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Music giant EMI fell sharply after a shock announcement that it had uncovered fraud in its Brazilian business. Senior management has been suspended.   A brief statement said the fraud resulted in an over statement of revenues by £12 million and operating profits by £9 million. The shares fell 8.75p to 272p.   The affair will cause huge embarrassment to EMI, best known for stars such as Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay and Robbie Williams. Profits of the recorded music division rose 15% to £145 million l

London - EMI has shortlisted The7stars, Starcom and MindShare to pitch against incumbents Carat and Media Campaign Services for its £14m media account, reports BrandRepublic.   The record company, home to artists including Coldplay and Robbie Williams, is expected to conclude its UK review by the end of the year. Carat handles television, outdoor and online while MCS covers press and radio.   The pitch will pit The7stars' Gareth Jones, who used to head up Carat's EMI business, against his former

The relationship between rich western celebrities and poor Africans highlights a hard challenge to the orthodoxies of aid policy, says Michael Holman. More than twenty years ago Bob Geldof and I shared what turned out to be a case of wishful thinking.   We believed that the millions of pounds raised by Band Aid in a response to the famine that was wracking Ethiopia would go towards ensuring that never again would we look at our television screens and see emaciated figures, the consequence of fam

Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley [pictured with Will Champion] has championed live music throughout her career, especially on her Live Lounge slot.   People have tuned in to hear artists' cover versions of contemporary hits such as Jamie Cullum's much-discussed rendition of Pharrell's Frontin' and Arctic Monkeys doing Girls Aloud's Love Machine.   You can catch the mother-ofthree's new show, In Live Music We Trust (Wednesdays 9pm-10pm), or her weekday show (Monday-Fridays 10am-1pm). Her new album, Live Lou

Under the bright lights and probing questions of an all-in media conference yesterday, Shane Warne gave off the distinct impression that he is evolving into a cricketing version of Mick Jagger.   He is old enough to be the father of several of his contemporaries. He courts celebrity and, in the case of rock band Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin, celebrity returns the favour. And despite being at an age where his powers of performance and charisma should be diminishing, he is confident, brash

Having children changes your life in many ways. For American rocker Ed Kowalczyk from the band Live, having two daughters, Ana Sophia and Natasha, has turned him into a Kelly Clarkson fan.   "One of my current guilty pleasures that I feel like I have to confess, I really do like that Walk Away song by Kelly Clarkson and I can't get it out of my head," Ed says with a laugh.   "My four-year-old is such a huge Kelly Clarkson fan and I am now, by osmosis, becoming one, too." In town with his band to

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- October 23, 2006 -- The Orchard, the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, today announced a distribution agreement through which The Orchard will digitally market and distribute soundtracks and scores from Lionsgate's impressive library of motion picture and television hits.   Among the titles to be represented by The Orchard are the soundtracks to th

Music channel to show entire Pink Floyd, Coldplay, U2 sets on Saturday   NEW YORK - In the television equivalent of a do-over, the MTV Networks said they would air 10 commercial-free hours of performances Saturday from last weekend's Live 8 concerts.   Viewers will be able to see the entire sets of U2, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, Kanye West and Green Day on either MTV or VH1, and sometimes both, Van Toffler, president of the MTV Networks Music Group, said Friday.   MTV took a critical whipping and rec

Jay-Z has released details of his upcoming album, Kingdom Come, which hits stores next month.   The album is rumoured to feature guest appearances from Kanye West and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Kingdom Come is the follow up to 2003’s The Black Album, after which the rapper said he had retired. "I thought I was retired but my passion for music had other plans for me,” he explains. "I am overwhelmed with the initial record breaking response. I am happy to be officially back... I can't wait til ya'll

In an article taken from 'Famous weekly' on October 23rd 2006, are celebrity couple Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin taking their admiration of Donatella Versace and Vince Vaughn a little too far?   Gwyn is only lacking the "roast chicken" tan or she'd be a dead ringer for the fashion guru. Meanwhile, hubby Chris appears to be channelling newly single Vince - both clearly have trouble handling their food and drink! The greasy stains the Coldplay frontman is sporting down his front are eerily sim

British megabands U2 and Oasis are having to be kept apart at the Q music awards later this month (30th Oct 2006), because the organisers are terrified of a spat breaking out between the rival rockers.   The two bands are both up for the Best Act In The World Today gong - but after Oasis star Liam Gallagher branded Coldplay's Chris Martin "a plantpot" at last year's bash, the bosses behind the event at London's swanky Grosvenor House fear the worst should Oasis not take home the coveted gong.  

For the first time in its history the BRIT Awards with MasterCard will feature a LIVE vote in 2007 as viewers are invited to choose the winner of The British Single category during the live TV broadcast.   Viewers will be able to vote during the two-hour long telecast for their favourite of the five shortlisted singles with the winner announced at the end of the show.   And in a unique collaboration with commercial radio, the final shortlist of five will be selected from a long list of 10 in a

If all there was to Chas and Dave was novelty songs about snooker and Spurs football club then they would have been consigned to the novelty pop bin of musical history years ago.   But instead of drifting into obscurity the Cockney pair, who play the Junction on Tuesday, have seen a renaissance in recent years, largely thanks to a new generation of young fans discovering their music.   The veteran duo say the reason for their recent injection of cool is simply that they know how to put on a good

Do people still buy Q Magazine? We're not sure - are people still interested in paying for a publication that only ever seems to put REM and U2 on the cover and then fills up its insides with interviews with Bob Geldof?   Still, however deathly dull Q Magazine is these days there's always the Q Awards - the event that seems to have overtaken both the Brits and the NME Awards in terms of rock stars getting drunk and showing themselves up a lot. The Q Awards take place at the end of the month and,

WASHINGTON -- The president of a Chicago-based investment fund misspent nearly $11 million in investments by Detroit area pension funds on lavish travel and entertainment and diverted some money into a company that operates a Detroit strip club, according to federal regulators.   AA Capital Partners Inc. manages $194 million in assets for six pension funds -- including $92.7 million from the Detroit-area Carpenters Pension Trust Fund and $75 million from Livonia-based Operating Engineers Local 3

Blythe Danner, beautiful American actress, mother to lovely Gwyneth Paltrow and therefore mother-in-law of Coldplay singer Chris Martin, says that she catches Coldplay in concert whenever she can: "I go to every [Coldplay concert] that comes along. If we're in the same place, wherever - New York, L.A. - I've been all of those. When I'm in town, I go." She adds, "I'm usually in back with my daughter, screaming just as loud as everybody else."   To find out what Danner has to say about her son-in

Albury's Lisa Mitchell survived another round of Australian Idol voting last night — but only just.   After viewers’ votes were tallied the Scots School student was in the “bottom three” with Bobby Flynn and Ricky Muscat. Eventually, the man with the wild afro, Flynn, was told his time in the show was up, leaving Mitchell one of just six contestants still in the running.   Mitchell’s poor voting result was something of a surprise given generally positive judges’ responses to her rendition on Sun

Jay-Z has confirmed details of his new album 'Kingdom Come'.   The record will be released on on November 20, followed by single 'Show Me What You Got' on December 3. 'Kingdom Come' is the rapper's first album in three years and the follow up to 2003's 'The Black Album', after which Jay-Z claimed to have "retired". In a statement, the rapper explained: "I thought I was retired but my passion for music had other plans for me. I am overwhelmed with the initial record breaking response. I am happy

Gwyneth Paltrow's mother Blythe Danner has revealed her family turned to Coldplay's music to get over the death of her husband.   Blythe has revealed her actress daughter [pictured] was already emotionally attached to her future husband, Chris Martin's music before they met, because she listened to it while grieving for her director father Bruce.   She told Britain's New magazine: "I think there is something quite deep about their music. Weirdly enough, when Bruce died, we were all listening to

The boredom caused by endless hours on the tour bus and a succession of anonymous hotel rooms are well known problems, but rock stars on tour now have something else to grumble about: the environmental impact.   Thom Yorke, singer with Radiohead, yesterday hit out at the "ridiculous" use of energy by such events, and threatened to stop playing far-flung destinations if steps were not taken to reduce carbon emissions.   He said: "The way that tours are structured now and the way it works is a rid

EMI is expecting a bumper second half of the year with a host of big-name artists, including The Beatles, due to issue albums. The music publisher expects the new releases to compensate for a decline in first-half sales.   A host of popular EMI artists including Robbie Williams, Joss Stone and Nora Jones will release new records in the second half of EMI's financial year and should sell well over the Christmas sales period. Other big-selling artists including Depeche Mode, Moby and Keith Urban

The process of giving money to good causes is starting to bother me. Not because of those annoying people who approach you in the street and yabber at you until you give them your credit card details – I put them only one rung above those awful Amex sellers in shopping centres.   I'm talking about recent trend of flaunting charity by accessorising with our generosity as if it were some kind of Gucci for rich Westerners with a social conscience. The Oxfam wristband promoted by Coldplay's Chris Ma

LONDON (Reuters) - EMI Group , the world's third-largest music company, said on Monday it expected a 3 percent decline in first-half revenue, citing an album release schedule weighted towards the second half.   First-half underlying profit before tax is expected to fall 34 percent to about 27 million pounds. Full-year results are on track to meet expectations, EMI said.   The London-based company, home to artists such as Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said its recorded music division was on track

Albury's Lisa Mitchell may well be the new Joni Mitchell, going on last night’s Australian Idol performance. Singing Coldplay’s See You Soon, flanked only by her guitar and a cello for depth, Mitchell wowed the judges.   “Bring on Tuesday night,” Mark Holden said. “I want to hear a Lisa Mitchell original. The guitar playing was reminiscent of an early Joni Mitchell: I could have listened to you for another hour or hour and a half.”   Holden said Mitchell always divided her audience. “Some people

The profits for last year's enormous Live 8 concert totalled $5 million, it has been announced.   According to figures released today, the total cost of putting on the series of shows across the globe in July was over $15 million but raised around $20.6 million. The profit, which amounts to £2.7 million, is expected to be used as part of the ongoing effort to mobilise the G8 countries into recognising and addressing the issue of African poverty.   Madonna, Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, U2, Sc