INTERN OPPORTUNITY AT LEYLINE
Leyline Promotions are currently looking for a web-savvy intern to join their team in west London. Main duties include managing online communities and liaising with agents, artists and press during the build up to events. Applicants must have an interest in indie and electro and be available to work some nights. Leyline's events include: The Remix, Twisted Licks, The Insomniacs Ball, The (wonderful) CMU Social and they also look after the PR for the Glade, 229 the venue and seOne.
More info: [email protected]

MCGUINNESS PUTS MORE PRESSURE ON ISPS TO PLAY BALL
U2 manager Paul McGuinness has made another speech calling on those there internet service providers to take action to stop the illegal distribution of music on the old world wide web.

As previously reported, McGuiness began the year by making a headline grabbing keynote speech at music convention MIDEM accusing the ISPs of failing to do their bit in building the digital music market by refusing to get involved in the campaign to curb online piracy. That speech added momentum to the record industry’s attempts to persuade and, maybe, force the ISPs, through government intervention, to take on a proactive role in policing illegal file sharing – something that seems to have become a top priority of those within the record industry charged with the task of fighting P2P. The ISPS, in the main, are not keen to take on such a role.

McGuinness returned to the topic during a key note speech at the Hong Kong music conference Music Matters yesterday. Perhaps in a slightly more conciliatory mood than during his MIDEM presentation, he admitted that he recognises that "a real commercial partnership" between the ISPs and the music business is required for the digital music market to prosper, but added that the ISPs need to do more for that partnership to work, both in tackling the continued illegal distribution of music online, and in sharing the income they generate through music based services.

He told the conference: "Privately negotiated revenue-sharing partnerships are, I believe, a key model for the future. One way or another, ISPs and mobile operators are the business partners of the future for the recorded-music business. But they are going to have to share the money in a way that reflects what music is doing for their business". In a bid to illustrate that that is not currently the case McGuiness took a local example, claiming that "China Mobile makes hundreds of millions of dollars each year from sales of ringtones and ringback tones, yet pays a minuscule fraction of that to performers, producers and composers. That to me is not a fair business partnership".

Since McGuinness' MIDEM speech the British government has indicated that if the ISPs will not voluntarily take on a more proactive role in policing P2P they may introduce new laws that forces them to – maybe even legislating to introduce a three strike system where illegal file sharers receive two warnings and then have their net connection cut off. Music industry types seem split on the merits of government intervention – some, frustrated at the failure of talks with ISPs to reach any conclusion to date, see the possibility of legislation in the area as the light at the end of the tunnel. Others reckon a voluntary solution between the two industries is still possible and much more desirable.

McGuinness welcomed moves by the British and other governments (France in particular) in this domain and, according to Billboard, told a press briefing after his keynote: "Progress depends on national governments. I would like to see the workers [artists] paid, which they aren't at the moment".

Concluding with a few words for those who say the traditional copyright owners are the problem in the growth of the net, McGuinness said: "The music business once had to bear the accusation that it was full of dinosaurs who looked back to an old business model rather than embracing a new one. Today, though, it is the music business that is charting the way to the future. If there are dinosaurs around today, I think they are the internet free-thinkers of the past who believe that copyright is the great obstacle to progress, that the distributors of content should enjoy profits without responsibilities and that the creators and producers of music should simply subordinate their rights to the rights of everyone else. We have not reversed the troubles of the music industry yet - but at least the dinosaurs are no longer running the show".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

CULTURE SEC OPEN MINDED ABOUT COPYRIGHT TERM, OFFICIAL
Mr Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said he would keep an "open mind" when it came to the recorded music copyright term debate yesterday, though he was surrounded by recorded music copyright owners, so he probably would say that. Burnham was talking at the annual general meeting of UK recording royalty collecting society PPL at the British Museum.

The minister discussed various issues affecting the wider music industry in his speech, though it is probably the copyright term issue that most of the people in the room were interested in – more so even that the aforementioned ISP/P2P debate.

As previously reported, the UK government’s Gowers Review of copyright laws recommended that the copyright term for recorded music stay at the current fifty years, despite calls from across the record industry to increase it, to bring it closer to the 95 years awarded to recordings in the US and the life plus seventy years copyright enjoyed by songwriters. But there is a European dimension to this debate, and EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has been more supportive of proposals for a term extension.

Commenting on that, Burnham told the PPL AGM "I will take a close look at McCreevy's details when they are revealed later in the summer. I understand the issues and will engage constructively in the process and join in the debate with my European counterparts". It was during a Q&A session that Burnham added that he had an "open mind" on the copyright term issue, calling the whole thing a "work in progress" and again stressing the importance of the European debate on the issue.

The boss of PPL, Fran Nevrkla, is seemingly optimistic about McGreevy’s intentions for the copyright term, and unsurprisingly happy at the Europe-level support for an extension after the disappointment of the Gowers conclusion on the topic. In his speech to the AGM he said: "Following the rather hostile, deeply flawed and now largely discredited Gowers Review we are much encouraged by the brave, intelligent and far-sighted initiative taken in Brussels by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, Charlie McCreevy, who clearly sees no justification why the deliberate and insupportable discrimination against performers and record companies should continue. We are very grateful to Commissioner McCreevy for his visionary and supportive approach, and his recommendation that the term of copyright protection for sound recordings should be extended from the current 50 years to 95 years".

Noting his main guest at the AGM, he added: "The recent appointment of Andy Burnham MP, into the role of Secretary Of State For Culture, Media And Sport gives us grounds for fresh hope and optimism.  I know that Andy is genuinely enthusiastic about and supportive of the creative industries, which is always a good start, so, hopefully, watch this space!"

Elsewhere in his speech, Nevrkla revealed the body had passed the £100 million milestone in annual revenues for the first time last year, bringing in £115 million in royalties for its record label and recording artist members. Noting the increased importance of royalty collection to record labels in a market where traditional record sales continue to decline, even when new download revenues are taken into account, Nevrkla concluded: "I have always said that collecting societies should not be satisfied by comparing themselves with other similar bodies but rather, we should strive to achieve the standards of performance maintained by the best run companies in any commercial business environment.  This is only achievable with two essential ingredients: first class teams of high calibre, motivated people and excellent systems. We certainly have the former and we are busy developing the latter".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

MTV FINED OVER OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE
MTV have been slapped with a £255,000 fine by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom for "persistently" transmitting offensive language before the 9pm watershed. The fine was handed down after the network aired unedited repeats of reality shows containing swearing and unsuitable music videos during the day. Silly fuckers (I’m assuming you’ll be reading this post-watershed).

Amongst the numerous breaches of the rules were a trailer for 'Totally Jodie Marsh', which contained the phrase "I just don’t want you settling down with some fucking wanker from a modelling agency", which apparently was even more offensive than Jodie Marsh being on TV to start with. There were also repeated use of the words "motherfucker", "fuck you" and "fuck" in Aphex Twin's 'Windowlicker' video, excerpts from the film 'Superbad', broadcast at 9am, which contained the phrases "what the fuck", "hold his fucking hand... fucking hold my hand", and "give me a fucking warning before you do that", and a text message-based show on MTV Hits called 'Mr Know It All', which explained to viewers the meaning of the word "Spunkbelly".

In a statement, Ofcom said: "Pop video and entertainment channels like those controlled by MTV Networks attract large numbers of viewers under 15. They have a responsibility to these children and their parents to ensure their compliance arrangements are robust and effective".

A spokesman for MTV said: "We take this sanction and fine very fucking seriously. [We have taken] a series of steps to minimise as much as possible the chances of the wankers who work here making any breaches in the future". Well, they said some of that.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

NOT EVEN CLOSE: R KELLY TRIAL UPDATE
That, by the way, is not who you say it is. Not my words, ladies and gentlemen, but the words of various relatives of the girl who Illinois prosecutors say appears in the sex tape at the heart of the R Kelly trial. As you’ll remember, the r&b star’s defence lawyers dispute not only that their client is in that tape, but also that the girl who appears is the girl the prosecution claim it is – she being a girl Kelly did, indeed, know. The girl herself denies it is her, but as the defence began their case yesterday it was her family members that were wheeled into the court room to say they too were convinced the alleged victim is not the girl in the tape.

One was relative Leroy Edwards, who brought with him a photo he had taken of the girl between 1998 and 1999. While there are definite similarities between the girl in that photo and the girl in the video he claimed to not recognise the girl in the video frame presented in court.

Another relative, Shonna Edwards, who performed in a pop group with the alleged victim around about the same time as the video is claimed to have been filmed, also denied it could be the girl in the vid. She shared a hotel room with her while the group were on tour, so Kelly’s defence lawyer asked if the alleged victim had been as "fully developed" and "matured" as the girl in the video at the time it would have been filmed. "Not even close", Shonna responded.

Elsewhere in the first day of the defence’s case at the trial, Kelly’s legal rep called, erm, another of Kelly’s legal reps to the witness stand. Jason Wallace is a clerk for the Sam Adam Jr & Sr law firm, and he was called to testify in a bid to discredit the prosecution’s star witness Lisa Van Allen who claimed she had three threesomes with Kelly and the alleged victim. The defence claim Van Allen has been heavily influenced by her boyfriend Yul Brown and, they allege, she is lying in a bid to secure financial gain and leniency from prosecutors in an unrelated case involving Brown.

Wallace told the court he and a colleague had met with Van Allen and Brown at the start of the trial, and that Brown had dominated the meeting, and that he had implied there was a deal to be done – ie Van Allen’s silence could be bought. The clerk said Brown told them, "We know Lisa's name will be dragged through the mud. Kelly knows what he has to do to make this thing right".

In a busy day in the court room, Sun-Times journalist Jim DeRogatis who, as previously reported, originally handed over a copy of the infamous sex tape to police, and who has tried to avoid having to testify in the trial using various US and Illinois legal protections for journalists, finally took to the witness stand, though said very little indeed, pleading First and Fifth amendment rights to avoid answering pretty much any question he was asked.

Kelly, of course, is accused of filming himself having sex with an underage girl. He faces fifteen years in jail if found guilty. The case continues.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

NE-YO PLEADS NO CONTEST TO DRIVING CHARGES
Another US r&b star was in court this week, though this was for reckless driving, and only resulted in 24 hours of community service. Ne-Yo pleaded no contest to the driving charges filed against him after being pulled over by police in Georgia back in February – he was accused of speeding and driving without a valid licence. The court ordered him to pay a $1000 fine, attend a driving class and do the 24 hours community service.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

BRITNEY'S EX THREATENED
Paparazzo Adnan Ghalib, who dated Britney Spears for three months earlier this year, has revealed that he has been receiving death threats from fans of his former girlfriend since reports began circulating that he was attempting to sell a video of himself and the singer having sex. He told Heat: "I have had many calls about it from all over the world. In light of the constant calls about the sex tape and threats, I’m taking a break from the industry and keeping a low profile".

As previously reported, Adnan was attacked in April, leaving him with a stab wound to the arm, lacerations to the face and a black eye by Britney fans who believed he was leading her astray. He said: "Yes I was injured. This is still being investigated. I can’t say much about the cowardly attack other than, a) you better come a lot stronger than that if you want to make a point and b) most will be surprised by those behind it".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

AMY BACK IN COURT FOR BLAKE
Amy Winehouse returned to Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday where her husband Blake Fielder-Civil’s pre-trial hearing relating to those perverting the course of justice charges continued. She again sat in the front row of the public gallery in the court room, smiling at and mouthing words to her other half. At one point she reportedly turned to the middle aged man who accompanied her to court and said "it's like Disneyland". Fielder-Civil is accused of causing GBH and later conspiring with his alleged victim to pervert the course of justice. The case continues.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

WINEHOUSE BACKS BACKING BAND
More Amy, and Ms Winehouse has hit out at reports that she gave her backing band a dressing down, even threatening to sack her brass section, after a poorly received show at the Rock In Rio event in Portugal at the weekend.

In a statement, the singer said: "I was really upset that anyone would suggest that I would act that way to my band. My band are my family and I did not 'scream' at my horn players and would never be 'sick of the sight of them'. We have been through a lot together and I would never lose my temper in that way with them. I suffered from a sore throat all week and was given the option to cancel. But I was determined to show my fans that I was back and working. I'm looking forward to my remaining dates throughout the summer".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

FORMBY INSTRUMENT AUCTIONED
George Formby's favourite banjolele (that's a cross between a banjo and a ukulele) will be auctioned at Bonhams next month and is expected to sell for up to £45,000. The 1930s music hall star referred to the instrument as his "Little Strad" and used it for many of his live performances and studio recordings, including his most famous song, 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

FIRST SLICETHEPIE ACT RELEASE DUE
Miranda Barber, who was the first act to be funded by grass roots music investment website Slicethepie.com, will release her debut album at the end of this month. The singer was chosen by users of the site from a list of 600 hopeful new acts to receive £15,000 of funding in September last year. Since then, she has been in the studio with producer Charlie Winston and the resulting material will be released through her own label Barbershop Records on 30 Jun.

Barber said: "I am humbled by the extraordinary support [my fans] have thrown my way by voting for me, out of 600 songwriters, to win the first Slicethepie singer/songwriter showcase".

As previously reported, Slicethepie is a company offering artists a way to raise money for recording outside of traditional channels. Artists sign up to the service by paying twenty quid. Users of the Slicethepie website are then invited to invest in signed up bands. When a band gets £15,000 of support from users they are ready to start work on an album. The site's owners reckon that if backed artists sell 1000 albums then those who invested in them will have recouped on their investment. They will continue to make an income from album sales, though the rights to the master recording and songs remain with the artists.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

ROLLING STONE JOINS STARSAILOR
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood is to appear on a track on Starsailor’s fourth album, 'All The Plans', which it yet to receive a release date.

Speaking to Billboard about the song, entitled 'All The Plans We Made', frontman James Walsh said: "We kept asking him if he'd be up for playing some guitar on the record, and at the time he was busy promoting [Stones documentary 'Shine a Light']. So, there were a couple of months there where he just wasn't available to do it. Then I got a call about half past six one evening from his son Jesse saying, 'My dad really wants to do this now. Can you be at the studio [at] nine o'clock?' So, from having sort of given up the ghost it all came together out of the blue. It was amazing; he stood there playing the guitar, saying the song reminded him of 'Maggie May' - quite high praise, indeed".

Asked how this album would be different from their last, Walsh said: "On this album, there's a lot more light to it, and we've reverted back to the more acoustic guitar- and piano-driven sound on a lot of the tracks. It's hard to encapsulate it in one word or phrase, though".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

BABYSHAMBLER WANTS UNCOOL KIDS TO LIKE NEW PROJECT
Babyshambles drummer Adam Ficek wants only ‘uncool fans’ for his new project Roses Kings Castles. He told reporters: "I'm hoping to get a new audience. A lot of Babyshambles fans are leather jacket/Jack Daniel's rock n' roll fans. I'm not like that. I could pretend to be swaggering around with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth, but what's the point in doing that?"

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

FALL OUT BOY EAGER TO WORK ON NEXT ALBUM
Pete Wentz is eager for Fall Out Boy to get to work on another album, despite having things like his recent marriage and pending fatherhood to worry about. Though it is his bandmate and Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump who told us this. He reports that when they met up at Wentz’s recent wedding "we were like, ‘we should do another record’".

He added: "The band is really not talking about a record yet, but we're all itching to do one. We're always writing. We've had material since [2007 album] ‘Infinity On High’ dropped. So there is plenty just floating around. There is nothing 'hiatus' or 'indefinite' about what's going on with Fall Out Boy right now".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

LIARS TO RELEASE EP WITH VIDS
Liars will release a new digital EP next month consisting of two tracks and four videos. Going by the name of ‘The Freak Out EP’, one of the tracks is actually called ‘Freak Out’, whilst the other is a live version of ‘Clear Island’, the original track of which came from the bands eponymous fourth long player. The videos include the one for 2004’s 'We Fenced Other Gardens With The Bones Of Our Own', which was directed by that Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The EP will be released, in the US at least, early next month.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

YEAH YEAH YEAHS ON STUFF
Talking of Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have confirmed they are back in the studio working on new material, adding that they have moved into the country to record a new album because, well, possibly because there are more cats there.

Writing on their MySpace, the band confirmed they had gone rural for this album saying: "Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been hopscotching down the road less traveled- from a barn in the Northeast to a ranch in the Southwest on our journey for the next sound. Why go RURAL? We're not yet sure ourselves, but one thing the city don't have that the country got is SPACE and there has been plenty of spacing out in the studio as of late".

On the cats, they add: "Fuzzy soft muses aka kittens have played a major role in the writing process of YYYs current and past records. Show Your Bones was written in Sam Spiegel's home studio amidst the birth of a litter of kittens, little gold lions scrambling around. Amazingly therapeutic, nothing turns a frown upside down (there are many frowns in the record writing process) as a purring kitten in your lap. Alas our favorite kitten of all beloved SQUEAKER arrived just in time for record three! Abandoned by his mother, we've watched him grow before our very eyes from a blind and helpless little thing into a frisky and fierce little beauty- much like the tunes we're writing. Go figure".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

GIRLS ALOUD TO FRONT CHAT SHOW
Girls Aloud are reportedly in talks to front their own chat show for the BBC, who have apparently offered the group over £500,000 to make it. Tentatively-titled 'An Audience With Girls Aloud', it will initially run for eight weeks. A source told Heat: "The girls are yet to sign, but they have all agreed to it. They would each be paid £20,000 per show. The band is going strong and they all want to commit to it 100 per cent".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

SINGLE REVIEW: Feeder - We Are The People (Echo) Returning to their spikier, heavy rock roots, Feeder's latest single 'We Are The People', the first from new album 'Silent Cry', sees the band attempt to combine their old love for biting guitar sounds and their more recent love of melodic, tender verses. There's no catchy pop hook a la 'Buck Rogers', but the wound that gives Grant Nicholas his pained vocals doesn't seem to have healed, and it complements the verse's piano melody perfectly. It's Nicholas's brilliant lyrics and a solid vocal melody which saves the song from the guitar riff's mediocrity; the riff gives the song its epic, hard rock tone, but it's a tad uninspired. Old school Feeder fans will surely respect 'We Are The People', but fans who joined the party late, expecting to bop around their bedroom and crack out their lighter for the slow bits, may be a bit miffed. The battle for Feeder's soul continues. RL Release Date: 9 Jun Press Contact: Upshot Communications [CP, CR] Echo IH [RP, RR, NP, NR] back to top

Buy: Amazon Buy: iTunes

--------------------------------------------------

FOO’S SISTER FILLS IN ON RAVEONETTES TOUR
Those Raveonettes have announced that Sharin Foo’s sister Louise will fill in on vocals when they tour this summer because pregnant Sharin doesn’t want to go on the road. She will stay in LA and work on the band’s new album. Which sounds like a very good plan – I think all band members should have brothers or sisters able to fill in on touring commitments when recording work/personal lives get in the way.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

YOUNG KNIVES ANNOUNCE INTIMATE LONDON SHOW
The Young Knives have announced that they will play 160 capacity London venue The Star Of Bethnal Green on 11 Jun, as a warm-up for their Glastonbury appearance. Tickets (of which there are, obviously, very few) cost £8.

Announcing the gig on their MySpace blog, the band said: "The Young Knives have never been a cool band. In fact, we have actively rallied against all things trendy, happening and London-centric. We are also massive hypocrites and it is in this capacity that we would like to announce a double-super-trendy gig for our mega-hip management and media company, Scruffy Bird. The Gig is in uber-wanky London venue The Star of Bethnal Green on 11 Jun and is a warm up for the Glastonbury mud-fest. Tickets are well limited to insure over subscription and super-exclusive-coolness so get in touch now to make sure you are not disappointed".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

WHY? POSTPONE UK TOUR
US quirky indie types Why? have been forced to postpone their UK tour, due to start this week, as brothers Yoni and Josiah Wolf both have mumps. Not only that, but Yoni has injured his hand, too. This is all bad news for the band, but good news for me, because I'd totally forgotten about these tour dates (so hadn’t organised tickets) and I really want to see Why? live. Yay, mumps!

The new tour dates are as follows:

29 Jun: London, Madame Jojos
30 Jun: London, Cargo
1 Jul: Brighton, Audio
2 Jul: Nottingham, Bodega
3 Jul: Leeds, Faversham
4 Jul: Manchester, Roadhouse
5 Jul: Wireless Festival

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

YES REUNION CANCELLED OVER FRONTMAN HEALTH SCARE
Legendary rock types Yes have cancelled their upcoming reunion tour because frontman Jon Anderson has been diagnosed with acute respiratory failure - which is rather serious – and doctors have told him not to work for at least six months. Anderson said in a statement: "I'd like everyone to know how deeply disappointed I am by this turn of events. I was looking forward to celebrating our music with the amazing family of Yes fans once again; but as we all know, health must come before anything else".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

END OF THE ROAD ADDITIONS
More additions for the End Of The Road festival - Tindersticks, Brakes, Pete And The Pirates and Let's Wrestle to be precise. This one takes place in Dorset from 12-14 Sep. Also joining Mercury Rev, Calexico and British Sea Power on the bill are Hush the Many, Screaming Tea Party, The Acorn, Mumford & Sons, Thinguma*jigsaw, Seabear and The Accidental.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

EAVIS EXCITED ABOUT NEW CULTURAL MIX FOR GLASTO
Michael Eavis has told the Press Association that he is excited about this year’s Glastonbury Festival, adding that he hopes a new approach will mean there’ll be a "whole cultural mix of people" at the event, adding that his slightly controversial decision to book Jay-Z as a headliner is part of that approach.

On the various criticism of the hip hopper’s booking, he said: "Everywhere I go kids come up to me in the street and say it's fantastic Jay-Z is playing. Lovely kids in their teens. And I say, 'Have you bought tickets?' and they say, 'No, but we're all coming!' We need a whole cultural mix of people. We need an age mix and a cultural mix. That's what we're looking for. This is a huge success, it really is. It's never been so talked about".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

ROUNDER DO GLOBAL DEAL WITH UNIVERSAL
Long standing US indie label Rounder has signed a global licensing deal with Universal’s Decca Music Group, which will see the major division release and promote a large part of the indie’s current and back catalogue. Rounder already has a partnership with Decca regarding the release of the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss album ‘Raising Sand’, and the new deal should extend that partnership for a wide range of similar projects.

Rounder co-founder Marian Leighton Levy told Billboard: "Robert and Alison's record just shows that things are off to a very auspicious start. I think it will be good for them and us. We're very happy with Universal in North America, but this is the first time we've had a such a connection in the rest of the world",

London based Decca chairman Christopher Roberts adds: "Rounder is one of the last great independent labels. Decca and Universal are honored to be part of this new relationship. We're confident our new partnership will result in success, both for the catalog, as well as the many great current artists on the Rounder label".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

PANDORA RELEASE SOFTWARE PLAYER
Pandora, the streaming radio service which tailors itself to your music tastes, has released new software through which users can access their personal stations. Although, this is of little use to the majority of our readers, since they were forced to block IP addresses outside the US from accessing it earlier this year. But anyway, the software runs on Adobe AIR ("a cross-operating system runtime that lets developers combine HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash, and Flex technologies to deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop" - whatever that means) and means users can now access Pandora without having to open their web browser, which is nice.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

EMI SIGN UP TO Q-TRAX
EMI are in real ad-funded service licensing mode this week. Having confirmed they had signed up to US based ad-funded digital music service SpiralFrog earlier this week, the major yesterday announced it was the latest major to sign up to Qtrax, the company who are attempting to launch a licensed P2P file-sharing network. EMI tracks will be available for free via Qtrax, though users will have to make regular trips to the P2P outfit’s website to keep tracks valid.

Qtrax founder Allan Klepfisz told reporters: "This is a revolutionary time for the music industry. [EMI boss] Guy Hands and EMI Music have demonstrated great vision and leadership and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have their support. Music fans will soon be able to legally download tracks from EMI’s rich, storied catalogue, giving them access to one of the world’s largest repertoires of music".

Qtrax already have Beggars, Universal and all four major publishers on board.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

VINYL SALES UP IN US
Figures from the Recording Industry Association Of America shows that sales of vinyl in the US were up 36.3% last year compared to 2006. As Digital Music News point out, that’s still only 1.3 million units, half what was sold in 1997, but still, it provides some optimism for those of us who happily believe vinyl will outlive all the other physical formats that were supposedly going to kill off the record back in the day. I really ought to get round to buying a new record player.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

NATIONWIDE LAUNCH RECOMMENDS WEBSITE
The Nationwide Mercury Prize has launched a new online music portal called ‘NMP Recommends’ which will, well, recommend new albums, videos, tracks and gigs. The new service will be an add-on to existing nationwidemercurys.com website.

NMP’s Dan Ford told CMU: "We are really pleased that the introduction of ‘Nationwide Mercury Prize Recommends’ has enabled us to extend the Prize’s recommendation in this way. It’s great that we can offer music fans some hot tips on what’s happening in music on a more regular basis".

Nationwide's Sponsorship Controller Chris Hull added: "We are incredibly excited at providing this additional service for music fans through our sponsorship of the Nationwide Mercury Prize. ‘Nationwide Mercury Prize Recommends’ will give music followers a compelling and evolving list of albums, videos, tracks and live music".

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

BBC1 TO SIMULCAST ONLINE
BBC1 will be simulcast via the Beeb’s website, the first terrestrial BBC channel to be available live on the net (BBC 3 and the BBC News Channel are both currently available online). BBC DG Mark Thompson says this: "Building on the success of the iPlayer, we want to develop bbc.co.uk to include a broad range of the BBC's broadcast content, as well as new and interactive forms of media that enable audiences to interact with and contribute to the website". All four ITV channels already simulcast online.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

GCAP CONFIRM PLANET ROCK SALE
GCap has confirmed it has sold digital rock station Planet Rock. It will go to a company called Rock Show run by a guy called Malcolm Bluemel, who has the support of various rock types including Black Sabbath’s Tony lommi, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Gary Moore, and Fish. The change in ownership is immediate, although the station will continue to run from GCap’s base in Leicester Square for the time being. The future of Planet Rock was thrown into doubt when GCap CEO Fru Hazlitt declared she was closing all digital only services at the start of the year. However, the rock station was given a reprieve after Global Radio began takeover talks, and after the radio firm received offers to buy it. As previously reported, Queen man Brian May was involved in a rival bid, and he was a bit pissed off when he was told GCap had sold it to someone else after indicating they’d sell it to him.

back to top

--------------------------------------------------

WU-TANG MAN LAUNCHES CHESS NETWORK
Hip hoppers Wu-Tang Clan have launched a new online social network dedicated to, erm, chess. Yes, Wu-Chess has been set up by Clan co-founder RZA and enables users to network with other chess players worldwide for $48 a year. Profits will go to the Hip Hop Chess Foundation, an organisation that uses "chess, music and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and non-violence". I knew how to play chess once you know. Now it’s the latest hip hop craze perhaps I better try and relearn it.

back to top