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![]() TICKETMASTER CHANGE TICKETSNOW PROMOTION AFTER SPRINGSTEEN ANGER He issued an apology after Springsteen's official website posted a message accusing the ticketing giant of deliberately and misleadingly redirecting fans to their secondary ticketing resale site TicketsNow. Springsteen's people commented after a number of the singer's fans complained that when they tried to buy tickets for one his shows via the Ticketmaster website they consistently got an error message, which then redirected them to TicketsNow, where they could buy tickets on the secondary market off online touts, but at a considerable mark up (Ticketmaster, of course, take a cut of that mark up on their TicketsNow site). A statement from Springsteen and his band said they were "furious" that their fans were being redirected to TicketsNow from their official tickets site, adding: "We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest. Ticketmaster is there to ensure that we have a good, fair sale of our tickets at their face value plus normal ticketing charges". It's not the first time Ticketmaster, who got into the secondary ticketing market last year by acquiring TicketsNow in North America and Get Me In Here in the UK, have come under criticism for redirecting fans from official ticket sale webpages to unofficial resale auctions. The Consumers' Association Of Canada recently described the practice as "a conflict, a monopoly and unconscionable". Ticketmaster say they provide the link to TicketsNow only when their main site is unable to sell primary tickets for an event, either because they are not an agent for that event, or because all primary tickets are sold out. They argue that is an added value service for consumers keen to get tickets by any means. However, in the case of the Springsteen tickets, it seems that fans were redirected to the sister website when the primary site was simply unable to cope with demand, ie because of bandwidth rather that ticket availability issues. Either way, with Springsteen et al on the war path, Azoff quickly issued a statement apologising profusely, and pledging to restrict the occasions when the Ticketmaster website points consumers to TicketsNow, and to only offer the secondary ticketing option where an artist approves. He wrote: "While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologise to Bruce, his organisation and, above all, his fans". He continued: "We recognise that we need to change our course. We have committed to Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for Bruce's shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans' specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale. Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue, both of whom work together to bring the joy of live entertainment to millions of fans". And he concluded: "If any fans inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, we will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the face price of the ticket. (Please don't abuse this good faith gesture - we did not give brokers any preferential access to tickets). We are committed to helping deliver the most transparent and best live entertainment experience to fans. We will do better going forward". So there you go, if you want quick action on something, just send in Springsteen who is, it seems, really the boss. -------------------------------------------------- BLACK EYED PEA'S BROTHER MURDERED -------------------------------------------------- PETE DOHERTY TO LECTURE THE KIDS According to the society's website, Doherty will "talk life, love and much more" and interested parties are invited to "come for a taste of what a rock 'n roll (hopefully minus the sex and drugs) lifestyle entails". JIM JONES PLEADS NOT GUILTY OVER NE-YO ALTERCATION Jones handed himself in to police on 5 Jan after allegations were made of his involvement in an altercation between his posse and that of Ne-Yo at the Louis Vuitton store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan just before Christmas, an altercation which may or may not have also involved a Jay-Z associate who hangs out with the Ne-Yo team. After yesterday's court hearing in New York, Jones' attorney Scott Leemon told reporters: "I entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and [Jim] was released on his own recognisance". He added that the Assistant DA had requested that a $1000 bail be ordered to be paid, but the judge denied the request. The case will now return to court on 24 Mar. -------------------------------------------------- JACKSON AND RIHANNA SUED The claim stems from a sample of Dibango's 1972 track 'Soul Makoosa', which Jackson used on his 1983 single 'Wanna Be Startin Something'. The clip was cleared for use on the Jacko release, but when Rihanna used the same sample on her song 'Please Don't Stop The Music', Dibango claims, she only sought permission from Jackson to use it. And it wasn't Jackson's place to give that permission. Because he didn't write that snippet of music. You see the problem? Good. Anyway, Dibango has now filed a €500,000 law suit in Paris. The case is expected to be heard later this month. THE CRAMPS MAN DIES Legend has it that Lux, real name Erick Lee Purkhiser, met his Cramps collaborator and later wife Poison Ivy, real name Kristy Wallace, when she was hitchhiking in California and he picked her up. They started The Cramps in 1972, and after relocating to New York became part of the burgeoning mid-70s punk scene that grew up around the legendary CBGBs club. Although part of that community, in reality The Cramps were creating a scene all of their own, with songs and an act that was more camp, theatrical and sexual than that of many of their contemporaries. Some say they spearheaded somewhat unsatisfactorily-titled genres like 'psychobilly' and 'horror rock', but while it's hard to label the music they created they were certainly influential in their own way, with bands like Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Horrors, The Black Lips and maybe even The White Stripes owing a little to Purkhiser and Wallace. Various other guitarists and drummers were brought in over the band's thirty year career, with 2003's long player 'Fiends Of Dope Island' the thirteenth studio album of their career. Their quirky (you could say weird) look and attitude meant they attracted a cult following, and a grainy recording of a live show they performed at Napa State Mental Hospital in 1978 certainly became cult viewing. And while they were probably at their peak in the early eighties, they continued to recruit new and loyal fans as the years went by, and even appeared in an episode of the nineties incarnation of 'Beverly Hills 90210'. NEW FULL-ON CLASSICAL CHART LAUNCHED The new chart has been developed by the OCC in association with the BPI's Classical Committee, and the co-chair of that committee, Coda Distribution's Ginny Cooper, is quoted by Music Week thus: "Within the classical sector, there are many first-class performers providing first-class recordings which were not registering on the chart radar as the crossover titles were obviously higher profile and selling more. We felt however, that they were just as valid and wanted to provide an outlet to enable the public to see that sales of pure classical music is still alive and well". The chart will be published each week on the website of classical music magazine Gramophone. PLANT ON WHY LED ZEP REUNION IS A NO NO Well, I'm para-phrasing slightly, but frontman Robert Plant, whose non-participation scuppered plans for a full-on reunion tour, has told Absolute Radio that performing as Led Zep without the late Bonham, who died in 1980 of course, has never seemed right, because without him the band is "incomplete". Actually, now I'm felling bad about blaming poor old Jason. And the lack of Bonham on drums doesn't seem to be the only reason Plant isn't keen of reforming his old band. He told Absolute's Ben Jones: "I think the thing about it is really, is that to visit old ground, it's a very incredibly delicate thing to do. The disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind of exuberance to now, it's very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it justice". He continued: "No matter what you do, you have to really guard the discretion of what you've done in the past and make sure that you have all the reasons in the right place to be able to do something with absolute, total conviction. I mean, if my great award is to do this, then I don't want to do anything where we challenge what we did in the first place by just going back and visiting it without having a new, fresh makeover start". Ah, I know, the problem is obviously the passing of time - so that settles it, disgruntled Led Zep fans, you need to take out your anger on 'time'. I'm not sure where time lives, though I seem to remember he had a magazine, perhaps it says in there. WILL ELTON APPEAR ON NEW EMINEM LONG PLAYER? While none of this has been confirmed by anyone, it seems John was definitely in Detroit last October when Eminem was in town recording the new album. A source tells the Independent: "No one realised the significance, though the Detroit Free Press did mention that Elton had been in town. Elton really gets his music. Anything they produce will be total dope: some of Em's biggest records have been collaborations with mainstream pop stars - Dido on 'Stan', for example - and they really don't come much bigger, or more mainstream, than the man with the red piano". -------------------------------------------------- REVEREND PLANNING SOLO ALBUM Anyway, McClure told Teletext's Planet Sound: "It's going to be under my own name, and I think Drew McConnell from Mongrel [and Babyshambles, let's not forget] will produce it. I'm looking to do it when I get back from making the Mongrel record in Venezuela. It's just going to be me, an acoustic guitar, just a couple of other instruments and my barest songs". MARILYN MANSON ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM TITLE -------------------------------------------------- METRIC ARE BACK WITH ALBUM AND FREE DOWNLOAD The first single from the album, 'Help, I'm Alive', will be released on 9 Mar but, by jove, you can get your hands on an acoustic version of it right now as a free download from www.ilovemetric.com. -------------------------------------------------- FIRST UK SELLABAND ARTIST LAUNCHES ALBUM Rodino releases his album, 'Circles & Squares', on 11 May. It will be preceded by a single, 'Burn', on 9 Mar. VESSELS ANNOUNCE UK TOUR DATES What's that? You want to hear the 17 minute demo version of 'Wave Those Arms, Airmen' from the band's debut album 'White Fields And Open Devices'? Okay, go on then: vesselsband.com/wp-content/uploads/somnambulance.mp3 Tour dates: 2 Apr: Preston, Mad Ferret -------------------------------------------------- FIGHTSTAR TOUR 22 Apr: Oxford, Academy The band also play the Jagermeister Club Night at Rio in Leeds next week, 13 Feb. BLUR TO HEADLINE T -------------------------------------------------- TIGNESFEST SHOWCASES NEW MUSIC FOR FREE April will see the return of TignesFest, which separates itself from the other festivals happening in the mountains by letting punters in for free. All you have to do is get yourself there. Curating this year's event are Kissy Sell Out, Eddy Temple Morris and The Loose Cannons, and TignesFest take place in Tignes in the French Alps between 15-19 Apr. More info from www.tignesfest.com. ALBUM REVIEW: Crystal Stilts - Alight Of Night (Angular Records) Buy from iTunes 50 CENT PLANNING BEAUTY PRODUCT RANGER A source told reporters about the hip hopper's latest business venture: "Fifty prides himself on having a ripped body. he's on a health kick and barely touches alcohol. So his range will be for the guy who likes to be pampered". ESSENTIAL FORM ALLIANCE WITH ROCKET SCIENCE Confirming the partnership, Rocket Science founder Kevin Day said this: "The ability for Rocket Science to seamlessly move projects into the UK and Europe with tangible services attached and for Essential to do the same into the US offers an amazing platform for success for all parties". Essential founder Michael Chadwick added: "This relationship creates the first entity that can offer worldwide label services including distribution, marketing, promotion and rights management, to artists, managers and labels". This Rocket Science, by the way, should not be confused with London based music press company Rocketscience Media, who write their name as one word, obviously. -------------------------------------------------- MORE POST-PINNACLE NEW DISTRIBUTION DEALS Reissues label Ace Records, however, have bucked the trend of jumping from Pinnacle to Proper, and signed a new distribution deal with Plastic Head Music. NORWAY END INVESTIGATIONS INTO ITUNES DRM POLICY But with DRM now dropped from most a-la-carte music services, and with iTunes having negotiated new deals with the majors to let them sell tracks without DRM, such investigations seem a bit pointless. Which is presumably why Norwegian regulators have announced they are dropping its anti-competitive and anti-consumer investigations into Apple and its music services. A spokesman, Bjoern Erik Thon, told AFP: "We have no reason to pursue them anymore". KANGAROO IS OFFICIALLY DEAD The BBC, ITV and C4 all say they will now focus on their own telly on demand services. Perhaps ITV and C4 could spend some time looking at the Beeb's iPlayer and revamp their online video services accordingly, ie follow the BBC's clever lead in launching a player that actually works. -------------------------------------------------- FORMER EPIC BOSS MOVES INTO TELLY BOBBY BROWN TO BE A FATHER AGAIN -------------------------------------------------- E STREET BAND MIMED TOO Organisers of the Super Bowl say much of the music at the big game is pre-recorded because there simply isn't time to set up and sound check each band in the short slots that they have to play. Plus, from past experience, when female vocalists do sing live at the Super Bowl their bras fall off, and we don't want to go through all that again do we? -------------------------------------------------- OBAMA BUMPED FOR MORE WEIGHTY JESSICA SIMPSON STORY Asked about being bumped by a plump Jessica on The Today Show, Obama remarked: "It's a little hurtful. A weight battle, apparently. Yeah. Oh well". If it's any consolation, Simpson wasn't too pleased with the article on her weight either. -------------------------------------------------- WHO WILL BE THE NEW X FACTOR JUDGE? Allen told The Sun: "I haven't been asked but I'd love to do it. The world would be a lesser place if we did not have winners Leona Lewis and Alexandra [Burke]. It's a great programme and I think I'd be quite good". Of course, if Allen does get the job, she'll have to sit next to Cheryl Cole, who she has had the odd public spat with in the past. And if Victoria Beckham gets the job, she and Cole will have to do something to smooth over their relationship, too. Despite once being good friends, Cole recently made some derogatory remarks about Beckham's fashion designs, and claimed that the former Spice Girl had failed to offer her support after she discovered that her husband was having an affair. So, you know, it could be interesting. -------------------------------------------------- CLARKSON NOT A SECRET LESBIAN Clarkson told PopEater.com: "I get that all the time. People are like, 'Are you secretly a lesbian? Because I'd really love it'. Lesbians tell it to me all the time. I'm like, 'I'm glad it works for you and I wish I liked women like that because oftentimes men are very hard for me, but I happen to like boys'. I could never be a lesbian. I would never want to date [someone like] myself, ever. I'm a crazy person. I need some kind of stable, quiet man". |
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