There will be opportunities to get involved in projects such as festivals and conferences but in the main we are looking for reliable admin back up on the agency side of the business. If you would like any more details or to apply, please email a CV and cover letter to Alan on bearman@btinternet.com

Salary and benefits will be based on experience/ qualifications. Please apply by end of September.

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FILM PRODUCTION STUDIO TO RENT IN SHOREDITCH
A fully equipped film production studio in the heart of Shoreditch. An ideal temporary studio to meet all your freelance and overspill needs, with access to 2 cameras (Z1E and HC1E) with 2 sound kits, an HD edit suite with FCP Studio 2, HD deck, HD monitor and sound station. Full specs available on request. Includes a working space for up to four people. The space with production and post-production equipment is £200 per day, minimum hire of three days; 7 days is charged at 5 days. Discounts available for hire of 4 weeks plus. Please contact jobeda@fairknowledge.co.uk or 07809601366.

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YET MORE JACKSON: WILLS, FILMS AND MADONNA TRIBUTES
Katherine Jackson has been given the all clear to challenge the authority of the administrators of her late son's estate. As previously reported, Michael Jackson's most recent will named attorney John Branca and music exec John McClain as executors and they have since been dealing with the late king of pop's affairs, including entering into various commercial deals to try and cash in on Jacko's legacy.

Mrs Jackson raised concerns about Branca and McClain almost immediately, arguing that while Branca, in particular, had had a good working relationship with her son when the will was written in 2002, that wasn't the case by 2009. Branca, though, argued he had started working with Jacko again in the months before his untimely death, and that he was therefore up to speed on the singer's latest business dealings.

Katherine had already persuaded the court that she should also be given a say in the way her late son's estate was managed, but it seems she is now considering applying to have one or the other of the executors removed. The problem is that under the rules of a private trust set up by Jacko, if anyone set to benefit from the will contests any parts of it they will become 'disinherited'. This would mean that if Katherine, as one of the major beneficiaries of the trust, chose to contest Branca or McClain's position as executor, she would, in theory, risk losing the benefits she is due. If that makes sense.

Therefore Mrs Jackson's most recent application to the court was for confirmation that that provision of the trust would not be enacted should she make any moves to remove Branca or McClain. And the judge dealing with Jacko's estate, Mitchell Beckloff, provided that confirmation, neither executors having raised any objections. It now remains to be seen if Jackson makes any formal application to the court to have one of the executors removed from their post.

Despite all these legal wranglings, Branca and McClain do seem to be liaising with Mrs Jackson on the decisions they have made regarding the late singer's estate, and the big bucks business deals they are entering into on the estate's behalf. Nevertheless, there are reports that some in the Jackson family have expressed concerns about the previously reported documentary film set to feature footage from the rehearsals for the planned AEG-promoted O2 residency, some recorded just days before the king of pop's demise.

The movie, set to open in cinemas next month, is a collaboration between AEG, Sony Pictures, Sony Music and the Jackson estate. But some of Jacko's relations fear that AEG are perhaps using the documentary as a propaganda tool to counter reports that the singer was simply not fit enough to do a fifty night residency in London, and that the tour promoters had coerced him into such a big commitment against his will. It was the prospect of such a gruelling residency - conspiracy theorists argue - that led to Jackson in consuming such dangerous quantities of the prescription drugs that killed him. The AEG-produced film, some are alleging, will be edited to show Jacko to be much healthier than he really was.

The New York Post quote a source thus: "He [Michael Jackson] supposedly looks fit, together and excited. The family can't speak out because money will be paid to the trust, but privately, they fear the movie is propaganda to back AEG's argument that Michael was healthy and wasn't being exploited. While fans want to remember Michael as the king of pop, the family are still suspicious of AEG and how they handled Michael".

AEG, though, have pointed out that they just handed over their footage to Sony Pictures, and have left the editing of the documentary to the movie people, so have no control over how Jackson is portrayed. A spokesman for the film company, said the Post's source's claims "make no sense and don't deserve comment".

Talking of Jacko tributes, Janet Jackson is planning doing more tributing for her late brother following her performance at last week's VMAs. Rumour has it she is planning on doing a joint tribute with Madonna, who apparently chatted with Janet at the MTV awards event which, also apparently, Madge only attended in the first place because she wanted to pay her respects to Jacko.

Another of those sources said this: "It was a meeting of two great musical minds. Madonna was so impressed with Janet's tribute to Michael that they started talking about how great it would be to honour him by doing something together. With that one performance Janet proved she's back on top of her game. And who better to join forces with than Madonna? There was definitely something very interesting being planned between them".

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COLDPLAY FACE NEW RIP OFF CLAIM
Having settled their copyright dispute with Joe Satriani, the Coldplay team presumably have some spare time in their schedule to deal with another claim, so they'll be pleased to hear that another artist is now accusing them of being rip off merchants. I'm not sure this is actually going legal, but the claimant sounds a little pissed off.

The latest claim isn't related to a Chris Martin-penned song, but to the video for their track 'Strawberry Swing', which was released as a single last week, of course. Singer songwriter Andy J Gallagher says that the promo for the track - which has been described as "groundbreaking new video" by Coldplay's people - is incredibly similar to one he made for his song 'Something Else' last year. You can view the two vids at the YouTube links below and make up your own mind as to whether you agree with him. They certainly both have the stop animation chalk thing going on.

Meanwhile, here's what Gallagher has to say about it: "While I can't say they copied me, there are an awful lot of similarities between my video and theirs. I think it's unfair that 'Strawberry Swing' will probably be nominated for numerous awards and is being universally-acclaimed as groundbreaking, when Owen Trevor [the director of Gallagher's video] had virtually the same idea at least a year before".

Andy's video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvEuvtBBG0s

Coldplay's video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYtk1Z0UUuE

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LEONARD COHEN COLLAPSES ON STAGE
Leonard Cohen is busy recovering after collapsing on stage on Friday night at a concert in Valencia. He collapsed as he was performing 'Bird On A Wire', seemingly suffering from bad stomach cramps. It's since been reported he had food poisoning. He was taken to hospital as a precaution, but I think is doing fine now. As far as we know he will perform his concert in Barcelona tonight as planned. Fan filmed videos of the collapse have been circulating on the net, but you don't want to watch an old man collapse in agony while singing a song, do you?

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STONE TEMPLE WEILAND HAS SEIZURE
Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland experienced a mild seizure while flying from LA to Miami this weekend, causing the flight to make an emergency landing in Dallas. He was travelling with his Scott Weiland Band at the time of the incident.

An "is there a doctor on board" call was made on the flight, and oxygen administered, so much so by the time the plane made its emergency landing the singer had fully recovered and was reportedly in good spirits.

A rep for Weiland told Rolling Stone that the singer has a history of seizures but was "doing great" after this latest incident and expected to stick to his live commitments in Miami.

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AMY WINEHOUSE'S TEETH ACHE, BUT PRESUMABLY LOOK NICER
Into the dental wing of the pop hospital, and Amy Winehouse is apparently recovering from some pretty serious dental work. A dentist reportedly invaded the Aimster's mouth after her teeth started to decay pretty badly, I think because she's been too off her head to brush her teeth in recent years, though don't quote me on that bit. Apparently the dental work has left her in quite a bit of pain, sending her back to the drugs, though this time painkillers rather than the white stuff.

A source told The Sun: "Amy's teeth were in a pretty gross state. They were brown and stained and needed major work on them and she was determined to get them back to their sparkling best. It's all major work and it's left her in almost constant pain, but she thinks the sacrifice is worth it. She's been given some very strong drugs to cope with the pain".

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ROC RAIDA DIES
Grandmaster Roc Raida died this weekend, aged 37. Specifics of his cause of death have not been revealed, except that he was hospitalised last week and that his passing was a shock to all concerned. According to AllHipHop.com, rumours that his death was linked to a car accident or, more bizarrely, a karate accident, were denied by a spokesman.

A founder member of nineties turntablist outfit the X-Ecutioners, Roc Raida, real name Anthony Williams, began DJing at the age of ten, he being the son of a member of Sugar Hill-signed group The Mean Machine. He rose to international attention in hip hop circles by winning the DMC World DJ Championships in 1995, and subsequently became known for his production work as well as his turntable skills. He also appeared as the official tour DJ on Busta Rhymes' tours.

Paying tribute via Twitter, Rhymes said: "I just wanna thank everyone for your love and support and your prayers. We will never let your name die Roc... We love you and will forever miss you... RIP. I was told today. We are losing all of these great people this year as a result of God calling his army because something is about to go down!"

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AMELLE QUITS SUGABABES, RUMOURS SAY
A source told Heat on Friday that Amelle Berrabah had quit Sugababes, and that she will be replaced by this year's UK Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen. Meanwhile, Ewen's label, Geffen, issued a statement at around the same time saying: "Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we regret to inform you that Jade Ewen will be taking time off from all promotional activity for the foreseeable future".

The rumour mill quickly span out of control, mixing in those persistent rumours that the group's Keisha Buchanan is a bit of a bully. A source told The Sun: "Amelle has been desperately unhappy for a while. She was going to try and resolve things, but it must have got too much for her. They haven't been able to overcome their row. Jade is ready to replace Amelle. She is going to be shooting a video with them in Los Angeles on Monday".

Buchanan, however, denied all of this (except the bit about being in LA). She told The News Of The World: "We're all still in LA, me and the girls. There is no hate going on between us. There's the three of us in this band and no one is joining. It's not true [Jade Ewen is] joining. She's a friend of mine but no, I'm not a liar. It's completely false, that's the honest to God truth. One hundred percent".

It remains to be seen how much of anything that's been said is true, but the latest rumour is that Island Records are preparing to deliver a statement on the future of the group early this week.

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ASTEROIDS DO BMG DEAL
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, who you'll find on this week's CMU-Tube playlist, have signed a "comprehensive rights deal" with BMG Rights Management, the trendy new music rights agency set up by German media conglom Bertelsmann after they sold off their share of SonyBMG. As previously reported, BMG-RM are not a conventional record company, but will help artists who self-release their music to maximise the potential of their copyrights, be they recording or publishing rights.

TAGT are managed by ie:music, best known as Robbie Williams' managers of course, and ie's top men David Enthoven and Tim Clark have, for some time, been very public about their desire to find new ways to work with record companies and their like.

Confirming the BMG deal, Music Week quote Clark thus: "Combining master and publishing rights under the same deal means that we can exploit both in a much more complimentary fashion. David and I are particularly pleased to be renewing an association with Bertelsmann that stretches back to the late 60s when Ariola licensed so many of the artists with whom we worked, and continued with Robbie Williams' successful publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing".

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ASH ANNOUNCE FIRST A-Z SINGLE
Ash have announced the first single in their A-Z series. 'True Love 1980' will be released on 12 Oct. As previously reported, the band will be releasing 26 new singles, one every fortnight, for a year.

Watch the video for 'True Love 1980' here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXl8m_IJhpY

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BRAND NEW ON THE FUTURE: NOTHING PLANNED AS YET
Brand New guitarist Vinnie Accardi has been talking to Gigwise about rumours the band are considering calling it a day after they have finished touring their new album 'Daisy', explaining that the band just aren't that forward-thinking with their planning.

Accardi: "Rumours are interesting because the record isn't even out and people are talking about how it's the last one we'll ever make. To be honest we're not even sure what we're going to do about anything and all people seem to talk about is how this is the end of the band. It's possible that there might not be another record for a while, our touring and recording schedule might become something different to what it is now".

Continuing with the vagueness theme, Accardi added: " There is a lot of planning to be done about how this band can continue with its original members and how we can carry on doing what we do. That might involve us going away for a while but at the moment there is nothing definite planned".

'Daisy' is out today.

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COLD CAVE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR
Cold Cave, who are very good and feature ex-members of Some Girls and Xiu Xiu, have announced some UK tour dates, which is nice of them. They've also announced that, ahead of Matador's re-release of their debut album, 'Love Comes Close, they will release the single 'Death Comes Close' on limited edition 7" on 26 Oct.

Tour dates:

29 Oct: Bristol, Louisiana
30 Oct: Liverpool, Korova
31 Oct: Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete's
1 Nov: Glasgow, Optimo
2 Nov: Nottingham, Bodega
3 Nov: London, Madame Jo Jo's
4 Nov: London, Barfly
5 Nov: Manchester, Roadhouse
6 Nov: Bath, Moles
7 Nov: London, Proud Galleries

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THE DRUMS ANNOUNCE UK GIGS
Buzzy buzzy buzzy New Yorkers The Drums have announced their first round of UK gigs. They'll also play the Iceland Airwaves festival on 16 Oct, and before all of this gigging malarkey kicks off, they'll release their debut single, 'Let's Go Surfing' on 28 Sep and their debut EP, 'Summertime!', on 12 Oct via Moshi Moshi.

Tour dates:

20 Oct: Manchester, Night & Day (In The City)
21 Oct: Manchester, Deaf Institute
23 Oct: London, Koko
24 Oct: Swn Festival
27 Oct: London, Barfly

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MPA/BLUNT SUPPORT GOVERNMENT'S THREE-STRIKES MOVES
The Music Publishers Association has, unsurprisingly, thrown its support behind the government's latest plans to force the internet service providers to take action against persistent file-sharers through a "gradual response" programme (that will actually include quite a few more strikes than three, but which we're still calling 'three-strikes', mainly because we're attached to the baseball picture we use to illustrate these stories on the website).

As previously reported, even though the government's 'Digital Britain' report earlier this year was somewhat non-committal on forcing ISPs to take a more proactive role in the fight against file-sharing, since last month the government has become quite keen to do just that. That news has caused some in the music industry (mainly rights holders like record companies and music publishers, or those who sell recordings) to get all smiley, while others, including the Featured Artists' Coalition, British Academy Of Songwriters, Music Producers' Guild and the Music Managers Forum have been generally critical of the new plans, arguing that suspending the net connections of file-sharers will not stop file-sharing, and will just piss music fans off.

I think we knew that the big music publishers would be with the big record companies on this issue, and the MPA confirmed last week that they were supporting the "graduated response" programme the government was now proposing. And the trade body's top guard confirmed to Music Week they'd written to the government to say so.

Meanwhile the artist community continues to chatter on this one. As previously reported, the artists are somewhat divided. The Featured Artists' Coalition are among the biggest critics of the government's new plans, though the Musicians' Union are in support, and a number of established artists that you might expect to find at a FAC meeting have said they support any new laws that might stop online piracy. Lily Allen has been most vocal so far, supported by Patrick Wolf. Today, it's Mr James Blunt.

He writes in The Times: "At long last the government is looking to legislate to protect the industry. Peter Mandelson is looking to engage the internet service providers who, in my opinion, handle stolen goods, and should take much more responsibility. How this legislation pans out, and if it goes through at all, is critical to the survival of the British music business".

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2ENTERTAIN BOSS STANDS DOWN
The boss of 2entertain, the entertainment company owned by Woolworths and BBC Worldwide, has announced he is stepping down. 2entertain, which has DVD and production arms and also owns Demon Records, managed to survive the collapse of the Woolies empire more or less unscathed, with the Beeb's commercial division announcing quite quickly that it would buy the defunct former retailer out of the business.

Nevertheless, CEO Richard Green, who also held a post at Woolworth's eUK business, has announced he is departing the company. Music Week quote him thus: "I have been fortunate to work with many talented people and I would like to thank all my colleagues past and present for their support and commitment. These decisions are never easy, but as 2entertain prepares for its next cycle of development, the time was right for me to look for new challenges and adventures".

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US PUBLISHERS LOBBYING FOR MORE ONLINE ROYALTIES
The performing rights collecting societies in the US are apparently lobbying Congress to try and get some more royalty income out of download platforms like iTunes. Among the things on which they reckon they might be due royalties are the little 30 second preview clips.

Of course in America, unlike here in the UK, performing and mechanical royalties are managed by totally separate collecting societies. This wasn't previously much of a problem - because it was tour promoters and broadcasters who paid performing royalties (whenever songs were performed), and record companies who paid mechanical royalties (whenever 'mechanical copies' of songs were made - ie records or CDs were pressed).

But in the internet domain it gets confusing because some web music services count as broadcast-style 'performances', while others involve a 'mechanical copy' being made. Which means website owners have to deal with both kinds of collecting societies for the same music rights. In some areas - streaming for example - both kinds of collecting societies argue they are due a royalty payment, which is fun for the web service providers who negotiate one licence only to find another collecting society knocking at their door wanting money.

Download services like iTunes will only deal with the mechanical royalty people, which is why ASCAP and BMI - the performing royalty societies - are feeling left out. They don't currently have a relationship with the Apple store, but reckon that certain iTunes products and services - the aforementioned thirty second clips and the inclusion of music in downloadable TV shows and films - should be providing them with a royalty income.

Having already done tortuous deals with the record companies and the mechanical royalty types, Apple are understandably not keen to now sit down with ASCAP and BMI and work out why they should be paying the music publishers more cash. Which is, I think, why the collecting societies are now lobbying Congress for legal clarification as to what performing royalties are due to the publishers on the web.

Whether such lobbying will succeed remains to be seen. Certainly there are plenty of people who will speak out against the introduction of any new online music royalties. Reporting on this lobbying effort, C-net wrote last week: "At a time when many iTunes shoppers are still fuming over Apple's first-ever increase in song prices, the demands by ASCAP, BMI and other performing-rights groups, would likely lead to more price hikes at iTunes. For many, this would also undoubtedly confirm their perception that those overseeing the music industry are greedy".

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JUST UNDER 10% OF SPOTIFY USERS PAY
While we all love Spotify (though I must confess I'm using it a lot less than I was), those of us of a cynical persuasion are still not 100% convinced the uber-streaming music service will be a viable proposition once the venture capital money runs out, not unless a substantial number of people can be turned into premium ten-pounds-a-month paying subscribers.

The streaming music company are generally quite coy when it comes to discussing their exact business model, the royalties they are paying, and the number of premium subscribers. Though on that last issue Spotify boss Daniel Ek was more forthcoming last week, telling a Glasshouse event in London that under 10% of Spotify's users pay to use the service. It seems they have a million subscribers, with about 90,000 paying.

While that is, of course, £900,000 a month in the bank, most reckon that the streaming music company will need substantially more than that to make the company a going concern long term. Of course the service's mobile applications, which only work for premium users, are new to market, and may help boost that figure, though whether the boost will be big enough remains to be seen.

Though Ek is keen to stress that it is still early days for the service, adding that his priority remains the development of the service in the short term, before worrying too much about subscription revenue versus ad income sums. Still, the cynics remain, well, cynical. Though bundling of the service into ISP and/or mobile packages does remain an as yet untested option that might just overcome the mathematical problems those cynics insist on predicting.

PS: You all surely know this, but we forgot to report on it. Spotify is back to having invite-only sign ups in the UK, apparently because of a surge in demand after the launch of the aforementioned Spotify mobile apps. No word on how long it will be that only those invited by other users will be able to sign up. A long time I hope. I have seven invites going to the highest bidders.

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PIRATE BAY BUYERS FACE BANKRUPTCY CLAIM
Well, for those of us who are considering writing a book on it all, it's good to see that The Pirate Bay story is proving to be eventful right to the very last. Now the company which is planning on buying the rogue BitTorrent tracker and turning it legit is facing a bankruptcy claim in the Swedish courts.

Global Gaming Factory's multi-million acquisition of The Pirate Bay has been problematic from the start, with people claiming the company's top guard didn't have the money or shareholder support for the purchase, though the company's CEO Hans Pandeya has insisted throughout that everything is on track. Even when the company was taken off the Swedish stock exchange for being so vague about their Pirate Bay plans.

The bankruptcy proceedings have been launched by a former director of the tech firm who claims he is owed 1,378,525 kronor. According to The Register, the filing claims that "the debtor cannot legally pay its debts, and such incapacity cannot be regarded as 'temporary'". GGF have not, as far as I'm aware, responded to the legal claim.

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CHART UPDATE
I'm running out of ways to say that there's yet another new number one in the singles chart. No one seems able to hold on to that position of late. This week it's Taio Cruz's turn to attempt to stay there for more than seven days, as his new single, 'Break Your Heart', shoots straight to the top. Meanwhile, last week's number one, Pixie Lott, slips to number six.

Also new in the top ten is Madonna, who goes straight to number three with 'Celebration', and Shakira, who jumps from 25 to five with 'She Wolf'. Further down, there are yet more brand new entries, with Paramore at 14, Jay-Z at 15 with his Alicia Keys collaboration 'Empire State Of Mind', Paloma Faith at 21, Jay-Z again, this time with Mr Hudson, at 35, and bringing up the rear at 40, Cliff Richard and The Shadows with 'Singing The Blues'.

There are plenty of new entries in the album chart, too. No less than nine of them - six in the top ten. First up is a brand new number one from Muse, whose new album 'The Resistance' shoves Vera Lynn down to number two. Troubling Lynn on the other side, Peter Andre's latest offering is straight in at number three. I've not heard it, but 'Revelation' does have the funniest cover of any album released so far this year, so it's a highly deserved chart position just for that.

In at number four it's that Jay-Z fella, who hasn't quite managed to match the success 'The Blueprint 3' has had in America, where it's been breaking records. Still, he's got three tracks in the singles chart, so he shouldn't complain. I haven't got any tracks in the singles chart. Not even one.

David Gray is at five with 'Draw The Line', Pixie Lott is at six with 'Turn It Up', and then Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler is at nine with his latest solo outing, 'Get Lucky'. The remaining three new entries are all grouped together at 23, 24 and 25 - Paulo Nutini with 'Sunny Side Up', Porcupine Tree with 'The Incident', and Megadeth with 'Endgame'.

And that, my dears, is what's going on in this week's charts. Those charts were compiled by The Official Charts Company, don't you know.

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PETER ANDRE MOBBED IN SUPERMARKET
Peter Andre was mobbed by fans at a Hampshire branch of Asda last week, when he appeared there to sign copies of his latest album, 'Revelation'.

According to reports, around 50 people camped overnight to meet the reality TV star, but a total of around 6000 turned up on the day and many jumped over barriers, into shopping trolleys, and onto shelves to try to get closer to him. The surge meant that Andre had to be rushed out of the store and police were called to regain control of the situation.

Sergeant Darren Osgood of Hampshire Police told The People: "He was only brought back when the barriers had been repositioned and it was considered safe to do so. We had a presence here to maintain public order".

Meanwhile, Andre said: "I can't believe how many people have turned up. When I did a signing yesterday there were 2000 people there. I thought that was a one-off but this is just incredible. I never expected such support from the public".

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JAY-Z DEFENDS KANYE
While many, including Barack Obama, have been quick to suggest that Kanye West's outburst at last week's MTV Video Music Awards was a bit stupid, Jay-Z has come to his defence, telling Jo Whiley: "He's just a super-passionate person".

West, as we all know, interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for the Best Female Video award to tell the assembled audience that Beyonce's 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)' was a far more deserving winner. Jay-Z said: "Of course it was rude because it was [Taylor Swift's] moment but that's the way he really felt. I think it was rude but the way they're treating him... He's on the cover of every paper. He didn't kill anybody. No one got harmed".

A good point, I think you'll agree. Life would be a lot more simple if everything was judged on whether or not anyone was killed.

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