| CMU Daily - on the inside Wednesday 26th March |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Smashing Pumpkins sue EMI over Pepsi promotion
- EMI rejig expected to start in South East Asia
- Another European court hesitant about forcing ISPs to hand over personal data in copyright cases
- Indy Awards launch
- Britney conservator challenge dismissed
- Diddy settles over assault charge
- Spector judge denies bias
- ODB's mum goes to court over estate
- New evidence in Ramone manager case - DA disputes relevance
- The Game to release 'final' album
- Estelle criticises UK industry
- Be Your Own Pet censored by label
- New Digweed compo upcoming
- Paramore not splitting up
- Fall Out Boy postpone Antarctica gig
- Morrissey for Wireless
- Velvet Revolver not opening for Led Zepp tour, ok?
- Gay For single and tour
- La Linea lines up
- Sam Isaac tour
- SonyBMG boss advocates subscription model future for digital music
- Orange launch ad-funded download service
- MySpace to webcast NME awards
- A&R promotion at EMI Publishing
- PPL appoint events and marketing manager
- Major Swedish indie appoints new CEO
- Global to ask for extension for GCap talks
- Clear Channel deal on the rocks
- More Heather stuff
- Sean McGuire hated his pop career
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TOP BIT - CMU SOCIAL LAUNCHES NEXT WEEK
As you all surely know by now, next Tuesday (1 Apr) sees the launch of the CMU Social, the new monthly night from Team CMU which will provide you - yes, that's right, you - out there in CMU land with a regular chance to meet, greet, chat, cheer, network and socialise. It's an opportunity for you to meet or catch up with or bug us CMU types, and to network with everyone else who reads CMU, all of whom are, obviously very important yet very lovely people.
Plus, of course, there's the music - the bands we most love at CMU doing a stint on stage. And for our very first CMU Social we have one of our very favourite bands of recent years, the much championed and very CMU favourite Big Strides - which means you are in for a very special treat.
Big Strides describe their sound as "lo-fi, funked up, double-bass fuelled rock 'n' roll", which hopefully communicates that they belong in that "pretty hard to categorise, which is why we love them" category of music. They've been very busy doing the global thing since the 2006 release of their CMU Album Of The Year 'Cry It All', having played British Music Week in Berlin and the NxNE festival in Toronto, and toured Japan, where they are signed to EMI. They are now safely back in the UK working on a new album, hence why they are able to grace the CMU Social stage next week, hopefully giving us a sneak preview of some of their new tracks, while reminding us why they are one of CMU's favourite bands.
If you've ever wondered what we've been on about in our various big ups of these guys, well, here's your chance to find out on us. The CMU Social is free to all CMU Daily readers, to come just email your name and the names of any guests you plan to bring to [email protected] asap.
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JOBS N STUFF
DIGITAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, SHINE COMMUNICATIONS
Shine Communications is an award winning consumer PR agency based in London. We are looking to expand our digital team and have a vacancy for an account executive. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone looking to enter into digital pr and work across music, film, fashion, gaming, events etc. Our clients include PlayStation, EA Games, Paramount Home Entertainment, Vodafone Music, GHD and Ebay to name a few see www.shinecom.com for further details. Applicants must be team players committed to delivering outstanding results. They must have at least one years experience in PR and an excellent understanding of digital media such as blogging, social networking, seeding and viral. Please apply by email to [email protected] with a CV and covering letter which explains why you're right for us. Salary dependant on experience. No calls or follow up emails please, successful candidates will be contacted for interview.
ONLINE PROMOTIONS
Independent rock label looking for an online promo person with experience of social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Rec Center, Last Fm, Habbo Hotel etc) and online music promo for download sites. Additional responsibilities would be viral marketing, maintaining and expanding the label and band street teams, club promotions, newsletters etc. Basic knowledge of Photoshop. Flash, HTML would be useful. Must be an all rounder and happy to get involved with all aspects of an expanding label with substantially successful artists. Please send an email with CV, covering letter and current salary to: Julie Weir - [email protected] Closing Date is Thursday April 3rd.
***IF YOU APPLIED FOR THIS ROLE YESTERDAY please re-email your application, technical problems may have meant your email did not get through.
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CMU CLASSIFIEDS
ALIVE ADVERTISING - ACCESS ALL AUDIENCES
Reach the audience of Camden Crawl via advertising in the official programme or placing your swag in the official goodie bag. Deadline for this highly targeted opportunity is this Friday and we have just a few opportunities available starting at just £195. Call us now to find out about advertising opportunities in Plan B, Fact, Loud and Quiet, Disorder and Super Super, plus over 20 festival programmes this season starting with the Camden Crawl. Contact [email protected] 07966 555 857
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SNAP OF THE DAY: KENNA
There's no better time to tip alt-hip hop maestro Kenna with his European tour hitting London (the location of CMU HQ obviously) tomorrow (27 Mar), before continuing on to Germany and France. Vocally dextrous in a way not dissimilar to both Pharrell Williams and David Byrne, he fuses dance-punk, electro and R&B, creating infectious songs in the ilk of Pharrell's outfit NERD and Baltimore rapper Spank Rock. And while he's unlikely to make too many waves in the charts his songs are already reaching the right people on the underground scene, garnering internet buzz and some minor radio play. Furthermore, he can already claim to have made fans of Justin Timberlake, Michael Stipe, The Roots' drummer ?uestlove and Bono - but then he tends to like everyone. Take a listen to lead single 'Say Goodbye To Love' at the link below.
http://www.myspace.com/kenna
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SMASHING PUMPKINS SUE EMI OVER PEPSI PROMOTION
Those Smashing Pumpkins are taking EMI's Virgin Records to court over claims the major used their name in a promotion with Pepsi and Amazon, and that doing so breached past contracts between the label and the band, as well as threatening that most fragile of things, "artistic integrity".
The dispute is over the previously reported Pepsi MP3 giveaway promotion in the US - called Pepsi Stuff - which was designed to promote the launch of Amazon's DRM-free download service. Three of the majors made tracks available for the promotion, which music fans could download for free in return for vouchers from Pepsi bottles and the like.
Among the tracks made available by EMI, it would seem, was music from the Pumpkins' catalogue, they having been signed to the major's Virgin division prior to their original split in 2000. Since their reunion the band have worked with Warner's Reprise label, and they argue that their contract with EMI regarding their older recordings allows the major to sell the music via download platforms, but not to give it away via brand promotions like this one, not without their permission which, they say, they didn't and never would give.
The lawsuit is demanding Virgin pay the band any profits it made from the promotion as a result of the band being involved, as well as asking the courts for an injunction preventing the major from using the group's name or music for such promotions in the future.
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EMI REJIG EXPECTED TO START IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
Billboard are reporting that the first big cuts in the all new EMI will take place in the major's Asian operations, and that they will begin today. Oh yes.
Cuts have been on the horizon ever since new chief Guy Hands took control, of course, and a review of the major's UK workforce is currently underway. In South East Asia the major is expected to close its Hong Kong office and to withdraw from certain other markets in the region completely, forging distribution partnerships with local labels instead. Although cuts are not expected to take place until July, it's rumoured that affected staff will be informed of the plans later today.
EMI haven't commented on the rumours, except to issue a statement from EMI Music International chief Jean-Francois Cecillon stressing the major remains committed to the region, albeit through partnerships in certain territories. The statement reads thus: "EMI remains fully committed to the Asian music market and we are currently exploring a number of options for growing our business in the region in a more profitable way. Those options include partnering with another company or companies".
EMI's Japanese, Indian and Australasian operations are not expected to be affected by restructuring in the region.
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ANOTHER EUROPEAN COURT HESITANT ABOUT FORCING ISPS TO HAND OVER PERSONAL DATA IN COPYRIGHT CASES
The boss of Germany's record industry trade body, Dieter Gorny, has played down the significance of a court ruling there which has restricted the circumstances in which internet service providers should be obliged to share the identity of its customers with the authorities, saying web users' personal information should only be made available as a matter of course in "heavy" criminal cases such as terrorism, murder and child pornography.
Gorny says that the ruling will not have any influence on the German music industry's attempts to stop online music piracy, but it does illustrate that while some in European political circles are supportive of the content owners who want internet service providers to take a more proactive role in policing copyright infringement online, many European courts remain hesitant of forcing ISPs to collaborate with the record labels in combating copyright crimes. The ruling in the German Federal Constitutional Court last week follows rulings in both Spain and Italy where the courts ruled ISPs could not be forced to reveal the identities of suspected file sharers.
While playing down the significance of the court ruling, Gorny's association is known to be lobbying German politicians to try and persuade them to follow the lead of the French and UK governments in threatening to force the ISPs to police illegal file sharing if no voluntary systems can be agreed between the music firms and the net companies.
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INDY AWARDS LAUNCH
The CMU Recommended INDY Awards, the unsigned band awards that tap into the collective knowledge of the UK's independent gig and club promoters, will be officially launched for 2008 next week, on Wednesday 2 Apr, at the Rock Garden venue in London. The event will see the shortlists for 2008 announced plus performances from some of the nominees. For more info check http://www.indyawards.co.uk/, or for press info contact Burt Greener.
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BRITNEY CONSERVATOR CHALLENGE DISMISSED
A challenge to that previously reported court ruling giving Britney Spears' father James conservatorship of his daughter's welfare and estate has been dismissed by a US appeals court.
Lawyer Jon Eardley, who, you'll remember, claims to represent the singer, appealed against the ruling, of course, saying that the order was a violation of his client's human rights, given that she had not had the chance to attend a hearing on the issue, and was being confined to her home against her will.
Eardley attempted to move the case from the Probate to the Federal Court in late February, but a federal judge ruled that he was not Spears' attorney and had no right to pursue the case - he claims she employed him in February, but under the conservatorship, which was in place by then, she is not permitted to hire a lawyer. Eardley launched an appeal earlier this month, but now Judge Roger W Boren has said that his court has no jurisdiction to grant an appeal in the case.
If Britney is, in fact, being kept prisoner against her will, as Eardley contests, it would appear that her incarceration is doing her some good. Critics have been vocal in their praise of the singer's appearance and acting ability in relation to that previously reported cameo appearance on US sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother', which was screened earlier this week. The New York Post's Linda Stasi wrote: "You'd never know that pop tart Britney Spears had ever had a bad day in her life. Now clean and sober and under her dad's thumb once again, Britney looked as adorable last night as she did waaay back when. On the show, which she filmed in the last few weeks, Brit looked slim, (OK she was behind a desk), trim and gorgeous".
The Associated Press concluded that Spears "appeared fresh-faced and relaxed, capably filling the small role". Let's hope things are looking up for her.
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DIDDY SETTLES OVER ASSAULT CHARGE
Sean Daddy Did Noddy Puff Doddy Combs has settled a legal action brought by Gerard Rechnitzer, who, as previously reported, said that he had been assaulted by the hip hop star in Feb 2007 following a post-Oscars party at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. Rechnitzer claimed that Combs had punched him, as well as pushing his girlfriend and spitting on another of his companions, but Combs maintains that Rechnitzer lunged towards him and that the contact between the two men was caused by "was caused by his forward motion against [his] open hand".
Anyway, the hip hopper has settled, and it's for an undisclosed amount.
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SPECTOR JUDGE DENIES BIAS
Our old friend Larry Paul Fidler, the judge who oversaw that rather lurid Phil Spector murder trial last year, has rejected a motion put forward by the legendary music producer's new legal team to have him disqualified from overseeing the planned retrial.
As much previously reported, Spector is accused of killing former actress Lana Clarkson at his Beverly Hills mansion back in February 2003. After a long trial last year the jury hearing the case reached deadlock leading to a mistrial. The prosecution promptly announced it would proceed with a retrial, though that has been delayed because Spector had to appoint a brand new defence team, who have needed some time to prepare.
One of the new defence team's first actions was to file the motion requesting Fidler not be allowed to act as judge on the retrial on the basis that he is prejudiced against the producer, that he had shown bias to the prosecution during the first trial, and that he was known to be keen to see a conviction in this case to prove to the general public that millionaire celebrities can be convicted by the Californian courts. But the judge last week denied that was the case, adding that if Spector's legal people had any grievances with the way he managed the first trial they should have raised them at the time.
Spector's new legal rep Doron Weinberg says he will appeal Fidler's response to his motion and seek to have the matter reviewed by an independent judge. No date has been set for the retrial, though a hearing to discuss possible dates is expected later this week.
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ODB'S MUM GOES TO COURT OVER ESTATE
According to the New York Post, the mother of late Wu-Tang Clan man Ol' Dirty Bastard, who she probably called Russell Jones, will go to court in New York next week in an ongoing battle with the rapper's widow over his estate.
The dispute over the hip hopper's estate began almost as soon as Jones died of a drug induced heart attack back in 2004. His mother, Cherry Jones, claims his widow, Icelene Jones, is misusing funds from the estate, as do two other women who had children by the rapper.
It is unclear exactly what Cherry Jones wants - an injunction controlling how Icelene manages her late husband's estate, control of the estate for herself, or the handling of the estate by a third independent party.
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NEW EVIDENCE IN RAMONE MANAGER CASE - DA DISPUTES RELEVANCE
New forensic evidence has emerged in the murder case of Linda Stein, the former Ramones manager who was killed at her New York apartment last October. Her PA, Natavia Lowery, is currently being held without bail in relation to the murder. She originally confessed to killing her boss, but later retracted the confession, with her lawyer arguing she would have said anything to get out of the interrogation room after being at the receiving end of some heavy handed questioning from police. No murder weapon has been found, and no forensic evidence links Lowery to the scene of the crime.
The new bit of evidence is a tiny speck of male blood which was found in the sink of Stein's bathroom. While there is nothing to say the speck is in any way related to the murder, Lowery's lawyer, Ron Kuby, has called on police to find the man who matches the DNA of that blood.
He told ABCnews.com: "Wouldn't you expect the District Attorney's office to say, 'aha, we have a suspect here, let's try to find him', rather than to try to explain away the physical evidence?"
But the DA's office disputed the relevance of the speck, telling reporters: "It's a tiny speck of blood that was found in the master bathroom. There's nothing to suggest it was the blood of the murderer".
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THE GAME TO RELEASE 'FINAL' ALBUM
The Game has said that he's to release a new album this summer, full of controversial tracks, and that it's to be the last album he'll release. Well, I've heard them say that before. I expect he'll come back as 'Game Too' sometime in the future. Or just say "actually, I'm going to release another album. This is part two of my final album".
Well, enough of my cynicism. The hip hop star, who recently got away with spending about ten minutes in prison despite being sentenced to sixty days, will release 'Los Angeles Times' on 24 Jun (that's presumably a US release date), and says that the LP will address "real issues that other artists might be scared to talk about on record; issues that need to be heard".
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ESTELLE CRITICISES UK INDUSTRY
Estelle, currently in the top spot singles-wise with 'American Boy', has criticised the UK music industry for not encouraging black UK artists. Speaking about the likes of Ms Dynamite, Jamelia and Mis-Teeq, she told the BBC: "They all got dropped for some reason! Some were at the height of their career and they got dropped. I don't understand it. There was the emergence of people perceiving urban music to be dead. Well, it's not dead, you just don't know what to do with it".
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BE YOUR OWN PET CENSORED BY LABEL
According to reports, Be Your Own Pet have had their second LP censored by their own US record label, Universal. In the UK, the album, 'Get Awkward', released here via Beggar's XL, is a brief thirty-five minutes long and contains fifteen tracks, but the US version has had three tracks removed - 'Becky', 'Black Hole' and 'Blow Yr Mind' - because, say Universal's lawyers, the songs are too violent.
Vocalist Jemina Pearl Abegg says of the cut, and the lawyers: "I don't even know who these people are. There's no one you can try and talk to to argue your case".
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NEW DIGWEED COMPO UPCOMING
The fourth part of John Digweed's 'Transitions' compilation series will come out at the end of next month, offering another fine mix of techey-housey electronica type stuff. The fourth edition is being billed as "the end of the first chapter of the series", which I don't quite understand, but the tracklisting is all looking rather fine, so I'm not going to worry about what that means. After all, when asked about the future of the 'Transitions' project, Digweed himself says "let's keep it about this latest volume for now otherwise I think I'd be doing it a disservice", and we always do as we're told.
Commenting on compo number four, Digweed told CMU: "This was perhaps the hardest one yet, the proximity between releases meant each new volume was strongly influenced by its predecessor - as we moved from one to the other they had to relate and make sense. I've developed the amount of tracks and layering over the series and we've taken it to the next level with this latest volume, it's the most intense and intrinsic yet, which meant replacements, additions, editing and a lot of time consuming assessments and re-assessments".
Among the tracks featured in the mix are Henry Saiz's 'From Empty Lands', Nightguy's 'Pretty Face', Two Lone Swordsmen's 'Shack 54', Spector's 'Mineral Drive and Soliquid's 'Piknic Bugz'. Press info on it all from [email protected]
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PARAMORE NOT SPLITTING UP
Paramore have yet again told fans that they are not on the verge of breaking up, despite their previously reported 'internal issues'. Onstage at SxSW singer Hayley Williams confirmed it, whilst guitarist Josh Farro has told Rolling Stone: "Everything's good, we're not breaking up, Hayley's not pregnant". So you can all relax.
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FALL OUT BOY POSTPONE ANTARCTICA GIG
Fall Out Boy have had to postpone that previously reported record-breaking gig in Antarctica, which was due to take place yesterday. All flights to the area were cancelled due to bad weather, but the band were planning to try and get there today instead. The band's Patrick Stump told MTV.com: "We were sort of aware that this might happen, but, to be honest, we're just hoping some other band doesn't slip in by boat or something and set the world record right under our noses".
Pete Wentz added: "But I also heard that you can, like, get a photo taken with your arm around a penguin, like frat-boy style, which would be hilarious".
Indeed.
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MORRISSEY FOR WIRELESS
Organisers have announced that Morrissey is to headline this year's Wireless Festival on 4 Jul. The singer says of his only UK festival date this summer: "I will take Hyde Park like a flea inhabits a dog", whatever that means. Fatboy Slim and Counting Crows have also been confirmed, and will headline the third and fourth nights at the event, which takes place from 3-6 Jul in London.
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VELVET REVOLVER NOT OPENING FOR LED ZEPP TOUR, OK?
Another flippin Led Zeppelin reunion story? Oh yes. Slash has denied reports that Velvet Revolver have been booked to open for Led Zepp on a world tour. Mainly because there isn't a Led Zepp world tour to open for. Commenting on both the Led Zepp tour rumours, and gossip his band would play with them, Slash told reporters: "There's been a huge rumour going around about us opening for them and I think that was something that was taken out of context [from something bandmate Duff McKagan said]. As far as Zeppelin doing a tour, that remains to be seen. I saw Robert last night and he's got his solo thing going on and as far as Velvet Revolver is concerned, we've got another record to do and we're not even thinking about that".
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GAY FOR SINGLE AND TOUR
Definitely touring, however, are those Gay For Johnny Depp boys, who have just announced these here dates for next month...
9 Apr: Bristol Thekla
10 Apr: Nottingham Rescue Rooms
11 Apr: London Indigo O2
12 Apr: Leeds Cockpit
13 Apr: Brighton Concorde II
14 Apr: Wolverhampton Wulfren
15 Apr: Manchester Academy II
15 Apr: Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
The tour coincides with the release of new single 'Belief In God Is So Adorable' on 14 Apr via Captains Of Industry. Expect lots of loud stuff, on tour and single. Press info from Division Promotions.
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LA LINEA LINES UP
London's premier Latin music festival kicks off next week, and I'm feeling slightly foolish for not having mentioned it until now. La Linea has been providing the capital with an unrivalled programme of very, very fine music of a Latin leaning since 2001, with numerous unmissable shows each year. Here is this year's line up...
2 Apr: Lontano present Brazil plus 1, Purcell Room
3 Apr: Ska Cubano - La Linea Launch Party + Latin Dub Soundsystem + DJs Cal Jader (Movimientos) + Gerry Lyseight, Koko
4 Apr: Tangopolis: Bajofondo Tango Club + Melingo, Royal Festival Hall
9 Apr: Lontano present Brazil plus 2, Purcell Room
10 Apr: Lalo Schifrin with the London Symphony Orchestra, Barbican
16 Apr: The Ipanemas + Zuco 103, Barbican
20 Apr: Paco Peña & Nishat Khan Spirit & Passion, Royal Festival Hall
30 Apr: Very Be Careful + DJ Hugo Mendez, Cargo
3 May: Café Tacuba + Forro in the Dark, Barbican
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SAM ISAAC TOUR
That Sam Isaac fella is currently on a UK tour to promote the release this week of new single 'Fire Fire', which is out on Another Music=Another Kitchen Records. The remaining dates are as follows...
26 Mar: Leicester, Sumo
27 Mar: Brighton, Komedia
28 Mar: Kingston, Banquet Records Instore
29 Mar: Portsmouth, The Cellars
More at http://www.myspace.com/samisaac
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SONYBMG BOSS ADVOCATES SUBSCRIPTION MODEL FUTURE FOR DIGITAL MUSIC
SonyBMG CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz has indicated to a German newspaper that he is interested in the idea of a SonyBMG club, ie a subscription based digital music service that would specifically give punters access to music signed to the major's various labels. It's not clear whether that would be a consumer facing subscription service, or whether the major would look to provide the service to ISPs and the like who would sell it on to their customers.
Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Schmidt-Holtz said: "The simplest option would be a flat rate under which a monthly payment would provide access to our entire music catalogue for all digital players, including Apple's iPod. It is even possible that clients could conserve some songs indefinitely, that they would own them even after the subscription expired".
As previously reported, while the subscription model of download provision, such as that offered by Napster, has not especially taken off in an iTunes dominated digital music market, the record companies are still well disposed towards it, with SonyBMG already indicating it would consider involvement in the major label owned subscription service being proposed by Universal Music - Total Music. Last week it was also reported that the majors, especially Universal, were lobbying Apple about the merits of the subscription model, possibly in the form of a 'pre-loaded' iPod which would see some kind of subscription bundled into the price of an Apple digital music player.
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ORANGE LAUNCH AD-FUNDED DOWNLOAD SERVICE
Mobile types Orange have launched an ad-supported download service, giving users of the Orange World platform access to 500 free or discounted music tracks, the cost of which is being covered by various advertisers, including Paramount Pictures and Ford. The advertising bit of the service has been handled by French ad firm Screen Tonic.
Commenting on the service, Orange UK Head Of Third Party Services Steve Ricketts told reporters: "We believe this ad-funded content model will drive adoption and usage of services, and deliver better value content to our customers".
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MYSPACE TO WEBCAST NME AWARDS
Now if you, like me, lost quite a bit of sleep this weekend wondering how the hell you were going to get to watch the first ever US NME Awards next month without making the trek to LA on 23 Apr, well, worry no more people. Because MySpace will be streaming the whole thing live. Hurrah.
Look, MySpace VP Marketing & Content Josh Brooks says this: "MySpace's partnership with NME is a reflection of our commitment to empowering up-and-coming artists to living legends with a vehicle to be heard. The MySpace webcast ensures that everyone around the world - not just the lucky few in the audience - will be talking about the show the next day".
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A&R PROMOTION AT EMI PUBLISHING
EMI Music Publishing UK has promoted A&R Manager Felix Howard, an experienced songwriter himself, to the job of VP A&R. The major publishing house's UK President Guy Moot told reporters: "His empathy with the needs of the writers and artists coupled with his ability to spot a killer chorus makes him a key player in the EMI Music Publishing A&R team in the UK, and this promotion is a well-deserved reflection of that".
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PPL APPOINT EVENTS AND MARKETING MANAGER
Recording royalty collecting whatnot PPL has announced the appointment of Sarah Barnes, formerly Corporate Events Manager at London Clubs International, to the role of Events & Marketing Manager, responsible for the collecting society's events and marketing initiatives, reporting to Director PR & Corporate Communications Jonathan Morrish.
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MAJOR SWEDISH INDIE APPOINTS NEW CEO
Swedish music company Bonnier Amigo Music Group, Scandinavia's biggest indie and distributors for a number of other labels in that region, has announced the appointment of a new CEO - Fredrik Ekander - who will replace former top man Ludvig Werner who is leaving the Stockholm based firm.
The company's Chairman, Jonas Eriksson confirmed the appointment yesterday, adding that Ekander, who has worked in A&R and management roles at various major labels and publishing firms, will be tasked with "adapting and restructuring the company according to the demands of the new music market and at the same time strengthen Bonnier Amigo Music Group's position as the biggest and most successful independent music company in the Nordics".
Ekander himself told reporters: "The challenge to write new music business history in the Nordics whilst at the same time continue to build on Bonnier Amigo Music Group's position as the most creative and well renowned Swedish music company was an offer that I could not refuse. I have never before experienced so much exciting new musical talent in Sweden and it's neighbouring countries and I know that many of these great artists, writers and producers would much rather prefer to collaborate with a strong, local independent than to get stuck in the international "bottlenecks" that many of the majors suffer from today".
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GLOBAL TO ASK FOR EXTENSION FOR GCAP TALKS
Word has it that Global Radio will request more time to finalise its takeover of GCap. As previously reported, the City Takeover Panel had requested that the two radio firms complete their discussions by today, but the Financial Times reports that Global have asked for until 2 Apr to complete their takeover talks with GCap bosses. The consensus seems to be that the GCap board will now recommend Global's takeover offer, but that a little more time is required to agree the specifics.
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CLEAR CHANNEL DEAL ON THE ROCKS
The very long drawn out purchase of US radio firm Clear Channel by a consortium involving key Warner Music shareholder Thomas H Lee Partners may be about to collapse, apparently. As previously reported, the consortium have been trying to buy Clear Channel since November 2006. Some key existing shareholders were initially resistant, but last September it seemed like a deal had been done. But that deal has taken a long time to close, and in the meantime the investment markets have taken something of a tumble - some are now speculating as to whether the deal will actually go ahead at all. As much previously reported, Clear Channel's live entertainment business was spun off as the stand alone Live Nation in 2005, so Thomas H Lee et al have been busy bidding to acquire the firm's not insignificant media and advertising businesses
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MORE HEATHER STUFF
Journalist Jasper Gerard has accused Heather Mills of being a big fat liar. Well, perhaps not fat. Perhaps not even a liar. Definitely a fantasist, though. He claims in the course of that previously reported 'Ex Files' documentary that Mills once told him that Tony Blair and a Lord MacDonald had promised her a peerage prior to her marriage to Paul McCartney, but said that she had been undecided about whether or not to accept the honour. The programme asked three different Lord MacDonalds about it, and they all denied ever meeting her.
Journalist Gerard says: "I was pretty gobsmacked that somebody who was essentially just a model and a bit of a part-time campaigner, best known for being Paul McCartney's girlfriend, should be offered a peerage. Heather also told me she had cancelled a meeting with Bill Clinton in case her endorsement affected a US election outcome. I kept waiting for her to smile and say 'I'm joking', but she meant it".
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SEAN MCGUIRE HATED HIS POP CAREER
Poor Sean McGuire has said that he didn't enjoy his pop career much. You know Sean McGuire. He released two albums and had eight top 40 hits in the nineties after his rise to fame via 'Grange Hill' and 'Eastenders'.
He told Metro: "I've had every kind of humiliation, from playing in Gala Bingo halls to doing a PA in a Glaswegian nightclub and having cans of lager thrown at me. I was pretty depressed. I felt I'd sold out. Like most of the country at that time I loved Blur and Oasis but was on stage singing: 'I want to hold your hand and kiss you, woo woo woo'. I felt like an idiot. People would come up to me on the street every single day and say: 'You're crap'."
Anyway, don't lose sleep over him. He's doing pretty well with his acting career in the US these days, and stars in recently released new movie 'Meet The Spartans'.