In today’s CMU Daily: Universal Music board member Bill Ackman says he wants the major to move its stock market listing from Amsterdam to New York. Although prompted by unrest in Amsterdam last Thursday, he argues there are sound business reasons to move the listing. Universal says Ackman’s position has been noted

Also today: BookMyShow says all stakeholders in the Indian live sector should “come together” to tackle ticket touting. The Indian primary ticketing company was last week ordered by police to put more restrictions in place when selling tickets to indemand events following the recent Coldplay touting controversy

Plus: Diddy has been denied a gagging order that would have prohibited everyone who has accused him of assault of speaking to the media while he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking. He’s also having another go at getting bail while he awaits that trial, proposing extensive house arrest restrictions

Releases & tours: Each week CMU rounds up standout releases and tour announcements from the last seven days This week: Brian Jonestown Massacre, GRIFF, Ab-Soul, Celeste, Alice Phoebe Lou + more

Pershing Square’s Ackman wants Universal Music to ditch Dutch stock market

Last week hedge fund boss and Universal Music board member Bill Ackman said that he wanted the major to ditch its Euronext Amsterdam stock market listing and move its “domicile and listing” to the United States. His comments followed unrest in the Dutch capital on Thursday evening which included violent antisemitic attacks against Israeli football fans who were visiting the city.

Ackman, the boss of Pershing Square Capital, which holds a 10.25% stake in Universal, posted on X on Friday saying that “events in Amsterdam” had provided the “appropriate tipping point” for his decision, which also sees him asking the board of his own company - which is dual-listed in Amsterdam and London - to yank its Amsterdam listing in favour of a single listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Concentrating Pershing’s listing on one exchange in London while also “leaving a jurisdiction that fails to protect its tourists and minority populations”, Ackman wrote, is something that combines “both good business and moral principles”.

Universalhas now responded to those comments - saying it had “taken note” of Ackman's post on X before adding, “Neither UMG nor any of its other board members were involved in the formulation of the views in that post”.

Although seemingly prompted by last week’s antisemitic violence in Amsterdam, Ackman insisted there were other reasons to move Universal’s listing to the US. “UMG trades at a large discount to its intrinsic value with limited liquidity”, he said, “in significant part due to it not having its primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq and not being eligible for S&P 500 and other index inclusion. We are going to fix this. Now is a good and appropriate time to do so”...

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BookMyShow must do more to stop touting after Coldplay controversy, say Indian police

Indian ticketing company BookMyShow, which got caught up in the controversy around the touting, or scalping, of tickets to Coldplay concerts in the country, has said that “all stakeholders” should “come together” to tackle secondary ticketing. It made that statement after police in the Indian state of Maharashtra issued a notice mandating the ticketing firm to introduce stricter controls when selling tickets for in-demand shows.

“We strongly believe that it is critical for all stakeholders to come together and engage proactively in this matter, to find best methods to minimise these ticketing malpractices”, BookMyShow said. “We look forward to collaborating with the government to provide support and assistance in the reduction and prevention of illegal ticket sales for such marquee, high-demand live entertainment experiences”.

The CEO of BookMyShow, Ashish Hemjarani, was questioned by police in September in the wake of public outrage over the sale of tickets to Coldplay’s shows. Tickets quickly sold out on BookMyShow’s primary ticketing platform and then started appearing at hiked up prices on resale sites like Viagogo. There were allegations that BookMyShow had connections to the scalpers, but it strongly denied that claim and said it had reported the unofficial resellers to the police.

It has since assisted the police in their inquiries, the ticketing firm said last week. “We have provided all requisite information and details to law enforcement agencies in their investigations and will continue to proactively fight against scalping and black marketing of tickets – practices that are condemned and punishable by law in India”.

Diddy’s gagging order denied as judge says alleged victims must be free to speak

A motion filed by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs seeking a wide-ranging gagging order against everyone who has made allegations of sexual assault against him has been rejected by the New York court where he is fighting criminal charges. That ruling came as Combs embarked on yet another attempt at trying to get out of jail while he awaits trial, with a $50 million bail proposal that he says is “far more robust” than what was previously proposed.

The judge overseeing the gagging order request, Arun Subramanian, admits that the courts have an “affirmative constitutional duty” to ensure that Combs gets a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution. However, “this essential Sixth Amendment requirement must be balanced with the protections the First Amendment affords to those claiming to be Combs’ victims”.

Ever since Combs was charged with sex-trafficking and racketeering in September, his lawyers have repeatedly complained about allegedly prejudicial statements in the media, which are variously coming from those working on the criminal investigation, the numerous people who have filed civil lawsuits against Combs, and the lawyers working on those lawsuits.

The musician wanted a court order stopping those people from speaking in public or to the media on the basis that failing to do so would make it impossible for Combs to get a fair trial. A filing requesting that gagging order said that the court has an obligation to “avoid the creation of a ‘carnival atmosphere’ in high-profile cases”.

In his ruling on that motion, Subramanian notes how Combs wanted “an order prohibiting prospective witnesses and their attorneys from making extrajudicial statements that he argues will substantially interfere with his right to a fair trial”. Under Combs’ request, “prospective witnesses” would basically be defined as “all those who claim to be victims”.

⏩ Releases & Tours: Oct 2024 (Week 45)

Each week CMU rounds up standout releases and tour announcements from the last seven days This week: Brian Jonestown Massacre, GRIFF, Ab-Soul, Celeste, Alice Phoebe Lou + more

Tour announcements