APPLE CO-FOUNDER STEVE JOBS DIES
Politicians, business leaders, technology pioneers, artists, celebrities and consumers across the world have been paying tribute to Steve Jobs, the man who set out to make computers but somehow revolutionised the movie and music industries along the way. The Apple co-founder died yesterday after losing his fight with pancreatic cancer, he was 56.

One of the undisputed pioneers of Silicon Valley, Jobs' role in the IT revolution of the last four decades was as the visionary, one of the first to imagine computers in every home, intuitive interfaces that everyone could use, sleek hardware that you didn't have to hide out of sight, and the computer as a device of entertainment as well as business.

Jobs founded Apple with his friend Steve Wozniak in 1976, having had casual jobs at both Hewlett Packard and Atari, and inspired by what was happening in computing on America's West Coast at the time - both Jobs and Wozniak had been attending meetings of Silicon Valley's grass roots Homebrew Computer Club. Together they developed and marketed what was considered the world's first personal computer, the Apple II.

From the success of that venture, the Apple Computer company quickly began to grow, again moving the entire IT world forward eight years later when it launched the first Macintosh computer in 1984, the first commercially successful machine with the graphical user interface that became the norm in computing. However, not long after the launch of the Macintosh, Jobs found himself ousted from the company he had co-founded.

After a disappointing year commercially, and with some in the growing Apple empire complaining about Jobs' erratic nature, John Sculley, the former Pepsi exec Jobs had persuaded to become CEO of Apple in 1983, forced the company's co-founder out. Although acrimonious at the time, Jobs later claimed his 1984 ousting was one of the best things to ever happen to him, initiating "the most creative period of my life".

While out in the wilderness, as it were, Jobs pursued other business ventures. He founded another computing company, Next Computer Inc, creating PCs for the higher education and business market. Although Next had only modest success in terms of sales, the operating system it developed was influential, and the current Apple OS is very much based on it. The Next enterprise also enjoys the claim to fame that Tim Berners-Lee developed the first ever web server using one of its computers.

Jobs' other big venture in this era was Pixar. He acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm in 1986, with the intention of building it into a high-end graphics hardware firm. That initial plan didn't come to much, but along the way the company, by this time renamed Pixar, struck up a partnership with Disney to make computer-animated films.

It was, of course, a hugely successful alliance, resulting in a string of award-winning movies, from 'Toy Story' to 'Monsters Inc' to 'Finding Nemo', all of which were huge hits at the box office, and changed the art of animation. Disney subsequently bought out the company, a deal which made Jobs the biggest single shareholder in the wider Disney corporation.

But, of course, possibly the greatest part of the Jobs story begins in 1997, when both he and the company he had co-founded 20 years earlier enjoyed the biggest comeback in IT history, as Jobs rejoined Apple as CEO after it acquired his Next Computers business. Apple's fortunes had dipped massively in the 1990s as its main rival Microsoft took over the world with its Windows operating system, Office software and IE web browser, and Jobs faced many challenges on his return to the Apple empire. Some had already written the company off completely, but I think it's fair to say he met those challenges.

From the eye-catching, semi-transparent and rather colourful original iMac, to the OSX operating system which capitalised on the output of Jobs' Next company, to the game-changing iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple began to take over the world.

While, in this latter era, Apple was rarely first to market with a new product idea, and while some would argue its competitors often made similar products which were - technically speaking - superior, the company's devices always looked better, both physically and on screen, its software often seemed simpler and more user-friendly, the way products were packaged and marketed made them feel more accessible to the majority, and - as a general rule - Apple remembered to do what some of its competitors often forget, to release products that actually work. All of which meant Apple started eating up market share, despite never competing on price.

Of course it helped that the one community who had remained faithful to Apple throughout, even in the lowest ebbs of the 1990s, were those in the media and creative industries. Suddenly the brand that many designers and journalists had always associated with was on the up, and with a great story to tell - "ousted founder returns and rescues his former company". But the fact that Jobs, unusual for the IT industry, was so personable, and such a good public speaker, helped with this process, so that every time the CEO got on stage to make an announcement it became a worldwide media event.

It is during this era that Jobs, somewhat inadvertently, became one of the most important people in the music business. It happened because Apple wanted to launch a digital music player, but none of the music companies were making their songs available in a way that consumers could easily access.

The luddites running the big music firms, many of whom struggled to use their own pagers, had ignored new technology, and then when Napster woke them up, they hired lawyers and IT consultancies who claimed they could stop the distribution of music online with lawsuits and digital rights management technology. When the labels finally started to realise the internet could actually be a new sales platform rather than just a vehicle for piracy, they set up their own digital ventures which focused on the interests of rights owners over music consumers, and were therefore universally awful.

Jobs told Rolling Stone in 2003: "There's a lot of smart people at the music companies, the problem is they're not technology people. The good music companies do an amazing thing, they have people who can pick the person that's gonna be successful out of 5000 candidates. The world needs more smart editorial these days. The problem is, that has nothing to do with technology. And so when the internet came along, and Napster came along, they didn't know what to make of it. They were pretty doggone slow to react. Matter of fact, they still haven't really reacted, in many ways. And so they're fairly vulnerable to people telling them technical solutions will work, when they won't".

That Jobs was able to persuade these executives to licence his iTunes store - a user-friendly consumer-centric service that did work - so to feed his iPod devices, is a testament to how personable and persuasive the Apple chief really was. His dabblings in the movie industry probably helped, unlike his competitors he had entertainment industry credentials. Though even Jobs the visionary probably didn't anticipate just how significant those early talks with the record companies and music publishers would be, that, by creating an online store designed principally to help sell an MP3 player, his company would become one of the most important entertainment retailers in the world.

Through iTunes and the iPod, Jobs both transformed his company into one of the most successful consumer electronics firms on the planet, and totally changed - and some might argue rescued - the entire music industry. Even with the developments in recent years in social media and streaming music - two things Apple has never really cracked - iTunes still controls the vast majority of the digital music market, and is arguably the only digital service that delivers significant revenues to rights owners that come from the pockets of music fans rather than venture capitalists. And, as with its hardware, Apple has achieved all this despite never really competing on price.

Of course there have been tensions between the music industry and Apple along the way - some majors regretted the 99 cents price point they'd agreed to, others wanted variable pricing, some didn't like being forced to sell albums track by track, the indies questioned why a company that positioned itself as anti-establishment too often ignored their interests, and many feared the sheer market dominance of this IT firm in the digital music space and suspected it may be abusing its size - but that didn't stop labels, publishers, managers, artists and songwriters getting a little excited whenever Jobs called, or took to the stage.

Jobs revealed that he been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in his pancreas in 2004, but the tumour was removed and he seemed to recover remarkably quickly. However, health concerns returned a few years later, and while Apple initially kept them a secret, as Jobs started to visibly lose weight the firm announced in 2009 that he would take a six month leave of absence for treatment. By this point Jobs and Apple were so interlinked that Wall Street started to panic amid concerns for the CEO's health. In April 2009 Jobs had a liver transplant, but the prognosis was good, and he returned to Apple later that year.

Nevertheless, reports about Jobs' ailing health continued, and at the start of 2011 he again took time off for health reasons. In August he announced he would step back from the CEO role for good, to be replaced by his close colleague Tim Cook, who had run Apple during previous breaks from the company. In a note to staff Jobs wrote: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come".

Yesterday Jobs' family confirmed the Apple man had "died peacefully today surrounded by his family". In a statement his company added: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts".

As it released the statement Apple replaced its home page at Apple.com with a black and white photo of their co-founder and former leader with the strapline "Steve Jobs 1955-2011". A suitably simple yet somehow brilliant tribute.

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TRIBUTES TO STEVE JOBS
Apple CEO Tim Cook: "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being... Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple".

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: "It's kind of like when John Lennon died, or JFK... I'm a little bit, like, awestruck, just dumbfounded, and I can't put my mind into gear".

Bill Gates: "Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely".

Google CEO Larry Page: "He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me".

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg: "Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you".

Spotify chief Daniel Ek: "Thank you Steve. You were a true inspiration in so many parts of my life, both personal and professional. My hat off to our time's Da Vinci".

Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung: "His innovative spirit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be remembered by people around the world".

Sony Corp chief Howard Stringer: "The digital age has lost its leading light, but Steve's innovation and creativity will inspire dreamers and thinkers for generations".

Billboard editorial director Bill Werde: "Other companies sold digital music before Apple. Other companies made digital music available on computers and digital phones and used it in commercials. Apple's brilliance - and I don't think anyone doubts that this was Steve Jobs' brilliance - was that Apple made it exciting and simple and effortless and fun. Before Steve Jobs, digital music was math class. After, it was recess. People talk about the differences between style and substance but with Jobs, the two were one. Today, the music business has a complex relationship with Apple, which has become yet another entity that built an enormous business atop the rights of music companies, much like radio and MTV before it. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find one music executive worth his or her salt who wouldn't agree that Jobs' vision and tenacity blazed a trail for digital music as we know it today. Without a doubt, when you think of the Mount Rushmore of the music business - pioneers like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, Clive Davis and Jimmy Iovine - Steve Jobs has earned his prominent place."

Rupert Murdoch: "Today, we lost one of the most influential thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs of all time. Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation. While I am deeply saddened by his passing, I'm reminded of the stunning impact he had in revolutionizing the way people consume media and entertainment. My heart goes out to his family and to everyone who had the opportunity to work beside him in bringing his many visions to life".

Disney CEO Bob Iger: "Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started".

Barack Obama: "Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented".

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"MICHAEL'S SICK" SAID MANAGER TO DOC: MURRAY TRIAL UPDATE
The main event in yesterday's proceedings at the ongoing Conrad Murray trial was the testimony of Stephen Marx, a forensic expert who had retrieved voicemails, messages and screen grabs from the accused doctor's iPhone.

Murray, of course, is accused of causing the death of Michael Jackson by negligently administering the drug propofol. Marx's work showed that Murray had been sending and reading emails via his phone on the morning of Jackson's death. Some of the correspondence related to the singer's health, possibly because the promoters of the late king of pop's fated London residency, AEG Live, had asked for medical records required by an insurance firm. The emails showed various aliases used by Jackson, and also listed some of the drugs he was taking, though propofol was not mentioned.

As previously reported, a lawyer working for AEG Live and liaising with the promoter's insurers previously testified that Murray told her shortly before Jackson's death that the singer was in good health. But a voicemail message found by Marx seemed to contradict that. Left just five days before the singer's demise, Jackson's then manager, Frank DiLeo, says: "I'm sure you're aware [Michael] had an episode last night. He's sick. I think you need to get a blood test on him. We gotta see what [drugs] he's doing".

It isn't especially clear what DiLeo meant by "episode", and specific details of the incident may never be known because the former manager died in August. But the message certainly seems to contradict what Murray was telling his employers about Jackson at the time.

The case continues.

In related news, it's been reported that Jackson's three children have perhaps unsurprisingly chosen to steer clear of coverage of the case, finding it all too upsetting. It was thought eldest son Prince may be called to testify for the prosecution, and while he had told family members he'd rather not take to the witness stand, he'd added he would if it was required. However, insiders now say the prosecution are likely to not call Prince, believing they already have the upper hand with their existing testimonies. Although a potential prosecution witness, it was thought Prince might have revealed his late father's admiration for his doctor, which could have actually swung things more in Murray's favour.

While other members of the Jackson clan are watching the proceedings more closely, many left LA earlier this week to join Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson for the first performances of the new MJ-themed show from Cirque du Soleil, which premiered in Montreal.

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PETE DOHERTY GERMAN SHOP ROBBERY CHARGES DROPPED
Pete Doherty will not be prosecuted over his possible involvement in the robbery of a German record shop earlier this year on the grounds that he was too drunk to have known what he was doing.

As previously reported, The Libertines and Babyshambles frontman was in Regensburg in March to film the movie 'The Confession Of A Child Of The Century', in which he stars. A witness told a local paper Mittelbayerische Zeitung that she saw three men, who were all drunk and speaking in English, standing outside the shop in question at the time the break in is believed to have taken place, when a guitar and a number of records were stolen. She added that she saw one of them reaching through a broken window and that "it was Doherty, I clearly recognised him".

Doherty later admitted to being outside the shop when the window was smashed, but said he had been drunk and had no further recollection of the event. A source has now told WENN: "[Police] declined to pursue the penalty order. There was a lack of criminal responsibility because he was so drunk".

It was reported in July that it might actually be the drunkenness that Doherty would be charged for - and "careless intoxication" carries a maximum sentence of five years in Germany. Though it seems those charges won't be pursued either now.

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TONE LOC JAILED FOR ONE DAY
Rap man and actor Tone Loc, perhaps best known for his 1989 hit 'Wild Thing', has been sentenced to a massive one day in jail after pleading no contest to charges relating to an altercation with the mother of his child back in June.

At the time a police officer from Burbank, California was quoted as saying Loc had "roughed up" the mother of his child, and in a subsequent search of the property where the fracas took place an unregistered assault rifle was found.

Loc originally pleaded not guilty to corporal injury and gun possession charges, but changed his plea as part of a bargain deal. According to the Associated Press, as well as one day in jail, he will have three years probation and 30 days community service, and must attend 52 weeks of anger management counselling.

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ADELE CANCELS US TOUR DUE TO HAEMORRHAGED VOCAL CHORD
Adele has cancelled her US tour for the second time this year, due to ongoing vocal problems. The singer was forced to cancel dates earlier this year due to a bout of laryngitis. She was ordered to rest her voice in June, but was given the all clear to head out on a run of UK dates a month later.

She was due to play the first of ten rescheduled US shows later this week, but has now announced that all the shows will have to be cancelled after she suffered a haemorrhage in a vocal chord.

"I have absolutely no choice but to recuperate properly and fully, or I risk damaging my voice forever", the singer said in a statement. "I have great confidence in believing you know how much this upsets me, how seriously I take it and how truly devastated and annoyed I am by this".

She continued: "My voice is weak and I need to build it back up. I'm gonna be starting up vocal rehab as soon as, and start building my overall stamina in my voice, body and mind. I will be back and I'm gonna smash the ball out the park once I'm touring again. I apologise from the bottom of my heart, sincerely I do".

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PRIMAL SCREAM SO "DISGUSTED" BY TORIES THEY MISTAKE THEMSELVES FOR DANDY WARHOLS
Primal Scream have issued a statement saying that they are "disgusted" that Theresa May closed her speech at the Conservative Party conference on Tuesday with their 1994 song, 'Rocks'. Which is interesting for several reasons, though mainly because Theresa May didn't close her speech at the Conservative Party conference on Tuesday with their 1994 song, 'Rocks'. She closed it with 'Bohemian Like You' by The Dandy Warhols.

In a statement slating the coalition government, and in particular the Conservative Party, Primal Scream said: "We would like to distance ourselves from this sick association. The Tories are waging a war on the disenfranchised. They are the enemy".

But then the Conservatives responded by insisting that May had in fact used 'Bohemian Like You' by The Dandy Warhols. And unlike much of May's speech, that was actually true. She'd not chosen a song containing the line "Cops keep bustin, hustlers keep hustling, death keeps knockin, souls are up for auction", instead she'd gone with what is surely a much less appropriate song for a gathering of Tories, an ode to friendship and being helpful.

Of course The Dandy Warhols are Americans, so what do they care if some political party on a tiny island uses one of their songs? Surely they couldn't be as angry about it as Primal Scream were when they thought it was their song. Well, er, upon hearing the news Dandy Warhols frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor wrote a blog post which started: "I'll tear their fuggin heads off. Well maybe not, but this happened to us in an Arkansas gubernatorial race and it makes me super angry. And then I wanna puke".

He continued: "Why don't these assholes have right-wing bands make them some right-wing music for their right-wing jerkoff politics? Oh, because right wing people aren't creative, visionary or any fun to be around. Nor are they productive or even introspective about it. I tend to really dislike ANY people who take sides in politics. It is the single greatest contributor to getting nothing done. Fuck 'politics'. What a joke. I give my charitable donations to people who get on a plane themselves and go to Haiti or Africa and help other people. Do you? NEVER to a political machine. I like to get shit done".

Of course, the biggest tragedy in all of this is the fact that a joke posted to Twitter by former Labour minister John Prescott was rendered redundant. "Surprised Cameron and Osborne used 'Rocks' from Primal Scream at conference. I'd have thought they'd prefer 'Loaded'", he tweeted, which goes to show that anyone can craft a half decent gag with just a little time spent on Wikipedia.

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BERT JANSCH DIES
Influential folk musician and founder of the band Pentangle, Bert Jansch, died yesterday aged 67. He had been suffering from lung cancer.

Influential to many musicians throughout his career, including Led Zepplin's Jimmy Page and The Smiths' Johnny Marr, Jansch was born in 1943 in Glasgow and raised in Edinburgh. He moved to London in 1964 where he met producer Bill Leader, with whom he recorded his eponymous debut album. The producer sold the tape to Transatlantic Records, which released it in 1965. The record went on to sell 150,000 copies.

In 1967, Jansch formed The Pentangle (later just Pentangle) with vocalist Jacqui McShee, guitarist John Renbourn, bassist Danny Thompson, and drummer Terry Cox - the name representing the fact that they were a quintet. They performed their first live show at the Royal Festival Hall in London in May 1967, and released three successful albums in 1968 and 1969, again through Transatlantic. However, the subsequent three LPs received mixed responses, and amid a royalty dispute with their label, they moved to Warner/Reprise for the last record, 1972's 'Solomon's Seal'. The album was not a success, and the band split on New Year's Day 1973, leaving them to pay off debts to Warner until the early 80s.

During his time with Pentangle, Jansch had also continued to release solo work. He returned to this fulltime once Pentangle had split, though his personal life started to untangle after he split from his second wife Heather Sewell, who had previously inspired a number of his songs, and he began drinking heavily. Nevertheless, he still pursued interesting projects, including a concept album based on birdsong with multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins, and an albeit shortlived guitar shop in London, building his own acoustic guitars.

In 1982, Pentangle reformed for a tour and subsequently stayed together, though all but Jansch and McShee left the group over the next couple of years. Jansch stuck with it until 1995, when he also left and the band was rebranded Jacqui McShee's Pentangle with no other original members amongst the line-up. However, the original line-up did reform briefly again in 2008, after receiving the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards' lifetime achievement prize in 2007.

In 1987, Jansch was rushed to hospital and informed that his drinking was killing him. He chose to give it up completely, at which point many noted that his creativity, which had diminished somewhat, returned in full force resulting in a resurgence in his career. More recently, however, health problems continued. In 2005, he underwent heart surgery, and in 2009 he began receiving treatment for cancer.

Throughout all of this, though, Jansch continued to perform and record, as his work continued to influence a new generation of musicians. Beth Orton guested on his final (and 23rd) album, 2006's 'The Black Swan', and in 2007 he performed live with Pete Doherty.

In August of this year, Jansch was forced to cancel a show in Edinburgh. A statement on his website said that "both he and his doctors were hoping he would be well enough in time to do the show, but unfortunately that has not been the case and he will be in hospital at least until next week". He never recovered from his latest illness though, and passed away at a hospice in Hampstead early on Wednesday morning.

His booking agent John Barrow, with whom Jansch worked throughout his career, told the BBC yesterday: "He was very quietly spoken. People used to say to me: 'He doesn't talk much, does he?' But when he could play the guitar like that, why should he be talking?"

He is survived by his third wife Loren Auerbach, and two of his sons, Kieron and Adam.

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MOBO WINNERS WIN MOBOS
So, at last night's Jessie J Awards For Being Jessie J, the big winner was Jessie J. By which I mean, she won four of the fourteen categories at the MOBOs, including Best Album and Best Song, and all but one of the categories in which she was nominated. She was just pipped to the Outstanding Contribution Award by Boyz II Men.

The sixteenth MOBO Awards ceremony took place in Glasgow, hosted by Jason Derulo and Alesha Dixon. Derulo also sang live, as did Wretch 32, Yasmin, Alexis Jordan, and Dionne Bromfield, who performed a tribute to her late godmother Amy Winehouse, singing her song 'Love Is A Losing Game'.

MOBO founder Kanya King told CMU: "The excitement and atmosphere of our second year here in Glasgow has shown the love that the whole country has for MOBO. We felt so welcome the first time we came here, we didn't think it could be topped. This year has been a phenomenal success and we can't wait to return in 2013. It's been a great event that has welcomed some exciting new award winners to the MOBO roll of honour including the global superstar Adele, the UK's hot talent Tinchy Stryder and of course the fantastic Jessie J walking away with four awards".

Here's the full list of winners:

Best UK Act: Jessie J
Best Newcomer: Jessie J
Best Hip Hop/Grime Act: Tinie Tempah
Best Video: Tinchy Stryder feat Dappy - Spaceship
Best International Act: Rihanna
Best Song: Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude
Best Album: Jessie J - Who You Are
Best Reggae: Alborosie
Best Jazz Act: Kairos 4Tet
Best African Act: Wizkid
Best Gospel Act: Triple O
Best R&B/Soul Act: Adele
Outstanding Contribution To Music: Boyz II Men
BeMOBO Award: Youth Music

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KYLIE MINOGUE TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE
Kylie Minogue is to receive an honorary doctorate in Health Sciences from Anglia Ruskin University, in recognition of her work promoting breast cancer awareness. The singer was diagnosed with the disease in 2005 but has since made a full recovery.

Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, Professor Michael Thorne, told the BBC: "We make honorary awards to individuals of extraordinary talent who have made an outstanding contribution to their chosen field of endeavour. We hope that the recipients of these honorary awards will serve as examples to our graduates".

Minogue will accept her award at a ceremony at the university's Chelmsford campus today.

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DR DRE'S DETOX DEFINITELY NEARLY FINISHED SAYS SNOOP DOGG
How many times have you read somewhere that Dr Dre's long awaited 'Detox' album is nearly finished? I reckon I've written words to that effect approximately 7952 times now. And still no album. However, Snoop Dogg says he reckons it could be out soon. And he claims he wouldn't say such a thing if he wasn't sure.

Snoop told NME: "I ain't never said it was almost finished. He might [have said that], but that's my first time I ever said it. I was always saying it was taking too long to get done. It feels good now. We've been working on it. It's almost finished. So that's coming out soon".

'Detox' has been in production since 2003. We're with Snoop, that's far too long.

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GORILLAZ ANNOUNCE SINGLE COMPILATION
It's ten years since Gorillaz released their first single. Can you believe it? To celebrate, the cartoon band are going to release a collection of singles, entitled 'The Singles Collection 2001-2011', on 27 Nov through EMI/Parlophone. It'll also feature two remixes, and special edition versions will be available as a CD/DVD combo or a seven-inch vinyl boxset.

As well as this, the band have put together an online archive of their last decade, which you can see here: gorillaz.com/weare10/

Tomorrow Comes Today
Clint Eastwood
19-2000
Rock The House
Feel Good Inc
DARE
Dirty Harry
Kids With Guns
El Manana
Stylo
Superfast Jellyfish
On Melancholy Hill
Doncamatic
Clint Eastwood (Ed Case & Sweetie Irie Refix)
19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)

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THE NATIONAL'S DESSNER TWINS ANNOUNCE "MULITMEDIA SPECTACLE"
The National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner have announced details of a new show due to take place at The Barbican next February, which is being described as a "multimedia spectacle". Entitled 'The Long Count', the collaboration with visual artist Matthew Ritchie was originally commissioned for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 2009 Next Wave Festival.

The show is based on the 1976 World Series, which took place the same year the twins were born and in their home city of Cincinnati, and the first two books of Mayan myth Popol Vah. It features music written by the Dessners and performed by a twelve-piece orchestra, plus visuals by Ritchie, as well as text written by Aaron and Bryce themselves, The National vocalist Matthew Berninger, My Brightest Diamond vocalist Shara Worden, and Kelley and Kim Deal.

Tickets go on sale on Friday from www.barbican.org.uk.

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BLACK EYED PEAS PULL OUT OF MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE
Having been a late addition to this weekend's Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff, the Black Eyed Peas have suddenly released they can't make it after all. They put this down to "unavoidable circumstances".

CEO of Global Live Events, the company promoting the show on behalf of the few Jackson family members who think it's a good idea, said in a statement: "It is with regret that we announce the removal of Black Eyed Peas from the Michael Forever bill, but I look forward to a great night with other earth shattering artists".

The show will take place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 8 Oct, and can be live streamed via Facebook for a fee.

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SONY GETS PARTNERS FOR ITS EMI BIDS
Sony has won the backing of both an investment fund in Abu Dhabi and an investment bank in New York for its bid to acquire some or all of EMI, according to the Financial Times. EMI's current owner Citigroup told bidders they must put in their final offers to buy the London-based music major by end of play yesterday.

Sony's publishing company Sony/ATV is known to be interested in buying EMI Music Publishing - Sony/ATV chief Marty Bandier having previously run the EMI publishing firm. Though some reckon the Sony record company might also bid for the EMI labels. It's not clear if that would be done through one big bid or two separate bids, one for publishing and one for labels. Any deal to buy the whole of EMI would be complicated by the fact that Sony does not own its publishing business outright, the Michael Jackson estate still owns the other half.

Access to extra cash will help Sony compete with itsr rivals in the battle to buy EMI. It's thought that Sony alone would struggle to compete on offer price with those other bidders with backing from private equity, like BMG, or big business billionaires, like Warner Music.

It's thought that Citigroup will make an announcement within a fortnight regarding its plans for EMI. With turmoil in the wider markets resulting in less interest than expected for the music firm from private equity and such like, it's thought the bank might have to accept a lower price for the music company that originally anticipated, unless it is willing to reject all offers and hold off until the economy recovers.

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PRS ADMITS CHANGE TO BBC LICENCE BADLY COMMUNICATED
Music publishers are "fuming" apparently, I do hope their offices are well ventilated. According to a Music Week investigation, it turns out that the publishing sector's collecting society PRS For Music failed to properly communicate the impact of a change in the way it collects and distribute some royalties from the BBC for music used in both TV and radio.

The new licensing deal with the Beeb means the Corporation now pays one royalty fee to cover both performance and so called mechanical rights (traditionally these were paid separately, the former to PRS and the latter to MCPS, which is now essentially a division of PRS). This in turn has resulted in a change in the way money is allocated to songwriters, composers and publishers, which, Music Week claims, favours those whose music is used on TV versus those whose work is used by radio, in particular impacting negatively on those who own rights in jingles.

PRS has admitted that it failed to properly communicate the implications of the new BBC agreement. Membership Director Mark Lawrence told Music Week: "We were slow out of the block to contact our members and for this we can only apologise. In trying to do the right thing, we have failed to communicate to our members what we have done". An emergency meeting will now be held next week for members to discuss the issue.

For more background to the change, and for some people slagging off the PRS, check the full Music Week story here: www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1046859&c=1

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XBOX ANNOUNCES NEW CONTENT PARTNERS, CONFUSION OVER ZUNE
Microsoft has announced new partnerships with just under 40 entertainment companies who will be bringing their content to the Xbox Live service for the first time. On the music side, the two main new partners of interest are Sony/Universal owned music video platform VEVO and iHeartRadio, the recently revamped interactive music service from US radio giant Clear Channel.

In other Microsoft news, there has been much confusion this week about the future of the Zune player, the IT firm's iPod competitor that never really took off, and which was never launched outside the US.

The product disappeared from Microsoft's Zune website earlier this week, leading to speculation that the company was phasing out the standalone device to concentrate on Zune services for the Xbox and Windows-powered phones. Then Microsoft denied that the Zune HD was being axed, then confirmed it was, then said it wasn't. So who knows? Either way, Zune software will still be supported so even if the players are discontinued, those with them already should still be able to use them OK.

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"I DIDN'T REALISE THE C-WORD WAS OFFENSIVE", SAYS RIHANNA
Rihanna's rise to fame has been rapid, and apparently wasn't even halted by the fact that she spent much of her early career calling everyone cunts. Speaking to Vogue, the singer said that the word is used as a term of endearment in here home country Barbados, and she had no idea that elsewhere it was considered offensive.

"That word is so offensive to everyone in the world except for Bajans", she explained. "You know African-Americans use the N-word to their brothers? Well, that's the way we use the C-word. When I first came here [to America], I was saying it like it was nothing, like, 'Hey, cunt', until my make-up artist finally had to tell me to stop".

She occasionally slips though, earlier this year she caused controversy after calling US comedian Katt Williams a "lil cunt" on Twitter, and recently she's been photographed in various places, including a Brazilian chapel, wearing a necklace bearing the word.

I was going to suggest that she call her next album 'Hey, Cunt', but apparently she has already settled on 'Talk That Talk', which is disappointing. The album is due out on 21 Nov.

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