SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2005

© Copyright 2005 by SLI - SongLink International
Editor & Publisher: David Stark
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The EC has unveiled details of its cross-border online licensing recommendation to collection societies across Europe. It has proposed a new approach, allowing rightsholders the choice to authorise a single collection society to represent its online interests across the entire EU. MCPS-PRS Alliance Group CEO Adam Singer said, "This is the starting shot for an online land rush across Europe. The MCPS-PRS Alliance, with our strong repertoire, is in a great place to take advantage of this opportunity to create better services and better rates for our members."

Music Publishers Association chief executive Sarah Faulder has left to become Senior Consultant at CISAC and BIEM in Paris, and successor to Jeremy Fabinyi. She had been at the Music Publishers Association in London since 1997 and was previously a solicitor for 16 years with Taylor Joynson Garrett where she specialised in copyright. Her successor at the MPA is expected to announced imminently.

Former Sony/ATV Music MD Charlie Pinder has been appointed head of A&R at V2 Records, replacing Malcolm Dunbar who has left.

Ian Mack has taken over as MD of Rive Droite Music in London, replacing Sir Harry Cowell. A songwriter and producer, Mack previously ran his own IMP company as well as being in partnership with Barry Mason at Xenex Music. Also newly installed at the London office are A&R executive Claudia Holzer, and assistant Estelle Souvent.

EMI chairman Eric Nicoli and Starbucks Entertainment president Ken Lombard will be among the keynote speakers at next year's MidemNet forum in Cannes, from January 21-22st. Former Sony Europe MD Paul Burger, now chairman of UK-based digital rights specialists BluePrint, will also contribute to one of these sessions.

The much-anticipated Kate Bush comeback single, King Of The Mountain, debuted at number six in the download charts, ahead of her new double album Arial, to be released by EMI on November 7th.

The late John Peel's record label, Dandelion Records, and Universal Music have launched www.johnpeelmusic.com, a website devoted to new music coinciding with the first anniversary of the broadcaster's death. The site will be overseen by his son, Tom Ravenscroft, along with Peel's former business partner, Dandelion director and Strange Fruit owner Clive Selwood. The site is hosted by Universal's digital services division, headed by new media director Rob Wells.

According to BPI figures, UK sales of individual artist albums rose 8.9% to 24.2 million units, compared with third-quarter 2004, led by James Blunt's Back to Bedlam (Atlantic Records), which has been certified six-times platinum (1.8 million units) by the BPI.

Italian label associations FIMI and AFI have signed an agreement to form a new organization, Federazione Sistema Musica Italia (FSMI). FIMI president Enzo Mazza says the bodies will work toward a complete merger in 2006. FIMI formed in 1992 when the major labels left AFI. FIMI became the premier association in 1998, when a large number of independent labels switched over from AFI.

Sanctuary Music Group is to lay off approximately a quarter of its global workforce, with most of the 175 staff affected in North America. All cuts will be effective by the end of the year, with many staff leaving before the end of the month. The company's board stresses that Sanctuary will not stop doing business in North America and will continue to maintain offices in the territory.

Producer Steve Lillywhite has joined Columbia Records in NY as Senior VP A&R, reporting to chairman Will Botwin. He was joint MD of Mercury Records in London until early 2004.

Jeff Fenster joins Jive Records in NY, from Arista... Heather Peggs has joined Capitol Records in LA as A&R Manager.

Tom Petty is to to receive the Billboard Century Award during the Billboard Music Awards on December 6th at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Petty presented the inaugural award to George Harrison in 1992. The awards will be telecast live on Fox TV.

Cream (Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton) will play Madison Square Garden from October 24-26th. These will be their only North American dates and quite possibly the finale of their short-lived reunion that began in May with four sell-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall, which has just been released as a double DVD by Warners.

BMI has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, Landmark Digital Services, to deploy and exploit the technology it has acquired from UK company Shazam. The digital audio recognition technology, to be named BlueArrow, will greatly expand its ability to measure the performance of music on radio, TV and the Internet. The system uses pattern recognition to identify performances from any source containing audio. It achieves extraordinary accuracy, even in high-noise environments, after detecting audio for as little as one to two seconds. "Pattern recognition technology is the single most promising way to identify music performed on today's media and further into the digital future," said Del Bryant, BMI's President and CEO. "BlueArrow will give us a powerful new tool for the identification of music played on radio, TV and digital media."

British Music Week is aimed at artists, digital companies, music media, trade organisations, labels, publishers and is the first of its kind to take place within the UK. It will offer access to information, advice from key industry figures, opportunities for companies to promote & network, aswell as giving a platform for unsigned artists to perform at key live music venues across London. British Music Week utilizes London's most popular music halls and clubs to display some of the hottest talent in the UK. Venues such as Wembley Conference & Exhibition Centre (Host Venue), The Metro Club, Mean Fiddler, Hammersmith Palais, Hackney Empire, and ACM throw open their doors to the industry & fans for 3 full days of star entertainment and business networking.
The 2005 British Music Week is set to attract more that 100,000 people to the festival and events, reaching more than 10 million through advertising and publicity. This event aims to champion British music bringing the component parts of industry together through a series of seminars, workshops and showcase events that will take place on 11th & 12th November at Wembley Conference & Exhibitions Centre.
An Executive Conference Delegate Pass is priced at £345.00, which includes access to all BMW seminars,conferences, Business 2 Business networking parties, awards ceremonies and live showcases The Conference Delegate Pass: includes access to the Conferences, seminars, workshops, and live showcases. Price: £215.00. A Student Pass (ID Proof required): includes access to all seminars, conferences, workshops and all live showcases. Price: £75.00. BMW is sponsored by RedeemitÆ technology which uses unique matrix codes which are sent to mobile phones via SMS. On arrival at the venues, attendees will simply scan their phone over a RedeemitÆ unit in order to secure entry.
To purchase tickets send payment by cheque (payable to Invincible) to British Music Week, Unit 107, 203 Mare Street, London E8 3QE. Web: www.britishmusicweek.com, E-Mail: kizzy@britishmusicweek.com