Comedy superstar Ricky Gervais is on his way to Ipswich with his new stand-up show. Gervais, who shot to fame with his multi-award winning comedy drama The Office, will be touring with his third live show, called Fame. Despite its glamorous title, Fame will see the star return to his stand-up roots more than he has on previous shows and is set to include more anecdotal and autobiographical stories of Gervais' life. Reading-born Gervais created the now-famous character of office manager David Brent.

He has seen his fame spread throughout the world and an American version of The Office has already won him two Golden Globes - and could bring a third when the latest round of the American awards are announced on January 15. After The Office, Gervais returned to his stand-up roots and toured with live shows before going back to creating funny television with Extras.

With two series of Extras pulling in massive TV audiences, the show has generated a cult following amongst celebrities as well as viewers. Each week the series sees a different star make a cameo appearance and as the show's popularity grew so did the number of big names keen to take part. Those to have already appeared in Extras reads like a who's who of Hollywood, with cameos coming from the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Patrick Stewart, Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Daniel Radcliff, Ian McKellen and Robert De Niro. British actors Ross Kemp, Richard Briers, Stephen Fry, Diana Rigg and Vinnie Jones have also all appeared, along with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, comedians Ronnie Corbett and Les Dennis and newsreader Moira Stewart.

Ricky Gervais will be appearing at the Regent Theatre in Ipswich on March 27 and 28. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Tuesday, January 16. Born out of a pilot project Gervais and long-term collaborator Stephen Merchant put together as an experiment, The Office went on to be a massive UK hit when it was first aired.

The documentary-style comedy sees Gervais star as hapless office manager David Brent at Slough-based paper company, Wernham Hogg. The Office also made stars of Martin Freeman and Mackenzie Crook, who played warring colleagues Tim Canterbury and Gareth Keenan. Both have since gone on to build film careers, with Freeman starring in Shaun of the Dead and Love Actually and Crook being a regular in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Two series of The Office were shown by the BBC, along with two Christmas specials. The format has since been adapted around the world, including versions known as Le Bureau in France and La Job in Quebec, Canada. A German series called Stromberg has also been based around The Office.

Written and directed by Gervais and Stephen Merchant, Extras follows the careers of wannabe actors trying to be successful film stars. Like The Office, there have been two series of Extras and the show has become a 'must-do' for Hollywood's A-listers.

LAS VEGAS and TEL-AVIV, Israel, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the International CES, WAVES AUDIO LTD., a leading provider of audio signal processing technologies, announced that Sir George Martin [pictured] and his son Giles are endorsing Waves audio technology in a new ad series being unveiled at CES.

These powerful endorsements from music industry titans emphasize the capabilities of Waves technologies to improve mainstream consumer electronic products such as mobile phones, personal computers, televisions and portable audio systems. Waves is exhibiting at CES in South Hall 1 - Booth #21770.

"When it comes to sound, Waves is synonymous with excellence," stated Sir George Martin, legendary Beatles producer. Sir George's son, Giles is also an avid user of Waves tools, having engineered and produced hit artists including Elvis Costello, Celine Dion and INXS. "There are a lot of audio tools out there, but Waves are the ones I rely on everyday," said Giles Martin.

Along with the Martins, Waves users read like a who's who of pro audio, with musicians like Coldplay and the Doors' Ray Manzarek, producers Steve Lillywhite and Mike Hedges, mixing engineers including Chris Lord-Alge and Dave Pensado, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, and live sound designer Jonathan Deans and Leon Rothenberg. People who love great sound love Waves.

"Audio producers in music, movie soundtracks, and video games are increasingly recognized also as artists in the creative process, and these artists consistently believe Waves provides the best tools for effectiveness, transparency and ease-of-use," stated Gilad Keren, CEO and co-founder of Waves.

"Many of the same audio technologies used by Sir George Martin, Giles Martin and the entire pro audio industry are now available to consumer electronic manufacturers under Waves' MaxxAudio, MaxxVoice and MaxxBass brands," stated Paul Bundschuh, vice president sales and marketing, Waves Semiconductor and OEM Licensing Division. "These technologies compensate for acoustic limitations from small loudspeaker systems and enable more innovative product design. They are enabling highly successful OEM products such as Sanyo's mobile phones, JVC's televisions, NEC's PCs and Altec Lansing's inMotion speakers."

About Maxx®

With more than a decade of leadership in the development of psychoacoustic algorithms, Waves now offers a variety of solutions under the Maxx® brand. Manufacturers of consumer electronics are dramatically improving performance and reducing system costs using Maxx technologies. These solutions include custom semiconductor devices and licensing Waves' proprietary algorithms to DSP and computer platforms. Maxx solutions are rapidly being adopted by firms such as Sony, Sanyo, Samsung, JVC, NEC, Clarion, Altec Lansing and others.

Waves is the world's leading developer and provider of professional digital audio processing tools. Waves technologies are used to improve sound quality in the creation of hit records, major motion pictures, popular gaming and multimedia titles the world over.

Waves Audio Ltd.

With European markets going ga-ga over fair trade products, will those with the buying power in South Africa start doing the same? In the rush up to the silly season, here's how you can ensure that what you're buying is ethically produced.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin writes the words 'fair trade' on his hand each time he performs. And with his DATA campaign (debt, Aids, trade, Africa), U2's Bono and his wife Ali have launched a fair trade fashion line, Edun, and are intent on hammering away at what he terms the 'unfair trade rules which keep Africans poor'.

Celebrity endorsement aside, the great thing about shopping fair trade is that it's something that we as ordinary South Africans can do. If we do it properly, we're effectively taking a stand against poverty through making wise everyday shopping decisions – especially as we rush towards the spending season. But to do so, we need to familiarise ourselves with precisely what fair trade is (see box), and then seek out products – food, gifts, children's toys, clothing – that are sourced and sold in line with the movement's principles.

'The time has come for South Africans and Africans to stop thinking of ourselves as recipients of fair trade principles but rather as active participants in the process,' says Greg Moran, human rights lawyer and owner of the African Toy Shop, a fair trade company. 'We live in two different countries – one has a developed and affluent sector, and the other is made up of desperately poor people. If you apply that principle – which is how fair trade organisations in the northern hemisphere look at producers in the southern hemisphere – each of us in the affluent part of the country should be trading fairly with those in the poor part.' But the catch-22 part of the consumer equation comes in when we realise that most fair trade goods come at a slightly higher price than ordinary consumer goods — though it's a sacrifice fair trade producers are convinced the ethically- minded among us are willing to make. A report entitled 'The Beginners Guide To Fair Trade In South Africa' by South African NGO, the Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), puts it more directly: 'Because producers get a 'fair' price, fair trade products are generally more expensive.

Politically educated consumers are happy to pay more because they believe they are helping the fight against global poverty. So fair trade only works if there is a market of wealthy and politically educated consumers. This is why fair trade is generally between producers in poor countries and consumers in wealthy countries.'

Ricky Gervais cast himself as a background movie actor in the HBO comedy series Extras. But in real life he has been top-of-mind since The Office, which he co-created, wrote and starred in. It burst onto British TV in 2001, and a remake blossomed into a hit on NBC.

Gervais, 45, has small but standout roles in Night at the Museum and the Oscar-buzz sendup For Your Consideration, both in theaters. This month, he starts a sold-out U.K. stand-up tour (titled Fame). He'll appear in next summer's Stardust— based on the graphic novel — with Robert De Niro. He's a sometime TV actor (Alias), children's author (Flanimals) and Simpsons writer, for an episode suggested by his longtime girlfriend that's a Homerian take on Wife Swap.

Now, in Extras' six-episode second season starting Sunday (10 ET/PT), he's back as Andy Millman, surrounded by a star-studded lineup: De Niro, David Bowie, Orlando Bloom, Daniel Radcliffe, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Ian McKellen and Diana Rigg play themselves, adding verisimilitude to his behind-the-scenes showbiz tales.

How did he do it? By combing press clippings on the British Office for quotes from famous fans, then approaching them. "We thought we could cash in some of our chips" from praise for that series, in which Gervais stars as David Brent, the self-important loser that Steve Carell adapted for NBC. "It was never really, 'Look at my Hollywood chums!' We needed them to add realism."

So Bloom rips Johnny Depp while pursuing Andy's friend Maggie (Ashley Jensen, who also co-stars in Ugly Betty). Radcliffe — shunning his Harry Potter persona — is something of a ladies' man. Bowie takes a turn humiliating Andy, and De Niro cools his heels with Andy's inept agent, played by Stephen Merchant, Gervais' creative partner in Office and Extras.

De Niro is "a hero of mine. I have a chance to have a meeting with him, and I don't turn up," says Gervais, who "worked up the courage" to ask De Niro after filming Stardust.

Though De Niro was game, and last season Ben Stiller played himself as a megalomaniac, American Idol judge Simon Cowell turned down an Extras role. In the season finale, Andy appears on a talk show in which Cowell was to have been glimpsed singing karaoke. "He said, 'I'll do anything else. I can't sing; I think that clip would be shown forever.' I went, 'No, that's the offer. It's meant to be embarrassing.' "

This season, Andy gives up his bit-player status in tony films to play an addled boss on When the Whistle Blows, a silly British sitcom about factory workers.

"He chooses fame over respect and then has to live with it" by enduring the close scrutiny of fans, the press and even a panhandler.

Playing Brent was "more fun" ("It's always fun to play the idiot," Gervais says), but he gave himself more of the straight-man role in Andy to distance himself from his breakout character.

"Andy's brutally self-aware, and David is blissfully unaware. David's in denial; Andy knows what lot he's been handed and doesn't like it. David craves popularity, (while) Andy doesn't care about popularity, because he's not a people person. Andy's cleverer," but unlike David, has a split personality: "When he's surrounded by the idiots, he's in charge, but when he's faced with a director or producer who could help him, he's a fool."

Extras is a co-production between HBO and BBC, which aired the new batch of episodes last fall. But like The Office, it will end after two short seasons.

"We get in and out," Gervais says. "Also, I want Steve Carell to do a remake. He can do 50 episodes where I can do 12."

Next up, Gervais and Merchant are mulling a sketch-comedy series, "but not recurring characters, not catchphrases, just one-off pieces, almost like Monty Python without the surreal aspects," and a long-gestating period dramedy called Men at the Pru, about "a group of twentysomethings in 1970 in a small seaside town where the sexual revolution didn't hit."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-01-07-HBO-extras_x.htm

LAS VEGAS – Sony tied its consumer products closer to the Internet by adding a small gizmo that hooks its Bravia TVs directly to the Web. The company also announced a redesigned TV, and several more high-def products.

Sony began its CES 2007 performance here on Sunday with a violin recital from Sony BMG recording artist Joshua Bell, then followed with the real highlights: the biggest of which were several scalable internet solutions that embrace high definition content.

Sony displays continue to grow, literally, as the company launched a 70-inch Bravia display with the highest refresh rate to date. On a smaller scale, Sony HandyCams and other mobile products will see some significant bumps, including 16 new camcorders in multiple formats (hard disk-based, MiniDV, and DVD) and updates to the VAIO series.

Embracing the Web

The most intriguing Sony product at this years CES 2007 was the Bravia Internet Video Link(IVL), a module for future Bravia displays that streams HD content from the Web without the aid of a PC – as opposed to Apple's iTV box, which streams video wirelessly from a remote PC. The concept for the Internet Video Link is simple: It's a USB attached module about the size of a VHS tape. A USB cord, as well as a 100-Mbyte/s Ethernet port, connects to a Bravia TV to download content directly from the Web. HD content can be streamed using an HDMI port form external source or over the Ethernet port with the help of some of Sony's new partners.

As one of Sony's new partners, AOL will deliver content such as music videos, movies, and recorded concerts, as demonstrated by a Coldplay music concert streamed directly to a Bravia display. Another key partner is Yahoo Connected Life, bringing a plethora of content providers into the Sony community to deliver news, sports, videos, and real-time traffic and weather reports using the Internet Video Link. A recent acquisition by Sony called Grouper will deliver home made video blogs to users. Best of all, these services are free.

Now, this device does have some drawbacks: It only works for new Sony Bravia displays that will announce in 2007. So far, Sony only announced the S-Series 720 display—the only display that will support the IVL.

Sony also announced the WA1 Wireless Digital Music Streamer, a box that looks like an alarm clock radio that also happens to stream music, wirelessly, via a PC, an auxiliary device, internal memory or directly from the Web. The magic is done through a wireless 802.11b/g card built into the device, and you can interface that with your PC to bring over your entire iTunes library. If you don't have a PC, a company called Live365 can provide Web radio at a nominal fee. You can also attach any music device or use the 128-Mbytes of memory built in, which isn't much. Prices for the WA1 will start at $349 and units will start shipping in March of 2007.

New Look For PCs

In the PC segment, Sony introduced the VAIO TP1, a consumer version of the popular VAIO XL2 media center. The TP1 has a wide spherical design that should fit harmoniously in the living room environment. It's basically a desktop with an array of PC components and media friendly ports in the back of the unit, loaded with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5600(1.8Ghz) laptop processor, and a 300-Gbyte desktop hard drive. It's packed with media ports, including an ATSC/NTSC tuner, optical-out, S-Video In, and HDMI-out – but no Blu-Ray drive. The TP1 is targeting a mainstream consumer base, and it'll load the basic DVD burner. The PC will have 802.11b/g wireless, like a laptop. Prices will start at $1,599, and the PC will ship in March 2007.

The Sony VAIO UX Series, a handheld PC, will be outfitted with Windows Vista's Business edition. The VAIO UX380N will incorporate a 40GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and the Intel Core Solo U1500. The VAIO UX390N, on the other hand, will get the gift of a 32 GB Solid State Disk, which uses flash memory. Both models will be available in black or silver.

More High Definition Products

With the widespread popularity of plasma televisions, Sony went ahead and increased the size of their Bravia line to a 70-inch, full 1080p display, dubbed the Bravia KDL-70XBR3. The 70XBR3 will have the highest refresh rate in the entire line, featuring a floating glass design and improved color uniformity. Oddly enough, this brand new 70-inch display is not compatible with the Bravia Internet Video Link.

In terms of numbers, the HandyCam line contained the most numerous announcements, including 16 new camcorders. Four of those belong to the Sony HandyCam HDR series, featuring High Definition recording.

The HandyCam HDR-HC7, HC5, UX7, and UX5 will all showcase a new Sony color technology called x.v.Color. This newly established spec will optimize video performance of the latest HD camcorders, LCD panels , and microdisplays. Products with x.v.Color can receive nearly twice as many colors than the current models support, possibly in support of the new "Deep Color" HDMI specification. In addition to the new spec, hard drive based camcorders will go from 30 Gbytes to 40 Gbytes of standard hard drive space. They will also come standard with a docking station, facilitating the transfer(data) process from camcorder to PC, Sony said.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2080054,00.asp

This week only, stream the entire Last Kiss Soundtrack, including 'Warning Sign' by Coldplay.

Check it out here:

http://music.aol.com/songs/new_releases_full_cds?defaultTab=4&ncid=AOLMUS00050000000012

[thanks Jessie]

Bloc Party say their upcoming second album will challenge Coldplay in terms of accessibility.

Lead singer Kele Okereke says he has purposefully tried to write lyrics which are more direct than those featured on debut ‘Silent Alarm’ on new album ‘A Weekend In The City’, released next month. He tells Billboard, “I wanted to make something that could be more easily understood, without dumbing it down.”

Bassist Gordon Noakes goes one step further, likening the title track to Coldplay. He says, “It's got everything that makes a Coldplay song, plus more. It has a lush sound without being too syrupy."

More on Bloc Party here

An interesting article about Coldplay's video 'The Hardest Part' below. Add your comments to their site here

There’s a memorable scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin where Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan are playing video games and trading “You wanna know how I know you’re gay?” ad libs. One volley from Rudd was “…because you like Coldplay.“

Rudd’s character probably was using “gay” in the pejorative sense, meaning “lame”. (Straights tend to do that a lot, unfortunately.) Me, I don’t think Coldplay is lame at all. I think they are pretty damn brilliant. Particularly after stumbling on the surreal video below– a clip of the band performing live on Linda Dano’s talk show, Attitudes, while an 84-year old granny gets spun around by her ankles.

If you follow Coldplay’s career, you might already be familiar with the footage (I wasn’t). For everyone else– I won’t bother explaining the provenance of the clip. Better just to watch and form your own impression. Enjoy!

The Fray's 'How To Save A Life' has passed Coldplay's 'X&Y' as the biggest selling digital album of all-time.

'How To Save A Life' has earned the band two Grammy nominations and has sold more than 2 million copies.

The Fray's 'Over My Head (Cable Car)' has sold over 1 million digital singles and they are one of the few bands to pass the 1 million sales for ringtones.

"It's been an amazing ride this year plus a lot of fun and hard work," says singer and pianist Issac Slade in a statement. "The holidays will give us a chance to take a minute and enjoy how far we've come, but we're also looking forward to getting back on the road and our first tour of England."

Fray tour dates are:

January

––––

9 Kenosha, WI Carthage College

10 Waverly, IA Wartburg College

11 Lafayette, IN Elliott Hall (Purdue University)

12 East Lansing, MI MSU Auditorium

13 Athens, OH University of Ohio

15 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theater

16 Cleveland, OH State Theater

17 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Theater

18 Norfolk, VA Norva

20 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues

21 Raleigh, NC Memorial Auditorium

22 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium

25 Miami, FL University of Miami Convocation

Center

26 Tampa, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall

27 Savannah, GA Savannah College of Art & Design

29 Austin, TX Frank Irwin Center

30 Starkville, MS Miss State - Humphrey Coliseum

31 Orem, UT Utah Valley State Col - McKay

Events Center

February

––––

3 Vail, CO Dobson Arena

16 UEA Norwich, UK

18 Civic Theatre Wolverhampton, UK

19 BIC Bournemouth, UK

20 Pavilions Plymouth, UK

22 University Liverpool, UK

23 Corn Exchange Edinburgh, UK

24 Dome Doncaster, UK

26 Assembly Rooms Derby, UK

27 Apollo Manchester, UK

28 Apollo Manchester, UK

March

––––

2 Hammersmith Apollo London, UK

3 Hammersmith Apollo London, UK

19 Edmonton Events Center Edmonton, Canada

20 MacEwan Hall Ballroom Calgary, Canada

21 Orpheum Vancouver, Canada

Source: http://undercover.com.au

With all downloadable tracks now chart-eligible, the face of our beloved UK top 40 is about to change forever.

With effect from January 1st, the UK singles chart rules have been changed. As well as the physical single rules being relaxed (a single is now chart-eligible if 25-minutes long, an increase from the previous 15-minute limit), a larger change is liable to alter the UK charts forever, be it for better or worse.

Any track now available via download is chart eligible and can make its way to number one if it so desires (or you do, collectively). Consequently, an obscure Gomez (pictured) b-side is as eligible to go top ten as the next Coldplay single, or whatever is being papped out that week (!)

What does this mean for the charts though? I think it's fair to say that there's two sides to the coin.

The benefit unsigned musicians can receive from distributing and releasing their own tracks via iTunes is definitely the upside. It's now possible for a band to release a digital-only single at minimal cost and drum up their own support for a chart entry, without the need for a costly 7" or CD pressing. It's risk-free and really rather liberating.

However, with the charts now a free-for-all for every album track, live recording and novelty trance wankamajig, the value of a chart position is rapidly deteriorating, as if the demise of Top of the Pops hadn't made that clear enough.

It's possible a return to the more organic chart politics of the 1970s will take place, when tracks went to radio on the day of release rather than six weeks upfront; where people went to the charts to find new music and things grew and rose as the weeks progressed.

Equally, it could be the death of the chart altogether. Perhaps the single, too.

Source: http://www.drownedinsound.com

Gwyneth Paltrow celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah this year.

The actress - who is married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin - decided to honour her late father Bruce by celebrating the Christian and Jewish festivals with her family. A source told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "Gwyneth made sure her family celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah. Chris accepted Gwyneth's desire for the children to be brought up understanding their proud Jewish background, even at this early stage."

The 34-year-old is so keen to teach her two children - two-year-old daughter Apple and nine-month-old son Moses - about her father's Jewish roots that she has created a special family tree for them.

"Gwyneth has even had a family tree made especially so that she can show Apple and Moses where they descended from."

Bruce - who is said to have died due to complications from cancer and pneumonia in 2002 - is a descendant of a famous family line which has produced 33 rabbis over several generations. It has also been reported that Gwyneth wants Moses to have a Bar Mitzvah when he is 13.

The music world had something for everyone in 2006. London pop critic David Smyth directs last-minute shoppers towards the year's stand-out CDs...

With no Coldplay or James Blunt to swoon to this year, Britain's mums had to make do with the next best thing. Snow Patrol's Eyes Open (Polydor) had Gary Lightbody's tender voice, nonthreatening guitars and plenty of hummable tunes. It quietly overpowered the Arctic Monkeys hype to become 2006's biggest seller.

Close behind was James Morrison with Undiscovered (Universal) - his soul man's rasp caused numerous hearts to melt. The tasteful tones of Corinne Bailey Rae on her eponymous debut (EMI) were a dinner party feature as vital as After Eights, while the soft jazz cover versions sung by Madeleine Peyroux on Half the Perfect World (UCJ) sounded both timeless and extremely beautiful.

Those in need of something equally pretty but more substantial should be directed to Damien Rice's 9 (Heffa/14th Floor) which used pleasant acoustic guitars to express deep emotional pain. Or if she's feeling less adventurous, you could always point her to the musical gift equivalent of a mug tree: Westlife's The Love Album (RCA).

Read the full article here

LONDON - Starcom has won the £32m media planning and buying account for EMI Records after a five-way pitch, including incumbents Carat and Media Campaign, as well as MindShare and the7stars.

The account is currently split between Carat and Media Campaign. The agencies have held the account since 1997.

The record company is home to artists including Coldplay, KanYe West and Robbie Williams.This is the second win this month for a regenerated Starcom, under the stewardship of chief executive Linda Smith. It also picked up the £15m media brief for Premier Foods.

EMI's media spend has increased in the past year on the back of major releases from Coldplay and Gorillaz. According to Nielsen Media Research, the record label's largest single media spend on an album release was £2.1m to support the release of KT Tunstall's album 'Eye to the Telescope'.

Earlier this month, EMI agreed a deal with music search engine Last.fm to create an online recommendation service called tuneglue-audiomap, which they said will accurately match other listeners' preferences to a user's favourite artists.

Tuneglue-audiomap will recommend particular artists to users based on their listening preferences and by matching them to the choices made by other music fans.

Another year, another gazzilion festivals. In 2006 they grew, they buzzed, they fell, they body-popped - much like some of you. From the scintillating to the soulless, this is the year that, erm, still is...

Read any of the reviews of 2006 doing the rounds and they?ll all proclaim what an 'amazing' year it was. To an extent they're right. Music was good, spirits were high, the weather was hot and Tom Chaplain did a stint in rehab. But compared to the last two euphoric summer seasons spent trawling festival sites, the view from this December afternoon looking back on 2006 is somewhat mixed. It?s been, dare we say it, 'alright'. So let?s start at the beginning?

Unlike the year before, the start of 2006 did not arrive on the back of an all-devouring tsunami, rather it begun with the release of that Arctic Monkeys' debut, which likewise destroyed all before it. We first heard it during Holland?s Eurosonic festival, where we also first heard live shows from the likes of Disco Ensemble, The Hot Puppies and The Chalets. However, our highlights were watching Jose Gonzalez perform in a cinema and discovering the mighty Spleen United from Denmark.

Two other ?tastes of what was to come? arrived in the shape of the Camden Crawl and the first ever Great Escape festival in Brighton. Both provided a glimpse inside the new bands tents of the coming majors, with The Automatic, Wolfmother, Klaxons and The Fratellis all earning new admirers. Both events dripped with the sweat of summer anticipation, while Snowbombing in Austria almost killed us before that summer had even begun. So far so good then.

It was only when we flew out to Coachella, near LA, that an eyebrow or two were raised. You may think it's difficult to find fault in a festival set in the middle of the desert, surrounded by palm trees and some of the most beautiful looking people ever to converge in one place. The site was immaculate, strangers smiled at you, Kanye West danced to A-Ha tapes, crowd surfing was an unknown concept. In short, there was absolutely no atmosphere (apart from the near rioting when Madonna legged it by helicopter after five songs.) Was this a vision into the festival future?

We had to wait almost a month to find out and unfortunately at Hi:Fi the answer was a depressing 'maybe'. Organisers had planned a two-leg event taking place in Newcastle and Winchester to replace the defunct Homelands. It boldly, but badly, tried to marry indie and dance music fans into one 'iPod generation' where skinny-chiefed mascara boys would boogy to Pete Tong as gurning. Crasher vets checked out the latest dronings from Super Furry Animals. An arena falling down at the northern leg perhaps best reflected its lack of success. It rained, it failed, we're unlikely to see it again.

But why? Ok, Hi:Fi didn't have the best lineup in history but at the same time it was held on the May bank holiday weekend, traditionally the opening party weekend of summer. Fortunately (unless you didn?t get a ticket) T In The Park, Reading, Leeds and V all sold out in record time, while other early emerging festivals celebrated successful years, including Wychwood, Hyde Park Calling and Glastonbudget (which cheekily took advantage of Glastonbury's absence by providing an alternative, except for the fact that all its acts are cover bands!)

Without the focal point of the world's most famous festival, it was left to the remaining big five - V Festival, T In The Park, Isle Of Wight Festival, the Carling Weekend (Reading and Leeds) and Download to shared the spoils of the biggest touring names on the planet, slapping exclusive headline deals on Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay, Muse and Guns'N'Roses respectively. Ultimately, and not surprisingly, the major festivals stuck to the tried and tested formula of 'big bands in big fields' without trying to provide much of interest otherwise...

The world's leading live entertainment company, today announced it has acquired the largest concert promoter in Spain, Gamerco, and entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in a leading concert promoter in France, Jackie Lombard Productions.

When completed, these acquisitions will expand Live Nation's global presence from five to seven of the top ten recorded music markets worldwide, including, in addition to France (the fifth largest) and Spain (the ninth largest), the United States (#1), the United Kingdom (#3), Germany (#4), Canada (#6), Italy (#8) and Holland (#10). The entrance into France and Spain will also provide Live Nation with a pan-European reach which will facilitate tour booking and multi-country sponsorship transactions.

"Gamerco and Jackie Lombard Productions are both highly dynamic, creative and successful companies which perfectly complement our existing global promotion portfolio and move us closer to our goal to be in all of the top music markets around the world," said Michael Rapino, Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation.

The acquisition of Gamerco, along with its affiliates Iguapop, Troubleshooter and Cetisa, brings its principals, Gay Mercader, Pino Saggliocco and Roberto Grima, under the Live Nation umbrella. Gamerco produces more than 250 shows per year primarily in the largest cities in Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona. Its shows include many local Spanish or Spanish-speaking artists as well as international superstars such as Marc Anthony, Il Divo, Luis Miguel, The Who and George Michael.

"We are extremely excited to become part of the Live Nation team and look forward to working with our colleagues around the world to create new opportunities for artists and fans alike," said Mr. Mercader.

Jackie Lombard Productions, led by Jackie Lombard, regularly produces, in Paris and throughout France, the top concerts by international artists such as Madonna, The Rolling Stones, George Michael, Depeche Mode and Ricky Martin. Lombard's shows attract over 250,000 fans each year. The acquisition of Jackie Lombard Productions is expected to close early in 2007.

"I am very pleased to be able to join with Live Nation to build our business in France," said Ms. Lombard.

About Live Nation

Live Nation is the world's leading live entertainment company, annually connecting more than 67 million fans with their favorite performers at over 33,000 events. We are the largest producer of live concerts in the world, the second-largest venue management company and have a rapidly growing online presence. Live Nation creates superior experiences for artists and fans, regularly producing tours for the biggest superstars in the business, including The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, U2 and Coldplay. Globally, we own, operate and/or have booking rights for more than 170 venues, including House of Blues-branded music venues and prestigious locations such as San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London's Apollo Theatre and Wembley Arena. Live Nation's websites collectively are the second most popular entertainment event websites in the United States, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." For more information regarding concerts near you, Live Nation and its businesses, please visit our website at www.livenation.com.

Source: Live Nation

Named after a song his father, Chris Martin (of the British band Coldplay), wrote about his mother, actress and celebrity baby Gwyneth Paltrow, baby boy Moses Martin entered into the world under the unusual moniker of Moses, the great divider of the red sea.

Compared to his big sister, Apple, his name didn't make quite as big a splash. He was born Saturday April 8th, weighing 8 lbs, 4 oz, by cesearean section, at Mount Sinai (how fitting!).

Moses made his pictorial debut on his first trip home from the hospital. He made a more official debut in People magazine, as top celebrity babies tend to do. As a member of the third generation of Hollywood hot shots, Moses can look forward to many more Hollywoodish anomolies.

Coming from a family that has homes in Los Angeles, New York, and London, Moses is also a very well traveled little guy, who runs in tight celebrity circles. As a second time mom, it appears that Gwyneth has tried to shield him more from cameras so we haven't seen much of the little guy but we hope to see much more as he enters his second year!

LONDON - IPC Media's flagship music website NME.com is to expend its offering across the Atlantic, with the opening of New York and Los Angeles news offices which, IPC says, along with its London presence will make the site a 24-hour operation.

The publisher will also be enhancing the service with the introduction of NME.com Alerts to user's desktops. In addition to increased news coverage, NME.com will introduce increased user interactivity and feedback through the launch of a news comment feature, access to international live performances and tickets through the upgrade of the Gigs & Tickets section of the site. These features will be available to fans early in 2007. Anthony Thornton, NME.com digital editor-in-chief, said: "NME.com has dominated live music news online for over a decade. The increase offering announced today underpins our commitment to be the number one music news service provider."

The publisher's activity in the US will include the expansion of the NME Tours, which has featured The Killers, Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys in the US.

Gordon Innes, director of the government's UK Trade & Investment USA office, added: "The creative and media industries have been highlighted as one of the key priority sectors in UK Trade & Investment's strategy over the next five years.

"The UK offers innovation, expertise and pure imagination and has built its reputation as a centre of global creativity. One of the world's biggest selling music media brands launching into the world's largest music market is hugely exciting."

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.com

The songs of Coldplay and Robbie Williams are instantly recognisable to music fans, but the City is more used to the familiar tune of Eric Nicoli's hokey-cokey.

The boss of music group EMI, which counts the artists among its roster of recording stars, has once again failed to pull off a deal after years of on-off attempts.

Talks to sell the company to Permira foundered when the private equity firm failed to offer north of 320p a share. Now the City expects EMI to get together with rival Warner Music next year.

In June, it offered 320p for EMI, valuing the company at £2.5bn, but deal hopes were quashed when Brussels decided to look again at the similar 2004 merger of Sony Music and BMG.

Warner and EMI have been close to combining at least three times, dating back to 2000. Standard Life, which owns 3pc of EMI, said: 'Any offer below 320p does not take into consideration the long-term value that the move towards digital music downloading could provide.'

LONDON — Shares of EMI Group PLC, whose artists include Coldplay and Robbie Williams, dropped more than 8 percent Thursday after the music company said it had ended takeover talks with an unidentified suitor.

EMI, which revealed that it was in talks late last month, said it had not received an offer that "fully reflects the prospects for and value of the company" that could recommended to shareholders. EMI did not name the potential bidder, but it was widely believed to be European private equity firm Permira Advisors Ltd. EMI shares were 8.4 percent lower at 275 pence ($5.41) on the London Stock Exchange.

The company was in takeover talks earlier this year with U.S. rival Warner Music Group Corp. about a $4.6 billion deal, but those talks were clouded by a European court ruling annulling earlier approval of the 2004 combination of Sony Corp.'s Sony Music and Bertelsmann AG's BMG. That ruling cast doubt on whether an EMI-Warner deal would receive regulatory approval.

A private equity firm that part owns America’s Warner Music has held preliminary talks with advisers to EMI about resurrecting last summer’s failed bids.

The recent talks – opened without Warner’s authority – were prompted by interest from rival Permira, which is widely expected to make a 320p bid shortly.

Warner, which floated on the New York Stock Exchange in May last year, is still part owned by Bain Capital, Thomas H Lee, Providence Equity Partners and chairman Edgar Bronfman’s investment vehicle. A source familiar with the situation said the informal approach by an unnamed firm was made to “see how the land lay”.

It is believed competition concerns need not pose the same barrier as previously thought. Talks over the summer stopped abruptly when the European Commission rebuffed the 2004 merger of Sony Music-BMG over competition.

Merger discussions between EMI, the world’s third largest music group and Warner have been on and off since 2000. Before the Commission’s shock announcement this year, the two had made bids and counterbids, and were arguing over price. EMI had said a £2.52bn offer from Warner was too small to be taken seriously. EMI is advised by Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Greenhill while Warner, the world’s fourth largest record company, uses Lehman Brothers.

In September, Bronfman was optimistic that a deal with EMI would be compliant with European regulation. The Commission has yet to deliver its final ruling on the Sony/BMG merger, which is why the EMI/Warner merger talks had been put on hold.

The new approach from one of Warner’s shareholders was prompted because a successful bid from Permira would put a Warner/EMI combination out of the picture for at least three years, unless the recorded music business was sold on separately. The logic for a deal is compelling. Combining the recorded music operations of the two businesses would generate substantial savings.

A deal with private equity would lack such benefits but dodge regulatory problems. EMI consists of EMI Music, whose labels include Capitol Records, Angel Records and Virgin Records, and EMI Music Publishing. The music publishing business is the world’s largest and EMI Music’s roster of artists includes Robbie Williams and Norah Jones, both set to be big earners over Christmas, along with Coldplay. Warner also has a substantial music publishing business. Its artists range from Madonna to James Blunt.

CHICAGO (MCT) -- A new report on digital music sales casts doubt on the power of Apple Computer to reshape the music industry and turn around a long-term slump in music sales.

The report, from Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff, showed that sales at Apple’s iTunes music store dropped dramatically in the first six months of 2006. Since January, the number of monthly transactions declined 58 percent, while the number of songs purchased each time fell 17 percent, leading to a 65 percent overall drop in monthly iTunes revenue, according to Bernoff.

The first-of-its-kind analysis of iTunes, by far the leading retailer of legal music downloads, shows that it “is not the engine that will restore the music business,’’ Bernoff said in an interview Tuesday.

Yet the iTunes store is successful, selling more than 1.5 billion songs since its inception in 2003, making it the fourth largest music retailer in the country, said Natalie Kerris, a spokesperson for Apple. She added that nearly 70 million iPods have sold worldwide to date.

“The conclusion that iTunes sales are slowing is simply incorrect,’’ she said in reaction to the Forrester study. Sales at iTunes “account for 6 percent of all music sold in the U.S.’’ Kerris declined to disclose detailed sales data.

Aside from the issue of iTunes’ sales trend, Bernoff’s research spotlights a significant shift in how people are buying music online: they want singles more than albums. That trend is putting further pressure on overall music sales, which continue to drop steadily year after year.

Indeed, according to data released in October from the Recording Industry Association of America, sales of digital singles increased 71.3 percent in the first half of 2006, with 286.3 million singles sold. That’s up from 167.1 million digital singles during the first six months of 2005.

But sales of digital singles are not picking up the music market. According to the RIAA, the overall estimated retail value of the music industry -- including both digital and physical sales -- declined 6.1 percent in the first half of the year.

Overall shipments of CDs and music DVDs to retailers fell 15.7 percent in the first six months of 2006. That continues a free-fall of music sales that begin in 2000, when CD shipments reached 942 million. By 2005, CD shipments were only 705 million.

The shift in buying habits is only part of the problem for the music industry.

Accurate figures are hard to determine but piracy continues to plague the industry as people swap music at illegal file sharing sites and trade burned copies of new CDs with friends.

If the music industry hoped that Apple’s model of selling digital music would stop the current slide, Bernoff’s report appears to be is a cold splash of water in the face.

His research shows that people who buy an iPod go on to purchase only about 20 to 23 songs at Apple’s online music store. Bernoff’s conclusions came from credit card transactions, Apple press releases and Forrester consumer surveys.

At iTunes, “it’s mostly people buying one, two or three songs at a time,’’ he said. “It’s different than what people thought was going to happen when the iTunes store opened.’’

He explained that with CD players, consumers continue to buy new CDs year after year. The expectation was when consumers bought an iPod they would continue to buy digital music at the same pace at iTunes. “That’s not happening.’’

Bob Merlis, a long-time executive with Warner Bros. Records and now a Los Angeles-based music industry consultant, said the iTunes phenomenon of purchasing individual songs “is not healthy for the music industry.

“It doesn’t address something that albums and full CDs did, which is having a body of work from an artist,’’ he said. “It’s like going back to the ‘50s and ‘60s, before the album’’ gained traction, he said.

“It’s so fragmented now. You get the song you like but you don’t get to know the artist anymore. It encourages this rapid turnover,’’ he added, pointing out that a band like U2 achieved its popularity because fans came to know them through a substantial body of work.

“If U2 came along right now, would they have the staying power? It would be very difficult to maintain that ongoing interest,’’ Merlis said.

Nonetheless, despite overall declines in sales, digital music is a bright spot.

“This is a marketplace that went from nothing three years ago to already this year surpassing a billion dollars in retail value revenue,’’ Jonathan Lamy, senior vice president of communications at the RIAA, said in an e-mail. “That’s encouraging and will only continue to grow in the future.’’

At EMI Group, whose artists include newcomer James Blunt and R&B diva Beyonce, digital music sales grew by 68 percent for the first half of 2006, according to company figures. Digital revenues accounted for 8.5 percent of all sales, up from 5.4 percent a year ago.

Furthermore, 10 percent of sales for Coldplay’s “X&Y’’ album have been in the digital format. Of those sales, 35 percent have been by track and 65 percent were in album format. EMI called it good evidence that people do want full albums in digital formats.

On the other hand, 70 percent of digital sales for Gorillaz -- another popular EMI artist -- have been in track format and 30 percent in the album format. The information didn’t mention specific Gorillaz’ albums or songs.

Merlis said one way to get more from digital downloads is to offer more value for the consumer.

“In the album era, and with CDs, you get lyrics and nice packaging,’’ he said. “More value equals more consciousness by the audience that this is good. If it’s just a song, it’s not that compelling.’’

To that end, he noted that many digital downloads will start coming with lyrics, thanks to new agreements with record labels.

Gracenotes, which provides data such as song titles to digital download services including iTunes, will launch its lyric service early next year. The company has agreements with each major record label.

Roger Faxon, co-CEO of EMI Music Publishing, which agreed to work with Gracenotes last week, called it a “landmark deal’’ to open new digital opportunities.

Source: http://www.pantagraph.com

EMI Music has inked a pan-European video agreement allowing consumers to watch its promos on Yahoo! Music.

As a result of the deal, announced Monday (Dec. 11), Yahoo! Music will enable European computer users free access to videos from EMI Music artists including Lily Allen, Corinne Bailey Rae, Coldplay, Gorillaz, Janet Jackson, Norah Jones, KT Tunstall and Robbie Williams.

"As the digital music market grows, we must continue to look for new ways to offer consumers the opportunity to enjoy our artists' content," comments Jean-Francois Cecillon, chairman and CEO of EMI Music Continental Europe, in a statement. "Thanks to services such as Yahoo! Music, video-on-demand is becoming a valuable new channel that enables us to connect fans with the music they love."

The Yahoo! Music portal allows consumers to select and stream clips to their PC. The service is free to use, and is supported by targeted advertising.

The portal boasts the largest collection of free-to-view legal music videos on the Web. In the U.K., Yahoo! Music offers more than 6,500 on-demand video titles.

Record company EMI is partnering with Yahoo! Music to offer free music videos from its roster of artists including Lily Allen, Robbie Williams and Coldplay.

Under the agreement, users of Yahoo!’s Music service across Europe will be able to watch on-demand, streamed music videos for free.

The service allows users to create their own ‘My Video’ list, which tracks recently played videos and those recommended by the user. Revenue will be made from online advertising. Tony Wadsworth, chairman and CEO of EMI Music UK and Ireland, said, “It’s important to maximise the value of our artists’ music in this rapidly changing market and the recent growth of advertising spending online is just one of the many ways in which we seek to do this.”

Are Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay front man Chris Martin on the move again?

On Nov. 28, the star couple listed their 7,396-square-foot ­Tribeca pad for $13.75 million, according to real-estate records. (They're ­reported to have bought it last year for about $7 million.)

Curiously, the listing was pulled the next day. Some wonder if the unlisting might be related to reports that she made "anti-American" comments on a recent press event in Spain. Paltrow has insisted she was misquoted, saying: "I feel so proud to be American" and "I am a New York girl."

Paltrow's rep couldn't reach the actress by deadline, but said the Tribeca listing "had to be a mistake. She just finished decorating most of the place."

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com

Sergio, Belgian representative in the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest and his duet partner Sandrine André have won the final of the TV show Just the two of us.

The programme features professional singers that are joined by other celebrities that never sang before. In the final round, the actress and the songer defeated television host Rani de Coninck and singer Günther Neefs whose father represented Belgium in the contest twice in 1967 and 1969.

During the final, the duos performed two songs they already sang in the other shows. Sergio and Sandrine chose the songs Speed of sound (Coldplay) and Elephant love medley (Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor) while Rani and Günther performed Jennifer Lopez' Let's get loud and Goie morgen, morgen.

This song was the Belgian entry in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest. Actually, it was recorded by Nicole and Hugo, who would come last two years later with Baby, baby but since they fell ill it was sung by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel in Dublin. They finished in 14th position.

If only the professional jury had had decided the winner, Rani de Conick and Günther Neefs would have won the contest. Nevertheless, the telvoters awarded the victory to Sergio and Sandrine.

Some further participants from Belgian national finals had been among the contestants: Claudia Caluwé (2nd in 2002 with Spark), Chadia Cambie (8th in the third semi final in 1996 with Hou van mij) and Isabelle A as part of the group Natural High (7th in 1999 with Finally).

Sergio, backed by the Ladies, finished 13th in 2002 with the song Sister. Louis Neefs finished 7th in 1967 with the song Ik heb zorgen and again 7th two years later with Jennifer Jennings.

Source: http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6941