Warners take the plunge in China

Warner Music has announced an alliance with Chinese internet giant Tencent which, says the major label, is the "first-ever master distribution partnership between a major music company and a leading internet provider in Mainland China". Tencent will distribute Warner's catalogue and new releases (including music from Chinese label Gold Typhoon, which Warner acquired earlier this year) to all domestic non-tel-co-based online audio services in China, while the major will also develop promotional partnerships with various platforms operated by the net firm, including the QQ Music streaming service and various video and gaming based channels.

More UK venues at risk

North London's Buffalo Bar in Islingon is to close on 31 Dec after over fourteen active years. Two othwer independent music venues, the Kazimier - and also Cream-hosting nightclub Nation - in Liverpool may also be 'at risk' under plans reported by the Liverpool Echo for "multi-million pound plans" to devekop "Wolstenholm Square" to create new apartments, shops and leisure facilities".  Plans will be submitted to the local council next week.

SFX revenues up but staff cull planned

SFX is planning to streamline its operations with redundancies likely even though the EDM focussed group saw revenues up almost 200% in Q3. SFX Entertainment CEO Robert Sillerman said in an earnings call last week that the company now plans to "consolidate many of our operations" with a "reduction in workforce" likely. SFX's Q3 financials saw revenues increase by 194.5% to $134.5 million, boosted mainly by is festivals business. Just 20% came from sources outside its live events, such as the Beatport download platform, marketing businesses and ticketing system, reports Billboard. 30 of the 82 festivals the company owns took place in the period being reported.

Band Aid 30 premieres

The new Band Aid single has been broadcast for the first time featuring One Direction, Rita Ora and Ed Sheeran singing the reworked Do They Know It's Christmas? The video was shown on ITV's X Factor.Other artists taking part included Emeli Sande, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Chris Martin, Elbow, Seal, Jessie Ware, Fuse ODG, Sinead O'Connor, Angelique Kidjo, Olly Murs, Paloma Faith, Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Clean Bandit and Foals. Bono, who featured on the original 1984 version, was also involved, as were YouTube video stars Zoella, Alfie Deyes and Joe Sugg. All money raised (including VAT waived by the UK Government) will go to aid the fight against Ebola in Weste Africa.

Damon Albarn spoke to Cathy Newman at Channel 4 News about why he's didn't take part in Band Aid 30 - "There are problems with our idea of charity...sometimes giving money creates another problem". 

Azoff takes on YouTube

Some 20,000 works composed by popular musicians including The Eagles, Pharrell Williams, Boston, Foreigner, John Lennon, Smokey Robinson, Chris Cornell, and George and Ira Gershwin could soon be removed from YouTube - just as the Google streaming giant launches it's YouTube Music Key, it's much-anticipated subscription service that will compete with Spotify and Pandora. why? Well band manager, ex Live Nation chief and now boss of  Global Music Rights (GMR) Irving Azoff (right) has told The Hollywood Reporter that he is prepared to take 42 of his clients away from YouTube. Azoff had already fired a shot accross the bows of US music colleciton societies BMI and ASCAP saying "The way fans listen to music is evolving daily" adding "GMR is going to give songwriters and publishers an opportunity to engage in meaningful licensing for their intellectual property. The trampling of writers' rights in the digital marketplace without any regard to their contribution to the creative process will no longer be tolerated."

Vice and Live Nation team up for online content

Live Nation and Vice have entered into a new joint venture to "launch a revolutionary new digital content platform delivering the voice of live music to millions of online and mobile audiences". Vice CEO Shane Smith: "This partnership rethinks the live music experience, offering unprecedented access to the world's biggest stars and emerging artists, and groundbreaking content that will be distributed across the holy trinity of mobile, online and TV. Today the content world is in upheaval, with new brands being created in real time, and mainstream media seeing its audience migrate in record numbers".

Rolling Stone’s Australian tour cancellation claim in dispute

L’Wren Scott’s tragic and unexpected suicide prompted the Rolling Stones to cancel a number of Australian dates and resulted in a claim against the bands $23.9 million insurance policy and Mick Jagger was "diagnosed as suffering from acute traumatic stress disorder" and advised by doctors not to perform for at least 30 days. However, underwriters have apparently argued that Scott might have been suffering from a pre-existing but undeclared mental illness at the time the insurance policy was agreed, which would, they argue, render cover in relation to her death invalid. It's emerged that the insurers have currently refused to pay out $12.7 million on the claim – resulting in a further legal claim in the London courts by the band.  However the matter has come to wider attention because of legal efforts in the US by the insurers to gain papers relating to Scott's mental health prior to her death. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, a court in Scott's home state of Utah have given underwriters permission to gather testimony and documents from her brother Randall Bambrough and that similar court filings have been made by the insurers in the federal courts in new York to gain access to documents held by Scott's former PA, the executor of her estate and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. It also appears that the underwriters are also arguing that it appeared that Jagger had not actually been personally examined by the doctor who provided the medical note and further that doctor and was not a psychiatrist. In addition, the underwriters pointed to provisions in the policy that Scott’s death by suicide by her own hand was "not beyond her control", invalidating the claim.

The Stones recently cancelled a November 8th Australian concert after lead singer Mick Jagger was diagnosed with a throat infection, promoters said. Tour promoter Frontier issued a statement on their website saying the 71-year-old Jagger was under a doctor's strict order to rest his vocal chords for the next few days to recuperate for the remainder of the tour with the band saying they were 'disappointed'.

UPDATE. The Times (15.11.14) reported that the Stone's multi million pound claim had been settled but the band said that they were "deeply upset" that confidential details were made public. 

http://www.sltrib.com/news/1794055-155/scott-jagger-stones-death-underwriters-font

Tennessee’s anti scalping laws have never been used

For six years, Tennessee has had a law making it illegal to use special computer software – bots - to buy large quantities of tickets to popular concerts and sporting events. But despite the apparent prevalence of the practice, no one has been prosecuted for this hard-to-prove crime in Davidson County according to records obtained by the Tennessean from the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk. The law made computerised scalping a class A misdemeanor punishable by $500 per ticket, or any profits made from each instance, whichever is higher. There have been no prosecutions in Nashville since the law took effect in 2008.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/music/2014/11/09/ticket-bots-tennessee/18766315/ 

Ek talking up Spotify in battle with Swift

Spotify's Daniel Ek has responded to Taylor Swift and other critics in a lengthy blog post reigniting the debate prompted by Swift pulling her catalogue from free (freemium) streaming services. Ek begins by saying 

"Taylor Swift is absolutely right" (referring to remarks the singer made in a Wall Street Journal  and Yahoo interview) adding "Music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it. We started Spotify because we love music and piracy was killing it. So all the talk swirling around lately about how Spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time". Ek then detailed how the Spotify payment model works and revealed that Spotify has now paid out $2 billion to the music industry since launching in 2008, $1 billion of that in the last year and that Spotify now has 50 million active users, 12.5 million of whom are paying subscribers - an increase of ten million and 2.5 million respectively since the last lot of official figures released back in May of this year. However Ek somewhat failed to address why a relatively small share of these streaming royalties are shared out to artists once the money has left Spotify's bank account, not least as the labels who seem to be keeping the lions share of streaming revenues are key partners in his business, both as content providers and shareholders. 

Ek says "The music industry is changing - and we're proud of our part in that change - but lots of problems that have plagued the industry since its inception continue to exist" ading "As I said, we've already paid more than $2 billion in royalties to the music industry and if that money is not flowing to the creative community in a timely and transparent way, that's a big problem. We will do anything we can to work with the industry to increase transparency, improve speed of payments, and give artists the opportunity to promote themselves and connect with fans - that's our responsibility as a leader in this industry; and it's the right thing to do".

Swift and her label Big Machine has pulled the singer's entire catalogue off Spotify (and others) seemingly because of those platform's freemium tier, which allows users to access music without direct payment. "If this fan went and purchased the record, CD, iTunes, wherever, and then their friends go, 'Why did you pay for it? It's free on Spotify', we're being completely disrespectful to that superfan who wants to invest", said Big Machine's Scott Borchetta last week.

Ek points out that, while consumers can access music at this level for free, the artist does still earn a royalty from each play their music receives a stream and compared that  to terrestrial US radio station where labels and recording artists earn nothing for a play (although songwriter earns a royalty from American radio.). In other countries such as the UK both PPL (for labels and recording artists) and PRS (music publishers and songwriters) collect from radio stations. Undeterred Ek continues  "Here's the overwhelming, undeniable, inescapable bottom line: the vast majority of music listening is unpaid", noting that Spotify's main competitors are radio, YouTube and piracy. "If we want to drive people to pay for music, we have to compete with free to get their attention in the first place". Spotify's free tier is vital to driving people to pay, he continues, saying: "More than 80% of our subscribers started as free users. If you take away only one thing, it should be this: No free, no paid, no $2 billion" - not least with a 14% global decline in download sales so far in 2014. 

Ek also looks as Swift as a case study: "At our current size, payouts for a top artist like Taylor Swift (before she pulled her catalogue) are on track to exceed $6 million a year, and that's only growing - we expect that number to double again in a year". Ek added  "People's listening habits have changed - and they're not going to change back" and "[Swift's] songs are all over services and sites like YouTube and SoundCloud, where people can listen all they want for free. To say nothing of the fans who will just turn back to pirate services like Grooveshark" (the 'pirate' label was subsequently objected to by Grooveshark) before concluding "The more we grow, the more we'll pay you", adding: "We're going to be transparent about it all the way through".

The UK's Music Managers Forum followed this by issuing a statement saying that the organisation is a "big supporter of streaming services", and suggesting Taylor Swift and her label  are taking a short-sightedness for pulling her content from Spotify, although the MMF also hit out ar Non Disclosure Agreements that hide the deals between streaming services and the major labels. "Few markets are perfect and yes the 'low rate issue' has conflicted many, but above all, streaming services are a fabulous tool that connects artists and creators with fans", the statement reads. "No longer restricted by physical barriers, streaming gives a voice to those that want to be heard and a platform from which to build multi-revenue businesses that cross borders. There are no guarantees of success but the opportunity is there for all that want to give it a shot".  Finally, the statement concludes: "Non Disclosure Agreements hide how the major music corporations license streaming services and we have grave concerns that the deals contain stipulations that both significantly reduce the amount artists ultimately get attributed and damage the growth of the streaming economy. The real fight is more likely between opacity and transparency, and we call on all major music corporations to take note and react in the best interest of their artists and shareholders".

Ek's blog post in full here https://news.spotify.com/se/2014/11/11/2-billion-and-counting/

Cuts force ENO to cancel

The English National Opera has been forced to cancel a planned production of Monteverdi's Orfeo - the first time 'i recent memory' funding cuts have promoted the pull out. The production, a co-production with Bristol's Old Vic was planned for 2015 in the West of England - its first ENO trip for a UK show outside the capital for 15 years. Cancellation was said to be "the last resort" in the face oft a cut in the ENO's Arts Council grant from £17.2 million to £12.4 million next year.

European Festival Awards final shortlists announced!

The votes have been counted and we can now reveal the finalists in this year’s European Festival Awards, as decided by Europe’s festival-goers. This year – the 6th edition - saw a new record set with over 1.2 million votes cast by fans for their favourite festivals and artists, an astonishing 100% increase on last year’s figures. Some of the more specialists categories are decided by panels of industry professionals, including Artists’ Favourite Festival, Green Operations Award and Promoter Of The year, and this panel also exercises a 25% say in the final outcome of the public-voted selection. The winners will be announced on-stage at the European Festival Awards gala ceremony which returns to crown the opening night of Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen, The Netherlands on Wednesday 14th January 2015 hosted by Ben Challis.

Best Major European Festival

in association with PlugGo

• Colours of Ostrava (Czech Republic)

• Electric Picnic (Ireland)

• EXIT Festival (Serbia)

• Hurricane & Southside (Germany)

• NOS Alive (former Optimus Alive) (Portugal)

• Rock am Ring/ Rock Im Park (Germany)

• Rock Werchter (Belgium)

• Roskilde Festival (Denmark)

• Sziget Festival (Hungary)

• Tomorrowland (Belgium)

• Wacken Open Air (Germany)

• Woodstock Festival (Poland)

Best Medium-Sized European Festival

• Audioriver (Poland)

• Berlin Festival (Germany)

• Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands)

• Electric Castle Festival (Romania)

• Hideout Festival (Croatia)

• Lovefest (Serbia)

• MasterCard Balaton Sound (Hungary)

• OFF Festival Katowice (Poland)

• Pohoda Festival (Slovakia)

• Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro)

• Volt Festival (Hungary)

• Way Out West (Sweden)

Best Small European Festival

• B.my.Lake (Hungary)

• Feest in het Park (Belgium)

• Festival Tauron Nowa Muzyka (Poland)

• Grape Festival (Slovakia)

• Happiness Festival (Germany)

• Indiependence (Ireland)

• Into The Great Wide Open (The Netherlands)

• Jazz in the Park (Romania)

• PLAI (Romania)

• The Garden Festival (Croatia)

Best New European Festival

• Bergfestival (Austria)

• Down The Rabbit Hole (The Netherlands)

• Festival The Brave (Holland)

• Imaginarium Festival (France)

• MS Artville (Germany)

• Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro)

• Serbia Wonderland Festival (Serbia)

• Signal Festival (Czech republic)

• Sunscape Festival (Malta)

• Your'in (Belgium)

Best Indoor Festival

• Blues in Hell (Norway)

• I Love Techno (Belgium)

• I Love Techno (France)

• Metal Hammer Paradise (Germany)

• Reeperbahn Festival (Germany)

• Rolling Stone Weekender (Germany)

• Sensation (The Netherlands)

• Sonar (Spain)

• TiMAF (Romania)

• Waves (Austria & Slovakia)

Newcomer Of The Year

in association with Eurosonic Noorderslag

• Birth of Joy

• George Ezra

• Hozier

• Jungle

• London Grammar

• Mighty Oaks

• Milky Chance

• Mo

• Royal Blood

• Stromae

Best Headliner

• Arcade Fire

• Arctic Monkeys

• Imagine Dragons

• Jack White

• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

• Outkast

• Pearl Jam

• QOTSA

• Stromae

• The Black Keys

Festival Anthem of the Year

• Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine

• Atomic Bomb! - The Atomic Bomb! Band and Special Guests 

• Black Keys - Lonely Boy

• Calvin Harris - Summer

• Ellie Goulding - Burn

• George Ezra - Budapest

• Outkast - Hey Ya

• Pharell Williams- Happy

• Royal Blood - Come on Over

• Stromae - Papaoutai

The following awards are decided purely by our jury of industry experts:

Best European Festival Line-Up

• Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands)

• Glastonbury (United Kingdom)

• Open'er Festival (Poland)

• Hurricane/Southside (Germany)

• Oya Festival (Norway)

• Pinkpop (The Netherlands)

• Primavera (Spain)

• Rock am Ring / Rock im Park (Germany)

• Rock Werchter (Belgium)

• Sziget (Hungary)

Artist’s Favourite European Festival 

• Glastonbury (United Kingdom)

• Hove (Norway)

• Oya Festivalen (Norway)

• Primavera Sound (Spain)

• Pukkelpop (Belgium)

• Rock en Seine (France)

• Rock Werchter (Belgium)

• Slottsfjell (Norway)

• Sziget (Hungary)

• Way Out West (Sweden)

Promoter Of The Year

• FKP Scorpio (Germany)

• Friendly Fire (The Netherlands)

• Live Nation (Belgium)

• Metropolis (United Kingdom)

• ID&T (Belgium)

The Green Operations Award

• Boom (Portugal)

• Cabaret Vert (France)

• Cambridge Folk Festival (United Kingdom)

• Fusion (Germany)

• Ilosaarirock (Finland)

• Isle Of Wight (United Kingdom)

• Maifeld Derby (Germany)

• Melt! (Germany)

• Mysteryland (The Netherlands)

• Northside (Denmark)

• Øya Festival (Norway)

• Rock Am Ring (Germany)

• Roskilde (Denmark)

• Shambala (United Kingdom)

• We Love Green (France)

• Welcome to the Future (The Netherlands)

The following categories do not have shortlists. The winners will be announced at the gala ceremony in Groningen on 14th January.

YES Group H&S Innovation Award In association with the YES Group and ICM&SS

Award For Excellence And Passion

Lifetime Achievement Award in association with Yourope

Marvel man victorious over Killah

Ghostface Killah

Jack Urbont, who created music for 'The Marvel Super Heroes' television show in the '60s has won a lawsuit over sampling. The three-year-old copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Urbont against rapper Ghostface Killah ended with a New York judge entering a default judgment in favour of the plaintiff. According to Urbont's 2011 lawsuit, Ghostface Killah (real name: Dennis Coles) sampled the "Iron Man Theme" on two tracks of the rapper's second album, Supreme Clientele. 

It was no easy matter suing Coles - initially he could not be located and the court allowed service by a publication notice - and then his lawyer requested permission to withdraw from the case on the grounds he hadn't been paid and that his client refused to communicate with him. Ghostface then failed to show up for a deposition, which led to a warning from the judge about sanctions and a default judgment. With Coles still AWOl,  Urbont sought a default judgment as well as fees and expenses, and this was granted by U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald. Urbont's attorney Richard Busch said "As far as Mr. Coles (Ghostface) is concerned, we will now submit evidence on damages to establish actual and statutory damages for willful infringement of Mr Urbont's composition, and to establish our entitlement to actual and punitive damages for the willful infringement of Mr. Urbont's sound recording. The default judgment does not apply to Sony, so the claims against Sony remain to be litigated."

Busch has also indicated that word that he will be pursuing punitive damages for the wilful infringement of the sound recording. As the recodings are pre-1972 and protected by state and Urbont case will now figure out what damages are owed for misappropriating a pre-1972 sound recording. Coles may be hard to pin down but any damages awarded may be easier to collect from his royalties from his solo career and his share of Wu-Tang Clan royalties.
.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/iron-man-composer-beats-ghostface-747107

Ticketmaster buys Seatwave

Ticketmaster has bought the 'operating assets' of secondary ticketing firm Seatwave which will enable the ticketing giant to extend its resale business into a number of new European markets, including Germany, Italy and Spain. Under the new deal, Seatwave will continue to operate separately but as "a Ticketmaster company". According the official statement, this move "builds on Ticketmaster's successful strategy of creating best-in-class, consumer-friendly resale platforms in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States".

Radio Academy restructures

The UK's Radio Academy has announced some radical changes that will see the axing of its two key events - the Radio Festival and Radio Academy Awards (for most of its history know as the Sony Awards) - and the axing of its London office and staff of four. It seems that the loss of Sony as a headline sponsor of the annual awards show triggered  a "strategic review" but BBC Radio 1's Ben Cooper, who is Chair of the Academy, said: "I'm confident and determined that as an industry we can create an exciting and modern event that retains the gravitas of over 30 years of Awards".

MTV EMAs handed out

The MTV EMAs have been handed out in Glasgow and the winners are 

Best Song: Ariana Grande feat Iggy Azalea - Problem 
Best Song With a Message: Beyonce - Pretty Hurts
Best Video: Katy Perry feat Juicy J - Dark Horse

Best Female: Ariana Grande
Best Male: Justin Bieber
Best Live: One Direction
Best New: Five Seconds Of Summer
Worldwide Act: Bibi Zhou

Best Pop: One Direction
Best Rock: Linkin Park
Best Alternative: 30 Seconds To Mars
Best Hip Hop: Nicki Minaj

Best Look: Katy Perry
Best Push: Five Seconds Of Summer
Best World Stage: Enrique Iglesias
Biggest Fans: One Direction

Global Icon: Ozzy Osbourne

Did Plant reject Branson's Led Zeppelin plans?

Rumours swirl that Robert Plant has turned down an offer worth 'hundreds of millions of dollars' from Richard Branson. The Virgin entrepreneur has reportedly offered Plant, Page and bassist John Paul Jones £190 million each to reform the Led Zeppelin for 35 shows, but Plant refused. An unnamed source told the tbe Daily Mirror "Jimmy, John and Jason (Bonham) signed up immediately. It was a no-brainer for them but Robert asked for 48 hours to think about it. When he said no and ripped up the paperwork he had been given, there was an enormous sense of shock. There is no way they can go ahead without him".

Writing on the Virgin website, Branson said: "I've been left dazed and confused by a story doing the rounds this week about us apparently offering Led Zeppelin £500 million to reform and carry out a tour. As much as I love the band, there is absolutely no truth to the story".

FESTIVAL NEWS

Following their recent decision to end operations in Mallorca, the organisers of Ibiza Rocks have announced the launch of a new festival under the 'Rocks' banner in 2015 in Croatia, a joint venture with the country's existing Hideout Festival. The Croatia Rocks event will be more of a conventional festival, taking place from 20-23 Jul on Zrce Beach, with a mixture of DJs and live acts.

Michael Eavis has confirmed that neither Fleetwood Mac or Queen would be playing Glastonbury in 2015. Speaking to Music Week, Eavis said, when asked if Queen and one-time bookies faves Fleetwood Mac might be taking the highest billing on the Pyramid Stage next year, Eavis said: "Queen? Not Queen, no. Fleetwood Mac don't seem to be available at the moment. But we've got three excellent headliners for next year". Picking up the 2014 Music Industry Trust Award, Eavis also said he would love to see a reformed Oasis and Taylor Swift at Worthy Farm.  Portrait by Bea Gibsonl

Lollapalooza's organisers have confirmed the first ever German version of the event will take place at Tempelhof Airport on 12-13 Sep 2015, with US-based William Morris Endeavor and C3 Presents working in collaboration with Reading/Leeds/Melt! bookers Festival Republic. The Berlin festival will be Lollapalooza's first European event, sitting beside still-active sister events in Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. Lollapalooza creator and one-time Jane's Addiction man Perry Pharrell says: "Berlin's energy, vibrant art, fashion and music scenes are a mirror reflection of what Lollapalooza is all about and I can't wait to share in this cultural exchange".

And Virtual Festivals reports that international festival brand Rock in Rio will make its debut in the USA next May. The festival will take place for the first time in Las Vegas, Nevada over two weekends, May 8 - 9 and May 15 - 16. The first weekend, from May 8-9, will be a 'Rock Weekend' and the second, from May 15-16, will be a 'Pop Weekend'. Cirque du Soleil and MGM Resort are already helping organisers build a brand new event space being called “The City of Rock”, large enough to hold more than 80,000 festival-goer each day. Metallica, Linkin Park, Deftones and No Doubt are the first acts announced for the 'Rock Weekend' at the inaugural edition of Rock in Rio USA. Taylor Swift, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and Joss Stone are among the first acts announced for the 'Pop Weekend' of Rock in Rio USA.

BBC Radio 2's annual search for new folk talent, which has been a launch pad for acts including Bella Hardy, Jackie Oates and Jim Moray, returns for 2015.Emerging Folk artist or bands Nominee for the BBC's Young Folk Awards. Nominees are picked from 10 successful entrants in January 2015 at the Young Folk Award Weekend, and the final 4 acts chosen by a team of judges will go on to perform at the awards held in April.As well as the accolade, the winner will also get slots at Towersey Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival and Fairport's Croperdy Convention. More here.

And Kendal Calling are calling out for emerging talent to join the award winning Cumbrian festival 'in the fields' for their special 10th Birthday celebration. So whether you are a band, DJ, comedian or poet, Kendal Calling would like to hear from you! More here.

And any bands, DJs, circus, cabaret, aerial performers, kids entertainers, artists, decoration peeps,  traders, volunteers, healers or anyone with something they would like to bring to Eden Festival 2015, please send a message ASAP through the website http://www.edenfestival.co.uk/MAIN/?page_id=39

Taylor Swift has been confirmed as the first headliner for Barclaycard presents British Summer Time in Hyde Park in June 2015.

Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon have been working on a brand new event for 2015, a five-day festival in Mexico with not only music but golf tournaments and dinner parties on the offering. Ozzfiesta will be hosted by the five-star Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya next year, and appears to be a one-off Latin extension of the Osbournes’ annual Ozzfest tour. The festival will take place from Wednesday 27 - Sunday 31 May in the coastal region of Riviera Maya, Mexico and is being produced by Cool Breeze Concerts and Sharon Osbourne herself. Her husband Ozzy will headline a beachside stage on the final night the festival, which will also see performances from Black Label Society and several standup comics.

Stones cancel after Jagger throat infection

The Rolling Stones have cancelled a November 8th Australian concert after lead singer Mick Jagger was diagnosed with a throat infection, promoters said. Tour promoter Frontier issued a statement on their website saying the 71-year-old Jagger was under a doctor's strict order to rest his vocal chords for the next few days to recuperate for the remainder of the tour with the band saying they were 'disappointed'.

Warners on board with SoundCloud

SoundCloud, the user-created audio streaming platform currently used by 175 million unique listeners each month, confirmed today that it has inked its first licensing deal with one of the major record labels: the Warner Music Group — whose roster includes David Guetta, The Flaming Lips and Sheryl Crow — who will now partner with the streaming company around its ad-supported, creator partner program, “On SoundCloud” that was launched in August, as well as a paid subscription streaming service that will launch in the first half of 2015. Alexander Ljung, SoundCloud’s founder & CEO, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled that Warner Music Group will be the first major label to join our new creator partner program,” adding  “We expect to generate significant revenue for Warner and its artists in the months and years ahead as we roll out an ad-supported offering and subscription service that delivers real value to the industry.”

Live Nation looks at 'record year'

Live Nation has announced its third quarter results and that the live giant says it is on track for "another record year". The figures backed up claims made in July, when reporting that profits were down for the second quarter, that the live firm was set for a strong summer concert season. Live Nation, According to Billboard, revenues for the quarter were up 11% to $2.5 billion with "adjusted operating income" - so operating income without the effects of "one-time and extraordinary items" - was up 17% to $258.1 million.