| CMU Daily - on the inside Wednesday 7th June |
|
In today's CMU Daily:
- Tiscali hits out at record labels
- BPI give evidence galore to Select Committee
- Billy Preston dies
- Eminem settles ringtone lawsuit
- Single Review: Fortune Drive - My Girlfriend's An Arsonist
- New Scissor Sisters album on its way
- Aguilera on her new album
- Martin's vocals pulled from Furtado album
- Farrell's new project gets off the ground
- Slipknot planning new album
- Thrills on new album
- Latest Bestival news
- New acts added to V
- Lowe confirmed for Urban Games
- Lovebox announce podcast stuff
- Razorlight announce tour dates
- Orpeth tour dates
- Feeling, album, gigs
- Single Review: Jenny Wilson - Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward
- Gay groups criticise BBC for not criticising Moyles
- Radio 1 - "we've not banned mentions of England"
- BT confirm VPL deal for IPTV music services
- C4 go into radio
- Times go into TV
- Five to launch new channels
- IPC man quits
- Flextech boss quits
- Future boss quits
- Fabric recruiting new top press person
- Logan speaks out over Sandi Thom stuff
- Smiths asked Linda to guest on album
--------------------------------------------------
TOP BIT>>
BPI boss Peter Jamieson sided with even the more argumentative of the consumer rights organisations yesterday by calling for a change in UK copyright law to clarify the difference between making copies of music for personal use and making copies of music to pass on to third parties, for profit or otherwise. He was speaking to the House Of Commons Select Committee on all things vaguely cultural, who are looking into all things vaguely digital, and was responding to the recent media coverage regarding outdated copyright rules that, in theory, forbid people from transferring music from a CD they have bought on to their PC or iPod. Of course no one obeys those rules, which is why consumer groups have criticised them, and Jamieson yesterday said that the recording industry had no interest in enforcing them either, and that they would welcome a clarification of the law in this area - so that there is a clear distinction between ripping tracks from CDs to put on your iPod, and ripping tracks to burn to CD for your mates, or to share on a P2P network, or to sell at your local car boot sale. He's not wrong you know, and in fact an awful lot really needs to be clarified about copyright - and not just on the statute book either. There have been a number of attempts to publish user-friendly educational guides about downloading and copyright law of course, but often these either send people to sleep, or come across as too authoritarian and just get everyone's backs up. I can't help thinking copyright owners should be approaching this from a completely different angle. With more and more people producing and publishing their own music, articles and photos on their own blogs or websites, there's going to be a time when pretty much everyone is a copyright owner of one kind or another, and with media and brands seemingly keen to utilise some of this grass roots content (ITV sent pamphlets round the houses of people near to the scene of those London police raids last week looking for mobile phone video footage of the action) everyday punters on the street could soon be profiting from their own ad hoc copyrights. If the big copyright owners of the world helped educate those people on how to manage their copyrights, perhaps those people would become amabassadors for the anti-piracy cause - so the 'don't download' brigade isn't made up exclusively of record label suits and overpaid recording artists. Of course, you'll all email me now and tell me about a whole string of such guides that already exist, but I'm not aware of any and I'm not sure the average amateur singer songwriter, journalist and photographer is either. Actually, I think I'm going to go and write one now. Oh, I seem to have just got an email from the McFly mailing list that I'm going to have to read. Ah well, I'll do the copyright thing later.
--------------------------------------------------
EVENTS N STUFF>>
*** BRANDS, BANDS & AUDIENCES 7th June 2006, The Waldorf, London
Do you want to secure global brand partnerships? Are you looking at new media as an extra revenue driver? Do you want to meet leading brands, music labels, new media giants, and those with the knowledge to help drive the profile of your music? Emap's one day event - Brands, Bands & Audiences - in association with Kerrang, Audience, Smash Hits, Media & Marketing Europe, In the City, Record Of The Day, Kiss, Magic, Q, and Mojo IS THE ONE PLACE to gain expert advice from all sectors of the industry. Can you afford to miss out? Full info at http://www.mandmeurope.com/brandsandbands
--------------------------------------------------
PRESS ROOM>>
HUM
Leyline and TCR once again team up to present another storming breaks all nighter this Saturday night, 10 Jun - yes, HUM is back. Take one Rennie Pilgrem. Add in the Breakfastaz and Hyper. Top it off with Vlad Sokolov and Tom Real. And put Clive X Nubile Disco and Miss Pup in Room 2 and boy, what a way to celebrate (we hope) the result of the England vs Paraguay match. And that's before we mention the special prices on Brahma beer and double JDs all night. All takes place at the seOne Club on Weston Street in London from 10pm to 6am, tickets are a tenner or £6 if you guest list in advance at http://www.leylinepromotions.com. Press info from Leyline.
More info: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/hum
--------------------------------------------------
RIGHT NOW IN THE CMU BEATS BAR>>
Same Six Questions: Glideascope
Chilled-out trip-hoppy classical-laden magic - it's not the catchiest label I've ever come up with, but it does describe the wonderful sound of Glideascope. Following on from his 2003 EP, 'With Strings Attached', this talented artist producer releases his debut long player 'Audio Cinematography' on 31 Jul. But sooner than that, he plays at the Karamel Club in Wood Green tomorrow night at nine-ish, and entry is free, so it's a great opportunity to check out his unique sound. Meanwhile, check out how he answers our Same Six Questions right now.
MySpace Of The Day: Marine Parade
It's not that often we tip the MySpace of a label rather than an artist (in fact, Sunday Best may have been the only label, so far, to have been given that honour, the lucky things). You could tip Marine Parade's MySpace any day of the week, of course, they still being one of the most exciting independent dance labels out there, but they are particularly prevalent in my mind at the moment because I was playing the rather storming Bassbin Twins v Marine Parade mix CD quite a lot over the weekend. This album sees the Bassbin Twins remix a stack of tracks from the Marine Parade catalogue, including music from Stone Lions, Evil Nine, Forme, Ils and, of course, label boss Adam Freeland. We play a snippet from the mix on this week's CMU Radio show, but you can check out the Bassbin Twins track that appears on the album, 'The Dogs', here on the MySpace. Assuming you like it as much as we do, you can then use the clever calendar function in MySpace so that the release of this album - listed as an upcoming event on Marine Parade's page - is flagged up in your own MySpace diary. Simple. Oh yes, and Adam Freeland's simply brilliant remix of The Doors 'Hello I Love You' is also streaming here - reason alone to check out the Page.
http://www.myspace.com/marineparade
All this and more at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------
TISCALI HITS OUT AT RECORD LABELS
Internet service provider Tiscali has launched a war of words against the European recording industry after it was forced to close down its Juke Box service because it was "too interactive" for the licence it was operating under.
The Tiscali Juke Box, launched in Italy and the UK in late April, allowed users to listen on demand to streams of millions of songs which could be searched for by artist or genre, or by the recommendations of other users who could publish their personal playlists.
The service was run under a webcasting licence granted by Italian recording royalties body SCF who, Tiscali claim, saw the venture as an innovative pilot project and therefore something they should support. However, Tiscali have now been told that they can no longer run the service under that SCF licence, and that they will need to secure new licences from the record companies direct.
Of course, generally speaking, recording royalty collection societies have not been granting blanket licences for any online music services where users can find, select and play tracks or programmes on demand - with record labels arguing that such services are not broadcasting services and therefore do not fall into the domain of the likes of SCF or their UK counterparts PPL. It is unclear if SCF did in fact grant a licence in this case but have withdrawn it following the interference of one or more record companies, or whether there was some confusion as to what exactly SCF's licence would allow in the first place.
In an open letter to the music business, Tiscali's Mario Mariani writes: "It is surprising that after just one month, despite the joint regular testing and fine-tuning phase carried out prior to the launch of the service, the major labels have decided to submit unexpected change requests. The service has now been judged by the major recording labels in Europe to be "too interactive" only because it allows users of the Internet (the most interactive of mediums) to carry out searches by "artist" in addition to genre. Clearly the major labels don't understand the business potential of a service like Tiscali Juke Box which, by acknowledging and paying the rights for all songs being listened to in streaming mode, safeguards the rights of the industry and the artists".
Tiscali's letter also points out that an identical service is made available by their digital music partners, Mercora, in the US, arguing that if the European music industry forbids a service that their US counterparts approve of then European consumers are discriminated against. Mariani: "This is even more serious if one considers the fact th,at the same service with all the same functions disputed here, is being offered by Mercora in the United States and Canada, where it is deemed perfectly legal. We cannot ignore that the objections presented to Tiscali at this time represent, on the part of the recording industry, a clear attempt to discriminate between American and European music fans and Internet users".
While it is unclear where exactly in the music industry the opposition to Tiscali's specific service came from, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has responded to the company's open letter. They argue that the problem here is not the record labels' unwillingness to work with digital companies to develop innovative services, rather that, possibly in good faith, Tiscali has been operating its Juke Box under the wrong kind of licence.
In a statement the IFPI said last night: "The record companies are actively licensing music to online services such as Tiscali for consumers to enjoy all over the world. In this case the problem arose because Tiscali was paying to offer one type of service but was actually offering another very different one. Tiscali's Jukebox service was licensed by SCF under a webcasting agreement that meant it had to offer a non-interactive service. In fact, consumers were allowed a high degree of interactivity that breached these rules in many ways - for example, streaming individual tracks on demand. Individual record companies may be prepared to consider licensing Tiscali's Jukebox service as an interactive service, but in its current form the service does not qualify for the collective non-interactive licence offered by SCF. IFPI will be happy to facilitate licensing discussions between Tiscali and individual labels. In the meantime Tiscali will have to operate under the terms of its agreement or continue to suspend its service".
--------------------------------------------------
BPI GIVE EVIDENCE GALORE TO SELECT COMMITTE
The BPI nipped across the Thames yesterday to 'give evidence' to an enquiry into all things web-ernet that is currently being undertaken by the House Of Commons Select Committee For Culture, Media & Sport. I suspect that the tricky topic of digital rights management was originally going to dominate this enquiry, but then the House Of Commons All Party Internet Group stole all the headlines on that topic when they reported on their latest enquiry last week, so yesterday's proceedings centred on pretty much anything else to do with music in the digital world.
Starting with that overriding feature of the digital music age - litigation. Or, to be more precise, I suppose, no litigation. That is to say, BPI boss Peter Jamieson told the committee that the recording industry would not be suing anyone who breaks those previously reported rules that say you shouldn't transfer music from CDs you've bought to other devices. As previously reported, technically speaking UK copyright law forbids the transfer of tracks from one device to another, meaning that consumers shouldn't rip music from CDs they have bought onto their PC or portable music device. However, pretty much no one obeys that rule, and it is a feature of copyright law that has come under increasing criticism, from both consumers groups and, yesterday, the BPI.
Jamieson told MPs: "We will not sue you for filling your iPod with music you have bought yourself. Traditionally the recording industry has turned a blind eye to private copying and has used the strength of the law to pursue commercial pirates. We believe that we now need to make a clear and public distinction between copying for your own use and copying for dissemination to third parties and make it unequivocally clear to the consumer that if they copy their CDs for their own private use in order to move the music from format to format we will not pursue them."
Litigation fans, however, can rest assured that there is a new lawsuit on the horizon - this time regarding controversial Russian download platform AllofMP3.com, which was also discussed at yesterday's session. As previously reported, AllofMP3.com sells major label music at incredibly cheap prices, claiming to be a legitimate enterprise approved by licensing bodies within Russia. However, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has questioned the service's legitimacy and, as it becomes an increasingly popular source of digital music across Europe, the BPI says it plans to take legal action to try and stop it from operating, in the UK at least.
The BPI's General Counsel, Roz Groome, told the Select Committee: "AllofMP3.com is illegal under UK law and it is illegal to download from it. We are going to sue AllofMP3.com in the UK courts - we are going to seek a judgment not against the users of the site, but against the site itself."
So, what else was discussed in this here Select Committee?
Well, Jamieson again outlined the recording industry's case for having the UK/European recording copyright extended from its current fifty years. He said: "British music is one of Britain's greatest ambassadors, but failure to extend term could turn an export into an import. If we lose the Crown Jewels of British music, little money will flow back to the UK."
Some time was then spent to try and dispel the myth that record labels will cash in big time in the digital age because selling downloads has none of the overheads of selling CDs. Independiente MD Mark Richardson, accompanying the BPI delegation, said: "It is early days for digital music. At this point in time the cost of distribution for downloads is actually higher than for CDs. Regardless of that, however, distribution remains a relatively small part of the investment record companies make in music. All of the key costs for a piece of music remain virtually the same whatever format you distribute it on."
Talk next of the ongoing dispute between the recording and publishing sectors of the music business on that very issue - ie claims by the publishers that a record label's costs are lower in the digital age and, therefore, they, the publishers, should get a bigger cut of recording sales revenue. As previously reported, that dispute is heading for a copyright tribunal in the Autumn, but Jamieson said yesterday that: "I hope there will be a voluntary settlement before the Tribunal date".
On the other growing dispute in the digital music space - the one over interoperability being fought between Apple and more or less everyone else - Jamieson was diplomatic, recognising Apple's considerable and important investment in this space to date. But he added that "it's not particularly healthy for any one company to have such a dominant share" and that "we would advocate that Apple opts for interoperability".
So there you go, all lovely. And now some parting words from the BPI boss: "Music has never been more popular. But it's not time to break out the champagne just yet. The UK recording industry is committed to embracing every opportunity of digital technology in order to ensure the volume that must crucially accompany these new avenues of exploitation."
--------------------------------------------------
BILLY PRESTON DIES
US singer songwriter Billy Preston has died in Arizona following a long illness, at the age of 59. Preston had been in a coma at a medical facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, since suffering kidney failure in November of last year.
Preston, whose career spanned five decades, began as something of a prodigy, playing keyboards for the likes of Little Richard and Ray Charles as a teenager. Later, he worked with The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, becoming one of only two people ever to be given a label credit alongside the Fab Four, for his work on 'Let It Be', plus contributions to 'Abbey Road' and the 'White Album' - and is one of those people often dubbed 'the fifth Beatle' as a result.
He went on to collaborate with a variety of other stars, including Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Jackson Five, Sly And The Family Stone, most recently playing clavinet on Red Hot Chili Peppers track 'Warlocks' from current album release 'Stadium Arcadium'. He also wrote 'You Are So Beautiful' for Joe Cocker. The musician did, of course, become famous in his own right, with a string of hit singles during the seventies.
--------------------------------------------------
EMINEM SETTLES RINGTONE LAWSUIT
One of the companies targeted by Eminem's publishing company over allegations they were illegally selling ringtones of the rapper's music have reached an out of court settlement.
As previously reported, Eight Mile Style and Martin Affilated sued five companies last October over the ringtone claims. However, the two plaintiffs have now asked the US District Court to approve an out of court settlement with one of the defendants, Colorado-based Cellus US.
Few details about the deal are known, although a lawyer for the ringtone company said her clients had agreed to stop distributing the ring tones in question. She did not comment as to whether any compensation was paid to Eminem or his companies. A spokesman for Mr Shady said, simply, that "an amicable agreement" had been reached.
--------------------------------------------------
SINGLE REVIEW: Fortune Drive - My Girlfriend's An Arsonist (Shy Records)
So, Fortune Drive, your girlfriends are arsonists, eh? That's not really an excuse for making fairly standard rock and roll, though as excuses go, it's fairly imaginative. Pity your imagination didn't stretch beyond modelling yourselves after the Subways (and, therefore, every other rock and roll act ever). Aggressive, but never intimidating, Fortune Drive don't deviate in any way from a boiler-plate rock and roll song during the long 4 minutes this single lasts. The promo video was supplied on a DVD with the single, so I'll review that too. The band plays in a room, with a selection of indie girls and boys sat around the room nodding their heads, though it does feature a nice split-screen effect near the end. As dull as the song. Fortune Drive need to deviate if they want people to listen to their music and not to some-other-rock-band. At present, they're just not deviant at all. DG
Release Date: 26 Jun
Press Contact: J2PR [all]
--------------------------------------------------
NEW SCISSOR SISTERS ALBUM ON ITS WAY
Scissor Sisters have confirmed that their new album, entitled 'Ta-dah', is to be released on 18 Sep, preceded by a single, 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin'', a collaboration with Elton John.
Speaking to NME about the new album, frontman Jake Shears said: "I'm completely excited. I feel like I've birthed a baby! That would be the closest thing, it was very weird and painful but I think my baby is really cute! The old rock cliché is very true, it's harder doing a second album, but that's why we took our time with it".
--------------------------------------------------
AGUILERA ON HER NEW ALBUM
More people-talking-about-their-albums news. Christina Aguilera has been speaking about her forthcoming long player release, 'Back To Basics', set for release on 15 Aug, and the last minute decision to make it a double album. The singer says that each of the two discs has a distinctly different sound, with the first disc produced mainly by Gang Starr's DJ Premier.
Aguilera told MTV: "The first half is based upon working with more beat-driven producers and will use samples and things like that, and then the second disc is all me and [collaborator] Linda Perry. The first half of the album is kind of a throwback with elements of jazz, blues and soul music combined with a modern-day twist, like hard-hitting beats."
On the second disc, she added: "There are no cover songs, so we made more of a '20s, '30s vibe with an authentic and organic twist. There are no samples - it's all live music."
--------------------------------------------------
MARTIN'S VOCALS PULLED FROM FURTADO ALBUM
Chris Martin's previously reported collaboration with Nelly Furtado has been removed from her forthcoming new album, apparently at the insistence of Coldplay's label Parlophone.
Martin recorded vocals for the track 'All Good Things (Come To An End)' which appears on Furtado's album 'Loose', which is out on Monday, but now the track will appear without his contribution. Nelly explained: "Chris's label didn't want his voice sounding so rocky, so they said we couldn't use the song. Now it's on the album but with just me singing it."
--------------------------------------------------
FARRELL'S NEW PROJECT GETS OFF THE GROUND
Perry Farrell's new project Satellite Party is set to release an eponymous debut via Columbia later this year. It's set to feature contributions from the likes of Peter Hook, as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea and John Frusciante.
Farrell told Billboard: "It's going to be a solid group with both female and male players and it's going to be very live and very powerful. But we want to add a nice, healthy dose of female energy into it, especially female voice, because it's wonderful for chorus. We're chock full of great, grand songs."
--------------------------------------------------
SLIPKNOT PLANNING NEW ALBUM
Yes, even more album news. Slipknot are planning to get back to work later this year on their fourth studio album. Band member Mick Thomson told Billboard: "We're going to start getting back together and working on stuff. The core that writes the songs tend to get together - it's not as easy to work out stuff when you've got nine people standing in the same room. I would say we'll start working within the next few months. I've talked to Paul [Gray, bassist] a few times. Very slowly, no pressure."
In the meantime, the group are to release a new DVD, although no release date has been set for it. On that, Thompson continued: "It's going to be different than our last one [2002's 'Disasterpieces']. Our last one mostly focused on the concert, and this one is going to have a lot more personal stuff on it. You get to see more stupid shit. There'll be some music and stuff, but you're getting to see what our days our like. It should be a lot more fun."
--------------------------------------------------
THRILLS ON NEW ALBUM
Yes, we're not done with the album related news just yet. Oh no. And this is a pretty special item, because we love The Thrills, and this item is, in fact, about The Thrills. Frontman Conor Deasy has posted a blog on his band's MySpace page saying that recording on a follow-up to 'Let's Bottle Bohemia' will begin next week in Vancouver with producer Tony Hoffer.
Deasy writes: "We had our last rehearsal at the weekend. It was a bit emotional considering we've been working on this record for quite a while. We start recording next week in Vancouver. Originally it was going to be Dublin but we couldn't get the studio we wanted for the dates we wanted. We're all looking forward to working with Tony Hoffer again. There's almost twenty songs to fight over. It's a large figure for us. In the past we only ever had thirteen or fourteen songs to go into the studio with. In fact the dreaded "double album" was even mentioned for a fleeting moment (and thankfully dismissed just as quickly)."
Deasy adds that the band have a title for the LP in mind, but doesn't reveal what that might be, as well as filling fans in on what all the band members have been up to, saying: "Kevin is reading A Room With A View. Daniel just got a new puppy which everyone is jealous of. His name is Bruce and he is a beautiful dachshund. I'm reading The Great Gatsby. I also went to see Time To Leave, a french film about a photographer who has three months to live. It's actually very good. Padraic is in San Francisco with his girlfriend. Benny bought a lovely house, he's currently working on getting the desk from studio one Abbey Road, into the studio in the back garden."
That all sounds nice, doesn't it? God, I wish I was a Thrill.
--------------------------------------------------
LATEST BESTIVAL NEWS
Lots of new acts have been confirmed for Bestival, and our love of Bestival only keeps on growing, what with the news that they're to team up with Amnesty International on their global Make Some Noise project, and the news that Brian Eno will make a rare guest appearance with Rachid Taha at the event's main stage this year. Other recent additions to the 2006 live line-up include Lily Allen, Kid Carpet, Brakes, and Max Sedgely, with the likes of Carl Cox and Bobby & Nihal joining the DJ list.
Rob da Bank says: "I'm a bit biased but Bestival 2006 is shaping up rather nicely. Aside from rare UK shows from the Pet Shop Boys and Scissor Sisters and no lesser folk than Rachid Taha, Brian Eno and Carl Cox coming on board there's so much else to do: new things for us are a green field dedicated to sustainable energies and traditional crafts, a healthy dose of debate, comedy, poetry and open mic, giant tree climbing as well as the the return of the Inflatable Church with even more weddings planned, the chance to sign up for Come Dancing classes, have a solar powered sauna or watch a solar powered film in the cinema ... And shedloads of new bands and DJs to get your ears around. Roll on September!"
--------------------------------------------------
NEW ACTS ADDED TO V
More acts have been added to the line up for this year's sold out V festival also, amongst them The Dead 60s, Echo And The Bunnymen, Gomez, and Lily Allen. They join acts such as Morrissey, Radiohead, Bloc Party and Beck on the bill for the event, which, as previously reported, takes place in Chelmsford and Stafford from 19-20 Aug.
--------------------------------------------------
LOWE CONFIRMED FOR URBAN GAMES
Radio 1 DJ (and of course, former CMU columnist) Zane Lowe has been announced as headliner for the Sprite 3G Music Stage, the new live music and DJ arena planned as part of the eighth consecutive Urban Games, which takes place on Clapham Common from 30 Jun - 2 Jul. Here's the thus far confirmed line-up:
30 Jun: DJ Yoda, Sway (Live)
1 Jul: Zane Lowe, Eddy TM, DJ Tubbs
2 Jul: Killa Kela (Live), Nihal
Tickets and info from http://www.spriteurbangames.com, press info from Lexis PR.
--------------------------------------------------
LOVEBOX ANNOUNCE PODCAST STUFF
Groove Armada's Lovebox Weekender have issued a new festival podcast featuring exclusive live sets from artists set to appear at this year's event. It's the second in the series; the first featured a selection by GA's Tom Findlay. This, the second, is mixed by new wave European house and techno guru, Giles Smith. See http://www.loveboxweekender.co.uk/podcast.html, get press info from Nile-On.
--------------------------------------------------
RAZORLIGHT ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES
Razorlight have announced a set of UK tour dates, set to take place this autumn following the release of the band's new album, due out this summer, and new single, due out on 3 Jul. Dates as follows:
20 Oct: Aberdeen AECC
21 Oct: Hull Arena
22 Oct: Sheffield Arena
24 Oct: Nottingham Arena
25 Oct: Swindon Oasis Centre
26 Oct: Plymouth Pavillion
28 Oct: Cardiff Arena
31 Oct: Brighton Centre
1 Nov: Wembley Arena
--------------------------------------------------
ORPETH TOUR DATES
Swedish rockers Orpeth have announced details of an autumn tour, dates as follows:
5 Nov: Portsmouth Pyramid
6 Nov: Glasgow ABC
7 Nov: Nottingham Rock City
8 Nov: Birmingham Academy
9 Nov: London Roundhouse
10 Nov: Manchester Academy
11 Nov: Exeter Great Hall
--------------------------------------------------
FEELING, ALBUM, GIGS
I can't quite make up my mind regarding The Feeling - you might say I have mixed feelings about them. But we hear their debut album is number two in the midweeks, and if you're London based and want to see what the fuss is about, they play ULU this Thursday and Friday night. Press info from Island IH.
--------------------------------------------------
SINGLE REVIEW: Jenny Wilson - Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward (Rabid Records)
Released on The Knife's Rabid Records (with an accompanying remix from the mysterious duo), this is an exceptionally good single from a talent to watch. It's essentially POP!, with a subtle electronic sheen and more than a touch of disco about it; the high-pitched vocals in particular suggesting both the Bee Gees and Jake Shears (neither of these comparisons are anything to be ashamed of, of course, but while we're here, I might as well point out that this is simply miles better than anything the Scissor Sisters have ever done).The Knife's aforementioned remix is a typical example of their frosted machine beauty; the icy synths and metronomic beat serving to relocate the song from summer and sunshine to somewhere much colder, darker and futuristic, but without forgetting to take the pop catchiness and exuberance with it. Probably the best track of its kind since Spiller's 'Groovejet' (which is high praise, frankly), 'LMSLMF' would be number one for ages if it was sung by anyone famous. It should certainly get Jenny Wilson noticed, at the very least. MS
Release date: 3 Jul
Press contact: Darling [all]
--------------------------------------------------
GAY GROUPS CRITICISE BBC FOR NOT CRITICISING MOYLES
Gay rights groups have attacked the Beeb for failing to uphold a complaint against Radio 1's Chris Moyles after the DJ used the word 'gay' as an insult.
A spokesman for Stonewall told reporters yesterday that they felt Moyles should have been reprimanded for saying of a mobile ring tone "I don't want that one, it's gay" because, they say, "Our view would be that the majority of gay people do find the use of gay as a derogatory term very offensive".
They were responding to a decision by the BBC Governors Programme Complaints Committee that said that the use of the word my Moyles in this context was not offensive. They said: "The committee acknowledged that this use of the word 'gay' could cause offence to some listeners. However, the committee believed that Chris Moyles, when using the word, had meant no offence to gay people. He was not being homophobic in his use of the word."
--------------------------------------------------
RADIO 1 - "WE'VE NOT BANNED MENTIONS OF ENGLAND"
Talking of people criticising Radio 1, the BBC station's chief Andy Parfitt has denied media reports that they have "banned" World Cup songs that mention England.
He made the denial after the Daily Mirror suggested that the station had only playlisted one of the plethora of World Cup songs out there - the official one by Embrace - because it made no real reference to En-ger-land. Songs that bigged up the English football team too overtly were banned, the tabloid said, so as not to piss off listeners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Mirror quoted one of those sources as saying: "We have been told songs that contain the word England repeatedly can't be put on the playlist because they don't want to upset anyone who isn't English. It's ridiculous."
But Parfitt told Radio 1's Newsbeat: "There is no truth in the report that Radio 1 has banned any records because they mention England. On the contrary, Radio 1 is completely committed to England at the World Cup. We are packing Chris Moyles off at the end of the week to Germany. We can categorically deny that there's been a ban on England World Cup songs. As a national radio station, Radio 1 is of course aware of the fact that it has a national audience and we are sensitive to the needs of our listeners elsewhere in the UK. However, the decision as to what is on the playlist is based on musical merit. We have in fact played a number of the unofficial World Cup songs in shows including Chris Moyles, Scott Mills and Jo Whiley as well as being the station on which the official World Cup song by Embrace was launched."
PS: Embrace are ahead in the midweeks in terms of World-Cup-related records - of which several have hit stores this week. More on that tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------
BT CONFIRM VPL DEAL FOR IPTV MUSIC SERVICES
BT, you know, the phone people, the ones with the tower, have reached a deal with the video version of PPL - VPL - which will enable them to offer a music video on demand service via their up coming IPTV thingy - BT Vision - which will launch in September. As with all things relating to this venture, it's being described as 'groundbreaking' - though I'm pretty sure I remember Home Choice offering pretty much that very service five years ago, though I think they had deals with the labels direct rather than via VPL (certainly certain labels were missing from their catalogue back in the day).
--------------------------------------------------
C4 GO INTO RADIO
Everyone in media land seems to be diversifying this week. Perhaps we should diversify. I'm thinking perhaps we should launch CMU branded sliced bread - nothing ever seems to better sliced bread, have you noticed that?
Anyway, Channel 4 are launching an internet radio station which will offer a load of mainly speech based radio programmes, some of which will tie in with shows on the TV network. The venture, at www.channel4radio.com, is part of C4's wider plans in the radio space - they already own a majority stake in digital speech station Oneword, which will now syndicate some of the shows from the network's online station.
On it all, C4 boss Andy Duncan says this: "Channel 4's ultimate objective is to contribute something new to the radio mix. We believe there is a gap in the market for contemporary speech radio services - offering an alternative to what the BBC has to offer across news, current affairs, comedy, entertainment, lifestyle and many more genres - as well as non-formulaic music radio. We want to add to what commercial radio has to offer by extending its programming range, introducing an exciting line-up of new and established talent and deepening its relationship with its audience."
C4 is also part of a consortium that is bidding for the second national digital radio multiplex that is due to be put up for tender later this year (unless current national digital radio multiplex owners GCap are successful in stopping the tender).
--------------------------------------------------
TIMES GO INTO TV
Elsewhere in media diversification, The Times have announced they are developing a TV service to be called, somewhat radically, Times TV. News International boss Les Hinton confirmed the service was in development while speaking at the recent World Newspaper Congress in Moscow. The TV service will be available, I think, over the net, and will aggregate content from a number of sources. It will be funded, initially at least, by sponsorship from Cisco Systems.
--------------------------------------------------
FIVE TO LAUNCH NEW CHANNELS
Channel Five are also expanding, though within the TV domain. They have confirmed plans to launch two free-to-air spin off channels across all digital platforms. One will be filled with American imports (and let's be fair to Five, they've nabbed some of the best American imports in recent years), while the other will be aimed at a female audience, though with a kids TV strand and the option to include ITV2 style spin offs of shows on Five's main terrestrial channel.
Five boss Jane Lighting told reporters: "This is tremendously exciting and the most important development in Five's history since our launch more than nine years ago. We believe these two new channels will play to our programming strengths, highlighting genres in which we have an acknowledged track record. A huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to create two propositions that genuinely increase viewer choice across the digital platforms."
--------------------------------------------------
IPC MAN QUITS
IPC Group Editorial Director Mike Soutar is leaving the company with immediate effect. Soutar oversaw the publishing company's consumer magazine division, and was behind the launch of a number of recent titles, including Nuts and Pick Me Up.
A statement from the publisher reads thus: "After six years with the company, group editorial director Mike Soutar has decided it is time to leave IPC. In accordance with the terms of his contract, Mike is stepping down from the board and is taking gardening leave with immediate effect."
The lack of "blimey that Soutar was a star" type comments coming from IPC chiefs suggests that this was not an entirely amicable departure, and some reckon Soutar is probably planning on launching his own rival venture as soon as he is contractually allowed to do so, hence his former employer's somewhat glum response to his departure.
--------------------------------------------------
FLEXTECH BOSS QUITS
What is it with everyone quitting their jobs at the moment - is it the sunshine? The MD of Flextech, Lisa Opie, the content division of cable company Telewest (they do Trouble, Bravo and all those UKTV channels), has quit after thirteen years with the company. Though this one seems to be amicable, with Opie insisting the appointment of Malcolm Wall in a position above her three months ago has nothing to do with her decision. Wall, meanwhile, told reporters: "It is with both surprise and sadness that we accept Lisa's decision to leave and we shall miss her greatly. I have confidence in the abilities of the great senior management team at Flextech Television, however, and we will bounce back."
--------------------------------------------------
FUTURE BOSS QUITS
Also quitting his job is Greg Ingham, the boss of Future Publishing, publishers of Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, DJ Magazine, Total Guitar and eight and half million PC magazines. His departure follows an announcement that the company made losses of £12.1 million in their last financial year, and confirmation that the group will be scaling back its "ambitious expansion policy". Former Clear Channel CEO Stevie Spring has already been announced as a replacement.
--------------------------------------------------
FABRIC RECRUITING NEW TOP PRESS PERSON
From quitting to recruiting. London club and music company Fabric are recruiting a new Head Of Press to start next month, and to oversee their busy press department in its promotion of the club, events and CD releases. They're looking for someone who has worked in a senior press role for over three years with comprehensive knowledge of and contacts in the print and broadcast media. Knowledge of London's clubbing scene and Fabric's local area also an advantage. The deadline for applications is this week - 9 Jun - so if you think you fit the bill you should send off your CV pronto to [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------
LOGAN SPEAKS OUT OVER SANDI THOM STUFF
Oh, who cares how she did it? She did it. It's done. But RCA's Craig Logan has been moved to speak out following media speculation that the figures for those viewing Sandi Thom's much reported webcast concerts were exaggerated, and suggestions that the singer's fame was in fact manufactured by a big PR campaign.
Speaking to Music Week, Logan said he wanted to "correct some of the myths and assertions in the media with some simple, honest facts."
He commented: "The only guerrilla marketing tactics employed were when the flyer was sent out to over one million email addresses, which is hardly revolutionary. Fact: Sandi tried the old way of building a community and it didn't quite work for her. The new way has. Sandi Thom is a great artist, which is why RCA signed her."
--------------------------------------------------
SMITHS ASKED LINDA TO GUEST ON ALBUM
Johnny Marr says in a new interview with NME that Morrissey asked the late Linda McCartney to play piano on the track 'Frankly Mr Shankly' on album 'The Queen Is Dead'. Marr said: "Morrissey wrote a postcard to Linda McCartney asking her to play piano on the track, but she said no. She just said she couldn't do it, we would have loved for her to do it because we were big fans of hers."