Friday 27 November 2015

Final ETEP and CEETEP results

The final ETEP and CEETEP results are in. The results presented include 394 confirmed shows by 132 artists from 21 different European countries. Eurosonic Noorderslag started organising the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) in 2003. Since then a total of 2294 shows by 810 European artists from 30 countries have taken place at the 90 ETEP festivals (2003 - 2014).

Live music tickets sales collapse inb France after the Bataclan murders

Music Week reports that France's live music industry is appealing for €50 million (£35m) in aid from the government following the Paris terrorist attacks.  PRODISS, the country's national union of producers, distributors, festivals and music halls and variety, says ticket sales fell 80% year-on-year in the week following the tragedy, and were 50% down on the weekend of November 21-22.  An emergency fund of €4m (£2.8m) was made available by the minister of culture and communication in the immediate aftermath. While this has been welcomed by PRODISS, the union says it is not enough to compensate for the impact and is calling for a medium-term plan.

The UK Festival Awards 2015 - and the winners are .....

Beautiful Days wins Best Grassroots Festival at the Festival Awards! Kendal Calling wins Best Toilet! Isle of Wight Best Family Festival and Best Headline Performance for Fleetwood Mac! Arcadia Spectacular at Glastonbury wins Best Use of New Technology for turning used chip fat into raving flames! Yes, the UK Festival Awards are done and dusted for another year, all hosted by Huey Morgan at the London Roundhouse - and the very worthy winners are:



Best Toilets
Kendal Calling

Anthem of the Summer
Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk

Best Use of New Technology
Arcadia Spectacular at Glastonbury

Best Brand Activiation
Virgin Trains

Extra-festival Activity Award
The Big Feastival

Concession of the Year
The Beakfast Club

Best Line Up
Latitude

Best headline performance
Fleetwood Mac at the Isle of Wight Festival

Best Hospitality
Wilderness

Best Grass Roots Festival
Beautiful Days

Best Emerging Talent Festival
Liverpool International Music Festival

Best Non Music Festival
Erotica Britannia

Best Overseas Festival
Annie Mac Presents Lost & Found

Best Family Festival
Isle of Wight Festival

Best Dance Event
Creamfields

Best Metropolitan Festival
Liverpool Sound City

Best New festival
Wildlife

Best Small Festival
Festival No 6

Best Mediu Sized Festival
Y-Not

Best Large Festival
Bestival


Outstanding contribution to festivals
Peter Gabriel


Tuesday 24 November 2015

European Festival Awards - the nominees are revealed

The shortlist for the European Festival Awards has been revealed. More than 800,000 votes were cast by fans from 50 different countries for the 7th edition. And those nominees are:


Best Major Festival in association with Charge Candy

Deichbrand Festival (Germany)

Dour Festival (Belgium)

Exit Festival (Serbia)

Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium)

Mysteryland (Netherlands)

Pinkpop (Netherlands)

Rock Werchter (Belgium)

Sziget Festival (Hungary)

Tomorrowland (Belgium)

Untold Festival (Romania)



Best Medium-Sized Festival in association with Eventbrite

Wish Outdoor (Netherlands)

Telekom Volt Festival (Hungary)

Solar Weekend (Netherlands)

Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro)

Positivus Festival (Latvia)

Open Air St. Gallen (Switzerland)

Main Square Festival (France)

Lovefest (Serbia)

Les Ardentes (Belgium)

Electric Castle Festival (Romania)



Best Small Festival

Amsterdam Woods (Netherlands)

B My Lake (Hungary)

Festival Tauron Nowa Muzyka (Poland)

Happiness Festival (Germany)

Into The Great Wide Open (Netherlands)

Jazz In The Park (Romania)

Mini-Rock Festival (Germany)

Plai (Romania)

Vestrock (Netherlands)

Your'In Festival (Belgium)



Best New Festival

Amsterdam Woods (Netherlands)

Creamfields Ibiza (Spain)

I Love Techno Europe (France)

Krakow Live Festival (Poland)

Lollapalooza Berlin (Germany)

Parookaville (Germany)

Untold Festival (Romania)



Best Indoor Festival

Hideout Festival (Croatia)

Incubate Festival (Netherlands)

Le Printemps De Bourges (France)

Les Heures Ind (Belgium)

Les Transardentes (Belgium)

Lokerse Feesten (Belgium)

Mayday (Germany)

[Pias Nites] (Various Countries)

Progpower Europe (Netherlands)

TIMAF (Romania)



Festival Anthem Of The Year

Alt-J - Let Hand Free

Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck

Hozier - Take Me To Church

Major Lazor - Lean On

Pattie Smith - People Got The Power

Rudimental - Never Let You Go

Tame Impala - Let It Happen

The Prodigy - Day Is My Enemy

Wanda - Amore

Years and Years - King



Newcomer Of The Year in association with Eurosonic Noorderslag

Annenmaykantereit

Hozier

Ibeyi

Jack Garratt

James Bay

Kate Tempest

Royal Blood

Run the Jewels

Wolf Alice

Years & Years



Best Headliner

Alt-J

Chemical Brothers

Florence & the Machine

Foo Fighters

Kendrick Lamar

Kylie Minogue

Marteria

Muse

Robbie Williams

The Prodigy



Best Line Up

Best Kept Secret (Netherlands)

Glastonbury (United Kingdom)

Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium)

La Route Du Rock (France)

Lollapalooza Berlin (Germany)

Oya Festivalen (Norway)

Primavera Sound Festival (Spain)

Rock Werchter (Belgium)

Roskilde (Denmark)

Sziget (Hungary)



Artists’ Favourite Festival

BBK Live (Spain)

Best Kept Secret (Netherlands)

Exit Festival (Serbia)

Highfield (Germany)

Latitude (United Kingdom)

Les Viellies Charues (France)

Lowlands (Netherlands)

Pukkelpop (Belgium)

Rock Werchter (Denmark)

Sziget (Hungary)



Promoter Of The Year in association with Bucks New University

Green Man Team (United Kingdom)

Ejekt (Greece)

Festival Republic (United Kingdom)

FKP Scorpio (Germany)

Hörstmann Unternehmensgruppe (Germany)

ICS (Germany)

From The Fields (United Kingdom)

Live Nation (United Kingdom)

Live Nation (Belgium)

Primavera (Spain)



Agent of the Year

Emma Banks (CAA)

Alex Bruford (ATC Live)

Isla Angus (Earth Agency)

Jason Edwards (Coda)

Mike Greek (CAA)

Natasha Bent (United Artists)

Nick Matthews (Coda)

Rob Challice (Coda)

Solomon Parker (Coda)

Tom Schroeder (Coda)



Green Operations Award in association with Yourope and the GO Group

Leper Hardcore Fest (Belgium)

Off Festival (Poland)

Open Air St. Gallen (Switzerland)

Shambala (United Kingdom)

Tollwood Festival (Germany)



The shortlist of the YES Group Health & Safety Innovation Award will be announced on the night of the award ceremony along with the winners of the Excellence and Passion Award and the Yourope Lifetime Achievement Award (in association with PlayPass and PayPal)

American Music Awards 2015

For the second year in a row, One Direction scooped the prize for artist of the year, at the American Music Awards. The group also won in the favourite pop/rock duo or group category on Sunday night. Other winners at ABC’s annual American Music Awards, voted by the public, included Ariana Grande beating Taylor Swift in the female artist of the year (pop/rock), but Swift, who did not attend the awards, won three of the biggest prizes, including song and album of the year for Bad Blood and 1989. The Weeknd won two awards on Sunday night: favourite male artist and album (soul/R&B). 

Bloome energy cell celebrated

AEG and STAPLES Center held a celebratory event marking the completion of its Bloom Energy fuel cell technology deployment today. Former Vice President Al Gore joined executives from AEG, Bloom Energy, Green Sports Alliance and the City of Los Angeles to "Flip the Switch" on the recently installed Bloom Energy fuel cells that will provide on-site generation to STAPLES Center. The 500 kW fuel cell project will generate power through a clean and efficient electrochemical process, providing approximately 25% of the power required by the sports and entertainment venue each year. The Bloom Energy Servers will also reduce STAPLES Center's carbon emissions by 2.2 million pounds of carbon annually, a 39% reduction compared to electricity purchased from the local utility.

More from Oil & Gas News  here

Exclusive Figures on Ticketing Fraud Released to Launch UK Awareness Campaign


  • Nearly 3000 cases totalling £1.3m lost to ticket fraud over six months to end October 2015
  • First time entertainment and sport ticket fraud statistics have been analysed separately
  • Part of #lookfortheSTAR anti-fraud campaign
  • Ticket agents and venues participating in industry-wide website and social media takeover
  • Aims to raise public awareness of the STAR kitemark

Today organisations and individuals from across the British entertainment industry have joined forces on a new public awareness campaign to help combat ticket fraud. The #lookfortheSTAR anti-fraud campaign coincides with exclusive new figures released by national body Action Fraud revealing nearly £1.3 million was reportedly lost through entertainment and sport ticket fraud in the six months to the end of October 2015.  

With 2885 reports registered, that represents a median loss of over £200 per individual case. Notably, this is the first time ever that statistics have been made available for just entertainment and sport ticket fraud, providing a much more accurate view of fraud in the sector compared to past figures which have included areas such as airline tickets or holidays. A high number of these reports relate to two companies, Circle Tickets and GetSporting.com, and cover such events as Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Foo Fighters, One Direction and the Rugby World Cup, as well as the key festival season.

Led by the Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers (STAR), the wider #lookfortheSTAR campaign comes ahead of the peak Christmas ticket-buying period, and aims to help reduce fraud by educating and encouraging customers to always look for STAR’s kitemark when buying tickets. This identifies members of STAR, who must sign up to a strict Code of Practice, and guarantees that the ticket is from a reliable source, much like buying a holiday through an ABTA or ATOL registered travel agent.

The initiative is backed by the Concert Promoters Association (CPA), National Arenas Association (NAA), and the Society of London Theatre, as well as ticket agents, performers, venues and others within the entertainment industry. Other supporters include Action Fraud, Metropolitan Police and City of London Police.

Websites of STAR members including Ticketmaster, See Tickets, TicketWeb, ATG Tickets, The Ticket Factory, Eventim and Ticketline, as well as theatre and concert venues across the country, are today featuring the campaign, including ‘homepage’ takeovers, putting the #lookfortheSTAR message in front of hundreds of thousands of customers as they log on to buy tickets.

Adrian Sanders, Chairman of STAR said: "As well as cheating the consumer, every case of fraud damages the reputation of Britain's vital entertainment and sporting industries. Buying tickets from a STAR kitemarked seller will give consumers the confidence that their purchase comes with certain guarantees that protect their rights.”

Rob Edwards, Managing Director, Eventim UK Ltd added: "This level of ticket fraud shows that as an industry we have to come together to help ticket buyers avoid ticket sellers who deliberately set out to defraud them. We are a proud member of STAR and believe the best advice for customers is to only buy tickets from companies that display the STAR kitemark, a symbol of trust that shows the company has signed up to the STAR Code of Practice."

STAR members and other supporters are taking part in a Twitter campaign, with members also promoting the campaign in their own e-newsletters, increasing the reach by millions.  

Monday 23 November 2015

Adele set to smash sales records with 25

Adele’s '25' is currently on course to smash records on both sides of the Atlantic - the star’s third album sold approximately 1.9m copies in its first two days on sale in the US and is on target to sell 2.5 million this week (topping NSYNCH's previous record of 2.42 million sales for 'No Strings Attached') and dwarfing the entire first week sales of Taylor Swift’s 1989 last year (1.3m). The 1.9m figure covers just Friday (November 20) and Saturday (November 21), with more than 60% of sales coming on digital download services. In the UK, Official Charts Company data shows that '25' went platinum in a single day – that’s 300,000 sales and sales of the LP are expected to surpass 700,000 sales in the UK by the end of this week. It’s a similar story the world over: 25 was the No.1 album in 106 of iTunes’ 119 territories last night. Whilst the album is not available on freemium streaming services, MBW reports that piracy seems surprisingly low

UPDATE

25 broke through the 3m sales barrier in the US yesterday (Wednesday, November 25), according to hot-off-the-presses data from reliable retail monitor BuzzAngle.

Saturday 21 November 2015

BUMA deadlock until December

The royalty tariff for live concerts in the Netherlands for venues and promoters has still not been set, and BUMA Stemra's Supervisory Board has given the collection society more time to draw up a new proposal for the live industry for the rate payable for the use of songs at live events. The rate is currently 7% of gross ticket revenues - but more recently artistes discovered BUMA was rebating up to 25% to some promoters.

Live Nation posts Q3 profit

Live Nation Entertainment  have surprised the market by announcing a Q3 2015 profit. Revenues were up 10% to $2.62 billion and the compay had a net $89 million profit. Concert revenues were up 9% and attendance up 10%, driving growth in advertising and ticketing revenues. Ticketmaster reported a 22% increase in secondary ticketing activities with overall ticketing activities up 18%.

TPi 2016 Nominees announced

Your votes have been counted - and here's the shortlist of nominations for the TPi Awards 2016.

1. The Dennis Sheehan Tour Manager of The Year Award
Jake Ryan
Dick Meredith
Glen Rowe
Ian Quinn
Tom Sheals-Barrett

2. Production Manager of The Year
Ceri Wade
Dick Tee
Sue 'Duchess' Iredale
Joel Stanley
Bob O'Brien

3. Favourite Crew Company
Stage Miracles
Rock City Crew
Gallowglass
Crewsaders
Mad Crew
Showforce

4. Favourite Rigging Company
UK Rigging
Unusual Rigging
PRG XL Video
Cirque du Soleil
Blackout
Star Events

5. Rigger of The Year
Pete The Greek
Jamie Moore
Oz Marsh
Sven Knight
Michael 'Pickle' Ellison

6. Favourite Sound Rental Company
Adlib Audio
Britannia Row Productions
Clair Global
SSE Audio Group
Capital Sound
Wigwam Acoustics

7. Front of House Engineer of The Year
Paul Cooper
Marc Carolan
Andy Magee
Rob Sadler
Gary Bradshaw

8. Monitor Engineer of The Year
Darren Dunphy
Amanda Thompson
Jack Bowcher
Mikey Gibbard
Jac Nott

9. Favourite Power Supply Company
Aggreko
Firefly
Power Logistics
Buffalo
Fourth Generation
Pearce Hire

10. Favourite Rehearsal Facility
LH2
LS-Live
Music Bank
Rock Lititz
John Henry's
Millenium Studios

11. Favourite Venue
02 Arena, London
02 Academy, Brixton
Roundhouse, Camden
Royal Albert Hall, London
Croke Park, Dublin
SSE Arena, Wembley

12. Favourite Lighting Rental Company
Neg Earth
PRG XL Video
Colour Sound Experiment
Nitelites
Adlib Lighting
GLS Lighting

13. Lighting Designer of The Year
Maty Killmurry
Oli Metcalfe
Ed Warren
Tim Routledge
Rob Sinclair

14. Favourite Special Effects Company
BPM SFX
Pyrojunkies
Le Maitre
Event FX
Strictly FX
ER Productions

15. Favourite Staging Company
StageCo.
Tait Towers
All Access Staging & Productions
Star Events
Serious Stages
Acorn Event Structures

16. Set Designer of The Year
Oli Metcalfe
Willie Williams
Misty Buckley
Emma Bull
Paul Normandale

17. Favourite Set Construction Company
Tait Towers
Steel Monkey
All Access Staging & Productions
Brilliant Stages
LS-Live
Total Fabrications

18. Favourite Security / Crowd Management Company
Showsec
Show & Event
G4S
Green Event Security
SB Security Solutions
Corvus Security

19. Favourite Trucking Company
Fly By Nite
Stage Truck
Brian Yeardley Continental
Conference Haul International
Upstaging
KB Event

20. Favourite Bussing Company
Beat The Street
Phoenix Bussing
Vans For Bands
Jumbocruiser
Crossland
Galaxy Cruiser

21. Favourite Freight Company
Rock-it Cargo
Sound Moves
Global Motion
Horizon Entertainment Cargo
EFM
Dave Forest Transport

22. Favourite Travel Company
The Appointment Group Global Touring
The Tour Company
Infinity Travel
Tour Travel
Road Rebel
Rima Travel

23. Stage Manager of The Year
Mike Grove
Phil Murphy
Deb Jones
David Peverley
Danny Spratt

24. Favourite Video Rental Company
PRG XL Video
Creative Technology
VER
Video Illusions
Satis & Fy
Solotech

25. The Des Fallon Video Visionary Award
Oli Metcalfe
Willie Williams
Nick Whiteoak
Steve Price
Chris Saunders

26. Live Production of The Year Award
Arcadia Metamorposis - Bristol
Ed Sheeran - X
AC/DC - Rock or Bust
The Script - Live at Croke Park
Take That - Live 2015
U2 - Innocence + Experience



Thursday 19 November 2015

sillerman withdraws latest SFX offer

Robert FX Sillerman has withdrawn his latest offer to acquire all of the shares in SFX he doesn’t currently control, according to a filing made with the US Securities And Exchange Commission this week. His initial (and incresaed) offer of $5.25 a share was rejected, but after the EDM promoters share price dived, he returned with a new $3.25 per share offer. SFX’s share price hit an all-time low of 41 cents as news of Sillerman’s latest announcement started to circulate last night.

More on CMU here

UPDATE 20.11.15

The SFX share price has now crashed another 41% to 24 cents and Hypebot.com
reporteds"Several industry insiders familiar with the workings of SFX said that a bankruptcy filing was all but inevitable.  The company's board had reported that they had had inquires to purchase portions of the EDM conglomerate, but now even those would likely have to happen at fire sale prices.

Tuesday 17 November 2015

THE REVOLVING DOOR

Vevo, the music video website founded by Universal and Sony, has appointed former BBC Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt as its head of content and programming. However, Vevo is reorganizing its product and engineering department, starting at the top. A spokesperson has confirmed that head of products David Rice is no longer with the company and that a "small number" of employees in the p&e organizations have been let go. The team now reports to interim CTO, Alex Nunes.

WayneLeading US-based CAA agent Cara Lewis has reportedly left the company. Lewis joined the firm from WME in 2012, represents artists including Eminem and Pitbull. She previously represented Kanye West before the rapper defected to UTA earlier this year. 

Its all change at End Of The Road Festival with Lauren Down, who was festival manager, now promoted to managing director after just one year with the event. Rosanna Dean has also been promoted to operations manager, while Anna Mears, previously of Inside/Out, has joined as head of communications. 

Sixth Media, the international live-focused music company that was newly formed earlier this year by former co-founder and CEO of MAMA Group Dean James, has acquired a strategic stake in Big New Year LLP, the parent company of leading London arts and music venues Oval Space and The Pickle Factory.

Mike Batt has decided to step down as Deputy Chairman of the BPI – a role he has held for nine years having served on the BPI Council for 10 years in total since joining in September 2005 as an independent label representative. 

R. Halper, a music industry veteran and member of the Nashville recording and arts community, has joined Cole Law Group as senior attorney and head of the firm’s Entertainment Law Practice Group.

London-based media and entertainment law firm Lee & Thompson LLP has merged with the specialist media and entertainment litigation business, Forbes Anderson Free.

Mash Media has announced that Emma Hudson has been promoted to the role of editor of Access All Areas. 

Apple is hiring a person to help create "original content and live projects" for several of its online services, including Apple Music, iTunes, iBooks, and the App Store, according to a job listing discovered by AppleInsider.


Universal Music Group (UMG) has hired Eric Berman as Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, effective immediately. He is known as an advisor to Bill Clinton.

Universal Music Publishing Group has appointed Luke McGrellis to the position of Vice President Creative reporting to Jody Gerson, UMPG Chairman and CEO, and Evan Lamberg, UMPG President – North America. McGrellis joins UMPG from Sony/ATV UK where he was A&R Director.


Max Hole is stepping down from his role as Chairman and Chief Executive of Universal Music Group International (UMGI), effective immediately. In January, Hole contracted encephalitis, as a result of which he has suffered some memory loss. While he is said to be making progress towards a recovery, a full resumption of his responsibilities is not possible at this time, said UMG.

Michael Nash, who has been acting as an adviser to the top tier of UMG rival Warner since June, joins Universal as EVP of Digital Strategy from November 2. And  Andrew Kronfeld, previously global marketing within Universal Music International, becomes VP Marketing for the whole group. UMG CEO Lucian Grainge said that that recent changes to Universal’s Executive Management Board, and the addition of Nash as EVP of Digital Strategy, represented “a bold new approach to a business that is both singularly global and regionally nuanced”.

Former Three Six Zero business affairs executive James Sealey is joining direct-to-fan start-up Bkstg as VP Business Development.

Haim have signed to booking agency WME for worldwide representation.

Ticketmaster UK has appointed PlayStation Music's Matt Webster as its new head of marketing operations. 

Industry trade magazine Music Week has announced a new editor in the form of veteran music journalist Mark Sutherland, who became Contributing Editor for the title at the start of the year.

Songs Music Publishing has appointed David Gold to the newly-created position of Head of Business & Legal Affairs in its New York HQ.

Jane Dyball has been confirmed as CEO at the UK's Music Publishers Association on a permanent basis.

Spirit Music Group has appointed Rak Sanghvi as Managing Director of UK/International, Spirit B-Unique in London. Sanghvi served as Managing Director of Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) from 2005 – 2012.

Eclectic music magazine The Wire,  has a new editor in the form of Derek Walmsley. The appointment comes as part of a number of editorial changes at the publication, Joseph Stannard and Emily Bick both become Deputy Editors, the former with a focus on new music releases, and the latter on events and books. Former editor Chris Bohn, meanwhile, becomes Editor In Chief.

James Heappey (pictured), MP for Wells in Somerset whose constituency includes the Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Bath and West Showground will spearhead the  All Party Parliamentary Group for Events. Heappey said he was “acutely aware of the value events bring to the economy”.

Alan McGee has announced his official return to the frontline label game with his new venture, Clark & McGee Ltd, run with ex- Soul II Soul and Leftfield A&R, Mick Clark. More from MBW here.

Midem organiser Reed MIDEM has announced that Simon Rhodes has joined the company as UK managing director. In his new position, Rhodes will oversee Reed MIDEM’s British-based business and take the UK sales lead on the company’s real estate portfolio.

Sony Music and the Artist Legacy Group have launched a new joint venture that provides artist brand management services, mainly for heritage artists, with the new enterprise sitting alongside the major label's catalogue division, Legacy Recordings.

Playlist service Bop.fm has been acquired by identity theft protection company LifeLock who will close its website entirely this Saturday. Staff will move to LifeLock. 

Pat Collins has been named Vice Chairman of SESAC effective April 1, 2016. Collins, who currently serves as President and CEO of SESAC Performing Rights, will now begin to transition to his new role as a Senior Advisor to the Company and Vice Chairman. xecutive Vice President Dennis Lord’s responsibilities will be expanded to include Creative as well as Business Affairs. In addition, Christos Badavas, currently Associate General Counsel at HFA, will be moving to a corporate role at SESAC as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel.

Music Glue is expanding with the announcement of three new staff appointments: Kat Morris, formerly Director of The Great Escape festival, joins as Global Marketing Director, Jon Chapman, a former major label A&R, as UK Head of A&R and Brian Pacris joins as US Head of Sales & Marketing.

Crowdmix, the soon-to-be-launched ‘social music’ app, has hired industry veteran Dick Wingate as President, Artist & Entertainment Services for North America.

Vania Schlogel, the former private equity executive who represented Tidal in public and to investors as its chief investment officer, has now confirmed that she left the company in the summer - some months ago.

Pandora snaps up Rdio's assets

Spotify rival Rdio is set to file for bankruptcy in the US - and has already agreed to sell key assets to Pandora for $75m in cash. The move means that Pandora, previously a pureplay digital radio service, now has the platform its needs to become a fully interactive streaming service. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Bankruptcy Court. The Rdio acquisition news comes one month after Pandora bought ticketing firm Ticketfly for $450m - and Spotify set up its new Concerts service.

Of the $30m in unsecured debt that was declared, Rdio owed $2.4M to Sony Music Entertainment and Rdio owed Warner Music Group $613,374 and Universal Music Group $294,219. Apart from Sony, Rdio’s biggest creditors are partner and set-top box firm Roku Inc ($2.76m owed) and AEG-owned ticketing firm AXS Digital LLC ($1.25m owed). Other creditors of interest to the music industry include Shazam ($1.17m owed), Tunecore ($236k owed) and Merlin BV ($134,960 owed). The Orchard – now a fully-owned Sony Music company – was owed $383,960. 

Spotify to recommend gigs

Spotify has launched Concerts, a new feature which recommends local gigs to users. Currently rolling out to Android and iOS users, Concerts offers recommendations based on users' listening habits. As with Spotify's Discover Weekly playlists, there'll be a mixture of known acts and new bands that the service thinks users will like.