A BLOG OF SORTS FROM CHRIS COOKE
May 2023 Updates
Birthday in Athens
Many thanks for all the birthday greetings yesterday. For my birthday present this year I’d like the music industry to finally sort out its data problems so that songwriters can be paid properly. Which is a big ask I realise. I should probably just take the wonderful two days I had in Athens and be happy with that. Though the metadata code just signed by the UK music industry is a step – albeit very much a small step – in the right direction. Let’s see where we are next time I’m eating birthday cake! Here’s my report on that metadata code.
Fair use chatter
There’s a new edition of Setlist out today. Why is the music industry so interested in a visual art copyright case in the American Supreme Court? No, not because the artworks at the centre of that case feature Prince. It’s because it tests the always tricky concept of ‘fair use’ and in a way that could impact on the way the industry deals with generative AI. We explain it all in this week’s edition. Tune in here.
CMU digested
It’s the music business week digested – with Sony Music boss Rob Stringer discussing challenges and issues with streaming, plus yet more ticketing regulations proposed in US Congress, lawsuits over Montana’s TikTok ban, the latest on Maria Schneider’s Content ID litigation, and Ireland’s festival-based drug harm-reduction scheme. Read this week’s CMU Digest here.
Output 2023
Next Thursday – so 1 Jun – I’ll be at Output in Belfast discussing all the economics of music streaming projects that have been ongoing since that good old select committee inquiry in Parliament called for a “complete reset” of the digital music business – plus we’ll update everyone on our Pathways Into Music research work mapping music careers, music education and the music industry. Hope to see you there!
Athens Music Week
Next week I will be celebrating my birthday by talking AI, showcase festivals and music publishing all in one day. Which would be a special birthday treat all on it’s own, because – as you know – chatting about such topics is my very favourite thing to do. But – as an added bonus – I’ll be doing all that talking in Athens no less, so it’s a double birthday treat. If you’re heading to Athens Music Week this year, see you there!
CMU digested
It’s the music business week digested – with yet more generative AI relevant developments, including the US Supreme Court’s big fair use ruling over Andy Warhol’s Prince artworks and some Congressional chat on the copyright questions posed by music-making AI. Plus Ed Sheeran wins another ‘Thinking Out Loud’ lawsuit, the campaign to save the Brixton Academy, and the ongoing war of words over The Leadmill in Sheffield. Read this week’s CMU Digest here.
From the TGE podium
Just going through the photos of last week’s Great Escape. I’d forgotten about the shadow puppetry interlude. Presumably the slide I was talking about here was so good, I needed to point at it with two fingers. Talking of the slides, we’ll be sending out the links to those tomorrow for anyone who signed up to receive them at the event or via the CMU Daily earlier this week. Thanks to TGE photographer Rafal Wojnowski for this photo and the ones I shared the other day.
A great Great Escape
Just back from another super busy and definitely great Great Escape – a week when there were so many insights I wanted to post about on social media and precisely no time available to post anything at all. Thank you to every one of the brilliant speakers that appeared in the CMU-curated strands for sharing your knowledge, perspectives and ideas – and to everyone who joined us in the Conference 1 venue over the last few days in Brighton.
CMU digested
It’s the music business week digested – with Ed Sheeran winning his latest song-theft legal battle, Lambeth Council publishing more details about the London Met Police’s Brixton Academy concerns, Spinrilla agreeing to pay the labels $50 million in damages, Adidas shareholders suing over the cancelled Kanye West partnership, and the Katie Perry v Katy Perry Aussie trademark ruling. Read this week’s CMU Digest here.
Thank you SPOT
Great couple of days at SPOT – thanks to everyone who came to either or both of my speed briefings. Lots of interesting conversations were had. Now heading back to London. Currently investigating the latest additions to the ever expanding Aarhus Airport while reminiscing about the ‘shed, garden and coffee stand’ days. Later, I’ll try and get across London without being arrested for publicly displaying low levels of enthusiasm and high levels of bemusement in relation to all things coronation and king. Wish me luck!
Music + Creator Economy
Next Friday at The Great Escape the focus is music and the creator economy. We’ll review the creator economy at large, and consider how music and music-makers fit into it all. Plus we’ll put the spotlight on the online tools, platforms and market-places being used by music-makers to write, record and iterate music, to facilitate collaborations, and to generate new income. And we will ask what the music industry can learn from how online creators are building audiences and monetising the fan relationship. For more information and details on the brilliant people speaking, check this update via the CMU Daily.
I’m in Aarhus!
Great to be back in Aarhus for Spot! Maybe this time I’ll actually get myself over to the ARoS museum and walk around that Rainbow Panorama, rather than just looking at it from my hotel room. But hey, I am currently looking at it from my hotel room. If you’re at Spot, I’m delivering speedy speed briefings as part of the Let’s Talk Future and Let’s Talk Streaming sessions. Won’t be talking Ed Sheeran, but glad the jury came to the right decision in the big old song-theft case over in New York. Well done everyone!
Music + Deals
Next Thursday at The Great Escape our focus is going to be music and deals. First the deals each artist does with their business partners in order to access money, marketing and infrastructure, and how those partners share in the artist’s rights, revenues and reach. And then current and future trends in the deals done between the music industry and the digital platforms, and for syncs, samples and interpolations. Get the lowdown and info on the brilliant speakers taking part via this update from today’s CMU Daily.
Music + Education
The Great Escape is next week! Still not quite sure how it’s already May, but really looking forward to this year’s CMU+TGE Sessions, which once again are packed full of insights, ideas and debates. We kick things off at 10am on Wednesday (10 May) with a full day focus on music and education, including discussions on the new music education plan for England, the crucial role of online learning, and the skills and knowledge required to pursue a career in music. For more information about the Music + Education day, the specific topics we’ll cover and who will be speaking at it, check this update from the CMU Daily.