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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DROPS THREE-STRIKE BLOCK
Efforts in the European Parliament designed to hinder the three-strikes system have been dropped. As previously reported, there had been moves to amend new Europe-wide telecom rules so that disconnecting the net access of persistent file-sharers would be illegal. However, that amendment has been dropped, seemingly in response to pressure from those European governments actively considering a three-strikes system for combating piracy and, no doubt, the major content owners.

As previously reported, the French government has successfully got its pretty draconian three-strikes system through the lawmaking process, meaning those French net users who continue to access and share unlicensed content despite warnings could see their internet access cut off as soon as next Spring. Proposals for a slightly less draconian version of three-strikes (leading to net suspensions, rather than disconnections) are being considered by the UK government. Germany may also follow suit.

The European Parliament amendment designed to hinder the three-strikes programme read: "Any such measures liable to restrict those fundamental rights [of net access] may only be taken in exceptional circumstances...and shall be subject to adequate procedural safeguards in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights... including effective judicial protection and due process".

Although the amendment was designed to prevent EU governments from adopting three-strikes, because the albeit revised French system involves a judicial stage, arguably the new law there would not have conflicted with this European legislation. Ditto the proposed UK system. However, the potential for conflict has been removed with the dropping of the amendment.

Whether this now means a number of other European countries will consider and introduce three-strikes remains to be seen, it may depend on how successful and problem free the system proves to be, or not, in France. As many even in the music business are cynical about the impact three-strikes will really have - many online pirates have found other ways to illegally share music that is harder to detect, while many others now file-share offline from device to device - some governments may decide it's not worth the negative publicity that comes with introducing such legislation.

Then again, the growth of more compelling legit digital music services, coupled with the fact online piracy is getting harder to detect, might make three-strikes seem a lot more successful than it really has been.

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JACKSON EXECUTORS GIVEN MORE POWERS
The two executors of Michael Jackson's estate had their powers reaffirmed and increased at a court hearing on Thursday, despite efforts by the Jackson family to have John Branca and John McClain's influence reduced.

As previously reported, some in the Jackson clan reckon that while Branca and McClain were named in Jacko's 2002 will, Branca in particular had subsequently fallen out with the late singer. While it is true Branca ceased to work with Jackson after 2002, he says that he was back working for the late king of pop in the weeks before his death, and that he has paperwork to prove it.

As the Jackson clan have been making moves to give Jacko's mother Katherine Jackson more say over her late son's estate - and maybe even complete say - Branca and McClain asked for the courts to clarify their position. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff did so last week, reaffirming their existing powers and giving them more rights to act on behalf of the Jacko estate without having to consult the courts.

Whether that means Beckloff rejects the Jackson family's objections to Branca isn't 100% clear. Said objections weren't especially well represented because Katherine Jackson has just appointed a new attorney, Adam Streisand, and he didn't attend last week's hearing because he is waiting for her old legal reps to relinquish papers relating to the case. He said he couldn't comment on Beckloff's ruling until he had those documents. Streisand is definitely skilled in this area - ie celebrity estates - having previously worked on the probate cases of Anna Nicole Smith, Ray Charles and Marlon Brando.

In related news, La Toya Jackson has said she would like to be named guardian of her late brother's children should their grandmother die before they are adults. As previously reported, Jacko's will named Katherine Jackson as legal guardian of his three kids, with Diana Ross named as substitute guardian should his mother die. But La Toya has said that she'd like to care for the children should anything happen to her mother - either with or instead of Ross.

She's quoted as saying: "According to the will, Diana Ross will be the guardian if anything happens to my mother. I know Diana would do a good job with them, but I think the kids will stay within the family and I'd be more than delighted to look after them".

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MORRISSEY OUT OF HOSPITAL AFTER GIG COLLAPSE
Morrissey has been discharged from a Swindon hospital after he collapsed on stage on Saturday night after suffering from breathing difficulties. He was kept in hospital overnight after cutting the concert short, but a spokesman for the Great Western Hospital said that was just a "precautionary measure" and he had "much improved" overnight.

Fans were initially confused after Morrissey, who has cancelled a number of gigs on health grounds this year, fell to the stage and was subsequently carried off by two of his band members. Although it meant the gig was cut short, confusion mainly transformed to concern once the singer's condition became clear.

Commenting on his performance prior to collapsing, one audience member told the BBC: "I didn't think he looked particularly well but then again, he's sort of well known as a reclusive character so I sort of thought that was just the way he was when he was on stage. He kept putting his hand up to his mouth as if he felt sick or... perhaps he was trying to hide something, but he didn't look particularly comfortable".

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LLOYD WEBBER TREATED FOR PROSTATE CANCER
Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is currently undergoing treatment for the disease. A spokesman confirmed the composer's condition this weekend, but said the disease had been spotted at a very early stage and that he hoped to be fully back at work before the end of the year.

2010 is set to be another busy year for the musicals man, with a new show due to open in the West End, 'Phantom' sequel 'Love Never Dies', plus another one of those musical based talent shows on the BBC, this time to find a Dorothy for 'The Wizard Of Oz'.

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ELTON CANCELS GIGS DUE TO FLU
More pop illness, though just flu this time. Well, I say "just flu". Of course there's no such thing as "just flu". Real flu is really quite serious. Unserious flu isn't really flu, it's just a bad cold. Anyway, I digress. Elton John cancelled gigs in Sheffield and Newcastle this weekend because he was feeling under the weather. Most reports cited "flu". I reckon "bad cold". Either way, neither condition is very helpful when you're meant to be singing.

After Saturday's gig in Newcastle was cancelled, a spokesman for the singer said: "Elton is bitterly disappointed at missing tonight's Red Piano concert in Newcastle, it remains one of his favourite areas in the country to perform, the crowds are always great music fans and not being able to this special show for Newcastle is upsetting".

An announcement is expected today regarding the rescheduling of the cancelled shows.

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ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR SINGLES SALES
And to think, there was a time when the record industry seriously considered phasing out the single release. Yet, this has been the biggest year for single sales ever. Of course, it's a stat that simply tells us that the buying habits of digital music fans are different than those of physical product buying music fans, and for obvious reasons, but hey, it's good news, so let's not try to belittle the stat with realities.

117 million single tracks have been sold in the UK already this year, with two months still to go. That breaks the record set last year of 115.1 million single tracks. 98.6% of the singles sold were digital tracks. As for the actual 'single' release - ie a bit of 7" vinyl or a 1-4 track CD - well, that has all but been phased out.

Anyway, here is BPI boss Geoff Taylor saying something: "We've witnessed an astonishing transformation of the UK singles market during the last six years, with digital downloads rapidly overtaking sales of CD singles and cassettes to dominate the singles scene".

As it's now in the BPI constitution, I think, Geoff also used the occasion to talk file-sharing: "That singles have hit these heights while there are still more than 1 billion illegal downloads every year in the UK is testimony to the quality of releases this year and the vibrancy of the UK download market. Consumers are responding to the value and innovation offered by the legal services and these new figures show how the market could explode if Government acts to tackle illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing".

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GILLES PRESENTS THE BEST OF CUBA
Oh now this is exciting. You know we like Gilles Peterson a lot round here right? Well, there's a new album coming out which is the result of Peterson's recent adventures in Cuba as part of the Havana Cultura initiative. He went over there to discover the current generation of Cuban music talent. The resulting album features tracks from sixteen such bands, plus of a special recording session led by Gilles himself in the same studios as were used for the legendary Buena Vista Social Club album, and featuring a whole stack of great musical talent from Havana.

You'll be able to read Vigsy CMU's review of the album later this week right here in the Daily. Meanwhile, go find out more about this great project at www.havana-cultura.com and, if you fancy winning an all expenses paid trip to the album's launch in Paris next month, go to twitter.com/_havanacultura_ and find out how you can.

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TIMBALAND TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM
Producer-in-demand Timbaland has taken some time off from helping other artists out and got busy with a new album of his own, 'Shock Value II' - the follow-up to 2007's 'Shock Value'. The stars wouldn't stop banging on his door, though. So he invited the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Keri Hilson and more to provide guest vocals.

We popped round to Timbaland's house for a cup of tea, where he told us: "I'm so fortunate and blessed to be able to create a 'Shock Value II'. I'm really proud of the calibre of artists on this album and all the work they put into making it a success. I can promise that no one has ever heard Katy Perry, The Fray, or Brandy sound like this before. It's exciting because not only am I giving fans the best of me on each track, I'm giving them a glimpse of their favourite artist in a completely different light. This is an album that can be listened to from start to finish every single time because each song is so unique and the range of artists so diverse. I can't wait for my fans to hear the collaborations".

The first single from the album, 'Morning After Dark', is release through iTunes this week, and features vocals from Nelly Furtado and French singer-songwriter and recent signee to Timbaland's Mosely Music Group label, SoShy. The album itself will hit stores on 23 Nov.

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THEM CROOKED VULTURES ANNOUNCE DEBUT
Them Crooked Vultures, you know, that band made up of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones, have announced that they will release their eponymous debut album on 16 Nov.

Here's a list of songs that, while almost certainly completely meaningless to you, will appear on the album:

No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
Mind Eraser, No Chaser
New Fang
Dead End Friends
Elephants
Scumbag Blues
Bandoliers
Reptiles
Interlude With Ludes
Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
Caligulove
Gunman
Spinning In Daffodils

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NEW WARP SIGNING LONELADY ANNOUNCES DEBUT SINGLE
All fresh-faced and new and joining that now rapidly aging Warp label is LoneLady, who will release her debut single, 'Immaterial', through the label on 9 Nov. The two tracks were produced by Guy Fixsen, known for his work with My Bloody Valentine, The Breeders and Stereolab.

The two tracks are these:
Immaterial
XY

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JOE LALLY ANNOUNCES TOUR
Fugazi bassist Joe Lally has announced two weeks of tour dates in the UK and Ireland, where he'll be playing tracks from his two solo albums 2006's 'There To Here' and 2007's 'Nothing Is Underrated', as well as some new material.

Tour dates:

15 Nov: Leeds, Brudenell Social
16 Nov: Birmingham, Hare and Hounds
17 Nov: Manchester, The Roadhouse
19 Nov: Belfast, Black Box
20 Nov: Dublin, Crawdaddy
21 Nov: Galway, Roisin Dubh
22 Nov: Cork, Crane Lane Theatre
24 Nov: Plymouth, White Rabbit
25 Nov: London, Monto Water Rats
26 Nov: Sheffield, Penelope's
27 Nov: Colchester, Arts Centre
28 Nov: Canterbury, The Farmhouse
29 Nov: London, The Fighting Cocks

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FIELD MUSIC RETURN
Field Music, remember them? Well, they're back after a three year hiatus, with a new album. Spanning two discs and featuring 20 tracks, it will be released on 15 Feb.

Oh so very much sooner than that, though, the band are playing some gigs:

19 Nov: Manchester, The Deaf Institute
21 Nov: Glasgow, Captain's Rest
22 Nov: Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete's
27 Nov: Newcastle, The Cluny
28 Nov: Newcastle, The Cluny
7 Jan: London, Hoxton Bar & Grill

While you're waiting, you can also download two new tracks from the band's website: www.field-music.co.uk

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SMOKEY ROBINSON TO KEYNOTE AT SXSW
The legend that is Smokey Robinson will be a keynote speaker at next year's South By Southwest, which should be exciting. Well, I'm excited. And I'm probably not even going. The 2010 SxSW will take place in Austin from 17-20 Mar.

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SINGLE REVIEW: Lemonade - Bliss Out (Sunday Best)
The follow-up to the Brooklyn trio's debut single 'Big Weekend', 'Bliss Out' is similarly attention-grabbing: its Latin exuberance, hands-in-the-air-rave stabs and bored sounding indie vocals all conspiring to make this a hedonistic monster that the title doesn't suggest.

There are, of course, some remixes, and it would be remiss of me not to describe them (not least since they're all rather fine). So I shall. Frisvold & Lindbaek have fun turning in a spacey slice of dub that recalls Andy Weatherall's mid 90s Sabres Of Paradise remixes, whilst the Gold Panda rework is a delightful piece of minimal glitchy ambience that could have come straight out of Kompakt. Espimas go for sun-kissed deep house, whilst the Sunday Best remix rounds things off with some fine progressive shenanigans that go straight to the heart of the tune's Balearic vibes.

Keep em coming, lads. MS

Physical release: 26 Oct
Press contact: Bang On [O]

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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HMV ANNOUNCE SEATWAVE TIE UP
Those HMV groovsters have announced a partnership with secondary ticketing dudes Seatwave, which will see the latter offer gig goers the opportunity to pick up tickets bought on the secondary ticketing market in person from HMV stores, rather than relying on the flagging Royal Mail to deliver their tickets. The service is already live at the retailer's Trocadero shop in London.

I've no idea how that works exactly, to be honest with you, and I did try to work it out, but I got a headache. So let's just note that Seatwave will also power a ticket exchange service as part of the hmvtickets online ticketing operation, and get straight on with the customary quotes.

Seatwave CEO and founder Joe Cohen: "HMV is clearly the most innovative entertainment retailer in the market and we're honoured and excited to work with them to expand both of our businesses. It represents a significant step forward for the future of live entertainment as we work with a fellow consumer-champion to provide a seamless, integrated and secure process for fans".

HMV CEO Simon Fox: "Our partnership with Seatwave enables us to extend ticketing choice and convenience to HMV customers online and in stores. Combined with our growing presence in live music and now cinema, our ticketing offer is a further example of how the HMV brand is capable of successfully delivering to our customers an exciting range of entertainment experiences".

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TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY BOARD PLAN ONLINE DEBATE
The Technology Strategy Board, which exists, apparently, is inviting people from the creative industries, including music types, to take part in an online discussion about their plans for digital investment in the UK. A panel of four people will lead the online debate next Monday lunchtime, including Sony Music's Fred Bolza, and everyone is invited to input questions, in advance or live during the webcast debate.

If you think that this is something that might even slightly interest you, you should find out more and register your interest at www.innovateuk.org.

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NEWS CORP BOSS SAYS HULU WILL NEED TO GO THE SUBSCRIPTION ROUTE
Murdoch, it seems, is keen to turn every one of the free internet services in his empire into subscription-based platforms. Though presumably not MySpace - I mean, no one would pay for that. Would they?

With reports that the British newspapers in the Murdoch empire will soon be experimenting with subscription models for their online operations, the Deputy Chair of Murdoch's News Corp, Chase Carey, has predicted some sort of subscription fees will be added to the big on-demand web-TV service in the US, Hulu, which is a joint venture between NBC, Disney and News Corp's Fox.

Hulu is one of the recent internet success stories, and is expected to add a music service, and expand globally, in the next year. However, Carey says the current ad-funded free-to-view model isn't sustainable long term.

Speaking at a Broadcasting & Cable On Screen conference in New York last week, he reportedly said: "I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business".

As previously reported, an increasing number of content owners are advocating subscription-based online services, even though such services are yet to really take off, especially in Europe.

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COCKER TO PRESENT 6MUSIC SHOW
Jarvis Cocker will present his own BBC 6music show from January, taking over the Sunday 3.30pm-5.30pm slot, which has been filled by guest presenters following the recent departure of Stephen Merchant from the station.

The former Pulp frontman said: "It's a great honour to be working for the BBC, which I consider to be the greatest broadcaster in the world. Sunday afternoon is my dream slot: that weird time when one week's effectively over and yet the new one's not yet begun - the 'limbo-hours', if you like.It is my intention to fill these hours with as much dodgy opinion, crackpot theories, hare-brained schemes and beautiful, beautiful music as is humanly possible. I can't wait to get going".

Cocker's first show will go out on 10 Jan.

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CHART UPDATE
So, you'll all remember that Alexandra Burke broke the record for the year's highest first week sales last week, but this week another 'X-Factor' affiliated single has smashed that record. In case you're somehow not already aware of Cheryl Cole's phenomenal success with her debut solo single, let's just have a quick recap.

Burke sold 185,000 copies of her second single, 'Bad Boys (featuring Flo Rida)' last week, more than double the sales of the number two single, 'Bodies' by Robbie Williams. But then along came Cheryl Cole with 'Fight For This Love' and sold more than 120,000 copies in just one day. By Sunday she had shifted 290,000, putting her firmly at number one. And all this despite the fact that it's one of the weakest pop singles of the year.

Official Charts Company overlord Martin Talbot told CMU: "Many congratulations to Cheryl Cole on her fantastic achievement. Other than 'X-Factor' winners, very few singles get anywhere near 300,000 sales in their first week. In doing just that this week, Cheryl has shown just what a favourite she is with the British music-buying public".

Alexandra Burke has slipped down to number two, while Robbie is way down at four behind Chipmunk, who's a non-mover at three. The only other new entry in the top ten is the War Child supporting 'I Got Soul' by Young Soul Rebels, which I'm not going to comment on because it's for charity. Let's just say, I haven't bought it.

Outside the top ten, Cobra Starship are at seventeen with 'Good Girls Go Bad', Alphabeat are at 20 with 'The Spell', Foo Fighters are at 22 with 'Wheels', Christina Aguilera is at 25 with 'Hurt', Calvin Harris is at 30 with 'Flashback', and Paulo Nutini is at 33 with 'Pencil Full Of Lead'.

Wooo, it's all go in the album charts. Hold on to your hats, people, because most of the top ten has changed. Sitting at number one is that Alexandra Burke with her debut album, 'Overcome'. That title, I think, refers to the fact that Cheryl Cole's album, 'Three Words', is out this week and will almost certainly overcome Burke to get to the top of the chart.

Moving on, Michael Buble is at two, Whitney Houston is at three, Seasick Steve is at four, Fleetwood Mac's latest 'best of' is at six, and Spandau Ballet are at seven with their first studio album for twenty years, 'Once More'.

Meanwhile, Rammstein and Alison Moyet are all cuddled up at sixteen and seventeen respectively, Whitney Houston's 'Ultimate Collection' is at 22 and Mr Hudson is at 25. The rest of the chart is boring, so I won't even mention it. Basically, everything's fallen or stayed where it was last week.

The charts are snugly wrapped in cotton wool and pushed out into the world in a boat made from a matchbox by The Official Charts Company.

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SPIKE ON LEAKED WEST VIDEO
Spike Jonze has been talking about that previously reported mini-film he has recorded with Kanye West, which West put online on his blog for about nine minutes last week, before somewhat mysteriously removing it. It seems that Jonze had not given the all clear to post the vid, hence the sudden removal.

Speaking to the New York Times, Jonze said: "I think he was like, 'Oh, it's out. I'll link to it'. This is the first time it's happened to me [an internet leak of his work] and it is a weird feeling, like, 'Wait a second - I wasn't ready to put that out! That's mine. Uh, no, I guess it's not mine anymore'".

But he's seemingly forgiven Kanye for promoting the leak. He continued: "I like Kanye and I care about him. Who knows? I don't know what the reception is going to be, but I love making stuff with him. I love the guy".

The extended video is released via iTunes tomorrow. Though I saw it on the net on Friday, but that's possibly the leaked version. It's all a bit weird. With lots of petals.

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BONO DISAPPOINTED WITH SINGLES PERFORMANCE
Bono has said that he was disappointed with the poor chart performance of the singles taken from the band's latest album, 'No Line On The Horizon'.

Speaking to The Mirror, he accepted that they had failed to "pull off the pop songs", adding: "We weren't really in that mindset and we felt that the album was a kind of an almost extinct species, and we should approach it in totality and create a mood and a feeling, and a beginning, middle and an end. And I suppose we've made a work that is a bit challenging for people who have grown up on a diet of pop stars".

Challenging?! Have you read the lyrics to 'Get On Your Boots', Bono? You must have. Flashing them up on a big screen at the BRITs was your first mistake.

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