| CMU Daily - on the inside Tuesday 19th February |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- News Corp planning bigger MySpace download offer
- TVT reportedly filing for bankruptcy protection
- Judge considering Macca Mills settlement
- Eurovision hopefuls revealed
- DD Meanie dies
- Grammy bosses said no to Jacko's many demands
- Brits boost sales
- Chief Kaiser not impressed with final Brit single list
- Costa robbed of $25k worth of equipment
- More Portishead album news
- Cocker-Ditto duet released
- Zutons to play forest tour
- Pumpkins panned by O2 crowd
- Indie Idle to return
- Radio 1 announce event coverage plans
- SxSW announce energy credits
- Australia considers making ISPs take on P2P police role too
- Industry bodies welcome EU commissioner's copyright extension comments
- Latest Marquee venue closes its doors
- Spirit Group to control Bolan catalogue
- Borders US revamp stores - add real world download store
- Malaysian firm bids for Virgin radio
- 6Music chief defends new shows
- DX recruit former Xfm-ers for NME radio
- Norman Jay leaves BBC London
- Doherty paid £15k for private gig
- Lily Allen ripped off by stripper
- Eminem stuff
- Eels man writes to queen
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TOP BIT - WIN AN AIM SYNC GUIDE
As we told you yesterday, the Association Of Independent Music recently launched a brand new 'e-guide' to all things to do with Synchronisation Licensing - ie the licensing of music by labels for use in adverts, games, films, TV shows or other such what not. It's an increasingly important part of the music industry, of course - with AIM reckoning that the licensing of music to TV and film alone generate £25 million of revenues for the record labels. And that's before you consider the role synchronisation has had in recent years in launching new talent into the mainstream, especially indie talent. The guide offers anyone in music - label owner, song publisher, artist manager, independent artist - all the essential info on the synchronisation licensing business plus a directory of over 100 key contacts.
The e-guide is free to AIM members, and it's available to everyone else for £40 via this link: http://www.musicindie.com/306.asp?sub=General%20Resources. However, we here at CMU have five copies to give away to Daily readers - one each day this week. Each day we are asking a sync related question, and the first person out of the hat with the right answer gets a free copy. And well done to Amy Samson of Solar Management who wins a guide for correctly identifying that it was the trailer to Channel 4 show 'Skins' that helped launch Gossip into the mainstream through its use of 'Standing In The Way Of Control'.
Here is today's question. To enter all you have to do is email the answer to this question to [email protected] by 4pm today - we'll pick out a winner and tell you the answer tomorrow. Easy.
QUESTION: Which Mute artist had every single song off their 1999 album synched to at least one advert, film, TV programme or game, AND what was the name of the album?
Email your answer to [email protected] by 4pm today to be in with a chance of winning the e-guide.
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JOBS N STUFF
DIGITAL MARKETING INTERN
Live Nation is looking for a Digital Marketing intern to assist the Digital Marketing Manager in the promotion of all of Live Nation's tours and festivals including O2 Wireless Festival, Download Festival and Hard Rock Calling. This post will look to start late March/early April 2008 for around 9 months.
We're looking for someone with a real interest in the digital arena who knows their way around MySpace, Facebook and Bebo etc and keen to learn about online PR and marketing. You'll be taking direction from the Digital Marketing Manager, helping to maximise as much online coverage and exposure as possible.
We're looking for a team player with a passion for music and all things digital, with great organisational and communication skills and attention to detail. This role has the possibility to lead to further opportunities at the end of the placement period.
Please send cv and covering letter to [email protected] Only successful applicants will be contacted. Closing date for applications is Friday 29 Feb 08.
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GO ONLINE WITH CMU...
Model Horror's Rob Hardy on what he'd say before you listen to his band's music for the first time: "I would ask that they sit back and enjoy it, but make sure there is nothing breakable at arms length because the beat will get you in the end".
Rob answers CMU's Same Six Questions online this week - www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk
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CMU RECOMMENDED
REMIX ALL-NIGHTER - PLUS SPECIAL OFFER FOR STUDENTS
The next CMU recommended Remix All-Nighter takes over the seOne Club at London Bridge next month for a brilliant pre-Easter party.
There'll be three rooms of fun. In the Remix room you'll get live sets from The Whip and Vitalic, plus Remix chief Eddy TM on the decks and VJ Fay Buzzard doing visual stuff. Next up will be a room hosted by Orbital co-founder and general dance music pioneer Phil Hartnoll, named for and showcasing his new venture Long Range. And then, to top off all that, there will be a whole room of all things Ninja Tune, featuring no less than DJ Food & DK, Coldcut (Jon Moore DJ Set), Bonobo, Daedelus, The Qemists and VJ Mox. Oh, and they've just added Busy P (Ed Banger) to the bill too. This night is going to be storming.
It all takes place on 20 Mar. Full info from: http://www.myspace.com/theremix
Plus check out tomorrow's Daily for details of how students can get a special discount on tickets thanks to your lovely friends at CMU.
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SNAP OF THE DAY: WOOLFY
If you like your disco then you can never go far wrong with DFA-affiliated label Rong Music, run by a New York by San Francisco team of two DJs, Ben Cook and DJ Spun, who have an unnerving knack of releasing (fairly) consistently great records. Today's SNAP, Woolfy, makes up a few of these on Rong, including the punk-funk-disco number 'Odyssey', which features a true 70's disco bassline, straight-up Prince-esque funk guitar and some fantastic breathy mid-tempo vocals. New single 'The Return Of Starlight' isn't bad, either, bringing in elements of cosmic house to create a trippy, yet still funky, number. There's plenty more of his work out there, too, including an LP with Dan Hastie under another moniker, Projections, and releases with experimental Hip-Hop crews Pharcyde and Plant Life (who can count both The Neptunes and Pharcyde as fans). The link below should serve your initial investigations well.
http://www.myspace.com/woolfys
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NEWS CORP PLANNING BIGGER MYSPACE DOWNLOAD OFFER
So, another major player could be about to launch into the download space, with news that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is planning on launching a proper download store under the MySpace banner.
According to PaidContent.org, News Corp is in talks with all four major record companies, and, as with Amazon's US download store, all of them would make their music available in the DRM-free MP3 format. Word has it News Corp would give the majors an equity stake in the download store, which would also carry advertising, meaning labels could enjoy both download sales income and a cut of ad sales.
MySpace already has an MP3 download offer, of course, through its partnership with SnoCap, though the majors have not been part of that offer, and the download function is still seen very much as an add-on to MySpace's artist social network page operation. It's not yet clear if the new download store would be a stand alone operation, or integrated within the MySpace Music artist pages, or both.
If the majors take a stake in the News Corp download platform it will be interesting to see if [a] similar equity deals are made with other download operations and [b] whether that affects Universal and SonyBMG's plans to launch their own download store.
MySpace, of course, is not quite the phenomenon it once was, with FaceBook now and still dominating the social networking space, though in terms of music pages MySpace still tends to lead the way, making an expansion of music services an obvious next step for the Murdoch owned enterprise.
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TVT REPORTEDLY FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION
According to AllHipHop.com, significant US indie TVT Records has reportedly made the majority of its staff redundant ahead of an expected filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection later this week.
The news comes after one of TVT's biggest current artists, rapper Pitbull, accused the label and its founder and President Steve Gottlieb of failing to properly promote his new album and support his career. He told an LA radio station last week: "Download it [the album]. Burn it. They didn't promote Lil Jon. They didn't promote Ying Yang. We don't need rappers to go at each other. We got to go at these companies. That's what I'm doing".
TVT has worked with artists from various genres over the years, after initially releasing TV theme tune compilations (hence its name), though it was in hip hop that the indie became most important. And it was in that domain that the label got into its biggest dispute, with Universal's Island Def Jam, over the deal that released Ja Rule from his commitments to the indie through Cash Money Click. At one point it looked like TVT would receive a $132 million settlement in relation to that dispute, but an appeal hearing reduced that to just over $100,000, leaving the independent with potentially crippling legal bills.
It isn't clear if the costs of that legal battle may have led to the independent's seemingly vicarious current financial position. Also no word on whether the Chapter 11 filing will just be for TVT Records, or whether it will affect other TVT businesses, including its music publishing outfit.
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JUDGE CONSIDERING MACCA MILLS SETTLEMENT
The Macca Mills divorce hearing ended without agreement yesterday, meaning the judge hearing the case, Mr Justice Bennett, will now have to rule on how big a cheque McCartney must write his estranged ex-wife.
McCartney didn't attend the sixth day of the closed doors hearing - possibly because he was rehearsing for his finale set at tomorrow's Brit Awards. Mills who, as previously reported, is representing herself in the divorce hearing, was in attendance, reportedly rounding up her case for a high (possibly record breaking) divorce pay out.
Mr Justice Bennett will now decide how much Macca should pay - he could take a few weeks to make a judgement. In theory the settlement will remain a secret, unless the couple choose otherwise. Or one side appeals the judgement.
The fact an appeal would make the divorce settlement public possibly plays in Mills favour, given that she seems to be as interested in publicly setting the record straight as getting a big pay out, so would probably have no problems having an open doors hearing. A high profile public hearing might also help boost sales of the tell-all book Mills is reportedly writing about her four years with Macca. All of which might mean McCartney will hand over whatever the judge tells him to - even if it's at the higher end of the expectations (£60 million) - in a bid to just draw a line under the whole ordeal.
Time will tell. Or not, if the judge's ruling is, in fact, kept confidential and goes uncontested.
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EUROVISION HOPEFULS REVEALED
For a minute there (last year, when there was all that talk of Morrissey and similar getting involved) I thought we might be looking at sending something verging on valid to Eurovision in 2008, but that's all over now. That said, I'm perhaps being a bit unfair to Michelle Gayle. She has, after all, had a UK top ten hit, albeit more than ten years ago.
So yes, former Eastender and sometime pop star Gayle is one of the contenders vying to represent the UK at Eurovision this year. The rest of the line-up seems a bit dominated by former talent show stars, with X-Factor second series runner up Andy Abraham, ex Joseph contestant Rob McVeigh and former Maria hopeful Simona Armstrong also set to take part in the whittling down process. The remaining two candidates are girl groups LoveShy and The Revelations.
A winner will be chosen via public vote when BBC 1's 'Eurovision: Your Decision' airs on 1 Mar. They've changed the voting system slightly; a first cut will be made by a panel of three judges, so that might mean the worst possibilities don't get as far as the public vote, which could be a blessing. The legendary Terry Wogan, joined on the programme this year by Claudia Winkleman, says this: "A turkey is one of the contenders for this year's Irish entry. For the past few years, we've been picking a turkey for the UK. Let's hope that the British public will make the right decision this year, and give the UK's entry a fighting chance against the Eastern Bloc, in Belgrade in May".
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DD MEANIE DIES
Dennis DePianto, better known to fans as DD Meanie, sometime guitarist with Australian underground rock types The Meanies, died last Thursday in Melbourne. He was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was a child, and had recently suffered from cancer.
Band member Ringo has written a tribute on the band's website, saying: "He will have a special place in the band having played in the key years when the band developed both its sound and following. He played with and became a great colleague of many Australian Bands - Headache, Hard-ons, Root Beer, Cosmic Psychos etc. He also played with Nirvana, shared beers with Pearl Jam."
He continues: "With the challenge of dealing with muscular dystrophy, he still managed to tour and see the world - Japan, few times to Europe, The States. Must have been tough going for him at times, being restricted in mobility. Poor bloke got stuck on the 8th(?) floor when we got holed up in Hamburg for a week before a tour - no elevators, only stair! He generally accepted his lot and enjoyed the experiences that many musicians would envy."
Finally, he adds: "DD will be missed by the Meanies and other bands he has played with. He was a good friend to many. He was immensely proud of his achievements and it gave him great joy to talk about the 'good days' like some old retired rocker. Have no doubt that he inspired a heap of kids to join a daggy punk rock band and be cool".
DD will be buried in his home town of Adelaide, but a memorial is being planned to take place in Melbourne.
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GRAMMY BOSSES SAID NO TO JACKO'S MANY DEMANDS
The rumours that Michael Jackson was going to formally appear at the Grammy Awards earlier this month apparently had some foundation - word has it Grammy bosses did invite Jacko to appear ahead of the release of the 25th anniversary edition of 'Thriller', but they withdrew the offer because of a string of demands the singer made regarding his appearance. According to the New York Post, Jackson insisted he be given a special award, that it be presented by a person of his choice, that the entire event be dedicated to his career, and that his status as 'king of pop' be mentioned at least thirty times during the show. Grammy bosses declined.
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BRITS BOOST SALES
Record label trade body and Brit Award owners the BPI say that the music industry's big night out helps generate an extra £4 million for the record industry. That figure is based on the boost in sales experienced by artists shortlisted for Brits prizes who, the trade body say, outperform the rest of the record market by nine to one in the period between the nominations and the awards show. Last year Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Orson, The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Take That, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Oasis all saw their record sales double in that period after their Brit nominations were announced. The Brits, of course, take place tomorrow night at Earls Court in London. The show will broadcast live from 8pm on ITV1, with backstage coverage hosted by Lauren Laverne, Matt Willis and Emma Griffiths over on ITV2 from 7pm.
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CHIEF KAISER NOT IMPRESSED WITH FINAL BRIT SINGLE LIST
A bit more Brits news. Chief Kaiser Ricky Wilson has admitted that he is disappointed that his song 'Ruby' is now out of the running for the Best Single prize at the Brits. The Chiefs were in the long list but after a public vote are not in the final five up for the award tomorrow - as previously reported the final shortlist is The Hoosiers, Leona Lewis, Take That, Mika and Mark Ronson.
He told reporters: "Apparently we were in the nominees and then [someone handed me a piece of paper] with five nominees and we were not in there. Everyone knows 'Ruby' is the best single, if you are gonna whittle them down to five, you'd think 'Ruby' would be in there wouldn't you? [The final five have] all got their merits, but I am just a bit annoyed. [But] there is no point making enemies with these people cos they will all be there".
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COSTA ROBBED OF $25K WORTH OF EQUIPMENT
Singer songwriter Matt Costa has experienced a setback on his current US tour, after more than half of his equipment, including five guitars, was stolen from a locked storage room over the weekend, following a show at The Garrick venue in the Marlborough Hotel complex in Winnipeg.
The thieves made of with items worth more than $25k, leaving some less valuable stuff behind. Manager Chris Fenn explained that they had been encouraged to leave the equipment inside the hotel building, with staff saying it would be safer than loading it into the bus, and added: "Whomever did it clearly knew a bit about our gear and seemingly knew a bit about our set-up and what we roll with, instrument-wise. They cherry-picked it. It sounds terrible to say, but all signs point to it being an inside job of some sort".
On the impact of the theft on the ongoing tour, Fenn continued: "It's a stumbling block, but the show will go on. The good chunk of it is replaceable, but expensive and time-consuming to find. Then there's other stuff that's collectible and has sentimental value that the guys will never be able to replace".
Garrick manager Robbie Rousseau explained that he couldn't discuss the case in detail because of an ongoing police investigation, but said "our hearts go out to the band members who lost the gear. It's sad to think that some music fans would do this to musicians".
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MORE PORTISHEAD ALBUM NEWS
Portishead have revealed more details of their previously reported new album 'Third', out on 13 Apr. That is to say, they've revealed the tracklisting. Here it is:
Silence
Hunter
Nylon Smile
The Rip
Plastic
We Carry On
Deep Water
Machine Gun
Small
Magic Doors
Threads
You'll remember that they're also on tour later this year, here's a reminder of the UK dates:
9 Apr: Apollo, Manchester
10 Apr: Hammersmith Apollo, London
12 Apr: Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
13 Apr: Civic, Wolverhampton
17 Apr: Brixton Academy, London
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COCKER-DITTO DUET RELEASED
Jarvis Cocker and Beth Ditto did a live cover of Heaven 17's 'Temptation' at the NME Awards 2007 and yesterday it was released as a download only single available exclusively via iTunes, with proceeds going to homeless charity Shelter.
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ZUTONS TO PLAY FOREST TOUR
Now, I said last year that I wanted to go to one of these Forestry Commission concerts, and totally wanted to, but then I got a bit heavily pregnant by the time they were all going on and it never happened. This year, I want to go, because I can't think of anything lovelier than sitting in a lovely forest listening to nice music.
Anyway, this is the news that The Zutons are to play seven gigs this summer as part of the Forestry Commision's annual Forest Tour. They join the likes of Crowded House, KT Tunstall, Status Quo, Jools Holland and The Charlatans on this year's line-up - for more info on all the gigs, go here: www.forestry.gov.uk/music.
Here are The Zutons' confirmed dates:
5 Jun: High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Near Brandon, Suffolk
8 Jun: Bedgebury Pinetum & Forest, Near Goudhurst, Kent
13 Jun: Delamere Forest, Near Linmere, Cheshire
20 Jun: Westonbirt - The National Arboretum, Near Tetbury, Glos
21 Jun: Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Near Edwinstowe, Notts
27 Jun: Dalby Forest, Near Pickering, North Yorks
28 Jun: Cannock Chase Forest, Near Rugeley, Staffs
Tickets on sale Friday at 9am.
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PUMPKINS PANNED BY O2 CROWD
According to Gigwise, music fans have panned The Smashing Pumpkins' gig at London's O2 Arena, calling it the "worst gig in a long time" and "self-indulgent crap." They quote three different fans on the matter:
Juliet: "Crap view crap atmosphere. Had much better fun putting their CD's on the new Bose system in our local pub up loud later that evening having left the gig early. Love the band but not the arena, would love to see them at Shepherds Bush Empire".
Topha: "I hate to say it but I believe this was the worst gig I have been to in a long time. Over the past four years I have seen about 160 bands, and for the first time I felt totally cheated. I saw the pumpkins in 2000 on what was meant to be their final tour before splitting up, and they were amazing, but this time I felt robbed. I had a standing ticket and was pretty close to the front, and the sound was great as was the crowd. It was just the band that sucked".
Julie: "Just dire, absolutely dire".
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INDIE IDLE TO RETURN
Gigwise have also announced the return of Indie Idle, their unsigned bands contest taking place in the run up to the Camden Crawl in April. Entrants are competing for a slot at the North London music fest, a day's recording in London's Strongroom studios and the manufacture of 500 7" singles. To enter, bands need to send demos in by 16 Mar, from which twenty finalists will be chosen to go up for a public vote. See here for more detail http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=40772.
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RADIO 1 ANNOUNCE EVENT COVERAGE PLANS
Radio 1 yesterday announced details of its live music plans for 2008, which will include coverage of the Bloc Weekend and Miami Winter Music Conference in March; Sonar, Download and Glastonbury in June; Latitude in July; Creamfields, London Mela and the Underage Festival in August; Bestival in September; and The Warehouse Project in Manchester in October.
In addition to that, the station will, as always, stage its own live activity, with a BBC Introducing tour in April, the previously reported Big Weekend in May, four shows from around the world showcasing international music, plus Radio 1's usual activity in Ibiza during the clubbing season out there. Plus Radio 1 will be involved, as usual, in the BBC's Electric Proms in the Autumn.
Confirming their live plans, Radio's Editor Of Live Music And Events, Jason Carter, told CMU: "Radio 1's Live Music schedule for 2008 looks really healthy. Our aim is to support new and emerging music that might not get covered any where else - and at the same time reflects what's going on at the established events. This is what gives our audience the most exciting listen possible".
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SXSW ANNOUNCE ENERGY CREDITS
Organisers of next month's SxSW music convention in Austin, Texas, have announced they have bought 'renewable energy credits' off Austin Energy to negate the carbon footprint the festival will create this year. I never really understand how those credit things work, but I think the money is used to invest into renewable energy programmes.
Here's what SxSW MD Roland Swenson says: "We are delighted to be able to partner with Austin Energy to pioneer this innovative renewable energy development especially since it is important to us that we support locally based projects. We appreciate that purchasing RECs not only reduces CO2 and other greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, but also other toxic pollutants. RECS also meet the key criteria of an offset - namely that the CO2 removal is additional to business as usual activity".
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AUSTRALIA CONSIDERS MAKING ISPS TAKE ON P2P POLICE ROLE TOO
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Australia could also introduce that system whereby internet service providers are forced to monitor P2P file sharing on their networks, and to ultimately cut off customers who persistently illegally share music.
As previously reported, the music industry is keen for the ISPs to take on a more proactive role in policing online copyright infringement, and some are of the opinion that if the ISPs won't take on that role voluntary, copyright laws should be altered to force them to.
The French government has said it is considering such measures, and last week The Times reported the UK government was also considering the proposals. Those proposals include a three-strike system, where by users get two warnings about their file sharing and, if they continue to share, they have their internet access cut off.
Australian music piracy outfit MIPI have been lobbying for similar proposals to be considered there, and the Herald says insiders in the country's government have said they are watching the UK proposals closely, with the thinking being that if they became law here they might move to introduce similar rules there.
All of which will be happy reading for those in the music industry who advocate government intervention on this issue - though the ISPs are sure to be getting their lobbying machines ready to stop these proposals actually becoming law.
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INDUSTRY BODIES WELCOME EU COMMISSIONER'S COPYRIGHT EXTENSION COMMENTS
A whole party of music industry acronyms (the collective noun for acronyms being 'party') yesterday expressed their formal support for those previously reported proposals by EU Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, to increase the European copyright on sound recordings to 95 years, bringing it in line with the US. In the party were FIM, GERA, GIART, ICMP, IFPI, IMPA and IMPALA - a gold star to anyone who can identify the full names of each of them.
They said in a statement: "Performers and producers are provided with 50 years' protection on music recordings in the European Union, compared to 95 years provided in the United States. Improving the 50-year term of protection is a matter of fairness for the tens of thousands of talented performers who contribute to Europe's exciting, diverse musical culture. An increasing number of performers are losing this revenue stream later in life at a time when they most need it, as their early works fall into the public domain. Moreover, this is happening at a time when the internet provides the opportunity to revive the career of older artists and find new audiences for early recordings".
As previously reported, the EC Commissioner spoke in favour of the 95 year term last week. Some are now speculating on whether his comments will force the UK government who, on the back of the recent Gowers Report on IP laws, decided against increasing the sound recording copyright term, to alter their policy on the matter.
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LATEST MARQUEE VENUE CLOSES ITS DOORS
Do you ever get the feeling the Marquee Club just doesn't want to be reinvented? The latest relaunch of the once legendary central London venue has closed just six months after opening for business.
It was the third attempt to relaunch the Marquee - which is still best known as an intimate sixties and seventies gig venue that hosted early gigs from the Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Cream and Pink Floyd. In recent years the all new Marquee has had homes in Islington, Leicester Square and, most recently, on Upper Saint Martin's Lane.
The latest closure has seemingly come about because of plans to redevelop the building where it was based. The man behind the recent incarnations of the club, Nathan Lowry, has said he doesn't have plans to find a new venue for the club this time, but rather that he will look to stage a range of Marquee branded events at other London venues.
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SPIRIT GROUP TO CONTROL BOLAN CATALOGUE
Music publishers Spirit Music Group have acquired both the publishing and master recording rights in the post-1971 catalogue of Marc Bolan and T Rex through a deal with the late glam star's company Wizard (Bahamas) Limited. The Bolan deal has been enabled by Spirit's previously reported relationship with investment company Babcock & Brown who took a stake in the music firm last year in return for funding new catalogue acquisitions.
Spirit boss Mark Fried told reporters last week: "We are thrilled to become caretakers of Marc Bolan's singular and timeless legacy. Marc was ahead of his time, not just with respect to his music, but in his push-the-envelope style sense and electric live performance. With the songs, masters and the trademark rights, we will be in a position to tie in traditional publishing exploitation with a wide range of brand-building marketing on a global basis".
Hits like 'Children Of The Revolution' and '20th Century Boy' are included in the catalogue Spirit will control.
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BORDERS US REVAMP STORES - ADD REAL WORLD DOWNLOAD STORE
The US bit of Borders has announced plans to revamp its stores, which will not only include the facility to mix and burn CDs instore, but also a facility whereby customers can explore their genealogies and another which lets people publish their own novels. The interactive services are designed to distinguish Borders' stores from those of its main US competitor Barnes & Noble. At the core of the new stores will be the real world download store, where people will be able to download songs in a retail environment. No word on whether any of this will come to Borders UK which, as previously reported, is now a separate company, though Borders US does have a minority stake in it.
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MALAYSIAN FIRM BIDS FOR VIRGIN RADIO
A Malaysian media firm backed by one of Asia's richest men, one Ananda Krishnan, is one of the bidders for Virgin Radio which, as previously reported, has been put up for sale by media outfit SMG. Their bid will compete with offers from Global Radio, Absolute Radio and TV/radio firm UTV.
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6MUSIC CHIEF DEFENDS NEW SHOWS
BBC6Music boss Lesley Douglas has defended recent changes on the station, including the appointment of E4 presenter George Lamb as morning host. Listeners have been complaining about the changes on various blogs and Facebook pages, with some accusing the music station of adopting a more mainstream approach in a bid to win new listeners. But Douglas says the changes have, in fact, been designed to get more female listeners.
Speaking to Radio 4's 'Feedback' programme about the Lamb show, she said: "Developing a new show is always going to take a long time. We have received positive and negative comments about it. I don't think I have ever launched a new show when that has not been the case. I talk to George a lot - he left a message for me last night. I'm going to see him this week about the show. He wants to make it, as do I, the best show it can possibly be but I think it's a pretty good show [already] actually. What's happened with George is that he is getting a lot more listener response and interactivity around the show than there was before. If you heard George talking about rave and dance there is a passion. It's less intellectual an approach to music but it's still about passion and love of music at its heart".
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DX RECRUIT FORMER XFM-ERS FOR NME RADIO
DX Media, the company that will launch NME Radio later this year, has announced the recruitment of two key staff members and, given that NME Radio will be operating very much in Xfm territory, it is perhaps unsurprising both are former Xfmers. Former Xfm Music and Programme Manager Jo Burlando will head up NME Radio operations, while former Xfm daytime producer Katie Torrie will be Music & Programme Manager.
DX MD Sammy Jacob, one of Xfm's original founders, of course, told CMU: "I'm delighted to have Jo and Katie on board. Their experience and passion will further highlight NME's authority and authenticity. I fondly remember the last two appointments I made in radio [at Xfm] were to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, although it must be said, Jo and Katie are far more experienced, thinner and shorter - respectively".
As previously observed, NME Radio's arrival in the radio market later this year could be extra interesting given GCap's current plans to break up the Xfm network of stations, so that Xfm London would stay within GCap, but the other regional stations would be sold off.
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NORMAN JAY LEAVES BBC LONDON
It's on days like this I wish I ran a radio station - because the legend that is Norman Jay is back on the market. He is quitting his Sunday night show on BBC London because bosses there wanted to air it on DAB and online only, with the FM version of the station getting a new pick of the week show. Nutters. Though to be fair, the plan was to then repeat the show on FM on a Saturday night in their specialist music show slot - Jay is unavailable to do the show live on a Saturday night (him being a jobbing club DJ and all). Still, for someone of Jay's pedigree, I'd let him have his own specialist slot.
Jay confirmed his departure from BBC London after a decade with the station on his own website, though he says he remains on good terms with bosses there. He said: "After much soul-searching and consideration and largely due to new scheduling changes implemented by BBC London late last year, I felt I could no longer continue working there as a presenter of [his specialist show] 'Giant 45' - especially in its present format. Given the circumstances, it wasn't that difficult a decision to make although I do regret leaving my loyal listeners without a dedicated weekly black music show".
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DOHERTY PAID £15K FOR PRIVATE GIG
Well, it's a far cry from that previously reported private gig he played for a UK fan the other week, for which he was reportedly paid £100. This time he was apparently paid £15,000 to play a private hour long gig at his own home in Wiltshire for computer game tycoon Greg Thomas and his wife Cynthia Thomas, who flew in from California to see him play.
True to his usual form, Doherty was seven hours late, but apparently, they didn't mind. Doherty is quoted as saying: "The gig went really well. It was really nice. I got to try out lots of new material. These people were real aficionados. They certainly know their stuff. Everything I played went down really well, from old songs all the way through to my new stuff which no one's heard".
Meanwhile, tickets for the singer's upcoming solo show at the Albert Hall sold out in twenty minutes when they went on sale on Saturday. As previously reported, it takes place on 26 Apr, and is the Babyshambles man's largest solo gig to date.
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LILY ALLEN RIPPED OFF BY STRIPPER
Lily Allen says that a stripper stole her cab account details and ran up £3500 in taxi bills. She says: "One of my biggest luxuries in life is taking cabs. Then I found out a stripper had stolen my details and run up a £3500 bill. She was using my taxi firm to drop her off for work at her strip club every night - and charging me".
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EMINEM STUFF
The writer and director Doug Liman has said that the lead role in his new action flick 'Jumper' nearly went to Eminem. The film's studio, 20th Century Fox, wanted him to take the part, but Liman fought for his own first choice, Haydn Christensen. Liman told MTV news: "We did have a meeting and conversations with Eminem. If I've proven anything to myself, it's that I can tailor a role to an actor. [I could] develop the role with [someone like Eminem] and make it extremely specific to them. So as long as the person has acting chops, I'm open to talking to almost anybody for almost any role. It was one of those things where the studio, with all things being equal, would rather put a bigger name [Eminem] in the movie. At some point, I just put my foot down and said, 'I love Hayden'".
Meanwhile, Eminem's publicist has been busy denying rumours that the hip-hop superstar is to begin a career in professional wrestling. Reports had suggested that he was ready to sign with WWE, a source claiming: "Eminem's in training right now, he's taking private lessons and working on strength training... All those reports of him being fat are crazy. He's 210 pounds of solid muscle. He's not doing this as a joke either, he's really committed to being a wrestler. Wait and see, he's going to be flipping and doing all that crazy shit".
But here's what the publicist says: "Eminem has no interest whatsoever in becoming a wrestler. This 'source' is making stuff up".
So that's you lot told.
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EELS MAN WRITES TO QUEEN
My favourite 'and finally' so far this year - Eels frontman E has written to the Queen inviting her to his band's up coming gig at the Royal Festival Hall. His letter reads as follows...
"Your Majesty, My name is Mark Oliver Everett. My friends call me 'E'. I am the singer in an American rock band called Eels. We will be playing a show at your Royal Festival Hall on the evening of February 25th and I would like to extend an invitation for you to attend our performance. We have played the Festival Hall several times and I've noticed that your royal box is usually empty. I'd like to change that. We have also played your Queen Elizabeth and Royal Albert Halls. I don't think you were at those shows either".
He continues: "I recently saw the movie 'The Queen' and while I know that wasn't actually you in the film, it made me think that I would like you as a person. I'd like you to be one of the people who call me 'E'. If you're free February 25th, please come down to the show. It's sold out, but I would be happy to put you on the guest list. I also have a new book, 'Things The Grandchildren Should Know', and two new compact disc and DVD collections, 'Meet The Eels' and 'Useless Trinkets'. I think you'd enjoy them and I'd be happy to give you complimentary copies of each, which I will even sign for you after the show. If you're busy, I understand. But if you can free up your calendar, we'd love to see you there. Thank you for your time, Your Majesty".
Assuming the Queen is too busy, perhaps he could invite that renowned monarchist Mohamed Al-Fayed to take the royal box for the gig instead.