Ministry Of Sound

Ministry of Sound have announced that they will not be closing down despite council plans to build a block of flats nearby.

It's a case of 'everybody's happy' for now as the developer of a new apartment block has agreed to pay special attention to sound-proofing it from the blaring of the nearby London nightclub. There was initial worry that the council's plans to build the homes would cause a huge flurry of complaints from new residents about the noise and thus threaten the future of the one of the city's most famous dance clubs.

MOS' chief executive Lohan Presencer told the BBC, 'There is no doubt whatsoever that the proposed scheme makes it very likely we will be forced to close', while British musician Example warned the public, 'If we don't stand up and save it, we will lose the true home of British dance music.'

Continue reading: Ministry Of Sound Will Remain Open As Council Promises To Soundproof New Apartments

If a song isn't necessarily your own, can you still claim ownership if you have acquired the rights to place it on a compilation disc? This is what Ministry of Sound are trying to find out in their court case against music streaming giants Spotify, after claiming that the service is illegally allowing users to copy their compilation series on to their own playlists without permission, even though many of the songs on these compilations are by artists not signed to the Ministry of Sound label.

In what could be a landmark court case for copyright law, the electronic music powerhouse is claiming that playlists created by certain Spotify users infringe on the copyright of the label's expansive compilation album series. The case hopes to prevent users of the streaming service from replicating the playlists of its compilation albums in future. MoS have since applied for an injunction from the High Court that would force Spotify to delete any playlists created by users that match the playlists or sequences that it uses for it's compilations.

Presencer and Example successfully worked together to save the Ministry of Sound superclub in London from closure last year

Continue reading: Ministry Of Sound To Sue Spotify Over Compilation Replications

Yet another controversial hour for music streaming giants Spotify as the Ministry of Sound have confirmed they’re suing over the use of playlists. The record label claim they have been asking Spotify to remove these playlists since 2012, The Guardian reports.

The playlists in question copy the compilations released by the Ministry of Sound, compilations that take months of curating to ensure the order of songs is correct. They might also be suing because they’re called the Ministry of Sound, and when you’re called that, suing people is the logical next step*.

"It's been incredibly frustrating: we think it's been very clear what we're arguing, but there has been a brick wall from Spotify," said Chief executive Lohan Presencer. "What we do is a lot more than putting playlists together: a lot of research goes into creating our compilation albums, and the intellectual property involved in that. It's not appropriate for someone to just cut and paste them," he added.

Continue reading: Spotify The Difference: Your Playlists, Ministry Of Sounds' Playlists