So, here we go, the final Week In Five of 2011, because this time next week we’ll have eaten far too many mince pies to be writing a CMU Daily. Talking of food, somehow today I’ve got to fit a Music Publishers Association Christmas lunch in around four publication deadlines, which should make for an interesting few hours. Do you think Team MPA will mind if I’m editing a podcast while eating all their food? Hmm, oh well, better get on with this then…

01: MegaUpload sued Universal. The file-sharing platform said the major had misused US copyright law to force a promotional video Team Mega had made off YouTube, because it was pissed off various artists signed to its labels could be seen bigging up the file transfer service at the same time the big music majors were accusing the Mega company of fuelling piracy. Universal said it was acting for artists featured in the video without their permission, but MegaUpload said it had signed agreements from all participating talent. The major then said it couldn’t be sued over the takedown notice it had issued over the video, because it had issued the notice according to a contractual agreement with YouTube, and not using the statutory system set out in the DMCA. CMU reports | Wired report

02: Madonna signed to Universal. The label will release the first album coming out via the singer’s partnership with Live Nation. The live music conglom has a multi-layered partnership with Madonna from a multi-million dollar 2007 deal, but Live Nation’s initial plans to have a division to handle things like record releases have long been dropped, so it’s been assumed for a while that the company would look to work in partnership with an existing record company on such things. It’s another big name signing for Universal, Madonna having previously worked with Warner on record releases. CMU report | BBC report

03: iTunes Match went live in the UK. The scan-and-match bit of Apple’s digital locker service, which distinguishes it from its Google and Amazon-owned rivals, had only been previously available in the US. There was some confusion as to whether the arrival of the functionality in the UK and elsewhere yesterday was a mistake, but seemingly not. It means that for 22 quid a year, users can access their MP3 collections via Apple’s servers from any net-connected device without actually having to upload any content. Elsewhere in digital news, iTunes launched in Latin America, Spotify revamped its personalised radio service, and Omnifone launched something new called Rara.com. CMU report | ZDnet report

04: The government announced a review of copyright laws. The wide-ranging review will look into the practicalities of putting recommendations made by the Hargreaves Review of intellectual property law into action. Much of it will focus on expanding fair use principles under UK copyright law. It will also consider introducing a private copy right in the UK. The record labels are OK with that, but want some sort of levy attached to digital music devices as in some other European countries where a private copy right already exists. Hargreaves proposed a private copy right with no such levy. CMU report | FT report

05: Warner complained about Sony dominance on the ‘X-Factor’ final shows. Four of the guest artists on the final two ‘X’ programmes were Sony-signed. Sony Music, of course, is co-producer of ‘X’ via its Syco division. Warner complained to OfCom, saying that ITV had failed to ensure Sony didn’t abuse its position as producer of the UK’s biggest music show. But Sony says that overall this series Universal has had more artists feature on ‘X’, that both EMI and Warner had three artists each, and of four Sony acts on the final shows, three were former ‘X’ contestants, making their appearances editorially justified. CMU report | Guardian report

And that is your lot. But do look out for the final CMU Weekly podcast of the year going online this weekend.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

We use a company called Constant Contact to manage the CMU bulletin mailings, and recently it revamped its platform so that every time I login it tells me how awesome I am. It’s cheesy and very American (the company’s based in Massachusetts) yet every time I see it I can’t stop my deluded inner self from smiling and saying “yes, you’re right, I am awesome”. This despite the fact I know this compliment automatically appears for every single Constant Contact customer when they log in, and that last month the login message screen was used to share trivia facts about pumpkins.

But I guess we all like being complimented from time to time, so before we get into the messy business of reviewing the week in music, can I just say how awesome you all are? Actually, research has shown* that CMU Daily readers are particularly awesome people. The same research also showed that the rest of the music business is split into two groups – the uninformed-but-awesome and the non-awesome. The latter group we’re not interested in, but the former bunch should join our party, so why not help them out by sending them to our sign-up page – www.theCMUwebsite.com/subscribe – which we’ve just revamped, so they can become CMU subscribers?

Look at that, I’ve turned a cheesy fake compliment into a plug. Very American indeed**. And now, let’s talk about some American bankers, American geeks and American lawyers.

01: EMI was sold. Those Wall Street dudes at the Citibank handed over the EMI record companies to Universal and the EMI publishing catalogues to a Sony-led consortium, making the two biggest music companies in the world even bigger. The indie label community will fight the takeovers in Brussels, IMPALA saying it expects the deals to be “blocked outright” by European competition regulators, while Martin Mills of the Beggars Group – one of a number of UK indie sector leaders who spoke to Music Week about the EMI sale – said the Universal deal in particular “looks like breathtaking corporate arrogance”. Meanwhile, if the deal does go through, The Guardian’s Helienne Lindvall, having been signed to BMG Publishing when it was swallowed up by Universal in 2007, reckons the takeover will be good news for the big artists, but terrible news for the smaller acts. Music Week speaks to indie leaders | Helienne Lindvall predicts the outcomes | CMU asks questions

02: Google Music launched in the US. After months, no years, of speculation, the geeks at Google (their words) finally got around to launching a proper music service, with downloads, recommendations, exclusive content, social networking gubbins and mobile integration. The Google Music service expands on the digital locker set-up that has been in beta for several months now, and also links in to the Google+ social network and Google’s Android platform. All but Warner Music are on board content wise. There’s nothing all that new about any of the services Google will offer, though the Artist Hub that allows self-releasing artists to join the party, and the social networking and mobile integration, are all interesting. CMU report | Techcrunch report

03: Other digital launches happened. Though the big Google announcement dominated the digital headlines, Apple also launched its scan and match service this week, again in the US only. It means users of the iTunes digital locker can transfer their music collection to the Apple servers without actually having to actually transfer anything. In the UK, Blackberry put its music service live. It’s all linked in to the Blackberry social network and involves picking your 50 favourite tunes and sharing them with your friends, or something like that, I think you have to be a JJB Sports-looting teenager to fully understand how it works. iTunes report | Blackberry report

04: The stream v download debate gained momentum, as dance distributor STHoldings announced 238 of the labels it represents were pulling their content from subscription services like Spotify because they felt being on the streaming channels damaged download sales, and the royalties the streaming platforms paid out in return was insufficient. Cue a huge online debate over whether or not it makes sense for artists and labels to participate in Spotify-type services. It’s likely streaming platforms do make more sense financially for artists with bigger and/or younger fanbases, or artists in control of all their affairs who can afford to consider the bigger picture. One size will never fit all, of course, though personally I’d want my music to be in as many places as possible. CMU report | Wired report

05: The Danes called for a Grooveshark block, while the Americans hit out at ReDigi. Danish anti-piracy body RettighedsAlliancen is looking for a court order forcing the country’s ISPs to block access to controversial streaming service Grooveshark, which is licensed by a minority of labels, but carries user-uploaded content from the majority. Groovesharker, of course, claims it is protected by America’s DMCA laws. Whether that will wash in Denmark remains to be seen. Meanwhile back in the US the Recording Industry Association Of America sent a cease and desist letter to MP3 resale site ReDigi. No surprise there. ReDigi still claims it is protected by US copyright law. Grooveshark report | ReDigi report

And that’s your lot, people, until the CMU podcast this afternoon.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

* Made-up research, but that’s the best kind.
** Apologies to any American readers, I hope this doesn’t offend you, I’m sure it won’t, because I know you’re too awesome to be offended.

So that was a week, of that there can be no denial. Seven days have definitely passed since we last found ourselves in the situation of having to review the week’s events. But what happened this week of note?

Well, for those of you adverse to reading, you should get yourself over to www.theCMUwebsite.com/podcast later today (or go there now and sign up via iTunes) where Andy and I will talk you though all the key developments while trying to keep our comments on two separate deaths and a manslaughter trial something nearing tasteful. But if you can’t wait for that, or can’t stand the sound of my voice, here’s a quick summary in written words.

01: Steve Jobs died. The former Apple chief lost his fight against cancer, leading to a flood of tributes for the computer guy who had such an impact on the world’s technology, film and music industries. Jobs had stepped down as Apple’s CEO back in August because of ill-health, and his successor Tim Cook took to the stage for his first big product launch as top man just 24 hours before Jobs’ passing. He announced the launch of a new version of the iPhone 4, and that the firm’s digital locker service iCloud would be coming to the UK later this month. CMU obit | Tributes galore | More tributes

02: The deadline for EMI bids passed. Current owners Citigroup had told those interested in buying some or all of the British music major to put in their final bids on Wednesday. Five, maybe six, parties are thought to have done so – Sony, Universal, Warner, BMG, Ronald Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes and, maybe, a consortium led by Ron Burkle. An announcement on the sale – and whether it will result in EMI being split, and/or merged with another music firm – is expected next week. The Daily Mail’s Alex Brummer noted that, assuming a sale goes through now, whoever wins the bidding the company will cease to be British. He wished Citigroup had refloated the company on the London Stock Exchange instead. CMU reports | FT report

03: An interesting copyright ruling was made in Europe. The European Courts Of Justice ruled that the FA couldn’t force British TV viewers to watch Premiere League football on Sky Sports, even though BSkyB has exclusive rights to show the games in the UK. Under European freedom of trade rules UK consumers must be allowed to buy coverage from other satellite broadcasters in Europe, assuming they have the technology to receive the broadcasts. Some wondered what this would mean for territory-specific music licensing, does it mean German music fans – who can’t get Spotify – should be able to access the UK version of the service if they think it’s better than any domestic streaming music options? And if so what does that mean for territory-specific licensing in Europe? CMU report | Guardian report

04: The BPI released some sales stats for the third quarter of 2011. As you’d probably expect, digital sales were up – for both singles and especially albums – though that didn’t compensate for the continued slump in CD sales, so that overall third quarter sales were down 11.4%. Adele has both the best selling album and best selling single so far this year. CMU report | FT report

05: Rhapsody bought Napster. US-based subscription music service Rhapsody, once part of Real Networks, bought Napster from Best Buy. In the US, where Rhapsody is market leader in the subscription service space, it almost certainly means the Napster brand will disappear. Outside the US, where Rhapsody doesn’t currently operate, the Napster name may be retained. Rhapsody, of course, faces lots of new competitors in the newly buoyant subscription and streaming service market-place. MySpace’s new owner also confirmed this week that when he relaunches that site next year it will be 100% music focused with stepped up on-demand streaming. Rhapsody report | MySpace report

And that’s your lot. Til next week…

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

Your average computer industry guy could never expect that the great and good of music would line up to pay tribute on their death, but then again Steve Jobs was no average computer industry guy. Though it’s interesting that he really became one of the most important people in music by accident.

When Jobs first kicked the panicking luddites who, unfortunately, ruled at the big music companies ten years ago, convincing them that the internet was a bigger opportunity than it was threat, and that his iTunes music store was the best way to capitalise on that opportunity, he did so not because he wanted to be the biggest music retailer in the world, but because he needed some content to fill the iPods he was trying to persuade people to buy. But in doing so he changed the entire music industry, as well as setting in motion a chain of events that would make Apple the biggest technology company, and the biggest digital music seller, in the world.

Jobs wasn’t the first person to make an MP3 player. And he wasn’t the first to set up a store that could sell MP3s. But, by employing skills he demonstrated throughout his career – the ability to charm decision makers, to understand consumers, and to speak in a way that everyone would listen – he launched the best MP3 player and the best MP3 store.

That Jobs was able to include that little bit of digital rights management in the early version of iTunes that won over the label chiefs, but at the same time managed to create a service that was incredibly user-friendly – not something most other DRM systems achieved – is a testament to just how clever Jobs and his Apple team were.

True, the service initially locked users to the Apple store and the Apple device, but nevertheless the combination of iTunes and the iPod was game changing. And without Jobs’ vision and perseverance, how much longer would it have taken for the music business to grasp the potential of the internet? How much more devastating would the impact of digital have been had the labels procrastinated a few years more?

So, the music industry is right to mourn, and pay tribute, to the guy from San Francisco who just wanted to make computers, but whose vision for the potential of computing meant he impacted on pretty much every other bit of life too. And, of course, his legacy is felt by those who make music as well as those who sell it. As British dance producer Ewan Pearson blogged this morning: “Our affection for the objects we use to make things ought sometimes to be directed at the people who in turn made them; the likes of Bob Moog, Leo Fender, Dave Smith and Steve Jobs. Blessed are the tool-makers, the dreamers of our dreams”.

Steve Jobs, thank you for dreaming.

Read by Steve Jobs obit for CMU here.

Sign up to Inside Track here.

So, this seems to have been a very long week to me, was HMV’s big loan agreement announcement and the resulting commentary really only on Tuesday? Though it might seem that way to me because of my 48 hour round trip to Edinburgh, where preparations for this year’s Fringe are now hotting up, meaning I get to wear my other hat as co-Editor of ThreeWeeks, the biggest reviewer at the world’s biggest festival. It was lovely meeting up with the guys from The Edge Festival, the Fringe’s big music strand, at one of the programme launches yesterday, I love it when my different projects collide and I can talk to people simultaneously as CMU and ThreeWeeks. Anyway, a long week it may have seemed, but we’ve still managed to get it down to five main stories.

01: HMV secured new loan agreements, but at a cost. The retail firm ended months of speculation about imminent doom by confirming its banks had agreed to a new two year loan facility based on the group’s current financial performance. In theory it allows HMV chief Simon Fox to get back to the job of reinventing the entertainment firm, though some City types wondered if two years was long enough to bring about such a transformation, and focused in on the high costs of the loan facilities that have been secured. CMU report | Telegraph report

02: Apple launched its iCloud, the first licensed digital locker service on the market, albeit only licensed by the majors as yet. As expected, the new service will provide a back up of any tracks bought on iTunes, which can be downloaded or redownloaded to any Apple or iTunes-carrying device. From the autumn (or more likely early 2012 in the UK), for $25 a year, users will also be able to use the iCloud to store and access their whole MP3 collection, oblivious of its origin. Because it is licensed by the labels (unlike Amazon and Google’s rival lockers), Apple will be able to offer a ‘scan and match’ service which means that in most cases you won’t actually have to upload your MP3s, they will automatically appear in your iCloud once the Apple platform has scanned your hard drive, moved over from Apple’s existing digital catalogue. CMU report | PC World report

03: PPL boss Fran Nevrkla announced he would stand down at the end of the year, with Peter Leathem, who is promoted to MD with immediate effect, due to take over Nervrkla’s CEO role in 2012. The announcement was made at the recording royalty collecting society’s AGM this week, where it was confirmed the body collecting a record amount of royalties in 2010. CMU report | The Stage report

04: A government report called for age ratings to be applied to music videos, in a bid to curb the “sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood”. The Bailey Report, commissioned by David Cameron, made various recommendations about the music, TV and advertising industries, and how they can protect children from being exposed to possibly unsuitable content. It is thought the government will initially propose that affected industries adopt voluntary codes, but with the threat of new regulation if they don’t. CMU report | Guardian report

05: A new UN report said three-strikes breaches human rights. The report by Frank La Rue was critical of the so called graduated response systems adopted in the UK and France to try and stop online piracy, by sending warning letters to copyright infringers and ultimately threatening to cut an infringer’s net connection. The UN report said that disconnecting the net connections of infringers, even for a short time, was a disproportionate penalty. The UK government stressed that it would continue to implement the Digital Economy Act, which contains the British version of three-strikes, though stressed net disconnections were some way off and would require more input from parliament. CMU report | Ars Technica report

And that’s your lot, see you next week.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

Sign up to the CMU Daily here.

So once again it was a computer guy that was occupying the minds of the music community yesterday as Apple boss Steve Jobs announced the launch of iCloud, a service which will – among other things – keep a back up of every track you ever buy on iTunes, which you can download or redownload to any Apple or iTunes carrying device as many times as you like. It’s what I call a ‘digital locker’.

Perhaps even more important, from the Fall you will be able to upload your whole MP3 collection and store that on Apple’s servers too. And when I say ‘upload’, if Apple already have one of your tracks on their system it will automatically appear in your locker without you having to actually upload anything, saving your bandwidth.

The latter function is unique to Apple’s locker – ie similar products recently launched by Amazon and Google don’t offer that option. Apple can do it because, unlike Amazon and Google, their cloud service is backed by the music industry, with the four major record companies all on board as partners (I won’t explain the intricacies of copyright law which explain why the fast track ‘upload’ service requires record company support!)

That said, although the major record companies are supporting iCloud, not everyone who works there is 100% convinced it is a service they should be backing. Some fear that if iCloud really takes off people will stop subscribing to services like MOG, Pandora and Rhapsody, which generally pay more money to labels and artists. Though some argue that some people will always want streaming services like MOG, while others will always want to have their own MP3 collections, and things like the iCloud make buying those MP3s from a legitimate download store more attractive.

What do you think? Do you think you’ll sign up to the iCloud and, if so, will it make you less likely to sign up to a streaming service like MOG? Do let me know, because I’m still trying to work out which I prefer!

Sign up to Inside Track here.

So, next week I’ll be heading north to the Burgh for the programme launch of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s biggest cultural festival, which takes over the Scottish capital each August with a simply unrivalled mix of comedy, theatre, musicals, dance, art, talks and, yes, who knew, music. I’ll be at the Fringe launch in my secret other identity as Co-Publisher and Co-Editor of ThreeWeeks, the biggest review media at the Fringe.

Sitting behind ThreeWeeks is a widely acclaimed media education programme, through which around about 100 students and aspiring journalists get access to some top quality free training, plus unique on-the-ground journalism experience, seeing, writing about, and critiquing, between them, well over 1500 of the shows that take place during the Edinburgh Festival.

If you know any young aspiring writers or arts practitioners who could benefit from this experience, well, tell them they have til midnight tonight to apply to join our team this year. They’ll find all the info they need over at www.threeweeks.co.uk/jointhereviewteam.

And now I’ve finished plugging that, let me put my CMU Business Editor hat back on, and present you with your week in five.

01: The iCloud loomed on the horizon. Apple confirmed this week its new music service would be called iCloud, and that it would be launched at a conference in San Francisco next week. As of last night, we know all four major record companies are on board for Apple’s digital locker, and we hear the major publishers have also reached a licensing agreement. The indies are, in the main, notable by their absence so far. iCloud will be first music industry endorsed digital locker, though getting those licences will result in limitations – only music bought from iTunes will be available for streaming via any one user’s Apple locker. CMU report | LA Times report

02: Anne Muir got three years probation for file-sharing. She was the Scottish grandmother found to be sharing over 30,000 music files via her computer back in 2008. It’s rare for file-sharers to be prosecuted under criminal law, though the BPI managed to persuade Scottish police that Muir’s file-sharing was so rampant they should step in. Muir’s legal rep said their client was suffering from depression at the time of her file-sharing, and uploaded so much content because it upped her rating on the file-sharing network she was part of and that boosted her self-esteem. Although found guilty a couple of months back, Muir was sentenced this week. CMU report | Guardian report

03: BT and TalkTalk sought to appeal the DEA judicial review ruling. This actually happened late last week. The two ISPs are having another go at persuading judges they should send the copyright provisions of the Digital Economy Act back to parliament for reconsideration on the grounds they conflict with various European laws. BT and TalkTalk’s original judicial review failed. CMU report | Outlaw report

04: HMV’s boss was upbeat in an interview with gaming industry mag MCV. Simon Fox said he believes the recent sale of Waterstones, and the cash it will bring in, will solve the entertainment retailer’s recent financial problems, enabling him to refocus on reinventing the company, in particular growing their digital and live operations, and stepping up technology and games in their high street stores. CMU report | MCV interview

05: The BPI pledged to update parental advisory guidelines for the digital age, applying similar rules to online operations, both download stores and streaming audio or video services, so that people are made aware of content that may be inappropriate for younger listeners/viewers. Although some digital services already operate such a system there is no industry standard. CMU report | Register report

And that’s your lot, until this week’s CMU Weekly podcast, coming up later with, for some reason, at least two minutes spent discussing ‘Super Gran’. So that’s something to look forward to. Sign up in iTunes so you don’t miss it.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

Sign up to the CMU Daily here.

So, last Friday I joined the guys from Music Supported Here to review the results of that previously reported Ten In Ten survey, in which musicians and music business types were asked to predict what the music industry might look like in ten years time. I won’t go into the survey results in detail, because you can check them out for yourself with a rather neat video presentation here.

What was clear from the debate last Friday is that concerns remain in the grass roots music community about file-sharing and the perception that the value of music has slumped in recent years, though there was also agreement that the internet still offered a lot of potential and the outlook for the future was therefore, in the main, positive. The industry needs to sort out the way it licenses digital services, pretty much everyone agreed, though in the meantime artists should seize the agenda themselves by capitalising on the potential of direct-to-fan platforms for engaging and selling to fans.

Which leads me nicely into my weekly Great Escape plug. As you may have seen yesterday, both topics will get some quality consideration at the TGE convention this year – with a panel involving BASCA CEO Patrick Rackow set to get to the nitty gritty of how music companies should really be licensing their content, plus Topspin CEO Ian Rogers and Bandcamp advisor Andrew Dubber joining PRS For Music’s Will Page to discuss all things D2F. And we’ll be continuing the Ten In Ten debate at TGE too, inviting all our delegates to make their prediction about how the music business will look in ten years time.

As always, more about all that at escapegreat.com. Meanwhile, here’s some other stuff that happened in the last seven days in music.

01: BMG put in a new bid for Warner Music. Previously, the German music rights company made a bid for Warner’s publishing business Warner/Chappell, but the US major’s current owners said the offer price wasn’t high enough. According to reports, when BMG subsequently returned with a new offer it was bidding for the whole Warner Music Group, though there has been speculation that if successful it’d actually sell on the Warner record labels, probably to Sony. Warner’s bankers at Goldman Sachs are in talks with at least five parties about them buying some or all of the music major. CMU report | Bloomberg report

02: Citigroup talked to possible EMI bidders, possibly fearing that if it waits too long to sell off the UK-based music major all the serious money will have been spent buying up Warner. Reports this week said that while no official announcement had been made, Citigroup is already in talks with interested parties about them buying some or all of EMI. Many of those interested parties are also bidding for Warner. CMU report | New York Post report

03: George Osborne announced not much about the mail-order VAT dodge. He’d promised to reveal measures to deal with the unfair advantage enjoyed by mail-order operations based on the Channel Islands selling to UK customers – whereby for products under £18 they don’t have to pay VAT – in his Budget speech this week. He did announce he was cutting the threshold for benefiting from the VAT loophole to £15, though that won’t make much difference in the CD and DVD space. Campaigners against the loophole, though, took more heart at his commitment to explore the matter further with the European Commission. CMU report | Telegraph report

04: The DEA judicial review began. TalkTalk and BT have taken the copyright section of the Digital Economy Act to court, arguing it breaches European rules and user rights, and that the measures were not given sufficient scrutiny in parliament. Just as the review began the London School Of Economics published a report saying the DEA got the balance between protecting copyrights and encouraging technological innovation wrong. CMU report | Computing report

05: Apple sued Amazon over the name App Store, which the latter has been using on a site for developers. Amazon is likely to argue any store selling apps should be allowed to call itself an app store. Apple will disagree. Elsewhere in Apple legal news, a court ordered Steve Jobs to testify in a long running anti-trust lawsuit relating to iTunes DRM used back in 2004, even though he is on sick leave. CMU report | CNN report

And that’s your lot. Until the CMU Weekly Podcast this afternoon.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

Sign up to the CMU Daily here.

So, it was BRITs week this week which, as usual, meant increased exposure for the UK music industry in the mainstream media, which is part of the reason for the big awards bash existing in the first place of course, so job done.

Though interestingly this year, alongside all the articles on the big winners and celebrity turns, there were more articles than usual – I think – pondering the state of the music business. With the doom and gloom surrounding both EMI and HMV so much in the news at the moment, and the hangover of last year’s Digital Economy Act still rumbling on, that’s probably no surprise. Most of those articles seemed to focus on the ongoing piracy debate and the potential of Spotify-style streaming services to put everything right again.

Both are valid issues, and we’ll be dedicating some time to both of them during The Great Escape convention in May. Though for me there are two bigger issues – how can the music industry maximise all of its many potential revenue streams, and how to can ensure that more of those revenue streams pump cash into new talent, rather than relying on just the profits of dwindling record sales.

The good news is that, whereas with piracy and the potential of streaming music, where in many ways it’s too soon to tell how things will turn out, with regards new revenue streams and investment models people are already reinventing the wheel, meaning come May we’ll be able to get some real practical insights and tips into new approaches of developing and monetising new music.

I’m particularly excited in this regard about three of our panellists. Artist manager David Bianchi will be talking about working with investment vehicle Power Amp on Carl Barat’s latest solo work. Cooking Vinyl boss Martin Goldschmidt will run us through how he is reinventing the label/artist relationship. And we’ll have Alan Pell from BMG UK, giving us an insight into possibly the most interesting of the major players in music right now. To hear from these guys, and a load more who we’ll be introducing here in the coming weeks, you need to get yourself a Great Escape delegates pass. It’s just £125 if you buy now from www.escapegreat.com.

Meanwhile, let’s talk a bit more about those awards…

01: The Grammys and BRITS took place, making it a busy week for music industry awards. The main Grammys show got its biggest TV audience in eleven years, though that was probably all the Beliebers tuning in to see their idol win the Best New Artist prize, which he didn’t, so there’ll probably be a mass boycott next year. The all new BRITS show saw its TV audience slide, it transpiring that while Tinie Tempah, Take That and Adele are all pretty cool, it’s much more fun to watch a misguided reality show about Gypsies. At both the Grammys and the BRITS, Arcade Fire got the long-awaited recognition they so rightly deserve, albeit for what is possibly their weakest album to date. Not that the pop fans approved, as this great website shows: whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com. BRITS report | Grammys report

02: There was lots of news in the streaming music domain, as BRITS chief and Universal Music UK boss David Joseph told The Guardian that it was the potential of cloud-based digital services that gave him renewed hope that the record industry can recover. Last night various media reported that EMI have now definitely joined Sony in signing up for a US version of Spotify. Meanwhile Sony’s own streaming service, Music Unlimited power by Qriocity, went live in the US, Australia and New Zealand this week. Elsewhere, long-standing American streaming platform Pandora prepared to float on Nasdaq in a share sale likely to raise $100 million. Pandora report | Qriocity report

03: Apple launched its new app subscription system. It means that anyone providing a subscription-based service via an app on the iPhone or iPad can now charge regular subscription fees via Apple’s app store, rather than requiring their own transactions system. Which is lovely. Except use of Apple’s payment platform will be compulsory for all subscription-based apps (albeit in addition to any existing independent payment systems) and the IT giant will take a 30% commission. Streaming music services with such apps were not impressed. Google, meanwhile, announced the launch of a similar platform which will only charge a 10% commission. CMU report | Mark Mulligan blog

04: There were more reports about a Warner Music sale. Rumour had it that Goldman Sachs, which is currently reviewing all options regarding the US music major, had spoken to over twenty parties interested in buying some or all of the Warner Music empire. The Daily Mail even speculated that one of those interested parties may be Terra Firma’s Guy Hands, who, the paper thought, might be interested in engineering the long awaited EMI/Warner merger. CMU report | Daily Mail report

05: Nick Gatfield joined Sony Music, as President of the major’s UK music division. But why does Sony UK need the former EMI A&R chief to sit between CEO Ged Doherty and the top execs of each of the Sony UK labels? Well, Beehive City reckoned that Doherty would be investing an increasing amount of his time in Simon Cowell’s Syco division – Sony UK’s biggest single earner – which has been without a CEO since December, hence the need for Gatfield to take over some of his duties with the rest of the business. CMU report | Beehive City report

And that’s your week in five. Look out for more retrospective musings in the CMU Weekly bulletin and podcast later today. Hoopla.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

Sign up to the CMU Daily here.