British trade body the BPI is at loggerheads with The Musicians’ Union over session musician fees, claiming that it’s making demands that are “neither viable nor reasonable.”

As part of negotiations to increase the minimum fees session musicians are paid, the BPI says it has offered, on behalf of its label members, a 40% increase for those working on pop and rock recordings.

However, MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl says the proposal falls short, arguing that session musicians should also be paid streaming royalties for tracks they’ve worked on. This should cover existing catalog recordings, she told MBW.

BPI CSO and Interim CEO Sophie Jones said this ask “would ultimately impact featured artist and songwriter earnings while also reducing the ability of labels to support future talent.”

“It ignores the way in which session musicians are paid—free to work with whomever they choose, usually as part of a portfolio career, and via a guaranteed upfront fee that is paid irrespective of a recording’s success or it even being released at all. The demands that the MU are making are neither viable nor reasonable.”

The increase offered by the BPI would mean session musicians working in the U.K. would be entitled to a minimum fee of £180 for a three-hour recording session.

Jones criticized the fact that the MU hasn’t yet put the offer to its members for a vote, when the deal has been with the organization for a year and the deadline was 5/31. Pohl said MU committee members “don’t feel the offer is good enough to put to a ballot of members.”

“The BPI represents major record labels who are making record profits from music streaming while session musicians currently receive no royalties at all, even if they play on big hits,” Jones said.

“The union is campaigning to fix streaming and get royalties for all musicians, like on radio broadcast for example. The BPI’s offer referred to remunerating session musicians for streaming but an uplift on the session fee would not help the thousands of musicians on popular catalog who receive nothing at all. They also want to bundle in some other important rights including buying out an existing royalty stream.

“All in all, the deal doesn’t come close to addressing the music streaming issue or offering a decent pay rise. The minimum session fee has been far too low, for far too long. We hope for a better offer and will continue to campaign for royalties on streaming.”

Foo Fighters have claimed their sixth U.K. Official Albums #1 with But Here We Are (Columbia) while Dave and Central Cee land the biggest week of streams for a rap single ever.

Foo Fighters emerged victorious on 44.5k sales after a tight battle with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. The latter’s Council Skies (Sour Mash) lands at #2 today.

Elsewhere, Hana (Cooking Vinyl) by Sophie Ellis-Bextor is new at #8, while Louise’s Greatest Hits (BMG) charts at #11.

Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom (Sony Music CG) debuts at #14.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, “Sprinter” (Live Yours/Neighbourhood) by Dave and Central Cee has the biggest opening week for a single so far this year.

The track tallied 108.2k sales, including a record-breaking 13.4m streams, the biggest week of streams for a rap single, according to Official Charts data. The former title holder was “Vossi Bop” (Atlantic) by Stormzy, which racked up 12.7m in May 2019. Genres aside, the track has the biggest first week of streams since Adele’s “Easy on Me” (Columbia) debuted with 24m in 2012.

Two more tracks from the single’s EP, a surprise collaborative effort from Dave and Central Cee titled Split Decision, are in the Top 20 today. “Trojan Horse” is new at #14 and “UK Rap” at #17.

Jazzy is up three places to #3 with “Giving Me” (Polydor), “React” (Relentless) by Switch Disco f/Ella Henderson is up one to #4, and “Tattoo” (Universal) by Loreen rises three to #7.

“Padam Padam” (BMG) by Kylie Minogue rises 11 places to #12, making the track her highest charting in the U.K. in more than a decade.

RAYE, Nova Twins and Gregory Porter have been added to the winner’s list for London’s annual Silver Clef Awards, held in aid of charity Nordoff Robbins.

After a mega year that’s seen her achieve a #2 U.K. album and #1 single, RAYE will receive Best Female at the ceremony on 6/30.

Rock duo Nova Twins will take home the Innovation Award, while Porter will win Best Male. The International Award will go to Adam Lambert. After recently signing to EMI with a new album on the way, British group N-Dubz will take the Best Group Award.

They join previously announced winners Stormzy, Wet Leg and others.

The ceremony, which takes place at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane, will raise money for music therapy for children and adults. Last year’s event raised over £750k.

Lara Baker has been appointed general manager, U.K., at the Downtown-owned FUGA following the promotion of former GM Liz Northeast.

Baker joins Fuga from Songtrust (also a Downtown company), where she was formerly director of Business Development for the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

In her new role, Baker will lead and oversee FUGA’s business development strategy and client relations for the U.K. She joins as FUGA announces a deal with ATC Management to release the first album in over a decade from Swedish act The Hives.

Northeast, who was promoted to SVP, EMEA, earlier this year, said that welcoming Baker into her new role at the same time “will allow us to further drive growth and development for key partners such as ATC.”

Baker has more than 15 years of experience in the music industry, including former senior roles as Marketing & Events director for the Association of Independent Music and head of Sessions Content & Programming for BBC Music Introducing LIVE.

Shucked is officially heading to London for a run on the West End next year.

Just a month after its 4/5 Broadway opening, the Jason Owen/AEG Presents-produced musical scored nine Tony Award nominations, including Best Original Score for show composers Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally.

Shucked was also recently nominated for 12 Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, seven Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Drama League Awards.

“I’m delighted to confirm that London is going to get Shucked in one of my theatres next year,” said U.K. producer and theater owner, Cameron Mackintosh. It’s snuck up on Broadway and is proving to be the most talked about hit of the season.”

Casting, theater, ticketing info and other details will be announced in the coming months.

Additionally, Shucked – Original Broadway Cast Recording is available on streaming platforms with the CD to arrive on 6/9. The album is produced by Jason Howland, Billy Jay Stein, McAnally and Clark.

In the meantime, tickets for Shucked on Broadway can be purchased here.

Seen below hoping we get lost in the corn fields are (l-r) McAnally and Clark.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman

Foo Fighters might be the mystery band on this year’s Glastonbury line-up after Dave Grohl seemingly dropped a hint in a letter to fans.

Grohl tweeted on Tuesday a handwritten note thanking fans for attending the band’s latest run of shows. “It feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together,” he concluded. “See you soon.”

Eagle-eyed fans have made the link between “churning up” and The ChurnUps—an unknown band that’s set to play Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on its Friday evening (6/23).

Foo Fighters headlined Glastonbury in 2017. They were originally booked to play in 2015 but had to pull out days before the performance due to Grohl suffering with a broken leg. If their slot for this year gets confirmed, they'll join acts including Elton John, Arctic Monkeys, Caroline Polacheck and Guns N' Roses on the bill.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Foo Fighters are battling it out for this week’s U.K. Official Albums #1. Over on singles, Dave and Central Cee are set to debut at #1.

At today’s midweek point, Gallagher’s Council Skies (Sour Mash) is #1 at albums, less than 200 sales ahead of Foo Fighters’ But Here We Are (Columbia).

The two albums lead an all-new Top 4, with Hana (Cooking Vinyl) by Sophie Ellis-Bextor at #3 and Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom (Sony Music CG) at #4.

Three more new releases are in today’s Top 10: Louise’s career-retrospective Greatest Hits (BMG) is #6; Last Man Dancing (Mute) by Jake Shears is #7; and Life Is But A Dream… (Warner Records) from Avenged Sevenfold is #8.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, “Sprinter” (Live Yours/Neighbourhood) by Dave and Central Cee is heading for #1 on Friday.

Three rising dance hits could reach new peaks, including Switch Disco and Ella Henderson’s “React” (Relentless) at #3 and Jazzy’s “Giving Me” (Polydor) at #4. Rudimental, Charlotte Plank and Vibe Chemistry could enter the Top 10 for the first time with “Dancing Is Healing” (Room Two Records) at #10.

“Padam Padam” (BMG) by Kylie Minogue is set to rise to #6, while Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” (Atlantic) from the Barbie movie is up six to #14.

Finally, “Popular” (Republic) by The Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carter, from the soundtrack of The Idol, is new at #20.

Lewis Capaldi has a second week at #1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart with Broken by Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (EMI). Over on singles, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding remain on top.

Taylor Swift’s Till Dawn Edition of Midnights (EMI) is just 1.1k sales behind Capaldi.

Two Tina Turner albums are in the Top 40 as fans mourn the death of the singer. Hits compilation Simply The Best (Parlophone) is up 62 places to #17, while The Platinum Edition Collection is #32.

This week’s highest new albums entry is Sparks’ The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (Island) at #6. Simply Red’s Time (Rhino) is also new at #8, while Arlo Parks’ My Soft Machine (Transgressive) lands at #9.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, “Miracle” (Columbia) by Harris and Goulding remains at #1 for an eighth non-consecutive week.

Switch Disco and Ella Henderson enter the Top 5 with “React” (Relentless) at #5, while Jazzy continues to rise with “Giving Me” (Polydor) at #6.

Swift has three tracks in the singles chart: “Karma” is #12 thanks to its Ice Spice remix; “Hits Different” is a new entry at #18; and the rerecording of “Snow on the Beach” f/Lana Del Rey re-enters the Top 40 at #24.

This week’s highest new entry is J Hus’ “It’s Crazy” (Black Butter) at #15.