London police have again appealed for people who witnessed the fatal crowd crush that occurred at the Brixton Academy last December to come forward with any information they might have that could help with the police force’s ongoing investigation. The new appeal for information came as officers revealed that a woman who was seriously injured during the crush remains in hospital in a critical condition three months later. She is one of the three people who were hospitalised in a critical condition on the night of the incident. The other two – Rebecca Ikumelo and Gaby Hutchinson – died in the f ..read more

Two producers who sued The Weeknd over song theft allegations have reached a provisional settlement with the musician. In a 2021 lawsuit, producers Suniel Fox and Henry Strange claimed that The Weeknd’s 2018 hit ‘Call Out My Name’ ripped off their 2015 track ‘Vibeking’. And that happened, they said, after they sent a copy of their song to one of The Weeknd’s collaborators, Eric White aka PNDA. He allegedly then played ‘Vibeking’ to The Weeknd, who responded positively. Fox and Strange had hoped that the back and forth with White might result in a collaboration with The Weeknd, but that n ..read more

The judge overseeing a dispute between Cher and Sonny Bono’s widow has declined to dismiss the former’s lawsuit, although he has trimmed it down somewhat. The dispute centres on how the pesky termination right in US copyright law impacts on a deal done in the 1970s after Cher and Bono split up both professionally and personally. Cher and Bono began working together in the early 1960s, subsequently marrying and then enjoying much success together in both music and on TV. However, the marriage ended in 1975, and their double act came to an end soon after. Following all that, a deal was done in ..read more

The battle to save Manchester venue Night & Day will return to court this week after attempts to negotiate a settlement with the city’s council seemingly failed. Ahead of that hearing, the venue’s owner Jennifer Smithson has again criticised the council, blaming past failings by city officials for causing the current problems, and dubbing the local authority’s current position “incomprehensible”. Manchester City Council served a noise abatement order against Night & Day in November 2021 following a noise complaint from one of the venue’s neighbours, a person who moved into a residenti ..read more

CMU’s Chris Cooke is taking part in the Creators Conference being staged by the European Composer & Songwriter Alliance in Brussels tomorrow. Joining a session called ‘Fix Music Streaming: Building A Sustainable Future For Creators’, he will provide a speed briefing on how music streaming works, before joining a panel discussion on trends and debates in the music streaming domain. Also on that panel are Tobias Stenkjaer, songwriter and Executive Chair of DPA; Klaus Goldhammer, partner and Managing Director of Goldmedia; Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA; and Helienne Lindvall, songwr ..read more

Jack White has praised Metallica for their recent acquisition of Virginia-based vinyl pressing plant Furnace Record Pressing, while also urging the major record companies to start building their own vinyl pressing facilities as production delays continue. “Huge congratulations to the boys in Metallica for purchasing their own vinyl record pressing plant”, wrote White on Instagram. “Welcome to the cause gents! And thank you for putting your money to amazing creative use! Here’s hoping the major labels will also see this as further proof, and finally start investing in themselves ..read more

DEALS Sony Music Publishing and Chosen Music have partnered to sign singer-songwriter Caity Baser. “I am so delighted to be a part of the Sony family”, she says. “Also a huge thanks to Chosen who have worked with me since the very start of my songwriting journey. I’m really starting to feel like I’m finding my feet in the music industry and I’m so happy to have Chosen and Sony by my side to help me as I grow”. ————————————————– APPOINTMENTS Downtown Music owned distributor FUGA has appointed Dorothée Imhoff as its new Chief Commercial Officer. Meanwhile ..read more

The key stories from the last week in the music business… The US music industry set out some fundamental principles regarding generative AI via the Human Artistry Campaign. It follows a recent spike in interest in AI tools that can create original content, caused in no small part by the hype around ChatGPT. The new campaign – supported by a plethora of music industry organisations in the US and beyond – insists it embraces the opportunities created by generative AI, but it says certain principles are required to ensure new technologies don’t have a negative effect on human creativity. On copy ..read more

A plethora of organisations representing music and other creative disciplines, in the US and beyond, yesterday backed what is being called the Human Artistry Campaign, with the aim of ensuring “artificial intelligence technologies are developed and used in ways that support human culture and artistry, and not ways that replace or erode it”. Formally launched with a panel at South By South West in Texas, the new campaign follows the recent spike in interest in creative or generative AI technologies, ie AI tools that can generate original content by crunching a load of data linked to existing c ..read more

The American President is demanding that Chinese company Bytedance sell its TikTok business to an entity outside of China otherwise use of the video sharing app could be banned within the US. And if that sounds familiar, that’s because Joe Biden’s government is now basically making the same demand and threat as Donald Trump did back in 2020. This is all part of ongoing concerns among the political community in the US and elsewhere that the Chinese government has access to TikTok users and user-data via China-based Bytedance. Trump’s attempt to ban use of TikTok in the US was challenged i ..read more