EMI CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti will leave the major label at the end of this month, it has been announced this morning. Charles Allen has also been appointed as executive chairman, and will take on many of the responsibilities formerly held by Leoni-Sceti, though not directly replacing him. Allen has been in the non-executive chairman role since January last year.

In a statement, Allen said: "Over the past two and a half years [since it was acquired by investment firm Terra Firma], EMI Music has become a stronger and growing company, with a talented senior team, significant creative success and a more rigorous approach to marketing and operations. This has resulted in increased sales, improved market share and industry-leading EBITDA [Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization] margins".

He continued: "Elio has done a great job. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him; he is a very talented executive and we all wish him well in the future. Our goals for EMI Music remain the same. I will support and guide the group's strong team, keep EMI's focus on creativity and superb A&R, and deliver a digital platform. This is a great business - our task is to ensure it has a great future".

Leoni-Sceti added: "EMI is a wonderful business with a great team and new creative and operational momentum. My job here is now done and it is time for me to move on. It has been a pleasure to work with Charles and so many other talented and committed people. I look forward to seeing the company go on to further success in the future".

Earlier this month, Leoni-Sceti said that he was confident that a new business plan he had been asked to draw up by Terra Firma head Guy Hands in February could lead EMI out of its financial problems. He told Management Today magazine: "I'm confident the business plan we present will be a good plan. I can only do my job. I'm staying focused on delivering a vision for this business - I'm very dedicated to EMI".

However, while he was finalising the details of that business plan last month, the Financial Times reported that Terra Firma had hired former Selfridges chief Peter Williams, who apparently helped sports chain JJB Sports avoid going bankrupt last year, to assist in bid to stop US bank Citigroup from taking ownership of the music firm in lieu of the $189 million it is owed in loan repayments by May.

The FT reckoned that, as well as dealing with Citigroup on the equity firm's behalf, Williams would also scrutinise Leoni-Sceti's new business plan. It's not clear if it is this review of the plan that is the reason for the chief exec's sudden departure from the company.

All artists need a record company says, erm, the global trade body for record companies. Coming soon, a report from CMU that says all music business people need the CMU Daily.

Yes, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry - or the Worldwide Record Labels Club to give them a name more than seventeen people will understand - yesterday published a report showing just how important record companies remain in this here digital age. The aim of the document, of course, was to hit back at all those people in the wider music community who like to say things like "you know, record companies are pretty redundant these days".

To be fair to the IFPI, the point of their report was that when it comes to new bands you need to spend money to make money and, if you want mainstream success, you have to spend rather a lot of money. And, the trade body argues, when it comes to spending rather large sums of money on new talent, it's still really the record companies who are writing the cheques. And in many ways that is true, for now at least.

The report says that breaking a new band costs at least a million dollars, with a slightly simplified budget claiming $200,000 is paid out in an advance, $200,000 is spent on recording, $200,000 is needed for three promotional videos, $100,000 goes on tour support and $300,000 is pumped into marketing and promotion.

Some might say it looks a bit like the IFPI consulted a beginners guide to the record industry published in 1998 to come up with that budget breakdown, but I take their point that it still costs more than most people would expect to break a new band, and that much of the upfront capital still often comes from a record company's wallet. So much so, the trade body reckons record labels worldwide invest up to $5 billion a year into launching artists and albums, which works out at about 30% of their overall sales revenue. 

The record label chiefs on hand at the IFPI briefing added that the million dollar budget was in many cases rather conservative, while adding that even when that investment paid off and a band was successfully launched, it didn't mean said talent were immediately profitable for the record company. Sony UK's Mike Smith said you are looking for a band to surpass 600,000 albums sales before they can really be treated as a profit centre for a label. Which is rather a lot.

It wasn't overly clear what the motive was for the trade body telling us all this now. Unusually for an IFPI event, it didn't conclude with a big rallying cry for a tougher crack down on piracy (though there was a brief mention that illegal file-sharing was having a direct impact on the amount of money available for investment), and it didn't seem to be especially aimed at artists and managers in a "give us a bigger share of your non-recording revenues you bastards" sort of way. 

But, as I said at the outset, it actually seemed like the record industry was mainly stating its reasons for existing in an era where people talk more and more about fan-funding, the DIY route, profitable band-brand alliances, alternative investment and how jolly well the live sector is doing just know.

As some of the label execs present correctly pointed out, it's hard to identify many or any bands who have managed to launch themselves as mainstream acts (certainly globally) without the help of a traditional record company. But those other launch routes are very much in their infancy, and I think it's too soon to say which will work for new and existing talent long term, or whether any can or will replace the record label in some cases.

I happen to think record companies aren't all doomed, and mainly for the reasons IFPI list in their new report, though I'm not sure a record company (major certainly) in 2020 will look much like what a record company looks like now; though just like those newer business models competing with the traditional label system, I think it's too soon to say how labels will work with artists, old and new, in the decades to come.

With wonderful timing, as the record companies got on stage to tell us all how important they still were in the wider music business, two artists announced they were cutting traditional labels out of their lives. True these are both established artists, so it doesn't really contradict IFPI's claim that is the labels who fund the breaking of new talent. And both will probably end up using a record company to handle some of their distribution, but still, it was interesting timing nonetheless.

First things first, OK Go, who have become newsworthy of late for their latest video venture, a more complex affair than their legendary treadmill promo, and perhaps more importantly for the issues that surrounded fans embedding the band's other videos onto their blogs and social network profiles.

As previously reported, OK Go's label EMI are not currently allowing most of their official content on YouTube to be embedded on third party websites, because when a YouTube video is embedded the key advertising spots aren't shown, so the record company cannot earn off the content. The band's Damian Kulash wrote a great blog post communicating his frustrations about this turn of events back in January, which we reported on here.

The news today is that some of those frustrations may go away, because it seems the band are about to part company with EMI's US Capitol label, and will take their latest album 'Of The Blue Color Of The Sky' with them. The long player will now be distributed and marketed by the band's own label Paracadute Recordings. The parting of company mid-way through an album marketing campaign might suggest some major falling out - perhaps caused by the video embed issue - though Kulash has always been very complimentary about his label, and both sides insist they are parting on good terms.

Hits Daily Double quote an EMI spokesperson as saying: "We've really enjoyed our relationship with OK Go. They've always pushed creative boundaries and have broken new ground, particularly with their videos. We wish them the greatest success for the future". While Kulash is quoted thus: "We'd like to thank the people at EMI Music who have worked so hard on our behalf".

Insiders say that EMI may have been willing to part company with OK Go because, despite the web hype around their new video, sales of the new album have been modest; another example of how substantial online interest in an artist doesn't necessarily equal revenues for related rights holders. Though OK Go are possibly just the sort of band who can really benefit from having control of their own destiny, and being free to experiment with new ways of making money with music, especially online.

And, indeed, the band have already been dabbling in the brand alliance space. The aforementioned new video, for the song 'This Too Shall Pass', was paid for by US insurance firm State Farm, who get some subtle logo moments in the video itself and a thank you at the end of the promo. The finance firm probably realised that the video was going to be much bigger news than the song and album it promotes, and given OK Go's reputation for being online innovators it was presumably an artist alliance they were happy to pay to secure. EMI were seemingly part of the State Farm deal, but I expect the band and their management are probably in a position to pursue similar opportunities alone.

Secondly, Charlotte Church has signed a 360 degree deal with Power Amp, the music investment firm whose most high profile venture to date was probably their Madness alliance.

According to the FT, the deal is worth £2 million, a chunk of which will finance a new album now set for Autumn release. In return for the investment Power Amp's investors will get 50% of the singer's recording, publishing, merchandising and live revenue for an undisclosed period of time. Copyrights, I'm pretty sure, will stay with the Church, which is good news for God. No, not that church, obviously. 

Power Amp chief Tom Bywater wouldn't be drawn on how much profit he hopes to make from the two million his investors will pump into the Charlotte Church venture, though he did tell the FT his wider business model aimed to double each investor's money every three years.

Church admitted the attraction of the Power Amp arrangement was that it provided a major label level budget, but ensured her more control over her output. Church: "[The deal] provides me with a financial commitment equivalent to that of a major record company but with a much greater degree of control and ownership over my career".

Of course, Power Amp are the first to admit that they look to work with record companies when it comes to distributing the recorded output of artists they invest in, and IFPI would be sure to point out putting money into Madness and Charlotte Church is not the same as labels investing that cool million into a totally new band. Still, whether or not you agree with the aforementioned IFPI report, OK Go and Charlotte Church both provide some useful extra case studies for the "ha, who needs record label" brigade. 

Lobbying groups on both sides of the three-strikes debate published research yesterday, as chatter on the Digital Economy Bill reached its final stages in the House Of Lords and preparations to take the slightly controversial proposed legislation to the House Of Commons began.

The copyright section of this Bill, of course, will introduce the three-strikes procedure for targeting prolific file-sharers, like the really evil ones, who probably also bully teddy bears and pull the legs of spiders. The new laws would allow a government agency - probably OfCom - to suspend those file-sharers' internet access, seize any cuddly toys in their possession and put an exclusion zone between them and all arthropods.

The first bit of research came from one of the groups who support three-strikes, record label trade body the BPI. Their researchers Ovum reckon that if the six biggest internet service providers were to launch internet packages that had a licensed digital music service bundled in this year, the extra revenue they could generate on an annual basis by 2013 would be £103 million, assuming there was a "medium adoption scenario", which is my favourite sort of scenario.

I'm not quite sure how they figured that out, but obviously the point is that the ISPs, who oppose three-strikes, and who complain about having to contribute to the cost of running any new anti-piracy systems, have something to directly gain from the legit digital music market expanding which, the BPI would argue, is only possible if the provisions in the DEB become law.

Commenting on the report, BPI top man Geoff Taylor told CMU: "It's increasingly clear that it isn't smart [for an ISP to just] be a 'dumb pipe'. This report shows that the revenue potential of digital music services alone makes sound economic sense for ISPs. UK music companies want to innovate and develop exciting new digital offerings. ISPs such as Virgin Media have recognised that legal digital music services offer a more exciting and profitable future than continued widespread piracy".

Of course, the idea that ISPs help content owners police piracy in return for the two parties collaborating on new services, bundled into ISP packages, and on which the net firms can earn, has been around for several years now, and was the basis for voluntary talks between the two industries before three-strikes legislation was on the agenda. Virgin Media have been most proactive in pursuing this option, though their aim to launch an allyoucaneat MP3 service as part of their ISP package never got off the ground because all the majors except Universal Music weren't too keen on the proposition.

The ISPs would probably argue that they are more than willing to form content partnerships with the music industry, but that the financial terms previously offered aren't acceptable, especially when bundled in with piracy policing demands. And it has to be said, any digital music service set up by an ISP would probably be awful.

The other body publishing research this week is consumer rights group Consumer Focus, who generally oppose measures that could result in consumers having their net connections suspended.

Their study says that, while an increasing number of licensed digital music services are now available for those trying to move away from dodgy file-sharing, awareness of those services among the masses is pretty low. Even a much reported on service like Spotify has a relatively low profile among the masses, the consumer rights group says.

Consumer Focus says that more work must be done to promote legal services before any three-strikes style suspensions begin. Their boss Jill Johnstone told CMU: "The music industry is shooting itself in the foot by not promoting legal online music services. If file-sharing is causing the damage the music industry claims, why aren't they putting more effort in to promoting the legal alternatives? Before we go down the enforcement road it is only fair to ask the music industry to do more to make people aware of the legal options".

One of the issues, of course, is that since the original dot com boom most digital services have generally employed viral and word of mouth marketing to build user-bases rather than the sort of big budget ad campaigns which would reach mainstream consumers - therefore services which have a very high profile among early adopters are still a mystery to many.

The boss of one London-based legit music service, We7's Steve Purdham, agrees that this trend has had an impact on public awareness for licensed platforms, while adding that services like his prefer the sort of steady growth word of mouth delivers because it helps them keep better control of their user base, which can't grow too rapidly because of the costs of providing licensed music streams. He told CMU: "We7 has grown from zero to three million monthly UK users primarily by word of mouth. There is a significant reason [why we prefer that method] - the cost of providing the music can be significant. Ensuring growth keeps in pace with sales or funding is critical for a legal service".

Given the digital service providers often opt for 'below-the-line' marketing, does that mean the music industry should be funding a more high profile 'these are legit' campaign? Purdham, perhaps unsurprisingly, thinks so. He continued: "I think the biggest activity for the majors, government and music streaming services is to heavily promote the legal partners, such as We7, Last.fm and 7Digital, and drive that educational message home. We7 lets people have music for free with ads or a small monthly fee if they don't want ads. The best way to destroy piracy is to promote the legal services more aggressively".

Always keen to do its bit, CMU is currently putting together a list of all the licensed digital music services operating in the UK. It's very much a work in progress, but if you know about these things (or run a service) and can think of any legit services we are not currently listing, then drop us an email. You can see our work so far on this at www.legalmusicservices.co.uk.

Mark Linkous, aka Sparklehorse, has committed suicide, a spokesman confirmed to Rolling Stone magazine this weekend. He was 47. His manager told reporters yesterday that he had shot himself in the heart in an alleyway next to a friend's house in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday afternoon. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Linkous began performing as Sparklehorse in 1995, having previously been a founder member of eighties indie band Dancing Hoods, before undertaking a number of solo projects using his own name. There were four Sparklehorse albums in total, projects resulting in numerous collaborations which saw Linkous work with the likes of Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Vic Chesnutt, Nina Persson, Dave Fridmann, Christian Fennesz and Danger Mouse.

His hook up with the latter on the fourth Sparklehorse album, 'Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain', led to last year's 'Dark Night Of The Soul', a multi-media project also involving director David Lynch, which never got a full release because of legal issues with EMI. Those issues have only just been resolved, and the full album is now due to be released later this year. As well as collaborating with other producers, Linkous also sometimes took that role himself on other artists' projects, in particular producing an album by Nina Persson and collaborating with Daniel Johnston. A new Sparklehorse album was also reportedly close to completion prior to his death.

Linkous had a near-death experience in 1996 while supporting Radiohead. He overdosed on valium, alcohol and antidepressants in a London hotel, and his heart stopped for a few minutes during that incident. In the fourteen hours he lay unconscious, the blood supply to his legs was cut off, almost resulting in the loss of both limbs and leaving him wheelchair bound for six months. Some commentators said they felt the subsequent and somewhat sombre 1998 Sparklehorse album 'Good Morning Spider' had been influenced by that experience, though Linkous always said much of the long player had been written before the overdose.

A statement from Linkous' family issued via the Sparkklehorse website this weekend read: "It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There's a heaven and there's a star for you".

He is survived by his wife, Teresa, his mother, Gloria Hughes Thacker, his father, Frederick Linkous; and his brothers, Matt, Paul and Daniel Linkous.

Speculation remains as to whether the slightly controversial Digital Economy Bill will make it onto the statute book before parliament is dissolved for the General Election. The copyright section of this Bill, of course, introduces a three-strikes system for combating illegal file-sharing into UK law and, as of last week, formalises the powers of the High Court to shut down websites which are guilty of widespread copyright infringement.

The Bill has begun in the House Of Lords, and is expected to be passed by that chamber this week. Of course once passed by the Lords, it is always easier for the government to force legislation through the House Of Commons where they automatically have the majority vote. However, with the Tories opposing some aspects of the Bill (though not really the copyright section), opposition MPs might try to do everything they can to ensure the proposed legislation isn't approved before Election time.

That said, the Media Guardian reports that some senior media industry types have said they are still confident the Bill will get through parliament in time, with some speculating that the government may drop the bit most strongly opposed by the Tories - proposals for a new way of providing local news on ITV - in order to get approval for the rest of the Bill during the "wash up", the period of wheeling and dealing that goes on in parliament ahead of an uncertain election in which the government tries to get as much of its outstanding legislative proposals on the statute book before they are shown the door. 

The Guardian quote one media insider who says he is impressed with the speed in which the proposals - which cover a wide range of issues and topics - have got to the final stage in the Lords, adding: "The government deserves credit for pushing through a proposal that is not a vote-winner. They recognise that the creative industries are a huge asset for the country".

Much of the music industry, of course, supports the copyright section of the Bill, and some industry groups have been fiercely lobbying for three-strikes and website shutting injunctions for some time. That said, not the whole music industry is completely on board. Many in the artist, producer, songwriter and management communities still have big reservations about the introduction of what are perceived by many as overly draconian laws, especially as many are convinced said laws won't actually make much of a difference in the fight against piracy.

Given how the emotions have been flowing in the music community since the announcement that the BBC's digital station 6music faces closure, I think it's fair to say the industry still considers radio as an important platform for showcasing new and alternative music, and that there are too few radio stations and programmes providing that platform, both within the BBC and the commercial sector.

But, in the Spotify and Last.fm era, is music radio still the important platform for breaking new talent that it used to be? If so, is there a commercial model for radio services that champion new and alternative music and, if not, what are the obligations of the BBC in this domain? Or does the future of music discovery lie on the internet, and if so, do the killer discovery platforms already exist, or should the radio and web sectors be combining their skills to create that platform? And what does all of this mean for new bands trying to reach a wider audience in 2010?

Questions, questions. Well, people, we'll be endeavouring to provide you with some answers, because CMU Daily readers have voted the music radio issue as the one they want discussed in the CMU session of this year's Liverpool Sound City in May. And that debate will occur just before the BBC Trust ends its consultation on the recommendations that 6music and the Asian Network be closed.

CMU Publisher Chris Cooke says this: "Perhaps the news of 6music's pending demise rallied the vote for this topic to be the focus of CMU's panel a Sound City this year, though the music and radio industries have always been intrinsically linked, and the role of the latter as a platform for championing the new talent being fostered by the former has been a hot topic for some years. I think some in the music industry ultimately feel radio's key role in music discovery will be replaced by the internet, though the reaction to BBC 6's closure among the music community shows that, for now at least, radio remains important. I look forward to debating with key players in the radio, digital music and record industries on where they see the future of music discovery heading".

Sound City Director Dave Pichilingi added: "The response to the CMU Sound City panel picker has been phenomenal. In light of everything that is going on at the BBC, the choice of subject is quite apt. The Liverpool Sound City conference is all about challenging and confronting the big issues - we only truly move forward if we do this. This panel will certainly be one that gets the temperatures in the room rising!"

For more information about this year's Sound City, and details on how to book tickets, get your web browser tuned into this station: www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

Gang Gang Dance have said they wish Florence Welch had given them earlier credit for the bit of their music sampled in her And The Machine hit 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)'.

As previously reported, the New York experimentalists recently accused Florence and her record label of plagiarism after hearing the 'Rabbit Heart' for the first time. Welch's label and publisher quickly acknowledged that the Gang Gang Dance track 'House Jam' was sampled in the opening of the Flo hit, apologised for not previously crediting them, and agreed to a royalties settlement. Welch then said she was big fan of the New York outfit, and that the use of the sample was a tribute to them, and that she had never made any secret of the fact the 'House Jam' snippet had been used.

Gang Gang Dance singer Liz Bougatsos has now told 6music that she wishes such comments had come from Flo directly to the band much sooner. She told the BBC station: "If she [Welch] would have mentioned it in the beginning, in the press, which we never saw, that would have definitely made a difference. And if she was speaking of 'an homage' at that point, that would have helped as well".

But the singer admitted that her anger towards Flo and the song theft has cooled since a settlement was reached. She continued: "I'm happy now for sure. I think I was annoyed in the beginning because other people's reactions were affecting the way I was thinking about it - it's not a natural way for me to come out at somebody. I hope there's no hard feelings".

The Internet Service Providers Association yesterday called the latest amendment to the Digital Economy Bill a "fucking disgrace". Well, they actually said they were outraged and that "the many associated legal, technical and practical issues [of this provision] have simply not been debated in nearly enough depth; for a policy of such gravity, this is negligent".

As previously reported, the controversial Clause 17 that would give future ministers the power to introduce new anti-piracy systems without going through the full parliamentary process was dropped this week, to be replaced by a Lib Dems proposal that the High Court be able to issue injunctions to close down websites that primarily exist to infringe copyright. Such injunctions would basically force the ISPs to block access to offending websites. In theory, such injunctions can be applied for under existing UK copyright laws, though the new provision would formalise the process, and, the ISPA says, tip the balance of power too far in the content owner's favour.

The outraged net firms' trade body continued: "This amendment is misjudged and disproportionate and this Bill is a wholly inappropriate place to introduce this debate. ISPA is particularly disappointed that the Lords supporting this amendment drew parallels with the model of network-level blocking administered by the Internet Watch Foundation. The suggestion that a framework developed to fight against the distribution of criminal images of child sexual abuse is appropriate to tackle allegations of civil copyright infringement is incomprehensible".

Needless to say, record label trade body the BPI thought the new amendment was groovy, groovy, uber-cool. In fact, everyone who works there had a jam tart to celebrate. Their original support for Clause 17 (support which was controversial and, in part, motivated Pure Mint Recordings chief Anthony Hall to quit the body's Rights Committee) was based on the fear that while the DEB's three-strikes proposals potentially deal with the P2P file-sharing problem, they don't help with other forms of online piracy, which are arguably on the rise. The BPI feel that the strengthened injunctions proposition will overcome that issue, without the need for the rather vague Clause 17. 

Between bites of his jam tart, a BPI spokesman told Music Week: "We are pleased that parliament have recognised that legislation to tackle non-peer-to-peer piracy needs to be as robust as that planned to limit peer-to-peer. Rights holders will continue the dialogue with government and opposition to ensure that the final Bill allows new digital markets to flourish".

You know what all this makes me think about? That a jam tart would be nice with my post-Daily coffee. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

The BBC's chief Pepsi expert and radio boss Tim Davie has defended the Beeb's controversial decision to axe the Asian Network and 6music.

Davie, who became head of BBC Audio & Music in 2008 bringing, erm, zero seconds of experience in radio and music to the table, has blogged about the cutback plans amid mounting opposition to the proposals, especially in relation to music service 6. Davie argues that, while he loves the two services that are facing closure, it is right for the Beeb to focus its radio resources into making a smaller number of stations more brilliant, rather than spreading it out to nine national stations, two of which have only small audiences.

He blogged yesterday: "I do not believe that offering the current range of nine stand-alone digital networks is the right way to serve audiences and ensure radio remains strong in a digital world. And, while digital radio has seen growth, my concern is that current development remains slow. So we are proposing to reduce the number of stations and re-invest in our five core networks - Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Live - and extensions of these services, while maintaining our overall investment in digital radio to use in a range of innovative ways to provide listeners with great digital content".

He continues: "But this strategy of focusing efforts on doing fewer things better also means difficult decisions. Clearly we didn't arrive lightly at the decision to recommend the closure of 6music: it is distinctive, much loved and I too am passionate about its output. But I believe the best way for us to provide that kind of programming is by looking at other ways to find it a bigger audience. While we are re-focussing on fewer networks, we will consider how the range of music played on Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3 should adjust to ensure we continue to offer a diverse spectrum of new and UK music as part of our stronger focus on originality and distinctiveness".

Of course, as someone or other I was reading about the other day said, the BBC is in a very tricky position, because while key players in the political community are constantly calling on the Corporation to make cuts, there will be vocal groups who speak out in support of any service or programmes that are axed in order to streamline the Corporation. And even those of us in the 'save 6' camp must recognise that the high volume of the support being heard for that particular station this week is in part aided by the fact some of its most passionate supporters work in the media, or are active Twitter users.

But then again, my two main problems with the BBC cuts proposals remain, and nothing Davie or his boss Mark 'Tommo' Thompson has said have addressed these two points.

First, both Davie and Tommo justify cutting services like 6 so that they can improve "quality" elsewhere in the Corporation's output. This is a clever rouse, because it's a justification that sounds good but means nothing. It also assumes that you get better quality TV and radio programmes when you spend more money.

While it's true that there is a minimum amount of money you need to spend to get good content (a minimum many commercial radio stations don't provide their programmes any more), the vast majority of BBC Radio's national shows are over-funded and over-staffed, with Radio 1 and Radio 2 the most guilty in this regard. Pumping more money into these stations will just mean they become even more over-funded, not that the quality of programming will improve.

Second, the aim of these cuts is primarily to placate critics in the commercial sector. Those commercial critics complain because Radios 1 and 2 - which compete with their stations - have an unfair competitive advantage because of the vast over-spending and over-staffing that goes on. The proposals of Davie, Tommo and John Tate, who wrote the cuts document, will actually make this imbalance worse and piss off the commercial radio sector even more.

While it can be a good thing to bring in expertise from outside the media into broadcasting companies, to ensure alternative thinking at the top, you get the impression here that the fact Davie, a former fizzy drink seller, and Tate, a former Tory Party twonk, know little about making good radio is in part behind such a misguided strategy being employed. Tommo is a former programme maker, but has his heart in TV not radio, and certainly not music.

So yes, us 6 fans are emotionally attached to a minority interest station, and we are using our media connections to kick up a bigger fuss than our number should probably allow. But CMU's problems with the plans to axe 6 remain unemotional - Davie, Tommo and Tate are just employing bad strategy.

So, lots of movements over at the MAMA Group since the departure of one of its top men, Adam Driscoll, last weekend.

First, and perhaps most importantly, HMV basically confirmed its takeover of the live music and management group when it announced on Wednesday it had a commitment to sell from over 90% of the company's existing shareholders. Under UK company law it can now force the sale of the remaining shares.

With HMV properly in place as MAMA's owners, the retailer's top man Simon Fox was formally installed as Chairman of MAMA. Confirming that development to CMU, the remaining MAMA CEO Dean James said: "I am delighted to welcome Simon to the board. His acumen, experience and position within the industry will be fantastic assets to the company as we look to the exciting future which lies ahead for MAMA".

It remains unclear what impact the takeover will have on MAMA's operations, though. As previously reported, its main artist management division Supervision will downsize a little, leading to some of its managers (and therefore some of its artists) to depart.

In related news, while the HMV deal stopped MAMA from being snapped up by a private equity outfit, there is now speculation that HMV itself could be bought up by one of those shady equity firms. Because of general pessimism towards the retail sector, and caution regarding Fox's diversification strategy, HMV's share price remains relatively low. And, with things not looking entirely doom ridden at the combined HMV/MAMA, some reckon that makes the company ripe picking for the private equity men. Certainly it would be less risky than a private equity firm lining up a deal to, say, buy EMI.

CMU can exclusively reveal that day three of this year's Great Escape festival and convention on 15 May will be curated by we:LIVE, the previously reported association for independent venue owners and promoters, which was launched last year.

Aiming to bring together indie venue owners and gig promoters we:LIVE aims to "promote and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and expertise through direct resources as well as implementing best business practices and promoting the standing and interests of [indie players] in the music industry at large". we:LIVE's day at The Great Escape will provide resources and information for those operating in the grass roots live sector, as well as opportunities for promoters, bookers and agents to network.

we:LIVE's chair and founder Dominique Czopor told CMU: "we:LIVE is excited to be curating the Live day at TGE this year. As well as the benefits of sharing knowledge and expertise, working with TGE offers independent promoters and venue owners the opportunity to put names to faces, and to also discuss new business opportunities with colleagues. As well as being a social event, we:LIVE recognises the need for discussion and debate on the current issues facing our industry today".

She continued: "We are very excited to be able to offer training modules from the new qualification we have been helping the BIIAB to develop, the Award for Music Promoters (Level 2) and hope that as many promoters and venue owners will take up this opportunity to test their knowledge, and hopefully learn something new about their industry. We will also be having a formal launch of the qualification at Cargo, on the 27 Apr between 5-8pm with guest speakers from candidates who sat the pilot course last year including people from Radio 1, Global and Inc Group".

Elsewhere in The Great Escape's conference programme, once again the music business fest will be teaming up with the Brighton Festival - the programmed arts festival that takes place in the seaside city throughout May. Those joint events will include some chatter with and from music writers Nick Kent, John Niven and John Harris, led by The Observer's Garry Mulholland.

Earlybird delegate tickets are now on sale for £150 and there are also discounted three-day hotel and ticket packages available at www.escapegreat.com. But if you want to stay in the festival's main hotel Queens Hotel - where much of the convention takes place - you'll have to be quick as rooms are almost all sold out.

The Great Escape will also be issuing a discounted Saturday-only pass for independent promoters, for more info on that, check the we:LIVE website at: www.we-live.co.uk

Godwin's Law states that the longer any online argument continues the higher the probability of a comparison involving Nazis becomes. And you can see that law in action on Radiohead's blog, where guitarist Ed O'Brien yesterday referred to Mark Thompson as "Herr Director General".

But anyway, this is my way of telling that O'Brien, also a director of the Featured Artists Coalition, has responded to the whole BBC 6music thing, as has his former sparring partner Lily Allen (who clashed with FAC over the proposed three-strikes system last year, I'm sure you remember).

In a letter to the BBC Trust, O'Brien said: "I wonder if those who made this decision are actually aware of the hugely important role that 6music plays in fostering and promoting new bands, as well as still playing the likes of the band that I am in. It literally is the radio lifeblood for music outside of the mainstream. Not to denigrate Radios 1 and 2, but it really is the only station that puts music first, and that's from a punters point of view and not some bloke in a band. Nowhere else can you hear an archived session track from T Rex juxtaposed next to Midlake's latest release? As David Bowie put it, it keeps the spirit of John Peel alive".

He continued: "Please realise the impact and severity of closing this station down. It will be a huge blow for new bands and their labels. It's not enough to 'refocus' Radios 1 and 2 as 6music does a very specific thing. What you have with 6music is a gem of a radio station, it is doing what no other station in the world does or can possibly do. Remember it is also still relatively young, give it time. You also finally have a fantastic and seemingly settled line up of DJs. Please get behind it and from what I can gather about its annual budget of £6m, it surely punches way above it's weight in terms of cultural relevance and importance".

Writing for The Guardian, Lily echoed O'Brien's sentiment, writing: "What is happening now reflects a huge, politically motivated reshuffle.It will be awful if they do decide to close BBC 6music, and I hope that the backlash they've received so far will make them think twice. Clearly it will continue to cause uproar, which is the last thing the BBC want. Perhaps they weren't expecting this level of interest in a niche station".

She continued: "If they close 6music, instead of acts like Seasick Steve and presenters like Lauren Laverne, it will be the Pussycat Dolls and Fearne Cotton on Radio 1. The only way this decision will be palatable is if they incorporate the elements of BBC 6music that strike a chord with the public into one of their other channels, such as Radio 2.That would mean making a commitment to showcasing new and unsigned bands, not just bands on major labels, and giving space to bands who haven't got a platform anywhere else, not just the next hyped act. But honestly I don't feel very hopeful that this will happen. Closing BBC 6music is bad news for unsigned acts and new British music".

You can give your own feedback to the BBC Trust on the Strategy Review here: www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consultations/departments/bbc/bbc-strategy-review/consultation/consult_view

CMU can exclusively reveal that day two of this year's Great Escape festival and convention on 14 May will feature a special event to find the best British music start-ups, hosted by Music Ally.

The event will see the digital music business information and strategy company hosting a session on the Best oOf British Start-Ups, featuring some of the most innovative homegrown companies operating in the digital space. The companies will pitch their offerings to a 'jury' of entrepreneurs, VCs and analysts with one successful company being voted The Great Escape Best British Start-Up 2010. Music Ally will also be hosting a keynote interview session.

Music Ally CEO Paul Brindley told CMU: "Music Ally is delighted to be collaborating once again with The Great Escape. We're particularly looking forward to being able to showcase some of the best of breed UK-based companies that are driving innovation in the digital arena. It is these new young companies that are likely to be the motors of the music industry going forward so it's important to offer a platform to encourage a greater dialogue between rights owners and these companies".

As well as the traditional convention panel discussions and speeches, The Great Escape will be introducing some more focussed discussions with industry leaders this year, including a series of short Q&As running throughout the event that will feature Alison Wenham (Chairman & Chief Exec of AIM) with many more names to be announced soon.

Educational level sessions will be hosted at Northbrook College - affiliated with University of Brighton. The leading music business and production education centre will be the key education partner of this year's Great Escape delivering a series of interactive workshops and stimulating debates on contemporary issues and innovative business models that are essential to catapult your music projects into the next decade.

And there will, of course, be plenty of informal and formal networking opportunities that will be hosted variously by AIM, Bristol Music Foundation, Generator, Catalan! Music, Featured Artists Coalition, French Music Bureau, Music Managers Forum, PRS For Music, Sounds Australia and UK Trade & Investment.

Earlybird delegate tickets are now on sale for £150 and there are also discounted three-day hotel and ticket packages available at www.escapegreat.com. But if you want to stay in the festival's main hotel Queens Hotel - where much of the convention takes place - you'll have to be quick as rooms are almost all sold out.

Check tomorrow's CMU Daily for one more Great Escape line-up announcement.

So, this has been a long time coming, no? Sony Music will stop sending out promo CDs to journalists on 1 May, forcing all reviewers to use the major's digital previews system instead.

I've wondered for some time how long major record companies could justify the cost of pressing up extra CDs for reviewers, while subsidising the jiffy bag industry and the Royal Mail. We've surveyed reviewers on this issue a couple of times and found a more or less 50/50 split between those who prefer to get MP3s or streaming links to review, and those who still want the physical product in an nice envelope.

Having just carried three bin bags full of old promo CDs down three flights of stairs for the recycling men (yes, the lift's not working again at CMU HQ) the digital thing is sounding good to me, though if I'm being honest, I think disks in envelopes still have a bigger impact, and I rarely check out promo e-cards from record companies, though that's partly because most of their preview track systems are rubbish.

Whatever, Sony is the first record company to make the leap into digital-only promos. According to those Music Week dudes, the major's top man chief bloke Ged Doherty said in an email recently: "Digital promo is set to become an industry standard as other major and independent music companies also make the switch. Physical stock is expensive, difficult to store and environmentally unfriendly. The digital e-card system that we have developed and tested in-house will provide all our partners across radio, television, press and retail with the same sound quality you are used to as well as artist images, pack shots, press clippings and other content to give you a complete picture of each release".

As I say, I think the music media will be split on this development. The music journalism legend that is David Hepworth, now overseer of The Word and Mixmag, of course, wrote on his blog this week: "I know all the arguments about the decline of physical product but this move shows that record companies don't understand what goes on in the head of a hack who gets scores of new records every day, most of them by people he's never heard of. I'm sure there are lots of good reasons for Sony making this move. Should send a shiver through the Jiffy Bag business for a start. I also predict that within a year when they want reviewers to take notice of something they'll start sending out copies again".

Presumably all of this will also mean the disappearance of new Sony CDs from certain second hand record shops in central London.

Following BBC top bloke Mark 'Tommo' Thompson's statement yesterday confirming proposals for wide-ranging cuts at the Corporation, which would include the axing of 6music and the Asian Network and a radical downsizing of the BBC website, the chair of the Beeb's overseer, the BBC Trust, has issued a statement.

As previously reported, the Trust will now consider the proposals, because its approval will be needed for the cuts to go ahead. Some of the proposed cuts do address previous Trust concerns - particularly regarding the BBC competing too fiercely with commercial rivals - but others seem to run contrary to past previous recommendations, for example the overseer recently commended 6music and encouraged the Corporation to better promote the service.

Trust chairman Michael Lyons confirmed yesterday that he had requested that Tommo and his team undertake the strategic review of the Corporation's activities, and to make proposals regards changes that could or should be made. He continued: "We will shortly be publishing the Director General's proposals, to find out what licence fee payers think of them and to test opinions and reactions to them from outside the BBC. This is consistent with the Trust's approach of basing all its work on the views and interests of licence fee payers".

He continues: "We take very seriously the privilege of licence fee funding and we recognise the direct and over-riding responsibility we have to those who pay for the BBC. A major driver behind this review is the fact that both audiences and industry have raised concerns about whether the BBC should focus more sharply on its public service mission. And we want to ensure that the BBC spreads licence fee money only as far as it can go to deliver quality content and that it asks the public for no more money than it needs to do this".

He concluded: "Aligned with this, we are conscious of the fact that digital switchover is two years away and that we are at a point where the so-called digital future really has become the digital present. The Trust wants a better understanding of what the seismic changes taking place in the media industry mean for the BBC, so that we can determine how the BBC can most effectively focus on its core public mission in a rapidly changing world. The strategic review will give us that understanding and shape the future course of the BBC accordingly".

You can give your own feedback to the BBC Trust on the Strategy Review by emailing srconsultation@bbc.co.uk and/or by completing this online survey set up by the BBC Trust.

While there will be opponents to most and probably all of the cuts proposed by Team Tommo, and now being considered by the BBC Trust, the campaign to stop 6music from being axed has the highest profile, which is nice for the music industry, given it's the big music-based service that is likely to be lost as a result of the proposals. Though, of course, the Asian Network has a key music element also, and supporters of that station started to get more coverage yesterday too.

An Early Day Motion being put to parliament by Labour MP Tom Watson in support of 6music - first circulated over the weekend - has been amended to name check both digital stations. 33 MPs have now put their name to the Motion.

It currently reads as follows: "This House notes with deep concern that the BBC is considering closing its 6music and Asian Network radio stations; believes that both radio stations offer outlets for independent and non-mainstream music; further notes that both 6music and Asian Network reach out to audiences not otherwise well served by the BBC; congratulates 6music and Asian Network for acting as a source of talent for the BBC and other media; recognises that the BBC has a duty to represent and give a platform to minority interests that need a mainstream platform to develop and grow; and calls on the government to encourage the BBC to continue its support for 6music and Asian Network for many years to come".

Though some political types in both Labour and Tory circles have cautiously welcomed the BBC's proposals, though given many of those said politicians have been calling on the Beeb to stop empire building for years they have to really. To be fair to Tommo, and as he said yesterday, the Corporation has been criticised for years for being too big, but is now being criticised for making cuts.

As previously reported, Tory culture spokesman Ed Vaizey, one of the first politicians to give the BBC proposals his general support even when the cuts were still just rumours on Friday morning, has since spoken out in support of 6music, seemingly after he was deluged with emails from 6music fans over the weekend. One of the people he corresponded with is CMU Publisher Chris Cooke. You can read Chris' arguments for saving the station, and Ed's response, at this URL:

www.stuffbyme.co.uk/post/An-open-letter-to-Ed-Vaizey-Six-reasons-to-save-BBC-Six.aspx

Support for the threatened 6music and Asian Network continued to be aired yesterday after BBC boss Tommo confirmed proposals to axe both digital stations. Most supporters point out that cutting high quality services in a bid to create more high quality programming elsewhere made little sense. Here are some quotes from a few more people who have spoken against the cuts in the last few days.
 
First up, the BBC Asian Network's Bobby Friction and 6music presenter Adam Buxton appeared on last night's Channel 4 News with Thompson.
 
Bobby Friction told Tommo that the Asian Network offered something that no commercial Asian-focused station offered its listeners. Commercial rivals, he argued, tended to be focused on the music, language and regions of the UK Asian community's homelands, rather than on British Asian culture itself. The BBC station, he said, was a "British Asian space - a space where most licence fee payers also live".
 
Adam Buxton, meanwhile, jokingly challenged Tommo to a fight, announcing "I've been practicing", before saying: "A lot of shows on 6music have got an incredibly devoted and intelligent and unusually witty and creative audience. When it's a station working really well and that people seem to love... It seems to be doing everything that the BBC wants to do best".
 
Elsewhere, former BBC Director General Greg Dyke, who is currently heading a Conservative review into the creative industries, told reporters the real problem remained over paid big name talent and senior execs, while adding that Thompson was being forced into his current position because he had failed to keep the support of his staff or the political community. Dyke said: "[The BBC is] in pretty good shape, but... a bit short of friends. Mark earns more than twice what I earned when I was doing it. The staff are whingeing. Mark is doing some great things, but he is not taking them with him".
 
In academia, one professor said closing the Asian Network would have a big impact on the Beeb's multiculturalism. Daya Thussu, director of the London-based India Media Centre at the University of Westminster, accused the BBC of "abandoning its inclusive agenda" by closing the Asian focused station, saying: "The closures show that the BBC is abandoning its inclusive agenda and thus compromising its public service remit. The demise of the Asian Network would make the BBC less multi-cultural and, to borrow an apt phrase from one of its former bosses, more 'hideously white'".
 
Back to "save 6 music", and 5 Live and 6music presenter Richard Bacon said via Twitter that the decision to close 6music could have dire consequences for other BBC services, because of the precedent the closure would set. He tweeted: "6music is staffed by talented people providing 'distinctive' programming that values 'quality over quantity'. Exactly what this restructure is supposed to be about. 6music is distinctive and serves an audience not catered for by the commercial sector. What happens when folk use whatever rationale they have come up with to justify the 6music decision and apply it to other parts of the BBC?"

Also commenting on the wider implications of shutting 6, The Quietus' Associate Editor Luke Turner says he reckons the station's closure could be disastrous for an already struggling independent music sector, writing: "Umpteen independent label bosses and staff I've spoken to this morning have said that 6music was the one radio station where their artists would be played. Though it's undeniably a ludicrous situation that says a lot about the state of mainstream music journalism, [it is important to note that the music and mainstream] press follow the 6music lead, covering artists that presenters feature on their shows. The same, I am told, goes for retail, who will give shelf space to fringe artists who had been featured on 6music". Lose that 6-based promotion, Turner argues, and indie artists and labels will struggle even more.
 
Back to politics, and the Liberal Democrats culture spokesman Don Foster welcomed the principles of the BBC's strategic review, but not decision to cut services, saying yesterday: "Today's report signals the end of the BBC roaming wherever it fancied. The decision to focus on high quality UK content is welcome. However, I am not convinced that using 6music and the Asian Network as sacrificial lambs to pay for it is the right approach. While the BBC has become overgrown in some areas and needs pruning, the licence-fee-payers must have their say about what's to go".
 
And finally, Glastonbury organisers expressed dismay at the decision to close two stations which have supported and broadcast from the festival, with a post on the event's official website saying: "It was announced this morning that the BBC is to close its superb 6music radio station as part of a cost-cutting shake-up. The station - and its DJs - have been huge supporters of Glastonbury, so we'd certainly like to do our bit to help them out now. We're also saddened at the closure of the BBC Asian Network, which has broadcast some great stuff from the Festival over the years. We believe that the decision to close the stations is the wrong one".