Chris Cooke Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

May is now appearing on the horizon, which means this year’s Great Escape will be with us very soon. Yesterday 120 more artists were added to the bill, including Alfie Templeman, Blackhaine, Chrissi, MUNA, Spill Tab, STONE, Bru-C, Casisdead, Kid Kapichi, Lido Pimienta and many more.

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 released ‘Something For Thee Hotties’ is one or now – plus the eventful rollout of Kanye West’s latest album, ‘Donda 2’.SECTION TIMES01: Megan Thee Stallion (00:06:14)02: Kanye West (00:18:14)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…Acast | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Podcasts | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneInSTORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK• Megan Thee Stallion goes back to court to dispute label’s definition of “album”• Kanye West says he sold more than $2 million worth of Donda 2 players in 24 hours• Kanye West misses Donda 2 release date• Kanye West releases four Donda 2 tracks• Kanye West releases Donda 2 (or at least a version of it)ALSO MENTIONED• Live Nation upbeat as it publishes its 2021 figures• Storm Eunice: Record wind gust amid disruption (BBC News)MORE FROM CMU• Upcoming CMU webinars• Buy MMF and CMU Insights’ Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

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 communications, even though – he claims – he had not agreed to get involved in the venture.SECTION TIMES01: HitPiece (00:08:37)02: Lil Yachty (00:20:55)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…Acast | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Podcasts | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneInSTORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK• Artists and labels hit out at unofficial NFTs site that allows people to “own a song”• Lil Yachty sues music NFT start-up Opulous for trademark infringement• Opulous says Lil Yachty lawsuit is “meritless”ALSO MENTIONED• Joe Rogan and Daniel Ek commit to beefed up and more transparent content polices in response to Neil Young boycott• Spotify science podcaster hits out at Spotify’s response to Rogan backlash• Spotify boycott grows as Young v Rogan fallout continuesMORE FROM CMU• Upcoming CMU webinars• Buy MMF and CMU Insights’ Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

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.

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 application for legal marijuana selling platform, Potify.SECTION TIMES01: Katy Perry (00:06:00)02: Spotify (00:23:56)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…Acast | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Podcasts | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneInSTORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK• Dark Horse litigation back in court, but judges cautious of over-extending copyright• Taylor Swift has one last go at getting the Shake It Off song-theft lawsuit dismissed• Chris Brown and Drake hit back over No Guidance song-theft claim• Spotify successfully blocks Potify trademark applicationALSO MENTIONED• Over 250 scientists and medics hit out at Spotify over Joe Rogan podcast• Chris Brown & Drake – No Guidance (YouTube)• Mr Cooper – I Love Your Dress (YouTube)• Burger King – You Got It Your Way advert 1992 (YouTube)• Roy Orbison – You Got It (YouTube)• Jack Dee Burger King routine (YouTube)MORE FROM CMU• Buy MMF and CMU Insights’ Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin

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. Nine people were killed and hundreds more injured after a dangerous crowd-surge occurred during Scott’s headline set at the festival.

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 government to tackle the crisis facing British musicians and crew planning to tour Europe as a result of

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 publisher’s plans to push for the mechanical royalty rate on streaming in the US to be increased again in 2023.

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 their song, ‘Blue Cassette’.SECTION TIMES01: Tina Turner (00:06:02)02: Friendly Fires (00:22:34)(Timings

Setlist’s Chris Cooke presents a live version of the programme at the Spot+ conference in Aarhus, Denmark.

The Artist:Entrepreneur Day from the Featured Artists Coalition and CMU:DIY returns next month with two editions – one online and one in person at the English Folk Expo in Manchester.This is the artist-to-artist education programme.

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 in social media promos for years.SECTION TIMES01: Streaming royalties (00:12:49)02: Sainsbury’s

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 stores by ditching CDs and DVDs.SECTION TIMES01: Streaming royalties (00:12:56)02: Sainsbury’s

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 listing.SECTION TIMES01: Jay-Z NFT (00:7:38)02: Universal Music (00:23:57)(Timings may be slightly

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.SECTION TIMES01: Private members bill (00:5:23)02: Sony Music (00:24:24)(Timings may be slightly different

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, the last minute pleas for the government to save the festival season by offering state-backed cancellation insurance.SECTION TIMES01: YouTube (00:4:27)02: Festival insurance (00:24:50)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE

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 TIMES01: Apple Tax (00:12:27)02: Believe (00:26:00)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTLis

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 TIMES01: Letter to ‘Boris’ Johnson (00:06:59)02: Letter to the EU (00:30:05)(Timings may be slightly

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 Entertainment, HYBE.SECTION TIMES01: Satan Shoes (00:06:41)02: HYBE and Ithaca (00:21:13)(Timings may be slightly

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 TIMES01: Songwriters v Pop stars (00:03:58)02: Ice Cube (00:21:14)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTList

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’s anger at PRS For Music’s “unworkable” proposed royalty rates for livestreamed shows, plus our favourite music of 2020.SECTION TIMES01: Livestream rates (00:04:43)02: Tracks of 2020 (00:23:57)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free

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 “freestyle-driven product of sub-par quality”.SECTION TIMES01: Grammy Awards (00:05:35)02: Chance The Rapper

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.

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 TIMES01: Ticketmaster (00:03:51)02: Nirvana (00:18:04)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen

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 TIMES01: BMG’s contracts (00:04:26)02: BTS’s conscription (00:18:22)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign

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 assistant.

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 management system available to everyone.

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.

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 of the inclusion of ‘Rule, Britannia’ and ‘Land Of Hope And Glory’ in this year’s BBC Proms.SECTION TIMES01: Tracy Chapman v Nick Minaj (00:03:13)02: Rule, Britannia (or don’t) (00:20:35)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the escalation of ‘Fornite’ 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 TIMES01: Epic v Apple (00:04:18)02: 50 Cent v Rick Ross and Genius v Google (00:17:46)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free

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.

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 TIMES01: Wiley antisemitic social media posts (00:07:39)02: Musicians’ letter to politicians (00:25:11)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to

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 TIMES01: Taylor Swift new album (00:03:44)02: Taylor Swift lawsuit (00:10:34)03: Spotify’s Universal deal (00:17:33)04: TikTok’s NMPA deal (00:22:31)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and

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 TIMES01: Migos sue their lawyer (00:04:31)02: Billboard updates its chart rules (00:14:36)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new

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 TIMES01: Lady A sue Lady A (00:04:18)02: UK government’s support for live music (00:18:35)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of

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.