LONDON (Billboard) - In 1989, the British music industry gambled on a tactic to rev up its annual BPI Awards ceremony. With a new, snappier name -- the BRIT Awards -- the country's version of the Grammys was televised live for the first time.

But what rolled out that fateful night became the stuff of legend, with co-hosts Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood and glamour model-turned-pop signer Samantha Fox stranded haplessly at the podium as the show turned into "car crash" TV, replete with technical failures, botched lines, miscued presenters and late-arriving guests. Unsurprisingly, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) has since opted for a delayed feed. This year, though, the February 14 show will be televised live. The BRITs have gone from laughing stock to blue-chip stock, acknowledged as the jewel in the crown of the U.K. awards calendar -- despite the arrival of a plethora of new honors in recent years.

Of all the U.K. awards shows, the BRITs have had the most notable regular effect on sales. In the first Official U.K. Charts Co. (OCC) album listing published after the broadcast of the 2006 show, for example, double award-winner KT Tunstall's "Eye to the Telescope" leapt 15 places to No. 4. Other award winners showing dramatic sales rises that week included Coldplay (up 13 places to No. 8 with "X&Y") and Kanye West (up 17 to No. 23 with "Late Registration").

Tunstall and West had both performed on the show, as did outstanding contribution award winner Paul Weller. The latter saw a reissued version of his old band the Jam's hits set "Snap!" enter the chart at No. 10 the following week -- an entry much higher than would have been anticipated.

Mercury Prize effects have been quantifiable as well. The 2005 winner, Antony & the Johnsons' "I Am a Bird Now" leapt from No. 135 to No. 16 on OCC's sales chart, while retailers reporting a 20-fold week-on-week sales increase.

London now hosts at least 30 music award ceremonies annually, catering to virtually every sector. Take in the Live Music Awards, dance music's DJ Awards, the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, the Digital Music Awards and the events hosted by rock weekly Kerrang or music magazines NME or Q -- and you're only scratching the surface.

"At the moment," suggests Kim Bayley, secretary general of trade body the Entertainment Retailers Assn., "(the ceremonies) all work. If anything, there are gaps within the year."

But others argue that the calendar is already overcrowded. "Some of the magazine awards have pushed their luck," says music critic David Sinclair, a regular contributor to The Times newspaper. "(They've) created vague categories and fanciful 'inspiration'-type trophies which are doled out to whoever they can persuade to show up. The ones that matter to the artists are the Mercury Music Prize, for credibility, and the BRITs, for sales."

The U.K. business has to "be very aware that it can overcook the goose by having too many awards ceremonies," cautions Bernard Doherty, CEO of British PR firm LD Publicity, which has handled the BRIT Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards and the Sony Radio Academy Awards, among others.

For the U.K. mass-market tabloid press, it's the BRITs that rule, veteran tabloid showbiz correspondent Rick Sky says. However, Sky adds, "They also care about the Q and NME Awards. The tabloids are just interested in what ceremony brings in the biggest stars. They have a nod at the Mercury Prize, but it's not really their market."

For market-leading music merchant HMV, the three most important ceremonies are "the BRITs, the Mercury Prize and the NME awards," head of music Gary Rolfe says. The BRIT Awards in particular increase in-store traffic, he notes.

HMV is a sponsor of the NME Awards, which Rolfe describes as "a very proactive/interactive event for us. We organize a lot of in-store shows featuring nominees, particularly newer acts. A couple of years ago, we had the likes of the Killers and Kaiser Chiefs playing in HMV stores ahead of the NME Awards."

From a radio perspective, Parlophone Records head of radio Kevin McCabe says, "The most important ones are the BRITs and Q Awards. There's kudos attached to Q, and it's one that gets some leverage (across the media). It's become quite global."

Insiders recognize the tangible effect the BRITs and a handful of other U.K. awards shows can have on record sales. But "the ones artists like to win," says Kaiser Chiefs manager James Sandom, are "the Ivor Novellos, the Silver Clefs and other songwriting-focused awards." Unlike the BRITs, however, these key music-publishing galas are not televised.

Sandom added that when the Kasier Chiefs won three BRIT Awards last year, "it meant something in Europe, but globally, it really just didn't matter."

Among the acts hoping to benefit from BRITs exposure in 2007 are multiple nominees Lily Allen, Gnarls Barkley, James Morrison, Corinne Bailey Rae and Snow Patrol.

Snow Patrol, Bailey Rae, Scissor Sisters, the Killers, Take That, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Amy Winehouse and Oasis will perform on the show.

Source: Reuters/Billboard

On Feb. 1, hundreds of Los Angeles-area public school students will watch as eight-time GRAMMY® winner Natalie Cole and breakout singer-songwriter Josh Kelley become the final two signatures on the Hilton Harmony Piano.

The six-foot grand piano boasts more than 110 celebrity autographs, each one representing a $1,000 donation from Hilton to the music education programs of the GRAMMY Foundation®. The year-long tour earned more than $100,000 for the Foundation, touching the lives of hundreds of local school children along the way.

Musician/Celebrity Support:

Some of the more than 110 artists who have lent their names to support the Hilton Harmony Tour cause include: Tony Bennett, Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow, Ellen DeGeneres, the Dixie Chicks, Herbie Hancock, Tom Hanks, Terrance Howard, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Keith Urban, Kanye West, and Stevie Wonder.

Just prior to last year's 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards, Hilton Hotels and The Recording Academy® launched the Harmony Tour program, bringing the issue of music education to the attention of GRAMMY performers, nominees and presenters. For each artist that signed the piano, Hilton pledged to donate $1,000 to the GRAMMY Foundation. The

Harmony Tour piano debuted backstage at the 48th GRAMMY Awards in February 2006, held at the STAPLES Center, collecting autographs from musicians and celebrities who appeared on the show.

The Hilton Harmony Piano then began a nine-city tour, acting as the centerpiece for special music appreciation lessons for school children in each city. Local and nationally-recognized musicians joined the cause by leading the music lessons, signing the piano and helping to raise additional dollars for the Foundation.

Now, directly following its private finale concert for local students at the famed Music Box @ the Fonda theater -- where Natalie Cole and Josh Kelley will be the featured performers -- the Hilton Harmony Piano will end its journey in Los Angeles as part of the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards festivities.

"During this time of year, we all look forward to honoring achievements in the recording arts through our GRAMMY Awards," said Neil Portnow, President of The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation. "But equally important is The Recording Academy's focus on raising awareness of the value of music by supporting music education in our communities. The Hilton Harmony Tour not only helped us in this effort, reaching thousands of students across the country throughout the year, but also in raising much-needed funds for the GRAMMY Foundation which will positively impact even more students in the coming months."

In March, after the piano's appearance at GRAMMY Week events, Hilton will work with Sotheby's and Julien's Auctions to give music historians and fans throughout the world the opportunity to bid on this invaluable collector's item, with all proceeds going to the GRAMMY Foundation's music education programs.

The Tour:

Before landing in Los Angeles, the Hilton Harmony Piano traveled more than 10,000 miles across the nation, making stops in San Francisco; New Orleans, including a mini-Jazzfest concert and lesson with Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Harry Shearer; Austin and Memphis. In Chicago, the piano received its 100th signature, marking $100,000 towards music education at a "press concert" with Buddy Guy, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Shirley King. It then made its way to Washington, D.C., and New York City, before venturing to the Hilton Las Vegas, where "Harmony" provided inspiration for students during a music lesson with Vince Gill and collected its 109th signature from Barry Manilow.

"At Hilton we believe that Travel Should Take You Places and we understand that music plays a prominent role in our life journeys," said Jeff Diskin, Hilton's senior vice president of brand management and marketing. "By creating the Hilton Harmony Tour and traveling with our piano across the country, we've gotten to see, firsthand, the impact music has on students and our hotel communities. We're so thankful to the dozens of hotels that hosted the piano and music lessons and the 110 artists that have helped us along our journey, building awareness of the need for music education in nine cities across the country."

For more information on the Hilton Harmony Tour and for auction updates, visit hiltonharmonytour.com. To see the piano before the tour's finale, visit the Glendale Hilton, where it will be displayed until Jan. 31.

About Hilton:

With nearly 500 hotels on six continents, Hilton Hotels continues to be an innovative leader in the full-service hospitality segment and the most recognized name in the industry. Hilton celebrates the accomplishment, enlightenment, renewal and celebration that travel enables. This commitment to personal guest achievement infuses all decisions about products, programs and amenities, and is underscored by the belief that travel can and should be transformative. Each unique Hilton Hotel was designed to reflect the sense of place of its location; each team member chosen to reflect the local culture and community. For more information, please visit www.hilton.com.

About The Recording Academy

Established in 1957, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., also known as The Recording Academy, is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs - including the creation of the national public education campaign What's The Download (WhatsTheDownload.com). For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com.

About The GRAMMY Foundation

The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture - from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of future generations of music professionals. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with The Recording Academy to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit www.grammyfoundation.com.

Source: http://www.csrwire.com

EMI merged its Capitol and Virgin Records divisions overnight. The new company is called The Capitol Music Group.

Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom as been announced as the head of the new company. Andrew Slater, President and CEO of Capitol Records has been removed from the company. Flom joined the company in November 2005. He will report directly to Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group.

Although Capitol Records has a market share near double that of Virgin, Nicoli said in a statement "Jason Flom quickly demonstrated his leadership and artist development abilities since he has been at Virgin. I am confident that he will take us to new levels of success in the rock, pop and urban genres as leader of the Capitol Music Group."

EMI finished 2006 with a 10.2% market share in the USA, putting it last in the majors behind Universal, Sony-BMG and Warner. However, worldwide, the company is in third place.

The biggest weakness of EMI North America is its lack of local acts. The top 5 EMI artists of 2006 were four British and one Australia act. They were Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Gorillaz, K.T. Tunstall and Keith Urban.

The restructure has been designed to save the company $217 million annually and to do this, a staff reduction of 20% is expected.

EMI shares are down 9% so far this year.

JUST JACK

After his overlooked 2003 debut album The Outer Marker sunk into obscurity thanks to his record label going bust, Just Jack (real name Jack Allsopp) is back for another crack at success. This time he's got the helping hands of a major label deal, shared management with his new-found friend Elton John, and a flawless-sounding album in the shape of Overtones, out at the end of January.

THE FRAY

Denver four-piece The Fray have stolen that British band trick of sticking a 'The' in front of the band name in the hope that they may have some success here, just like they have in their native America. Possibly. They'd probably do well with or without it, as their tunes, which are what Coldplay and David Gray might sound like if they were American, have radio-friendly written all over them. See them support The Feeling in February.

KLAXONS

Leaders of the so-called 'new rave' revolution, as championed by NME, the Klaxons (like all the other new rave bands) are essentially an indie rock band with angular riffs and frenetic rhythms that has thrown in the odd electronic squelchy noise as a nod to rave music. They have, though, covered rave 'classic' The Bouncer, that 'your name's not down' one. Shouty, energetic and completely bonkers, Klaxons are riding the zeitgeist into the hearts of the kids.

THE HOURS

The Hours, between them, have played with the likes of Black Grape, Elastica and Pulp, but sound nothing like any of those bands. Instead, their music, which sounds like a more energetic Keane, should appeal to the more discerning fan out there. The band's debut single Ali In The Jungle made single of the week for Radio 1 DJs Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe, and new single Back When You Were Good is more sophisticated piano-driven pop.

AS doomed prophecies go, the most famous slogan of the punk era, “No future”, is a classic. Triumphantly snarled by Johnny Rotten at the end of God Save the Queen, the Sex Pistols’ rowdy trashing of the silver jubilee in 1977, it encapsulated the attitude of a band that imploded when Rotten walked out six months after the record was released.

But it is impossible to square, 30 years later, with the enduring reverence inspired by punk rock. As far as music writers are concerned, punk was, maybe still is, the future, and retelling the story of its origins and aftermath has become like a nagging riff that gets louder every year.

In the coming month, two more volumes on the subject are due to be published: Pretty Vacant by Phil Strongman and Babylon’s Burning by Clinton Heylin. Add these to last year’s Punk Rock: An Oral History by John Robb and The Rough Guide to Punk by Al Spicer, plonk all four on the tottering pile propped up by Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming, and what you are left with is not just an unwieldy reading list but a question.

Given that punk is widely acknowledged to have been named and started in the US by the New York Dolls and the Ramones, among others, why is it that nearly all the authors who feel moved to write hefty books about it are British? Greil Marcus’s rambling meditation on anarchic impulses down the ages, Lipstick Traces, is the only American tome to compare with the British encyclopedias. Where does this fascination with the idea of punk come from? The answer is obvious: from many of the most charismatic British rock musicians of the past 30 years who have declared the influence punk has had over them. It never amounted to a proper movement in the US.

By contrast, nearly all of the musical sub-cults that have flourished in Britain since have taken their cue from it in one way or another, even those that haven’t obviously modelled their sound on the Clash or the Sex Pistols. Boy George, a camp follower of the London punk scene in the late 1970s, took its other big motto, “Be yourself”, and became the first openly gay pop symbol.

The rave movement of the late ’80s proclaimed a punk aesthetic in its manic repetitions and adoption of rudimentary electronic technology. For the guitar bands, punk brought in an informal ban on tricky solos and most other instrumental showing-off that has never been lifted.

As Oasis demonstrated about 20 years after the birth of punk, the most potent music that the UK had to offer - accurately dubbed Britpop - was all about playing catchy tunes very loud, with no frills. So it is today. Coldplay do it more quietly, but their biggest influence is Echo & the Bunnymen, formerly leaders of the Liverpool punk scene.

The hottest guitar band of the moment, the Arctic Monkeys, bear a strong resemblance to that venerable Mancunian punk institution, the Fall, in their combination of scrappy chords and sarky spoken lyrics. Pete Doherty openly worships at the shrine of the Clash and uses their guitarist Mick Jones as his producer.

The appeal of punk, however, has always gone beyond the sound it makes. In fact, punk was Britain’s first significant contribution to pop culture that wasn’t mainly musical. The great British bands of the ’60s had supplied a memorable soundtrack to a movie that was usually showing somewhere else: the anti-Vietnam War demos in the US that left four dead at Kent State, Ohio, say, or the student uprisings that brought Paris to a standstill in 1968. Even the uniforms of youth culture - from blue jeans to Indian smocks, and the Vegas-like glitter of the glam bands - had to be imported.

Punk, on the other hand, came with “made in Britain” scrawled all over it. Initially presented as a kind of peasants’ revolt, a direct reflection of the economic decay in Britain during the ’70s, it had a real cultural story to tell. Allegedly. This soon turned out to have been a strategy dreamed up by a bunch of awkward, quarrelsome, mainly middle-class individualists who had usually attended that uniquely British clearing house for aspiring rockers, art school.

Whereas John Lennon, Eric Clapton and the rest largely flunked drawing classes to concentrate on their guitars, the punks figured that an eye for design and style was as useful as an ear for music. They were right. For most of the ’80s, the legacy of punk was more apparent in areas such as graphic design and street fashion than it was in the music, which, despite a handful of spiky hits, never sold in great quantities. Ten years after its wildly acclaimed release, punk’s greatest half-hour, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, had shifted barely a million copies worldwide.

That punk rock was often too abrasive and sketchy to appeal to the mainstream was attributable to its arty agenda. The radical amateurism it espoused was rooted in one of the propositions of pop art: that traditional expertise, in this case musical, was no longer relevant in an age of mass production and general alienation. Some of the dumber punks, notably Sid Vicious, took all this rather too literally, turning themselves into living symbols of dehumanised vacuity, like walking versions of a Warhol soup can.

Not so their self-proclaimed leader, Malcolm McLaren, a former art student who ran a fetishistic clothes shop on the King’s Road with his girlfriend, designer Vivienne Westwood. Having recruited a practically tone-deaf Johnny “Rotten” Lydon to sing with the Sex Pistols, “because this was the best selling point”, McLaren understood punk for what it was: an innovative approach to marketing. “If people bought the records for the music, this thing would have died a death long ago,” he once said.

And if his vaunted situationist rhetoric, culled from a French anarchist sect, flew way over the heads of most of the audience, there were lots of other cultural elements in the punk package that had a strong local appeal, and in some cases still do. The yobbish pose, for instance, and the recognition that public spectacles can feed off violence. In a country where football hooliganism was, by the late ’70s, attracting bigger headlines than the game, the mayhem at punk gigs seemed either significant or attractive, depending on whether you had spent your youth on the terraces or at art school.

Along with its love of a ruck, punk redesigned a number of other British preoccupations: the traditional fondness for dressing up, for instance, which, in the form of leather bondage gear and multiple body piercings, turned private sexual obsessions into fashion statements.

With this came a new, more challenging role for women performers such as Siouxsie Sioux. The old canard about British class hang-ups was given a new twist by the mockney accents suddenly affected by everybody, irrespective of whether they hailed, like Rotten, from an estate in north London. Even the punks’ favourite put-down, “boring”, had a British flavour: no other nation takes such pride in its readiness to lose interest.

Punk’s most futuristic insight lay in its accidental discovery of the almost unlimited power of the media in the pop process. American television and radio blanked the nascent punk scene there, to the point that the Ramones were known only to their club audiences. After the Sex Pistols’ infamous outburst in front of Bill Grundy on prime-time ITV in Britain, however, not even McLaren realised the significance of what had taken place. He thought the game was up. In reality, it had begun in earnest.

What was good for the Pistols was also, inevitably, good for the media. The relationship between performers and reporters had shifted decisively. Much has changed since, but punk still holds a special place in the mind of many of those who now make a living out of writing about pop music. Perhaps we should think of all those big, fat history books as long thank-you notes.

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21100046-16947,00.html

While the term is shorthand for UK Pop music, the style Britpop connotes a specific style music prominent in the 1990s, when England’s biggest musical export was a loose affiliation of bands playing within the genre.

Combining the pop hooks of British Invasion era bands like The Beatles, the anthemic drama of 1970s Glam Rock acts like David Bowie, and the grittier aesthetics of Punk and New Wave guitar groups such as The Jam, the typical Britpop band, employed both catchy radio-friendly melodies and a brand of rock perfect for tours of large arenas.

The biggest of these bands would fulfill these twin potentials.

Britpop’s Beginnings

What became Britpop began in the late ’80s and early ’90s in the Madchester scene (a play on the name of Manchester, England, from which the style came). Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays were the most famous Madchester acts. These groups married danceable rhythms, hummable melodies, and a tough rock sound. Stone Rose’s 1989 self-titled debut is considered a classic by critics and fans alike, NME once named it the greatest album of all time. Perhaps the first true Britpop band was Suede, who, with their 1993 debut, cast out the dance flavors of Madchester in favor of a concise style that would come to typify Britpop.

Britpop Hits the Big-time

Britpop broke through with the arrival of its biggest band, Oasis, and their ‘94 debut, Definitely Maybe, which debuted at #1 on the UK charts. Led by brothers Liam and Ian Gallagher, Oasis epitomized the mixture of Beatlesesque hooks and rock grandeur at the foundation of Britpop. Also at the top of the scene in ‘94 were Blur. Their first two albums, Leisure and Modern Life Is Rubbish, had been moderately successful records mostly in line with the Madchester sound. With their third full-length, UK #1 Parklife, Blur became huge stars and expanded the palette of Britpop with synthesizers and varied songwriting.

The Brief Reign of Britpop

In 1995, Britpop was king in England. Oasis’ sophomore album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? sold 14 million copies in the UK alone, Blur hit #1 again with The Great Escape. Meanwhile, Pulp, whose career was slow to take off, became a major Britpop act with their chart-topping Different Class, Supergrass grabbed the top spot in the UK with their debut, I Should Coco, Radiohead added compositional complexity and darker moods to the Britpop pool and Elastica were the biggest female-led Britpop band, with their lean and catchy self-titled debut reaching #1 in England.

Who Killed Britpop?

As it quickly it rose, Britpop was dead on the vine. By 1997, the style had become unpopular. This change could be attributed to the British music press, who have long been notorious for their fickle nature. Another likely factor is a general lack of interest in Britpop in the US marketplace. Not even Oasis’ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? could top the charts in America. Without amassing support across the Atlantic, Britpop became a passing fad. Oasis’ third album, 1997’s Be Here Now, sold only half as well as its predecessor, and Blur took an artistic turn toward a less polished Indie Rock sound.

Life After Britpop

The style’s major players continued to release albums into the 2000s, each tweaking their respective sounds in order to adjust to the times, and each finding relative success. Every Oasis album released since has reached #1 in the UK, while Blur and Pulp also remained big stars into the next decade. Today, the influence of Britpop is felt through British Trad Rock acts like Doves and Travis and moody anthemic rock acts like Coldplay, all of whom utilize that genre’s patented blend of pop melodicism and the emotional pull of guitar rock. Britpop might be dead, but its creators and their followers are flourishing.

Britpop Bands Worth Exploring

Britpop Bands

* Ash

* Blur

* Elastica

* Gene

* Oasis

* Ocean Colour Scene

* Radiohead

* Suede

* Supergrass

* The Verve

Pre-Britpop Bands:

* The Happy Mondays

* Inspiral Carpets

* Ride

* The Smiths

* Stone Roses

Post-Britpop Bands:

* Coldplay

* Doves

* Elbow

* Keane

* Snow Patrol

* Super Furry Animals

Source: http://altmusic.about.com/

At the MIDEM global music conference, Ericsson and The Orchard announced a global agreement to distribute full track downloads and master tones from The Orchard’s independent labels across Ericsson’s global network. The agreement covers all major territories outside the U.S.

Stockholm, Sweden, January 22, 2007 — The Orchard is the world’s leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, with a catalogue of more than one million tracks representing 73 countries, thousands of labels, and every music genre. This contract enables Ericsson to offer an expanded music offering to operators and their subscribers, including tracks from established artists such as Green Day, Coldplay, and Ray Charles, as well as emerging acts like The Hold Steady.

The Orchard’s catalog will be included in the content offerings connected to Ericsson’s hosted white-label music service. This service makes it possible for operators and content providers to focus on their core business while Ericsson manages the end-to-end platform, complete with the latest and most compelling content. Consumers can choose from an entire catalog of tracks and downloads available and pay for the chosen content via their mobile phone bill.

Claes Ödman, Vice President, Multimedia Solutions at Ericsson, says, “This partnership enables Ericsson to distribute music from thousands of independent labels. Ericsson strives to offer operators and their subscribers a great music experience and we are delighted to have signed this contract with The Orchard since it will both broaden and deepen our content catalog.”

Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard, says, “Increasingly, the leading technology companies and digital retailers worldwide appreciate the critical role independent music plays in the viability of their products, and more broadly, as the lifeblood that feeds the music industry. Our agreement with Ericsson ensures that our artists and labels can reach a global audience throughout Ericsson’s extensive mobile network. We look forward to working as a close marketing partner with Ericsson to sell great independent music, and increase the opportunities available to our respective customers worldwide.”

About The Orchard:

The Orchard is the world’s leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, with a catalogue of more than one million tracks representing 73 countries, thousands of labels, and every music genre. This catalogue includes titles from multi-platinum acts such as Green Day, Coldplay, Ray Charles, and Ice T, as well as from breaking bands like The Hold Steady, Bedouin Soundclash, and Immortal Technique. The Orchard supplies all the leading legal digital music stores and mobile operators throughout the world and markets its labels’ catalogues for sync song placements in films, commercials, and television shows. The company is owned by Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc. whose portfolio companies also include eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. The Orchard is headquartered in New York and London, with offices in 23 countries and six continents. For more information, please visit: www.theorchard.com.

About Ericsson’s Managed Services offering:

Ericsson has the telecom industry’s most comprehensive managed services offerings, ranging from designing, building, operating and managing day-to-day operations of a customer’s network, to hosting service applications and enablers, as well as providing network coverage and capacity on demand. As the undisputed leader in managed services, Ericsson has officially announced more than 100 managed services contracts with operators worldwide since 2002. In all current managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing networks that together serve 80 million subscribers worldwide.

About Ericsson: (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Ericsson is shaping the future of mobile and broadband internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Contact:

Ericsson Media Relations

+46 8 719 6992

press.relations @ ericsson.com

http://www.ericsson.com

Source: http://press.xtvworld.com/

It seems that the Brit Awards have come full circle. From their rather middle-of-the-road beginnings in the 1980s, through the chaos and alternative leanings of the Nineties, back to a relatively safe position in the new Millennium.

In 2007 the nominees are pretty much what you'd expect - a roll-call of the best-selling artists in each category. I'm not saying Snow Patrol don't deserve their three nominations in Best Band, Best Album and Best Single (for Chasing Cars, in case you're wondering).

And, because they have the best-selling album of the year, you'd expect them to walk away with at least one gong. But the list of nominees in 2007 shows how safe the music industry has become.

Yes, it's a complaint that's trotted out each year. And when you put what it supposed to be the cream of British talent down on paper it's not that impressive. Look at the contenders for Breakthrough act; Lily Allen, who has four nominations, is pleasant enough but hardly revolutionary. Same goes for The Kooks and Corinne Bailey Rae. James Morrison is like listening to paint dry and The Fratellis are like a modern-day Chas and Dave.

To get some actually creativity you have to look, as usual, to the international acts. Beck, Bob Dylan, Damien Rice, Jack Johnson and Justin Timberlake are in the running for Best International Male. This eclectic yet talented line-up compete in one of the few categories that actually lives up to its name.

The Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Scissor Sisters are in the Best International Band Category. If there they were all playing a concert I know I'd go and see it. The same can't really be said for Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Muse, Razorlight and Snow Patrol, who will fight it out for Best British Band.

Oasis will be receiving an award this year for their outstanding contribution to music, presumably before they release another album and further dampen a once-bright legacy.

The ceremony itself, which had a reputation for being chaotic and unpredictable, is now simply a self-congratulatory pat on the back for the industry. There'll be no repeat of the Sam Fox/ Mick Fleetwood hilarity, the KLF won't be allowed to come along with machine guns and dead sheep. If last year is anything to go by, there won't be any really interesting live performances either, which is a shame.

While we've come a long way since the likes of Phil Collins or Sting just had to turn up to get an award, you can't help but feel that the British music industry needs a shot in the arm. And something a bit more worthwhile to celebrate in 2008. The Brit awards will be televised on UTV on February 14.

Poor old Ricky Gervais. The twinkly eyed star of The Office and Extras has been complaining that reports of how much his snazzy new house in upmarket Hampstead, north London, cost have been wide of the mark: some newspapers put the price as low as a paltry £2m pounds. Onstage during his new sell-out tour recently, Gervais said: “It was £3.5m — how am I going to sell it now?”

Fair point, so in the interests of accuracy, I can confirm that Gervais’s new pad cost him and his other half, Jane Fallon, £3.425m, according to official records. He has also applied for permission to install a swimming pool and golf simulator. And he’s got a mortgage from Coutts. That’s the Queen’s bankers. Fact, as they say.

Across the Atlantic, the glittering property empire of Coldplay singer Chris Martin and his willowy actress wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, is expanding. Local property experts say that in the past couple of years, the pair have splashed out on a swanky £4.4m apartment in New York’s hip TriBeCa district, plus a £3m holiday home in the Hamptons. Now, it’s reported they’ve spent another £2.5m on a three-bed TriBeCa penthouse. The pair’s publicists declined to comment.

Former Wimbledon champ Pat Cash has got out his chequebook. According to locals in Fulham, west London, the Aussie ball-thwacker and keen guitarist has just bought a new flat in a Victorian red-brick block in the area, at a cost said to be about half a million. Eighteen months ago, he put his family home on the market for £925,000 after he split from his wife, Emily. Cash, 41, described that home as his “best investment” ever.

Source: http://property.timesonline.co.uk

2007 seems to be a promising year for fans of the increasingly popular indie rock and college radio music scenes. A warning to music fans: Be prepared to buy (or if you must, burn) a significant amount of albums if this year’s offerings are as strong as last year’s, a highly likely scenario.

Last year featured noteworthy albums by a plethora of talented artists, many of whom released breakout debuts or important follow-up albums, while longtime rock staples offered albums that featured innovative changes. Significant debut albums were released by artists such as soul and hip hop masters Gnarls Barkley, post- punk Pixies sound-a-likes Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, Black Sabbath- and Led Zeppelin-influenced Wolfmother, the Raconteurs (Jack White of the White Stripes’ side project), experimental rockers Man Man, and MySpace darlings and British rockers the Arctic Monkeys.

Other new pop artists like Paris Hilton and Taylor Hicks were moderately successful in 2006, while the disgraced K-Fed toured to crowds of no more than a few hundred.

As for 2007, there are several young artists to watch out for. Another MySpace darling has been the U.K.’s Lily Allen, a 21- year old whose debut single “Smile” has garnered heavy airplay and already hit number one in the U.K. Her album Alright, Still is finally being released in the U.S. Jan. 30 after months of anticipated buildup.

Another highly touted band from overseas is the Scottish group the View, who draw on recent alternative groups like Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. Their album, Hats off to the Buskers, is set for a Jan. 22 release. Also hailing from the U.K. are the Long Blondes, who possess a Blondie meets 70s punk type flavor. Finally, to round out the overseas talent, a supergroup called The Good, the Bad and the Queen featuring Gorillaz and Blur frontman Damon Albarn, former Clash bassist Paul Simonon and former Verve guitarist Simon Tong will release their eponymous debut album next Tuesday.

In the U.S., Jay-Z has been raving about dance rocker Young Love, while hip hop artist Rich Boy has already made waves with a debut single, with both artists set to release their debuts in 2007. Other albums to look out for include the solo debut of Stephen Marley, son of legendary Bob Marley, and the Aliens, a fusion of funk and electronica with former members of the highly respected cult group the Beta Band.

At the same time, many groups both failed and succeeded in releasing critically acclaimed and/or successful follow-up albums in 2006, while others will face the same pressure in 2007. Justin Timberlake, Matisyahu, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Decemberists and Muse were among the many groups to release relatively successful albums in 2006 to help cement their staying power. On the other hand, artists like the Strokes, the Streets, the Killers, Outkast, and Gwen Stefani released albums that did not fare as well as had been anticipated or were plagued with mixed reviews.

2007 will be an important year for many groups, particularly for the “band that will change your life,” the Shins. Their hotly anticipated and grossly important third album, Wincing the Night Away, will hit the shelves Jan. 23. The group has described it as their effort to “stretch out.” Another popular indie band whose release will most likely be overshadowed by the Shins, Of Montreal, is also releasing a new album on the same day.

Other anticipated new releases in the next couple of months include a laundry list of big names, including: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Talib Kweli, Bloc Party, Modest Mouse (with the addition of Smiths’ guitar legend Johnny Marr), Fall Out Boy, LCD Soundsystem, the Arcade Fire, and Nine Inch Nails. Not only that, but Radiohead, Coldplay, Kanye West, Franz Ferdinand, Oasis, and the White Stripes are all rumored to be releasing new material in the upcoming year. Perhaps the most unexpected stories in 2007 will surround several rock and roll Dinosaurs that were thought to be extinct, such as the Smashing Pumpkins, the Pixies, Alice in Chains, Sisqo (in all seriousness), Michael Jackson, the Eagles and an utterly-impossible-to-fathom release of a new Guns ‘N’ Roses album. After plenty of temper tantrums and lineup changes, GN’R are slated to release their album Chinese Democracy in March, a much-ridiculed 16 years since their last release of original material.

Finally, 2006 was an important time for established groups to take a big step forward. Perhaps the best example of this was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose double album Stadium Arcadium is still eating up the charts and has again put them at the forefront of American popular music. Longtime staples Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty, Sonic Youth, Neil Young and even Weird Al Yankovic all contributed what most fans and critics agreed were their best albums in years. In fact, Rolling Stone declared Dylan, the Chili Peppers, and Sonic Youth as their three top albums of the year. Artists like AC/DC, Bon Jovi, the Cure, Aerosmith, and Metallica will attempt to achieve the same kind of newfound success in 2007.

The new year should certainly provide a surprise or two for music fans, just as 2006 did. Just make sure to save a few extra dollars or leave some extra room on your mp3 player for what is in store.

Source: http://www.thehoot.net

Babyshambles sign 'long term' record deal

Babyshambles have signed a "long term" album deal with Parlophone. Pete Doherty's band signed after putting out the 'Blinding EP' on the label's imprint Regal last December.

Welcoming the deal, the band's management issued a statement declaring: "Both management and the band are thrilled to have signed this deal and look forward to a long, fruitful, and creative relationship with Parlophone."

It has not yet been revealed how many albums the deal is for, although Parlophone Managing Director Miles Leonard said he hoped the band would follow the label's stalwarts like Blur over a long period of time.

"We're extremely pleased to be welcoming such a vibrant and talented band into the Parlophone label," he said. "Babyshambles, justifiably, have a great reputation for crafting some of the most exciting music around today, and in Peter Doherty they have one of the best songwriters of his generation. Parlophone have a long history of working with the best British bands, from Radiohead to Blur to Coldplay, and we see Babyshambles very much as continuing this tradition."

This week, the album “Rhythms del mundo,” which mixes the music of Buena Vista Social Club with rock and pop artists like Coldplay, U2, Sting, Dido, Marron 5, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand, to name a few, reached the top sales spot after a month and a half in the Top 5.

This album, which features the music of Buena Vista Social Club wiht that of the best modern rock and pop artists like Coldplay, U2, Sting, Dido, Maroon 5, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand was released in 57 countries and did very well in Mexico too.

Legendary Buena Vista Social Club artists like Omara Portuondo or the late Ibrahim Ferrer, Vania Borges, Coco Freeman, Roberto Hernández, to name a few, are in charge of bringing in the Latin flavor alongside rock and pop artists like Chris Martin from Coldplay, Bono of U2, Dido, Frenz Ferdinand, Sitngo, Radiohead and Gorillaz, among others.

The Project is sponsored by the Artist’s Project Earth (APE) association, which aims at creating a better world taking the power of music to the new challenges of the 21st century.

The album’s packaging is made of 100% environmentally friendly neutral carbon, and includes a 20 page booklet with information about the project, as well as photographs of the artists that participated in order to raise funds for education campaigns and support in case of environmental disasters.

Honorary British person Gwyneth Paltrow has been added to upcoming Marvel superhero epic Iron Man — joining a cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Yoko-like actress will play billionaire hero Tony Stark’s (Downey) personal assistant, Virginia “Pepper” Potts. Of course, Stark and Potts will share a secret attraction. “Her representatives let us know that she wanted to do a movie like this,” said Kevin Feige, Marvel's president of production. “A few phone calls later from all parties involved, and over the weekend, it happened.”

The film is being directed by Jon Favreau (Made, Zathura) and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Production is scheduled to begin in March.

Source: http://www.dose.ca

NEW YORK/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Internet search service Baidu.com Inc. said on Tuesday it was launching an advertising-supported online music service in mainland China with EMI Music.

The service will provide a stream of free online music, the company said, but would only include Chinese-language music, which people could listen to but not download.

EMI and Baidu would also continue to explore developing an advertising-supported service for downloading music, the companies said. They did not disclose any financial terms of the deal, which comes after Baidu was ordered by a Beijing court in 2005 to stop directing users to illegal music download sites."The download issue is only a temporary problem. It can't last forever," Shawn Wang, Baidu's chief financial officer told reporters in Beijing. Wang said Baidu was in talks with several other music companies hoping to reach deals similar to the EMI arrangement. Baidu, which is known as China's Google, serves the second-largest Internet population in the world, behind the United States.

It and Google Inc. have had early discussions with some local video Web sites to expand their online video services in China as well, industry sources have previously told Reuters. hina's Internet users could represent a huge untapped market for music companies such as EMI.

While many are active in selling compact discs and other forms of prerecorded music in China, the country is also rife with music, movie and computer software piracy, according to U.S. industry groups. EMI, whose catalogue includes the Beatles, Coldplay and Robbie Williams, ousted its two top music executives on Friday and said it would cut costs after poor holiday season sales prompted a profit warning.

The warning came as the world's third-biggest music company deals with falling market share and the growth in popularity of downloading and streaming music on the Internet. EMI has said its digital music business represented about 9.4 percent of its music division revenue, compared with the industry average of 11 percent.

Academy-award winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, 34, talks to OK! Magazine about how she put her career on hold temporarily to be a stay-at-home mother to her children with Coldplay's Chris Martin, 29 - Apple, 2 1/2, and Moses, 9 months.

She says, "Right now, I spend all day at home with my children. Sometimes I become Gwyneth Paltrow for a day and put on make-up. What I don't want is to spent two or three months on a shoot far away from home and my children. I'm going to read a few scripts, but until my son is at least a year old, I don't plan to shoot anything. It's really hard to be a mother and leave your children."

Gwyneth is a celebrity baby herself, her father being the late director, Bruce Paltrow and her mother, actress Blythe Danner. She shares her "worst qualities" passed on to her by her parents: "I inherited impatience from my father. It's my worst quality, and Apple's now inherited it from me, so it's my own karma coming back. From my mother, the worst thing I inherited is forgetfulness. She's worse than I am. She'll wear her sunglasses on her head and then ask where they are!"

Source: OK! Magazine, January 22, 2007 issue

I tivoed the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures that were on TV over the Christmas period and although they didn’t go in to depth about anything in particular they were quite entertaining and interesting. I’ve always had a love of maths so it was nice to see the subject get some TV time. Normally the only mathematical programming on TV is the number round on Countdown.

The 2006 lectures were presented by Marcus du Sautoy who’s as close to being a show biz mathematician as you’re likely to get. The lectures were called “THE NUM8ER MY5TERIES”. Each one was quite good but the one that I hadn’t got around to watching until yesterday I enjoyed particularly. It was called “The case of the uncrackable code”.

An interesting bit of trivia that came out of this was that Coldplay used Baudot Code on the front of their X&Y album but encoded the album name incorrectly so that it actually reads X9Y. Sure enough, this is explained in the Wikipedia article. Even though Coldplay got the code wrong, it’s nice that they tried to do something with an album cover other than get a nice or cool picture on it. The code they used was a little more sophisticated than the one used by Front 242 for their 1993 album 06:21:03:11 Up Evil.

Now, I love maths and I’ve always been quite intrigued by all of the code making and breaking that has gone on throughout history. Last April I even went to Bletchley Park which is famous for cracking the Enigma cipher. At that point they were still rebuilding the Bombe, which is the machine designed by Alan Turing to help deciphering Enigma messages.

In the lecture, they had an Enigma machine and used it to encipher a message. This was then sent via morse code to Bletchley Park where they used the Bombe to decode it and report back to the audience. This process seemed to take around 20 minutes. It would be difficult to impress on the audience the difficulties involved in getting to the point where that was possible. The audiences tend to be in the 11 to 18 year old range and I doubt my interest would have been piqued when I was at the lower end of that range.

Read the full article here

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - If the organisers of the music industry's biggest awards show have their way, the Grammys will become a brand that represents musical achievement year-round.

In the last three years, the Recording Academy in the United States has revamped its Grammy sponsorship strategy, moving from one-year financial commitments to long-term deals with companies that have music-focused marketing efforts, says Evan Greene, the group's chief marketing officer. This year, for the first time, the Hard Rock Cafe chain will host telecast viewing parties for local academy chapter members, as well as ticket winners from the general public, in 10 U.S. cities: New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Dallas; Washington, D.C.; Memphis; Nashville; Atlanta; San Francisco; and Hollywood, Fla. Parties in he first five markets will feature performances by signed developing artists.

The Hard Rock relationship covers local academy events throughout the year, pre-Grammys orientation sessions for nominees and managers, and an online auction to benefit the Grammy-related charities. The partnership will be boosted by stepped-up support from Grammy sponsors Verizon and Westwood One, along with new partner USA Today.

USA Today will supply regional advertising for the telecast parties as well as a sweepstakes to attend the Grammys. Hard Rock party guests can check out high-definition and broadband products by Verizon, which sponsors the academy's SoundCheck artist seminars throughout the year.

For the first time, awards not presented during the live show -- i.e. the bulk of the categories -- will be broadcast by XM Satellite Radio on its returning Grammy Radio channel. Westwood One will run radio promos for the Hard Rock viewing parties as well as audio versions of the My Grammy print campaign.

The ads, which run about once per month in People magazine, feature such Grammy winners as Coldplay and Nelly Furtado discussing what the award means to them on a personal level.

Artists have been involved in another recent partnership as well: From February to December 2006, the Hilton Harmony tour sent a grand piano to its hotels around the country, collecting celebrity autographs and hosting music classes for children. Participating schools each received a $1,000 donation to their music program, and each signature sent $1,000 to the Grammy Foundation for music education.

"By doing what we're doing, we expand our reach beyond that one big night of the year and create more of an opportunity to develop a deeper connection with consumers," Greene says.

Poor Christmas sales are the least of the problems facing EMI’s Eric Nicoli. The long-term decline of CD sales means the firm needs a basic rethink.

When Chris Martin wrote Fix You for the last Coldplay album, X&Y, he almost certainly was not thinking of Eric Nicoli, the boss of the group’s record company, EMI. However, shareholders in EMI could be forgiven for believing otherwise:

When you try your best but you don’t succeed

When you get what you want but not what you need

When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep

Stuck in reverse ... Could it be worse?

On Friday, Nicoli’s problems at EMI became considerably worse, or at least more apparent. Disappointing Christmas sales of the latest Robbie Williams CD — and of a remix album by an up-and-coming young act called The Beatles — forced a profits warning out of the group.

The collapse in sales is set to continue because of a far-reaching restructuring that EMI announced. About 900 of the group’s 6,600 staff are expected to lose their jobs as EMI seeks to save £110m in overheads. The weak Virgin North America arm is likely to be hit, along with the Capitol label.

The company admitted that the “significant disruption” this would cause would limit its ability to promote new records in the last two-and-a-half months of its financial year. As a consequence, sales at EMI Music might fall by as much as 10% in the year to March, the group believes.

The restructuring, which will cost £150m, will involve EMI combining the back offices of its labels, and making its recording and music publishing divisions rely more heavily on shared services. It will scale back its operations in 50 countries, possibly pulling back from parts of Latin America and Asia.

Most dramatically, the board has sacked — or in its phrase, “de-layered” — Alain Levy as chairman and chief executive of the troubled EMI Music, along with his vice-chairman David Munns, who ran the business in North America. Levy and Munns are two of the industry’s most experienced executives.

Nicoli is standing down as the group’s executive chairman and taking over as chief executive. John Gildersleeve, the former Tesco commercial director who is chairman at Carphone Warehouse, will now chair the board. Shares in EMI slid to 245Äp.

Industry sources said the falling out between Nicoli, Levy and Munns was all the more surprising because they had planned to work with Permira, the private-equity firm that was attempting to buy the group last year. It is said the trio were to receive a 10%-15% stake in Permira’s buyout vehicle.

EMI said it had been thinking about a shake-up for a long time. “What the board has realised,” said a spokesman, “is that they need a different sort of management running the music business — people with more general management skills, more consumer marketing skills.

“We have created a very good team of very strong country managers, and it is these country heads who really hold the artist relationships and who really discover the talent. Having Alain and David there has become a fairly bureaucratic exercise.”

Nonetheless, it was Nicoli who spent much of Friday calling to reassure top artists and their managers. EMI’s biggest-selling acts, besides Coldplay and Robbie Williams, include Gorillaz, KT Tunstall and the Rolling Stones.

Shareholders have little enthusiasm for Nicoli — a music fan who has been chairman of EMI since July 1999, and a director since 1993. The former United Biscuits boss has presided over a long period of share-price underperformance, admittedly through a very tough few years coping with online piracy and falling CD sales.

One leading shareholder said: “We’ve made it clear that one more slip-up and Nicoli has to go. Really, if it weren’t so expensive, it would be funny.”

Another institutional holder said: “Nicoli might have been saved but he shouldn’t get too comfortable — he’s the only constant in this sorry mess. It’s extraordinary but he’s been given another life. I suppose we are waiting for Warner and it’s better to have someone running the company when that deal comes along rather than nobody.”

Many investors and analysts regard a merger with Edgar Bronfman’s Warner Music Group as inevitable. Both companies were keen to pursue a deal last year but those plans had to be put on hold after European Union competition regulators objected to the merger that created Sony BMG. EMI and Warner would face similar objections.

While an EMI/Warner deal remains in regulatory purdah, there is little enthusiasm for renewed talks with Permira, or any other private-equity firm.

“The reality is that the deal with Warner must get done,” said one shareholder. “This is why we turned down the last offer (from Permira), this is why we will turn down another if it comes along — and this is why it must get done somehow. Investors believe there is huge value in the deal and we don’t want to give it to private-equity firms.”

Some believe EMI’s latest stumble has changed the dynamics of the Warner deal, and will deny Nicoli the upper hand.

Claire Enders, head of the media research firm, Enders Analysis, said: “Our feeling is that this is a very strong signal that Nicoli is saying to Warner: ‘Please take us over. Give me a nice plum job or a big payout. I’ve not got a management team, I’ve not got a creative strategy, I’ve had enough’.”

She added: “EMI has been consistently over-optimistic about everything. It’s a nightmare. We estimate that global music sales will be down 4%-5% in 2006. It’s very clear that the decline in the industry is permanent.

“Nicoli has repeatedly said, ‘this year is the bottom of the market, this year is the bottom of the market’. They are never going to get there.”

It is this entrenched decline that is much more important than disappointing sales of a new album from the re-formed All Saints, Williams’s Rudebox or Love by The Beatles.

Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Jupiter Research, said: “CD sales are going to continue to decline by about 5% a year indefinitely. The music industry has had its high-water mark. It’s not going to go back to where it was at the end of the 1990s. This is all about the music industry finding its new level (and) realigning itself to the realities of the 21st century.”

Tim Grimsditch, strategy director at Frukt, a music consultancy, said: “EMI and the rest of the recording business are going to have to change really significantly. It is going to have to learn to change on a fairly constant basis. There’s no sign that we are going to reach a status quo as there was 10 years ago — when CDs were put out and sold through the same distribution channel.”

EMI’s shake-up is partly intended to strengthen marketing of digital music, which is growing rapidly, at least in Britain, thanks to mobile-phone ringtones and online stores such as iTunes.

However, Ged Doherty, chairman and chief executive of Sony BMG UK, recently warned that digital sales are not growing fast enough to replace the lost revenue from CDs, whose sales he expects to halve over the next three years.

A Sony BMG spokesman said: “Because of the decline of the CD market, and the fact that mobile is not taking up the slack, the music industry has to re-engineer.”

Faced with the loss of old certainties, EMI and its major label rivals are being forced to experiment. Universal Music struck a deal with Microsoft that is thought to give it a $1 royalty on every Zune music player sold by the software giant. Universal was also an early backer of Spiralfrog, an online venture that will sell “free” music funded by advertising.

Warner Music has made alliances with Google Video and You Tube, and has begun a “groundbreaking” partnership with Motorola giving the handset manufacturer access to exclusive songs, ringtones and videos.

And after a largely fruitless battle to defeat online music file-sharing, the record companies have recently started to sell songs without the so-called digital rights management (DRM) that provides copyright protection.

There are many who believe the existing DRM is on the brink of collapse. Although it restricts illegal music sharing, the conflicting technology standards make it much harder for consumers to buy digital music with confidence that it will play on their chosen device. This plays into the hands of Apple, which dominates digital music with its combination of the iPod and the iTunes store.

Martin Stiksel, a founder of Last.fm, the music website, said: “Everybody hates Apple’s dominance. This ossified technology (DRM) is holding people back (from buying more digital music). If the music industry is giving its customers a crippled experience and treating them badly, then it is encouraging people to share files illegally.”

The risks involved in giving up on DRM makes this perhaps the toughest of the challenges that Nicoli faces. Perhaps he should try singing Fix You to shareholders.

“Tears stream down your face,” the song continues. “I will learn from the mistakes ... and I will try to fix you.”

Shareholders will be watching closely to make sure he does.

LONDON (Reuters) - EMI Group ousted its two top music executives and announced plans to cut costs, after poor Christmas sales prompted a profit warning which sent its shares down over 10 percent.

EMI, which had been pinning its hopes on new releases such as the Beatles' "Love" album and "Rudebox" by Robbie Williams, said on Friday that annual revenues at its music business were likely to fall between 6 percent and 10 percent on a constant- currency basis.

Global music sales have been hit in recent years due to piracy and competition for consumer spending, despite the growing popularity of digital music. The firm said Alain Levy, chairman and chief executive of EMI Music since October 2001, and David Munns, vice chairman of EMI Music, would leave with immediate effect.

Eric Nicoli, who has been executive chairman of EMI Group since July 1999, becomes group chief executive officer and will take direct responsibility for managing EMI Music. "We have now had seven consecutive years of decline in the recorded music market," Nicoli told a conference call, adding that his appointment was a permanent arrangement as the firm looks to strengthen its position in the digital music sales.

Shares in the world's third-biggest music group, which were boosted throughout 2006 by regular takeover speculation, fell over 10 percent in early trading to 237-3/4 before it improved slightly to 245-1/4 at 1042 GMT. "EMI Music's second-half performance to date, in terms of revenues and profits, has been below prior expectations," EMI said. The company also unveiled plans for 110 million pounds ($213 million) of annual cost savings, including an unspecified number of job cuts.

"This has resulted from weak market conditions, particularly over the Christmas period, and lower-than-expected sales from EMI Music's portfolio of second-half releases to date," EMI said.

Nicoli said 85 percent of the cost savings would come from its recorded music business with the rest from publishing and the vast majority coming from the "non creative end" of the business. He said the company did not expect to change its dividend policy. EMI, which is also home to Coldplay and holds the Beatles catalog, rejected a bid approach in December that a source familiar with the situation said was from private equity group Permira, and has been locked in a takeover battle with rival Warner Music on and off for the past six years.

Nicoli said the approach had never resulted in a firm offer.

"Yet again the company has embarked on a restructuring program, despite reassurances over the autumn that the business was strong and that the group felt sufficiently confident to reject a private equity bid for the business rumored to be in excess of the Warner offer of 310 pence over the summer," said Bridgewell Securities analyst Patrick Yau. "These valuations now look like wishful thinking and leave management struggling for a plausible strategy," he said, slashing his full-year pretax profit forecast to 112.8 million pounds from 160 million.

Numis analyst Richard Hitchcock said the announcement highlighted the risky nature of the recorded music industry. "You invest a lot of money in developing and marketing an album and you hope that they sell and if they don't ... you get these big swings in profits. It's inherently a risky business."

EMI said over half the 110 million pounds of planned annual cost savings would be delivered in the year ending March 31, 2008, and the full amount in the following financial year. The savings would cost no more than 150 million pounds to deliver, EMI said.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=8c58a0f9-2640-47af-a9e8-63011269c980&k=75933&p=2

Alain Levy earned more than £3.5m (€5.3m) in pay and bonuses last year as chairman and chief executive of EMI Music – a job held since October 2001.

The veteran industry figure was brought in to replace EMI’s highest paid executive Ken Berry, who was credited with signing the Spice Girls. The 2001 move came a month after EMI reported sales of recorded music had been weaker than expected and that full-year profits would drop 20%.

Mr Levy said that the company had suffered because of the economic downturn, outdated music industry practices, and the impact of piracy. He set about overhauling recorded music and, under his leadership, the company slashed its number of artists – including Mariah Carey – and made its manufacturing operations more efficient.

However, in 2005 EMI dealt a blow to music fans and investors after it admitted albums by two of its major bands, Coldplay and Gorillaz, would not be released until April at the earliest – pushing the releases into the next financial year.

Today EMI said annual sales in its recorded music division – home to Lily Allen, Norah Jones and Robbie Williams – were likely to be up to 10% lower after the “strong” release schedule envisaged for Christmas disappointed.

Mr Levy, bearing the brunt of the news, will leave the business with immediate effect. According to one report today, his exit could cost EMI £7m (€10.6m) as he stands to get one year’s salary worth £1m (€1.5m), plus the three-year average of his bonus entitlement and the payment of share options.

French-born Mr Levy, 60, has spent his career working for some of the biggest names in the recording industry. He graduated from the prestigious Ecole des Mines and studied for his MBA at the Wharton Business School, part of the University of Pennsylvania.

His ascent in the music business began in 1972 when he joined CBS International, now Sony BMG, as assistant to the president in New York. He soon moved to the company’s Paris office, where he climbed to the post of vice president of marketing in Europe by 1976. Three years later he became managing director of CBS France.

In 1984 Mr Levy joined PolyGram as chief executive of its French business, which he shaped into France’s largest record company with a market share of more than 30%. His next big move was to London to become PolyGram’s executive vice president, taking part in the acquisition of Island Records, which brought U2 and Sting to the label’s roster.

Mr Levy went to New York in 1990 to oversee PolyGram’s US operations, and in the next year became worldwide president and chief executive of the company. He led its expansion into films with the setting up of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which scored hits such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Trainspotting, Bean and Fargo.

He also saw PolyGram acquire the Motown and Def Jam labels, aiding the company’s increasing domination of the music industry. Having seen the business go from number three to number one in the market, Mr Levy left PolyGram in 1998 following its sale to Seagram.

After a period consulting and investing in media companies, he moved to EMI.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story_business_island.asp?j=206951898&p=zx695z6x4

Pop star Justin Timberlake motivates himself to go onstage and perform in concert by listening to the British band Coldplay, reports ContactMusic.

The My Love singer is getting ready to tour again to promote his latest album and says he has specific pre-show rituals he likes to follow. He explains, "I still get excited to go on stage. I stretch so I don't hurt myself. "I had a rule on my last tour that I couldn't go until I heard the song Clocks by Coldplay.

"You know the house music they play before the artist goes on stage? "It turned into a superstition because after I heard that song I felt like it would be a good show, so we could go on!"

Can you really repair the damage caused by flying by paying a few pounds to a carbon offset company? Tony Blair seems to think so - but Dominic Murphy has his doubts

Two years ago, I offset a family holiday to Thailand. At the time it seemed the right thing to do, like paying tax or queueing at the bus stop. Today carbon offsetting is all the rage, as proved by Tony Blair's belated conversion following his refusal to limit his long-haul holiday flights.

The government now offsets all its ministerial flights, and big businesses such as BSkyB claim to be "carbon neutral". Meanwhile, the global market in personal, "voluntary" offsetting - worth around £20m in 2005 - is expected to top £300m over the next three years.

Yet despite this growing popularity, the idea that you can cancel out the emissions from flying has always niggled at my conscience, so much so that I have tried to avoid flying ever since. Was it just a form of ethical blood money, I wondered - a wrong rectified with a bit of cash? For a start, offsetting those trips to Bangkok seemed ludicrously cheap - £17 per flight per person, when we were paying fares ranging from £350 to £500-plus. Second, it was hard to ignore offsetting's increasingly controversial image, particularly its associations with planting trees.

Forest sequestration, as it is known, is based on classroom science, the idea being that new trees will in their lifetime soak up the CO² you produce. "If a plantation is on an area which previously had no forest, you would have a net store of carbon as the tree locks up carbon by being there," explains Dr Yadvinder Malhi at Oxford University's Centre for the Environment. If that tree is then used for timber, say, in construction, and another planted in its place, there is a further advantage. "The carbon is locked in longer until that building comes down."

But critics say this is fraught with problems. "Carbon in a tree is not stored safely," says Jutta Kill, of the environment group Fern. "Trees burn, trees die down, there's insect infestation." Last year WWF, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace issued a statement saying they do not support forestry projects to offset carbon emissions.

Such arguments have led certain off setting firms to play down the forestry side of their business. Climate Care, one of Britain's big two companies in this sector, says that tree planting is a diminishing part of its "portfolio", accounting for 20% of its trade. The other major player, the Carbon Neutral Company, changed its name from Future Forests to distance itself from a trees-only profile.

Still, there are many companies that are not ashamed to trumpet their root-andbranch approach. Treeflights.com plants trees on three sites in Wales, and charges a nononsense rate of £10 for any single flight, £20 for a return. It says its land is held in trust, and will always remain forest. As one plant dies, the argument goes, more take its place.

Retailers seem undeterred by any controversy, too. A tree is a powerful image (check out the Tories' new logo) and companies have seized on the idea of planting them as a way of showing they are eco friendly. Timberland, for example, has been planting trees for its customers, while the Co-op promises forest restoration when you buy its car insurance.

And in the short term, argues Malhi, tree plantations can be important in fi ghting climate change. "The crucial period for reducing emissions will be over the next 30-40 years and a tree absorbs the most CO² during the early period of its life." Long-term, however, we need to work on alternatives to carbon energy generation or we would soon run out of space. "The biomass of the entire Amazon rainforest is equivalent to the next 10 years of global emissions," says Malhi.

New arguments have recently emerged to further question the value of tree planting, however. Last month, two US-based ecologists claimed that most forests do not have any overall effect on global temperature. Except for a thin band around the equator, forests trap more heat than they help to get rid of by reducing CO², they say.

Are alternative means of offsetting any better? What about a scheme that promotes foot-operated water pumps in India, saving on the polluting diesel alternative? At least it comes without the forestry baggage. But problems persist. For my Thailand trip, different offset companies gave me very different calculations for the CO² my trip would create, which hardly helps their collective credibility.

And a major issue with any offsetting project is regulating it. How can consumers - even off set companies - be sure they are making the carbon savings promised? Famously, rock band Coldplay got egg on their face when most of the trees died on a mango plantation they supported in India. Last month, a report from the World Rainforest Movement alleged human rights abuses at an offset project in Mount Elgon, east Uganda, where villagers were forcibly removed from land earmarked for tree planting. And tomorrow night, a report on the BBC1's Inside Out programme will claim that workers at a project in the west of that country are being exploited and paid well below subsistence rates.

Yet the popularity of offsetting shows there is an appetite out there for people to at least attempt to ameliorate their environmental impact. And the emergence of an industrywide accreditation scheme known as the gold standard should give consumers more confidence. It is backed by WWF, among others, and guarantees that projects have some sustainable benefit to the community. At the moment, the Carbon Neutral Company offers one such project - a wind farm in New Zealand - that the public can sign up to. More can be found at Myclimate, Atmosfair and Climate Friendly.

But where does this leave the angst-ridden traveller? To fly or not to fly? Are offsets just a cop-out, doing nothing to address the underlying issue - that a big net reduction of emissions is what is required, not simply methods to prevent the current levels rising any further? Pressure groups such as Greenpeace, WWF and FoE say that the public should use only schemes with gold standard verification, but air travel should still be a last resort, and people should first consider alternative methods or rethink their holiday choice. This was not the signal coming from Blair this week, who argued that climate change was for the scientists to sort out and it was "a bit impractical really" to expect people to alter their behaviour. Let us hope that, as has been demonstrated before, he is out of step with public opinion.

· Inside Out is on BBC1 tomorrow at 7.30pm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1987640,00.html

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU antitrust regulators on Thursday delayed until June 1 a deadline to rule on Universal Music Group's plans to buy BMG Music Publishing for about US$2.09 billion (€1.63 billion).

They did not say why they needed more time to look at the takeover. If approved, the deal would combine the No. 3 and No. 4 music publishing catalogs, giving them a 22 percent market share and scraping ahead of current market leader EMI.

European Union approval is the last hurdle for the deal, which was cleared in November by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department in the United States. Officials had said they would issue a final decision on whether to block or allow the deal by April 27 when they opened an in-depth investigation last month.

LONDON (Reuters) - Organisers said on Thursday that fans wanting to go to this year's Glastonbury Festival would have to register and provide a photo before getting a ticket to stop touts taking advantage of the hugely-popular event.

The pre-sales registration system, which is being introduced for the first time, will mean that every ticket issued will feature a passport-sized photograph of its official bearer.

"It's a much fairer system," said Michael Eavis, who owns the farm in southwest England where the festival has been held almost annually since 1970. "It means unscrupulous people won't be able to sell their tickets on for a profit. The people who buy the tickets on April 1 will be the people who are actually coming to the festival."

Glastonbury began on Eavis's land in 1970 and grew from humble beginnings to become one of the biggest annual music and arts events in the world, nowadays attracting top bands and more than 100,000 revellers.

Along the way it also earned a reputation for being one of Europe's muddiest events: torrential rain and storms caused chaos at the last festival in 2005, forcing the start to be delayed.

This year's event is even more eagerly awaited than usual because there was no festival in 2006 as Eavis decided to allow his farm time off to recover. Fans had to make do with a documentary film instead.

Headline acts in the past have included the likes of Coldplay, Oasis, Paul McCartney and R.E.M., but organisers will not confirm who is performing this year until the tickets go on sale.

Fans must register online or by post between February 1 and 28 for the festival which will run from June 22 to 24, providing Eavis gets permission from the local council.

Mark Ronson Drafts In Lily Allen and Robbie Williams For Album

Producer extraordinaire Mark Ronson has drafted in the likes of Robbie Williams and Lily Allen to appear on his second album. The aptly titled ‘Versions’ is released on April 16 and features 12 classic songs recreated and remashed by the acclaimed producer.

The album will be preceded by a limited edition, number 10” single on January 29, which sees samples of the late ODB layered over reinterpretations of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ and Coldplay’s ‘God Put A Smile On Your Face.’

Elsewhere on the album, Allido’s Daniel Merriweather lends vocals to a version of The Smiths’ ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’, which merges into ‘You Just Keep Me Hanging On.’

Explaining the album’s direction, Ronson said: “With my first album, I had all these people like Mos Def and M.O.P guesting. This time it’s not about that. Despite the big names, it’s about the songs…the songs here are the guest stars. “With ‘Version’ I’ve taken these songs that I love and turned them into Motown/Stax 70’s versions. I keep the utmost respect and appreciation for the original versions of songs I use. It’s not like I’m thinking it’s a shit song that I can make good, it’s more like it’s a great song and I’m now going to make it bounce.”

Mark Ronson’s production credits include Amy Winehouse, Ghostface Killah, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams and Christina Aguilera.