| CMU Daily - on the inside Tuesday 3rd October |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- ROTD announce awards plans for 2006
- Copyright infringement case against Beyonce dismissed
- Bobby Brown faces arrest in Massachusetts
- Audioslave's Morello arrested in LA
- Katie Melua breaks that record
- Single review: Spooky - No Return
- Fan injured at DMX gig
- The Noisettes have fun at Babyshambles gig
- Sufjan plays a quite long song
- Gorillaz autobiography set for release
- New Beatles album set for release
- Coldplay might give us a five year break
- Swansea gets new festival
- Onetaste, lots of stuff
- Artful is go
- New Rhodes single, album, tour
- Bat For Lashes gigs
- Lemar to play gig for 1Xtra
- Single review: The Black Keys - Your Touch
- Swedish courts overturn filesharing conviction
- Wippit add indie deals to catalogue
- SonyBMG enter into deal with BT vision
- Arista artists preview albums via Motorola iRadio
- Ministry launch download platform
- Napster launch in Japan, guess what they've called it, go on
- Bubble Hits signs Ryanair as sponsor
- Macca should get Beatles rights back, in a decade
- Album review: James Yorkston - Year Of The Leopard
- Blunt tops funeral poll
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TOP BIT>>
We mentioned the big return of the Insomniacs Ball in last Friday's Daily, the huge all-night indoor mini-fest that is set to take over the seOne Club on 25 Nov. The Insomniacs Ball is, of course, staged by our good friends at Kill All Hippies, and mentioning it reminded me that we haven't updated you on the CMU Recommended London rock club in quite a while. So let's put that right now, shall we, because KAH returns for the Autumn next week at a brand new venue - the Carling Islington Academy. And the line up is looking both big and wonderful. Live wise you'll get The Others, performing tracks off their new album, Dublin's finest rock 'n' roll export Humanzi, plus Action Plan, shining lights from the Young And Lost stable. DJ action comes from the indie mash up master himself, The Freelance Hellraiser, with support from Anu Pillai from Freeform Five and resident Gavin Nugent (Fully Comprehensive). Room 2 (Bar Academy) will be hosted by the Moshi Moshi guys featuring their finest DJ talent playing filthy electro, bootlegs, remixed classics and new wave. It's going to be a good night. It takes place on Friday 13 Oct from 8.30pm to 4am. Entry is just a fiver before 11pm and £7 after. Not only that, but the first 100 people with a flyer, or the answer to the question 'Which band released the single Kill All Hippies?' will get themselves in for free. All good. Press info from Leyline - and look out for interviews with some of the bands playing in the CMU Beats Bar next week.
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JOBS N STUFF>>
LABEL MANAGER AT LEADING INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR
A rare opportunity to join our label management team. The successful applicant will be a highly motivated & organised individual with relative retail / record label experience. Responsibilities will include day to day co-ordination of retail marketing, stock control, scheduling and basic production duties. Applicants must have the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines. Good understanding of current market essential, knowledge of Punk / Rock / Emo scene an advantage. If you're the person we're looking for contact: [email protected]
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ADVERTISE YOUR JOBS here for just £50 a week, or £150 for two weeks in the Daily and four weeks on the web. Email [email protected] for details.
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CLASSIFIEDS>>
1 OR 2 DESKS AVAILABLE, £50 p/w...
in bright, secure office with high ceilings and wooden floor, with lively Street Marketing & Club Promotions company, within converted warehouse. Kitchen/WCs shared with graphic designers, stylists, architects & similar businesses. Near Old Street tube and trendy Hoxton. Access to Wi-Fi, printers & fax included. Applicants should enjoy listening to CMU-style bands & BBC 6Music. Approx. Contact: [email protected]
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ADVERTISE YOUR SERVICES & PRODUCTS here for just £50 a week, or £150 for two weeks in the Daily and four weeks on the web. Email [email protected] for details.
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CMU-TUBE OF THE DAY: The Shakes
Hey, see what we did there? I think there's a whole new venture in that name alone. Now, this is pretty controversial stuff, obviously, and the 'CMU Daily Section Alternation Authorisation Committee' were out for a very long time before giving us approval to recommend a band's YouTube page here in the MySpace slot. But, you see, while The Shakes have a MySpace where you can go and preview some tracks, including the rather good new single 'Liberty Jones' (out on Tough Cookie Recordings on 16 Oct), what you really want to do is check out these guys' YouTube page because, despite being a new band, they have an impressive array of video content for your enjoyment (such are the benefits of being signed to a record label that are also a video production company). Which means if you go there right now you can not only check out the video for the aforementioned 'Liberty Jones', you also get to watch a recording of an acoustic session they performed on their label's roof in the middle of London, and a rather good short film made at the launch of the track. Not only that, but if you click on the little 'groups' link at the top you get to an entirely different page where the band's fans are being asked to upload mobile video clips they recorded at the band's recent 93 Feet East gig. Those clips (of which there are probably many - the gig was rammed) will no doubt keep appearing in the next few weeks, and the band's plan is to use them to make the video for their next single, 'Valentine', which is due a download release before the end of the year. It's all very very exciting. Plus The Shakes come from Lewisham, and you know how much we like plugging anything music wise connected to Lewisham (which reminds me, make sure I mention Artful before the end of today's Daily).
http://www.youtube.com/user/theshakestube
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ROTD ANNOUNCE AWARDS PLANS FOR 2006
Record Of The Day have officially announced the launch of their annual awards for music journalism and PR, which will this year be presented at a bash at London's 100 Club on 21 Nov. Once again music media people will be invited to vote for the best in music promotion, while industry types will be invited to vote on what they consider to be the best in music journalism.
In addition to the categories awarded last year, this year will see the introduction of two long-term achievement type prizes, for Contribution To Music Journalism and Contribution To Music Photography in the last three decades. And in addition to that will be two new awards celebrating the best music coverage in the college media arena - ie Best Student Music Journalist and Best Music Coverage By A Student Publication. Voting for the awards will begin on 30 Oct, and we'll give you more info on how exactly you can do that here in CMU closer to the time.
Officially announcing this year's awards, ROTD MD Paul Scaife told CMU: "The feedback we had last year confirmed to us that these awards have already gained respect. Record of the Day is perfectly positioned between the music industry and the mainstream media, meaning that the awards have credibility with both sides of the business."
Tickets for the awards event are on sale now priced £70. Ticket orders and enquires should be sent to [email protected], while you'll get any other info you require on the awards from [email protected]
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COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CASE AGAINST BEYONCE DISMISSED
A US judge has dismissed that previously reported copyright infringement lawsuit that was filed against Beyonce Knowles last year by singer songwriter Jennifer Armour.
Armour claimed that Beyonce's 2003 hit 'Baby Boy' included lyrics from her song 'Got A Little Bit Of Love For You'. Knowles, Armour said, had had access to her song because her former manager had provided a copy of it to execs at Beyonce's record label, Columbia. Key people at Atlantic Records, who represented Sean Paul, Knowles' collaborator on the track, had also been sent a copy.
However, whether or not Knowles had ever heard Armour's track was not, in the end, relevant because court officials undertook a 'side-by-side' comparison of the two songs - the basic test in any copyright infringement case of this kind - and from that they ruled that the songs were "substantially dissimilar", leading to Armour's case being dismissed.
Welcoming that ruling, Knowles said in statement yesterday: "It's unfortunate that lawsuits such as this one occur, but I am grateful and relieved to have this behind me and I am eager to move on".
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BOBBY BROWN FACES ARREST IN MASSACHUSETTS
Bobby Brown will be arrested if he sets foot in Massachusetts, after failing to turn up for a court hearing over child support payments. As previously reported, Brown has been in and out of court over child support, on one occasion sentenced to 90 days in prison unless he paid up. Now the mother of his two children, Kim Ward, says that he is again in arrears, and presently owes two months' worth of payments - which amounts to $11,000.
Brown's lawyer Phaedra Parks explained that Brown's high profile separation from wife Whitney Houston has not helped, saying: "It's just a very difficult time for him, as you can well imagine. The media is very aware of this very public divorce that's going on right now. It's unfortunate we find ourselves back in Boston on this matter."
Judge Paula Carey wasn't particularly sympathetic, saying: "Whether or not he's going through a divorce doesn't negate the fact that he still owes child support relative to his two children that he had prior to his marriage".
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AUDIOSLAVE'S MORELLO ARRESTED IN LA
Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello was arrested in Los Angeles last week as he took part in a protest march. The musician was, according to his website Axis Of Justice, just one of about 400 people apprehended at a demonstration intended to raise awareness for immigrant hotel workers' rights on Thursday. The protesters were charged with unlawful assembly, as they refused to move from the road that leads to Los Angeles International Airport.
Morello spent the night locked up but was released on Friday morning. He says: "Bail was high [$5,000]. Spirits were higher. We had a rousing civil rights-era-like hootenanny on 'the inside."'
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KATIE MELUA BREAKS THAT RECORD
Katie Melua has broken that record we reported about yesterday, and played the world's deepest underwater gig ever, 303 metres below sea level on the North Sea's Statoil Troll oil rig. The singer had to go through medical tests and survival training before she embarked on the venture, which was staged to celebrate Statoil's 10th anniversary, and was filmed for Norwegian television. .
Katie says: "This was definitely the most surreal gig I have ever done. It took nine minutes to go from the main part of the gas platform down to the bottom of the shaft in a lift. Giving a concert to the workers there was something really extraordinary and an occasion that I will remember all my life."
Sorry to be so obvious, but I can't help it: it's a pity she didn't stay down there, really.
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SINGLE REVIEW: Spooky - No Return (Spooky.uk.com)
When it comes to modern day innovators who were hugely influential on the dance scene, they don't come much more important than Spooky, who basically invented progressive house in the early 90s with their seminal 'Gargantuan' album, before releasing a series of EPs and an album ('Found Sound') of delightfully inventive electronica that hold their own with the best of the genre. Anyway, they split in 1995, but don't worry, cos they've since reformed; this is their third single since getting back together and, like the previous two, it's an absolute belter. If you're familiar with the style they've been employing on recent remixes (Depeche Mode) or singles ('Belong') then 'No Return' will not be a huge surprise, but it's anything but uninspiring listening. Melodic and trancey, but in a wonderfully subtle way, featuring soulful vocals from Celestine, it's the very epitome of dance music that works equally well in a club or home listening environment. On the accompanying remix front, there's a decent lengthy acid workout from Josh Wink, and shimmering downbeat/ambient mixes from Spooky themselves, both of which isolate the song's latent beauty and amplify it, yielding lustrous results. There's a third album finally on the way too; things bode very well for it indeed. MS
Release date: 2 Oct
Press contact: Darling [all]
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FAN INJURED AT DMX GIG
A DMX concert in New York ended in chaos and violence on Saturday night, with a female fan being admitted to hospital. The rapper apparently became frustrated by a series of technical problems hampering his performance at The Back To School Jam '06, and stormed off the stage half way through. What happened next isn't quite clear to me, but it seems DMX returned to the stage with members of his entourage, and bottles of water were thrown into the crowd.
The crowd followed suit, throwing things at the stage, one of which was a fold up chair, which was then thrown back into the crowd by the group assembled on stage. It was this chair that struck the unidentified 29 year old woman, who was taken to Nassau University Hospital and treated for a cut to her head. Police, meanwhile, were forced to end the concert.
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THE NOISETTES HAVE FUN AT BABYSHAMBLES GIG
Perhaps you can help, I'm having trouble figuring out whether Dan Smith, guitarist with the The Noisettes, enjoyed supporting Babyshambles at one of their recent gigs, or not.
Here's what he wrote on his MySpace: "I'd just like to say, Pete, what the fuck were you doing coming out onstage while we were setting up to play? Are you really that much of an egomaniac or did you want to actually sabotage our show? After that point the donkeys had gotten a taste of the carrot. They weren't going to tolerate any other band getting up to play. They'd seen their Messiah walking across the fucking stage. But had Shingai not gotten seriously injured like that, we would have kept going whether people were booing or throwing shit. I personally was getting OFF on the negative reaction from so many fuckheads".
Just to explain, it seems the Babyshambles faithful didn't appreciate The Noisettes music (which, for the record, is actually rather good) and got particularly restless when Pete Doherty wandered on stage midway through their set. To make matters worse, The Noisettes' frontwoman Shingai dislocated her shoulder while undertaking a mid-song cartwheel, which is why the band had to end their set half way through.
The Noisettes have subsequently confirmed they will not be appearing at their next scheduled Babyshambles support gig in Leeds, though that's possibly because of Shingai's injury more than any bad feelings.
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SUFJAN PLAYS A QUITE LONG SONG
Sufjan Stevens aired a brand new ten minute long track when he played at New York's Town Hall on Sunday. The singer, on the final night of a three night residency, played a two hour set, including renditions of the likes of 'Jacksonville' and 'Casimir Pulaski Day' as well as lengthy new song, 'Majesty Snowbird'. It sounds like it was a lot of fun, actually. During 'The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts', inflatable Superman toys were thrown into the audience from the balcony and similarly, during 'That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!', inflatable Santas were tossed about. That last song, by the way, comes from Stevens' previously reported five disc Christmas box set, out 12 Nov.
His tour reaches Europe at the start of next month, dates as follows, FYI.
1 Nov: Dublin Olympia
2 Nov: Manchester Academy
3 Nov: London Barbican
5 Nov: Ghent Voorhuit
7 Nov: Barcelona Casino L'Allanca
9 Nov: Paris Le Bataclan
10 Nov: Cologne Gloria
11 Nov: Amsterdam Paradiso
12 Nov: Copenhagen Vega
14 Nov: Oslo Sentrum Scene
15 Nov: Stockholm Berns
17 Nov: Reykjavik Frikirkjan Church
18 Nov: Reykjavik Frikirkjan Church
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GORILLAZ AUTOBIOGRAPHY SET FOR RELEASE
An autobiography of Gorillaz, entitled 'Rise Of The Ogre', is to be released on 31 Oct. Or 1 Nov. Both dates appear on the website, so I'm not one hundred percent sure. The book was 'written' by 'the band' (I use apostrophes because, well, they're cartoons). If you have a look at their official website, there's a competition to win a signed copy of the book, as well as some other prizes. The downside is that entrants have to be arsed to actually do something to win, ie, the contest is to make the best video about the 'autobiography' (I use, you know, because it's clearly a work of fiction), which will be judged by the band 'themselves' (look, they're CARTOONS).
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NEW BEATLES ALBUM SET FOR RELEASE
According to reports, a new Beatles album will come out next month. It's related to that previously reported Beatles/Cirque De Soleil show 'Mirage', currently taking place in Las Vegas, produced by George Martin and his son Giles, and overseen by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono.
Martin senior explains: "The music was designed for the 'LOVE' show in Las Vegas but in doing so we've created a Beatles album. The Beatles always looked for other ways of expressing themselves and this is another step forward for them."
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COLDPLAY MIGHT GIVE US A FIVE YEAR BREAK
Hurray. Chris Martin says that it may be as many as five years before Coldplay release a new album, because the band are all too busy playing happy families. Martin himself has two children now, of course, and a wife who probably needs a lot of his time and reassurance, given that she's recently been complaining about how childbirth has ravaged her body. Plus, bassist Guy Berryman has a baby daughter now too, born last month.
Martin says: "It's going to be a long, long time before you hear a new album from us. We've done a few things, but we're all enjoying having families at the moment. If it takes five years for us to feel ready to record something new, then so be it. We need plenty of time to let it come together organically."
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SWANSEA GETS NEW FESTIVAL
Swansea is to get a music festival all of its own, lucky thing. The new event, to be called Fflam, will take place at the Welsh city's Singleton Park, and will run from 15 to 17 Jun next year. Organisers hope to have a capacity of 30,000 at the event which will, we're told "focus on indie, rock and dance music", which is quite a wide "focus".
Confirming their plans, John Curd of the festival's promoters, Straight Music, told CMU: "Our aim is that Fflam will become to Wales what T in the Park is to Scotland. We're aiming directly at a Welsh audience who I think will make up a large amount of those attending - but everyone is welcome from throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe. Our aim is to give people the best possible line-up of music, across the 3 days, with the best value for money and with people going away having had the time of their lives. None of the usual festival moans - just great facilities in a great environment; great vibes and great music."
Tickets will go on sale from 11 Dec. Press info from [email protected]
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ONETASTE, LOTS OF STUFF
Talking of new festivals, here's another one, though this one isn't so far away. Nor is it so big. Nor, for that matter, that new - it's its second year. The festival is called OneTaste, and is an eclectic mix of cabaret, comedy, underground music and spoken word taking place at The Bedford in Balham on 15 Oct (other wise known as a week on Sunday).
Confirming this year's event, organisers told CMU: "At the OneTaste Festival, 600 people will party their socks off, see some amazing performers and leave with that lucky feeling of having been a part of it all. Come and discover your new favourite act, soak up the warm and welcoming vibes, laugh at comics, be inspired by singers, stirred by poets and shake your backside to live bands all night long. Go wild for a day, on 3 floors of quality, unpretentious entertainment. Come join the party!"
Tickets for the whole thing are £15, or £12 in advance. Check http://www.seetickets.com for details. Press info from [email protected]
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ARTFUL IS GO
Oh, and as we're in festival news mode, we must tell you that the month long Artful festival is live and in operation right now. With its heart in the Lewisham/Deptford part of London, this is a brilliant programme of gigs featuring a stack of brilliant artists, happening more or less every night throughout October. If you're based in the capital you really should check out at least one of these gigs - you'll find full listings and info at http://www.musictouristboard.co.uk/
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NEW RHODES SINGLE, ALBUM, TOUR
New Rhodes will release a single on 16 Oct, ahead of the release of their album 'Songs From The Lodge', out on 23 Oct. They're touring in support. So you could check them out. Here are the dates:
12 Oct: Concorde 2 Brighton
17 Oct: Drill Hall Lincoln
18 Oct: Unit 22 Southampton
19 Oct: ULU LONDON
20 Oct: Club Metropolis @ Academy Bristol
23 Oct: University Plymouth
24 Oct: Barfly Liverpool
25 Oct: The Independent Sunderland
26 Oct: Liquid Nightclub Gloucester
28 Oct: Dry Bar Manchester
29 Oct: Victoria Inn Derby
30 Oct: Charlotte Leicester
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BAT FOR LASHES GIGS
In case you wondered how I knew that The Noisettes were rather good (back in that Babyshambles story), it's because I saw them play Bestival. Also playing Bestival, and also rather good, were Bat For Lashes - though, it should be stressed, there's a lot of musical distance between The Noisettes and Bat For Lashes. I liked both, but remember I have a very warped taste in music.
Anyway, Bat For Lashes, aka Natasha Khan and friends, have announced some extra live dates in addition to their already sold out Halloween show at London's Bush Hall. Here they are...
28 Oct: Sheffield University
30 Oct: Glee Club, Birmingham
1 Nov: Colchester Arts Centre
6 Dec: London, Scala
7 Dec: Brighton, St Georges
Meanwhile, the next Bat For Lashes single, 'Trophy', will be released on 30 Oct backed by new track 'Howl'.
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LEMAR TO PLAY GIG FOR 1XTRA
1Xtra have announced that Lemar will perform an exclusive gig for them at Maida Vale on 14 Oct, to be broadcast a in special one hour programme that evening at 7pm, with tracks from the concert also set to be played by Trevor Nelson on his R1 show earlier in the day. The singer will of course be playing tracks from his new album, 'The Truth About Love'.
100 tickets will be given away via competitions on Radio 1 and 1Xtra, whilst footage of the event will be available for digital TV viewers from 16 Oct. Laura Lukanz, Head Of Music 1Xtra, says: "We're really excited that we're able to give Lemar fans from 1Xtra and Radio 1 a chance to catch Lemar in what promises to be a very special live show."
Lemar adds: "I'm really looking forward to playing this intimate show for 1Xtra and performing tracks from my new album. I'm a big 1Xtra fan so that makes the show even more exciting for me!"
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SINGLE REVIEW: The Black Keys - Your Touch (V2)
Sometimes when bands get past their first album, people bitch and moan about how they 'haven't progressed' and about how 'the new stuff sounds just like the old stuff'. But there are some bands that you just wouldn't want to change. If the Black Keys weren't just a skinny guy and a beardy guy, some minimalistic almost lethargic drumming, a scuzzy bluesy guitar and some often incomprehensible old-man sounding vocals, they just wouldn't be as good. That's what they were on debut album 'The Big Come Up' a few years back and that's what they are on new single 'Your Touch'. Unchanged, but still strangely sexy and cool. TEL
Release Date: 2 Oct
Press contact: V2 IH [All]
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SWEDISH COURTS OVERTURN FILESHARING CONVICTION
A guy accused of illegally file sharing movies in Sweden has had his copyright violation conviction overturned. The unnamed filesharer was accused of illegally offering a Swedish film called 'Hip Hip Hora' via P2P, and in a lower court hearing was found guilty of copyright violation and fined 16,000 kroner (about £1100). But the Svea Court Of Appeal yesterday said that there was not enough evidence to convict the man, so the ruling and fine were overturned. The evidence presented to the court linked the sharing of the film to the IP address used by the defendant but that, the appeal court ruled, was not good enough. That puts authorities fighting this kind of crime in Sweden in a difficult position because privacy laws there mean that police are not allowed to search a home, or even a PC, of a suspected file sharer in order to acquire better evidence to back up their case. None of which helps agencies looking to fight suspected file sharers - whether through civil or criminal action.
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WIPPIT ADD INDIE DEALS TO CATALOGUE
London based download firm Wippit have announced deals with a number of independent distributors which will considerably bolster their indie catalogue. The new partnerships are with The Orchard, IODA, Digital Rights Agency, CD Baby and VUT (a German association of independent labels, publishers, and producers). The new deals bring the overall Wippit catalogue to 2.4 million tracks, which, I can exclusively confirm, is quite a lot.
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SONYBMG ENTER INTO DEAL WITH BT VISION
SonyBMG have signed an agreement with BT which will give the phone firm "early access" to their new music videos for the new BT Vision TV on demand service thingy. The arrangement presumably means BT Vision subscribers will be able to watch SonyBMG videos via the on demand service before they appear elsewhere and, if they like one, I think they'll be able to download it via a BT download store. As you can see, I'm very well informed on all of this. Consider me the world's leading expert of all things BT Vision. Go on, ask me anything, and I'll be able to make an assumption (that is to say, a guess) for you.
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ARISTA ARTISTS PREVIEW ALBUMS VIA MOTOROLA IRADIO
Talking of SonyBMG deals involving exclusive pre-release exposure of new material via digital networks, which we were, the major is making upfront previews of certain albums from its US J Records and Arista imprints available via the SonyBMG channel on Motorola's US based iRadio platform. The first artist to make an album available in this way is Monica (you know, the Grammy Award winning American R&B singer - you knew that, right?). Other J/Arista artists are expected to follow suit, though as yet it's not clear which albums will feature.
Confirming the new promotion, Arista VP Tom Corson told reporters: "The growth in mobile services, from ringtones to Motorola's iRadio, is astounding and continues to provide groundbreaking opportunities that benefit our artists and super-serve their fans".
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MINISTRY LAUNCH DOWNLOAD PLATFORM
Ministry Of Sound has launched a brand spanking new download platform offering music fans access to over 60,000 dance music downloads from 2000 record labels. However, the service is making music available exclusively in the iPod friendly and DRM-free MP3 file format, which means, of course, no music from the four major record companies, who still insist on the use of DRM, will be available via the service. Ministry hope that the majors will eventually get over their DRM obsession and come on board with MP3 services like theirs. I suspect they'll be waiting a long time - though for a dance based service the lack of major label content probably isn't so noticeable.
Lohan Presencer, Managing Director of The Ministry of Sound Group, told CMU: "We will be making available the widest choice of digital dance music found anywhere on the web and we are insisting on all the music we sell being DRM free because quite simply we want to make it easy for consumers to access, store and play it. We hope the major record companies will start making DRM free products available because at present they are severely restricting consumer choice. Since, however, dance music is primarily the domain of the independent sector anyway it makes little difference to our already fantastic offering."
The new service has been developed in partnership with existing dance music download store djdownload.com, and will also include a range of competitions and editorial content.
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NAPSTER LAUNCH IN JAPAN, GUESS WHAT THEY'VE CALLED IT, GO ON
Napster have launched a download platform in Japan. It's called Napster Japan.
Napster boss Chris Gorog told CMU: "Napster is very pleased to bring the first music subscription service to Japan's vibrant music and technology market. Our joint venture with Tower Records Japan, the nation's largest and most successful music retailer, has enabled us to deliver a product with a deep focus on local tastes and programming that also happens to offer the largest digital music catalogue available in the market."
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BUBBLE HITS SIGNS RYANAIR AS SPONSOR
Bubble Hits, the Irish owned ad free music TV channel I'd never heard of until the start of this story, has just signed its first major sponsorship deal, with those Ryanair types. Bubble Hits makes its money via premium rate phone services and, now, sponsorship - ie not advertising - meaning it can promise that there'll never be any ads getting in the way between the videos. The Ryanair deal will see the airline sponsor the Pop Pop Pop slot, which runs from 2pm to 6pm.
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MACCA SHOULD GET BEATLES RIGHTS BACK, IN A DECADE
Turns out Paul McCartney will be even wealthier in ten years time - Heather should have hung on in there. Yep, Macca has revealed that the copyright to The Beatles back catalogue will return to him (and, I assume, the Lennon estate) in about ten years time.
I say he "revealed" this. I certainly didn't know that was due to happen, so I'm guessing it wasn't entirely common knowledge, and he himself implied the news came as something of a surprise. Speaking to the Daily Express, he said recently: "In about 10 years a lot of the back catalogue returns to me, just legally. Some of the important rights are about to return which I didn't realise".
McCartney, of course, was really rather upset when Michael Jackson essentially pushed him out of SonyATV, the publishing company who own the Beatles catalogue, back in the eighties. Especially as, legend has it, Jacko only started buying into the SonyATV empire after McCartney told him he should invest some of his then mounting fortune into owning publishing rights.
And it obviously still pisses him off now. McCartney continued: "You know what doesn't feel very good is going on tour and paying to sing all my songs. Every time I sing 'Hey Jude' I've got to pay someone."
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ALBUM REVIEW: James Yorkston - Year Of The Leopard (Domino)
This review is hideously late (the album having already come out), due to the upheaval of recently moving house, and also the fact that nobody seems to be able to give me an internet connection - understandable if I'd moved to the Orkney Islands perhaps, but bewildering given the fact I'm in Croydon. However, during all this frustration and strife, I've had this album to help calm me down. It's one of the gentlest listening experiences I've had in a long while. Yorkston is one of the more understated artists out there at the moment; his music is thoughtful and unhurried, often sweet and melodic. The instrumentation reflects this, with soft picked guitars at times added to with violin, accordion and clarinet. It all serves to create a general mood that gently lulls you into a relaxed state and leaves you there till the album is over. Highlights for me are the sweet 'Steady As She Goes', interestingly described by Yorkston as his most 'pop' song, and the superb 'Woozy With Cider', with Yorkston's spoken, confessional vocals, which you might remember from Sunday Best's 'Folk Off' compilation. All the songs here fit together beautifully, and it's a good example of a really well paced album, each track following on from each other in a very natural, organic way. This all creates an incredibly absorbing, easy-to-listen-to collection of songs. Whilst not the best thing to put on before a night out on the tiles, it's perfect for putting on when you come back, so you can drift away with the music. TH
Release Date: 25 Sep
Press Contact: Hermana [CP, RP, NP] Anglo [CR, RR, NR]
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BLUNT TOPS FUNERAL POLL
Time for the annual 'most requested funeral song' poll. And we have a new leader. No longer are people sliding into the fire to the sound of Robbie warbling 'Angel', no, the favourite funeral song of the moment is James Blunt's 'Goodbye My Lover' - which is funny, because everytime I hear that song I wish I was at my funeral. Yeah, sorry, old gag, and one that violates our 'don't diss Blunt' rule. I apologise profusely. To you. To Mr Blunt. To all those dead people who requested the track for their last big bash. Though arguably they get the last laugh. "Ha," they're probably saying, "I might be dead, but at least I'm not going to have to sit through three and half minutes of James Blunt's morose monotony".
Actually, I think this survey isn't a record of what the recently deceased actually had played at their funeral, rather what the living say they would like to be played should they die. And given the choices some of them made, frankly I wish they would. Here's the top ten...
1. James Blunt - Goodbye My Lover
2. Robbie Williams - Angels
3. Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley - I've Had the Time of My Life
4. Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings
5. Requiem- Pie Jesu
6. Elton John - Candle in the Wind
7. U2 - With or Without You
8. Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
9. The Police - Every Breath You Take
10. Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
I trust you can make up your own gag involving Queen's 'Another One Bites The Dust'.