A BLOG OF SORTS FROM CHRIS COOKE
Here is some stuff I did in December 2019…
20 from the 21st
As 2020 begins we probably should have made a series of Setlist specials all about the 20 biggest music business news stories so far this century. But we didn’t need to, because we’d already done that for CMU’s 20th birthday. We’re so ahead of our time! If you haven’t already, you can listen to them all here.
In the pop courts
The music industry may be on its Christmas break but there’s still been some interesting developments in the pop courts this week. Two involving Kanye, naturally. Plus another ruling against useless collecting society SGAE and an appeals court judgement in the Martin Garrix v Spinnin Records case. There are updates on all of them over on the CMU website: completemusicupdate.com.
Happy Christmas!
I have rung some bells, so it’s officially Christmas. My favourite bell (number three, in case you wondered) has got all temperamental since last year. It must have had a traumatic 2019. But I managed to bring it under control (eventually – two blisters later). Happy Christmas every one!
THRILLED in 2019
Andy only ever did an official ‘THRILLED Review’ one time back in 2015. It was an awful lot of work for one pretty weak gag. But people still mention it, so maybe it was worth it. Rest assured – while there’s no official review this year, CMU was THRILLED to report on so many music industry people being THRILLED in 2019. Meanwhile, here’s how it was in 2015.
Cheshire bound
I’m Cheshire bound once again for festive family fun-times. Oh, and I’m going to finish the Third Edition of ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’, that too. First time with Avanti West Coast. You can’t pick your seat on their website so I’m not in my favourite spot. Not a good start Avanti West Coast!
Song royalties again
Forget Spotify for a minute, there’s been lots of chatter of late about how songwriters get paid when their music is used in TV programmes and other audio-visual stuff. Because things are in flux in that domain too. Needless to say, it’s a little bit complicated. I tried to explain what’s going on in yesterday’s CMU Daily – it turned into a mini-essay.
Postal (non) vote
Here’s the postal vote Waltham Forest forgot to send me. This “replacement” voting card was waiting for me on my return from Thailand. Can we maybe re-run the whole election so I get to vote this time? On second thoughts, Boris Johnson would probably just win yet more seats, wouldn’t he? I’ll have to make do with voting for the 2020 BRIT Awards instead. At least they have a funky app through which I can cast my votes.
Wonderful Wonderfruit
So I had a wonderful night at Wonderfruit, a festival where the rather marvellous stage designs, lighting design and quirky constructions co-star with the artists and DJs. And to top it off, the Asian version of Uber has its own tent by the gate so that there’s a taxi to take you home within 20 seconds! Election? What election?!
Still in Pattaya!
So I met some elephants and a very sleepy tiger. Though, on balance, I think the dinosaurs have the better life. Meanwhile, I’ve moved hotels here in Pattaya to a place that boasts ELEVEN restaurants. One of those has to have a Chris-friendly menu right? I am about to go and find out. Happy Election Day everybody!
I’m in Pattaya!
I am on my final jaunt of the year in Pattaya in Thailand. It’s very sunny here. Today I was talking about streaming, tomorrow we visit the elephants, then on Friday I’ll be checking out the Wonderfruit festival. This is the view from my hotel’s pool-tastic rooftop.
Setlist stats
I wonder if the most listened to edition of Setlist on Deezer was all about Spotify? #01 here is the edition where we explained how user-centric royalty distribution works – you know, the thing Deezer promotes and Spotify opposes. Still, it could have been the Setlist all about Spotify controversially appealing the US song royalty rate increase!
I’m in an actual bank!
It’s years since I’ve been in an actual high street bank (my online banking PIN thing broke), so it’s the first time I’ve seen how HSBC is now forced to display a poster in its branches explaining how rubbish it is. Actually, as banks go, I’ve had very few problems with HSBC. Apart from today’s massive queue. And queues aren’t even on the poster!
Genius tactics
While the legalities of this case are complicated (and not really copyright related), I do like the sneaky tactics Genius employed to confirm that Google was (indirectly) nabbing some lyrics from its database. It’s all in the apostrophes and spaces! Read our report here.
Digital Music Days
Had a great couple of days in Lisbon at Digital Music Days meeting the Portuguese independent music sector. On stage I got to talk ‘Distribution Revolution’ and streaming playlists, and then interview outgoing Merlin boss Charles Caldas. Thanks to AMAEI for inviting me!
