EMAs presented

The European Music Awards took place in Amsterdam last night and the 2013 winners are:

Best Song: Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven
Best Video: Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Best Female: Katy Perry
Best Male: Justin Bieber
Best New: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best Live: Beyoncé

Best Pop: One Direction
Best Hip Hop: Eminem
Best Rock: Green Day
Best Electronic: Avicii
Best Alternative: Thirty Seconds To Mars

Best Look: Harry Styles
Biggest Fans: Tokio Hotel

Best World Stage: Linkin Park - Mexico 2012
Best Push: Austin Mahone - April 2013
Best Worldwide Act: 李宇春 Chris Lee (Southeast Asia)
Global Icon: Eminem

One week left to apply for UK export funding

Record industry trade body the BPI  is reminding independent music companies that they have one left to apply for grants under the Music Export Growth Scheme, the new UK Trade & Investment-funded initiative launched back in September. The programme is aimed at SME music companies - including labels, publishers and management firms - who are working with artists who have already enjoyed commercial success in the UK, and who are now plotting global expansion. Grants from £5000 to £50,000 are available to fund international marketing campaigns that aim to expand audience and revenues for British artists overseas.

The Revolving Door

Agent Francesco Caccamo has joined Primary Talent from Echo Location Talent Agency.

Watford Colosseum has appointed Tim Brinkman as it's new Director, succeeding interim Director Elizabeth Jones.

Gareth Paul Jones has confirmed that he will leave Apple where he was a Product Manager, and join Twitter, tweeting “I’ll be working on Platform Partnerships – specifically advertising focused".

The Ticket Factory has appointed three new e-commerce and ticketing experts to assist with its move towards the entertainment and online retail sector. Rob Williams has joined as operations director, having previously worked at Nottingham’s Capital FM Arena and Dixons Retail Group. Client services director Kelly Whitehead has extensive senior level experience in ticketing with Avalon, lastminute.com, AEG Live and Mean Fiddler.  Finally, Gail Webb joins as consumer sales and marketing director, having held the role of head of digital for the NEC Group. The three will work with MD Stuart Cain to develop The Ticket Factory's online marketing and e-commerce capability.

Beats Electronics has appointed Matthew Costello as its new COO. He was previously Head Of Group Strategic Development for IKEA

Lady Gaga has parted company with her long time manager Troy Carter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Warners have made two new appointments: Dirk Ewald becomes SVP of Global Catalogue Management;  and in New York former Nokia man Jonathan Dworkin has been appointed SVP for Digital Strategy & Business Development; Meanwhile, Warner Music's European VP of digital strategy and business development, Leanne Sharman, is to depart the major.

Ticketmaster has appointed Nick Griffiths, previously with SkyIQ, as Sales Operations Director; Tommy Tyekiff from Ingenious Media, will become VP for Business Transformation at the start of next year; and Nihal Pekbeken is joining the ticketing firm from NBC Universal, and will become VP Global Marketing and Creative Services. Internally, current Marketing Director Dan Pearce will be promoted to the role of VP Marketing & Business Development for Ticketmaster's ticket resale business; Andrew Parsons, currently VP Sales, will become VP Music & Comedy; and Doug Smith, VP Client Services, will expand his remit taking on responsibility for the operations team within the business.

Live Nation reaps summer success

Live Nation has reported that attendance at its concerts worldwide was up 27% year-on-year this summer, resulting in revenues 15% higher than a year ago at $2.26 billion, with revenue increases in the firm's touring, sponsorship and ticketing divisions. And while profits were down 24% to $43.8 million, that included a $36 million charge and exceeded analyst expectations by a margin. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said: "Consumer demand has come back strong for us this year, as we have had attendance growth across concerts globally, from new artists to the legends and everyone in between".

FESTIVAL NEWS

Cumbria's CockRock festival won't take place in 2014, but also mightn't happen ever again. CockRock organisers have released a statement describing the festival's future as "uncertain", adding that "over the last few years as with many festivals we have suffered financially, this coupled with a number of unwelcome restrictions that have been placed on the festival has meant that we have struggled in many ways" saying  "It's with great sadness and a very heavy heart that we must now announce that CockRock will not run in 2014. At this moment in time we cannot say if we will return again in the future, we hope this is not the end but at the moment the future for CockRock is very uncertain. We're truly gutted to say we won't be running next year and that our lovely town that we are very proud to live in no longer has a large capacity music festival".

London-based Field Day will next year lengthen from its erstwhile single-day duration to a 7-8 Jun weekender. Tom Baker of Eat Your Own Ears, who co-host the event with Bugged Out!, BleeD and Lanzarote, said "I am thrilled that Field Day is now taking place over two days in London's Victoria Park. It's been a long time coming. I can't wait to reveal who's playing... so keep your eyes on @fielddaylondon for more super exciting news very soon!" Super early bird tickets are already available for day one of the festival, so get them via the Field Day site.

575,000 public votes have been totted up, and the finalists in the UK Festival Awards are now out - as picked by the great British festival fans. The ceremony will be at the Roundhouse in London's Camden on Monday December 2nd and you can see all the nominees here.Tickets for the UK Festival Conference & Awards start at just £40 and are available through the UK Festival Conference & Awards’ official ticketing partner Eventbrite, to order please visit festivalawards.com/tickets/.

Hop Farm organiser Vince Power has released a statement to say that his event will be making a return next year, but it will be in Tunbridge Wells. The event was cancelled this summer due to poor ticket sales and was due to host My Bloody Valentine, Rodriguez, The Horrors, Jimmy Cliff, The Cribs, First Aid Kit, Dinosaur Jr, The Presidents Of The United States Of America, Martha Wainwright, Edwyn Collins, and more. The festival which started in 2008 was set to be held at the The Hop Farm Family Park which will be holding the other Hop Farm event for 20,000 people next year. Read more on Efestivals.

Spotify looks to raise new funds

Spotify is raising another round of investment. According to Sky News, Spotify bosses are talking to California-based Technology Crossover Ventures about a possible $200 million investment that would give the finance firm a stake in the streaming music company.

Gaga goes into space

Lady Gaga has announced that she will perform a gig p in space: She's been asked to be the first official popstar to sing on a space-bound vehicle by New Mexico festival Zero G Colony, which takes place (itself on Planet Earth) in 2015. Gaga will blast off on a Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two, where she will sing a single track once she hits conditions of zero gravity.

Ministry asks Mayor Boris for protection

Ministry Of Sound boss Lohan Presencer has asked Boris Johnson for a binding agreement confirming that a planned major residential development next to the venue in South London will not have future repercussions on his operation's licence. Ministry had previously succeeded in blocking the plans by property developer Oakmayne to build a big residential complex next to the superclub, after the property firm's proposals were unanimously rejected by Southwark's planning committee, with Ministry successfully arguing that it was an important employer in the area, that it played an important role in the capital's clubbing culture and local community, and that the planned residential development would cause problems because future residents would be certain to make demands on licensing officials regarding noise at the venue. Now London Mayor Boris Johnson's office has agreed to reconsider the decision, placing the club under threat once again. 

Presencer called for agreement by the Mayor in a;letter to the London Standard and also said he wanted a legal agreement that Oakmayne will install sound-proofing into its new apartments (as was promised as part of its planning application) saying he wants a "legal agreement that guarantees that everything that is being promised, such as these acoustically sealed windows, is not reneged on at a later date. The second thing we want is a legal mechanism put in place to ensure the current noise levels will be able to lawfully continue as they are". The letter goes on: "Ministry of Sound has been at the heart of London for a quarter of a century. We've earned our right to stay here. Over the past decade all of London's big clubs have closed as a result of redevelopment. We're the last man standing. Do you want to bring the shutters down on nightclubs in London for good? Please Boris, do the right thing for London, don't stop the music".

SFX snap up Electric Zoo

The recently floated SFX, the now EDM-focused live firm, has bought Made Event, the company behind the Electric Zoo festival,. Confirming the deal, SFX boss Robert Sillerman said"The acquisition of Made is strategically important for SFX, as it establishes a strong foothold for us in the New York City region. Co-founders Mike Bindra and Laura De Palma are the ultimate industry professionals, and our management team will benefit greatly from their years of experience". As previously reported, the New York event was cut short by one day this year after two drug-related deaths.

Ticket tout sentenced for tax evasion

A London ticket tout had been handed a suspended prison sentence after failing to pay nearly £200,000 in tax. Donald Tiffin, of Park Road, Hampton Wick, had deposits of more than £915,000 in his own bank account and a further £656,000 had been paid into his girlfriend’s account.  The 63-year-old earned the cash by selling a range of tickets and packages to events including Wimbledon, the Champions League and the 2009 British Lions tour of South Africa and HM Revenue & Customs said the 63 year old failed to pay a total of £193,000 in income tax and VAT. Tiffin had admitted two counts of cheating the public revenue. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, for failing to pay income tax, and to 18 months, also suspended for two years, for failing to pay VAT. He was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work and a compensation order in the sum of £193,000 was issued when he appeared at the Old Bailey.

http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/10783627.Ticket_tout_failed_to_pay___193k_in_taxes/

JASRAC faces monopoly questions after court ruling

The Tokyo High Court has overturned a previous ruling by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) and has concluded that the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) violates the country’s anti-monopoly law. The court says the JFTC ruling in 2012 this was not a monopoly was “a mistake.”

Michigan lawmaker seeks to make scalping legal

A Michigan politician says he wants to make it legal to sell sporting event or concert tickets above face value and has introduced legislation that would repeal a 1931 state law that bans ticket scalping unless it's authorised by the venue or event operators. Republican Rep. Tim Kelly of Saginaw Township said he is lining up bipartisan support for his bill. He says it's a common-sense measure that would let the free market decide the price of a ticket saying "An individual who buys a ticket to a sporting event or concert owns that ticket, and they should have every right to sell it if they so choose" adding "This legislation, quite literally, is about allowing the man on the street to sell tickets at fair market value to willing buyers. It creates more fairness while providing some relief to our already overburdened court system."

Kelly said here is no reason for the government to interfere in a transaction between a willing buyer and willing seller. The legislation now goes to a House committee for consideration. And one of Kelly's Democratic colleagues said allowing ticket re-sales is a matter of fairness. Rep. Doug Geiss of Taylor introduced a bill last term that would have limited price markups on ticket websites to up to 10 percent more than face value and also require online resellers to publish the original price of the ticket. That bill did not reah the committee hearing stage and Geiss said he now supports Kelly's proposal saying "As the law currently stands, it doesn't make sense why can I go online and charge somebody $500 for a $50 ticket, but if I sell it in front of a stadium, if I sell it for $51, I can have that ticket confiscated from me," Geiss said.

Local promoters, arenas and music and sporting venues are reviewing Kelly's scalping bill although most remain firmly opposed.

http://www.thestate.com/2013/11/03/3075766/michigan-bill-would-make-ticket.html

YouTube Awards

Another day, another Awards show: The YouTube Music Awards are out with actor Jason Schwartzman and musician Reggie Watts presiding over the unscripted and unrehearsed "frenetic ceremony" with each winner presented with a gold-plated DMCA takedown notice which is faintly amusing. Who won? Well the six were:

Artist Of The Year: Eminem

Video Of The Year: Girls' Generation - I Got A Boy

YouTube Phenomenon: Walk Off The Earth +  KRNFX I Knew You Were Trouble

Innovation of the Year: DeStorm - See Me Standing

Response Of The Year: Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix - Radioactive

Breakthrough Of The Year: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Indie actress Greta Gerwig kicked off proceedings at the sprawling Pier 36 venue in New York, performing in a live video for Arcade Fire and their new song Afterlife and Lady Gaga performed her single Dope for the first time. The ceremony was streamed live.

Blake keeps Mercury rising

Electronic artist James Blake has won the £20,000 Mercury Music Prize. Blake beat stars including David Bowie, The Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg and Laura Mvula  to win the £20,000 prize for Overgrown, his second album. The judges described it as "Late night music for the digital age. An inventive, poignant and poetic record of great beauty." Speaking after the awards, NME's Kevin Perry described Overgrown as "one of the least commercial records on this year's relatively populist list". Prior to the awards. Prior to the awards, Rudimental's chart topping album 'Home' had enjoyed a sales spike of 29,000 units, Jake Bugg's eponymous 2012 debut album sold an additional 25,600 copies and Disclosure's debut Settle picked up 23,000 sales - with the Arctic Monkeys fifth album AM picking up most sales overall since nominations opened.

New music fund for Ontario

DigitalMusicNews reports that the province of Ontario in Canada has set aside a massive $45 million  for its new Ontario Music fund. The new fund for music was pioneered by Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. In an announcement, Chan said, “Ontario is the heartland for music in Canada, generating over $420 million in revenue, representing more than 80 percent of the national total". The music fund will be available to several industry sectors: Music Company Development will support record labels, Music Futures will promote music training and awards, Live Music will encourage booking agents and music events, and Music Industry Development will assist small record producers with capital, sales and guidance. Foreign labels can use the funds to "produce and market the recordings of local musicians, and to attract established foreign international artists to record in Ontario”. Applications for company development and futures are now open, and  applications for live music and industry development will open on November 7th:  all close by January 2014.

Ke$ha no show in Malaysia

Ke$ha is the latest artist to have a show cancelled in Malaysia after the authorities there said her show would "hurt cultural and religious sensitivies". She had been due to play a show in the nation's capital Kuala Lumpur. Despite consenting to tone down her 'suggestive' lyrics and costumes in line with the Muslim country's strict rules, Ke$ha was forbidden from appearing, she says, under threat of "imprisonment", a claim that's since been denied by the concert's promoters, Livescape.

NSW plots scalping clampdown

The government of New South Wales, in Australia, is introducing new laws which could result in AUD$5,500 (€3,835) fines for websites such as eBay and Viagogo if they refuse to remove scalped tickets that are advertised at hugely inflated prices. 

Details remain sketchy, but fair trade minister, Anthony Roberts, is pushing a proposal that will require full ticket details to be included when they are offered for resale online, while a threshold of approximately 10% above cost price is being talked about.

The controversial measures will allow event organisers to identify tickets being resold online and either enable them to cancel those tickets, or demand they be taken down from resale websites. If the websites fail to comply, they could be fined AUD$5,500 per offence.

http://www.ilmc.com/index.php/news/newshome/2305-nsw-plots-scalping-clampdown

The Wall scales the heights

Roger Waters’ The Wall Live has entered the history books after becoming the highest grossing tour ever by a solo artist. Agent Andrew Zweck, of Sensible Events, says the tour’s final show, at the Stade de France in Paris on 21 September, was exactly three years and one week after the opening show in Toronto in 2010 – and was typical for the tour, with a sold-out audience.  The Wall tour played a total of 219 shows worldwide, to more than 4.1 million ticket buyers, grossing $460million (€340m), which is not only the highest grossing tour ever by a solo artist, but also the third highest grossing tour of all time, behind U2’s 360 and The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang.  

From www.ilmc.com

Freeze frame for Metallica

Metallica have confirmed they will play in Antarctica for a Coca-Cola Zero-sponsored show. In a contest open only to those living in Latin America, fans will be able to bid to watch the band play live in a "dome" near the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini on the 8th December. The set will be transmitted via headphones, with no amplification, which Metallica say is a "first".

Live Nation take on Voodoo

The USA's Voodoo Music & Arts Experience, more commonly known as Voodoo Fest, has been acquired by Live Nation. Earlier this year it was widely reported that Robert Sillerman's new SFX business was taking a slice of the Voodoo Fest company - and indeed Sillerman himself discussed the deal in an interview - but as it turns out, that transaction never took place and Live Nation have stepped in and acquired a controlling stake.