DIZZEE RASCAL ARRESTED OVER BASEBALL BAT
Dizzee Rascal was arrested this weekend over a possible road rage incident involving a baseball bat. The rapper, real name Dylan Mills, was arrested on Friday afternoon in Orpington and charged with possession of an offensive weapon, that being the aforementioned bat. It's thought Mills may have threatened another driver with the bat during some kind of on road altercation, though details are a bit vague. The rapper was held overnight before being released on Saturday, and is due to return to a south London police station later this month, possibly to face charges. A police spokesman told reporters: "A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an offensive weapon. He has been bailed until later this month".

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PAPA ROACH SUED BY EX-DRUMMER
Californian rock band Papa Roach - remember them? - well, they're being sued by their former drummer, who was kicked out of the band at the end of 2007. Although founding member Dave Buckner is no longer in the band, he is still a partner in various companies he and his bandmates founded to manage their business affairs. In his lawsuit, Buckner claims he has been excluded from important decisions and transactions in relation to those companies, including his share of the profits. According to TMZ.com he wants the courts to dissolve the companies and award him his share of profits plus damages. The rest of the band are yet to respond.

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WINEHOUSE SUPPLIERS SENTENCED
The couple who offered drugs to Amy Winehouse, and who filmed and sold footage of her apparently smoking a crack pipe in January this year, have been sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

John Blagrove, of Dalston, East London was sentenced to two years in prison, whilst his partner in crime Cara Burton received a two year community order. As previously reported, Blagrove admitted to offering to supply Class A drugs cocaine and ecstasy and Class B drug amphetamine, while Burton pleaded guilty to two counts of offering to supply amphetamine. As you'll remember, the couple's then home was raided after the footage they sold to The Sun for £50k became public and police seized filming equipment as well as a so-called 'hit-list' of celebrities the pair were planning to target.

Judge Tudor Owen made it clear that it was the drugs offences that Blagrove was being jailed for, not the filming of the footage, of which he said: "A more public-spirited person would have handed it to the police, rather than making money from it. But it would be quite wrong to punish him for that".

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DEFTONES BASSIST STILL IN A COMA
Deftones bassist Chi Cheng remains in a coma, following that previously reported car accident he was involved in last month. He was recently transferred to a hospital in California, which specialises specifically in brain injuries. His condition is thought to be stable. The band said on their official blog: "He's in great hands. Please continue to pray for our brother, and thank you all for your love and support".

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BURKE WINS X FACTOR
So, while some weird voting complication meant the BBC's 'Strictly Come Dancing' was thrown into another furore this weekend (because none of the three semi-finalists was actually voted off, making the whole stage of the competition pretty redundant), over on ITV1 the great British public managed to pick an overall winner for this year's 'X Factor', and that was R&B singer Alexandra Burke, who beat finalist boy band JLS to win this year's competition, a Sony recording contract and the right to murder Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' in public. Said track is already available for digital download and will be available on CD in shops (the 14 shops still selling CDs) on Wednesday. A Christmas number one presumably beckons. Burke was mentored during the show by first time judge Cheryl Cole.

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WAINRIGHT DOESN'T CARE ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE
Rufus Wainwright isn't too bothered that gay marriage isn't allowed in California any more because of the previously reported passing of Proposition 8.

Reports from the US quote the (gay) singer as saying: "Oddly enough, I'm actually not a huge gay marriage supporter. I personally don't want to get married but I think that any law or amendment to the constitution that deals with sex and love should just be banned in general. I don't think any government should encroach on what goes on in the bedroom at all. Frankly, if you want to marry a dog, why don't you go ahead and marry a dog, I don't care. I'm a complete libertarian and so I really disagree with it".

He was speaking ahead of a performance at the annual McGarrigle Christmas Hour featuring Rufus and Martha Wainwright' event at Carnegie Hall in New York, which took place on 10 Dec.

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MICKEY QUINN NAMED NEW MD OF SUPERGRASS
Supergrass have appointed bassist Mickey Quinn as their Managing Director after leaving EMI and setting up their own record company, Supergrass Records. The band have quit EMI's Parlophone label, which has been home to the band since the release of their debut single, 'Caught By The Fuzz', in 1994, mainly because of the widespread change of personnel at the major in the last year.

Quinn told BBC 6music: "Being signed to a major label, we saw a lot of wastage of money and a lot of things that seemed a bit pointless. We had a pretty good run with Parlophone when we were signed to them, but it's more a case that Parlophone has changed so much over the past year. A lot of people seem to have left the company that were there for a long time, that we respected. For whatever reason, we both came to the decision that it's probably better if we weren't signed to them any more".

The bassist also said that he's not concerned about the current state of the music industry. "There's always the music industry and then there's the music", he said. "And we've never really had problems making records. We're still going along but the music industry seems to be collapsing around us".

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JAY SEAN ON HIS CASH MONEY DEAL
Jay Sean has been talking to Undercover about his previously reported deal with US indie label Cash Money. As previously reported, Sean self-released his second album 'My Own Way' after parting company with EMI's Virgin Records over artistic differences. Cash Money, riding high on the back of huge commercial success with Lil Wayne, have signed up the US rights to that album.

Talking about how his deal with Cash Money came about, Sean told Undercover's Paul Cashmere: "I was working with a production outfit called The Orange Factory. They are the guys who did three quarters of my album. I was working with them in New York where they are based and they are good friends with Slim and Baby from Cash Money. He was talking to Slim, Slim asked him what he was working on and he said "Jay Sean from London", so Slim said send some stuff over. Literally, within a week, Slim called and said he wanted me to come to Miami and meet the family. So we talked business and signed the deal".

On working with the indie, he continued: "Their work ethic is Work, Work, Work, Rest and you're dead. They keep grinding. They keep working. They don't rest of their laurels. A lot of people fall off when they have the success, they go and party and chill. Cash Money don't. They carry on working. That is the way my philosophy is as well. I've been doing this for 7 years. After 7 years I get signed to a label in America, but thank-God I got signed to the biggest label I could imagine at the moment, because I hung in there".

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GIRLS ALOUD RE-SIGN TO POLYDOR
Now, look at this, an established artist re-signing to their major record company. So, it does still happen. Yes, Girls Aloud have reportedly signed a three-album deal with Universal's Polydor, meaning they don't have any ambitions to go it alone, and possibly bringing an end, for at least a week, to the constant "Girls Aloud about to split" rumours. The most recent rumours of that ilk, of course, claimed the Girls were resenting Cheryl Cole's suddenly successful second career as a TV star.

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PATRICK WOLF TO FUND ALBUM VIA BANDSTOCKS
Back to quirky modern ways of releasing records, and Patrick Wolf has announced he will release his fourth album next Spring on his own label Bloody Chamber Music funded by Bandstocks, one of those 'fans fund an album' websites where fans invest at least £10 into the album in return for a share of any profits plus the option to buy a special limited edition version of the long player and to get priority access to gig tickets.

Confirming his plans to self-release his next album, Wolf told CMU: "My roots in the music industry have always been firmly placed in independent music. As a teenager, I was inspired by visionary labels such as Digital Hardcore, Fierce Panda, Planet Mu, and Tigerbeat 6. As an 18 year old, I was given full creative space by the small label Faith And Industry to grow and to make the records and sounds I had to. After two independent releases I decided to experiment to see what would happen when a major label and my third album collided. It was very beneficial and a great learning curve for me, but I am very happy to be back in the creative, free world of independent music; on my own label, Bloody Chamber Music, started earlier this year".

On his use of the Bandstocks system, he continues: "With the old world recording industry a rapidly sinking ship; recording studios closing weekly, free downloads daily, more musicians hitting the long road than ever before to feed themselves, I am happy to have come across a new intimate system of audience and artist participation called Bandstocks. This will be funding Bloody Chamber Music, and the international physical and digital release of my fourth album, 'Battle', and its collective singles. It's an exciting game we can play together; you get to be an investor and stakeholder in the album. You will get special editions, first copies of the album, private privileges and mixes... and we get to conquer the world together and show that independence and self sufficiency are the two ways forward and out of the mess the industry is in".

Bandstocks founder Andrew Lewis adds: "Patrick is an original and genuine talent, destined for great things. I have been a huge fan since I was first introduced to his music four years ago and am extremely excited and honoured by his decision to work with Bandstocks. Bandstocks was designed for artists like Patrick: artists who want to control their own destinies and aren't afraid to take the road less travelled to get there".

More on Bandstocks at www.bandstocks.com.

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SMASHING PUMPKINS TO RELEASE SINGLES ONLY
Smashing Pumpkins have announced that they will never release another album following the poor reception of their 2007 album 'Zeitgeist' (which, ironically, kind of totally failed to capture the spirit of the time) and will now only release singles. Although, given that pretty much everything they've done since their (sort of) reunion hasn't been exactly brilliantly received, I'm not sure why the singles should do any better.

Anyway, frontman Billy Corgan told the Chicago Tribune newspaper: "We're done with 'Zeitgeist'. There is no point. People don't even listen to it all. They put it on their iPod, they drag over the two singles, and skip over the rest. Our primary function now is to be a singles band, that drives Pumpkins Inc through singles. We'll still be creative, but in a different form. We won't do [the same old] live shows [either], where we try to draw a good crowd and balance the past with the present. We'll go small and do exactly what we want to do and stop playing catalogue. We'll be like a new band that can't rely on old gimmicks. I'm not stupid. I want people to feel good about what we do".

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CHRIS BROWN IS BILLBOARD'S ARTIST OF THE YEAR
US R&B star Chris Brown has been named Billboard's Artist Of The Year. It's the second time he's been awarded the accolade (he also got it back in 2006) which isn't bad going for a nineteen year old. Number two on the list, which is worked out using sales figures as well as radio airplay and internet streams, was rap star Lil Wayne, whilst Brown's girlfriend Rihanna made number three. Those two must feel pretty pleased with themselves. Four and five on the list were Alicia Keys and Taylor Swift.

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MARR DOESN'T SAY MUCH ABOUT SMITHS REUNION RUMOURS
Johnny Marr has said not a great deal about rumours doing the rounds that, because he and Morrissey are speaking, The Smiths will reform. The guitarist told 6Music that he hasn't "really given it much thought". So that's the big news of the day.

He was also spoke about his work remastering that previously reported new Smiths compilation, saying: "I think everyone was glad that I stepped up to the breach. I didn't have to do it, it could have come out anyway - but I just felt like it was doing a disservice to the band and the people who were buying the records. Over the years there have been releases of the records and I wasn't happy with the way they sounded. So I rolled my sleeves up and fixed that, and I'm pretty happy with the way that turned out".

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GUNS N ROSES DENY ORIGINAL LINE UP PLANS
Talking of reunions, Guns n Roses have denied rumours that original members Slash and Duff McKagan are planning to return to the band, following the release of the long, long, long, etc waited album 'Chinese Democracy'. The group's manager Irving Azoff says this: "There are no plans of a reunion, nor have there been any discussions of a reunion, with former Guns N' Roses band members. In the future, we hope that if media have any questions concerning GN'R, they'd at least check their facts before running inaccurate stories for their own benefit".

Elsewhere in Guns n Roses news, Axl Rose has said that Brian May's contribution to the new album wasn't changed out of spite. The Queen guitarist's work was, according to him, edited beyond recognition, a fact he considered "a shame". Justifying it all, Rose wrote on the band's official website, "There's a few reasons [why it was edited], and none of them all that big and definitely not in spite or to slight anyone. Brian's solo itself is a personal fave of mine and I really couldn't understand, as he's such a rock legend, why it wasn't openly appreciated more at the time. [The editing of his contribution] had a lot to do with Sean [Beavan] and I and the parts I chose out of Brian's different runs, versions, practice runs. And though Brian seems to have warmed a bit to it, at least publicly, he was unfortunately none too pleased at the time with our handiwork. I remember looking at Brian standing to my left and him staring at the big studio speakers a bit aghast saying, 'But that's not what I played'. Sean Beavan and I were not in any way trying to mess with Brian, we just did what we do and then try and do our best to stand up for our decisions".

Finally, in GNR news, the frontman has been talking about a 'Chinese Democracy' follow-up. Answering fans' message-board questions, he confirmed that there is leftover material that could form a second record. Rose wrote: "For now we'll concentrate and keep our focus on this album, but I will say I've always thought of it as a double".

My advice would be to not hold your breath on that, however.

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ALLEN RECORDS BRITNEY COVER
Lily Allen has done a cover of Britney Spears single 'Womanizer'. We know this because Mark Ronson played it on his weekly New York radio show. He told listeners: "As promised, Lily has a habit of making some great bootlegs, remember her '(Nan, You're A) Window Shopper' send up? Check me out, I have a Lily Allen song you've never heard".

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NO STAN SEQUEL ON NEW EMINEM ALBUM
Eminem has denied claims that there will be a Swizz Beatz-produced sequel to 'Stan' on his new album. As previously reported, Swizz Beatz himself said such a song did exist in an interview with MTV last month. But Eminem says he hasn't worked with the producer at all on 'Relapse'.

Eminem told Billboard: "I haven't worked with Swizz on this album. There isn't a 'Stan 2,' and there won't be. Stan drove his car off a bridge and I'm not writing a song as Stan's ghost. That would just be really corny".

He added that working with Dr Dre on the new album has felt like when the two collaborated on his early work. "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man", he said. "Just him banging away on tracks and me getting that little spark that makes me write to it. I don't have chemistry like that with anyone else as far as producers go - not even close. Dre will end up producing the majority of the tracks on 'Relapse'. We are up to our old mischievous ways... let's just leave it at that".

Discussing a track from the album, 'Crack A Bottle', which recently leaked online, the rapper said: "[That got me] really heated. It wasn't close to finished, and it even has me doing guide vocals for Dre as a suggestion of how he could lay his verses down. It's like someone catches you peeping in your window before you got the Spider Man costume all zipped up! Nobody is supposed to see that. We are gonna finish it up though and get it out there how it's supposed to be".

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MGMT AND OF MONTREAL TEAM UP
MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden and Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes have announced that they are teaming up for a side project, called Blikk Fang. The pair are reportedly working with producer Jon Brion, who has worked with the likes of Kanye West and CMU favourite Fiona Apple.

Barnes told Rolling Stone: "Me and Andrew Andrew VanWyngarden from MGMT have a project together I really want to get off the ground in 2009. The stuff we've done so far is sort of a soulful prog. We've actually created about 20 minutes of music. We've both been travelling like crazy so it's hard to get together. It's kind of fun because that stuff we did months and months ago and when we get together again, we'll have different ideas that we're excited about. It's probably gonna be a pretty schizophrenic, crazy album".

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ARCADE FIRE RELEASE FILM NOIR
Arcade Fire release a new documentary called 'Miroir Noir' today. Directed by Vincent Morisset and the band, the film follows the making of their 2007 album 'Neon Bible', showing the group in their Montreal studio and the making of their promotional films, plus live versions of songs from both 'Neon Bible' and 'Funeral'.

The film is available exclusively through www.miroir-noir.com and comes in downloadable, standard DVD and deluxe DVD forms. The deluxe DVD also features the band's live performances on 'Tonight With Jonathon Ross' and 'Saturday Night Live', in addition to the film itself.

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ELTON DONATES GIG TICKETS TO NHS STAFF
Elton John has donated a thousand tickets to one of his concerts to the NHS to thank medical staff for their hard work. Two hospitals in the Midlands received the tickets, which they sold to Health Service workers for a small fee to raise money for their in-house charities. A representative for one of the two hospitals, University Hospital Birmingham, said: "It is a good gift to the hospital at Christmas. Our staff can go out and enjoy themselves after a year of helping people".

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GLASTONBURY CAGEY ABOUT 2009 HEADLINERS
Glastonbury organisers have refused to comment on whether or not the headliners of next year's festival will be Blur, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, as has been rumoured. Kanye West is also rumoured to be playing the Other stage, while Radiohead, The Specials, Grace Jones, The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are also tipped to appear on the bill.

Glastonbury spokesman John Shearlaw refused to confirm or deny anything, saying: "We have no plans to make an announcement regarding the lineup at this point. However, we will be bringing the announcement forward next year to 1 Feb".

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MORRISSEY ADDS DATES TO UK TOUR
Morrissey has added two more dates to his May 2009 UK tour. These dates will precede his reunion tour with The Smiths. No, not really.

The extra dates are:

8 May: Glasgow, Barrowlands
29 May: London, Brixton Academy

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AMADOU & MARIAM ANNOUNCE UK TOUR
Amadou & Mariam, whose 'Welcome To Mali' album you really should own, have announced some UK and Ireland tour dates for next year. Which is very nice of them.

Here are the dates:

24 Feb: Brighton, Concorde 2
25 Feb: London, Koko
26 Feb: Bristol, Academy,
28 Feb: Edinburgh, Picturehouse
1 Mar: Dublin, Vicar Street

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FUCKED UP, BRONX & ROLO TOMASSI FOR SHRED YR FACE 2
Look at this, some more exciting tour news. It must be Christmas. Following this year's Shred Yr Face tour, which saw No Age, Los Campesinos! and Times New Viking head out on a co-headline bill, the next round of face shredding has been announced for February and March next year. The line-up for Shred Yr Face 2 will be Fucked Up, Rolo Tomassi and Bronx, which is like some kind of hardcore heaven.

Tour dates:

26 Feb: Leeds, Cockpit
27 Feb: Glasgow, Garage
28 Feb: Manchester, Club Academy
2 Mar: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
3 Mar: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
4 Mar: London, Electric Ballroom
5 Mar: Brighton, Concord
6 Mar: Birmingham, Academy

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BLUR TO PLAY SECOND HYDE PARK SHOW
Blur have announced that they'll play a second date in London's Hyde Park next summer, after their previously reported planned reunion on 3 July sold out on Friday.

Elsewhere in Blur reunion news, the band members insisted that they aren't just doing it to make some cash. Graham Coxon told NME "We all know our wells have not run dry so it's no act of desperation".

Damon Albarn added: "It's something we've been thinking about for a while and we're coming back into focus because Graham and I have reconciled our differences which drove the band apart".

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BUENA, COCKER FOR KNIFE CRIME GIG
Ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena and Jarvis Cocker are both to appear at a gig at London's Southbank Centre aimed at persuading young people to stop carrying knives. As you are no doubt aware, record numbers of young people have died in the capital as a result of knife attacks in the last year.

The event has been organised by beatbox type Shlomo, who will provide backing for the aforementioned stars, and who says: "I really believe that beatboxing and music in general gives us the potential to inspire a change, to move away from the despondent attitudes that have led to problems with postcode wars, drugs, knives and gun crime. Working creatively with young people gives them an opportunity to take an interest in their own development. Suddenly it can be considered cool to apply yourself to something. Beatboxing is an ideal tool - it is uniquely inclusive because everybody has a voice. You don't need to pay a penny for any equipment, and a group of people can start to make music together in no time at all. Plus it's cool, kids want to do it".

Mayor Boris Johnson has given the event his approval, saying: "Music and other creative activities can provide the much needed opportunities and motivation for young people to reach their potential and stay on the right track. I am pleased to be able to support Shlomo's event and I wish him well with his future outreach projects".

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700 MADE REDUNDANT AS EUK WINDS DOWN
Seven hundred people were made redundant by eUK on Friday following the news the CD/DVD distributor was moving into liquidation.

As previously reported, hopes that a buyer would be found for the Woolworths-owned distribution firm faded at the end of last week after one interested party withdrew from negotiations. Administrators who are dealing with the collapse of both eUK and sister company Woolworths thus decided that they had to start looking into selling off the distributor's assets rather than selling the company as a going concern, though they say they will still consider offers for the company as a whole if any are made.

375 workers have been kept on to keep the company ticking over in the meantime, but the future for them doesn't look so good either.

Dan Butters of administrators Deloitte told reporters on Friday: "Regrettably, despite our continued efforts, we have been unable to identify a suitable buyer for the business. Whilst we will continue to consider offers for the sale of the business as a going concern, we will now focus on realising value from the company's assets. Unfortunately, it has been necessary to make 700 redundancies at the company's head office and distribution centres in Middlesex. We will retain a core team of 375 employees".

He added that administrators were working with Job Centre Plus and the Insolvency Service's Redundancy Payments Service in relation to the redundancies.

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WARNER EXPAND NORTHERN EUROPE INDIE DISTRIBUTION
And now news of expansion in the distribution sector - because it does happen on occasion. Warner Music's independent label distribution division, the Alternative Distribution Alliance, has launched a new Nordic operation providing digital and physical distribution services for indie labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The new division will be run by Jesper Thorsson, formerly of Swedish indie the Bonnier Amigo Music Group, who told reporters: "ADA Nordic has been created specifically to offer the best service and support to the region's diverse, dynamic community of indie labels. We will provide our partners and their outstanding artists with a host of new opportunities via our powerful distribution footprint, strong sales philosophy and commitment to assist in long-term artist development".

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BON JOVI TOP BILLBOARD TOUR CHART
Bon Jovi were the biggest touring act in the world this year according to Billboard's Boxscore chart, with over two million people attending 100 sold-out shows by the band between November 2007 and November 2008, generating $210.6 million in ticket sales.

Asked about his band's touring dominance this year, Jon Bon Jovi told reporters: "The foundation of our success was and is touring. Whether it was a night club or a stadium we played each show like it was our biggest show. Our fans have been the reason why a second generation now share in this great honour. We thank you all".

In case you wondered, the top ten biggest grossing tours of the year were as follows...

1. Bon Jovi - $210.6 million
2. Bruce Springsteen - $204.6million
3. Madonna - $162 million
4. The Police - $150 million
5. Celine Dion - $91 million
6. Kenny Chesney - $86 million
7. Neil Diamond - $81.2 million
8. Spice Girls - $70 million
9. Eagles - $56.6 million
10. Rascal Flatts $55.8 million

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FORMER FOX MUSIC HEAD JOINS CONNECTED ARTISTS
London based management company Connected Artists have announced the appointment of Jacquie Perryman, formerly Head Of TV Music for Twentieth Century Fox in LA, to the role of Head of Film/TV. Her appointment will boost Connected's expertise in the increasingly important synch rights market, getting their artists' music featured in films, TV programmes, games and ad campaigns.

Connected boss Paul McDonald told CMU: "We are delighted to have Jacquie on board as her vast experience of placing music in the world of film and TV will be a huge addition to our management portfolio. The world of synchs is such an important one when we are all looking to give our acts a competitive edge away from the traditional media outlets. Jacquie's 20 plus years of experience and her contacts are unequalled".

Perryman herself adds: "I am excited to work at a new and growing company, with an enthusiastic and dedicated team of great people, and a roster of very talented and diverse artists. It all starts with the artists and music, and this is an innovative business model of a creative hub with satellite businesses serving and developing that talent in all areas. I am really looking forward to bringing in all kinds of TV and film opportunities for the roster. And they have fantastic offices!"

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LAVIGNE TO GO TO FRONT LINE?
Following those reports last week that Avril Lavigne was parting company with Nettwerk management, rumours today that she is hiring the services if Irving Azoff's Front Line Management which is, of course, now part of the Ticketmaster group. Those rumours come as chatterers say Lavigne has quit Nettwerk because of growing dissatisfaction with album and concert ticket sales which, she presumably thinks, are lower than they could be because of management decisions. If that's true it'll be a little ironic given that Nettwerk and its chief Terry McBride are known as pioneers in developing non-traditional revenue streams for their artists, while one of their biggest (former) artists, Lavigne is, it seems, very much focused on the two most traditional sources of income.

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PRIME MINISTER OPENS NEW GLOBAL RADIO HQ
The Prime Minister, that's Gordon Brown in case you'd forgotten, opened the new HQ of Global Radio last week.

The new HQ for Global is just the old HQ of GCap and, before that, Capital Radio, but the ribbon-cutting exercise was to celebrate the arrival of Global stations Heart and LBC to the Leicester Square base following Global's takeover of their bigger rival earlier this year. It does now mean that two of the biggest competitors in the London radio market - Capital Radio and Heart - are now under the same roof. Brown cut the ribbon at the newly named offices before guesting on LBC.

It's mad to think that when the Capital Radio Group moved into the Leicester Square offices in 1997 it housed just two radio stations - Capital FM and Capital Gold. It now houses Capital FM, LBC, Heart, Choice, Classic FM, XFM and Gold plus the headquarters of the biggest commercial radio company in the country.

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X-TRAX CLOSES
Radio industry magazine X-Trax, which provided radio presenters with source materials for their shows as well as coverage of general developments in the radio sector, has gone into administration. It followed much speculation as to the future of the magazine after staff stopped returning phone calls. A notice in the London Gazette has confirmed that administrator Simon Plant was appointed on 21 Nov to oversee the administration of the magazine and its owner Worldwebchannels.com Limited.

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ANALOGUE RADIO SWITCH-OFF COULD BE COMPLETED BY 2020
The Digital Radio Working Group is expected to this week predict that the switch-over from analogue to digital radio could be completed by 2020, this despite the insecure state of the digital audio broadcasting sector and the continued popularity and profitability of old school FM radio services.

The optimism regarding the switch off of analogue signals is presumably based on the increasing number of DAB radio sets being sold, coupled with an increasing trend for the public to access radio services via digital TV systems or the internet. Even though many DAB specific services have been closed in recent years, more and more people are accessing existing FM radio services via digital rather than analogue routes. It's also thought setting a deadline for the analogue switch off will give digital, and DAB in particular, a much needed boost in uptake.

That said, the DRWG recognises that DAB signals will not be available all over the UK by 2020, so that some analogue signals will have to remain for sometime after that. There is some disagreement as to who should pay to make sure DAB can be received all over the country.

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MIXMAG TO PARTNER WITH CREAMFIELDS AGAIN
Organisers of Creamfields have announced that Mixmag will return as their media partners for their 2009 event, which means they ignored my advice to capitalise on their new Cheshire site and do a media deal with the never dull Cheshire Life magazine - coverage all those DJs and ravers next to the latest wedding and party photos from the Cheshire elite would have been brilliant.

Confirming the partnership, Mixmag's Associate Publisher James Mowbray told reporters: "Everybody at Mixmag is very pleased and excited to be working with Creamfields once again. We're looking forward to hosting an amazing arena and having a fantastic party at the event".

Cream CEO, James Barton adds: "Creamfields celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and has developed into the world's leading dance festival, so it seems only fitting we have the UK's leading dance music bible back where they belong. With some exciting times ahead, we look forward to working with them and developing an even better festival for 2009"

Radio 1 will also return as the dance fest's broadcast partner.

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COVER STORY MISSING FROM JANUARY GQ
Well, not completely. This isn't really music news, but it's an amusing media story nonetheless. A handful of copies of the latest edition of GQ have one section printed twice, and another section missing completely. Unfortunately the missing 32 pages include the interview and photoshoot with cover star Jessica Biel. Some reports suggest a big portion of the January edition of the magazine are affected by the cock up, though a spokesman for publisher Conde Nast says it's literally just a few copies.

Said statement reads: "The printer used by GQ confirmed that the omission and subsequent duplication of a section of the January issue was caused by human error in the bindery. Further investigation has revealed that a maximum of 10 such 'rogue' copies could have been affected in this way. Whilst it in no way excuses their responsibility for quality control this is obviously a tiny number of affected issues for a magazine with a circulation of 130,008 (ABC Jan-Jun 2008). St Ives have confirmed in writing today that they will ensure it never happens again".

Said statement reads: "The printer used by GQ confirmed that the omission and subsequent duplication of a section of the January issue was caused by human error in the bindery. Further investigation has revealed that a maximum of 10 such 'rogue' copies could have been affected in this way. Whilst it in no way excuses their responsibility for quality control this is obviously a tiny number of affected issues for a magazine with a circulation of 130,008 (ABC Jan-Jun 2008). St Ives have confirmed in writing today that they will ensure it never happens again".

Oh, the especially amusing gag related to this story seems to have been omitted.

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CHART UPDATE
Oh, hi there. You've just caught me rifling through this week's single and album charts. What's that? Tell you what I've observed in them? Well, okay then.

Leona Lewis is still sitting at the top of the singles chart, keeping it warm and ready to hand over to this year's X Factor winner, Alexandra Burke, next week. That's the plan, anyway, I presume. Meanwhile, Kings Of Leon (not Kings Of Leona, as I nearly typed) move up to number 2 with 'Use Somebody' and Bandaged, aka Terry Wogan and Aled Jones, go straight in at number 3 with 'Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth'.

Outside the top 10, other Christmas songs continue to creep up the chart. Mariah Carey moves from 17 to 12 with 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl move from 19 to 13 with 'Fairytale Of New York', Wham! move from 36 to 26 with 'Last Christmas', Wizzard move from 48 to 31 with 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day', Slade move from 49 to 32 with 'Merry Xmas Everybody', Shakin' Stevens moves from 44 to 36 with 'Merry Christmas Everybody', Basshunter is at 38 with 'Jingle Bells' and Status Quo's brand new Christmas single, 'It's Christmas Time', goes straight in at 40.

As for other new entries in this week's singles chart - good luck finding them. There are some large moves from further down the chart, though. Boyzone move from 56 to 22 with 'Better', Gabriella Cilmi is up from 66 to 29 with 'Warm This Winter', Ladyhawke's 'My Delerium' jumps from 62 to 33 and Ne-yo bounds from 77 to 37 with 'Mad'.

Over to the album chart and, of course, Take That's new album, 'The Circus' is still at number 1. Britney's 'Circus', however, crashes down the chart to number 14, making it the least successful comeback album since, er, 'Chinese Democracy' by Guns N Roses.

As for new entries in the chart, they're about as rubbish as those in the singles chart. Worse, in fact, because there are no totally new entries to the overall chart and no particularly big moves from outside the top 40. Those that have jumped the wall are The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, who move from 41 to 29, Bette Midler's best of, which moves from 42 to 30, Ne-yo's 'Year Of The Gentleman' which pops back into the chart, shifting up from 43 to 32, and Katherine Jenkins' 'Sacred Arias' which bobs up to 39 from 46.

This is the final Chart Update of 2008, as CMU closes for the festive holiday on Friday. Which means I won't be able to reveal the Christmas number one to you next week. So, I'll just have to predict what's going to top the charts instead. I think I'll play it safe in the singles charts and go with the fairly obvious forecast that X Factor winner Alexandra Burke will have the most wanted number one slot of the year. Yeah, I know everyone wants it not to be so, but let's face it, her version of 'Hallelujah' isn't actually that bad (unlike JLS's horrible rendition) and Jeff Buckley's version (currently at number 30) isn't going to beat her, however much campaigning you do.

As for the number 1 album, well, I guess it's another obvious one. I reckon Take That will hold onto the top spot for a third week. They say lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place, but that's because "they" don't understand science. Last time Take That released an album was, of course, 2006's 'Beautiful World', which went to number one on 6 Dec and stayed there for six weeks. Back then, it was because the then new reunion of Take That was an exciting thing and the album was top of at least one person's Christmas list in every household in the UK. These things normally fizzle out and die, but Take That's reunion has continued to go from strength to strength. Therefore, I expect 'The Circus' to be even more successful than its predecessor. Not least because this time around they haven't hurriedly put an album together to capitalise on unexpected success. This time, it seems, a lot of time and effort has gone into getting it right. And it sounds a bit like Coldplay, who are quite popular too I believe.

So, there you go. Those are my predictions. I probably should have been more outlandish and said that I thought Slayer would top both charts. You have a few days left in which to buy up as many Slayer CDs as are needed to make that happen.

The chart comes from the Official Chart Company - www.theofficialcharts.com

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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's the Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock over the weekend - www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.

1. AC/DC - Black Ice (Sony/Columbia)
2. Nickelback - Dark Horse (Warner/Roadrunner)
3. Guns n Roses - Chinese Democracy (Universal/Geffen)*
4. Metallica - Death Magnetic (Universal/Mercury)
5. Kid Rock - Rock - N Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)
6. Linkin Park - Road To Revolution (Warner Bros)*
7) Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone (Warner/Roadrunner)
8. Rise Against - Appeal To Reason (Universal/Geffen)
9. Mudvayne - The New Game (Vibrant)
10. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros)
11. Hinder - Take It To The Limit (Universal)
12. AC/DC - Back In Black (Sony/Columbia)
13. Guns n Roses - Greatest Hits (Universal/Geffen)*
14. Status Quo - Pictures 40 Years Of Hits (Universal)
15. Nickelback - All The Right Reasons (Warner/Roadrunner)
16. Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder (Warner/Roadrunner)
17. Queen - Greatest Hits 1,2,3 (EMI)
18. Disturbed - Indestructible (Warner/Reprise)
19. Sammy Hagar - Cosmic Universal Fashion (Roadrunner)*
20. The Offspring - Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (Sony Music)

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SUB.TV PLAYLIST
Yes, it's the Sub.tv playlist, the videos played on the Sub.tv network of screens in students' unions around the UK this coming week. New entries marked with a *. More info from [email protected].

A-List
Beyoncé - Single Ladies*
Coldplay - Lovers In Japan*
Glasvegas - Please Come Back Home
Gym Class Heroes ft Estelle - Guilty As Charged
Kid Cudi vs Crookers - Day 'N' Nite*
Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
Lady Gaga - Just Dance
Ladyhawke - My Delirium
Lily Allen - The Fear*
Oasis - I'm Outta Time
Outsiders ft Amanda Wilson - Keep This Fire Burning
Rihanna - Rehab
Snow Patrol - Crack The Shutters
Sugababes - No Can Do
Wiley ft Daniel Merriweather - Cash In My Pocket
The Wombats - Is This Christmas?

B-List
Chipmunk feat. Loick Essien - Beast
DMT - Touch Me*
The Fratellis - A Heady Tale
Iglu and Hartly - Violent and Young
Kanye West - Heartless
Keane - Perfect Symmetry
Ne-Yo - Mad*
Official Secrets Act - So Tomorrow
Pink - Sober*
Portishead - Magic Doors
Rolo Tomassi - I Love Turbulence
Timmy Vegas ft Bad Lay-Dee - Another Dimension*
Tinchy Stryder ft Taio Cruz - Take Me Back*
Tommy Sparks - I'm A Rope*
The View - Shock Horror*
White Lies - To Lose My Life*

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MTV2/MYSPACE CHART
It's the MTV2/MySpace chart, based on votes by MTV2 viewers on MySpace. The top ten this week is as follows...

1. [2] Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
2. [1] Paramore - Decode
3. [NE] Hawthorne Heights - Somewhere In Between
4. [9] Oasis - I'm Outta Time
5. [4] Apocalyptica - I Don't Care
6. [6] The Killers - Human
7. [8] Panic At The Disco - Northern Downpour
8. [5] Kaiser Chiefs - Good Days Bad Days
9. [NE] Archangel - How To Lose Your Best Friend
10. [7] Eagles Of Death Metal - Wanna Be In LA

Meanwhile, added to list for viewer voting this week are...

Bloc Party - One Month Off
Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
The All American Rejects - Gives You Hell
The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
The View - Shock Horror

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MCCARTNEY SAYS HE WAS POLITICAL, TOO
Paul McCartney has been talking about how The Beatles became politically motivated, and implies that he had as much to do with it, or more, in fact, than John Lennon. Which is clearly controversial, because everyone knows that John Lennon was the first man in the world ever to want peace, and nobody has ever wanted it as much as him. We know this because he wrote that song 'Imagine'.

Anyway, speaking to Prospect, McCartney said this, about how he met philosopher Bertrand Russell in the sixties: "We sort of stumbled into things. For instance, Vietnam. Just when we were getting to be well known, someone said to me: 'Bertrand Russell is living not far from here in Chelsea, why don't you go and see him?' and so I just took a taxi down there and knocked on the door. He was fabulous. He told me about the Vietnam war - most of us didn't know about it, it wasn't yet in the papers - and also that it was a very bad war. I remember going back to the studio either that evening or the next day and telling the guys, particularly John [Lennon], about this meeting and saying what a bad war this was".

Anti-war chap Tariq Ali has treated this claim with some scepticism. He told The Sunday Times: "This is news to me. We never heard of Paul's views at the time. It was John Lennon who was concerned about the war. He never mentioned McCartney and I never thought of asking him to join us".

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PETE WENTZ ON BABY PICTURES
Pete Wentz has said via his blog that he and his wife Ashlee Simpson are not planning to sell pictures of their new baby Bronx to the highest bidder just now. It seems to be a response to reports on gossip sites claiming that the couple had asked too high a price for pictures of the little one.

Wentz says: "Like every celeb couple we were offered mounds and mounds of money by mags from here to Guam to pimp out the baby. We just don't want to go down that road with him. We have made the decision to not sell Bronx's baby pictures right now. We understand that like other celebrities have said, "there is a bounty on our heads" for these pictures. There is a danger when there are cameras being held over walls and into our backyard. We are followed day and night and that was fine when it was us but we are going to do our best to shelter Bronx from that as much as possible...We know there will be a time when we'll share him with everyone because that insatiable curiosity becomes unsafe or simply because we're proud parents who want to show him off!"

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COWELL EMBARRASSED BY LEAKED DOCS
Simon Cowell is embarrassed because it's been revealed that the conditions of a contract signed by X Factor contestants include one barring them from publicly criticising him.

He says: "It's slightly embarrassing when any commercial contract goes out. I wasn't aware I was one of the clauses. You can't be horrible about me? That's probably the most useless clause in the history of contracts, because everybody does talk horribly about me, and you know what? I don't care. It sounds ridiculously hypocritical for me to slate loads of people who come on the show and then say, 'You have to be nice about Simon'".

Cowell was also forced to defend the figures pertaining to the recording contract given to the winner. Well, more to explain what a "million pound" record contract actually means - ie the winner of the show isn't handed a million pounds. Cowell explained thus: "It's £150,000 to the winner and that's a lot of dosh. Add in the recording costs of between £300,000 and £500,000, videos are £200,000, £250,000 for advertising and £150,000 for marketing. We make a £1 million commitment to the winner".

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BONO GETS MAN OF PEACE PRIZE
Bono was presented with a Nobel Man Of Peace prize (which is different from the actual Nobel Peace Prize) for his humanitarian work this weekend, presumably as a result of him single handedly making poverty history.

He was given his gong at an event in Paris in the presence of five former Nobel Peace Prize winners, and on receiving the prize he told his audience: "This is a very big award for me, because let's be honest this is as close as I am going to get - as close as a rock star is ever going to get to the Nobel Peace Prize. I am an over-awarded, over-rewarded rock star. You [the Peace Prize winners in attendance] are the people who do the real work. So I am very, very pleased to be in such esteemed company".

Oh hang on, this just in, Bono didn't actually make poverty history, the whole premise of using excessive consumerism to combat a problem caused in part by excessive consumerism being fundamentally flawed. Oh well. Perhaps he could auction off his award on eBay. That might buy a few tents.

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