In today's CMU Daily: John Mitchell, a key investor in Proper Group AG, has issued a statement to CMU distancing himself from the bankrupt company’s former ‘general advisor’ Peter Löhr. CMU has now discovered that a former director of Mitchell’s Australian firm Mitchell Asset Management was also accused of embezzlement

Also today: TikTok’s decision to circumvent independent music licensing organisation Merlin will harm diversity and puts independent music in an impossible place says WIN; the US government is putting together its annual notorious markets report, which lists piracy sites of concern, and the record industry has made its submission; Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer was at a Bloomberg conference last week, talking about getting more money out of TikTok and streaming subscribers, as well as other opportunities for Sony and its artists

Plus: Each week CMU rounds up standout releases and tour announcements from the last seven days. This week: Charli XCX, Pa Salieu, Madlib, Ab-Soul, Major Lazer, Vybz Cartel, Strandz, The Cure + more

Proper Group AG scandal grows as investor John Mitchell distances himself from Löhr and CMU uncovers another case of embezzlement

On Thursday, CMU reported that Peter Löhr, a ‘general advisor’ to Proper Group AG - which is currently battling bankruptcy in the Swiss courts - had previously been convicted of embezzlement in Sweden.

Löhr, a general enforcer and svengali to a succession of C-level appointees at the former Utopia Music, now rebranded Proper Group, had previously been convicted of embezzling money from bankrupt companies in Sweden. On Saturday, Mitchell Asset Management founder and Proper Group AG investor John Mitchell emailed CMU asking us to make it clear that “Peter Löhr does not advise John Mitchell”.

In a startling email, Mitchell acknowledges that Löhr’s history was well known to the founders of Utopia Music - which was rebranded as Proper Group AG earlier this year - adding that Löhr was hired by Utopia founder Mattias Hjelmstedt, and had “advised of his history prior to engagement by the company”.

In the same email, Mitchell characterised CMU’s reporting of Löhr’s history as being “inaccurate and libellous”. However, not only is Mitchell unable to point out any specific inaccuracies or libels - he does not dispute that Löhr was convicted as reported - but he also notes “prior to his employment at Utopia, and hired by Mattias Hjelmstedt, Peter Löhr advised of his history which occurred over 20+ years ago where he had fulfilled all obligations made of him”.

In a series of phone calls on Friday, prior to Mitchell’s email, representatives of Proper Group AG asked CMU several times to make adjustments to our article, saying repeatedly that there was no direct connection between Peter Löhr and Mitchell Asset Management - something that we had not, at any point, alleged, beyond the fact that they are both closely associated with Proper Group AG.

We are, of course, happy to make it clear that Peter Löhr does not work for Mitchell Asset Management. That said, the association is undeniably embarrassing for Mitchell - which probably explains his aggressive attempts to push back against the article.

What is possibly even more embarrassing is that this is the second time that John Mitchell has been associated with someone accused of embezzling funds...

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WIN says TikTok's decision to circumvent Merlin "puts independent labels in an impossible place" and "poses risk to cultural diversity"

As opposition grows around the world from independent music organisations furious about TikTok’s decision to cut long-established digital music licensing intermediary Merlin out of licensing negotiations between the social media platform and indie labels and distributors, WIN - the Worldwide Independent Network - which represents the global voice of independent music, has issued a statement condemning TikTok’s actions.

In its statement, WIN says “TikTok is crucial to the music industry, and music is crucial to TikTok”, highlighting a report by Australian trade publication The Music Network on an experiment conducted by TikTok in Australia, where the platform limited access to licensed music to some users.

That experiment, said TMN, yielded a result - but possibly not what TikTok had hoped for. “TikTok’s users bailed when its ‘test’ started”, TMN reported at the time, adding that the test appeared to be “a fact-finding mission to place a value on music”.

With music such an important part of the TikTok user experience - something that TikTok’s Global Head Of Music Ole Obermann has previously confirmed, saying “Music is at the heart of the TikTok experience” - the decision by TikTok to cut Merlin from its negotiations “puts independent labels in an impossible place with their artists”, says Zena White, WIN’s chair.

“It’s a choice between their music being available on the platform or ensuring fair licence terms”, she adds. As the Bytedance-owed platform continues to reach out to independent music companies with what is believed, in most cases, to be a boilerplate ‘no negotiation’ take-it-or-leave-it deal, WIN’s CEO Noemí Planas notes that “Merlin was created by independent music companies to compete at the highest level and ensure they can access the best terms”...

“Bulletproof” ISPs in the spotlight as RIAA submits annual piracy gripes to US government’s ‘notorious markets’ report

The record industry has filed its annual submission with suggested inclusions for the US government’s ‘notorious markets’ report, which provides an opportunity for the record companies to set out their top piracy gripes of the moment.

The submission names various websites and online platforms which, it says, “harm US artists, songwriters, record labels and music publishing companies by disseminating music without authorisation” and “artificially distorting the market value of the music”.

Interestingly, unlike in last year’s submission, unlicensed generative AI platforms - despite being the subject of much debate and some lawsuits - aren’t included in the piracy gripe list, which is compiled by the Recording Industry Association Of America. The focus this time is on conventional piracy platforms like stream-ripping sites, BitTorrent indexing sites, unlicensed download and streaming platforms, and cyberlockers used for storing and accessing unlicensed music files.

One of those cyber lockers, Krakenfiles, acts as “a source of data comprising unauthorised music which is ingested to develop AI artist vocal models”, the submission claims. It also “hosts outputs comprising vocal clones which infringe the rights of member companies and/or their artists”. However, the labels also criticise Krakenfiles for facilitating the storage and sharing of unlicensed music more generally.

The notorious markets report is produced by the US Trade Representative and its purpose is to identify piracy enablers outside the US, in order to inform the American government’s trade talks. The three generative AI platforms currently being sued by the American music industry for copyright infringement. - Udio, Suno and Anthropic - are all US-based. But concerns have also been raised about AI platforms that are based elsewhere in the world...

Spotify should have put up prices long ago; TikTok not a promo platform; AI will be a great tool for making music; Sony will take “more organic” approach to working with artists beyond releases, says Rob Stringer

TikTok should be paying more for music, as should Spotify’s subscribers. The industry needs to keep the pressure on to make sure that happens, while also capitalising on the multitude of new opportunities for artists and their music, including in AI. Although with AI, there’s still a lot to be worked out.

These were the conclusions of Sony Music chief Rob Stringer during an interview at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference last week.

Asked outright if TikTok should be paying more for the music that features in videos on its platform, Stringer conceded that the industry possibly slipped up by allowing TikTok to get itself into a position where it could play the “promo value” card to force down what it pays into the music business.

“Did we allow them to become what they think they are, which is a promotional platform?” he mused, adding, “we possibly did”. But, he insisted, “they are not a promotional platform, they are a hugely profitable corporation. We allowed them to be MTV and we shouldn't have done that”.

“So now we’re backpedaling from there”, he said of the industry’s most recent efforts to maximise the value of its TikTok deals. Though it’s not just TikTok which is underpaying, he added, alluding to other digital service providers that should be paying more.

“The truth is, we should get paid more by several of our DSP partners”, he added. “And that's part of my job, to make sure that we’re paid and in turn the artists are paid”...

Releases & Tours: Week 41

Each week CMU rounds up standout releases and tour announcements from the last seven days. This week: Charli XCX, Pa Salieu, Madlib, Ab-Soul, Major Lazer, Vybz Cartel, Strandz, The Cure + more, while tour announcements include Rizzle Kicks, Coco & Clair Clair + more.

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Tours