Music Week’s round-up of essential music biz stories you might have missed...
Perry to pay up
Katy Perry has been ordered to pay Christian rapper Flame (Marcus Gray) $550,000 (£454,000) after a US court ruled that her 2013 hit Dark Horse copied one of his songs.
Capitol Records will have to pay most of the $2.7m (£2.2m) awarded to Flame. "The writers of Dark Horse consider this a travesty of justice," said Perry’s attorney Christine Lepera outside court.
Woodstock 50 cancelled
Due to what organisers called a series of “unforeseen setbacks,” the 50th anniversary Woodstock festival has been cancelled just two weeks before the starting date. The festival which was announced in January was reportedly planning to sell as many as 100,000 tickets with acts including Miley Cyrus, Jay Z and The Killers on the bill.
The announcement came with little surprise, as rumours of financial problems with the festival began circulating as early as March. After the New York venue was lost in June, organisers announced it would instead take place in Maryland and headliners dropped out in quick succession.
Elektra marketing appointments
Elektra Music Group has made two new appointments to its marketing staff. Suzy Yoder has been promoted to head of digital marketing, based in New York, while Katie Robinson is joining the company as vice president, marketing, based in Los Angeles.
In making the announcement, Elektra co-presidents Mike Easterlin and Gregg Nadel said, “Inspired, original marketing is at the core of our artist development philosophy, and we believe that every artist deserves a unique, custom-tailored career strategy from day one. Suzy and Katie are two of the most creative, innovative execs in the industry, and masters at turning artists’ visions into concrete results. We’re thrilled to promote Suzy to her well-deserved new post and to welcome Katie back into the family.”
MTV befriends Fusion
MTV UK has announced an exclusive broadcasting deal with Fusion Festival. MTV will transmit live coverage over the weekend ofAugust 31 and September 1 from Liverpool’s Sefton Park.The festival is set to attract over 130,000 attendees and features artists Kings of Leon, Rudimental and Little Mix.
MTV is set to air six hours of live coverage from the event on MTV UK, MTV Music and MTV Live HD from 8pm to 11pm. The coverage will be presented by hosts Becca Dudley, Jack Saunders and Snoochie Shy.
Casio fined over pricing
The CMA has fined Casio £3.7m for breaking competition law by preventing online discounting for its digital pianos and keyboards. The move came after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a statement of objections against Casio in April 2019.
Casio has now admitted that, between 2013 and 2018, it broke competition law by restricting retailer freedom to set prices online, requiring digital pianos and keyboards to be sold at or above a minimum price.
Perfecting your profile
Soundcloud users are now able to edit their profile any time with the Soundcloud iOS app. Profiles are one of the primary tools SoundCloud creators use to showcase themselves and their sounds worldwide and to connect with their fans in real-time. The new feature gives them the ability to easily keep profiles up-to-date while on the go.
By Kayla Effner
