RECORD OF THE DAY AWARDS PRESENTED
So the great and the good of music journalism and music PR amassed in Shoreditch last night for their annual pre-Christmas back slapping fest, aka The Record Of The Day Awards, with Huw Stephens doing a particularly fine job at being heard above the throng of hacks and publicists, who were as rowdy as ever.

The very fine peoples of 4AD and Purple PR both took home two prizes each, while on the media side The Guardian also got two awards, including the customary Best Record Reviewer trophy for Alexis Petridis.

Meanwhile student journalist Adam Bychawski from the University Of York was presented with the CMU supported Best Student Music Writer Award, while The 405 and Popjustice's Peter Robinson were revealed to have been the most popular publication and writer respectively in CMU's annual survey of student journalists and influential campus-based music fans. So well done to all of them too.

And for fans of complete winner lists, here's the complete winner list:

Best Student Music Writer: Adam Bychawski, University of York.
Student Choice - Best Publication: The 405
Student Choice - Best Writer: Peter Robinson, Popjustice

Business Writer: Eamonn Forde
Live Reviews Writer: Simon Price, Independent
Record Reviews Writer: Alexis Petridis, The Guardian
Most Effective Breaking Music Writer: Mat Wilkinson, NME Radar
Editor Of The Year: Mark Ellen, The Word

Magazine Of The Year: Clash
Most Effective Music Coverage In A Newspaper: The Guardian (Film & Music)
Digital Publication Of The Year: The Quietus
Best Blog: Abeano
Innovation: Jude Rogers/Ian Wade for the My Band T-Shirt Blog

Best PR Campaign For A Breakthrough Act: Ed Sheeran (Taponeswa Mavunga, Atlantic Records)
Best PR Campaign For An Established Act: Bjork (Purple PR)
Best PR Campaign For A Reissue: Nirvana - Nevermind (Dawbell / Division / Bad Moon)
Most Effective PR Campaign For A Festival: Bestival (Get Involved)

Corporate Communications Person Of The Year: Adam Webb, UK Music
Best In House PR Person: Annette Lee, 4AD
Best In House Online PR: Tasha Anderson, PIAS
Best In House PR Department: 4AD

Best Independent PR Individual: Matt Learmouth, Alchemy
Best Online PR Company: Anorak
Best Independent PR Company: Purple PR

Outstanding Contribution To Music Journalism: Nick Kent
Outstanding Contribution To Music PR: Murray Chalmers
Outstanding Contribution To Music Photography: Gered Mankowitz

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MURRAY PROSECUTORS PUSH FOR MAXIMUM SENTENCE
Prosecutors in the Conrad Murray case have asked Judge Michael Pastor to sentence the doctor found guilty of causing Michael Jackson's death to the maximum jail time allowable for the crime of involuntary manslaughter, which in California is four years. They also want the court to order the doc to pay restitution to Jackson's three children, something that could run into millions of dollars.

According to Reuters, in legal papers submitted ahead of next week's sentencing, prosecution lawyers say: "Instead of utilising his medical knowledge and training to provide Mr Jackson with proper medical care, the defendant acted as an employee and as a drug dealer and completely corrupted the trust necessary in a proper doctor-patient relationship".

The prosecutors' submission to Pastor also claims Murray has shown no remorse for his crime, while also criticising the defendant - who chose not to testify during his trial - for giving an interview as part of that previously reported TV documentary, aired shortly after his conviction, in which he insisted he wasn't responsible for Michael Jackson's death. These are all added reasons, the prosecutors say, why Pastor should not show any leniency when sentencing Murray next week.

A separate submission from Murray's legal team urges the judge to consider their client's "background and character", and his history of treating poor patients even though they couldn't afford to pay for his services. They add that Murray has been a "changed and grief stricken" man ever since Jackson's death, and that he is therefore already serving "a lifetime sentence of self-punishment". They want Pastor to sentence Murray to probation not prison time.

It seems likely that Murray will face at least some time in jail, in addition to the few weeks already served since his conviction, though as previously reported, California's prisons are so full at the moment there is a very high chance that, even if Pastor gave the full jail term, in reality the medic could be out of prison and on house arrest sometime next year.

Possibly more problematic for Murray will be the expected revoking of his medical licenses, and any financial penalties. The prosecution say Jackson's three children are entitled to restitution from Dr Murray for the financial loss they have suffered due to their father's demise, which includes lost wages, profits and funeral expenses. The prosecution note that Jackson was due to earn $100 million from the 'This Is It' residency in London alone. With Joe Jackson also suing the doctor through the civil courts for damages, Murray could be ordered to pay out sums of money far more than he will ever be able to afford as a result of his conviction for criminal negligence.

Sentencing will take place next week.

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SUGARLAND SUED OVER INDIANA STATE FAIR STAGE COLLAPSE
Country duo Sugarland have been named as defendants in a lawsuit in the US relating to the stage collapse tragedy that occurred at the Indiana State Fair back in August.

As previously reported, freak 60mph gusts of wind blew over the State Fair's site just before the country act were due to perform in the event's main arena, bringing stage rigging crashing to the ground on top of waiting audience members. In total, seven people died and over 40 were injured.

It's not the first legal claim in relation to the incident, chilling footage of which appeared on YouTube. According to USA Today, over 90 people made claims against the State of Indiana, whose liability under State law is limited to $5 million in total. A handful of other legal claims have been against various other parties linked to the fair and the Sugarland performance, though the new lawsuit represents 48 parties and specifically targets the band and others associated with their show.

The lawsuit notes that Sugarland's contract with the State Fair's organisers, negotiated by the Creative Artists Agency, specifically gave them the power to cancel their performance if there were weather concerns, and therefore the band and their associates are being held liable for failing to do so. One of the attorneys involved in the litigation, Mario Massillamany, told reporters: "Unfortunately, this tragedy could have been prevented if the responsible parties had been concerned about the concertgoers that night".

At the time of the incident it was reported that Sugarland's tour manager had requested a delay to the start of the band's set to assess the impact of the then incoming storm, and that decision may have saved lives, as the ramifications may have been even worse had the band been performing at the time of the stage collapse. Sugarland's reps are yet to respond to the new lawsuit.

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GEORGE MICHAEL DIAGNOSED WITH PNEUMONIA
George Michael has postponed his upcoming shows in Cardiff after being diagnosed with pneumonia. The singer already postponed performances in Strasbourg and Vienna earlier this week, as well as a show at London's Royal Albert Hall last month.

A statement reads: "With great regret, George Michael has been forced to postpone his 26 and 27 Nov shows in Cardiff, Wales, due to his ongoing illness. George was recently forced to postpone tour dates in Vienna and Strasbourg under doctor's orders after being diagnosed with pneumonia. He is currently receiving treatment".

The Albert Hall show will now take place on 2 May. Details of the other rescheduled shows will be announced in due course.

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FOLK AWARD NOMS OUT
The noms are out for the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, which will take place in Salford next February, the first time they've been staged outside of London town. Coming up, the shortlists, but first a very quick quote from Radio 2 Head Of Music Jeff Smith: "Folk is an important component of the network's specialist music offering, and Radio 2 is looking forward to welcoming hundreds of our listeners to the thirteenth Radio 2 Folk Awards".

Folk Singer Of The Year: Jon Boden, Jackie Oates, Emily Smith, June Tabor

Best Duo: Tim Edey & Brendan Power, Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell, Spiers & Boden, Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight

Best Group: Bellowhead, The Home Service, June Tabor & Oysterband, The Unthanks

Best Album: Last - The Unthanks, Purpose & Grace - Martin Simpson, Ragged Kingdom - June Tabor & Oysterband, Saturnine - Jackie Oates

Best Original Song: The Herring Girl - Bella Hardy, Last - Adrian Mcnally (Performed By The Unthanks), On Morecambe Bay - Kevin Littlewood (Performed By Christy Moore), The Reckoning - Steve Tilston

Best Traditional Track: Bonny Bunch Of Roses - June Tabor & Oysterband, Lakes Of Ponchartrain - Martin Simpson, Maids When You're Young - Lucy Ward, Sweet Lover Of Mine - Emily Smith

Horizon Award: Megan Henwood, Lady Maisery, Pilgrims' Way, Lucy Ward

Musician Of The Year: Andy Cutting, Tim Edey, Will Pound, Martin Simpson

Best Live Act: Bellowhead, The Home Service, Peatbog Faeries, The Unthanks

BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award: Sunjay Brayne, Blair Dunlop, Ioscaid, Graham Mackenzie

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CHRIS VRENNA QUITS MARILYN MANSON
One time Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna has announced his departure from Marilyn Manson, having performed with the band in various guises since 2004.

In a statement, Vrenna said: "I'm incredibly proud of the work I did with Manson and look forward to the release of [forthcoming Marilyn Manson album] 'Born Villain'. I wish my brothers well, but with the recording largely completed, I felt it was time to return to other facets of my career, which involves production work, film scoring, and future musical collaborations".

'Born Villain' is due for release via Cooking Vinyl in February.

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AZEALIA BANKS WORKING WITH PAUL EPWORTH
Rising US rapper Azealia Banks has revealed that she will be moving to London next month to begin work on her debut album with producer Paul Epworth, who is probably best known for his work with Florence And The Machine and Adele. She also claims to be "very close" to signing a deal with a major label, and I see no reason why she would lie about that.

Banks told Pitchfork: "I'm not really scared of major labels. I just want to work where I'm allowed to make mistakes and do my own thing rather than getting into a situation where someone else has their own agenda of what they want me to be".

Here's Azealia just being herself on her internet hit '212': www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Jv9fNPjgk

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NICKI MINAJ NAMES NEW ALBUM
Hip-pop lady Nicki Minaj has confirmed rumours that she's been working on a sequel to her debut album, 'Pink Friday'. 'Pink Friday: Roman's Revenge', as she's gone and called it, will be released on Valentine's Day of next year. The Roman mentioned in the title is Nicki's gay male alter ego Roman Zolanski, who first spoke up - sounding virtually identical to Minaj - on her 'Pink Friday' Eminem duet 'Roman's Revenge'.

Nicki hinted at Roman's association with the LP a few weeks ago, posting an official blog entry that was later deleted. Make of it what you will: "Roman will be in rare form this time. You know why? Cuz he no longer gives a fuck. He realised that his core matters the most. Everyone else will figure it the fuck out. He can no longer be censored. That's not Lewinsky on a$$. It's Roman".

Roman this, Roman that. Here's hoping he's less disappointing than Lady Gaga's rubbish alter ego, Joe Calderone.

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GRUFF RHYS TO RELEASE ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS EP
Gruff Rhys has announced details of his forthcoming Christmas EP, 'Atheist Xmas'. Presenting an alternative spin on the festive season, it's made up of three songs; 'Post Apocalypse Christmas', 'At The End Of The Line' and 'Slashed Wrists This Christmas'. You can listen to that last one here:

soundcloud.com/pias/gruff-rhys-slashed-wrists-this/s-m9afk

Gruff will mark the release on 18 Dec with in-store performances at Cardiff's Spillers Records at midday, Bristol-based Rise at 3pm, and London's Rough Trade East at 8pm.

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SHARON VAN ETTEN DEBUTS NEW SONG
So, Sharon Van Etten has unveiled 'Serpents', the first track from her latest album 'Tramp'.

As previously reported, the long player will feature indie types including The National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner, Julianna Barwick, Jenn Wasner of Wyke Oak, The Walkmen's Matt Barrick, and Thomas Bartlett of Doveman.

Pitchfork is hosting the premiere of the new song, here: www.pitchfork.com/news/44706-new-sharon-van-etten-serpents/

It's also just been announced that Sharon will make a rare live appearance at London's Cargo on 1 Mar. Jagjaguwar will release 'Tramp' on 7 Feb.

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FOXES TO RELEASE DEBUT SINGLE
CMU approved Foxes, aka alt-pop ingénue Louisa Rose Allen, has been plotting various things since we last caught up with her. First of all, she's now due to release her debut seven-inch single, 'Youth', via Neon Gold on 16 Jan. You can listen to and download the track below, where also resides the video for its B-side, 'Home'. So, that's two things. A third fascinating Foxes fact is that she'll be playing an acoustic set at Ronnie Scott's in Soho on 13 Dec.

soundcloud.com/iamfoxes/youth-1
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ-pVU6SEkI

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GOTYE ANNOUNCES 2012 DATE
Having completely sold out a run of recent tour dates, both here and in his native Australia, in-demand singer-songwriter Gotye has supplemented his live itinerary with a show at London's Wilton's Music Hall on 13 Feb. Coincidentally, his new album, 'Making Mirrors', is out via Island Records/Communion that very same day. Funny that.

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LEAH KARDOS TO LAUNCH ALBUM IN LONDON THIS FRIDAY
Contemporary classical composer Leah Kardos will officially launch her debut album, 'Feather Hammer', at The Wilmington Arms in London on Friday 25 Nov. The show will see her performing music from the new record, which is being released by Bigo & Twigetti, showing off her stunning blend of piano, field recordings and electronic production, with live visuals from Matthew Greasley.

Support comes from The Ligetti Quartet and Sam Grinsell, the latter of whom will be creating a one-off performance using field recordings collected an hour prior to the show. Some advance tickets are still available here: www.wegottickets.com/event/135477

Check out four tracks from Leah Kardos' album here: soundcloud.com/bigoandtwigetti/sets/leah-kardos-feather-hammer/

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FULLER COMPANY FORMS LABEL WITH SONY
Sony Music UK has formed an alliance with Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment to create a new imprint called Sign Of The Times which will be led by Dougie Bruce, the former Universal Music Publishing A&R who has been managing various acts for XIX since 2009, including Aloe Blacc. The new label's first signings are Essex band The Milk.

Cue some concise quotage from both sides of the deal, Sony Music UK top dude Nick Gatield and, for XIX, the Fuller man himself. Says Gatfield: "Dougie Bruce is an executive with very strong all round business acumen in both A&R and management. This deal significantly ramps up our A&R firepower".

Fuller: "Sign Of The Times has been shaped around Dougie's unique set of skills; he's got a great track record for delivering hit acts and we're delighted to be partnering him on this".

Bruce himself had a little more to say. He told CMU: "This feels like a great natural progression for me. I've always wanted my own label, and to creatively manage the process through from signing a complete unknown to delivering a number one act in the UK. It's fantastic to know I've got the strategic weight and resource of Nick Gatfield, Sony Music and XIX Entertainment behind me. This is an exciting time for music, and I strongly believe that we're well placed for great things in 2012".

Elsewhere in Sony Music UK news, Nicola Tuer has been promoted from the role of Senior Vice President to Executive Vice President, an 'executive' being more senior than a 'senior' apparently. Tuer already oversees sales and new digital business, and will now also head up catalogue, compilations and other licensing flim flam.

She'll report directly to the Gatfield in the new role, he saying this: "Nicola is one of the most experienced and skilled executives in the UK music business and her contribution to Sony Music UK has been immense. I'm delighted to have her at my right hand as we build for the future and continue to evolve and grow Sony Music".

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WILL VEVO FLOAT?
Sony and Universal owned music video platform VEVO could float next year, according to the New York Post. Noting that Universal Music has already pledged to offload some of its "non-core" assets as part of its bid to buy the EMI record companies, the paper reckons the two music majors - which co-own VEVO with the Abu Dhabi Media company - could look to sell out of the venture making it a standalone entity.

VEVO sits on top of the YouTube platform technology-wise, but licenses its own content - from both its parent companies and other rights owners - and, most crucially, sells its own advertising. Capitalising on the traffic already coming to YouTube looking for official videos and content from many of the artists VEVO hosts, the platform has enjoyed significant traffic from day one, and although it's not known how well ad space is selling, management there are always bullish about how things are going.

Relationships with Google seem to be good, even though the web giant is a competitor as well as supplier and partner to VEVO (more so than ever, as YouTube forms alliances directly with artists to create official channels, and with the arrival of Google Music). That said, the Post also reckons VEVO is currently trying to renegotiate the split of ad revenue it gives the web firm in return for using their technology, possibly in a bid to boost profitability ahead of any IPO.

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SPOTIFY HAS OVER 2.5 MILLION PAYING SUBSCRIBERS
Spotify now has over 2.5 million paying subscribers, which means it's recruited over 900,000 new premium users since June, aided in no small part, of course, by the company's long awaited arrival Stateside and that only slightly tedious love-in with Facebook. As previously reported, the streaming service is set to make a big announcement next Wednesday, though it's thought that Mark Zuckerberg will deny getting Daniel Ek pregnant during a liaison backstage at the F8 conference back in September.

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SKY TO AIR DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWING NEW BANDS CONTEST
Sky is set to air a documentary about new bands competition Live And Unsigned next year. The unsigned bands contest kicks off in January with the final due to take place at The O2 in early summer. Winners get cash, kit, studio time, publicity support and various festival slots around the world. The Sky show will follow entrants in the competition both backstage and onstage.

Giving an indication of what viewers will see, Live And Unsigned founder Chris Grayston told CMU: "Live And Unsigned shows really can range from the sublime to the ridiculous, and that's just on stage! Backstage can be just as entertaining with the Live And Unsigned staff attempting to coordinate hundreds of wannabe bands and soloists".

For more on the contest check: www.liveandunsigned.uk.com

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BRUCE DICKINSON FIGHTING TO SAVE ASTRAEUS
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has said he will try to save airline Astraeus (for which he worked as a pilot and marketing director) from administration. As previously reported, it was announced this week that due to technical problems and "extremely bad luck" the company was to cease trading, with Dickinson landing its final flight on Monday.

But, the singer told The Guardian, he believes it is possible to bring the company back form the brink. "Firstly, I'm already working on a plan to try to save Astraeus, or at least create a new business with new jobs for my friends and former colleagues at Astraeus", he said. "This is a serious plan involving people who are very good at their jobs. I see the potential for a viable operation, should acquisition of the company prove achievable".

He added: "I'm extremely upbeat about these opportunities, particularly the potential for a revival, in some form, of Astraeus. The enthusiasm is also fuelled by the deluge of messages I received from the second I switched on my phone after landing the last Astraeus flight on Monday, and, of course, the interest of a number of prospective investors. I will be back at the controls of a commercial airliner before I am very much older - but I may also be at the controls of the company that operates that airliner, and others like it".

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NO SEX PLEASE, I'M GARY BARLOW
Gary Barlow thinks a lot of pop videos now are far too sexual, and he doesn't like it. Not one bit.

Barlow told OK! Magazine: "When you have young children it's not to be promoted. The other day I wanted some music in the kitchen and put on one of the music TV channels and a video came on which was so rude I had to turn it off because my nine year old was with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude but I don't think I really want my children who are nine, eleven and two seeing these kind of videos at that age. I'm a parent. I have responsibility, but I also understand these videos are sexual to attract peoples' attention".

He added: "I have had five nine year olds in the back seat singing along to Black Eyed Peas songs with 'F' this, 'F' that and I'm like, 'Right, I'm stopping the car. I don't like my kids listening to swearing'. Luckily lyrics go over their heads for the most part".

Oh, for the good old days, like when the That were the fresh faced new boys in town, and pop bands employed much more wholesome ways to attract peoples' attention, like covering themselves in baked beans and getting their bums out. Though, to be fair, Barlow did admit that his band are a little to blame for the sexualisation of pop (only a little, mind), saying: "Our tours and some of our songs can be dressed a little sexually but it's not too in your face".

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