Universal boss calls for “artist-centric” streaming model
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Universal Music boss Lucian Grainge's confirmation that a big old rejig of the way streaming monies are allocated to individual tracks by the digital platforms each month is a key priority for the biggest music rights company in the world, plus Dr Dre’s legal run-in with US Congress m...
40m Jan 16, 2023
40m
Top five artist gripes in 2023
In the first episode of the Setlist podcast for 2023, CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke look at the five key complaints that musicians have about the modern music industry as we go into the new year, including streaming royalties, venue merch commissions, the difficulties getting music playlisted on streaming services, the pressure to always be active on social media, and a frustration that the m...
57m Jan 09, 2023
57m
The music business review of the year 2022
In this final edition of the Setlist podcast for 2022, CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last year. That includes: the ongoing economics of streaming debate, the resurgence (or not) of the live music industry, the continued increase in song-theft lawsuits, the growing trend of interpolation in pop, and the licensing of music on social me...
40m Dec 19, 2022
40m
MPs ask for an update on the "complete reset of streaming”
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including last week's Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee hearing, which saw music industry experts and representatives updating MPs about the work that has been ongoing within the music community since the committee published its report last year on the economics of music streamin...
47m Nov 21, 2022
47m
Drake and 21 Savage ordered to destroy fake Vogue cover
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Drake and 21 Savage being sued by magazine publisher Condé Nast for trademark infringement over a fake Vogue cover that formed part of the promotional campaign for their new collaborative album ‘Her Loss’, plus Lorde's discussion of the challenges facing the live music sector at the m...
27m Nov 14, 2022
27m
Has music copyright “never had it so good”?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including former Spotify economist Will Page's claim that “music copyright has never had it so good”, with – by his calculations – the value of the wider music rights business now almost $40 billion worldwide, and the changes over at Amazon Prime Music with more music but less functionality. S...
42m Nov 07, 2022
42m
Noise complaints still threatening live music
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Manchester music venue the Night & Day Café continuing to fight against a Noise Abatement Notice served by Manchester City Council last year, and 5 Seconds Of Summer’s feelings about winning the Worst Band prize at the NME Awards three years in a row. SECTION TIMES 01: Night & Day Ca...
41m Oct 31, 2022
41m
How much will promoters lose from the Festicket collapse?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including confirmation from Festicket's administrators that a number of the promoters who worked with the collapsed ticketing company are insisting that the money it collected for their shows and events was meant to be held in trust although it wasn't, and the news that all seven members of BTS...
35m Oct 24, 2022
35m
Why is touring becoming economically unviable for more artists?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Animal Collective's announcement that they are cancelling their European tour, which was due to take place next month, explaining that – while preparing for the shows – they realised they were looking at “an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable”, plus Mike...
36m Oct 17, 2022
36m
Did the Tories infringe M People's copyright?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including M People's anger at Liz Truss walking on stage at the Conservative Party conference to their song 'Moving On Up' and whether or not her doing so was copyright infringement, plus Apple Music's big brag that it now has over 100 million tracks available for users to listen to. STORIES D...
39m Oct 10, 2022
39m
Will data developments get songwriters paid?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including songs rights data announcements that saw PRS For Music in the UK set out plans to launch a new online portal that will provide easy access to key data linked to the songs catalogue it represents and American collecting society MLC launch a new tool that allows music distributors to ea...
34m Oct 03, 2022
34m
US recorded music revenues still climbing (slowly)
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the Recording Industry Association Of America’s stats about the US recorded music market in the first half of 2022, and the live music and night-time sectors’ response to the UK government’s energy price cap for businesses and new budget. STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK • RIAA stats conf...
32m Sep 26, 2022
32m
Lizzo’s keeping her $5 million cancelled festival fee
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the ruling that Lizzo can keep the $5 million fee she was paid to play the 2020 LA Virgin Fest that never happened because of COVID, and YouTube's announcement that it handed more than $6 billion over to the music industry in the twelve months to June this year. STORIES DISCUSSED THI...
29m Sep 19, 2022
29m
Vinyl is now more popular than Playstation games
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including new figures from the UK's Entertainment Retailers Association showing that, so far this year, vinyl albums have risen up the ranks to become the second most successful form of physical media in terms of revenues, plus Taylor Swift's efforts to block two expert witnesses from testifyin...
30m Sep 12, 2022
30m
Venues and studios face closure as energy prices rocket
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including calls from various music industry organisations urging the incoming new UK Prime Minister to provide urgent support for music venues, recording studios and the wider night-time sector as they tackle surging energy bills and the cost of living crisis, plus bad news for people who inves...
25m Sep 05, 2022
25m
The rise and fall of ‘virtual’ rapper FN Meka
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the claims of racism that saw 'virtual' rapper FN Meka dropped by Universal's Capitol label, and the controversy surrounding the discovery that digital processes have been used by a supposedly analogue reissues label for more than a decade. STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK • Capitol drops...
27m Aug 29, 2022
27m
Timbaland and Swizz Beats sue Triller
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Timbaland and Swizz Beats suing video sharing platform Triller over $28 million they say the company owes them from a deal relating to the popular livestream DJ battle series Verzuz, Snoop Dogg's new breakfast cereal, and the legal battle over the name of Nicki Minaj's Barbie-Que Hone...
29m Aug 22, 2022
29m
Taylor Swift says she didn’t rip off players or haters
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Taylor Swift's statement to a US court as part of the long-running song-theft legal battle over her 2014 hit ‘Shake It Off’ in which she explains how she came up with the lyrics for her track, while also insisting there was no way she could have been exposed to the song she is accused...
36m Aug 15, 2022
36m
Streaming market just fine, says UK competition regulator
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week. Well, this week we are looking at just one of the biggest and most interesting news stories of the last week, because last Tuesday the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority published an interim report based on its market study into the streaming music sector - and given it’s 97 pages long, we fi...
48m Aug 01, 2022
48m
Warner Music goes user-centric with SoundCloud
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Warner Music joining SoundCloud’s user-centric Fan-Powered Royalties initiative, and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s continued, but seemingly futile efforts to avoid giving a deposition in a legal battle with Eminem’s publishing company, Eight Mile Style.  STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK • Warne...
40m Jul 25, 2022
40m
Youngboy ruling furthers Rap On Trial debate
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the ruling that rapper Youngboy Never Broke Again's lyrics cannot be used as evidence during his trial on firearms charges, and how that fits into the wider Rap On Trial debate in the US. Plus, the ruling that Bang energy drink infringed Universal’s copyright in promotional videos on ...
32m Jul 18, 2022
32m
Proposed AI laws “dangerous and damaging”, UK Music warns
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including UK Music's claim that a proposed new copyright exception in the UK that would cover all and any text and data mining is “dangerous and damaging” and would simply allow AI companies to “launder” music in order to generate new content, plus the removal of three Michael Jackson tracks fr...
34m Jul 11, 2022
34m
Is TikTok just “a sophisticated surveillance tool”?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Brendan Carr of the US Federal Communications Commission calling on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores claiming that the app is “a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data” that it then hands over to the Chines...
34m Jul 04, 2022
34m
Does Four Tet’s streaming settlement set a precedent?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Four Tet and Domino's settlement of their legal battle over what royalty rate the musician should be paid on streams and what it could mean for other artists, plus Belgium’s decision to add equitable remuneration to streams and IMPALA’s plea to other European countries not to follow s...
37m Jun 27, 2022
37m
BTS on a break, but don’t call it a hiatus
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including BTS's announcement that they are going on break to focus on solo projects - but whatever you do, don't call it a hiatus - plus Goldman Sachs' big predictions for music industry growth to the end of the decade. STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK • BTS announce hiatus, management insists its ...
33m Jun 20, 2022
33m
Spotify tells investors everything’s fine, honest
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the UK’s Music Managers Forum new report on the topic of digital burnout and the wider debate around pressures being placed by the music industry on artists - particularly female artists - to be heavily active on TikTok, plus the petition calling on UK song rights collecting society P...
40m Jun 13, 2022
40m
Is TikTok causing digital burnout in artists?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the UK’s Music Managers Forum new report on the topic of digital burnout and the wider debate around pressures being placed by the music industry on artists - particularly female artists - to be heavily active on TikTok, plus the petition calling on UK song rights collecting society P...
33m Jun 06, 2022
33m
Is it time to #ownourvenues?
CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the UK Music Venue Trust's launch of a new organisation called Music Venue Properties - which is a charitable community benefit society set up to buy the freeholds of properties that currently house grassroots music venues - and its #ownourvenues campaign, plus Sony Music's latest ann...
29m May 30, 2022
29m
Live at Wide Days
A special live edition of the show recorded live at Wide Days in Edinburgh. CMU’s Chris Cooke is joined on stage by Serenade's Mike Walsh and SNM Management's Shikayla Nadine to review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the latest judgement against Viagogo in Australia, Universal's DIY distribution platform Spinnup going invite-only, and the battle for the ...
42m May 23, 2022
42m
Live at The Great Escape
A special edition of the show recorded live at The Great Escape in Brighton. CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke are joined on stage by music rights consultant Becky Brook and creative entrepreneur Ameena Badley to review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Napster's shift to Web3, the MMF's $ong Royalties Manifesto, and the death of the iPod. STORIES DISCUSSED...
1hr 2m May 16, 2022
1hr 2m
Deezer to go public with €1 billion valuation
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Deezer's announcement that it is going public with a valuation of more than €1 billion, as a result of a deal to merge with French special purpose acquisition company I2PO that will result in the streaming music firm being publicly listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, plus Tyg...
35m Apr 25, 2022
35m
The battle for Sheffield’s Leadmill music venue
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the battle over Sheffield's Leadmill venue after its current management were served with an eviction notice with plans for the building's landlord to install their own team, plus the producer suing Justin Bieber for allegedly breaking promises on royalties. SECTION TIMES 01: The Lead...
32m Apr 18, 2022
32m
Did Fortnite rip off a Charlie Puth dance? It’s complicated
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the lawsuit launched against Fortnite maker Epic Games by the choreographer behind the dance routine in the video for the Charlie Puth song ‘How Long’ alleging that an 'emote' available within the gaming platform utilises his choreography without licence, and the US Copyright Royalty ...
29m Apr 04, 2022
29m
Record revenues for the record industry (if you don’t adjust for inflation)
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the latest stats from the IFPI showing that global recorded music revenues grew 18.5% in 2021, plus a whole load more stats from Spotify aiming to fend of criticism about the money artists and songwriters earn from the platform (although possibly not doing that good a job of it). SEC...
44m Mar 28, 2022
44m
Spotify says its FC Barcelona deal will be great for musicians
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Spotify's $310 million deal to sponsor Spanish football team FC Barcelona - which the streaming service says will be great for artists - and former chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost's admission that the deal he secured with the European Union may have messed things up for musicians. ...
28m Mar 21, 2022
28m
Ed Sheeran tells the High Court he’s no song thief
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Ed Sheeran's trip to the High Court in London in a bid to defeat a song-theft lawsuit filed against him and his musical collaborators in relation to his 2017 track 'Shape Of You', and the return of LimeWire - not as a piece of peer-to-peer file-sharing software, but as a music NFT mar...
32m Mar 14, 2022
32m
Bandcamp bought by Fortnite maker Epic Games
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Epic Games' acquisition of Bandcamp and what a gaming company might want with a direct-to-fan music platform, plus the Entertainment Retailers Association's stats on streaming music in 2021 and what it thinks should happen in the economics of streaming debate. SECTION TIMES 01: Bandc...
29m Mar 07, 2022
29m
Megan Thee Stallion in album definition dispute
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Megan Thee Stallion’s legal dispute over the definition of an album – and specifically whether her 2021 release ‘Something For Thee Hotties’ is one or now – plus the eventful rollout of Kanye West's latest record, 'Donda 2'. SECTION TIMES 01: Megan Thee Stallion (00:06:14) 02: Kanye ...
32m Feb 28, 2022
32m
Comedians sue Pandora over joke copyrights
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the lawsuits filed against Pandora by three comedians - and the estates of comedy legends Robin Williams and George Carlin - over allegations the American streaming service is streaming comedy routines by those performers without all of the proper licences in place, and the RIAA's leg...
34m Feb 14, 2022
34m
HitPiece NFTs spark a cease and desist frenzy
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the controversy sparked by a company called HitPiece after it appeared to be selling NFTs related to a plethora of musicians without permission, plus accusations by Lil Yachty that another music-focussed NFT Company, Opulous, used his name and brand as part of its launch communication...
28m Feb 07, 2022
28m
Spotify chooses Joe Rogan over Neil Young
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week. On this episode we’re discussing just one story that dominated the headlines over the last seven days – Neil Young’s protest against the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify. Saying that Rogan is “spreading fake information about [COVID-19] vaccines”, Young issued an ultimatum – ditch Rogan,...
36m Jan 31, 2022
36m
Artists go to war over venue merch commissions
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the artist backlash against venues that charge a commission on any merchandise they sell at gigs and the Featured Artist Coalition's new directory of '100% venues' that don't take any cut at all, plus the battle between the estates of former Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitch...
26m Jan 24, 2022
26m
Yet another song theft case? You got it!
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the US Ninth Circuit appeals court judges’ skeptical approach to an attempt to have the song-theft case over Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’ reinstated and other song-theft lawsuits currently working their way through the courts, plus Spotify’s successful bid to block a trademark applicatio...
35m Jan 17, 2022
35m
Five music controversies to expect in 2022
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke discuss five companies likely to find themselves involved in big music industry controversies in 2022. They span the economics of streaming debate, the major label system, the live industry, digital licensing and more. Some of these companies will be more used to finding themselves the focus of people’s anger than others, and some more willing to fight back than ...
51m Jan 10, 2022
51m
Review of the music business year 2021
CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last year. For this edition of Setlist we’re doing things a bit differently. It's our final episode of 2021, so we're going to look back at the big five stories of the last twelve months in the music business. It's been a while since we last did this, because last time we recorded a 'review of the year' e...
44m Dec 20, 2021
44m
There’s only room for one Republic in music, says Universal
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Universal’s lawsuit against investment platform Republic over its move into music (there already being music company called Republic, which Universal has owned for more than 20 years), and Tidal’s big shift to user-centric royalties.  SECTION TIMES 01: Republic (00:06:51) 02: Tidal (...
32m Nov 22, 2021
32m
The legal fall out from the Astroworld tragedy
CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke discuss the tragedy that occurred at Travis Scott's Astroworld festival in Houston Texas on Friday 5 Nov. Ten* people were killed and hundreds more injured after a dangerous crowd-surge occurred during Scott's headline set at the festival. A criminal investigation is now underway to ascertain the sequence of events that led to the injuries and deaths, and to what...
28m Nov 15, 2021
28m
Jay-Z in court over "crappy, lazy" perfume launch
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Jay-Z claim in court that his fragrance launched in 2013 failed not because he didn't live up to his agreement regarding promoting it but because of perfume company Parlux's "crappy, lazy work", plus the All Party Parliamentary Group On Music's demand for "urgent action" from the UK g...
28m Nov 08, 2021
28m
COVID-19 wipes nearly $1 billion off song royalties
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the 10.7% (or 775 million euros) drop in royalties collected by the song right collecting societies across the world as a result of COVID-19 in 2020, and the leaked UK government report that suggests that COVID passports might be counterproductive. SECTION TIMES 01: CISAC stats (00:0...
32m Nov 01, 2021
32m
Counting the impact of COVID on the UK music industry
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including UK Music stats revealing that the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out 69,000 music industry jobs in the UK and caused the economic contribution made by the music industry to slump by 46%, plus IFPI music stats showing that free services dominate how people consume music around the world.  SE...
39m Oct 25, 2021
39m