MusicTank Newsletter - Dec 09

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.

Kicking things off, MySpace Music finally struck an accord with Merlin, opening the door for independent music to participate in the service at competitive rates and ensuring that the site’s UK launch wasn't marred by the kind of pr scrapes that dogged its US and Australian launches.

With the key independents finally on board it's to be hoped this will help reposition and breathe some life back into a service whose performance over the past twelve months has been described as disappointing. Having effectively ceded the social networking crown to Facebook, MySpace's future now seems bound to the one thing that it has proven good at, providing a quick and easy online presence for bands and somewhere for the public to listen to and now buy new music from.

Flush from this landmark deal, MySpace reached down the back of the sofa to scrape together some loose change and buy out rival service imeem. Acquiring imeem's technology such as its mobile streaming application is a vital step in beefing up their music service and as The Telegraph says fill in 'some missing pieces in the MySpace Music jigsaw'.

It would seem that MySpace aren't the only ones who have taken a look at Spotify's success, stuck their thumb in the air and decided that the future for music services involves streaming. This month also saw the current undisputed heavyweight champion of digital music sales, Apple, break out the bank to acquire cloud based music service Lala, hailed as the perfect match for Apple's ubiquitous iPhone.

Whilst this renewed focus on streaming represents just the latest attempt to increase the digital market for music, there's a growing swell of opinion that the problem lies not with the business models but the actual product itself. Over twenty years old, the MP3 is far from being the shiny new format of the future that slow-movers would have us believe.

Forrester's Mark Mulligan writing in Billboard this week demands a radical overhaul of the humble music file, imploring the music business to actually take heed of what its customers want and provide a product that is interactive, dynamically updated and packed with additional content. Mulligan's sentiments were echoed almost word for word in a Music Ally opinion piece by BACH Technology's Stefan Kohlmeyer whose company are launching just such a product at Midem in January.

It remains to be seen whether Mulligan, Kohlmeyer, iTunes LP or Universal's CMX project are barking up the right tree, but as business model after business model crashes on the rocky shores of reality, perhaps it is time to dispense with the humble MP3 once and for all. After all when you can have a 42" HD flat screen TV you'd be unlikely to settle for an old black and white box set.

Editorial by John Power

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OUT & ABOUT: MusicTank events

MUSICTANK LOUNGE: Sponsorship; New to site; Licensing Act...

VIEWPOINT: Bah Humbug...Combustible Brownies And The MU

MERRY-GO-ROUND: Industry announcements

WISE MONKEY: Tunechecker.com

Please remember all MusicTank events MUST be booked and paid for in advance!  Become a member of MusicTank for just £30 per year and enjoy privileged discounts on all MusicTank events...

19 JAN 2010 - JAZZ ON THE BEEB: A LOVE SUPREME OR KIND OF BLUE?

http://www.musictank.co.uk/events/jazz-and-the-beeb-a-love-supreme-of-kind-of-blue

At the heart of this event - a think tank addressing the future of UK Jazz - is the keenly-awaited launch of leading jazz-support network Jazz Services’ report: "The BBC - Public Sector Radio, Jazz, Policy and Structure in The Digital Age". 

This paper examines the needs of jazz with its emphasis on live performance which has a commensurate impact on public sector broadcasting policy and structure in the digital age for jazz and other niche genre, including classical and opera.  It also suggests a solution that maximises DAB’s potential to deliver targeted, niche digital radio programming to what is claimed to be a hungry yet largely under-served audience and as such, attunes well to the Government’s recent Digital Britain report.

The event will begin with an update on the economic impact of Jazz in the UK, courtesy of an imminent follow-up report to “The Economic Value of Jazz” (2004/5), which serves to set the scene behind the continually evolving UK jazz economy.  “The Economic Value of Jazz – pt II” (2008) takes into account record sales, funding and other economic indicators, revealing the true picture of the changing face of jazz in Britain.

Central to the debate is the role of the BBC and adherence to its Charter that includes a commitment to “stimulating creativity and cultural excellence” and “representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities”.  Given the BBC’s historical commitment to UK Jazz that hitherto underpinned the ecology of the sector, in the eyes of many in the British Jazz economy, the BBC is no longer supporting jazz to the extent that it could, and many feel, should.

DIARY: Date & Time: 19 Jan '10 | 18.30 - 21.30hrs | | Venue: central London - tbc | Cost: £25 MusicTank Members | £30 Trade Body | £35 Full Price (Tickets incl. free post-event transcript and drink on arrival)

SPEAKERS: Keynote: Professor Stuart Nicholson (Author, Lecturer & Journalist) |Panellists: Mykaell Riley (University of Westminster), Chris Hodgkins (Jazz Services);  others tbc.

Full details & booking: http://www.musictank.co.uk/events/jazz-and-the-beeb-a-love-supreme-of-kind-of-blue

Please remember all MusicTank events MUST be booked and paid for in advance - strictly no walk-up on the day!

Become a member of MusicTank for just £30 per year and enjoy privileged discounts on all MusicTank events... http://www.musictank.co.uk/about/membership-benefits

NEW TO SITE:

Event Archive...

MusicTank event podcasts and transcripts can be found in both the Podcast section on this site, and on events pages themselves.  MusicTank event podcasts and transcripts can be found in both the Podcast section on this site, and at the bottom of the events pages themselves.  This premium content is only available to MusicTank Members who pay a small annual fee - £30 -  to subscribe.  Membership confers other benefits, too.  To join or to read more about our Membership offer:

http://www.musictank.co.uk/about/membership-benefits

Live Music: Licensed To Thrill? - 13th October: Part 2 NOISE ABATEMENT

http://www.musictank.co.uk/events/live-music-licensed-to-thrill

The second part of this double-header think tank is now available. 

KENT DAVIS:  "We received notification of a statutory noise nuisance which ultimately is what they call a ‘rapid response call-out’.  Here they [the council] can call up at virtually any time of the night and go to the resident’s flat using nothing other than human ear and their own personal, subjective opinion, to determine whether a noise nuisance is occurring."

"The whole thing has been a pyrrhic victory…for who I don’t know – the owner moved out and didn’t want to;  we’ve been lumbered with the cost of £30,000 to put a roof on our venue; the council have taken a real bashing and bruising to their own image…and I don’t know the situation looks to improve.  What you appear to have is planning not actually planning anything at all with other regulatory services, as one might expect."

MARK DU VAL: "Councils are not against live music"

LISA LAVIA: "One person’s pleasure is another persons pain when it comes to music or sound in any respect"

JOHN KING: "Do we think that it is right for one person to move next door to a venue and expect silence from that venue?"

DOMINIQUE CZOPOR: "I think the problem is that communication is not passed down on how to interpret the Licensing Act or indeed on how to work with local businesses owners, because they didn’t know how to work with me...councils don’t understand music venues and owners."

Reports...

How To Dance To ARPU When Licensees Call The Tune

This PRS for Music insight paper presents a case study on Spotify and then explores the concept of Average Revenue Per User, to inform both rights holders and users about what the acronym implies, and how it might mislead those in the digital music supply chain.

http://www.musictank.co.uk/reports/how-to-dance-to-arpu-when-licensees-call-the-tune

The Digital Guide For Independents

Digital is a booming part of label business and is changing both how people consume music and how record labels make money from it.  This BPI guide outlines how labels can begin to offer music digitally.

http://www.musictank.co.uk/reports/bpi-digital-distribution-guide-for-independents

SPONSORSHIP:

MusicTank has had to take a long hard look at ways of becoming self-sustaining and after careful consideration has decided to open itself up to commercial opportunities that include sponsorship.

"What of your much-lauded independence?" you might cry...Well, our neutrality isn't up for sale and we are committed to maintaining it, central as it is to our reputation and continued success. Opening ourselves up to additional revenue streams will allow us to continue to do what we do best - engage with and inform industry in these rapidly changing and challenging times.  To be clear - sponsorship will not be allowed to influence our editorial or direction, nor will it influence panellist selection or content.

Commercial partners are sought for our think tank events with a range of packages available, to suit all budgets - we're also inviting sponsorship enquries for our newsletter, too.

If you or your company are interested in helping sustain the network in this way we'd be pleased to hear from you, in which case, please contact:

mailto:jenny.tyler@musictank.co.uk

MUSICTANK IN THE NEWS:

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. [20.11.09]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8371635.stm

TOPIC UPDATE:

Licensing Act

On 8th December the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced a new public consultation on measures to cut licensing red tape: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/consultations/6498.aspx

The consultation includes proposals to allow last minute applications for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN), three working days before the actual event - a big improvement on the exisiting current limit of 10 working days.  See trade press coverage (The Publican):
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=65965&c=1

Meanwhile, the live sector still awaits the promised consultation on new exemption for live music in small venues announced by licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe in Parliament on 22nd October:
http://news.parliament.uk/2009/10/westminster-hall-debate-on-the-licensing-act/ [follow links to Hansard debate transcript]

In press interviews, Gerry Sutcliffe repeatedly claimed that the government wanted to act "very quickly" on the small venue exemption, indicating on Tuesday 10th November that this would be "done before the election" - [BBC Daily Politics, 10/11/09, key quotes from about 3'45" minutes onwards]:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8352682.stm

Sources close to the minister suggest that resistance to speedy implementation is coming not only from local authorities and police, but also from senior licensing civil servants, despite the fact that the DCMS licensing team and ministers have been making public announcements about the intention to hold a small venue exemption consultation since 2007.

In his BBC Daily Politics interview of 10th November, Sutcliffe also said that his department had written to opposition parties about his small venues exemption proposal however it would seem these letters have yet to be received.

MUSICTANK POSTS & TWITTERS

MusicTank has a facebook Group and a Twitter feed.  Visit us at:

   http://is.gd/mwBa/musictank/facebookgroup

   http://twitter.com/MusicTank

It’s that time of year when live music campaigners turn their thoughts to the licensing of carol singing. 

The festive season invariably throws up tales of local authorities ruining Christmas for small children and/or old people.   2008 yielded Carolling Brownies banned in Hemel Hempstead due to fire regulations, and in 2006 Caradon District Council received much ridicule for ruling that a brass band could perform Silent Night without a licence, but would need a licence to play White Christmas.  Of course, these absurdities are only a symptom of the wider confusion created by the Licensing Act. 

The Act was always intended to bring carol singing into the licensing regime, although the Government has never attempted to explain why.  During the passage of the Act in 2002, Labour spokesman Lord McIntosh said:  "People singing carols in a supermarket or a railway station and so on would need to be covered by a premises licence or a temporary event notice".  Licensing Minister Kim Howells attempted to clarify some exemptions in 2003; "Carol singers, going from door to door, or turning up unannounced in a pub and singing, will NOT be licensable".

Recent LGA/LACORS guidelines intended to clear up the ambiguity within the Act’s incidental music exemption, advise that "a group of carol singers/players outside a shop" would not be licensable – although if a "shopping centre or individual business has organised a carol performance for an audience in a shopping mall" this would require a licence.  Which is clearer but still ridiculous. 

In St Albans where LGA Culture Spokesman and supporter of live music restrictions, Chris White is a member of both the Licensing & Regulatory, and Licensing Sub-Committees, there are further restrictions applicable to a caroller.  Should a spontaneous carol singer stray onto St Peter Street in the town centre, they could contravene the street’s premises licence conditions such as the requirement for "prior consultation and permission from the Licensing Section", "choral singing to be located and controlled so as to cause no statutory nuisance", and even a little censorship "all entertainment provided will be suitable for a family audience".

How has the Licensing Act affected professional carolling?  Yes, there is such a thing and quite a lot of it - and all licensable now.  One agency in Hertfordshire, Hartley Voices provides work for classical singers, and may have as many as 150 MU or Equity members employed during the carolling season.

So where does the MU stand on carol singing?  MU General Secretary John Smith outlined their general position on licensing in 2007: "The Musicians’ Union has worked hard to secure the best possible position for our members during the run up to, and following the implementation of, the Licensing Act".

Correspondence between the Better Regulation Commission and the MU, now available from the cabinet office offers a rare insight into the work the union has been doing behind the scenes:

Email from BRC to the MU 02/06/06:  "I have an additional question regarding the Licensing Act which I hope you may be able to answer…One article that caught my eye over Christmas was that carol singers needed to apply for a Temporary Event Notice before performing.  Do you have any idea whether there is some truth in this, and would there have been similar requirements under the previous regime?"

Email from MU to BRC 03/06/06:  "Sorry, I can’t help with this one.  We are only interested in the effect the Act has on professional musicians.  Carol Singers, Morris Dancers etc do not concern us."

John King - Musician and Independent Campaigner.

Sources:

Brownies: http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2008/11/brownies-are-fire-hazard-official.html

Caradon: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=413100&in_page_id=1770

McIntosh: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/2002/dec/12/licensing-bill-hl-1

Howells: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/2621.aspx

LACORS: http://www.lacors.gov.uk/lacors/upload/23037.pdf

Chris White: http://chriswhite.mycouncillor.org.uk/archive/2009/07/02

MU: http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/site/cms/v4_newsArticleView.asp?article=716

Cabinet papers: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/corp/assets/foi/musicians.pdf

St Albans Licensing Register (if the link works): http://licensing.stalbans.gov.uk/MVM/Online/EGov/License_Registers/StdDetails.aspx?PT=&TYPE=LicenceRegistersFullDetailsPK&PARAM0='LN/200900204'&PARAM1=0&XSLT=/mvm/SiteFiles/Skins/M3PP_Licensing_embed/xslt/Licensing/LicenceRegistersDetails.xsl&FT=Licence Details&LAYOUT=UE&DAURI=Egov

BandCentral has the potential to be one of those web tools that once used, just might have you wondering how you managed without it.  Essentially a band or individual musician's/artist's/band leader's project management tool, it's a new concept, built in response to a changing music industry in which bands are increasingly compelled to do much of the groundwork themselves.

The site's founder Wil Padley is a gigging musician in the London-based indie rock band The Domino State who put this together out of a desire to simplify his life and order his band's activities, making the most of the digital tools at his disposal.

In essence, BandCentral gives you your very own online 'Band HUB', which enables you to manage everything associated with a working band (gigs, promotion, files, shared calendar and finances), all in one instantly accessible place.

Although Google docs offers some of this functionality and at no cost, BandCentral's appeal includes its seamless social media and SMS integration, the ability to monitor and control finance, artwork, set lists, fan mailouts and the like, and an end to lengthy email threads making light work of communication, not just between band members, but promoters, venues and managers.

I guess just one question remains...where to put that rider?

Currently in Beta testing, this paid-for service (a fiver a month;there's also a free 'lite' verison too) offers a free 30-day trial which you can access here...

http://www.bandcentral.com/

Note: MusicTank has no connection with this service.

From the same stable that brought us moneysavingexpert.com, Martin Lewis' team have this month unleashed a valuable price comparison tool, Tunechecker.com, a site designed to help you find the cheapest legal single and album mp3 downloads. 

The site currently references nine of the major download retailers which between them account for some nine million tracks and works using a combination of technologies, first by repeatedly building a database of prices by scanning various retailers for popular tracks and instantly scanning for more obscure ones.  The site is completely free and generates its revenue using affiliate links to the download providers without impacting rankings.

More... http://www.tunechecker.com

If you have any queries regarding any of our events or activities, please call Jonathan on 020 7915 5412, or e-mail: info@musictank.co.uk

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily condoned or shared by MusicTank. MusicTank is a non-profit organisation owned and operated by University of Westminster. University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Reg Number: 977818, England. Registered Office: 309 Regent Street, London, W1. MusicTank is based at University of Westminster, Fifth Floor, Copland Building, 115 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6UW.