16 March 2018 - weekly round-up (Music Matters)

A summary of the latest news from the music industry:

SA’s world-class jazz club, The Orbit, this month celebrates the fourth anniversary of its opening night

Reported in a piece on a publication ‘#Trending’ by City Press newspaper, the live music venue is said to be celebrating its fourth anniversary. Kevin Naidoo, an owner of the club in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, says “pure determination” is the only reason the venue has reached its fourth year. “I have to admit that it’s quite a difficult task to keep a club like The Orbit going, but we understand the significant role that a club like ours has in carrying on the great tradition of South African jazz and music.

Most musicians have acknowledged that having a jazz club in Johannesburg that hosted shows six nights a week was vital for their industry. Sibongakonke Mama took over as music director at The Orbit in 2016; and says having a functioning jazz club meant that musicians could bank on getting shows at least a few times a year.

Naidoo boasted that The Orbit had been voted among the top 200 jazz rooms in the world by Downbeat magazine. “We’ve been in their top jazz clubs for the third year running. We stand for South African excellence and feel proud to put a homegrown brand such as The Orbit on the same list as the Village Vanguard in New York or Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London.

The Orbit Anniversary Festival, this year dubbed #The4thMovement, takes place from March 13 to 18.

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Universal Music Group acquires a majority stake in Kenyan label, AI Records

UMG has bought 70% equity in a leading Kenyan label, AI Records, as part of efforts to ramp-up its presence in the African continent. The acquisition was made by Universal’s Dutch subsidiary (Universal International Music BV – for an undisclosed amount).

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, AI Records owns one of the largest catalogues of East African music in the world. Its catalogue includes recordings by local stars such as ‘Orchestra Super Mazembe’ and ‘Afro 70’. AI Records was founded in the 1950’s by Michael Andrews whose son, John Andrews heads up the business today.

The Andrews family will retain 30% ownership in the label, which will digitise its catalogue as part of the Universal partnership.

Momentum for net neutrality stateside grows as a coalition of mayors pledge to refuse business from companies opposed to it

Net neutrality explained is the principle that governments should mandate Internet Service Providers to treat all data on the internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, ISPs are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites or online content.

In a newly formed coalition of mayors from some of the US’ largest cities – the announcement was made at the South by South West (SXSW) Interactive in Austin, Texas. The pledge requires anyone doing business within the respective city to adhere to net neutrality principles (which form part of a greater ideal of an open internet that also comprises of concepts such as; open standards, lack of censorship, transparency and low barriers to entry) or take their business elsewhere.

The ‘Mayors for net neutrality coalition’ already includes mayors from New York, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, Minneapolis and San Antonio among others.