AEG JOINS WITH CANADIAN TECH FIRM TO ENTER TICKETING MARKET
Live music giant AEG Live has gone into business with a tech start up called Outbox Technology to launch its own ticketing service.

The move, which will ultimately enable AEG to become independent from ticketing giant Ticketmaster, isn't a surprise. The live firm has been expected to find an alternative ticketing solution ever since market leader Ticketmaster merged with AEG rivals Live Nation.

According to the Wall Street Journal, AEG hopes to have the Outbox system operational across its US venues within six months, with a global roll out over the next two years. Meanwhile Outbox Enterprises, a JV between the live and tech firms, will look to sell ticketing services to other US companies, going head to head with Ticketmaster in the ticketing market.

AEG Live CEO Tim Leiweke told the Journal that he hoped his company's new ticketing venture would win market share not by building a strong consumer-facing brand and an Outbox hub online, but by offering a better service to promoter and customer alike. He said: "This isn't about trying to go out there and build a whole new brand around the name Outbox. This is about service".

If you wonder what Canada-based Outbox knows about ticketing, well, it's CEO is Fredric Rosen, who led Ticketmaster from 1982 to 1998, and oversaw the ticketing giant's fastest period of growth. When he joined Outbox last year he too stressed that the Canadian firm wasn't interested in becoming a ticketing hub in its own right, but in better helping event promoters to sell tickets directly to customers. He told the WSJ: "The middle man model is dead, you have to evolve".

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STONES SAY NO TOUR PLANS, DESPITE LAWSUIT OVER WHO MIGHT PROMOTE
The Rolling Stones have issued a statement following news that legendary promoter Michael Cohl's legal dispute with Live Nation had their touring plans at its heart.

As previously reported, Live Nation last year sued Cohl claiming he had defaulted on payments he agreed to make to the live music conglom when he quit as the company's chairman in 2008. He agreed to pay his former employer millions over a number of years in return for keeping some of the assets and artist relationships he had brought to Live Nation when it bought his CPL company in 2006.

Earlier this week Cohl counter-sued claiming the reason he had stopped making those payments was because Live Nation had breached the 2008 agreement by trying to compete with him in securing the rights to promote the next Stones tour. Cohl has had a long relationship with the aging rockers as their primary promoter, and he argued that the right to maintain that relationship was the "crown jewel" of his agreement with Live Nation, and that by meddling with that right the live music conglom had breached their deal.

All of this was more interesting because the countersuit discussed a possible 2011 fiftieth anniversary Stones tour, something which the band hadn't previously mentioned. And that, a spokesman for the band said yesterday, is because there are currently no plans to tour this year, and no deal has been done with either Cohl or Live Nation either about any future live projects. However, that's not to say there won't be a tour this year, nor that the band won't work with Cohl or Live Nation in the future.

The band's statement said: "In light of recent reports surrounding the 'breach of contract' court case in America between Live Nation Entertainment and former Live Nation chairman Michael Cohl, The Rolling Stones wish to clarify their position regarding representation and touring. Following the end of the 2007 'A Bigger Bang' world tour, The Rolling Stones became free from any contractual arrangements or agreements with Michael Cohl. He is neither their representative nor their tour promoter. Also the Stones confirmed today they have no firm plans to tour at this time".

And just to ensure there is no confusion, the statement added that the band currently have two active business deals in place, one for recordings and one for merchandise, and both with Universal Music subsidiaries.

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KATHERINE JACKSON'S AEG LAWSUIT ALLOWED TO PROCEED
A judge in LA yesterday ruled that Katherine Jackson's lawsuit against AEG Live in relation to the death of Michael Jackson can proceed.

As previously reported, while the singer's father Joe is suing Conrad Murray directly over the doctor's alleged negligence in administering the drug that killed the late king of pop, his mother is suing AEG Live - promoters of Jacko's ill-fated 'This Is It' show - on the basis they employed the medical man.

AEG argues that it hired Murray at Jackson's request, and that the company didn't directly manage him. But Mrs Jackson claims that Murray was instructed by the promoter to use any means to ensure her son was able to attend rehearsals, and that the live firm should have realised the combination of drugs the medic was using to achieve that was dangerous.

Last month, AEG filed a motion to have Mrs Jackson's lawsuit dismissed, but judge Yvette Palazuelos yesterday denied that motion. Though she did stress that Jackson's case would need to provide evidence of "fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy", adding that proof of the latter was currently lacking.

That's the bit that relates to the allegation AEG and Murray conspired to use whatever means necessary to keep Jacko fit enough to rehearse. Palazuelos said that any agreement that Murray would ensure Jackson made it to rehearsals was not, in itself, an illegal act, and that evidence would be needed that the implications of such an agreement were more sinister.

Murray himself faces criminal charges of negligence for his role in Jackson's death of course, charges the doc denies. His criminal trial is due to begin on 28 Mar.

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DOHERTY DENIES DRUGS CHARGES, IS QUESTIONED OVER ACTOR'S FATAL FALL
Pete Doherty appeared, albeit briefly, at Thames Magistrates' Court in east London on Tuesday to face those much previously reported charges of cocaine possession, which he denies.

The Babyshambler was charged after allegedly being found in possession of cocaine when arrested following the death, by overdose, of filmmaker Robin Whitehead at the flat of Doherty collaborator Peter 'Wolfman' Wolfe last March. Wolfe is also charged with supplying drugs to Whitehead, who was heiress to the estate of environmentalist and writer Teddy Goldsmith. He also denies his charges, as does another man, Alan Wass, who was also charged with cocaine possession.

Earlier this month, the three men's lawyers tried, unsuccessfully, to have the case against their clients dismissed. The defendants themselves didn't attend that earlier hearing, which is why judge Jacqueline Comyns called them to court yesterday, even though all she did was set the date for a proper hearing at the Crown Court. The case will now be heard at London's fashionable Snaresbrook Crown Court on 29 Mar.

Elsewhere in Doherty legal news, the Babyshambler has been interviewed by police again over the death of actor Mark Blanco at a London party attended by the singer back in 2006.

As previously reported, Blanco fell to his death from a balcony in the building where said party was taking place. Some eyewitnesses said Blanco had previously had a run in with Doherty and/or one of his associates that night, though the host of the party, Paul Roundhill, denied this. What is pretty certain, though, is that Roundhill twice forcefully evicted Blanco from his flat, the first time punching him several times in the process. It was shortly after Blanco's second eviction that he fell to his death.

At the time, police investigations focused on the theory Blanco's death was either suicide or an accident, perhaps as Blanco attempted to make his exit by jumping to a lamppost. But the coroner rejected the suicide theory, and, on declaring an open verdict, encouraged police to reopen their investigations. They announced plans to do so late last year, hence the new round of interviews.

A solicitor for Doherty said yesterday that the singer voluntarily attended a police station to "help officers with their inquiries", while the Met Police confirmed no arrests had been made and that "inquiries continue and we are not prepared to discuss who we may or may not have spoken to".

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CUSTODY BATTLE OVER JUSTIN BIEBER'S BABY
Yeah, so that headline is a little misleading, but hey, it got you reading this article about a slightly tedious royalties dispute, didn't it? The publishing rights to Justin Bieber's year old hit 'Baby' are part of a divorce dispute between American pop couple Christina Milian and The-Dream.

The singer and singer-producer, who were both among the songwriters credited for 'Baby', were briefly married in 2009 and have a daughter together. They initially reached an amicable and private divorce settlement late last year but, according to TMZ, Milian now wants to renegotiate that settlement to secure herself more financial support.

And, according to the gossip site, among her requests is a bigger share of the royalties from the Bieber hit. She is reportedly currently getting 10% of The-Dream's cut of the publishing income on the track - which was a collaboration between the teeny pop boy and rap man Ludacris - but she reckons she is due more than that.

Whether resentment over the size of her cut of the 'Baby' royalties would ever result in Milian taking out her frustrations on Bieber himself we don't know, though if she did it might look like this: youtu.be/0e50vqY7Szo

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JUNO AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
Talking of which, the nominations for the Juno Awards, otherwise known as the Canadian BRITs (though, presumably, not in Canada), have been announced. And, yes, it's okay, Justin Bieber is up for a lot of awards. Not as many as Drake, though, who has six. Bieber only has four. And Arcade Fire have five, so Justin's actually looking pretty stupid right now. Though he has looked worse: youtu.be/0e50vqY7Szo

See all the nominees here: junoawards.ca

The ceremony takes place in Toronto on 27 Mar.

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JESSIE J FIRST TO BENEFIT FROM ON AIR, ON SALE
Jessie J is the first artist to benefit from Universal and Sony's new 'on air, on sale' scheme, which saw her new single, 'Price Tag', serviced to download stores at the same time as radio and has sent her straight to number one in the midweek singles chart. She's followed closely by Bruno Mars, though.

Official Charts Company MD Martin Talbot told CMU: "There has been a lot of discussion about 'on air, on sale' over recent weeks - but for the first time we can see what impact it can have. And, regardless of whether Jessie J ends up at number one in the Official Singles Chart on Sunday, or not, she is showing that 'on air, on sale' is just what the consumer wants. Of course, not every record that goes on air and on sale on the same day will have such an impressive start - in fact a gradual build up the chart may be a lot more usual - but this is a great result by Jessie J".

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THE WHITE STRIPES SPLIT
The White Stripes have finally announced that they have split up, almost four years since the release of their last album, 'Icky Thump', in June 2007. The duo also cancelled numerous tour dates the same year after it was announced that Meg White was suffering from acute anxiety. They've done very little together since then, and Jack White has since formed The Dead Weather and continued to perform with The Raconteurs.

A statement issued on the band's website yesterday read: "The White Stripes would like to announce that today, 2 Feb 2011, their band has officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live. The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg and Jack are feeling fine. It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way".

The full statement can be seen at www.whitestripes.com.

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DORIAN CONCEPT ANNOUNCES NEW EP
Offbeat Viennese composer Dorian Concept got fans of the Ninja Tune label all in a whirl with 'Her Tears Taste Like Pears', a standout track from on the independent record company's 20th anniversary compilation album 'Ninja XX' last year.

And now Dorian is to release an EP of the same name on 28 Mar also on Ninja Tune, the tracklisting of which will be as follows:

Her Tears Taste Like Pears
My Face Needs Food
Toe Games Made Her Giggle
Thank You All The Time Forever

Listen to an edit of "avant-dancehall" ditty 'My Face Needs Food' here:
soundcloud.com/ninja-tune/dorian-concept-my-face-needs-food-preview-edit

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DEAD SEA SOULS CANCEL GIG AFTER FANS BREATHALYSED
Ska-influenced Scottish quartet Dead Sea Souls have revealed that they cancelled a show at The GRV in Edinburgh on Saturday after their fans were breathalysed on the door. Although the equipment was later shown to be faulty, around 20 fans were still refused entry after they registered as being drunk.

Frontman Gary Burns explained via the band's Facebook page: "We were made aware very early that there was a problem on the door, with the security 'breathalysing' a lot of the crowd, and those who were under 18 (even though it was an over 14s gig) who failed the test were not allowed admission to the venue ... In defending our crowd, we challenged security to breathalyse staff to test the quality of the machine they used. The staff also tested positive proving that the equipment was faulty".

He continued: "The venue still refused entry to those who had done no wrong, by using a piece of testing equipment that was entirely illegal for them to use and very faulty. For that we decided we could not be associated with the gig on Saturday. We could not play a gig knowing that people who had came to support us were going to be forced to stand outside in the street. So we decided to respect our fans by refusing to play without them".

The band have now announced that tickets purchased for the GRV gig will be valid at Stereo in Glasgow this Saturday.

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OCEAN COLOUR SCENE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR AND ALBUM RE-ISSUE
Ocean Colour Scene will mark the re-release of their 1996 album 'Moseley Shoals' with a triumphant fourteen date UK tour. The re-issue, out on 7 Mar through Universal, will take the form of a deluxe two disc edition, featuring the original tracklisting plus selected demos and b-sides.

Tour dates:

9 Feb: Newcastle, Academy
10 Feb: Llandudno, Venue Cymru
11 Feb: Cardiff University
13 Feb: Dublin, Olympia
15 Feb: Southampton, Guildhall
17 Feb: Bristol, Academy
18 Feb: Leeds, Academy
19 Feb: Liverpool, Guild Of Students
21 Feb: Norwich, UEA
22 Feb: Nottingham, Rock City
24 Feb: Aberdeen, Music Hall
25 Feb: Glasgow, Barrowlands
26 Feb: Birmingham, Academy
10 Dec: London Brixton Academy

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EMMURE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR
US metalcore band Emmure have announced that they will be in the UK in May for a handful of tour dates, with support from Winds Of Plague, War From A Harlots Mouth and iwrestledabearonce.

Tour dates:

1 May: Brighton, Concorde 2
2 May: Birmingham, Academy 2
3 May: Leeds, Cockpit
4 May: Bristol, Academy 2
5 May: Manchester, Club Academy
6 May: London, Garage

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

CHAGSTOCK, Chagford, Devon, 22-24 Feb: Show Of Hands, The Magic Numbers and Bellowhead are to head to Dartmoor's family-orientated fest with bill-topping performances on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. The Operation, John Otway Big Band, Rodney Branigan, Talk To Angels and The Fireblockers are amongst others set to appear. www.chagstock.info

PRIMAVERA SOUND, Barcelona, Spain, 25-29 May: Interpol, PJ Harvey, Sufjan Stevens and Warpaint are amongst the latest raft of acts to join other big names including Pulp, Fleet Foxes and The Flaming Lips. Other choice highlights of what might be 2011's strongest line-up so far are Big Boi, Gold Panda, Simian Mobile Disco, Avi Buffalo, Perfume Genius, James Blake and Jamie xx. www.primaverasound.com

SOS 4.8, Murcia, Spain, 6-7 May: MGMT, These New Puritans and Editors are the latest announced acts on the roster for this Spanish two day event that fuses a contemporary art exhibition with performances from such already confirmed acts as Everything Everything, Suede, White Lies and Two Door Cinema Club. TNP will showcase their 'Hidden Live' set in the intimate Auditorium space, accompanied by a fifteen-piece orchestra and choir, which really does sound good. www.sos48.com/en_2010/festival_concepto.php

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SINGLE REVIEW: Mirrors - Into The Heart (Skint)
A synth-pop revival you say? Don't be silly, it'll never catch on. Except of course, it did, and we're now in a thrilling post-guitar era when not a week goes by without some exciting retro-futurist music appearing from pretty young things with some technology and all the right influences. Brighton four-piece Mirrors are one such group and, like their peers Delphic and Hurts, are suitably serious and delicately styled, inevitably well-dressed men with sharp suits and sharper haircuts.

'Into The Heart' is a straightforward electro-pop song, lacking somewhat the drama and tension of Mirrors' two previous singles, but still a thousand times more interesting than anything else released by any new indie band you could think of at the moment.

Sung with a slightly strangulated affectation of the sort that was de rigueur in 1981, there are nods to all your old favourites - The Human League, early Depeche Mode, OMD et al - as well as echoes of 90s electronica and the frosted cool of Ladytron (but without the icy aloofness), but the group just about manage to conceive their own identity as they submit another arty tale of fractured relationships and dislocation.

Released on Valentine's Day, it's a perfect gift for your loved one of choice. MS

Phsyical release: 14 Feb

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BORDERS US REPORTEDLY SHUTTING 150 STORES
Borders in America might be about to go the same way as the UK version of the books and music seller, with reports from Bloomberg that the retailer is planning to shut 150 stores across the US and could soon apply for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It's not all doom and gloom, GE Capital have reportedly provided a multi-million loan facility, though it seems certain that the Borders chain will be substantially smaller by the end of the year.

The UK version of Borders, which span off from its American parent into its own company, finally bit the dust at the end of 2009.

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THE DAILY LAUNCHES
So, Rupert Murdoch's The Daily iPad newspaper launched in the US yesterday. Did you whoop?

I've not seen it, on account of me being very busy, and not because I don't own an iPad. I mean, that guy on the bookings desk at the Apple Store yesterday was pretty skinny, and he had an iPad, and while I'm not especially strong, I have a bit more weight than I used to, and I reckon I could have easily knocked him over, grabbed the iPad, and have been hidden in the Regent Street crowds before anyone noticed. But I didn't. Not because I have any sort of in-built moral code you understand, but because, like I say, I'd have been far too busy to read The Daily anyway. Besides, I don't think you can even download it in the UK yet.

But from what I hear, the new digital news publication from News Corp has a magazine feel to it, combines news, sport, gossip and opinion, has some interactive nonsense and lots of bits of video and audio, and uses a lot of photos and infographics (that being the new word for "diagrams", it seems). There was very little music content in issue one, aside from coverage of Citigroup taking control of EMI, though Billboard points out that New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones is heading up cultural coverage, and therefore we can presumably expect music to regularly feature in the arts section. Whether YouTube or VEVO clips will be embedded in due course remains to be seen.

The Daily is free for American iPad owners to download for a fortnight, via a sponsorship deal with Verizon. After that it will be 99 cents a week or $40 a year. As previously reported, Murdoch hopes that consumers unwilling to pay to access news content via the web might pay for a multi-media news-ganza on their iPad.

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NEWS CORP HOPING TO SELL MYSPACE, CONFIRMS COO
Talking of News Corp's digital adventures, the COO of the media giant, Chase Carey, has given an even stronger indication that it wants shot of MySpace, the flagging social entertainment recommendation distribution networking sharing caring shit heap.

Asked about the future of the web platform during an investor call yesterday, Carey said: "With a new structure in place, now is the right time to consider strategic options for this business. The new MySpace has been very well received by the market and we have some very encouraging metrics. But the plan to allow MySpace to reach it's full potential may be best achieved under a new owner".

You read that as "please somebody, somewhere, buy this fucker off us will you", right? Carey insisted that he'd had interest from a number of parties to either buy MySpace, or take a significant equity stake in return for injecting cash. Quite who these people are is anyone's guess.

Then again, it's thought digitally eager investment types, freshly supplied with some disposable cash, are about to spend millions buying shares in Linked-In and any other social networking flim flam that goes the IPO route in the next eighteen months. They do realise only Apple and Google currently have sustainable digital revenue models right?

Anyway, Carey's comments came as MySpace sent out an email to lapsed users saying: "We've missed you at MySpace lately. Plain and simple, we think you should come back. And here's why. The new MySpace provides the best social entertainment experience on Earth".

It continued: "You can now follow your favourite topics in music, movies, celebs, and TV and get instant updates from around the web. The new MySpace gives you custom recommendations so you can discover more of what you love and connect with new like-minded friends."

You read that as "Please, I'm begging you, use us before they pull the plug, that Carey fella's already tugging at the chord", right?

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A QUARTER OF ALL RADIO LISTENING DIGITAL, BUT IS 2015 FM TURNOVER STILL OVERLY OPTIMISTIC?
So the RAJARS are out, and most radio groups seem to have at least one bit of genuinely good news to pull out of their latest listening figures (Bauer in particular, Absolute slightly less so), which is no fun at all. Even the dudes peddling the digital future of radio got some good news, a quarter of all radio listening is now done via digital platforms rather than boring old FM. Actually, the increase is a mere 0.2%, but with the expected post-Christmas boost in digital listening not shown here, the digital lobby will still consider that good news. Though, of course, that stat is thanks to the bundling of web and through-your-telly listening under the digital banner. Listening via DAB - the digital version of FM - is up, but still lagging at 15.8%.

But the boss of Digital Radio UK, Ford Ennals, was happy nevertheless, telling reporters: "The achievements of 25% of listening to digital platforms, and nearly 45% of listeners listening to digital each week, represent key milestones as digital radio moves into the mainstream of UK radio listening. Following a strong start to 2011 we look forward to seeing the Q1 listening figures in May, when we will see the benefit of listening to the 750,000 digital radios which were sold in the last quarter of 2010".

But does digital - and DAB in particular - have any chance of reaching a big enough audience by 2015 to allow the planned decommissioning of the FM network. As much previously reported, Digital Radio UK, the Beeb and some big commercial players hope so, but many remain unconvinced.

Including the Sales & Marketing Director of one of the companies that makes DAB radios, Roberts Radio. According to the Telegraph, he says: "Digital is no doubt the future of radio and we support this fully and completely, but we still strongly feel, as we have from the beginning, that we should not try to force the issue onto the consumer and that we should look at ways of getting our industry into a 'digital ready state', responsibly and honestly, regardless of how long it takes. We would do well to remember that following the launch of FM, it took over 20 years to become the mainstream format that we know and love today".

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KATE MOSS TO MARRY KILLS CHAP
Kate Moss is reportedly engaged to The Kills blokey Jamie Hince, with plans to marry the musician later this year. Apparently he popped the question on Tuesday and she accepted. Does this mean we get another bank holiday?

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FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA - "MAYBE ART WILL BE FREE"
Here's some sobering musings from film director Francis Ford Coppola - perhaps the billion dollar copyright industry that peaked in the 20th century was an anomaly, and artists of the future will either have to find themselves a rich benefactor or combine their artistic pursuits with a proper job.

In an interview with The 99%, the director said: "You have to remember that it's only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script".

He continues: "This idea of Metallica or some rock n roll singer being rich, that's not necessarily going to happen any more. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I'm going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money? In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then you'd be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record royalties. So I would say: 'Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea of making a living and money'. Because there are ways around it".

You can read the full interview here.

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CHRIS DE BURGH TO SELL WINE COLLECTION
Yes, it's the pop auction you've all be waiting for. Perhaps realising there are only so many Asda exclusivity deals to be done in the world, and possibly inspired by the Francis Ford Coppola approach to making a living as an artist, Chris de Burgh has announced he is going to sell off his wine collection.

A total of 320 bottles and 84 magnums of wine and champagne will go on sale at Christie's in London on 24 Mar and is expected to fetch around £200,000.

De Burgh told the BBC: "Every wine I'm selling I've actually tasted, so I know what I'm missing. But I think the time has come for someone else to enjoy them. I've greatly enjoyed collecting all sorts of varieties, and vintages, from all over the world".

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