PRS for Music targets live music and festivals

PRS for Music (PRS) have launched a new eight week long Popular Music Concerts Tariff (‘Tariff LP’) Consultation to review the licensing structure for the use of music in the live music industry in the United Kingdom. Tariff LP is applied to ticketed live popular music events such as concerts and festivals. The consultation will run from 13th April to 8th June 2015.

http://www.prsformusic.com/users/businessesandliveevents/livevenuesevents/consultation/pages/default.aspx

New CDM Regulations In Place

The new CDM regulations came into effect on April 6th 2015, after five years of review. The purpose of the regulations is to 'prevent the ill health or death of construction and maintenance operatives, while also allowing for the delivery of good design'. One of the new regulations most notable changes to work towards this is introducing the role of 'Principal Designer' which is not meant to directly replace the CDM coordinator because the duties vary but the coordinator role has been removed. The Principal Designer is responsible for planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating the health and safety in the pre-construction phase of a project including identifying, eliminating or controlling foreseeable risks, ensuring designers carry out their duties and to provide relevant information to the principal contractor so they can carry out their construction safely. Other key changes include a duty to make sure all persons doing the job have the right skills, knowledge, training and experience and that both a principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed on projects with more than one contractor.

You can download guidance for the new regulations here.

International Festival Forum launches

This autumn, ILMC will launch a new event aimed at bringing the festival world together alongside exclusive showcases and Q&As with some of the industry’s most renowned booking agencies.  The International Festival Forum (IFF) will be an invitation-only event for festivals and agents. It takes place in London from 30 September – 1 October, 2015, at a time of year when many festivals are already in town for meetings with agencies. The event plans to build a unique forum for music festivals where leaders and innovators can meet, exchange ideas and improve their business, as well as providing a targeted networking element bringing festivals and agencies closer, while showcasing some of their best festival-ready artists.

More here http://iff.rocks/

Liverpool's Kazimer set to close

Liverpool venue Kazimer is set to close on the 1st January 2016, following a New Years party. The closure is a result of plans to redevelop the city's Wolstenholme Square, which are still pending planning permission from the council. The £40 million plan put forward by developer Elliot Group would create new commercial and residential properties, including a new home for Liverpool club Cream. It is possible that there will also be space for a new venue run by the Kazimer founders too, although this has not been confirmed.

In other venue news, The Arches in Glasgow is to remain open, despite an apparent police bid to have it shut down permanently. Last month, a club night was cut short after 26 drug and alcohol-related offences were reported in one night and a woman was found unconscious outside the venue.

Major labels join legal action against alleged hacker

All three major record companies are taking  action against Swedish man for allegedly hacking the email accounts of music industry executives to access unreleased recordings including those from Nicki Minaj and Mary J Blige, which he then allegedly sold to DJs and websites who leaked them ahead of official releases.  According to Torrentfreak, the man is being prosecuted after an FBI investigation and prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad explained: "In the United States an investigation was launched into the stolen songs. The tracks led to Sweden through bank accounts and IP addresses. Therefore, we were contacted". The accused, who denies the charges against him, could face fines and up to two years in prison if found guilty of the hacking and leaking allegations. He also faces civil litigation from Sony, Universal and Warner, who will likely claim that the leaks cost them much more than the $12,000 the accused is thought to have made from selling the unreleased tracks.

Australian 'Three Strikes' moves closer

Australia's telecoms sector has submitted the final draft of its plans for a three-strikes system to combat online piracy in the country. The draft was submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, after input from over 370 interesting parties and the planned moves will see ISPs sending warning letters to suspected file-sharers. Australian ISPs have resisted the move, but the country's government forced action late last year. As with other three-strikes programmes, a series of letters will be sent to web-users who rights owners suspect of accessing unlicensed content, the first  being educational, but with subsequent correspondence 'graduating' to more severe. However the third strike will mean that the personal details (of those who ignore letters) being  handed over to the rights owners, who will then be able to take legal action for copyright infringement. Web-users who get to stage three will have the right to appeal, The current set up also puts a cap on the total number of warning letters that can be sent each year, with 200,000 the current limit. Though that's really a financial arrangement, and rights owners could push for more letters to be sent if they can agree financial terms with the ISPs. The ACMA will now consider the draft proposals which need Federal government approval 

CISAC welcomes EU moves

CISAC has welcomed a joint statement from ministers in Germany and France, which, says the copyright body, "signals the elevation of creators' rights to the top of Europe's policy agenda and recognises creators as drivers of economic growth".

CISAC says that the statement from Germany's Federal Minister For Justice And Consumer Protection Heiko Maas and France's Minister For Culture And Communication Fleur Pellerin backs its position that protecting the rights of authors should be an integral part of the 'digital single market'. CISAC said: "France and Germany's joint position has further emphasised that the modernisation of authors' rights/copyright in Europe should be examined within the wider context of the digital single market package, in which establishing fair rules and fair regulations for all stakeholders should be a priority. This stresses the two countries' intention to bring their legislative success in the analogue world to the digital context".

CISAC's Director General Gadi Oron added: "Our 230 member societies around the world represent nearly four million creators who depend on effective protection for their works. The European territory is the largest market for royalty collections, accounting for 61% of the overall collections internationally. This figure not only shows the importance of the European market for creators, but also demonstrates the significant economic and cultural role played by creators" saying "It is vital to ensure that Europe continues to serve as a model for norm setting on authors' rights/copyright. Clear legislative commitments on the protection of creators' rights in Europe would go a long way in helping to strengthen the position of creators in other regions".

More than twenty prominent European filmmakers including Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), Wim Wenders (“Every Thing Will Be Fine”), Paolo Sorrentino (“La Grande Bellezza”), Ken Loach (“Jimmy’s Hall”) and Abderrahmane Sissako (“Timbuktu”) have rallied to "protect copyright laws" in the EU add ad their voice to move to reform copyright law across Europe - in particular rallying against proposed moves to remove traditional national exclusivity for film and TV licensing (and geo-blocking) and  allow audiovisual and film works to circulate freely across Europe using pan-European licenses. Saying the moves would undermine the way films are financed, The film makers argue that the E.U.’s proposal would harm right-holders, and solely benefit multi territory platforms like Netflix and Google saying "“We share the European Commission’s will to facilitate film availability to all… but let’s not go about it in a way that could be destructive for cinema.” The directors’ alternative proposals included bolstering existing support for Europe’s exhibition circuit,   and a new charter for the EU’s public broadcasters to aid the diffusion of more European films throughout the region. More on Screen Daily here and here.

DOJ may green light US music publishing changes

The US Department Of Justice is expected to green light the partial withdrawal from collective licensing of certain rights held by (major) music publishers after its review of the American music publishing industry, meaning the major publishing companies will be able to license digital platforms directly.

Osprey outcry put T's Strathallan home at risk

Campaigners opposed to T In The Park taking place at the Strathallan Estate in Perthshire, which include the Woodland Trust and the RSPB, have secured what they say is a defining victory against promoters DF and the Estate owners, Jamie and Debs Roberts. Whilst the local authority is still considering arguments on both sides over whether the 80,000 capacity festival can take place from 10-12 July, the RSPB, who had already noted that ospreys traditionally nest near the Estate, have said the protected birds have returned. Under the Wildlife And Countryside Act it is a criminal offence to disturb ospreys during the breeding season. Although the ospreys' long-term roosting spot is not on the Strathallan Estate itself, STV reports that a 2500 foot 'buffer zone' would be required around the nest if T went ahead there, and that would significantly cut into the planned festival site.  DF had reportedly hired experts to try to persuade the ospreys to nest in a alternative nesting space and DF contractors had been using using kites, balloons and an extended cherry-picker crane near the old nest to try to divert the birds to the new site. The RSPB has dubbed these attempts "unethical and unacceptable". However the birds have now returned to their original nesting spot.

James Reynolds of RSPB Scotland told reporters: "We are aware that the ospreys have been reported at the nest site and indeed we have some video footage that shows one of them alighting on the nest with a stick". He went on: "This blatantly means this is now an active nest and is protected from disturbance, so the cherry picker should have been removed immediately. I was informed that that did not take place and contacted Police Scotland to make them aware of that. As this nest is closer to the main festival activity, the risk that the birds will be disturbed by the festival has increased and that will be reflected in our response to the planning application". A spokesperson for DF said that the RSPB's video "does not correspond with the ongoing monitoring from our ornithologist on site", meaning that the promoter is not yet convinced the ospreys have indeed set up home in their original nest. The spokesperson added: "We are fully aware of and compliant with the legal protocol and as such, we have asked the police and RSPB to seek further information so that the video's authenticity can be fully examined. We have removed the cherry picker while we wait for this information". Police were called to the scene on Monday and are investigating.

UPDATE

Xfm reports: A spokesperson for festival organiser DF concerts said: "We can confirm that ospreys have returned to Strathallan, but the expert opinion of our ornithologist is that they have not yet nested. In the meantime, we'd also like to assure fans that the festival will go ahead. The decision on our planning application will still be made in May and we remain confident that the event will take place at Strathallan."

DF boss Geoff ellis told the BBC: "We are in daily contact with the RSPB and we will be working very closely with them. Whichever nest the birds take to we will work with them to agree an appropriate exclusion zone and manage it accordingly. We guarantee to do that and we'd be bound by the law to do it anyway. We will work with the RSPB so that T In The Park can continue at its new home at Strathallan Castle and the ospreys can co-exist with the festival" and Ellis said he said that his team were capable of adapting the way they use to site to accommodate the local birds of prey. Noting that DF had to work around a pipeline at their old site at Balado, he said his team were used to changing site plans saying "We used to have to [change our site plans] at Balado almost every year with the changes in the HSE guidelines to the pipeline. The one thing about a music festival is you build it up from scratch each year. It's just a case of re-plotting positions of things on site. It's extra work obviously but certainly it's not a show stopper in any form".

Read more at http://www.xfm.co.uk/festivals/t-in-the-park/news/t-in-the-park-go-ahead-despite-nesting-rare-birds/#sQmmbupo7lVeX2SK.99

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-32202516

Vision Nine raises £5 million for new events

Vision Nine, promoters of the Boardmasters and NASS festivals, has announced it has raised £5 million in finance, which it will use to create new festivals and to grow its events internationally. London based entertainment investment group Ingenious led the round of funding, and its Senior Investment Director Paul Bedford will advise the live firm on an ongoing basis as its Group Finance Director. He joins Vision Nine co-founders Julian and Andrew Topham on the company's management team, alongside MAMA & Company co-founders Adam Driscoll and Phillip Murphy, who are Vision Nine's Co-CEO and MD respectively. Bedford told reporters: "Vision Nine represents a very exciting opportunity for investors - a great brand and an impressive team with massive potential. We are delighted to add our proven experience of structuring, promoting and managing investment opportunities across the entertainment industry".

New digital data on teens points to a streaming future

Research firm GlobalWebIndex (GWI) has released more data collected from a global panel of nearly 5,000 16-19 year old teenagers in 32 countries to find out what they’re doing online and how they’re getting their digital entertainment.


Music came top of the chart of “top interests” in the survey, with 70% saying they are strongly interested in music – ahead of films (around 65%), science and technology (60%) and games (55%).

When asked what they’d done online in the last month, 60% said they’d listened to a streaming music service – more than used an instant messaging app (57%) but only 21% of group said they’d bought a music download in the last month, highlighting the shift to a streaming generation. When asked what digital entertainment services they used last month, 30% said Google Play, 21% Netflix, 20% iTunes, 13% SoundCloud and 11% Spotify - BUT (and its a big but) - YouTube was not included in the range of options.
.
The survey also showed that: 40% of teenagers used music apps in the last month, behind only games (50%) and social networks (42%) - and a surprisingly small percentage (29%) said they had used using chat/messaging apps. They were asked about their top messaging services though: 31% are using Facebook Messenger, 26% WhatsApp, 20% Skype, 14% Snapchat and 7% Line, although GWI pointed out “But it’s Snapchat that is really making headway among teens,” and  “These figures are significantly higher in some key markets: 37% of UK teens are using Snapchat, as are 30% in the US and Canada.”

Glastonbury and INMusic new talent finalists announced

The Glastonbury Festival have announced the eight acts that have made it through to the live final of their 2015 Emerging Talent Competition.

The invite only finals take place in Pilton next Saturday (11th April) and the judges include a number of main stage bookers for the Festival, as well as judges from BBC Radio 1 and PRS For Music. The winner is guaranteed a slot on a main stage at the 2015 Festival, and £5000 from the PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development fund. Two runners up will also each receive £2,500 from PRS for Music Foundation.

You can hear all eight finalists on Soundcloud here. The finalists are:

Declan / McKenna

MoD Music

Princess Slayer

Lucy Kitchen

Isaac Lee-Kronick

SHIELDS

Jakl

K.O.G. & The Zongo Brigade.

The eight acts were selected by Glastonbury judges from the longlist of 120 artists which was compiled by 40 of the UK’s best online music writers, who chose their selections from thousands of entries. Emily Eavis told us: “We’ve been blown away by the interest in the competition this year. To have more than 6,000 acts from the UK and Ireland enter is just incredible. Our team of judges did a fantastic job of whittling all those entries down to 120 acts, and it certainly wasn’t easy for us to choose eight finalists from the longlist. But I’m really excited about the quality and variety of the eight acts we’ve ended up with. I’m really looking forward to seeing them play at the live finals.”

And the finalists for this years All About The Music have been announced with "5 great bands take part in the final trying to rock your socks off for a chance to play on the main stage at this years INmusic festival in Croatia (June 22nd - 24th) alongside the likes of Placebo , Death Cab for Cutie, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Eagles Of Death Metal. Those finalists for the 3rd May final at the Corporation  in Sheffield are:

AWOOGA
Native Braves
Katalina Kicks
DIVIDES
All To Ruin

Plus last years winners Stop Drop Robot will take to the stage.

For more information and to check out a track each of the bands see: http://aatm.dscvr.uk/

Bowie plans Lazarus

David Bowie is planning to stage a new musical based on the iconic 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth in which he starred. Lazarus will open in the new York Theatre workshop and will include both old and new Bowie compositions. 

Massive fire in West London hits Neg Earth - but its 'busines as usual'

A massive blaze at an industrial unit on Western Road in the early hours of Thursday morning (April 2) has seemingly seriously damaged NegEarth's London home. Over 100 firefighters and fifteen fire engines attended the scene from Willesden, Acton, Park Royal, Wembley, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Paddington, and Northolt fire stations and spent hours trying to bring the blaze under control. Crews at the scene said the ground and first floor of the unit were ablaze, as well as a large section of the roof. Neg Earth, the London based, entertainment lighting and rigging hire company  are located ar Light House, Western Road, London NW10 7LT, and getwestlondon pinpointed the fire to this location.

UPDATE

In a mail out via TPI and the PSA Neg Earth could tell us it was "Business as usual for Neg Earth"

"As you may already be aware, Neg Earth Lights Ltd’s building in Western Road, NW10 was subject to extensive fire damage in the early hours of this morning, Thursday 2nd April 2015.
Fortunately, no one was hurt and despite the damage, you can be assured that we remain operational. Email and phone contact details are unchanged. If you have any questions please contact Lindsey Markham: lindsey@negearth.co.uk  07557 430908

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support, good wishes and offers of assistance which have been truly appreciated.

Very best, Dave and Pip Ridgway   Neg Earth Lights Ltd"

The Ring Saga - another festival leaves the Nurburging

As the battle for the use of the name 'Rock Am Ring' continues in the German Courts between original promoter at the Nurburgring, Markek Lieberberg’s MLK, and new owners Capricorn Nürburgring GmbH, with MLK moving their Festival to Monchengladbach, the new German  event which took over at the Nurburgring, the DEAG promoted Der Ring - Grune Holle Rock (Green Hell) looks like it may in trouble with rumours based on DEAG accounts saying that less than 5,000 tickets have been sold, despite headliners including Muse, Metallica, Faith No More, Judas Priest and Kiss - coupled with two Facebook postings from the organisers saying that disagreements with the Nurburgring owner Capricorn means the event will move from the famous motor circuit to German Bundesliga club FC Schalke 04's Veltins-Arena, a football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, approximately 200km away from the Nurburgring.  Green Hell is planned to take place over 3 days from Friday 29th to Sunday 31st May 2015 

The first Facebook post on 30th March said this

"Dear fans, irst things first: Grüne Hölle Festival will take place for sure! Some of you may have already followed the recent discussion in the media about the festival moving to a different location. Today, we paid the last artist fee for the bands that will perform at Grüne Hölle – the festival will definitely take place. Though, the festival is very likely to move to the “Arena auf Schalke”, which is about 200 km from the Nürburgring, where camping will also be possible. This is an option we are currently looking into. We will definitely let you know before Easter what the final decision on this will be.

We already sold a total of 60,000 tickets for the sister festivals Rock in Vienna and Rockavaria with the same line-up as Grüne Hölle and we’re confident that our festival will also be a success!

In case the festival will move to Schalke-Arena, you will have the following options: use your ticket to rock with us at the new location, swap your ticket – without any extra fee – for a ticket to Rockavaria in Munich or Rock in Vienna, or you can demand a refund for the ticket you bought (at the same ticket office where you bought the ticket).

We hope you understand that we might not be able to answer all your questions right now. However, we will get back to you as soon as we have some new information for you – before Easter the very latest.

Thanks for understanding,
your Grüne Hölle team"

This was followed early on the 2nd of April with

Dear fans,

Unfortunately irreconcilable differences have teamed up with our partner, the Capricorn Nürburgring GmbH. Because we did not agree we have made the decision to move to the Arena auf Schalke. In this proven location, many bands rock history have written and we will heat up under a new flag with "Rock in the Area" Gelsenkirchen from 29 to 31 May 2015. Some of you will be certainly look forward, the other sad and disappointed - we are however glad that we were able to rescue the Festival and can take place at all!

If you have already purchased tickets for green hell and also on Schalke with Metallica, Muse, KISS and co. want to rock, your tickets are valid for the Interior; the best seats. It is also possible that your green hell their exchanging tickets for a Rockavaria or rock in Vienna or they give back at the ticket office where you purchased them.

More info and schedules will be published next week before the Presale start for rock in the area on April 9. There will still be camping opportunities for you. We have all hands full over Easter and Easter time and again with updates on you come to, and answer your questions.

Many greetings

Your rock in the area team

Press reports say a claim for breach of contract by DEAG against Capricorn Nürburgring GmbH  may follow.

"Green Hell" was a nickname for the Nurburgring coined by F1 driver Sir Jackie Stewart after a famous victory in the German Grand Prix in 1968 -  and it now looks like the rock event will be renamed

Musicians' mental health back in the spotlight

Brian Harvey

The Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk MP has called on the music industry to do more to protect the mental health of musicians. The call comes after Danczuk, spoke to former East 17 singer Brian Harvey for one of a series of interviews he has conducted exploring different political issues for LBC. In the interview, Harvey spoke about his struggles with his mental health, feelings of suicide, and problems accessing NHS services. Many of his problems, argues Danczuk, were exacerbated by his time in the music industry, particularly by people working with him introducing him to hard drugs.  Harvey recently vented his anger at the music industry as he smashed up platinum discs he was awarded with the band and then posted a video of his outburst online on YouTube. In the expletive-packed burst of anger, he rants: 'East 17, one million sales - this is what it f****** means,' before the destroying his discs.

Brian Harvey vents his anger

The issue was raised five years ago at ILMC 22 in a panel chaired by band manager Kieth Harris, which featured contributions from Squeeze's Chris Difford, now a recovering alcoholic who wrote an heartfelt article in the March 2010 issue of IQ magazine "The Bridge to Normal Life" looking at his own alcoholism and also what can be done to help others. along with Difford, the panel, Keeping an Even Keel, featured Flemming Schmidt (Live Nation Denmark), band manager Adam Parsons, Sanchita Farruque (BAPAM) and record label man Paul Conroy (Adventures in Music) and focussed on whether artists were being pushed beyond breaking point. It was acknowledged  that drugs have been the catalyst for many masterpieces in all areas of the arts, but the key was to assist those who cannot function without them, rather than interfere with responsible users. There were differing opinions as to the roles of managers and whether or not interventions were ever appropriate. “We treasure artistic freedom and trying to promote interference in personal freedom would not go well in our neck of the woods,” said Live Nation’s Flemming Schmidt. “I travelled with Kurt Cobain and he was a lovely but self-destructive guy – I don’t think we as an industry could have changed that.” Others such as Chrissy Uerlings, felt drug usage was the result of the industry itself as professionals put the need to make tours cheap above the health of the musicians. “You book as many shows as close as possible, to make it cheap,” he said. “Instead of giving people the right to get rest we look at the costs. Don’t pretend that people really look after each other.” All the panellistrs agreed that adequate support and education is generally unavailable for the artists who acknowledge needing help. Difford stated that current support systems were not strong enough and that artists frequently need financial support to attend costly rehabilitation centres. “The main thing is not about intervention – it’s about support,” he said. “There’s support on the High Street and major institutions like Barclays look after their own, but music is all about making money, not about caring.” and Paul Conroy concluded the session with a call to action: “We could leave this room and say we’re actually going to do something about this. As an industry we put money into a lot of things but it’s about the artists at the end of the day. But it’s not the sexy end of the business is it?” Chair Keith Harris commented “The most important topic was that people weren’t aware that there was help out there. In terms of actually managing to help themselves, everyone that talked made the point that they had some kind of support. The idea of making people aware of the support that’s out there was the most important topic to me, because it was actually a way forward. You’re never going to get a definitive solution, but it’s good to have some suggestions and things that might be taken forward.”

And Eddy Temple-Morris has revealed details of a compilation being put together to raise awareness for the British Tinnitus Association and the need for more research into tinnitus, featuring contributions from Coldplay, DJ Fresh, Enter Shikari and more with Tenmple-Morris saying "We still have no cure for tinnitus, because there is no government funding for any research" and "the problem is getting worse and worse, because every kid is listening to loud music on their phone, with earbuds or swish Dr Dre mobile bass bins, and our spam-faced Prime Minister and his NHS-annihilating cronies have still not spent one single penny on letting us know that doing this could give us brain damage. Yes. Brain damage. I'm not making this up. Tinnitus is not an ear problem. It's damage to the pathway between ear and the hearing centre of the brain"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/east-17-singer-brian-harvey-in-very-desperate-situation-10141812.html

London's Crucifix Lane to close

Another London club bites the dust. South London club Crucifix Lane will close after the Easter Weekend. As with Cable, located close to Crucifix Lane in the London Bridge arches, the closure has been forced by Network Rail’s expansion of London Bridge train station. The venue has existed under different names for over 20 years, hosting shows by the Chemical Brothers as early as 1994 as part of Andrew Weatherall’s Sabresonic weekly. It opened in its present guise at the beginning of 2011,  A press release from the club reads that “the establishment is at it again … Crucifix Lane is the next London nightclub to fall foul of rich redevelopers and callous gentrification. Just around the corner from Cable (a club that suffered the same fate not so long ago) and in the same set of railway arches, Network Rail are coming in to batten down the hatches and take control of the space to make way for London Bridge Station expansion."

More here

Wilco takes a stand against Indiana's "religious freedom" law

Wilco have taken a stand against Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Chicago alternative rock band said they were cancelling their Indianapolis tour date in protest against the recently enacted Indiana law that critics say could allow businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian patrons by refusing service. “We’re canceling our 7th May show in Indianapolis,” the band tweeted adding “’Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act’ feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination.”  Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the bill into law, which he says is intended to keep the government from infringing on a business owner’s religious beliefs. And a new parody of Broadway song ‘Gary, Indiana’ also takes aim at Indiana’s new anti-gay law - recorded by YouTube star Randy Rainbow - the song was originally included as an ode to the state. Rocker John Mellencamp said Indiana's religious objections law was a "stain" on his home state.

UPDATE

Indiana Govenor. Mike Pence has asked lawmakers to send him a clarification of the State's new religious-freedom law later this week - although Arkansas legislators have passed a similar measure, despite criticism that it is a thinly disguised attempt to permit discrimination against gays.  Actor Nick Offerman is unhappy with the Indiana government and  tweeted Tuesday that he and wife Megan Mullally would be canceling the scheduled Indiana stop of their “Summer of 69: No Apostrophe” comedy tour, UConn men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie will not be traveling to the Final Four this week, abiding by a travel ban ordered by Connecticut's governor because of Indiana's new religious-objections law, and the Indianapolis Star is urging Indiana lawmakers in a front-page editorial to respond to widespread criticism of the new law. headlined "FIX THIS NOW" the article covers the newspaper's entire front page. It calls for lawmakers to enact a law that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.


Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2015/03/31/3488130/indianapolis-star-calls-for-law.html#storylink=cpy

and here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/30/indiana-anti-gay-law_n_6969286.html

Ticketmaster faces anti-trust law suit from StubHub

In what could prove to be a landmark case in the sports ticket marketplace, Live Nation's Ticketmaster is being sued by eBay-owned StubHub over its official alliance with the Golden State Warriors basketball team. Ticketmaster is the primary ticket seller for the Warriors, and also operates the official season ticket resale platform, where tickets can be officially resold. The basketball team threatens to cancel any tickets it sees being touted on other secondary sites, like StubHub: reselling a ticket is usually a breach of the terms and conditions of the original purchase. The threat has apparently worked. StubHub claims that listings for Warriors tickets, which is currently the hottest ticket in the NBA, are down 80 percent in the past year.

But StubHub has alledged that this amounts to anti-competitive behaviour on Ticketmaster's part. The eBay firm says in its complaint: "If you are a Warriors fan and you want season tickets, you have one choice: buy them through Ticketmaster". The company's General Counsel Michelle Fang then told Bloomberg that her client was suing in the interest of Warriors' fans, adding of Ticketmaster's motives: "Given that they haven't been able to win when we've competed on a level playing field, they're trying to compete unfairly".Ticketmaster responded to the litigation, saying: "We are disappointed that StubHub has filed a baseless lawsuit that asks the courts to help prop up its business against true fan-friendly competition. NBA teams like the Golden State Warriors have implemented ticket exchanges powered by Ticketmaster because they want ticket resale to be a secure experience, not an opportunity for scalping and fraud".

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12584885/stubhub-sues-golden-state-warriors-alleging-monopoly

TIDAL relaunches with star studded bore-fest

Beyonce, Nicki Minaj,  Alicia Keys. Jack White, Usher, Arcade Fire, Jason Aldean, J Cole, Kanye West, Madonna,  Daft Punk and Deadmau5 all joined Roc Nation boss Jay-Z for the re-launch of the "artist-friendly" streaming service TIDAL - with  Calvin Harris and Chris Martin skype-ing in.  The FT cites sources who claim that the artists were given their 3% shareholdings gratis alongside a cash sweetener of up to $3 million, in return for agreeing to front the streaming platform - which at $19.99 a month costs twice what other similar services are charging albeit TYIDAL will feature a number of "exclusives", including first-plays of new albums and other exclusive content.  You can see a truly appalling video here

More on Gawker here