| We've covered the music business each day since 21 Jun 2002 Today's email is edition #5357 |
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| | | In todayâs CMU Daily: Ultra Music Publishing has sued Sony Music over allegations of copyright infringement. Sony now owns the Ultra record label, but not the publishing company. It says Sony has infringed rights in compositions it controls by uploading, selling and synchronising them without the necessary licences
Also today: HYBE has denied any wrongdoing after it emerged South Koreaâs Financial Supervisory Service is investigating deals done between founder Bang Si-hyuk and investors before the K-pop companyâs IPO in 2020. The regulator is investigating whether those deals should have been declared ahead of the IPO
Plus: A new report from Youth Music makes four recommendations for how the music industry can collaborate with music education to better support its future workforce. It calls for more joined-up thinking, career skills in the curriculum, funding for non-formal pathways and safer working cultures
Approved: MOULD
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| | | Sony Music commits âblatant and massive piracyâ, says a former business partner | | Sony Music routinely presents itself as a âchampion of intellectual property rightsâ and a âcrusader against piracyâ, when in fact it is âwilfully committing blatant, ongoing and massive piracyâ of compositions controlled by a former business partner âon a global scale, without justification or remorseâ. Or so says that former business partner, Patrick Moxeyâs Ultra Music Publishing.
The bold claim is made in a new lawsuit filed by UMP against Sony. It claims that, because audits have demonstrated that Sony-owned labels have underpaid or failed to pay royalties due to the publisher and its songwriters in the past, UMP âno longer grants licencesâ to any Sony labels for the use of its compositions.
And yet, despite knowing it doesnât have those licences, Sony labels continue to exploit UMP works, the publisher claims, meaning the major is engaged in âwilful and utterly inexcusable copyright infringementâ.
Specifically, the lawsuit says, Sony labels âupload unlicensed sound recordings of Ultra compositions to digital service providers for on-demand streamingâ; they sell âinfringing recordings as digital downloads and in physical configurationsâ; and âwrongfully synchroniseâ the publisherâs compositions into âso-called music videos and lyric videosâ.
Moxey used to be in business with Sony, which bought into the Ultra record label in 2012. UMP was not part of that deal, though it did work with Sony Music Publishing for a time. In 2022, Sony bought the Ultra label outright and Moxey stepped down from his role running it. However, he continues to head up the publishing company, which then entered into a partnership with Warner Chappell.
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| | HYBE denies wrongdoing over pre-IPO deals that netted founder Bang Si-hyuk $285 million | | K-pop powerhouse HYBE is dealing with yet another controversy after it emerged that South Koreaâs Financial Supervisory Service is investigating recent reports about shareholder deals done prior to the companyâs 2020 initial public offering, and whether a failure to disclose those deals violated the countryâs Capital Markets Act. The deals involved HYBE founder and Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who personally benefited from them to the tune of $285 million.
HYBE has already denied any wrongdoing, insisting it provided a copy of âthe shareholder agreement in questionâ to its IPO underwriters as they were preparing for the listing on the South Korean stock market.
The underwriters âreviewed the relevant shareholder agreement in accordance with the listing-related lawsâ, it says, and decided that the information about the deals that was revealed in the press last week did not need to be disclosed. To that end, concludes HYBE, âwe have determined that our company did not violate any relevant laws during the listing processâ.
The reports about the pre-IPO deals involving Bang come as HYBE continues to deal with its very public feud with the co-founder of its Ador label, Min Hee-jin, which has now also become a very public feud with Ador-signed NewJeans. Plus in October it was revealed that HYBE was having to repay millions in debt after spooked investors in the companyâs bonds opted to redeem their investments, prompting a new round of bond issuing.
The pre-IPO deals now being reviewed by the regulator involved three private equity firms - STIC Investments, Estone Equity Partners and New Main Equity - which each bought a stake in HYBE, then still known as Big Hit, in 2018.
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| | | Youth Music calls on industry and education to collaborate to âclose the gap from learning to earningâ | | Music charity Youth Music has launched a new report on music careers, called âIndustry Connectâ, which sets out four recommendations for how the music industry can collaborate with music education to âbetter safeguard and support its future workforceâ and âensure the health of the creative industriesâ.
Based on research that involved 280 people from 200 organisations, and 50 young creatives from across the UK, the report calls for more joined-up thinking, more careers skills in the curriculum, more support for non-formal pathways, and more focus on establishing safer working cultures.
It also urges industry professionals, music educators and policy-makers to âpledge their supportâ and âmobilise as a joint forceâ to ârevolutionise young peopleâs access to musicâ and âclose the gap from learning to earningâ.
Adopting these recommendations, says Youth Music CEO Matt Griffiths, is âvital to establish an inclusive music industry fit for the futureâ. Industry, education and government, he adds, âmust commit to revolutionising the learning opportunities on offer, to ensure that young people have access to the necessary support to succeedâ.
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| | | đ§ Approved: MOULD | | Bristolâs MOULD â a power trio comprising Joe Sherrin (vocals, guitar), Kane Eagle (vocals, bass) and James Luxton (drums) â have a sound that masterfully shifts between reckless urgency and unpredictable tension.
Their latest single, âCHUNKSâ, kicks off with a spidery, math-rock riff, before morphing into a post-punk barrage. As the band chants âwatch it live, watch the reruns, weâll watch anythingâ, the track erupts. Itâs chaotic, but controlled â a frenetic exploration of disillusionment, packed into a tight, adrenaline-fueled anthem.
On the trackâs inspiration, Sherrin explains: âItâs about having a privileged perspective and still being unimpressed by whatâs right in front of you. I wrote it during a long stretch of highway where the scenery didnât change for hoursâ.
âThe first verse reflects thatâ, he goes on, âI think we were somewhere between Idaho and Salt Lake City. We couldnât decide on a title, so we called it âCHUNKSâ â it was just a placeholder, but it fit, especially with the big chunky endingâ.
With âCHUNKSâ, MOULD have delivered a track that demands attention â a band to keep on your radar.
đ§ Watch the video for âCHUNKSâ here
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