Coldplay's plans to make touring eco-friendly
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Coldplay’s plans to employ various technological solutions to reduce the environmental impact of their world tour next year, plus the music publishers' plans to push for the mechanical royalty rate on streaming in the US to be increased again in 2023.  SECTION TIMES 01: Coldplay (00:...
36m Oct 18, 2021
36m
Tina Turner's big money brand and rights deal
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Tina Turner’s wide-ranging deal with BMG in which she has given up her recordings, songs and brand for a reported $50 million, plus Friendly Fires’ anger after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked onto the stage at the Conservative Party’s annual conference to the sound of thei...
37m Oct 11, 2021
37m
Donald Trump's Electric Avenue fair use failure
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Donald Trump's failed attempt to have a copyright infringement case brought against him by Eddy Grant dismissed on the grounds of fair use, and the attempt by the man who (as a baby) appeared on the cover of Nirvana's 'Nevermind' album to have the artwork on the record's 30th annivers...
30m Oct 04, 2021
30m
The government responds to Parliament’s streaming report
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week. This week we focus on just one story – because there’s a lot to say about it – the British government’s response to Parliament’s big ‘Economics Of Music Streaming’ report published by Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee in July. SECTION TIMES 01: Economics of streamin...
33m Sep 27, 2021
33m
Live from Spot+
Setlist’s Chris Cooke presents a live version of the programme at the Spot+ conference in Aarhus, Denmark. He is joined by a panel of industry experts to review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the RIAA’s latest stats, Portishead’s user-centric royalties on SoundCloud, Epic Games and Apple, COVID passports, and why Ed Sheeran hates American awards ceremon...
1hr 4m Sep 20, 2021
1hr 4m
Anarchy in the High Court - it's the Sex Pistols!
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including The Sex Pistols’ appearance in the High Court in a dispute over a sync deal to include the band’s music in a new show directed by Danny Boyle based on the memoir of guitarist Steve Jones, plus Sony Music’s lawsuit against sportswear brand Gymshark accusing it of using unlicensed music...
38m Jul 26, 2021
38m
The things people still get wrong about streaming – dissecting the Economics Of Streaming report
Taking a break from the usual format, on this week’s Setlist CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke discuss the culture select committee of the UK parliament’s newly published report based on its inquiry into the economics of the music streaming business, including the key findings, what the committee got wrong, and an important question that should probably get answered before anyone instigates the “...
46m Jul 19, 2021
46m
Let's fix streaming by taxing the superstars
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the new research from the UK’s Association Of Independent Music’s arguing that paying popular tracks on streaming services lower royalties and less popular track more might be the key to a fairer system, and the news that supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is freeing up shelf space in its ...
42m Jul 12, 2021
42m
Brexit negotiator says touring issues aren't his problem
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including chief Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost’s less than reassuring answers to questions about how he failed to deliver visa-free touring in the EU for British musicians and what is being done about it, plus the music companies going on the record to say positive things about Spotify’s co...
39m Jul 05, 2021
39m
Damon Dash and the court-blocked Jay-Z NFT
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the court order barring Damon Dash from auctioning an NFT that the Roc-A-Fella record label claims is an attempt to sell off copyright in Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ album that he does not own, and the private Universal Music share deal that edges it closer to a public stock market lis...
34m Jun 28, 2021
34m
Could this bold new law finally fix streaming?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the new private members bill proposed by MP Kevin Brennan to change UK copyright law to provide musicians with guaranteed income when their music is streamed, and Sony Music’s announcement that it will start paying royalties to unrecouped artists on 20th century record contracts. SEC...
37m Jun 21, 2021
37m
The music publishers' $200 million lawsuit against Roblox
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the $200 million lawsuit against Roblox from a consortium of music publishers led by the US National Music Publishers Association, plus Brexit negotiator David Frost’s big no-show at a parliamentary inquiry into how the UK-EU trade deal messed things up so badly for touring musicians ...
31m Jun 14, 2021
31m
YouTube's four billion dollar stats brag
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including YouTube Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen’s brag that the Google division has paid out over $4 billion to the music industry over the last year, and the last minute pleas for the government to save the festival season by offering state-backed cancellation insurance. SECTION TIMES 01: Y...
34m Jun 07, 2021
34m
The music industry's "war on the internet"
CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including US ISP Cox Communication's claim that the music industry is "waging war on the internet" as it appeals the 2019 safe harbour ruling against it, plus a new survey from the Musicians' Union and the Incorporated Society Of Musicians showing that 77% of UK music-makers expect their income...
29m May 31, 2021
29m
High quality audio goes mainstream
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Apple and Amazon's announcements that users of their streaming services will now be able to enjoy some super enhanced audio action via their respective music platforms at no extra cost, plus the UK's competition regulator the Competition & Markets Authority's announcement that it has ...
28m May 24, 2021
28m
Are iPhone users the real victims of the Apple Tax?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the new class action legal claim in London on behalf of the millions of iOS users in the UK, presenting consumers rather than app-makers as the bigger losers when Apple adds a 30% commission onto in-app purchases, plus Believe’s first step towards its IPO. SECTION TIMES 01: Apple Tax...
31m May 17, 2021
31m
PRS livestreaming rates: the controversy continues
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the new controversy over PRS For Music’s new livestreaming licence after it was revised to address previous controversy, plus media regulator Ofcom’s consultation on its view that BBC Sounds is no threat to anyone in commercial radio and podcasting. SECTION TIMES 01: PRS livestream t...
41m May 10, 2021
41m
The EU takes a stand against the Apple Tax
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the European Commission’s ‘statement of objections’ to Apple saying that it believes it has distorted competition in the music streaming market by enforcing the mandatory use of its own payment system, plus Tencent’s likely fine for alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the music stre...
29m May 03, 2021
29m
Artists call on Boris Johnson to fix streaming
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the letter to UK Prime Minister 'Boris' Johnson from 156 musicians demanding that he fix music streaming, and another letter sent by an alliance of copyright industry trade groups to the European Union demanding that it beef up an element of its proposed Digital Services Act. SECTION...
39m Apr 26, 2021
39m
Live Nation prepares venues for the livestreaming future
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Live Nation's announcement that it is kitting out more than 60 US music venues with equipment to offer any artist performing in them the option to also broadcast their shows online, and Ofcom's decision not to take action over a Capital Xtra DJ taking money in exchange for airplay. S...
31m Apr 19, 2021
31m
Lil Nas X's Satan Shoes recalled back to Hell
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including a legal settlement that will see 666 pairs of Nike trainers that were turned – without the sportswear brand’s permission – into Lil Nas X’s Satan Shoes recalled, plus the merger of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings with the South Korean music company formerly known as Big Hit Entertainm...
31m Apr 12, 2021
31m
Songwriters call time on pop stars’ unearned credits
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the new songwriter campaign seeking to stop famous artists from grabbing a cut of the copyright in songs that they help make famous but don’t actually co-write, plus Ice Cube’s lawsuit against the “unscrupulous and predatory” Robinhood app. SECTION TIMES 01: Songwriters v Pop stars (...
38m Apr 05, 2021
38m
How record labels kept the money flowing in 2020
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including new stats from trade bodies the IFPI and BPI showing that streaming kept the record industry in growth in 2020, despite COVID-19, plus the new campaign launched by the Ivors Academy calling on labels to better compensate songwriters for their work.  SECTION TIMES 01: Stats! Stats! St...
29m Mar 29, 2021
29m
Spotify gets in on the economics of streaming debate
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Spotify’s new website formally laying out its positions on the different aspects of the economics of streaming debate, and calls for the Recording Academy to support publishing contract reform. SECTION TIMES 01: Spotify on the streaming economics (00:03:15) 02: The campaign against ‘...
39m Mar 22, 2021
39m
The music business year so far
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from 2021 so far, including UK parliament’s inquiry into the economics of streaming, the debate around user-centric streaming royalties, and the issues facing UK musicians who want to tour Europe post-Brexit.  SECTION TIMES 01: Economics of streaming (00:07:33) 02: User-centric royalties (00:17:15) 03: Brexit and...
32m Mar 15, 2021
32m
Artists say PRS fees could cause livestream losses
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 and Featured Artists Coalition anger at PRS For Music's “unworkable” proposed royalty rates for livestreamed shows, plus our favourite music of 2020. SECTION TIMES 01: Livestream rates (00:04:43) 02: Tracks of 2020 (00:23:57) (Timings may be slightly dif...
32m Dec 14, 2020
32m
Can the Grammy Awards ever escape controversy?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the accusations of corruption levelled at the Grammy Awards by The Weeknd and Halsey (among others) and whether the big US music industry awards show can ever escape criticism, plus the $3 million lawsuit launched by Chance The Rapper's former manager that calls his last album a “free...
28m Dec 07, 2020
28m
Artists tell MPs streaming is "threatening the future of music"
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the first parliamentary hearing in the culture select committee inquiry into the economics of streaming, plus Instagram's insistence that no one would ever confuse its Reels feature with US cable TV channel Reelz.  SECTION TIMES 01: Streaming inquiry (00:05:36) 02: Reels/z (00:28:35)...
36m Nov 30, 2020
36m
300 million reasons why Taylor Swift still hates Scooter Braun
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Taylor Swift's anger upon learning that the master rights in her first six albums have been sold without her knowledge for a second time, plus music publisher Wixen's lawsuit against TikTok rival Triller.  SECTION TIMES 01: Taylor Swift (00:08:24) 02: Triller (00:23:37) (Timings may ...
32m Nov 23, 2020
32m
Are we headed for a live music dystopia?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Ticketmaster's proposal to use its app to verify that ticketholders have had a COVID-19 vaccination or negative test before attending shows, and the latest twist in the copyright infringement battle between Nirvana and fashion designer Marc Jacobs. SECTION TIMES 01: Ticketmaster (00:...
26m Nov 16, 2020
26m
Spotify opens up its algorithm... for a fee
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Spotify's new pilot scheme allowing artists and labels to influence its music-selecting algorithm in return for a lower royalty rate, plus Live Nation's beaming positivity in the face of another round of definitely not positive financial results.  SECTION TIMES 01: Spotify algorithm ...
36m Nov 09, 2020
36m
Songwriters fear 35% royalty drop in 2020
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including global collecting society grouping CISAC's positive revenue stats for 2019 and very gloomy predictions for 2020, and the news that Harry Styles has invested in a new arena venue in Manchester. SECTION TIMES 01: CISAC figures (00:04:45) 02: Harry Styles (00:20:16) (Timings may be slig...
32m Nov 02, 2020
32m
Could Viagogo's StubHub merger be on the verge of collapse?
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the UK competition regulator's conclusion that a merged Viagogo and StubHub would likely result in a “substantial lessening of competition in the online secondary ticketing market” and proposal that the whole thing be called off, plus the new report that warns that 170,000 live indust...
38m Oct 26, 2020
38m
Parliament probes the economics of streaming
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the announcement that the culture select committee of the UK Parliament is opening an inquiry into the economics of music streaming, and the music industry's positive response to the number of venues, festivals and other music organisations who will receive support from the Culture Re...
43m Oct 19, 2020
43m
BMG moves to make record contracts fairer
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including BMG's announcement that it is eliminating a controversial, artist unfriendly clause from its record contracts and whether other labels might follow suit, plus what the members of BTS serving military service could mean for both the band and the South Korean economy. SECTION TIMES 01:...
29m Oct 12, 2020
29m
Travis Scott's thumbs get him into trouble
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Travis Scott being sued by gaming accessory company KontrolFreek over some (allegedly) dodgy thumbsticks that (allegedly) rip off the company's designs, and why John Lennon's former personal assistant is being sued for speaking publicly about his time as John Lennon's personal assista...
28m Oct 05, 2020
28m
Commerical radio hits out at BBC Sounds
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including OfCom's announcement that it intends to investigate whether the BBC Sounds app is competing with commercial media, and YouTube hitting back at a lawsuit arguing that it should not enjoy protection under the copyright safe harbour because it doesn’t make its Content ID rights managemen...
32m Sep 28, 2020
32m
Kanye West puts record deals in the spotlight
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Kanye West's big dispute over the structure of record company deals with artists (and the contents of the deals he dumped on Twitter), and Facebook's deals with the music industry to include music in video game livestreams on its Twitch rival Facebook Gaming. SECTION TIMES 01: Kanye ...
41m Sep 21, 2020
41m
Music industry numbers - the week in stats
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the increase in US record revenues, the cost of ‘Boris’ Johnson’s ‘Operation Moonshot’, the boost in users of Fender’s guitar tuition app, the settlement reached in the legal battle between Sony Music and the estate of 1950s pop star Ricky Nelson, and the festivals people have most be...
36m Sep 14, 2020
36m
Ford v Freeplay: When free doesn't mean free
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the Ford motor company's accusation that production music library Freeplay Music intentionally chose a name to make it seem like its music was free to use in order to sue it (and others) for copyright infringement, plus the crackdown on the boom in illegal raves during the pandemic. ...
33m Sep 07, 2020
33m
Nicki Minaj and the case of the sorry sample
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Tracy Chapman's accusation that Nicki Minaj is ignoring both the facts and the law in their sampling legal battle, plus the row over the inclusion of 'Rule, Britannia' and 'Land Of Hope And Glory' in this year's BBC Proms. SECTION TIMES 01: Tracy Chapman v Nick Minaj (00:03:13) 02: R...
35m Aug 31, 2020
35m
Fortnite goes to battle with Apple
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the escalation of ‘Fortnite’ video game maker Epic Games’ legal battle against Apple over its App Store rules, plus two copyright cases that weren’t copyright cases which failed because they were copyright cases. SECTION TIMES 01: Epic v Apple (00:04:18) 02: 50 Cent v Rick Ross and G...
32m Aug 24, 2020
32m
Top ten legal battles - Procul Harum take it to the Lords
It’s the eighth in our series of special editions of Setlist looking at some of our favourite music industry legal battles of all time. This time, CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke look back at the copyright battle over authorship of Procul Harum's 1967 single, 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale', which was fought all the way up to the appellate committee of the UK's House Of Lords. Organist Matthew Fisher ...
22m Aug 17, 2020
22m
What Donald Trump's TikTok ban means for the music industry
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including what Donald Trump's pending ban on TikTok and messaging app WeChat means for the music industry, and Live Nation's optimism for the future despite seeing revenues fall by 98%. SECTION TIMES 01: Donald Trump's TikTok ban (00:04:39) 02: Live Nation's optimism, despite everything (00:19...
33m Aug 10, 2020
33m
Wiley, Twitter and the online censorship debate
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Wiley’s antisemitic social media posts and what responsibilities the social media platforms have when their users offend, plus the call from various big name musicians for politicians to stop using their music (or any music) without permission. SECTION TIMES 01: Wiley antisemitic soc...
33m Aug 03, 2020
33m
Taylor Swift's secret folklore and shaken off lawsuits
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Taylor Swift’s surprise new album and latest legal win, plus Spotify’s new deal with Universal and TikTok’s litigation-avoiding agreement with the US National Music Publishers Association. SECTION TIMES 01: Taylor Swift new album (00:03:44) 02: Taylor Swift lawsuit (00:10:34) 03: Spo...
25m Jul 27, 2020
25m
Migos say they were “robbed” and “cheated” out of millions
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Migos suing their former layer over claims that he “robbed” and “cheated them out of millions of dollars, and Billboard’s amazing ability to make some seemingly simple updates to its chart rules incredibly complicated. SECTION TIMES 01: Migos sue their lawyer (00:04:31) 02: Billboard...
31m Jul 20, 2020
31m
Lady A sue Lady A over who is the real Lady A
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Lady A suing Lady A over who really owns the name Lady A, and the UK government's latest concessions to the live music industry as the COVID-19 shutdown begins to lift. SECTION TIMES 01: Lady A sue Lady A (00:04:18) 02: UK government's support for live music (00:18:35) STORIES DISCU...
31m Jul 13, 2020
31m
Music magazines stay off the shelves
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the announcements that Mixmag and Kerrang! will keep their print editions on hiatus for the foreseeable future, and the Rolling Stones' threat to sue Donald Trump if he plays their music at another campaign rally.  SECTION TIMES 01: Music magazines stay off the shelves (00:03:45) 02:...
35m Jul 06, 2020
35m
The COVID crisis pushes the live industry to the brink
CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including fears that with lockdown lifting and the economy getting started again that live music industry will be left to collapse without much needed government support, and the two house music pioneers suing the Trax record label. SECTION TIMES 01: The COVID crisis pushes the live industry t...
32m Jun 29, 2020
32m