WARNER CONSIDERING ACQUISITION AND SALE AT SAME TIME
According to reports, Warner Music Group has appointed the well-bonused bankers of Goldman Sachs to look into two possible futures for the US-based music company, one where it buys EMI and doubles in size, and another where the firm's current owners sell out and let someone else run the shop, most likely BMG owners KKR.

According to the New York Times, Warner has brought in the no doubt well-suited if slightly tedious bankers after management there were approached by at least one third party, maybe more, about buying the company, or at least its publishing business, Warner Chappell. It is known the equity group which owns half of BMG - KKR - has expressed an interest in at least beginning takeover talks. They, of course, are also a favourite to buy half of or all of EMI if and when that goes on the block later this year.

The other much mooted bidder for some of EMI is Warner itself, and reports say another team of Goldman Sachs consultants are looking into that option, and have already spoken to Citigroup, EMI's multi-billion dollar money lender, which may take ownership of the London-based music firm later this spring if and when current owners Terra Firma confirm they are no longer able to prop up the music company so that it can meet its loan covenants with the US bank.

So, buy or be bought then. Although the two strategies seem to contradict, the fact both are being pursued at the same time suggests that the private equity types which backed Edgar Bronfman Jr's acquisition of the Warner music company back in 2004, and who still own a big chunk of the now publicly traded company, are getting itchy feet, and either want radical growth or out.

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IFPI PUBLISHES DEPRESSING STATS, RENEWS THREE-STRIKE CALLS
The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry published its annual Digital Music Report yesterday and reported that growth in the digital market slowed to 6% last year, that's down from 12% the previous year and 25% in 2008. Of course, the digital market could never have continued to grow at the rapid pace we saw five years ago, when many new digital services were starting from zero, so that's not really any surprise, nor as depressing a stat as some have suggested.

More depressing, though, of course, was confirmation that digital growth continues to be slower than the decline of traditional record industry sales, meaning over all the recorded music market shrank by between 8-9% last year. And that, the IFPI claimed, is just the start of the bad news. Sales of debut albums are down 77% compared to 2003, revenues from the biggest 50 tours of last year were down 12%, and 17% less people are now employed as musicians in the US than ten years ago. What's more, the global trade body said, 1.2 million jobs are in jeopardy in Europe alone if these declines

Of course, as far as the IFPI is concerned, the big problem here is piracy, and if only those ISPs and governments would get their collective asses into gear and start slapping file-sharers in the face, the record industry could get on with investing in new talent and rescuing those 1.2 million jobs. The solution, it says, is three-strike style anti-piracy systems involving net service providers, such as that launched in South Korea, the one getting under way in France and the one proposed by the Digital Economy Act here in the UK.

Says IFPI boss Frances Moore: "As we enter 2011, digital piracy, and the lack of adequate legal tools to fight it, remains the biggest threat to the future of creative industries. Great new legitimate music offerings exist all over the world, offering consumers a wide range of ways to access music. Yet they operate in a market that is rigged by piracy, and they will not survive if action is not taken to address this fundamental problem. This is the challenge and the opportunity for governments to seize in 2011".

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STEVEN TYLER TURNED DOWN LED ZEP, OKAY?
Steven Tyler has denied claims made by his Aerosmith bandmate Joe Perry last year that he auditioned for the role of Robert Plant stand-in with Led Zeppelin, but that his audition was "shambolic" and "awkward" so he didn't get the job. Tyler has confirmed that he did try out when Jimmy Page was thinking of hiring a new frontman for a Led Zep tour, but says that his audition was, like, amazing and totally perfect, but that he turned down the opportunity to collaborate further with the legendary rock band because, like, he had a load of other stuff on.

Tyler told Howard Stern this week: "I spoke to Jimmy Page's manager, Peter Mench, who's been a good friend of mine forever. He said Robert wouldn't play with them again, and would I want to come over and jam with the guys? I went over and played. [But when] it came time for [Jimmy] to say, 'You want to write a record with me?' I went, 'No'. I'm in Aerosmith. He's in the biggest band in the world and I'm in a band like that. I have such an allegiance to my band and I love it so much".

"I looked Jimmy in the eyes", he insisted. "[And] I went, 'No'".

Relations between Tyler and Perry have been strained for a while, of course. As previously reported, Tyler recently said his bandmate had gone AWOL, so much so he doesn't expect him to show up when Aerosmith head back into the studio in the coming weeks.

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AVENGED SEVENFOLD ANNOUNCE NEW DRUMMER
Metallers Avenged Sevenfold have announced their new drummer, former Confide man Arin Ilejay, who will replace Mike Portnoy, who was let go in December after dragging the band into a war of press statements with his ex-Dream Theater bandmates. Portnoy himself replaced Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, who died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol in 2009.

In a statement, the band said: "We recently asked several friends who knew Jimmy and his style, and also knew our music and each of our personalities to suggest drummers to tour with us starting this year. Our long time studio drum tech, Mike Fasano, recommended Arin Ilejay. We've rehearsed with Arin and have been impressed with his technical skills, attitude and work ethic. We're very excited to tour with Arin and hope all of you will give him the warm welcome to the family we have".

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LILY ALLEN SIGNS BAND, GETS PAYCHECK
Lily Allen has signed the first band to her In The Name Of record label, Brooklyn-based indie-pop duo Cults. Having released a seven-inch EP last year through Forest Family Records, one of the tracks from that release will also be their debut single on In The Name Of - 'Go Outside' - which will be released on 20 Feb. They are also due to release their debut album in May.

Listen to that seven-inch here: cults.bandcamp.com

You'll also find them playing live at these dates:

18 Feb: London, Bush Hall (with Yuck and Guards)
22 Feb: London, Madame Jojo's
25 Feb: London, The Lexington

In other Lily Allen label news, The Sun is reporting that its parent company Sony Music (In The Name Of will actually be a subsidiary of Sony UK division Columbia) has given Lily a £100,000 a year salary.

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FUCKED UP WORKING ON ENGLISH CONCEPT ALBUM
Canadian hardcore band Fucked Up have revealed some more about their next album, 'David Comes To Life', telling Pitchfork that it will be a concept album set in a fictional rural British town.

In March last year, guitarist Ben Cook told Exclaim: "It's supposed to be a musical, but I'm not sure how that's going to work, really. I'm sure as hell gonna sing and act in it, though".

This week, frontman Pink Eyes told Pitchfork: "The album is this rock opera. The record itself is only sixteen songs, but there's also a companion seven-inch and a companion twelve-inch and a compilation with bands that come from the fictitious town that we set the story in. We're working on 40 songs right now. It's crazy, but I don't think there's going to be another time in our lives where we're going to have the opportunity to do something this ambitious. So we may as well try".

Explaining the story, he said: "It takes place in a fictitious English town, and it's about a guy, David, who works at a light bulb factory. He falls in love with this activist. She subsequently dies during an accident. You never really find out what the accident is because we couldn't think of it. Then David's on trial. There's this prosecutor who was secretly in love with the activist but is also aware that he's in a play. Then it gets really heady and drugged-out".

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JENIFEREVER ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
Swedish atmospheric rockers Jeniferever have announced that they will release their third album, 'Silesia', through Monotreme Records on 11 Apr.

You can stream and download the first track to be released from the album, 'Waifs And Strays', on SoundCloud at: soundcloud.com/monotreme-records/jeniferever-waifs-strays

Here's the full tracklist:

Silesia
Waifs & Strays
The Beat Of Our Own Blood
A Drink To Remember
Deception Pass
Cathedral Peak
Where The Hills Fall Towards The Ocean
Dover
Hearths

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BLONDES ANNOUNCE NEW VINYL SERIES
Following on from their brilliant 'Touched' EP, which was released through Merok last year, Blondes have announced a new series of three twelve-inch releases through RVNG Intl. The first, 'Lover/Hater', will hit stores on 14 Mar.

The duo will also play a one-off show in London as part of a wider European tour on 11 Feb at XOYO.

You can listen to a mixtape they've put together for that tour here: soundcloud.com/blondes/blondes-kunsthaus-eu-tour-mixtape

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BOB DYLAN SIGNED UP TO SIX BOOK DEAL
Bob Dylan has signed a deal with publisher Simon & Schuster to write six new books, at least two of which, it is promised, will be sequels to the singer-songwriter's 2004 autobiography, 'Chronicles: Volume One'.

What shape the other four books under the deal will take isn't clear. Even to the publisher, it seems. A spokesperson for the company said that it had been "very hard to pin down" exactly how many volumes of his autobiography Dylan planned to write

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RAEKWON ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM AND UK TOUR
Wu-Tang member Raekwon will release a new album on 26 Jan, it has been announced. Entitled 'Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang', it will feature guest vocals from Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Nas, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Inspectah Deck, Raheem Devaughn, Jim Jones, Rick Ross, Lloyd Banks and Estelle.

Raekwon will also be playing UK shows in March:

15 Mar: Nottingham, venue tbc
16 Mar: Dublin, Button Factory
17 Mar: Manchester Academy
18 Mar: London, HMV Forum
19 Mar: Brighton, Coalition

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POLAR BEAR ANNOUNCE 2011 SHOWS
Having released their fourth album, 'Peepers', last year, as well as mini-album, 'Common Ground', jazz types Polar Bear are going to be concentrating more on music of the live variety in 2011, including a show at London's Koko at which they complete an impressive line-up that also includes Jyager, Kid Koala, DJ Vadim and Mr Thing.

Here are all those dates in full:

6 Mar: Ipswich, New Wolsey Theatre
12 Mar: London, Koko
17 Mar: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
19 Mar: Bristol, Thekla
23 Mar: Brighton, Komedia
21 Jun: London, Village Underground
24 Jun: Cambridge, Hidden Rooms
13 Aug: Brecon Jazz Festival

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LYLE & SCOTT CURATE SECOND XOYO SHOW
After the success of its first sold out show at east London's XOYO, clothing brand Lyle & Scott has announced a second show at the venue next week. Featuring Tribes, Life In Film and Paradise Point performing live, the gig will take place on 27 Jan, which is next Friday.

Jess Pugh, Lyle & Scott's Marketing Manager, told CMU: "We are hugely excited about 'Curated by Lyle & Scott' which demonstrates our desire to support emerging talent within the music industry in the UK and provide a showcase for young bands".

More information at www.facebook.com/lyleandscott

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

BANG FACE WEEKENDER, Camber Sands, Sussex, 13-15 May: This attractively-titled seaside bash will this year play host to headliners Luke Vibert, Clark and Atari Teenage Riot. Also bringing the noise to thousands of dehydrated neo-ravers will be Bong-Ra, Hellfish, Rustie, Gonjasufi and many more. www.bangface.com

BENICASSIM, Valencia, Spain, 14-17 Jul: Just confirmed to join the line-up of this year's fiesta are Mumford & Sons and The Streets. Keeping them in fine company are the already announced Arcade Fire, The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. Other acts just added to the bill are Juliete Venegas, The Marzipan Man, Smile, CatPeople and Lori Meyers. For their own sakes, let's hope these pasty indie types remember to apply sun cream and sombreros. www.fiberfib.com

EXIT, Novi Sad, Serbia, 7-10 Jul: Portishead have just been added to this year's line-up, which already boasts Arcade Fire, Hadouken!, Tiga and James Zabiela. So, now you know. www.exitfest.org

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ALBUM REVIEW: Various Artists - The Art Of The Twelve-Inch (ZTT)
At its best, the twelve-inch turned a four minute track into a stately symphony or more experimental reversion, and sometimes both at the same time, and that's something ZTT excelled in, particularly on the multiple mixes for their three key acts/cash cows - Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Art Of Noise and Propaganda - all of whom are well represented on the two CDs here.

There are also a scattering of tracks from what you might call the start of the 'dance music' era, and although the 'club culture' stuff doesn't always sit too easily next to the more seminal material, following 808 State's gorgeous 'Pacific 909' with AON's 'Moments In Love' is a nice touch, the two tracks being natural relations of each other; six years, but an era apart, the two are rare examples of instrumental electronic dance music's occasional ability to move the heart as well as the feet.

Elsewhere the lush electro chanson of Anne Pigalle and the proto-electronica of Andrew Poppy provide lesser known gems, whilst rarities from Instinct and Art & Act are divertingly curious.

Then there's Frankie's twelve minute 'Rage Hard (The Young Person's Guide To The Twelve-Inch)' - possibly the best twelve-inch remix ever - achieved by simply bolting onto the original track eight minutes of deconstruction and reassembly, with a saucy narration from Pamela Stephenson. It's post modern but self-aware, with a playfulness at its heart that ran through ZTT's Dada and Futurist-inspired adventures, courtesy of the fusion of Paul Morley's conceptualising and Trevor Horn and co's technological savvy.

In truth Frankie are well covered by rarities here, but not by their best mixes, with the superlative extended versions of 'Relax', 'Two Tribes' and 'Welcome To The Pleasure Dome' absent. Maybe they'll be on Volume Two, as there are doubtless plenty more treasures (from Grace Jones to Sexus) to plunder from the ZTT vaults.

Lovingly curated and lavishly packaged, at its best, 'The Art Of The Twelve-Inch' is simply a reminder of just that. MS

Physical release: 7 Feb

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SECONDARY TICKETING TO BE DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT
The good old issue of secondary ticketing - or ticketing touting if you prefer - will be discussed in parliament again later today as a private members bill on the issue put forward by Labour MP Sharon Hodgson last year gets its second reading in the House Of Commons.

As much previously reported, the growth of ticketing touting online - where people resell tickets for in demand events at a marked up price - has been criticised by both consumer groups and some in the live industry and artist community. Government initially ordered that the live sector address the issue, but even those promoters who dislike secondary ticketing said there was little they could do without ministers introducing new laws. As it turned out, said ministers weren't all that keen on that suggestion.

Hodgson's bill proposes a new rule by which promoters of gigs can stop touts from re-selling tickets for anything more than a 10% mark up. On her website, an introduction to the proposals says: "Ticket touting generates millions of pounds a year in the UK - all of which comes out of the pockets of fans, none of which goes to supporting grassroots sport or the creative industries, and little of which will be taxed like normal income or business profits. In some cases, touts can earn more than the artists!"

It adds: "It has also been claimed that many of the organised touts use legally dubious methods to buy large amounts of tickets, such as utilising networks of virus-infected computers known as botnets to squeeze out genuine fans trying to buy tickets when they go on sale from the original source. Touting has also been linked to funding or laundering money for other crimes, such as drug dealing and trafficking. The fact of the matter is that a few people are making large amounts of money by exploiting the hard work of people involved in the live entertainment industry and the passion of fans, whilst contributing nothing to either. This bill seeks to address this problem".

While some in the industry continue to oppose the growth of secondary ticketing - with some hoping technology might eventually be the solution (it is harder to resell a mobile-phone delivered ticket) - others have just accepted it as inevitable in the modern age. And, of course, a secondary ticketing industry has grown up in recent years with websites that provide a market place for ticket resellers, whether they be experienced touts or fans who want to sell on a ticket they can no longer use.

The latter, of course, will oppose Hodgson's bill, with a spokesman for one, Viagogo's Edward Parkinson, telling CMU: "Viagogo believes that if a person has spent their hard earned money on a ticket and can no longer use it, they should have the right to resell it at a price they choose. Why should tickets be any different to cars, books or handbags? Viagogo supports all measures to protect fans from the real issues of fraud and online ticket scams. However the proposed bill, while it may be well intentioned, would simply drive ticket resale underground, increasing fraud and pushing up prices for fans".

He added: "Consumers actually like having the option of going to the secondary market, they can buy tickets when they want and choose exactly where they sit. It is now an important and rapidly growing part of the ticketing sector. The reselling of tickets is not going to go away, so the question is how do you make it a better situation for the world that we live in today, and I believe that a safe and secure marketplace like Viagogo is the answer".

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OFCOM CUTS COST OF CLASSIC FM AND UTV LICENCES
Media regulator OfCom has slashed the fees charged to Global Radio and UTV Radio for the use of the frequencies on which they broadcast Classic FM and TalkSport respectively.

Both will now pay £10,000 a year for their licences. Global Radio previously paid £50,000 and 6% of ad and sponsorship revenue, while TalkSport paid a set charge of £100,000 each year. Back in the day the Classic FM licence was costing £1.2 million a year, while TalkSport were paying over half a million.

Both the Classic FM and TalkSport licences, which would soon have been up for renewal - a process which would have seen others compete for them - were extended in the Digital Economy Act last year. The government were keen for the likes of Global and UTV to invest in the shift from analogue to digital radio services, and didn't really want the radio industry to get into a big bidding war for frequencies ministers hope to soon phase out.

OfCom said the cuts in the licence fees Classic FM and TalkSport would pay reflected the decreasing value of the licences - ie what new bidders would be willing to pay if the licence was put up for auction. It's also probably a further attempt by government and their regulator to focus radio industry attention onto the digital future, even though conventional FM services are still the cash cow for most radio companies.

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MARSHA SHANDUR LEAVES FOR CANADA
Xfm DJ and good friend of CMU Marsha Shandur heads for Canada today following her decision to re-locate to Toronto. The move means Shandur has had to part company with her much loved Xfm, but she hopes to pursue new radio and music projects once she's set up in the Canadian city.

Marsha told CMU: "My decision comes from a combination of being done with London and falling in love with a Torontonian. I continue to love Xfm with all my heart and soul and to think it is truly the greatest radio station on this planet. I remain on excellent terms with my wonderful bosses and all the staff and will miss it terribly. But, in spite of being a born and bred Londoner, I'm just inherently not a 'London Person'".

She adds: "I always said I was open to the fact that you never know what life throws at you and that I might, for example, fall in love with a Norwegian and move to Norway. At least I speak the same language as Canadians".

Shandur, who has also worked in A&R and management, and who was music programmer for 'The Inbetweeners', will post updates on her new life across the Atlantic at www.marshashandur.com.

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BOY GEORGE GIVES BACK STOLEN ICON TO CYPRUS
Boy George has returned a painting of Jesus to the Church Of Cyprus after learning that it had been stolen from a church in southern Nicosia during the 1974 Turkish invasion of the country. The painting was spotted hanging over a fireplace in the singer's home during a television interview.

George explained that he had bought the painting from an art dealer in 1985, telling the BBC: "I am quite sad to see it go, but I am glad it has gone back to its rightful place".

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AXL ROSE NAMED ONE OF WORLD'S WORST DRESSED MEN
Axl Rose has been named one of the world's worst dressed men by GQ magazine. Mel Gibson topped the list and was joined by fashion designer Henry Holland and Will Smith's twelve year old song Jaden, which seems a bit harsh. If he's half as self-conscious as I was when I was twelve, appearing on a list of the world's worst dressed men isn't going to help him at all. Though he might like being described as a man, I suppose.

Announcing Axl Rose's place in the list, GQ said: "It's high time Rose left his clothes out in the November rain". Jesus fucking Christ, GQ, I hereby award you the prize for the worst ever music-based pun in history. And considering some of the shit we come out with, that's really saying something.

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LONELY GIRLS SNAP UP BIEBER NAIL VARNISH
Oh yeah, you all thought it was weird that Justin Bieber was launching his own brand of nail varnish, didn't you? Even weirder that he'd called it 'One Less Lonely Girl'. But now that it's gone on sale, it's sold out throughout 3000 Walmart stores in the US.

Now there's nowhere left to buy it, I guess the only hope is to ask Justin himself if he's got any bottles left stashed away. If only there was some way of getting his attention: youtu.be/0e50vqY7Szo

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