A BLOG OF SORTS FROM CHRIS COOKE
October 2024 Updates
MIME Update
Really excited about the programme for our Music Industry + Music Education Conference in Manchester on 23 Nov – with 19 speakers now announced, including all these great people. Info + tickets.
K-pop dramas
I hope someone somewhere is writing a k-pop opera all about the many disputes and dramas that have occurred in the corporate side of k-pop in the last year. Is k-pop opera a genre? I feel it should be. Anyway, here is my CMU report on the latest disputes and dramas.
Output sessions
I was discussing how good an event Output in Belfast is earlier today and that made me think I should re-plug the two sessions we are presenting there this year. If you’re attending, look out for the CMU session on evolving record deals, plus we’ll be updating everyone on our latest Pathways Into Music research. Hope to see you there!
ThisWeek Culture
It’s Monday, which means my colleague Caro has recommended loads more great shows happening in London this week in handy sets of three. You can check all of this week’s culture tips here or follow ThisWeek on social media for daily recommendations.
Ticket touting debate
There was an interesting debate in Parliament this week about good old ticket touting, with long-time campaigner on this issue Sharon Hodgson MP making a particularly bold speech, and culture minister Chris Bryant confirming that the government is committed to introducing new regulations. Here is my CMU report.
Lots of lecturing
It’s been a busy week of music business lecturing and teaching: talking music rights and streaming at ICMP on Wednesday, delivering my webinar on music data for BPI on Tuesday, and – as pictured! – in Dublin for the IMRO sync seminar on Monday. Thank you to everyone for listening.
Adam + Mat at MIME
One more MIME Conference update for you. Dr Mat Flynn and Dr Adam Behr will discuss their work on the Live Music Mapping Project and how that academic work can support music education, and local and regional music industries. Join us in Manchester on 23 Nov – get your tickets.
Whiskas + Satnam at MIME
Guess what – it’s another MIME Conference update! Whiskas and Satnam Galsian from Music Local will talk through their work collating resources for, and delivering workshops in, schools on music pathways and careers. Join us in Manchester on 23 Nov – get your tickets.
Kate + Dan at MIME
Another update about the MIME Conference we are presenting in Manchester next month, connecting music industry and music education. Kate McBain and Dan Tsu will present key findings from the national consultation on music careers and pathways that they led for Youth Music. Join us on 23 Nov – get your tickets.
MIME schedule
Our Music Industry + Music Education Conference is happening in Manchester on 23 Nov alongside this year’s Un-Convention. We’ve just published a full schedule for the day and announced six speakers – find out more and get your tickets here.
Stormy arrival
I made it to Dublin yesterday thanks to our Ryanair pilot somehow managing to land the plane right in the middle of Storm Ashley. It took two goes and was really rather bumpy, but a landing is a landing! And look, now it’s super tranquil on the canal opposite my hotel. Really looking forward to delivering a sync seminar at IMRO HQ later today.
Airport wifi
If connecting to your airport’s wifi involves more than clicking one button you have failed. Stansted Airport has failed. Though I’m only annoyed with the wifi because of how long it took me to get through security and that was 67% my fault, so I can’t really blame the security staff who were very polite. In fact almost as polite as they were slow. And they were very slow. Wifi, not too slow. Annoying but not too slow.
Gonzo podcast
Chilly Gonzales talking about music and AI – and the algorithm – on the latest edition of The Art Of Longevity podcast is fascinating because, well, of course it is. It’s always a joy hearing my favourite music-maker talk about making music.
Pathways Bristol
A quick reminder for anyone involved in music education or talent development in the South West – we are staging an edition of our Pathways Into Music professional development weekend in Bristol on 30 Nov and 1 Dec. Thanks to the kind support of Arts Council England, BIMM and RSL, there is no cost to taking part. All the info you need is here.
Output 2024
I have a trip coming up that involves visiting three B cities back-to-back. I’ve already mentioned Berlin. Another is Belfast, where I will be attending the latest edition of the marvellous Output conference. I’ll be doing a speed briefing and panel on evolving record deals, with lots of practical advice for artists choosing a business partner to work with on their recordings. We’ll also be presenting our latest Pathways Into Music research, putting the spotlight on the knowledge and information young music-makers need, and the role of educators in providing it. Hope to see you there!
Berlin speed briefing
As well as moderating a panel, I’ll be delivering this speed briefing at the Most Wanted: Music convention in Berlin next month. If you’re attending, do come along, it would be great to see you there! I’ll be in Berlin on 13 and 14 Nov, if you want catch up, let me know.
ThisWeek Culture
Over on our ThisWeek Culture website, my colleague Caro recommends great theatre, comedy and culture happening in London every week, in handy sets of three, in part informed by our many years covering the Edinburgh Fringe. If that sounds of interest to you, check out this week’s tips here and then sign up for our weekly email bulletin here or follow ThisWeek on social media for future tips.
Piracy guide
The RIAA has made its submission to the US government’s annual notorious markets report, which kind of doubles up as a directory of music piracy services. So you shouldn’t read it, you don’t want to know about music piracy services. It’s safe to read my CMU story on it, I don’t mention many of the actual services – and one I do mention is The Pirate Bay, which is just there for old time’s sake.
TW Explainers
Over on our ThisWeek Culture website, we’re currently publishing a series of TW Explainers, handy guides to key aspects of the culture business. So far we’ve had explainers on copyright, AI and ticketing, plus what we can learn from recent copyright disputes in the worlds of comedy and theatre. You can check them all here.
Majors v Grande
There have been a lot of major label lawsuits against American ISPs and a lot of updates on those lawsuits. This update is interesting twice over. First, the Fifth Circuit said that the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Twitter v Taamneh, which is increasingly cited by the ISPs, isn’t relevant in these copyright cases. Which is good news for the labels. Second, it also said that, when calculating good old statutory damages, albums should be treated as a single work, rather than a collection of multiple works, which will result in labels getting less money. So bad news for the labels. Here is my report.
Pathways socials
We have some updates coming up about our Music Industry + Music Education Conference that’s happening in Manchester next month. If you want all those updates – and news on our other projects connecting music industry and music education – you can now follow the Pathways Into Music Foundation on social media. All the relevant links are here.
Ticket resale price cap
Secondary ticketing is another topic I’ve written an awful lot about over the years. Not quite as much as on streaming and music piracy, but it’s probably in third place in terms of total word count. Anyway, there have been some interesting developments in recent months, and now Michael Rapino – boss of Ticketmaster owning Live Nation – seems to be supporting a statutory ticket resale price cap, even in the US. Here is my CMU report.
MW:M Q&A
I am speaking and moderating at the Most Wanted: Music convention in Berlin next month. But before that, I did a short Q&A with the MW:M team about the impact of digital on music, who has the power, whether the current model is fair, and the opportunities for artists and songwriters. Read it here.
Zoom sound
Since my Zoom app updated itself, I can’t get it to play audio from my slides. Which doesn’t really matter, except I don’t think people can hear the gloriously cheesy countdown music at the start of my webinars. I did think about turning on my mic during the countdown for today’s BPI webinar and just humming the tune instead, but nobody needs to hear that. I’m currently applying tech support rule number one: ie it’ll just randomly fix itself at some point.
Musi sues Apple
Did the Musi app simply provide users with “enhanced functionality to interact with publicly available content on YouTube’s website through an augmentative interface”? Or was it an unlicensed music streaming app that had long violated YouTube’s terms of service? We now have a legal battle to consider that very question, because Apple recently kicked the Musi app – which pulled its music from YouTube – out of the App Store, and Musi has sued Apple in response. Read my CMU report on the lawsuit here.
KEF Music Gallery
I had a look round the new(ish) KEF Music Gallery on Great Portland Street yesterday. If you go, before you get there, think of some track requests that will get the most out of that speaker system. On the spur of the moment I went with Nina Simone’s ‘Sinnerman’, which – I have to say – sounded pretty magnificent.
BIMM lecture
I was at BIMM London this morning delivering the lecture version of the Music Copyright Explained guide – plus a short and impromptu extra mini lecture on TikTok politics, which I think I might now turn into a whole degree course of its own. Lots of great questions as always from the students. On both copyright and TikTok!
More Pathways news
We announced earlier this week that we will be staging our Pathways Into Music professional development programme for music educators in Bristol next month, which is exciting. But not only that, we will also be running the programme in Belfast in January and applications are open for that as well. Please do spread the word to anyone involved in music education or talent development in those regions.
‘Stereophonic’ copyright case
So this is an interesting copyright story that connects the worlds of music and theatre. Is the Broadway play ‘Stereophonic’ – about a band in the recording studio – basically a rip off of producer Ken Caillat’s 2012 memoir ‘Making Rumours’ – about a band (specifically Fleetwood Mac) in the recording studio? The play’s creator David Adjmi says it isn’t, Ken Caillat says it is. Cue copyright litigation! Here’s my CMU report.
Back to IMRO HQ
It’s my first trip to Dublin in quite a while! I’ll be at IMRO HQ later this month to run a seminar all about the sync business – where sync fits in, key clients, how the rights and deals work, and how the money flows – get all the info here. If you’re interested in me running training sessions for your company or organisation, drop me a line and I’ll tell you how it works.
Educator Pathways
Following a super successful pilot earlier this year, we’re excited to announce the full launch of our Pathways Into Music professional development programme for music educators. We will be staging our ‘Understanding The Pathways Into Music’ weekend around the UK over the next year. The first one is in Bristol at the end of November for teachers, tutors and lecturers – and people working for music education hubs, and talent development, community music and youth organisations – in the West Of England area. Thanks to the kind support of our partners, participation is free. If you know anyone who could benefit from this, please do spread the word – more info here.