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![]() LIP SYNCING DEBATE CONTINUES IN AUSTRALIA The miming debate down under has kicked off thanks mainly to the arrival of Britney Spears, who is doing fourteen dates in the country. It was the Fair Trading Minister of New South Wales, Virginia Judge, who got the ball rolling last week by saying her state government was considering new rules to force promoters to tell ticket buyers if artists would not be singing live at events, either on promotional literature or printed tickets. The story gained momentum when some Australian media reported that fans had walked out of Spears' first gig in the country in protest at all the miming, reports Spears' people have strongly denied. Promoters of Spears' Aussie dates say the popstress makes no secret of the fact she mimes, and insist she puts on a great show anyway. Some might say that artists who stage lengthy energetic dance routines as part of their live shows will inevitably mime at least some of their songs, simply because they'll be too out of breath to sing. But the Musicians Union Of Australia says that it backs Judge in her call for more transparency from artists as to whether they will be singing live. The Union's federal secretary, Terry Noone, told ABC News that he didn't have a problem with Britney miming, but that he agreed show publicity should clearly state that would be the case. Noone: "It's not right that people are going to the concert when they are being misled. That's the issue. It's not about music, it's about false advertising. We've got extremely strict regulations governing truth in advertising and misleading the public for every other product or service that's sold in this country. Everything is regulated here, except for the music industry. We just say it doesn't matter. The fact that this is the attitude is a demeaning attitude to the music industry, and it is saying music is not important and not recognising the extremely high level of skill that is required". I would like to stress at no point did I lip sync while writing this story. -------------------------------------------------- RAMMSTEIN ALBUM BANNED FROM PUBLIC DISPLAY As well as this, the Deputy President of the Federal Office said that one track on the album in particular, 'Ich Tue Dir Weh' (or 'I Want To Hurt You') caused concern, possibly as a result of the line "Bites, kicks, heavy blows, nails, pincers, blunt saws - tell me what you want" and mentioned artwork showing guitarist Richard Kruspe with a masked naked woman on his knees. Another track, single release 'Pussy', was also criticised for glorifying unprotected sex, though that wasn't formally part of the Office's ruling. I don't know whether they'd seen the video to that track, which was premiered on adult website 'Visit-X'. I've not seen it, but I think it makes Girls' much discussed alternative video to their song 'Lust For Life', with its brief flashes of penis, seem rather innocent. Rammstein members are seen having full on sex in the video to 'Pussy', though a spokesman for the rockers insists doubles were used for the explicit scenes. Though I'm not sure that would make much different to the government's youth protectors. As a result of the Office's ruling no shops will be able to display the album in any place where it might be seen by anyone under eighteen, which presumably means all record shops will have to take it off their shelves. Retailers have until tomorrow to comply with the ruling. Rammstein have confirmed the display ban, and told fans that they should take age ID with them if they plan to buy the record. They wrote on their Facebook page: "The new Rammstein album has been placed on the restricted list at the instigation of the Ministry Of Family Affairs led by Minister Mrs Ursula von der Leyen. This means that the album is now only available under the counter. If you want to buy the album, make sure that you take proof of your age with you when you go to the retailer of your trust". -------------------------------------------------- CHRIS BROWN RESPONDS TO RIHANNA INTERVIEWS, SORT OF As previously reported, a number of Brown associates took to the internet this weekend to complain that Rihanna's version of the events regarding how she came to be beaten unconscious by her then boyfriend were very one-sided. Busy trying to resurrect his own pop career, Brown formally responded yesterday with a non-committal statement, supplied to us by his record company. It reads: "While I respect Rihanna's right to discuss the specific events of 8 Feb. I maintain my position that all of the details should remain a private matter between us. I do appreciate her support and wish her the best. I am extremely sorry for what I did and I accept accountability for my actions. At this point I am taking the proper steps to learn about me and grow from my mistakes. I only hope that others in similar situations can learn from our experience as well. Abuse of any kind is always wrong". -------------------------------------------------- DOES GALLAGHER WANT KANE FOR HIS NEW BAND? That said, these rumours do seem highly speculative, and at least partly based on the fact Kane was in attendance at the launch of Gallagher's new fashion label this weekend, alongside a load of other music stars. But one source told the Sun: "Liam was being really passionate. It looked like he was recruiting". JERRY FUCHS DIES Fuchs drummed with a number of student bands while studying graphic design at the University Of Georgia. After moving to New York he became a founder member of instrumental rock band Turing Machine who released three albums in the first half of the decade. He later joined punky dance types !!! and performed on their third album 'Myth Takes'. He was a prolific drummer in recent years. Through an association with DFA Records he played with LCD Soundsystem and The Juan Maclean, and also collaborated with Holy Ghost! and MSTRKRFT. In 2006 he joined Maserati, replacing another drummer who had been killed in an accident, and appeared on two albums with the band, 2007's 'New Season' and 'Passages'. He was touring with the band as recently as last month. -------------------------------------------------- MALCOLM LAYCOCK DIES Laycock presented numerous shows for the BBC over the years, normally focussing on jazz and big band music. As well as his work for Radio 2 he was known around the world for shows he presented for the BBC World Service. In recent years he was perhaps best known for presenting Radio 2's 'Sunday Night At 10', a show he fronted for fourteen years, and which played music from the 1930s and 1940s. His departure from the show wasn't exactly amicable. Contract renewal talks fell through, reportedly over money, and Laycock decided not to return after his customary summer break. He later told a newspaper he had basically been fired by Radio 2, though the BBC station denied that was the case. Not mentioning the dispute, Shennan told reporters yesterday: "Malcolm was a much-loved and highly respected broadcaster, renowned for his skill as a presenter and producer, and his passion for music and radio". MADONNA TOPS BILLBOARD TOURING AWARDS Top Tour: Madonna, Sticky & Sweet Top Arena: O2 Arena, London Top Promoter: Live Nation Top Manager: Guy Oseary (Madonna) Humanitarian Award: Kevin Lyman -------------------------------------------------- SCOTS TRAD NOMS OUT Album Of The Year: Scots Singer Of The Year: Club Of The Year: Community Project Of The Year: Composer Of The Year: Event Of The Year: Gaelic Singer Of The Year: Instrumentalist Of The Year: Live Act Of The Year: Music Tutor Of The Year: Scottish Dance Of The Year: Scottish Folk Band Of The Year: Scottish Pipe Band Of The Year: Trad Music In The Media: Up And Coming Artist Of The Year: Venue Of The Year: More at www.handsupfortrad.co.uk/tradmusicawards/ -------------------------------------------------- GLC REMIX COMPETITION If a Welsh rap troupe is the thing missing from your Christmas plans, then head over to www.everybodyisadj.com and use their Musicshake remix application by 29 Nov. The winner will be announced on 13 Dec (the same day the single goes on sale), with the best remixes put up for sale alongside professional reworkings by the likes of James Ruskin, Oxide and Ed Harcourt. All proceeds from sales of the track and its remixes will be donated to Shelter Cymru. The group's Eggsy said of the charity: "Shelter Cymru is our chosen charity, not only because they seem to be the only charity willing to work with us, but because they are running their 'The Time Is Now' campaign to get derelict houses made habitable. Shelter Cymru don't care about those things we said and did in the past, they just want to get roofs over the heads of people in Wales. So they too can do a remix, have a house party, and tear the place up just like the rest of the country will be doing. Because EVERYBODY is a DJ". EAST 17 TO REFORM FOR TWO SONGS Originally intended as a solo slot for the group's songwriter Tony Mortimer, he made a last minute decision to invite his former bandmates to perform their two biggest hits, 'Deep' and 'Stay Another Day'. I think there are still tickets, so you don't need to feel like you're missing out. Head over to www.royalalberthall.com to grab them. Tickets start at a rather pricey £45, but it's all for charity. And East 17 are playing. Though, if you love people who can run themselves over with a car more than lions, you can get yourself a 10% discount on that ticket price with this code right here: 5172. EMI TO DISTRIBUTE THE AUTOMATIC Confirming the distribution deal, Michael Roe, EMI's VP of Label Services Europe, said: "EMI is very excited to be working with The Automatic. With 'Tear the Signs Down' they have made a great album and with the reach of EMI's sales and distribution network behind them we're looking forward to helping them further develop their career". PERRY BAGS HITMAKER PRODUCERS FOR NEW ALBUM THE DRUMS ANNOUNCE SECOND SINGLE ALBUM REVIEW: Sisters Of Transistors - At The Ferranti Institute (This Is Music) Opener 'Tiger Ghee' vaguely recalls Goldfrapp's 'Strict Machine' with its glam rock drums and dirty bass, though its anthemic call to arms vocals ("Spirits calling all around") actually put it closer to the kind of ghoulish fun The Black Ghosts are fond of, whilst 'Volkswagen' hints at a pastoral quality that recalls 'Autobahn'-era Kraftwerk, which may be deliberate, given its title. Despite the contemporary reference points I've made (Broadcast is another, with the ghostly vocals and dusty vintage keyboards), 'At The Ferranti Institute' is a startlingly refreshing album that's hard to pigeonhole, but should be appreciated by anyone with a love of slightly mad experimental electronic music with a pop heart lurking somewhere therein. MS SYNC GUY GETS WARNER WIDE ROLE This is interesting, of course, because while all four majors own both record and music publishing companies, collaborations between recording and publishing divisions are rare, even though as the record industry becomes more and more focused on licensing music rather than selling CDs it makes more and more sense for the two disciplines to work together. Confirming his new role, Reid told CMU: "I'm delighted to be taking up this role, especially at a time when Warner Music Group is working with such a remarkable range of artists and emerging technology is generating a wealth of new licensable platforms. We are leading the way in making licensing simpler, easier and more productive for artists and rights users alike. I'm looking forward to my ongoing work with the amazing team at Warner Chappell UK and building on my existing relationships with Warner Music Group's wider synch network". Redi will report to both Dave Johnson, CEO of Warner/Chappell, and John Reid, CEO Europe of the Warner Music Group. -------------------------------------------------- FRIENDLY FIRES MANAGER JOINS MACHINE MANAGEMENT Iain Watt, Founder and MD of Machine Management, told CMU: "Phil Morias joining Machine Management is a real coup for our company. Not only is he bringing the excellent Friendly Fires with him but he will be working closely with me to grow the management business and develop other areas including publishing, events and our US presence. His energy, enthusiasm and expertise will add real value to our already strong offering". Morias himself added: "I am really looking forward to joining Machine Management who represent an enviable roster of artists and who have a great reputation within the industry for professionalism and forward thinking. I am genuinely excited about all the new opportunities currently out there for artist management companies and can't wait to start exploring these with Iain and his team". -------------------------------------------------- TICKETMASTER AND LIVE NATION RELEASE FINANCIALS Ticketmaster's revenues were up 3%, despite a continued slide in ticket sales revenue. That was possible thanks to the ticketing giant's artist management division, which generated $56.4 million in the quarter. Ironically a chunk of the decline in Ticketmaster's ticketing revenues was as a result of Live Nation taking a lot of its ticketing, previously provided by Ticketmaster, in-house. Live Nation finally ended its long standing client relationship with Ticketmaster just weeks before the two companies announced their intent to merge. Live Nation also saw its revenues rise, by 13.8%, but net income was down. Nevertheless, financial types seem to be happy with the company's performance, which is stable. The two live music giants are, of course, waiting for approval from both the UK and US competition authorities before merging. -------------------------------------------------- DJ CULTURE COMES TO BEST BUY Confirming the new venture, Best Buy SVP Wendy Fritz told Billboard: "It may not be simple to find these products in a mainstream environment - either you have to know what you need, or you have to talk to someone who is in the industry. What we're trying to say is 'hey you can do this,' and when they come into the store our 'blue shirts' can say 'these are the three or four products you need to get started'". U2TUBE WEBCAST - BIG BUT CHEAP YouTube described the achievement as simply a "big win" for the video platform, while Malcolm Gerrie of Whizzkid Entertainment, who produced the webcast, was bolder, telling reporters: "We think a whole new business model has emerged here". Of course that would only be true if such webcasts made money. The U2 webcast was free and without any serious sponsor, meaning YouTube had to cover the cost of an awful lot of bandwidth, while the band failed to command any real fee, whereas as similar TV screening of a gig would result in a handsome cheque being handed over by the network airing the event. U2 did the gig even though YouTube had failed to find a sponsor because of the promotional benefits. Though I'm not really sure what those benefits are. I think we were all aware U2 were doing the rounds again. There may, as yet, be a more tangible pay off though, with Universal planning on releasing a DVD version of the concert recording. -------------------------------------------------- SHAZAM LAUNCH PREMIUM APP Shazam top man Andrew Fisher told CMU: "Since our launch on the [Apple] App Store, Shazam has achieved a huge following with iPhone and iPod touch users and is now one of the most popular music apps in the world. We have listened to our iPhone and iPod touch users and have created a new app which answers their requests to take them on an enhanced music journey that will change the way music lovers experience and learn about music". DIGITAL RADIO UK BOSS TELLS INDUSTRY TO REFOCUS ON DAB When Channel 4's bid to launch a second national DAB network collapsed, some in the commercial sector proclaimed DAB dead in the water, despite the BBC remaining committed to the platform. And some are now predicting that FM radio will survive a lot longer than originally thought, and that by the time FM disappears it will be internet radio rather than DAB that takes its place. But Kerr, charged with the job of turning broadcasters, listeners and advertisers to digital, and preferably DAB, sooner rather than later, argued that the internet simply can't cope with being the primary infrastructure for the radio industry. According to Radio Today, Kerr told the Radio At The Edge conference in London: "[Internet radio] would be hopeless. It simply can't cope with the simultaneous levels of listening that radio demands. For example, at eight o'clock on a typical morning, there are about seventeen million people listening to the radio. But the entire UK broadband infrastructure could only support simultaneous listening for about four million of them - even if no one was using the internet for anything else, anywhere in the country. And the costs would be enormous - hundreds of millions of pounds a year for the radio industry - and more for the ISPs. Any kind of IP technology that we either have today or even have sight of today, just can't match up to broadcast radio". Looking forward to the next phase of DAB, Kerr continued: "Let's get real: legislation and fixing infrastructure first; content and services next; followed by promoting like crazy, then uptake and then upgrade. That's how it's going to work. And that's how, in a few years from now, we'll have a radio industry spending more money on content and less on transmission, and therefore an audience that has more choice, more interactivity, and cracking, not crackling, reception". She's right about the limitations of the internet as the primary medium for transmitting radio, though she has a big task ahead of her in getting radio firms and radio listeners excited about DAB again. Though the biggest player, Global Radio, does seem keen, and that, coupled with continued BBC enthusiasm, might be enough to rescue the whole digital audio broadcasting project. Though the current government aim for turning off FM - 2015 - still seems mightily optimistic. TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART Muse - The Resistance (Warner Bros) USHER AND TAMEKA DIVORCE THROUGH -------------------------------------------------- HOOK DISSES MADGE Speaking to Absolute Radio, Hook says he met Madonna back in 1983, at his club The Hacienda, after she'd performed a concert in Manchester. He says Madge's manager had asked him and the rest of the Hacienda management if the singer could film a bit for TV show 'The Tube' at the venue. They'd said yes. After the filming, Hacidena co-founder and New Order manager Rob Gretton had suggested to Madonna she might like to play at the club later that night. Hook: "She was horrible. She was sat there with her back to us, and Rob went up and said, 'We were wondering if you wanted to appear later at the club', and she just went, 'Fuck off'". I'm not sure if Hook's entire opinion of Madonna is based on that one run in back in 1983. Possibly it is. -------------------------------------------------- ROBBIE NOT AT MARK OWEN'S WEDDING The Robster says: "[The wedding was] absolutely fantastic. Really, really lovely. Can I just qualify - I wasn't there. I was in Germany doing a TV show but I did like reading that I had flown up on a plane and that I was going to be singing. I was like, 'Oh, really?'" Perhaps Owen booked a Robbie look-a-like to attend the ceremony and fool the paps. I remember seeing a really good Robbie Williams look-a-like at a conference once - he had the whole image and performance down to a tee, except he kept insisting on hitting the high notes properly, which somewhat ruined the illusion. -------------------------------------------------- FALL OUT BOY TO STOP PERFORMING BEAT IT Whatever, Fall Out Boy have played their version of 'Beat It' at live shows for years, and included a recorded version on their recent hits album. But Pete Wentz has told Music Radar: "We never got the chance to [meet] him. I don't even know if he heard it. We kind of recorded it on a whim, like, nine months before he passed away. We've decided not to play it any more. It's his song, you know? We put it on the record because we did a video for it, but it's definitely his song". |
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