Welcome to MusicTank
Welcome to MusicTank, a business development network for the UK music industry, owned and operated by the University of Westminster - it's purpose; to engage with industry, innovation and change across the music business.
News
Jan 04, 2010
As In UK, French Three Strikes May Be Delayed To After Elections
Looks like another stay of execution for illegal file sharers in France. The “three-strikes” anti-piracy law approved by the French senate last October, and due to to come into effect this month, is being put on pause by the government’s main agency overseeing the use of personal data and online privacy, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL). Now some believe the laws are unlikely to be put into action until April. This means that further action on Hadopi may be postponed until after the next lot of regional elections in France. This mirrors U.K.‘s own three-strikes Digital Economy Bill, which enters the Committee stage in the House of Lords on 6 January, and is unlikely to be passed through parliament before the next general election.
Jan 04, 2010
HMV Closer To Buying Mama After Rival Suitor Abandons Bid
HMV moved a step closer to getting its hands on the Mama group of live venues after a rival bidder left the way clear for the retailer's takeover offer. SMS Finance, the largest shareholder in Mama with a 29.8% stake, had improved an initial offer to £38.4m last month but the offer lapsed without getting support. f successful, the proposed buyout of Mama, already HMV's joint-venture partner on a number of venues, will give the books-to-music retailer a bigger slice of the thriving live events market and build on its strategy to capture more of consumers' entertainment budgets.
Jan 03, 2010
A Bum Note For Spotify
Spotify seems too good to be true. Free music on tap, a colossal 6m-song catalogue spanning every genre, delivered to your lucky ears courtesy of meticulous, glitch-free streaming. Critics cite artist exploitation and the costs of servicing one billion+ streams a day as reason enough for it to fail in its mission to become a sustainable, profitable business.
Newsletters
Jan 13, 2010
SURVIVOR? I WOULDN'T COUNT ON THAT
As we finally manage to emerge from the recent deluge of 'Album of the Year' polls, you could be forgiven for believing that the format is in vaguely rude health. The truth though is that the albums market, in long decline anyway, is starting to look terminal...
Dec 15, 2009
RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN
It's been another busy month in the digital music world as a whole parade of deals, acquisitions and mergers has seen the big tech and music players once again reshuffle the cards in the hope of finding a winning hand.
Hot Topic
20.11.09 - MusicTank Chairman Keith Harris interviewed for BBC E24, commenting on the influence of the 'grey pound' on the predominance of heritage artists currently riding high in the UK album charts.
http://is.gd/5ongK
MusicTank Events
UPCOMING: Mar 10, 2010
Charts and The Release Process
PLEASE NOTE CONFIRMED NEW DATE: This event will consider the pressures on the release process, in an age where a track is generally 'available' as soon as the first promos have been sent out. MusicTank will ask how labels should market and promote their releases in a post-digital age and whether it is possible or even desirable for the media and music businesses to wean each other off their addiction to release dates.
Jan 19, 2010
Jazz And The Beeb: A Love Supreme Or Kind Of Blue?
EVENT IS NOW FULL - BOOKINGS ARE CLOSED. BBC R3 Controller ROGER WRIGHT & LEWIS CARNIE, Head of Programmes, BBC R2 and 6 Music confirmed. Central to this think tank is the BBC's role in supporting and developing jazz and other niche genre. Should the BBC adopt both a policy and a strategy for the support of its national jazz scene? With current interest in jazz experiencing a current high, are its pleas for more support from the ‘the nations favourite’ justified? All event bookers will be entered into a free prize-draw to receive one of three Roberts DAB radios!!
Oct 13, 2009
Live Music: Licensed To Thrill?
EVENT NOW FULL / LORD CLEMENT JONES, LIB DEM DCMS SPOKESMAN CONFIRMED. Prepare for a clash of opinions, with individual livelihoods and the future of the industry at stake. One of Risk Assessment Form 696's most strident critics, UK Music CEO Feargal Sharkey is confirmed to keynote this debate and is sure to question one of its key architects, Met Police Chief Inspector Adrian Studd who will also be speaking. Kent Davis of the Rainbow Pub, Digbeth - a venue affected by a noise abatement order - will likely quiz LACORS Director of Policy, Mark Du Val on the implementation of the Act. Licensing Consultant Philip Doyle, Home Office and DCMS Select Committee Advisor on the Licensing Act 2003 and Noise Abatement Society MD, Lisa Lavia are among others confirmed.
