In today’s CMU Daily: John Mitchell - boss of Melbourne’s Mitchell Asset Management and top banana at zombie-unicorn shitshow Proper Group AG - waxes lyrical about the future of the music business and shows off his attention to detail where it really matters. Bonza! 

Also today: MPs took part in a debate on secondary ticketing yesterday, with culture minister Chris Bryant insisting the new government will make good on its pledge to introduce a ticket touting price cap; IMPALA has written an open letter to TikTok over its decision to abandon licensing talks with Merlin, urging it to return to the negotiating table; Greatest Hits Radio is axing its regional afternoon show thanks to a change in broadcasting rules

Plus: Horizon Future Leaders interview with Kit Muir-Rogers, Co-founder of GigPig

Mitchell Asset Management boss says the future of the music business is kids “buying P Diddy skins” in Fortnite. Is it time for the company’s investors to ask for their money back?

It’s got to be tough being John Mitchell, top banana at the company formerly known as Utopia Music. 

One day you’re quietly trundling along operating your “corporate advisory, investment and lending solutions” outfit from an office above a nail salon in a Melbourne suburb. You’ve managed to survive one of your directors embezzling a bunch of money and, as the years go by, you manage to avoid doing business with any other embezzlers. 

And then - BOOM! You’re thrust right into the heart of a cut and thrust battle for the future of a failing Swiss music data/fintech/blockchain/AI company and you find out that everyone knows that a big cheese consigliere to the firm spent time in chokey for embezzling. To have one associate accused of embezzlement maybe regarded as misfortune; two just looks like carelessness.

Is this the future you hoped for? Probably not. Making the best of a bad job, you roll up your sleeves and put in some hard yakka. Rattle a can round the investors, make it clear to them that it’s all or nothing; cough up some more cash, or the whole thing goes up the wazoo. 

You take an “inbound call from professional investors in the music industry who were looking to take a stake in a company that was on its knees”, and maybe you can do a deal and then… What’s that Skippy? You forgot to pay some lawyers and now they’re demanding 23000 Swiss Francs? 

And because you didn’t pay, they’ve had you declared bankrupt and the whole kaboodle is up shit creek? What’s a bogan got to do to catch a break?

In a lengthy interview with CMU, John Mitchell and other executives of Proper Group AG talked through the current state of the company and what the future might hold. And the news is that Mitchell has a cunning plan. And it’s BONZA!

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Culture minister tells ticket touting platforms to “get ready for change” 

Culture Minister Chris Bryant yesterday had a message for ticket resale platforms like Viagogo, StubHub and Gigsberg, declaring in Parliament: “Change is coming, so they should start getting ready for it”. Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate on secondary ticketing, he added, “we made manifesto commitments during the general election that we are absolutely determined to implement”. 

That manifesto commitment was to introduce “new consumer protections on ticket resales”, which - Keir Starmer said earlier this year - will include a price cap, so that ticket touts can only mark up the price of tickets they are selling by 10%. Bryant didn’t give any indication on when the government will make good on that commitment - there’s a promised consultation to go through first - but he insisted that any new laws would be properly enforced. 

That commitment on enforcement is probably as important as the promise of a price cap. Sharon Hodgson MP, a long-time campaigner against for-profit ticket touting, also spoke during the debate and highlighted how existing ticket touting regulations often go unenforced. And even when individual touts have been prosecuted for breaking the rules, “incredibly”, Hodgson noted, the resale platform those touts used “faced no such sanctions”. 

Hodgson has long advocated for a ticket touting price cap, first proposing it in Parliament in 2011. Optimistic that that regulation will finally become law in the UK now that her party is in power, she also noted that her campaign for a price cap recently won an important new supporter: Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino.

Yesterday’s debate was instigated by Emma Foody MP, who is also campaigning for more regulation of ticket touting...

IMPALA urges TikTok to re-open Merlin negotiations as we reach the direct deal deadline for indies 

With today the deadline for independent labels to sign a take-it-or-leave-it direct licensing deal with TikTok, the pan-European organisation for the independent music community, IMPALA, has published an open letter urging the social media company to restart “good faith negotiations” with Merlin. It also says indie label music should be allowed to stay on TikTok under the old Merlin deal while that happens. 

Referencing previous statements TikTok has made about valuing its relationships with the independent music community, IMPALA states, “we believe the best way to build a strong and cooperative partnership with our community is to respect independent labels’ and distributors’ choice to license via Merlin”. 

TikTok recently walked away from negotiations to renew its licence with Merlin, which negotiates digital licensing deals on behalf of thousands of independent labels and distributors around the world. Instead, TikTok said that Merlin-member labels would have to sign direct deals if they wanted their music to remain in the audio clips library on the short form video platform. 

It’s not clear how many indie labels and distributors have done that, though TikTok yesterday put out a statement announcing a new deal with Merlin member United Masters...

Bauer utilises changes to broadcasting laws to remove regional shows from Greatest Hits Radio 

The long-running de-localisation of local radio in the UK continues, with Bauer capitalising on a recent change to broadcasting laws to remove the regional afternoon shows that air on its Greatest Hits Radio network. Nine regional shows will be replaced by a national programme fronted by Kate Thornton. 

“Greatest Hits Radio has already proved to be a game-changer for daytimes on commercial radio and our ambitions don’t stop there”, says the station’s Network Content Director Andy Ashton, putting a very positive spin on the development. 

“I’m delighted that Kate, a hugely talented and already popular broadcaster with our audience, will be coming to afternoons on the station”, he adds. “We look forward to her bringing the greatest storytelling, wit and energy to weekday afternoons, plus of course the biggest songs of the 70s, 80s and 90s”. 

Both Bauer and its main competitor Global have spent years turning the networks of local radio stations they owned and acquired into national stations, operating under a single brand and pumping out the same programmes for most of the day. Global spearheaded this approach, with Bauer ultimately following its lead, of late mainly by expanding the Greatest Hits Radio brand. 

The argument goes that commercial radio stations now...

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders: Kit Muir-Rogers

In our Horizon Future Leaders series, we’re connecting with the music industry’s next generation of leaders to gather candid advice and insights into their career journeys. 

This week, we caught up with Kit Muir-Rogers, Co-founder of GigPig.

From his early days playing in bands and his former senior hospitality roles, Kit gained an understanding of the realities musicians and venues face - skills that now shape his work as Co-founder of GigPig. His experience helped him recognise the importance of fair opportunities for artists and efficient processes for venues.

In the Q&A, Kit shares practical advice for those starting out in the music industry, including the value of hard work, building relationships and utilising available resources.