out when the new record comes out. As we're a technology company as well as a music company, we have the power to create something that solves this problem in a simple, innovative, easy to use way".

Promising other super smart marketing innovations for artists working with Kobalt's label services business and/or its distribution platform AWAL, Kobalt Music Recordings President Paul Hitchman adds: "This is one of a series of innovative marketing tools that we will be rolling out over the coming months for our Kobalt and AWAL clients. Our services are powered by technology that enables artists to take control of their careers and maximise the opportunities presented by global digital platforms like Spotify".

'Semper Femina' is out on 10 Mar, and as Marling herself is prone to say on occasion, "save me, save me... now for next March".

Taylor Swift gets own TV channel
Taylor Swift is getting her own TV channel as part of new AT&T video streaming service DirecTV Now in the US. What a time to be alive.

Among various channels to go live as part of the new subscription service in February next year, Taylor Swift Now will air videos, live performances, behind the scenes footage and other bits and bobs from the musician's archive, according to Variety. A tweet from AT&T adds that it will be "a new destination for unique and never [before] seen videos".

Swift says in a statement: "Are you ready?" Which is, frankly, not the insight I was after. Reese Witherspoon is getting her own channel too, called Hello Sunshine, and she said: "As we continue the journey of creating engaging entertainment for and about women at Hello Sunshine, it's exciting to have a partner in AT&T who shares that commitment with us". Let's pretend Taylor Swift said something roughly along those lines.

Maybe Swift will say more when she plays DirecTV's Super Bowl event around the launch in February.

Festival to mark first anniversary of Prince's death
A new four day music festival held in memory of Prince will take place at his Paisley Park compound on the first anniversary of his death, it has been announced. Let's hope they get the parking admin sorted in time.

Called Celebration 2017, the event will take place from 20-23 Apr, with performances from Prince-related acts such as The Revolution, Morris Day and 3rdeyegirl, among others.

"Celebration 2017 will honour and celebrate the life and legacy of Prince, as the world marks the first anniversary of his passing", say organisers.

"Bringing together musicians, creative personnel, special guests and friends who worked closest with Prince and knew him best", they add. "These four days will feature live music, panel discussions and presentations on Prince's tremendous talent, influence and importance as a composer, musician, producer, live performer and filmmaker".

Tickets cost $499, or $999 if you want the VIP treatment. More info here.

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Richard Ashcroft announces 2017 arena shows
You forget about Richard Ashcroft sometimes, don't you? And then he does something that makes you remember that he's actually quite popular. Like announce an arena tour, for example. I bring that up as an example today mainly because that's something he's just done.

In addition to existing shows at Liverpool's Echo Arena and London's O2 Arena next week, Ashcroft has just announced that he will play four more arena shows in April and June next year. This continues the promotion of his latest solo album, 'These People'. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am.

Here are the dates:

18 Apr: Glasgow, SSE Hydro
20 Apr: Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena
22 Apr: Leeds, First Direct Arena
30 Jun: Manchester, Castlefield Bowl

Lucian Grainge, Metropolis Studios, Frank Ocean, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Universal Music boss Uncle Luci Grainge was knighted by Prince William yesterday for all his many services to, well, I don't know, something. I mean, there's usually a reason when one of the Windsors gets out a knighting sword, isn't there? And it's not always just about slashing open Ed Sheeran's face.

• Metropolis Studios has appointed Gavin Newman as Event & Content Director. Newman joins from The Hospital. Metropolis CEO Ian Brenchley says everyone there is "absolutely enraptured" by the new hire, which is a new one on us.

• Yasiin Bey, fka Mos Def, will release his final album, 'Dec 99th', on 9 Dec as a Tidal exclusive. Yeah, that's still a thing. From it, this is 'Local Time'.

• Tom Odell is releasing an EP on 9 Dec called 'Spending All My Christmas With You', which is a title that is grammatically all over the place. Still, it's nearly Christmas, so we'll let him off. Here's the video for the less grating (at least in title) 'Silhouette'.

• If you want to see Frank Ocean headline a festival in London next year, you'd better get a ticket to Lovebox, because he's promised not to play any others in the city. Not even the Frank Ocean Festival I was planning.

• London's Convergence festival has just announced the first portion of its 2017 programme. It takes place from 21-25 Mar, with lots of live music, discussions, visual arts and more. Check it all out here.

• Believe it or not - and I choose "not", but what do I know? - the UK Festival Awards took place in, well, the UK earlier this week. Winners? Oh yeah, there were winners. Look, winners.

Theresa May is "wonderful", says Kate Bush
It's been a rough ride, this 2016 thing. We're nearly there now. Nearly there. I'm sure 2017 won't let us down. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? But 2016, oh, it's still got some tricks up its sleeve. Like Kate Bush casually revealing that she's a massive Tory.

Alright, alight, that's not exactly what she said. However, she does think that Theresa May is "wonderful", even though as far as I can tell she's yet to do anything as PM that would enable anyone to form such a strong opinion on her either way. Other than praying a little. Oh, and she just got some dictatorship-level privacy invasion enshrined into law, so there's that.

Though, if your default setting is 'Tory: Probably awful', then I guess it's possible that there are people out there in this silly isle who automatically think, 'Tory: Probably wonderful'. People like Kate Bush.

Speaking to right wing Canadian magazine Macleans, Bush was asked about a comment that her 1985 song 'Waking The Witch' was about "the fear of women's power", and if this fear is "stronger than ever" in the wake of Hillary Clinton's defeat in the US presidential election.

"We have a female prime minister here in the UK", replied Bush. "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".

I think that is Kate Bush's way of saying, "Hey guys, 2017 is going to be just fine". Fingers crossed.