MORRISSEY'S NME LIBEL CASE TO PROCEED TO COURT
Oh, fantastic, I'm going to buy a new hat for this. Morrissey's libel action against the NME over "that interview" is set for a full High Court hearing next year.

As previously reported, Morrissey has finally got round to suing the music weekly over an interview it ran with him back in 2007 in which the singer appeared to say that an "immigration explosion" had damaged Britain's identity. Morrissey immediately hit out at the magazine and its editor Conor McNicholas, arguing they had twisted his words to make him look racist, so that the interview would be more sensational and sell more copies. The NME denies any such editorial meddling.

Although it took Morrissey four years to get round to suing, top libel judge Michael Tugendhat has ruled the case should be properly heard. At a hearing earlier this month NME publisher IPC argued that the claimant's delay in pursuing any action meant they wouldn't get a fair trial (as the case would rely on witnesses recalling conversations from four years ago), and that the fact Morrissey had enjoyed much success as a recording and performing artist in the intervening years made a mockery of his claim the interview had harmed his reputation. The publisher asked that the case be dismissed.

But Tugendhat yesterday said in a written ruling: "Overall, in my judgment, a proper balance between [NME's] Article 10 right of freedom of expression [under the European Convention Of Human Rights] and Mr Morrissey's right to the protection of his individual reputation requires, in the circumstances of this case, that the action be permitted to proceed". He added that the singer's explanation for why it had taken four years to pursue his action - mainly that his falling out with former manager Merck Mercuriadis in 2008 had left his finances in chaos - was "credible".

Needless to say, Morrissey welcomed the ruling, telling reporters: "In 2007, the NME viciously attacked me and labelled me a racist and a hypocrite. Last week they sought to avoid facing me in court to settle the matter once and for all. I am delighted that the NME's attempt to stifle my claim was unsuccessful and that as a result I will be able to use the very public forum of the High Court in London to clear my name, loud and clear for all to hear".

Despite losing in its bid to block the action, an IPC spokesman yesterday said that "after almost four years, we are glad that the matter will now proceed to trial and we will finally get the opportunity to bring this matter to a close".

Of course there's still the chance of an out of court settlement depriving us of a full court hearing, but assuming the case does go ahead it could prove quite entertaining. Morrissey himself, his estranged former manager Mercuriadis, former NME editor McNicholas, his successor and former deputy Krissi Murison-Hodge, and the journalist who conducted the interview - Tim Jonze, now with The Guardian - may all be called to testify. Good times.

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AMY WINEHOUSE DIED AFTER ALCOHOL BINGE
The inquest into Amy Winehouse's death, which reconvened yesterday, has recorded a verdict of misadventure. Tests found that, at the time of her death, and after three weeks of abstaining from alcohol, the singer was five times over the drink-drive limit.

Coroner Suzanne Greenway said: "She had consumed sufficient alcohol at 416mg per decilitre [of blood], and the unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden and unexpected death".

In a statement, the singer's family said: "We understand there was alcohol in her system when she passed away - it is likely a build up of alcohol in her system over a number of days. She had started drinking again that week after a period of abstinence. The court heard that Amy was battling hard to conquer her problems with alcohol, and it is a source of great pain to us that she could not win in time".

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X-FACTOR GIRL GROUP TO CHANGE NAME AFTER ONLINE CAMPAIGN
So, bosses of the 'X-Factor' aren't complete bastards, who knew? Producers of the ITV show yesterday announced that they were changing the name of the girl group they manufactured for this year's contest after a music charity pointed out it was itsname too.

As previously reported, the Rhythmix charity works with children who have been bereaved, who are disabled, or who have been sent to youth detention centres, using music as a method to aid personal and communicative development. Operating since 1999, it owns the trademark in the name in the educational space, though not in music.

When the organisation heard that 'X-Factor' bosses were using the same name for one of the groups on their TV show, and that the 'X' machine was planning on registering the name as a trademark in the music space, the charity reached out to the programme's producers, expressing concern Team X's plans would cause confusion with their organisation, and hinder their fund-raising activity, which includes staging music events and selling merchandise using the Rhythmix name.

Given that the 'X-Factor' girl group was created by the show - it didn't come as a ready made outfit - and as, therefore, no actual investment had been made in the group's name, the charity expected a positive reaction to its approach. But instead the charity was told it had a weak legal case, and would have to fight the 'X' machine in court for rights to the name, diverting funds from charitable initiatives.

Even when various media picked up on the story, and an organic online campaign calling on the Rhythmix girl group to change their name began to gain momentum, 'X-Factor' producers stood their ground. But yesterday, just hours after the charity's CEO posted a public plea to Simon Cowell to step in and sort things out, the show's bosses announced the girl group would, indeed, choose a new name.

In a short statement Team X said: "At the request of the charity Rhythmix, the members of the girl group Rhythmix have decided to change their name, a decision which has the support of [Simon Cowell's company] Syco and [the show's other producer, Fremantle's] talkbackTHAMES. The group's new name will be announced in due course".

So look at that, a happy ending, who'd of thought it possible? Insiders say that the girl group, made up of Nikki, Sarah, Pattie, Charlie and Claire, might just go with their respective initials as a new name. No I made that up. I've no idea who the girl-group-formally-known-as-Rhythmix actually are. In fact I've never even seen an episode of 'X-Factor'. Is that the one with dancing or the ice skating?

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A GENEROUS AND KIND DOCTOR: MURRAY TRIAL UPDATE
Conrad Murray might be totally inept, but he's also "generous and kind", defence lawyers told the court hearing the doctor's manslaughter case yesterday.

Well, I'm paraphrasing slightly, but after weeks of experts lining up to criticise Murray for even thinking of administering the dangerous surgical anaesthetic propofol as a cure for insomnia in a domestic setting, yesterday a number of former patients took to the stand to pay tribute to the doctor accused of causing Michael Jackson's death. Andrew Guest, treated by Murray for a heart condition, said he thought Murray wasn't "getting a fair shake", adding: "I'm alive today because of that man".

Others countered those who have implied Murray took the gig as Jackson's personal physician - and possibly pandered to willingly to the singer's demands - out of greed. Some noted Murray was known to work for free for hard up patients, while another told how he had opened a cardiology practice at a residential home for mostly poor elderly people in Houston. One resident of that home, Ruby Mosely, told the court: "If this man had been greedy, he never would have come to an area - a community like Acres Homes - where he was making less than when he was in Vegas".

Five former patients testified in total. One, Gerry Causey, commended Murray's approach and generosity, adding that the doctor became his friend after operating on him.

Of course it could be argued that Murray's "generosity" was possibly his weakness, making him prone to give in to Jackson's desperate pleas for prescription medication, when another doctor may have said no. It seems unlikely that, when the jury begin deliberating next week, yesterday's string of character witnesses will, on their own, overcome the many criticisms of Murray's conduct outlined by the prosecution, though they may well mend some of the damage done to the doctor's reputation outside the courtroom.

The case continues.

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HIGH COURT ISSUES NEWZBIN INJUNCTION
The English High Court has formally issued its injunction against BT ordering the telco to block access to file-sharing website Newzbin2 following successful legal action by the Motion Picture Association earlier this year.

As previously reported, the MPA launched its bid to force BT, as the UK's biggest internet service provider, to block access to the website, which provides links to all sorts of unlicensed content, after the operators of Newzbin moved the site to Sweden to avoid the jurisdiction of the English courts, which had previously ordered an earlier incarnation of the site be shut down on copyright grounds.

It's an important case because it is the first time the British courts have issued a website blocking injunction on copyright grounds. Some of the copyright provisions in the Digital Economy Act set out a process for exactly that kind of injunction, but that section of the DEA is currently on hold with the three-strikes element taking (albeit slow) priority. But the Newzbin case showed that, while the on-hold DEA provisions might speed up the process, it is possible to get web-blocking injunctions on copyright grounds under existing laws.

There are two particularly interesting elements to the actual injunction issued against BT this week by judge Richard Arnold. First, the injunction applies to all and any web or IP addresses used by Newzbin, so that the MPA won't need to get a new injunction when Newzbin try to circumvent the block by providing access via alternative addresses.

And second, the MPA won't have to contribute to any costs BT incur in order to enforce the injunction, or to fight any other legal actions that may or may not stem from the block. The judge also said that BT customers won't be able to sue over the blockage, because the ISP is allowed to instigate the block under its existing terms and conditions. The ISP has fourteen days to make it all happen.

This is all very interesting, because many expect movie and music industry bodies to now pursue similar actions against other file-sharing services and internet service providers, so the methods employed by Arnold set an important precedent.

Needless to say, the MPA welcomed the injunction, with its MD Chris Marcich telling reporters that "securing the intervention of the ISPs was the only way to put the commercial pirates out of reach for the majority of consumers. This move means that we can invest more in our own digital offerings, delivering higher quality and more variety of products to the consumer".

Speaking for the music industry, Geoff Taylor of record label trade body BPI said: "It is high time that British musicians and creators had an effective way to deal with websites and services that rip off their music. This judgment is an important first step in that direction and shows responsible ISPs the way forward".

Although BT originally opposed the injunction, it yesterday said it was "helpful" that the court order provided some "clarity" on how the web blocking process will work.

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BEDROOM CD BOOTLEGGER GIVEN SUSPENDED SENTENCE
Some more conventional music piracy now, albeit aided by the internet. A 60 year old man from South Yorkshire has been given a suspended sentence for selling pirated CDs online.

David Finney from Barnsley downloaded music from the internet, burned it to CDs, and then sold them via the web. After the BPI discovered the operation, police seized his computer equipment and found he had illegally copied 200,000 items. That said, compared to many bootleg CD operations, Finney's enterprise was pretty basic, and despite the high quantities of copies he was making it's thought payments taken via PayPal amounted to just over £12,000.

According to Sheffield newspaper The Star, prosecutor Elizabeth Martin said the 200,000 copied items had a retail value of £197,000, and that "this kind of activity is costing millions of pounds a year to the [music] industry which has a knock-on effect on employment and clearly is a matter of concern as well as concerning HM Customs and the taxpayer".

But Finney's defence lawyer stressed the cottage industry nature of his client's operation, and that the income from it was relatively small, adding "he is 60 and of previous good character and is not a well man. He is terrified of the prospect of going to prison".

The judge hearing the case accepted that there was a 'degree of naivety' about Finney's piracy pursuits, proven by the fact he made no effort to conceal his identity when selling the bootlegged CDs online. But, he said, given the number of tracks illegally copied, and the fact the venture ran for four years, a custodial sentence was required, albeit a suspended one.

Finney was given a nine month suspended jail term, and ordered to wear an electronic tag and adhere to a night time curfew for four months. Money and kit associated with the piracy operation will also be confiscated.

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NEW COLDPLAY LP NOTCHES BIG FIRST WEEK SALES
Coldplay's fifth studio LP, 'Mylo Xyloto', which looks a safe bet to conquer the charts this weekend, has experienced one of the best-selling opening weeks of any album released so far this year.

According to the latest Official Chart Company update, the LP shifted 122,000 units in its first three days after release, with digital downloads making up 40% of all UK sales. 'Mylo' could well exceed 200,000 copies by Sunday, an achievement matched only by Adele's '21' and Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'.

When asked how it would feel to dislodge Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' debut from the number one spot in the albums chart this coming weekend, Chris Martin said: "We've never knocked Noel Gallagher off anything, not even a chair!"

The sales of 'Mylo Xyloto' are still a way of the highest UK first week sale of all time, that being 763,735, set by Oasis' 'Be Here Now' in 1997. Noel Gallagher has a spare chair, it seems.

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EX-LOSTPROPHETS AND NIN DRUMMER JOINS ANGELS AND AIRWAVES
Drummer Ilan Rubin, a past member of Lostprophets and Nine Inch Nails, has now joined Angels And Airwaves. My, isn't the rock scene incestuous. Fronted by Blink 182's Tom DeLonge, the band are set to release the second half of their double album, 'Love', on 7 Nov.

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ETTA JAMES ANNOUNCES LAST EVER ALBUM
The final studio album from soul legend Etta James will be released by Verve Records on 14 Nov it has been confirmed.

Called 'The Dreamer' and her first new album in five years, it will feature covers of Otis Redding's 'Cigarettes & Coffee', Ray Charles' 'In The Evening' and Guns N Roses' 'Welcome To The Jungle'.

James will formally retire after this LP comes out, and a statement from the singer says: "I wish to thank all my fans who have shown me love and support over all these years. I love you all".

As previously reported, there have been legal squabbles among members of James's family in the last year regarding the healthcare the singer is receiving, with James reportedly battling both dementia and leukaemia.

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BUSDRIVER PREVIEWS TRACK FROM FORTHCOMING LP
West Coast rap auteur Busdriver has announced a release date for his new album, 'Beaus$Eros'. Having in the past collaborated with the diverse likes of Deerhoof, Flying Lotus and Modeselektor, he has worked solely with Dutch producer Loden on this, his seventh studio LP, which is due to drop via Fake Four on 16 Jan.

Listen to 'Beaus$Eros' component, 'No Blacks No Jews No Asians', here: busdriverse.com/no-blacks-no-jews-no-asians-beaus-eros

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THE RAPTURE ANNOUNCE FREE CONVERSE SHOW
The Rapture are to follow in the Converse-clad footsteps of Graham Coxon and Everything Everything, having booked a free show at London's 100 Club - which is sponsored by the sneaker brand - on 1 Nov. You can secure tickets for it here: www.converse.co.uk

If you'd rather pay to see the band, their six-date UK tour begins tonight at Bristol's Thekla.

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MATT CARDLE TO TOUR
Last year's 'X-Factor' victor, Matt Cardle, has just announced a substantial set of 2012 tour dates. 21, to be precise.

Cardle, whose debut LP 'Letters' lost out to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in this past weekend's official album chart, has once again expressed a desire to cut ties with all-things 'X'. He says: "That was my 'X-Factor' trip over. Now I have to get on with being Matt on my own with my band and writing and performing".

The reinvention is due to begin in Rhyl. Well, why not?

28 Feb: Rhyl, Pavilion
29 Feb: Rhyl, Pavilion
1 Mar: York, Barbican
3 Mar: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
4 Mar: Oxford, Apollo New Theatre
5 Mar: Birmingham, Symphony Hall
7 Mar: Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
8 Mar: Bournemouth, Academy
10 Mar: Swindon, Oasis
11 Mar: Portsmouth, Guildhall
12 Mar: Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
14 Mar: Liverpool, Philharmonic
15 Mar: Glasgow, Academy
16 Mar: Newcastle, City Hall
18 Mar: Belfast, Waterfront
22 Mar: Manchester, Apollo
24 Mar: Cardiff, St Davids
25 Mar: Bristol, Colston Hall
26 Mar: Plymouth, Pavilions
28 Mar: Brighton, Dome
29 Mar: London, Hammersmith Apollo

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WARNER AND BMG BACK TO BEING FAVOURITES IN EMI BIDDING RACE
Warner Music and BMG are currently the front runners to take ownership of the two EMI businesses, according to Bloomberg. Citigroup are still to announce what they will do with the music company they repossessed from former owners Terra Firma at the start of the year, but insiders are still saying that the bank will go ahead with a sale of the firm, despite bids not being as numerous as originally hoped, and that in order to maximise their profits it will almost certainly be sold as two separate entities, record labels and music publishing.

It is thought that Warner will get the former and BMG the latter, which is the outcome many were predicting a year ago before Citigroup had even seized ownership of the company. In recent weeks Universal Music had been mooted as the frontrunner for the EMI record companies, but Bloomberg sources say that it is likely to be outbid on price by Warner Music's new owners Access Industries. According to said sources, Citigroup and Access are currently discussing EMI's pension liabilities, but if an agreement can be reached on that, the two sides could look to close a deal next week.

Although it seems less clear cut on the publishing side, where BMG and Sony/ATV are the two contenders, reports suggest that Sony/ATV - which has put a consortium in place to raise the money required to bid - has asked for more time to raise further funds, which gives BMG the advantage. The joint venture between Bertelsmann and equity group KKR have more ready access to cash, and according to the New York Post the former's new CEO, Thomas Rabe, has been in the US this week to help with their bid.

The only serious offer that would keep EMI together as one business, and as an autonomous entity, is that of Ron Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes. Although probably the simplest of the deals on the table - there would be no obvious competition law issues - and the one that would potentially allow EMI's current leadership to stay in situ, most sources seem to suggest Perelman simply can't afford a bid that would match the money to be made by selling labels and publishing separately.

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CLUBBING FIRM GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION
Nightclub owner the Luminar Group - which calls itself the biggest nightclub operator in the UK - has gone into administration. The company admitted it was unable to meet some of its bank repayment obligations, and shares in the company were subsequently suspended.

The firm, which owns 75 venues across the country, saw its sales drop by 19% last year, resulting in losses of £198 million. It successfully persuaded banks to lighten its covenant obligations earlier this year as it sought to turn round its fortunes and/or engineer a sale of the company, but neither worked and the company is now likely to default on loans with Lloyds, Barclays and the Royal Bank Of Scotland.

The clubbing company's collapse comes a week after the licence for one of its venues, in Northampton, was suspended after a crush at the city's Lava Ignire venue killed one clubber and left another in a critical condition.

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TWITTER APPOINTS MUSIC PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER
A former social media exec at Disney's music company has been hired by Twitter in the US to handle music partnerships. Tatiana Simonian will work in the micro-blogging service's Content & Programming team, which is headed up by Chloe Sladden, a former Current TV VP.

According to Billboard, Sladden's team is looking to encourage music, TV, news, sport and other entertainment companies to more prolifically integrate Twitter into their output. One high profile partnership already struck up by Sladden's team will see Twitter voting added as an option on the US version of 'X-Factor'.

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PURE LAUNCHES STREAMING SERVICE
Digital radio maker PURE has announced plans to launch a subscription-based streaming music service which will work on some of its digital radio sets as well as via PCs and smartphones. The on-demand service will have a monthly subscription of £4.99, and offer playlist functionality and such like, though the most interesting element is probably the tagging function.

Some PURE devices already offer a tagging service, where you can tag songs you hear on the radio and then go online to buy them as downloads. With the new service you would also be able to stream tagged songs via any PURE-enabled device. It's interesting in that it turns radio into a discovery platform that links directly to an on-demand streaming service. There have been various efforts to link radio to online music services over the years, including PURE's own previous dabblings, though none have really taken off. It will be interesting to see if this is the one that can.

Commenting on the new service, which will launch in December, PURE's Director Of Marketing Colin Crawford told reporters: "Whether you are into chart hits or would prefer a trip down memory lane, PURE Music is the perfect service to allow you to find music and listen to individual tracks, full albums, or even mixtapes perfectly matched to your mood. PURE Music is now at the heart of all of our internet radios, making it child's play to find and enjoy any music you want directly on your favourite listening device. Forget the hassle of downloading and ripping - just search and enjoy".

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RAJAR ROUND UP
So, the latest RAJAR radio listening figures are out everybody, and top level stats - assuming you buy RAJAR's not entirely fool proof measurement systems - include the fact that 90.7% of people now tune into radio at least once a week, total listening hours are up 2% year on year, digital listening hours have passed 300 million a week for the first time, and the accessing of radio via mobile phones is up 24.2%. On the digital front, the DAB network still accounts for most digital listening, though use of radio-via-TV platforms and internet listening were both up this time.

But what about the relative success of different stations in the latest ratings report? Well, Radio 1 saw its audience grow again over the summer so it is reaching more listeners each week than at anytime in the last decade, though in the big race - breakfast - its sister station Radio 2 still performs better, with Chris Evans growing his audience to 8.86 million while Chris Moyles' audience figures fell to 7.16 million.

Elsewhere at the Beeb, classical station Radio 3 saw its overall audience fall quarter on quarter and year on year to 2.05 million listeners a week. There was a quite radical schedule overhaul there in the latter part of the most recent RAJAR quarter, which may or may not have played its part in the audience slip. Ironically the aim of the revamp was to appeal to a bigger audience, though in doing so station bosses have alienated some of their more faithful listeners. That said, it would be unfair to expect any positive impacts of the revamp to be apparent in the listening figures quite this soon.

On to the commercial stations, and London first, where Global Radio is making much of the fact its main two stations, Capital and Heart, are now the two biggest in terms of audience size. Capital, of course, floundered for several years once Heart and other rival Magic started gaining momentum ten years ago, but can now claim to be number one again. It's quite an achievement for Team Capital, and possibly proves that adopting a music and programming policy that makes my ears physically bleed (I mean, really bleed, one hour listening and I have no blood left) is the way to appeal to the masses. In the latest RAJAR quarter, Bauer Media's Magic came in third.

Global is also making much about the fact its wider Capital and Heart networks, which are now quasi-national stations, both saw audiences grow, suggesting the company's policy of rolling out brands, programming and playlists nationally works. That said, local radio in general had a good quarter, with many of those stations owned by UTV, UKRD and smaller operators, most of which adopt a more local approach in both brand and programming, also seeing impressive audience increases. That's not to say there were increases 100% across the board - I don't want this RAJAR round-up to be wholly positive - but the gains seem more bountiful than the losses.

Some digital-only stations also had a good quarter, with Absolute's decade stations, 80s and 90s, both doing well, the former now the biggest digital-only station, ahead of Bauer's The Hits Radio. Seven digital-only channels now reach over a million listeners a month, including Absolute 80s, Five Live Sports Extra, Smash Hits, The Hits, 6Music, 4Extra and Kerrang, with 1Xtra and Planet Rock getting near that landmark too - the latter seeing its audience grow again, so it's now bigger in audience than the whole of Xfm, which isn't a direct competitor, but it is an indication of the potential for genre-focused services in the digital-only space.

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FOOTBALLER JOEY BARTON TO REUNITE THE SMITHS
No one has yet managed to convince The Smiths to reunite, despite ever increasing offers of hard cash. But footballer Joey Barton reckons he could be the man to finally coax Johnny Marr and Morrissey back onto the stage for some reason.

Speaking at the Q Awards earlier this week, QPR captain Barton revealed that he had recently met Johnny Marr after the guitarist invited him to one of his new band The Healers' gigs. Barton said: "If I could get The Smiths back together that would top anything I could achieve on the football pitch. They told me they had turned down £40 million for a reunion - but I reckon Marr is up for it".

Having chummed up with Marr, the footballer is apparently due to have dinner with Morrissey this week. Perhaps he could point out that Ian Brown is using the Stone Roses reunion to pay for his divorce, something generally less expensive than a bitter libel trial.

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