Are women on the decline in country music?
Speaking on Women Want to Hear Women, a podcast show, Carrie Underwood said the number of female country stars on the radio has decreased substantially.
Speaking with host Elaina Smith, an exasperated Underwood said,
“You think about all of the little girls that are sitting at home saying, ‘I want to be a country music singer.’ What do you tell them? How do you look at them and say, ‘Well, just work hard sweetie and you can do it’ when that’s not the case right now.
“How do we change it? I don’t know. How do we change it?”
UK regulator removes sanctions against Viagogo.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) made the announcement after the fraudulent secondary ticketing platform changed how it would publish prices on its platform.
In a statement, an ASA spokesperson said,
“We have secured changes to the pricing information appearing on the website of secondary ticketing provider Viagogo, so that consumers aren’t misled. As a result of our work, pricing information will now be made clear with one single price, containing both VAT and the compulsory booking fee, quoted upfront at the start of the consumer journey.”
Viagogo sues Kilimanjaro Live for canceling its illicitly-obtained tickets.
The fraudulent secondary ticketing platform has claimed the UK promotions company canceled thousands of tickets for Ed Sheeran’s concerts.
Viagogo accused Stuart Galbraith, CEO of Kilimanjaro, of “confiscating thousands of genuine tickets at the gate, forcing fans to buy new tickets, and pocketing millions of pounds in duplicate sales.” Kilimanjaro had canceled over 10,000 tickets last May after secondary ticketing platforms – namely Viagogo – sold the illicitly-obtained tickets against Sheeran’s wishes.
Lambasting Viagogo over their shady practices, Stuart Galbraith said then,
“We’re achieving exactly what Ed wanted, which is ‘we want you to come in and pay this [fixed] price. The only agency which listed [resale tickets] against our wishes and ignored all our correspondence was Viagogo.”
YouTube’s Content ID flags public domain music as copyrighted.
Testing the video platform’s piracy recognition system, Dr. Ulrich Kaiser, a German music professor, found YouTube’s Content ID incorrectly flagged classical compositions in the public domain as copyrighted works. Kaiser uploaded a video featuring a 17th century Biber composition published in 1962.
YouTube’s Content ID also flagged another video featuring Beethoven’s No. 5, sending the professor the following message.
“Copyrighted content was found in your video. The claimant allows its content to be used in your YouTube video. However, advertisements may be displayed.”
Say farewell to your MP3s and prepare to pay more, Florida inmates.
Following a new deal with Access Corrections, the Florida Department of Corrections will remove prisoners’ MP3 players along with the music they purchased. Access Corrections will provide inmates with MP3 players for $100. They can download songs for $1.70 each. Prior to the deal, the Department of Corrections had sold over 30,299 MP3 players, and inmates downloaded 6.7 million songs. At $2 each, download revenue totaled $11.3 million.
Because instead of telling countries to produce quality content, politicians should force streaming services to do it.
Under a proposed law by the European Commission, streaming services would forcibly have to produce 30% of their on-demand catalogs in Europe. Individual countries could require the services to produce up to 40%.
In addition, streaming services – not the European Union or member countries – would have to fund the content produced. The move would affect streaming video services – Netflix, Amazon, and others – but could later extend to music services – Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc.
Speaking to Variety, Roberto Viola, Head of the European Commission department that regulates communications networks, said,
“We just need the final vote, but it’s a mere formality.”
Ozzy Osbourne announces farewell tour in the UK and Ireland.
Osbourne’s lengthy farewell tour will kick off on January 30th, 2019 in Dublin and will run until 2020. Complete tour dates have not been announced.
Atlas Publishing signs Brandi Carlile and opens a new office.
Carlile’s multi-year deal with Atlas includes her back catalog as well as her future works. The worldwide deal goes into effect in January 2019.
Founder and CEO Richard Stumpf has also announced Atlas will open a new office in Nashville. Tracy Gershon, a veteran Nashville executive, will serve as a consultant.
Lady Antebellum signs with BMLG.
The Nashville country music group has previously released their albums on Universal Music Group’s Capitol Nashville. Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, and Rascal Flatts are currently on Big Machine Label Group’s (BMLG) roster.
Third Side Music signs a worldwide administration deal for the Soundway Catalog.
Mile Cleret, an English DJ and music producer, founded Soundway Records in 2002. The London-based indie label and publisher has released several notable compilation albums as well as original releases of African, Caribbean, Latin, and Asian music.
Atlantic Records UK poaches a key executive from Vice Media.
Katie White, former Managing Director of i-D, a Vice Media brand, will serve as General Manager of Atlantic Records UK. She’ll lead the company’s Q4 2018 efforts with albums from Twenty One Pilots, Rita Ora, and Jess Glynne.
Spotify announces a key promotion.
Cassie Gilbert will now serve as Sales Director for Australia and New Zealand. She replaces Andrea Ingham, who left the company to join BuzzFeed.
Gilbert joined Spotify as Sales Manager several years ago and had received a promotion in 2014, serving as Senior Sales Manager. She previously worked at Imagine Publishing, Dennis Publishing, and the Weather Channel.
UMG’s Caroline announces a promotion.
Jacqueline Saturn will now serve as President of Caroline, Universal Music Group’s distribution and services arm. She’ll lead the company’s 50-person team, overseeing all aspects of the business, including artist and label signings, partnerships, strategic planning, and alliances with Caroline International’s 11 offices outside the US.
Columbia Records announces a key hire.
Jenifer Malloy will serve as Executive Vice President and General Manager at Columbia Records. Based in New York, she’ll oversee the label’s marketing, publicity, promotion, digital, sales, content, licensing, and brand partnership departments. Malloy most recently served as Executive Vice President at Sony Music Entertainment, working across Columbia, Epic, and RCA.
Mike Owens passes.
Owens, an influential Nashville music executive, has passed away following a heart attack. He was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease and had recently served as the Vice President of Creative at indie music publisher Sea Gayle Music.
In addition to a benefit concert – Music for Mike – organizers have opened a GoFundMe page to help his wife and daughter with expenses.
Featured image by Carrie Underwood (YouTube screengrab)