CMU
Daily - on the inside Wednesday
23rd March
In today's CMU Daily:
- Clear Channel in $90 million Jam
- Capital and GWR announce merger
- Chrysalis considers merger offer
- iTunes respond rapidly to new hack
- Jonathan king out of jail
- Album review: Queens Of The Stone Age – Lullabies To
Paralyze
- Geldof inspires Ugandan march
- Radiohead go classical
- New reality show resurrects pop acts
- Police release Sizzla
- Hunter sues rod for £35m
- Jerry gets back at Jagger
- Kylie's waist
- The La's is all wrong
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CMU
PRESS ROOM>>
CARLING
LIVE 24
Carling, the beer behind some of Britain's biggest and best
live music events, is presenting another 24 hour music marathon.
Following the success of 2004's Carling Live 24 event in London,
this year Carling will be bringing an all day all night line
up of great live music to both London and Manchester, the former
on 30th April, the latter on 28th may. 26 bands and 13 venues
will take part in the event, with Embrace, The Zutons, Ian Brown,
Babyshambles, The Chemical Brothers, Doves and Kaiser Chiefs
among the artists on the bill. For full press information check
the CMU Press Room - where more media information will appear
as it is available:
http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/carling24
Advertise
your releases and events to CMU Daily's 6500+ readership - classified
ad and online press release package just £50 a year. Email
sales@cmumusicnetwork.co.uk for details, or check:
http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/info.pdf
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UK
MUSIC BUYERS BIGGEST IN THE WORLD
According to figures released by the British Phonographic Industry
yesterday, British music fans are bucking global trends by buying
more music than anyone else. The BPI confirmed that Brits buy
an average of 3.2 CDs each per year, larger than the worldwide
average, which appears to suffer from the impact of piracy and
product decline. The UK market saw a three percent increase
in volume sales over 2004, a four percent increase in legal
downloads, and the best ever year for the British Recording
Industry.
Figures
released by IFPI, the International Federation of The Phonographic
Industry also indicate improved prospects for British exports,
whilst predicting that the global music decline is starting
to level out.
BPI
chairman Peter Jameson said: "The strength of the UK market
in the face of worldwide decline is a testament to the skills
and courage of UK record companies who have never stopped taking
risks in signing and developing some of the best talent in the
world. Improving prospects for recorded music internationally
is also good news for the UK since after the US we remain the
world's biggest exporter of music."
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CLEAR
CHANNEL IN $90 MILLION JAM
Jam Productions Ltd, a concert and event promotion company based
in Chicago have been awarded $90 million following their antitrust
suit against promotional giants Clear Channel.
Jam
sued the company because they claimed that Clear Channel had
interfered with a potential deal they had with the American
Motorcycle Association to promote Supercross races through its
newly created sports division, JamSports. Clear Channel eventually
got the business back, but, according to Jam, used its dominant
position in the industry to do so, allegedly intimidating stadiums
into not doing business with JamSports and also using its radio
influence to run a campaign against the independent promoter.
Clear
Channel managed to get eleven out of the twelve original antitrust
claims thrown out of court, but a district judge ruled that
there was enough evidence to proceed with a trial. The proceedings
hinged on such evidence as an email from Clear Channel's Entertainment
Motor Sports President, Charlie Mancuso, which apparently said:
"Get the on-air talent to start talking about how the AMA
and Jam are [expletive] the sport of Supercross."
Clear
Channel were ordered to pay the damages but were cleared of
antitrust charges by a federal jury. Andrew Levin, Executive
Vice President commented: "This jury's decision that Clear
Channel did not violate antitrust laws sends a powerful signal
to those who seek to wrongfully accuse us in the future."
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CAPITAL
AND GWR ANNOUNCE MERGER
Hurrah. Merger news. Capital Radio and GWR, following approval
from the Office of Fair Trading earlier this month, have announced
their intention to complete the planned £711m merger deal
on 9 May, and that trading in the new company's shares will
start the same day, as Capital Radio releases interim results.
Once
formed the new company will be the biggest Radio Company in
the UK, controlling around forty percent of the national radio
advertising market. Capital says it expects a modest increase
in revenues for the first three months of this year, resulting
in a 1% decrease in the six months to the end of March. GWR
said its UK revenues would be "flat" for the 12 months
ending March 31 compared with the previous year.
GCap
Media, the name chosen for the new company after input from
staff at both companies, was announced last week.
The
two companies released a statement to the stock exchange last
night, which read: "GCap Media will be in a stronger position
to attract and retain the industry's best talent, obtain a greater
share of music industry content and will be able to compete
more effectively with BBC Radio."
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CHRYSALIS
CONSIDERS MERGER OFFER
Hurrah. Attempted takeover News. The Chrysalis Group has announced
to the stock exchange that it is considering making a formal
offer for the Guardian Media Group's Radio Division following
media speculation that such a takeover was on the cards. They
went on to say, however, that 'there can be no certainty that
a transaction will be forthcoming.' GMG's Radio interests include
Jazz FM in London, Smooth FM in North West England and the Real
Radio franchises in south Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire.
Chrysalis,
who own London's Heart FM, are keen to consider deals which
may counter the increased threats of competition following the
relaxation of licence ownership rules last year and the above
mentioned merger of Capital and GWR. The company has been aggressively
pursuing GMG's Radio Division for several months in line with
its stated strategy of continuous review of acquisition opportunities
which complement their existing radio businesses.
GMG
Chief Executive Bob Phillis responded immediately to the effect
that there was no strategic reason to sell its radio interests
and that the group is financially sound, adding that: "Unless
and until we have received an offer, we have got nothing to
consider."
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ITUNES
RESPOND RAPIDLY TO NEW HACK
Apple engineers have been busy patching up their systems, following
the hacking of their FairPlay DRM, which is used to power iTunes.
A fix was announced on Monday and will require all users to
upgrade in order to continue downloading iTunes tracks. "The
security hole in the iTunes Music Store which was recently exploited
has been closed," said Apple, "And as a consequence
the iTunes Music Store will now sell music only to customers
using iTunes version 4.7".
This
alteration is a rapid response to the PyMusique DRM Workaround,
a decryption utility that completely removes DRM restrictions
from Apple AAC files, allowing users to freely share and copy
purchased iTunes tracks. The software was developed and circulated
by legendary Norwegian hacker "DVD Jon" Johansen.
The
threat to iTunes' security is over for the time being, but with
the hacking community determined to meet bigger and bigger challenges,
it's unlikely that this will be the last time that the platform
will be threatened.
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JONATHAN
KING OUT OF JAIL
For those of you who haven't heard yet, Pop mogul Jonathan King
will be out of jail on parole this Thursday having served less
than half of a seven year term for four indecent assaults and
two serious sexual offences on boys aged 14 and 15. His initial
release date was set at 29 Mar, but this was brought forward
after the time that King spent being interviewed at the time
of his arrest in 2001 was taken into account and included as
part of the jail term.
King
has never admitted that he is guilty, having denied the charges
at his trial, and his lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano says that
King still hopes to have the conviction quashed.
Mr.
Stefano commented that his client was keen to see his elderly
mother, who he has not seen for two years, and added that he
"He intends to go back to his home in west London and get
back to work. He said he wants to write a musical about Cole
Porter."
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ALBUM
REVIEW: Queens Of The Stone Age – Lullabies To Paralyze
(Polydor)
Just how DO you follow up on not one, two but three of the most
proficient, rip-roaring stoner rock from one of the decade's
most revered bands? And to really push for a difficult reply
back, how in the living fuck do you do so without founder and
integral member Nick Oliveri? Here's what you do. You get your
mates to come together, hole up in a studio, produce an album
that's progressive yet very much accessible, whilst making up
for the aforementioned absentees. It really is that simple for
Josh Homme. And why not? Why not indeed. Queens Of The Stone
Age return with 'Lullabies To Paralyze' – which is, by
admission, on first listen missing that little something. But
substituting for Oliveri (there we said it again) are mates
more than willing to help out in the shape of Mark Lanegan and
A Perfect Circle's Troy Van Leeuwen with special guest appearances
from Homme's current boo Brody Dalle and Garbage's Shirley Manson.
It's times like this that people need to pull together like
one big happy family. Cute. Opener 'Lullaby' sees Lanegan take
vocals to a setting of the finger-plucked guitar playing in
a campfire in the dead of the night which wraps up at around
a minute. Just there for a novelty purpose? Not this intro.
This sets the theme to the whole album about wolves lurking
between the trees in the forest and moreso, a fairy tale. Clearly
this is a departure from the, Nevada desert/rattle-snake settings
of 'Rated R' and 'Songs For The Deaf'. But don't worry folks
– Sludging and stoner rock proceedings begin with 'Medication'.
Pretty much the same QOTSA we know and air guitar in front of
the mirror to. And you know who you are. 'Everybody Knows That
You're Insane' is almost a distant relative to the drug-addled
'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' in that they share an urgency
with no real purpose and is very familiar Stone Age territory.
Sexy and seductive are exactly what the first single from the
album is in the form of 'Little Sister'. 'Burn The Witch' is
concrete proof that gone are the vacuous, ramblings of illegal
substances and in its place a procession of burning stakes,
in yet another sombre, slow number. 'You Got A Killer Scene
There, Man' features first ladies of rock, Brody Dalle and Shirley
Manson with a blues-esque nod and equipped with solos en masse.
'Lullabies To Paralyze' might not well be what we, and even
their label thought they'd come up with. But are the Queens
any bit of a lesser outfit without Nick Oliveri? Not on your
life. YN
Release Date: 21 March
Press: Polydor IH (NP, RP) Wild (CR, CP)
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GELDOF
INSPIRES UGANDAN MARCH
And not in a good way. Hundreds of students took to the streets
of Uganda's capital of Kampala to protest about Bob Geldof after
he criticised Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni for his decision
to go against the country's constitution and run for a third
term in power. The pro-government students and waved placards
proclaiming phrases such as 'Geldof sober up and shut up' and
'No drug addicts and rock homos'.
The
comments in question were made at the launch of Britain's Commission
For Africa Report two weeks ago, when Geldof, accompanied by
Tony Blair, said "The president of Uganda, who implemented
poverty measures and AIDS measures, is now trying to be president
for life. Get a grip Museveni. Your time is up, go away."
The
crowds went on to besiege the British High Commission, but they
were barred from entering and one sole protester was admitted
to deliver a letter of protest accusing Geldof and Bill Rammell,
a UK Foreign Office Minister, of making offensive remarks.
Moses
Nuwagaba of the Makerere University Movement Forum told a Kampala
newspaper. "We are saying no to external influence from
neo-colonialists, specifically the UK, We are telling them that
they ruled us for 100 years and we did not see any elections
or term limits, so what moral authority do they have now to
preach democracy to us?" He went on to point out that Mr.
Blair is seeking a third term, which is true, but, unlike Mr.
Blair, the Ugandan president has been in power since 1986.
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RADIOHEAD
GO CLASSICAL
Music written by Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood will form part
of The London Sinfonietta which takes place at the London Royal
Festival Hall on the 27 and 28 Mar. According to the organizers,
we'll have the chance to see "two evenings of experimentation,
collaboration and cross-genre juxtaposition".
Greenwood
told The Guardian: "I feel embarrassed talking about it.
I'm so patchy. I'll be obsessed with a few composers, and know
nothing about the rest. I get these enthusiasms which can drive
the band crazy, but I just say: 'Listen, French horns are amazing,
we've got to find a way of using them. Or I'll say, 'It would
be great if this song sounded like Penderecki, or Alice Coltrane'.
And it's childish because none of us can play jazz like Alice
Coltrane, and none of us can write the kind of music that Penderecki
does. We've only got guitars and a basic knowledge of music,
but we reach for these things and miss. That's what's cool about
it."
On
working with the Sinfonietta, he added: "They're a great
orchestra because they're up for radically changing things at
the last minute. I cut six minutes out during rehearsals…
There's something about classical musicians - they tend to be
totally without ego, and so enthusiastic, but also just so talented."
Greenwood
has no plans to work on music full time, however: "Radiohead
is always going to be the centre of what I do. Everything starts
with songs, and with Thom, and with the excitement you can get
in the band when you hear new music, and you know you've got
the chance to watch it mutate and change. There's nothing like
that, nothing as exciting. We're rehearsing at the moment, and
again it's fun. We all want to push forward, and when you have
five people who are all like that, you couldn't ask for a better
thing."
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NEW
REALITY SHOW RESURRECTS POP ACTS
Isn't it about time we had a brand new reality show featuring
celebrities we'd all forgotten about? Apparently, yes. The new
ITV1 show is called 'Hit Me Baby One More Time', to be hosted
by Vernon Kay, and will involve retro pop acts blasting us back
to the past with renditions of their best known songs as well
as performances of contemporary hits. Five acts from the 70s,
80s and 90s will perform live in the studio each week and compete
for the public vote. Each week one winner will be selected and
put through to a grand final.
The
show starts on 2 Apr and Gloria Gaynor, The Honeyz and Tiffany
will be among those kicking off the proceedings. Among those
slated to appear in subsequent shows are 911, Belinda Carlisle,
Brother Beyond, Carol Decker, the one and only Chesney Hawkes,
Haddaway, Kenny Thomas, Mica Paris and Sinitta.
Series
host Kay says: "I'm really looking forward to presenting
Hit Me Baby One More Time as it's a great opportunity to find
out what the artists who made the tracks of my years have been
up to. They'll be performing modern day classics as well as
the hits that made them famous."
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POLICE
RELEASE SIZZLA
News today that Jamaican police have released Sizzla following
his arrest on Thursday on charges involving violence and gun-running.
The dancehall artist was one of thirty three suspects taken
into custody last week, when authorities seized a sizable cache
of arms in the August Town area of Kingston.
Sizzla,
who has been accused of inciting gang violence in the past,
denied any knowledge of the weapons and was released on Monday
without charge. His lawyer Glen Cruickshank said "They
questioned him about violence in August Town and the guns and
he denied knowledge of both. They could not carry that to court."
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HUNTER
SUES ROD FOR £35m
Model Rachel Hunter is reported to be demanding $35m from ex-husband
Rod Stewart in a divorce settlement which would amount to around
half of Stewart's personal fortune, after hearing the news that
her ex-husband is to marry girlfriend Penny Lancaster.
They
are in the final stages of divorce, but according to The Sun,
Hunter is angry that Rod had not told her of his marriage plans.
A friend of Ms Hunter told the paper: "The thing that hurt
most was the Rod was staying in the same hotel and did not breathe
a word about his engagement to her."
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JERRY
GETS BACK AT JAGGER
Elsewhere in ex-husband news, Jerry Hall is taking musical revenge
on Mick Jagger. The model has recorded her first song, which
is apparently a thinly veiled attack on her former husband's
copious extra-marital affairs. Music, in this case, being far
from the food of love.
The
track, co-written with friend and neighbour Rachel Fuller, focuses
on a dining table at their shared home. The lyrics go: "We
make love on it. Our children scratch their names beneath. The
fire lights our passion. And the wine has numbed our grief.
Then you bring other women while I am out of town. And I can
always sense when a stranger has sat down."
Jerry
recently gave a spoken word delivery of the song at the SxSW
festival, because according to friend Rachel 'she can't really
sing,' and the track will also appear on Fuller's forthcoming
album, 'Cigarettes and Housework'.
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KYLIE'S
WAIST
Kylie Minogue has been moved to release a statement regarding
her dimensions after a relative media frenzy this week regarding
her alleged 16 inch waist. Reports suggested that the corset
Kylie wears on her current Showgirl tour was tight enough to
reduce her middle down to a measurement of 16 inches, which
would be freakish and horrible.
Kylie
and issued the statement after worries that fans might try to
emulate her, but not before the claim had achieved a fair few
column inches across the media. Her spokesman claims that the
story was a fabrication, and that she does not, repeat, does
not have a sixteen inch waist.
Kylie
herself is said to have commented: "A 16 inch waist? Wow,
even I would be amazed by that. Of course that is an exaggeration,
but a showgirl shouldn't reveal her actual measurements."
And I should think so too.
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THE
LA'S IS ALL WRONG
Following an ill-advised statement in last Friday's Daily in
which you, the readers were encouraged to let us know of any
inaccuracies, CMU is pleased to report that at some readers
have taken this to heart and let us have it.
In
Yesterday's daily we printed a sentence which appeared to claim
that the LA's formed in 1990, when in fact they formed in 1984.
This was the result of a cutting and pasting error by the sub-editor,
who is very sorry.