| CMU Daily - on the inside Wednesday 14th June |
|
In today's CMU Daily:
- EMI chief calls for better music education
- Jackson may lose his kids
- Panic! man says he was sacked
- DMX in car trouble, again
- New Jackson single out soon
- Razorlight announce Razorlight
- Cerys solo album news
- New Cars, Blondie, Road Rage, accidents
- Scissor Sisters play Scala on Monday
- Fun Lovin Criminals, GLC line up for Foundation
- Dogs, Fallout Trust play for Amnesty
- Tapes n Tapes announce tour dates
- Faze Action launch Later
- More RHCP tickets on sale
- Second PSB gig added to Tower Festival
- Metal Hammer Golden Gods
- Single review: Luxembourg - We Only Stayed Together For The Kids
- King Tut's launches label
- Fierce Panda sign Canadian distribution deal
- Rumours surround BMG publishing sale
- Sky favourite to buy AOL UK
- Tough talking helps boost AllofMP3 and The Pirate Bay
- The Orchard to distribute 80% of Turkish market
- Loudeye gets back Nasdaq status
- HMV digital appointments
- Mrs McCartney to sue
- Eminem takes new film role
- Britney hit by pap lawsuit
- Lily Allen thinks (some) indie boys are twats
--------------------------------------------------
TOP BIT>>
EMI chief Eric Nicoli has called for an expansion of the music curriculum in schools while speaking to a thing called the Music Industry Summit. He is possibly right, though my opinions are always a little split when it comes to the cultural industries pressing for more of the school curriculum to be dedicated to their particular art. I think I was quite lucky that the music department at my secondary school was refreshingly eclectic and open minded, which meant that those students who possessed some musical talent, and who hadn't been completely alienated by a primary school music curriculum that consisted almost exclusively of group recorder playing, found an environment where they could develop their creative and technical skills and create some great music in the process. But note the key phrase there - "those with some musical talent". Musical talent is not something everyone possesses (and I'm of the opinion that if you haven't got it you can't learn it), and even those of us able to remember where to put our fingers on the fret board in order to get an A minor sound out of a guitar can't just walk up to a piano and compose a chart topping pop song. And, of course, musical history has taught us that people able to do just that often have very little music education before creating their masterpiece. But even if we can find a way of teaching music in such a way that it can accommodate both those who possess musical talent and those who do not, there's another concern. Nicoli correctly says that music especially inspires young people despite it not having prominence in the school room. But sometimes I wonder if music inspires young people 'because' it doesn't have prominence in the school room. The theatre industry has tried to engage with youth audiences through some at times incredibly inventive education programmes. The only problem with that, as I see it, is that young people associate theatre as something you do at school, not something you would do in your own time because it's a fun thing to do. Thousands of teenagers form bands or become bedroom producers because it is a fun and exciting. Put that in the classroom and it might seem less so. I'm not dissing music education, nor attempts to expand it, I'm just saying that these things should be considered by those in power in this area - if government is going to invest in new music programmes for young people I can't help feeling the money would be better spent on out-of-school music initiatives rather than tarnishing what the kids do already music wise by making it feel like homework.
PS: Similar concerns also about another of Nicoli's suggestions that children should be taught about copyright in the classroom. Is delivering the 'don't file share' message through teachers the best way to get kids to obey? Possibly, possibly not. As John Peel once said of an early 90s Radio 1 anti-drugs campaign - "if there's one thing that's going to get the kids taking drugs, it's Simon Bates telling them not to". Is the teaching profession the best messenger for the music industry's anti-piracy cause?
--------------------------------------------------
JOBS N STUFF>>
14th Floor PR is seeking a Press Assistant to support the PR team across national, regional and online press. No previous press experience is necessary, but some prior involvement with music would be an advantage. The successful candidate will be highly efficient with strong writing skills, flawless spelling and grammar, and a passion for music. Computer literacy, including confidence with Microsoft Office, is essential.
Please send a covering letter and CV to Peter Hall: e-mail [email protected] or post to 14th Floor PR, 46 Kensington Court, London W8 5DP.
--------------------------------------------------
PRESS ROOM>>
XFM REMIX NIGHT JUNE
Ladies and gentlemen, this is very exciting. The next edition of Xfm Remix Night at Cargo in London will be celebrating and previewing the upcoming launch of Eddy TM's brand new album, 'YrocK', a very special edition of Distinctive Record's Y4K series due for release in August. Just look at this line up. Live on the stage will be buzz band of the moment Humanzi. On the decks, meanwhile, will be the Freestylers, Breakfastaz, Dogtown Clash, Ils, MC Sir Real and Slim Jim - and all hosted by Eddy TM. It all takes place at Cargo on Rivington Street in London on 16 Jun. Tickets in advance from http://www.ticketweb.co.uk. Special concession guest list tickets at http://www.leylinepromotions.com.
More info: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/remixnight
--------------------------------------------------
ON AIR>>
TODAY ON TOTALROCK
Catbird talks to young Berkshire Malefice ('Phantasmagoria', 9am to noon). Diamond Dave's gonna have a very busy show, talking to Gomez, Ned's Atomic Dustin, and Martin Roach, author of the book 'The Eight-legged Atomic Dustbin Will Eat Itself' (6-9pm). Listen live at http://www.totalrock.com.
--------------------------------------------------
RIGHT NOW IN THE CMU BEATS BAR>>
MySpace Of The Day: Fields
I've been meaning to do this one for a while, but I kept forgetting, not because they're rubbish, but because I'm a bit crap. Now, I wouldn't call Fields a buzz band exactly, but they're certainly fizzing, and seem to be building a pretty dedicated fanbase with their folky, shoegazy melodic brand of this thing we call popular music. This is a pretty good MySpace page, too, as they go - ie relatively informative. There's some background about the band, all the tour dates, and some fairly regular blog updates. The four tracks you can listen to here are all goodies, one is a taster from their upcoming EP '4 From The village', out on 10 Jul.
http://www.myspace.com/songsforthefields
This and more at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------
EMI CHIEF CALLS FOR BETTER MUSIC EDUCATION
Eric reckons ... you know Eric, the EMI chap, yes? ... well, he reckons that the government should be improving the music curriculum in schools while offering music companies tax incentives for investing in research type shenanigans.
Mr Nicoli was speaking at a government organised Music Industry Summit at the British Library in London yesterday. On educational type things, Billboard reports that he told the Summit: "We need more done to stimulate creativity in schools: music is something which we know especially inspires young people - yet where is it now on the curriculum? We need help devising the right skills and training to keep us fit for the future". Schools should also, Nicoli added, have a role in educating children about copyright issues: "We need help with educating consumers and young people to respect copyright".
On more commercial matters, Eric was keen to stress that the music industry invests more than most other sectors in research and development and, while he doesn't advocate government subsidy for such work, he does think tax incentives could be made for making and expanding such development work. Nicoli: "Given that we spend more than many other sectors - including manufacturing - on research and development as a percentage of sales, it would be good to have similar financial incentives such as tax breaks".
He's right you know. I'm off to make a protest banner - 'Less Taxes, More Recorder Lessons' - see you in Westminster.
--------------------------------------------------
JACKSON MAY LOSE HIS KIDS
According to reports, Michael Jackson is in danger of losing two of his children because of that previously reported custody battle with ex-wife Debbie Rowe, and in particular because of claims that Jackson is not the natural father of eight year old Paris and nine year old Prince Michael. Court papers will allegedly reveal next month that the two children were in fact fathered by an anonymous sperm donor.
As previously reported, biological mother Rowe previously gave up her parental rights in 2001, but a recent judgement in her favour invalidated that agreement. She is now seeking custody, recently citing concerns over Jackson's association with the Nation Of Islam, and their alleged anti-Semitism, and claiming that Jackson essentially abducted the children, taking them to Bahrain with faked passports.
--------------------------------------------------
PANIC! MAN SAYS HE WAS SACKED
Panic! At The Disco's Brent Wilson has told MTV that he was sacked from the group, and did not, as band-mates claimed at the time, make an amicable departure. As previously reported, a statement on the band's website last month read: "We regret to inform you that Brent is no longer a part of Panic! At The Disco, and although this choice does feel very healthy, he is a great friend of ours and he will definitely be missed. We all wish him well and the best of luck in everything he wants to do in the future".
Wilson has now said that in fact he was fired the night before he was due to leave for a gig in California, receiving the news via a phone call from drummer Spencer Smith. The bassist said: "We were about to start a tour where the band would've been bringing home around $300,000, or something like $50,000 apiece, and basically they kicked me out, so the question about money goes through my head a lot."
The band have responded to those comments, saying that he did not in fact play on their record, 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out' or write any of the bass parts for it. The aforementioned Spencer Smith said: "We made the decision based on Brent's lack of responsibility and the fact that he wasn't progressing musically with the band. We are basically breaking even with the amount of money it is costing us to put on the show that we want to put on."
--------------------------------------------------
DMX IN CAR TROUBLE, AGAIN
Supporting my previously posited theory that he can't travel anywhere without getting involving the police these days, DMX has got involved in a new travel incident, this time crashing into another car during a traffic jam in New York state at the weekend. On this occasion the rap star was making more of those hazardous lane changes whilst driving on the Hutchinson River Highway, causing another vehicle to hit him from behind. Westchester County Police Commissioner Monte Long said: "There was congestion on the parkway, and he apparently was driving on the shoulder to avoid it. When he pulled back onto the right lane, the other driver didn't have time to stop.''
DMX, aka Earl Simmons, was not injured, and neither car was badly damaged, but the hip-hopper will appear in court on 21 Jul over driving on the hard shoulder.
--------------------------------------------------
NEW JACKSON SINGLE OUT SOON
Well, she's lost all that weight the gossip bloggers and celeb mags have been crowing about in recent months, and, as you may have been aware, she's been in the studio too. Janet Jackson's new single 'Call Me' featuring Nelly, (the rap chap, not Furtado, obviously) will be out shortly and hits the airwaves on Monday, ahead of the release of her new album '20 Years Old' on 26 Sep.
--------------------------------------------------
RAZORLIGHT ANNOUNCE RAZORLIGHT
Razorlight have announced that their second album, set for release on 17 Jul, will be called 'Razorlight'. The LP, which was apparently only finished last week, will be preceded by the release of a single 'In The Morning', on 3 Jul. As we reported last week, the band have just announced a tour, dates below in case you missed em the first time.
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
--------------------------------------------------
CERYS SOLO ALBUM NEWS
Ex Catatonian Cerys Matthews has announced some details of her second album. The new long player will be called 'Never Said Goodbye' and will be preceded by a single 'Open Roads'. Quite when it's happening I'm not 100 percent sure, but here, for tracklisting fans, is the tracklisting:
Streets Of New York
A Bird In The Hand
Oxygen
Open Roads
The Endless Rain
Blue Light Alarm
Morning Sun
Seed Song
What Kind Of Man?
Ruby
Elen
Matthews will also be touring this summer (possibly to coincide with the release of the album? Hmm?), dates as follows:
22 Jul: Llangollen Town Hall
24 Jul: Cardiff The Point
26 Jul: London Scala
29 Jul: Cambridge Folk Festival
4 Aug: Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
6 Aug: Cardiff Big Weekend Festival
--------------------------------------------------
NEW CARS, BLONDIE, ROAD RAGE, ACCIDENTS
The current New Cars/Blondie 'Road Rage 2006' US tour has, interestingly enough, been delayed due to - yes, that's right - a road accident, although it's not clear if anyone became enraged by it. What I do know is that someone got injured, so I probably shouldn't be being so flippant. New Cars guitarist Elliot Easton ended up having surgery to fix a broken left clavicle last week, after being injured when the band's tour bus swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle. He apparently played four dates of the tour before it was established that the break had occurred, but is now resting following the operation. A new schedule for postponed dates is yet to be announced.
--------------------------------------------------
SCISSOR SISTERS PLAY SCALA ON MONDAY
Scissor Sisters are to play a surprise show next week, appearing at London's Scala on Monday. The group, who recently announced details of their new album 'Ta Dah', out on 18 Sep, are, of course, set to appear at Bestival in the same month.
Tickets for the gig, staged as part of the Popstarz club night, go on sale on Friday.
--------------------------------------------------
FUN LOVIN CRIMINALS, GLC LINE UP FOR FOUNDATION
The line-up for the brand new Foundation Festival has been announced. Fun Lovin Criminals, Goldie Lookin Chain, Coldcut and Kosheen are set to head the bill for the event, which takes place in Somerset from 1-3 Sep.
This festival seems especially passionate about its charitable concerns - Oxfam, War Child and Shelter will all benefit from it. On that, organiser Oliver Gurney said: "We felt it was our own personal responsibility to support good causes in order to bring about change for future generations, and give people a damn good time doing it."
--------------------------------------------------
DOGS, FALLOUT TRUST PLAY FOR AMNESTY
Talking of charitable concerns, Amnesty recently held an evening in aid of their 'Protect The Human' campaign in Kensington, which saw performances from The Fallout Trust and Lancaster Bombers, plus a surprise set from the quite buzzy Dogs. Each act played three tracks, one of which had to be a protest song. For more info on 'Protect The Human' see http://www.amnesty.org.uk.
--------------------------------------------------
TAPES N TAPES ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES
Buzz band Tapes n Tapes have announced a few UK dates to follow the re-release via XL of their debut 'Loon', previously released via their own label. More dates may be announced at some point, but here are those three:
30 Aug: London Dingwalls
31 Aug: Liverpool Korova
1 Sep: Belfast Speakeasy Bar
--------------------------------------------------
FAZE ACTION LAUNCH LATER
To celebrate the release of their new 'Later' mix album on Seamless Recordings, the Faze Action boys will be on the decks for no less than three hours at a special album launch party at the White House in SW4 next week, on 22 Jun. Simon Dawson will be on warm up duties. It all kicks off at 9pm - admission is free until 10pm and a fiver after. More at http://www.thewhitehouselondon.co.uk and press info from [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------
MORE RHCP TICKETS ON SALE
Live Nation announced yesterday that extra tickets had gone on sale for two of the dates on the upcoming sold out Red Hot Chili Peppers tour. The extra tickets are available for the Derby Pride Park date (5 Jul) and Sheffield Don Valley date (6 Jul). They are on sale via http://www.livenation.co.uk (that's the new address for what was GetLive, by the way), though given the high demand for this tour so far, don't be surprised if they've already gone.
--------------------------------------------------
SECOND PSB GIG ADDED TO TOWER FESTIVAL
A second Pet Shop Boys gig has been added to the Tower Festival, that previously reported series of gigs due to take place at the Tower Of London between 28 Jun and 14 Jul. The PSB were already set to play 28 Jun, though a second performance on 29 Jun has just been added to the bill. The full line up for the Tower Festival now looks like this:
28 Jun: Pet Shop Boys supported by Hot Chip
29 Jun: Pet Shop Boys supported by Hot Chip
4 Jul: James Brown supported by Patrick Watson
6 Jul: Dionne Warwick
7 Jul: Dr John & Randy Newman
8 Jul: Pink Martini
10 Jul: Jeff Beck & Buddy Guy
11 Jul: Madeleine Peyroux supported by Athena
12 Jul: Al Jarreau & Fourplay
13 Jul: Jamie Cullum supported by The Webb Sisters
More info on all this at http://www.towermusicfestival.co.uk, press info from the Outside Organisation.
--------------------------------------------------
METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GODS
Metal Hammer presented their Golden Gods on Monday, and the winners were...
Best Underground Band: Satyricon
Icon: Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil)
Best Newcomer: Aiden
Best Video: Within Temptation 'Angels'
Best Metal Label: Roadrunner
Best Drummer: Winner: Travis Smith (Trivium)
Best International Band: Avenged Sevenfold
Spirit Of Hammer: Lordi
Riff Lord: Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains)
The Dimebag Award For Young Guitarist: Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold)
Best Live Band: Trivium
Best Album Of The Year: Coheed And Cambria
Best Album Of The Last 20 Years: Slayer - Reign In Blood
Golden God: Matt Heafy (Trivium)
Best UK Band: Bullet For My Valentine
--------------------------------------------------
SINGLE REVIEW: Luxembourg - We Only Stayed Together For The Kids (Dogbox)
Another terrific Luxembourg single shows the band in fine form, and their carefully constructed template working to good effect. David Shah's theatrical vocals are as wondrous as ever, matched by a glorious and infectious guitar and synth driven tune. The band's musical influences are of the highest pedigree (Roxy Music, Pulp, Scott Walker), yet Luxembourg would never settle for mere pastiche. They add much more, stamping their own unique mark on each recording. David sings of relationships gone sour, of suburban regret, and of dreams never satisfied. However, there is a sense of self-effacing wit attached to these lyrics, quite similar to the approach Jarvis Cocker and Morrissey took to writing lyrics for their kitchen sink musical dramas. This is classic indie-pop that is ambitious, epic, and literate. Listening to Luxembourg's recordings, you can't help but wonder why they aren't much bigger than they are. Yet their growing fan base no doubt adores them, as you will too. KW
Release date: 12 Jun
Press contact: Candy [all]
--------------------------------------------------
KING TUT'S LAUNCHES LABEL
Legendary Glasgow music venue King Tut's Wah Wah Hut (and, to my mind, still one of the best named music venues in the country) have announced they are launching a record label. The first signing to the new venture will be The Dykeenies, a Glasgow based art-pop five piece - with their first single, the 'New Ideas/Will It Happen Tonight' double a-side, out via iTunes on 10 Jul, and in record shops on 17 Jul. The King Tut's people discovered the band via their Your Sound initiative, a programme that aims to support new music talent by providing a forum for them to network with other artists, share their demos and get free advice on making it in the music business.
Commenting on the label and their first signing, King Tut's Recordings' Dave McGeachan told CMU: "Signing The Dykeenies to our brand new label is a really exciting step for us and the buzz surrounding the band now, certainly indicates that we discovered the hottest new act around! The label will give King Tut's a platform on which to offer even more of a helping hand to unsigned acts and I for one am very much looking forward to unearthing some more of the fantastic new talent out there"
More at http://www.kingtutsrecordings.com - press info from [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------
FIERCE PANDA SIGN CANADIAN DISTRIBUTION DEAL
London independent label Fierce Panda have recently launched a Canadian division, and yesterday they announced a distribution deal with Toronto-based Fontana North. The alliance will enable Fierce Panda to better distribute music from the likes of Hot Puppies, iLiKETRAiNS and My Architects within the Canadian market. Confirming the deal, Fontana North GM Matt Smallwood told reporters: "We couldn't be happier to have signed Fierce Panda Canada to Fontana North. The Fierce Panda label essentially represents all the bands I've loved and enjoyed over the past ten years."
--------------------------------------------------
RUMOURS SURROUND BMG PUBLISHING SALE
Now, obviously we've no interest in mindless industry gossip (just like we steer clear of Britney and Doherty gossip), but it's perhaps worth dedicating a couple of paragraphs to some of the chatter surrounding BMG Music Publishing which, of course, is currently up for sale as parent company Bertelsmann attempts to raise the cash required to buy out GBL, that former minority shareholder in the German media conglom that had threatened to float its stake.
Firstly, reports suggest several acts and managers who had been in negotiations with the publishing firm are procrastinating over signing new contracts, or withdrawing from agreements altogether, over fears as to just who will take over the company. Some suggest another major music publishing house is most likely to acquire BMG's publishing catalogue - possibly Warner's Warner Chappell business - but other investment firms are also said to be interested. While there is still uncertainty over the new owners, it seems the company is likely to struggle to complete new deals with many songwriters or composers.
The speed with which any purchase of BMG Music Publishing will be done is also unclear. Some suggest it could be a drawn out sale because of disagreement over the company's value, based on differences in opinion regarding its 'Net Publisher's Share'. Billboard said BMG's NPS could be as high as $218 million, which is almost double what some other analysts have estimated and, according to insiders at Warner Chappell, well over their internally accepted NPS, despite the fact Warner Chappell is considered a bigger player than BMG.
Such variations in opinion as to BMG's value may delay a sale which, in turn, may well delay the major publisher from finalising important new deals.
--------------------------------------------------
SKY FAVOURITE TO BUY AOL UK
BSkyB is the forerunner to take over AOL's UK ISP operations (ie, not its websites) after BT said that it would not be bidding for the firm. Both BT and BSkyB were named as possible contenders when AOL last week let it be known, via investment types Citygroup, that they were open to offers for their UK business.
But BT are said to be concerned of the implications of having to integrate its service with the AOL system, which uses that nasty proprietary portal thingy. And a BT deal in this space would also lead to monopolies concerns being raised, which would add to the hassle of any takeover.
But BT not participating in any bidding war for AOL will be a disappointment for the US ISP's parent company, Time Warner, because the interest of a major player like BT could well have forced up the asking price. BSkyB is now favourite, with the Murdoch owned TV company known to be keen to add to its internet business which was launched last year with the takeover of Easynet.
--------------------------------------------------
TOUGH TALKING HELPS BOOST ALLOFMP3 AND THE PIRATE BAY
If the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry and its partner organisations are ultimately successful in closing rogue Russian download platform AllofMP3.com or Swedish BitTorrent search engine The Pirate Bay they will have made it harder for consumers around the world to access illegal or illegitimate content. However, in the short term their moves against them have provided both online ventures with some great free publicity.
A web traffic monitoring company called Alexa has noted that total page views and unique users of AllofMP3.com have boomed in recent weeks since the IFPI and UK trade body the BPI issued statements formally condemning and threatening legal action against the service. As previously reported, the trade bodies do not accept AllofMP3's claims that it is a legitimate operation, stressing that even if Russian copyright laws allow AllofMP3 to operate within Russia, it is not trading legally outside of its home country. The BPI, in particular, has pledged to sue the download company through the UK courts. But in the short term the media coverage of those statements seems to have increased AllofMP3's profile across Europe, leading to an increase in customers for the Russian service.
Alexa data also confirms that traffic has boomed at The Pirate Bay following moves by the Swedish authorities to close the website down. As previously reported, the Pirate Bay is a search engine that provides links to sources of BitTorrent content, most of it illegal. Swedish authorities, supported by the IFPI, seized servers hosting The Pirate Bay at the end of last month as evidence in the authorities' copyright violation case against the search engine. But owners of the website quickly restored their operations using servers in the Netherlands, and since then Alexa say the number of page views on the site have doubled, meaning that while, ultimately, action by the authorities might cut down the illegal sharing of content online, in the short term they have provided a key file-sharing hub with a good helping of free publicity.
--------------------------------------------------
THE ORCHARD TO DISTRIBUTE 80% OF TURKISH MARKET
Digital distribution firm The Orchard has announced a deal with the Turkish performing rights organisation, Mu-Yap, which will give the company access to about 80% of Turkey's music market. The deal will see The Orchard marketing and distributing Mu-Yap's catalogue to digital music stores the world over.
Mu-Yap president Bulent Forta confirmed the deal, telling CMU: "After a detailed review of the many different distribution alternatives available to us, it is clear that The Orchard is best positioned in the marketplace to exploit global revenue opportunities for our member labels and artists. The Orchard team demonstrated a sophisticated understanding to our catalogue and translated that into a creative marketing approach. What The Orchard is doing - and how they are doing it - is unique in the industry, and we're excited to be a part of it".
The Orchard top man Greg Scholl added: "As the literal crossroads between the East and West, Turkey has a magnificent cultural and musical history. Turkey's genres are dazzling in their diversity: pop, rock, arabesque, belly dance music, jazz, classical, folk, and Ottoman classical. We look forward to developing new global audiences for this rich catalogue while at the same time, ensuring Turkish people everywhere have access to the music of their cultural heritage."
--------------------------------------------------
LOUDEYE GETS BACK NASDAQ STATUS
More from the world of digital distribution. Digital distributors and backend providers Loudeye (you know, they own OD2) has regained its Nasdaq trading status following that previously reported stock split which, I think we mentioned at the time, was in part done to meet Nasdaq regulations. If you've no idea what any of that means - don't worry, if I began to explain it you'd fall asleep within second. Either that, or skip straight down to the Britney gossip before I even got started.
--------------------------------------------------
HMV DIGITAL APPOINTMENTS
HMV has announced two new additions to its HMV Digital Product Team - Andy Hearn will be Rock/Pop Buyer and Steve Mathison will be Soul/Dance Buyer - both have moved to their new jobs from within the company, and both will report to Dave Elston, HMV's Digital Product Manager. So now you know.
--------------------------------------------------
MRS MCCARTNEY TO SUE
Heather Mills McCartney is suing the News Of The World over those allegations they made again last weekend. Lawyers representing Macca's ex-wife-to-be confirmed that their client would sue yesterday, though said that legal action would be delayed until the McCartneys' divorce proceedings were complete.
--------------------------------------------------
EMINEM TAKES NEW FILM ROLE
According to reports, Eminem is to appear as a bounty hunter in a new film. 'Have Gun - Will Travel' is a movie adaptation of a TV series originally broadcast in the 1950s, updated to a contemporary setting. There are rumours that Eminem may also provide a soundtrack for the film.
--------------------------------------------------
BRITNEY HIT BY PAP LAWSUIT
Britney Spears has apparently been handed a lawsuit by a US paparazzi, who claims he was run over by the star's mother Lynne Spears in a car park in Santa Monica back in June of 2004, and that the incident has left him with permanent injuries. Britney and her sister Jamie Lynn were said to have been in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
The complainant, Cullen Reavley, is seeking unspecified damages over injuries to his "head, neck, back, trunk and extremities," claiming that they cause him "great mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering" and that they will "will result in permanent disability."
A statement released by the Spears camp at the time concluded: "If anyone was injured by accident, it was caused by the paparazzi's own conduct."
--------------------------------------------------
LILY ALLEN THINKS (SOME) INDIE BOYS ARE TWATS
Lily Allen has had a bit of a go at Carl Barat and that Luke Pritchard out of The Kooks, posting a blog entitled 'twats' on her MySpace page, in which she lays into the two indie boys in no uncertain terms, having appeared with them on a recent TV show. She releases her debut album next month, of course.
On the Kooks frontman she wrote: "I went to school with Luke from the Kooks. I thought he was quite cool then. I was quite annoyed at how much of a bad man he thinks he is. There is no excuse for wearing broken straw hats and dark sunglasses (two storeys underground of Alexandra Palace) while strumming your guitar like you're treating everyone to an exclusive showcase for your next album. This is a dressing room and your not Jim fucking Morrison OK! I don't want to hear your rendition of 'Waterloo Sunset' 4 times in an afternoon."
On Barat, she added: "Carl Barat is obviously convinced he is God or something, though the other two guys (who weren't in The Libertines) seemed alright. Carl didn't make eye contact with anyone."
She concludes: "Boys your regurgitated indie rock days are numbered so get over your selves."
She does, in fairness, lay into herself as well, though. On the same day, she apparently lost it a bit after her handbag went missing, and lashed out at someone who was helping her look for it. "For a minute I believed I was more important than I actually am," she said "and took it out on someone who was trying to help, I am therefore just as bad as Luke and Carl and behaved like a nob... I am a twat, but I'm working on not being one."