Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group reached a tentative deal with German media company Bertelsmann AG to acquire BMG Music Publishing for $2.05 billion in cash, a person familiar with the deal said Tuesday.

The agreement was expected to be signed as early as Wednesday, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the negotiations.

BMG Music Publishing owns the rights to more than a million songs by recording artists such as Nelly, Maroon 5 and Coldplay, as well as classic hits by the Beach Boys, Barry Manilow and other entertainers.Universal edged out a slate of rival bidders for the publishing unit, including Warner Music Group, the person said.

Warner Music Group declined to comment. A call to a spokeswoman for BMG Music Publishing in New York was not immediately returned.

Universal is already the biggest recorded music company in the world. The BMG publishing unit is expected to be absorbed by Universal Music Publishing Group, making it the largest music publisher by catalog size.

Music publishers generate revenue by licensing songs for use in movies, TV shows, CDs, video games, ringtones and other media. The companies also collect performance fees when songs are played on the radio or in public venues such as clubs.

During the second quarter of this year, songs held by BMG Music Publishing accounted for 7.3 percent of the airplay on U.S. radio stations, or fifth overall, according to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

In the same period, Universal Music Publishing had a 10.23 percent market share, or fourth behind No. 1 EMI Music Publishing's 19.75 percent share.

Bertelsmann put its music publishing business up for sale earlier this year to help finance a $5.8 billion bridge loan used to buy back a 25.1 percent stake held by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert.

The move, announced in May, freed Bertelsmann from the prospect of an initial public offering for the stake.

The BMG Music Publishing sale is subject to regulatory approval by U.S. and E.U. officials.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vivendi SA is close to an agreement to buy Bertelsmann's BMG Music Publishing unit for about 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion), a source familiar with the deal said.

The deal is expected to be announced on Wednesday, the source said. It would make Vivendi the world's largest music publisher, ahead of EMI Group Plc's Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music.

The deal would be subject to U.S. and European Union regulatory approval.

However, separate sources told Reuters last week that the bids were due last Thursday and that it would take a week to ten days to sort through, with negotiations expected to continue through that period.

Bertelsmann declined to comment on Tuesday.

BMG Music Publishing, which owns the rights to thousands of songs including hits by Christina Aguilera and Coldplay, is being sold by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann to help fund its 4.5 billion euro buyback of a minority stake in the company.

Sources told Reuters last week that as well as Vivendi's Universal Music, U.S. media conglomerate Viacom had teamed up with private equity group Apollo to submit an offer, while Warner Music Group also turned in an offer by the deadline.

Goldman Sachs' private equity arm and Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR also submitted separate bids for BMG Music Publishing, people familiar with the sale said on Monday.

Bands will be able to set their own prices when store opens in fall

Here's the thing about being the king of the mountain: It offers a great view for a while, but any time you look down, there's bound to be someone coming to try to knock you down. Just ask Tom Cruise. Or Apple.

The computer company, which has been the digital-music king for more than five years thanks to its iPods and market-leading iTunes store, will face what could be its biggest competition yet later this year when MySpace launches its own download service.

The #1 social-networking site, which claims more than 100 million registered members, announced Friday that it would begin selling downloads through a partnership with Snocap, a technology company started by Napster creator Shawn Fanning. According to The New York Times, when the MySpace store opens in the fall, it will allow bands to sell their music for any price they wish, a move that's seen as a strike against Apple's strict 99-cents-per-download model.While MySpace has more than 3 million pages devoted to bands and other musical performers, so far none of the four major labels has signed on to participate in the service due to their concern about security. The MySpace store will sell songs in the market-leading MP3 format, which can play on iPods but doesn't have any copy protection.

The majors have been reluctant to date to sell songs online that don't come in a format that restricts how many copies of the track can be made. According to the Times, at least one major label — EMI, home to Coldplay, the Beatles, Dem Franchize Boyz, Janet Jackson and Pharrell — is in negotiations with MySpace.

"Instead of going to iTunes and searching for music, which happens once in awhile, you can see the band and buy their music," said Tom Anderson, president and co-founder of MySpace.

Labels have complained for years about Apple's inflexibility on pricing, which has remained locked at 99 cents per song since the store's debut three years ago. The majors have agitated for a tiered system that would offer higher prices for new releases and lower ones for older songs and albums. MySpace's store will let labels set their own prices for songs. All the majors have put their catalogs into Snocap's database, which uses an audio-fingerprinting tool to prevent songs from being sold illegally.

Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and chief executive of MySpace, told the Times, "We're hopeful that once we start getting adoption from smaller bands and labels, the major labels will want to participate. We'll be talking to them continually, as will Snocap." The goal, he told Reuters, is to be "one of the biggest digital-music stores out there. ... Everyone we've spoken to definitely wants an alternative to iTunes and the iPod. MySpace could be that alternative."

The potential problem, experts say, is that major labels won't sell songs in the unprotected MP3 format, and without those big-name artists, the MySpace store could have limited appeal. In a bid to boost sales, the MySpace store will accept payment through PayPal rather than credit cards and it will allow users to link to a band's storefront from their personal pages to recommend their favorite acts.

Spokespeople for iTunes and MySpace could not be reached for comment at press time.

DeWolfe told Reuters that the goal is to keep customizing the MySpace sales model to include copy-protected songs from major labels as well.

Not everyone sees the MySpace move as a frontal attack on Apple, though. Eric Garland, CEO of online market research firm Big Champagne, said MySpace won't necessarily take market share from iTunes. "I still believe we're in the part of the curve where the pie is growing instead of at the point where we're slicing it up," Garland said. "We haven't saturated the digital picture yet, and we're still not selling as much popular entertainment online as we will very soon."

What's significant about the MySpace initiative is that it completes a circle that Fanning began seven years ago with the original, renegade Napster that allowed users to illegally share music.

"It's not overstating it to say that since the original Napster popularized peer-to-peer distribution, this has been the natural venue for people to acquire entertainment media," Garland said. "You learn about all this entertainment in a community online, and then you have to go elsewhere to pay for it? Because of that gap, there is a lot of revenue lost in translation. Now if you learn about new music from someone, it makes sense that you should be able to acquire it from them."

Source: http://www.mtv.com

The Arctic Monkeys are favourites to win this year's Mercury Music Prize for album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, at a ceremony in London.

Bookmakers say the album, which became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK in February, has "frozen the rest of the field out of the betting".

"It'll be a major surprise if they fail to win," said a Ladbrokes spokesman.

The Sheffield-based band are up against nominees including Muse, Editors, Thom Yorke, Richard Hawley and Guillemots. More than 200 albums were considered for the 2006 prize. Other contenders include Hot Chip, Isobell Campbell and Mark Lanegan, rapper Sway and Scritti Politti - who last experienced major success in the mid-1980s.

The winner, announced at the London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday night, takes home a cheque for £20,000 - and can expect a surge in album sales.

Victory for the Arctic Monkeys would cap a remarkable 12 months for the group, nearly a year since their single, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, reached number one in the UK.

But Mercury judges have a history of defying expectations.

Last year Antony and the Johnsons unexpectedly took the award for the album I Am A Bird Now, ahead of big-selling acts like the Kaiser Chiefs and KT Tunstall.

In 2003, Coldplay missed out to the little-known Dizzee Rascal, while in 1997, Radiohead's OK Computer - which frequently features in polls to find the greatest album of all time - was beaten by Roni Size/Reprazent's New Forms.

With British fans of The Sopranos waiting on tenterhooks after the star character, Tony, was gunned down in the most recent episode, Ricky Gervais has said that making a British drama that stands comparison to the mob-based show appeals to him.

Gervais might not be an obvious successor to the lead actor James Gandolfini, but he is interested in at least creating something which breaks what he perceives as a cycle of mediocrity in British television drama.

Speaking in London at the launch of the second series of his show Extras, he said that he and his writing partner, Stephen Merchant, with whom he also wrote The Office, were ready to turn their backs on comedy and work on "something more dramatic". He made a scathing critique of British output saying that it compared unfavourably to shows made in America."All the things we like at the moment are coming out of America," he said. "There are things like The Sopranos, 24 and The Wire. These are things that [the British] just cannot do and do not do or anything close to it.

"They are innovative, audacious and done brilliantly. Those TV shows are just breathtaking and shows like The Sopranos are very funny. They have comedy writers that work on the show. It's the humour of real life."

Gervais said he wanted a British drama to capture the "ambiguity of morality" seen in some US shows.

He said: "I just can't remember the last time I watched a British drama. It was probably something like GBH. It is not like I give them a go and turn them off, they just don't come into my vision. I only watch about five shows and they are all probably reality TV."

The new series of Extras follows Gervais's character, Andy Millman, who has moved from background artist to minor TV personality with his own sitcom. The series includes guest appearances from celebrities including David Bowie, Chris Martin of Coldplay, and the actors Orlando Bloom and Sir Ian McKellen.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk

The Last Kiss, starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson, will be released to American audiences on September 15th.

The highly anticipated remake of the Italian film, L'ultimo Bacio, boasts not only an all-star cast, but also an outstanding soundtrack. For those who are fans of the Garden State soundtrack, this album will feel a bit like a sequel.

Though Braff put together both albums, this album is significantly more mature than the Garden State soundtrack. As Braff progressively develops the characters that he plays, from a 20-something trying to figure out his path in life to a 30-something questioning his chosen course, the music accompanying the films shows more maturity, both musically and lyrically. A beautifully tranquil album, The Last Kiss is a treasure trove of some of the most talented contemporary American and British alternative singer-songwriters. However, this treasure trove does hold a couple of pieces of fool's gold. I was expecting another smash from Cary Brothers, whose "Blue Eyes" was the standout track on the Garden State soundtrack.

Yet "Ride" is an electronic jumble of synthetic vocals and nondescript techno beats that detract from the overall song, particularly from the sitar-like guitar in the background. Another track that does not deliver is "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap. The backing organ fuses so fundamentally with the vocals that instead of creating what could have been a beautiful, ethereal song, one is left with a dissonant mess.

Although Rufus Wainwright is a veteran in comparison to most of his counterparts on this album, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" is a weak point of the album. With repetitive and boring piano chords adding to the monotony of Wainwright's vocals, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" is saved from musical suicide only by its bridge composed of soaring strings.

Those tracks not withstanding, the album is beautifully orchestrated and is a truly enjoyable listening experience. The album starts out with "Chocolate" by the buzz band of the moment, Snow Patrol. Braff's choice to start the soundtrack off with this song is brilliant. "Chocolate" is captivating, and the incorporation of a subtle guitar hook draws the listener in from the get-go. Coldplay's "Warning Sign" and Rachel Yamagata's "Reason Why" both incorporate pure and organic piano with refreshingly simple lyrics. Schuyler Fisk and Joshua Radin harmonize beautifully on "Paperweight", and the finger-picking style of guitar playing in the background lends depth to Fisk's breathy vocals. Radin's other contribution to the soundtrack, "Star Mile" is a truly religious experience, with a folksy guitar playing in the background of this bittersweet song. The standout song by far is "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple. With her blues mama grit, Apple conveys a sense of fervor and hubris, all the while retaining her usual sensuality and femininity.

Overall, this album is incredibly mellow, and glides from one song to the next with ease. Listening to this album feels like re-igniting a relationship with a former lover, completely comfortable, yet simultaneously exciting and fresh. The soundtrack for The Last Kiss is able to bring together songs that one would not normally bring together, and in doing so, warms the heart and leaves one with a sense of calm.

Source: http://trw.umbc.edu

LONDON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs' private equity arm and Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR submitted separate bids for BMG Music Publishing, people familiar with the sale said on Monday.

The people, speaking on condition of anonymity, said GTCR bid as part of a team led by U.S. media executive Charles Koppleman, while Goldman Sachs Capital Partners bid alone.

The two groups submitted bids by Thursday's deadline. One of the sources said the bids were between 1.25 billion euros (844 million pounds) and 1.5 billion euros. Both Goldman Sachs and GTCR declined to comment.

Charles Koppleman ran EMI's Music Publishing business between 1990 and 1994 and is currently chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. as well as running a music and entertainment business, CAK Entertainment Inc.

The group, which owns the rights to thousands of songs including hits by Christina Aguilera and Coldplay, is being sold by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann to help fund its 4.5 billion euro buyback of a minority stake in the company.

Sources told Reuters last week that U.S. media conglomerate Viacom had teamed up with private equity group Apollo to submit an offer, while Warner Music Group and Vivendi's Universal Music also turned in offers by the deadline.

Other suitors originally in the frame included a consortium of EMI Group with U.S. buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The pair were believed not to have submitted an offer by Thursday's deadline but one of the sources on Monday said KKR did submit a bid on its own.

KKR could not be reached immediately for comment.

BMG, which is being advised by JP Morgan and Citigroup , is set to sift through the bids over the next week to 10 days and then inform prospective buyers as to the next stage.

The Goldman Sach Capital Partners bid is the latest foray by the buyout arm of the U.S. bank into the private equity world. It also comes at a time of heightened sensitivity about Goldman's investment activities after concerns over potential conflicts of interest with clients against whom it could be bidding.

Last month, the group snapped up 54 percent of French directory business PageJaunes from France Telecom in conjunction with KKR.

Just days before it backed a $15 billion (7.9 billion pounds) buyout of U.S. oil and gas pipeline operator Kinder Morgan and earlier this year it fought a tough battle to win Britain's Associated British Ports for 2.8 billion pounds.

HE has shaken hands with George W Bush and the Pope and rarely misses a chance to preach about the need to write off Third World debt. But Bono, the campaigning face of U2, the Irish rock band, is facing competition from an upstart young rival: Chris Martin of Coldplay.

Not content with a pair of number one albums and a high-profile romance with Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin, 26, now also appears to be trying to assume the saintly mantle of Bono, 43, and Bob Geldof, 51.

As delegates struggled last week to reach agreement at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in the Mexican resort of Cancun, Martin took time out of Coldplay’s tour of South America to demand more rights for impoverished Third World farmers.Supachai Panitchpakdi, the WTO director-general, may have been expecting nothing more strenuous than a photo opportunity when Martin handed over a petition with 3m signatures collected by Oxfam calling for radical changes in the rules governing world trade.

Instead, Martin, who graduated from University College London with a degree in ancient history, bombarded him with detailed questions about subsidies paid to European farmers and the prohibitive tariffs imposed by America on imports of Bangladeshi cotton.

“You seem like a nice guy. Why is it so hard to get this problem sorted out?” Martin demanded at the end of the meeting, demonstrating the same mastery of the soundbite as Bono or Geldof.

Adrian Lovett, campaigns director of Oxfam GB, who joined Martin and the guitarist Jonny Buckland for the meeting, said Panitchpakdi appeared genuinely surprised at Martin’s knowledge of the matter. The bemused Thai nevertheless managed to ask the singer for an autograph for his daughter.

Three days earlier the two musicians had accompanied Oxfam workers on a visit to Puebla, a village an hour and a half’s drive from Mexico City, where local maize farmers struggle to compete with heavily subsidised American imports.

Martin, educated at Sherborne school, Dorset, has cultivated a reputation as one of the more thoughtful of the new generation of performers since Coldplay came onto the music scene in 2001 with their hit single Yellow.

Defying rock stereotypes, he rarely drinks, never smokes and shuns drugs, and is said to share a passion for macrobiotic food with Paltrow — they are rumoured to be marrying later this year.

Martin was put in touch with Oxfam two years ago by Emily Eavis, whose dairy farmer father, Michael, runs the Glastonbury Festival, and donates £50,000 a year to the charity.

A trip with Oxfam in February last year to Haiti appears to have converted him to the charity’s campaign for “fair trade”. During the visit Martin came face to face with rice growers being driven out of business by American imports.

“I felt like a fourth-rate Bono,” he said. “Later on I felt like a third-rate Bono, and hopefully it’ll escalate until I feel like a full-on Bono.”

His band have identified with the cause since: the campaign’s website address is shown on screens when they play encores, and cards explaining its aims are handed out after concerts.

Martin ’s activism is heir to a tradition that began with George Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangladesh and was taken up by Bono and Geldof, who raised £50m for the victims of the Ethiopian famine with the Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia in 1985. Unlike Robbie Williams and Geri Halliwell, for example, who made brief appearances in Sierra Leone and the Philippines respectively, Martin seems genuinely committed to the cause.

Dan Cairns, who did one of the first interviews with Martin for The Sunday Times in 2000, said: “He sees the band as the next U2 and anything that fits in with the Bono brand, not just in terms of the music but also in terms of evangelising and moral crusades, is going to fit in with his perception of himself.”

Whatever the truth about their marriage plans, Paltrow seemed to have matters other than fair trade on her mind last week: while Martin was lobbying in Cancun, she was seen on a mammoth shopping spree in the designer stores of Knightsbridge.

Source: TimesOnline

Ricky Gervais has laughed off rumours that Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton and Brad Pitt might appear in the second series of Extras.

But he has confirmed Coldplay's Chris Martin, David Bowie, Sir Ian McKellen and Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe all appear. In the first episode, Orlando Bloom plays a vain actor who cannot believe an on-screen extra does not fancy him.

But Ricky has also revealed he would like to try his hand at TV drama inspired by American programmes.

The state of the global music industry has sparked an impassioned debate in recent months, with many people criticising the industry itself for causing many of the problems.

The vice-chairman of EMI Music, David Munns, writes in response to BBC News Online users' views on the subject. Coldplay are one of EMI's biggest selling bands and are bound to be mentioned.

Please click here for the full story.

Does he answer any of your criticisms of the music industry? Do you support his views? Do you think file-sharing and piracy is killing music? Please add your comments below or at the BBC link above, making reference to coldplaying.com.

EMI, the leading UK music group, is preparing to launch a cash and shares takeover bid for Warner Music, AOL Time Warner's record business, as early as this week.

A combination of EMI and Warner Music, thought to be worth more than £600m, would create the world's biggest music group and bring together artists including EMI's Norah Jones, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Coldplay with Warner's Madonna, REM, Craig David and The Corrs.

Northern Irish rockers Ash have swapped Guinness for Brooklyn lager and relocated to New York to craft their fifth album, due next spring.

Frontman Tim Wheeler says the band -- now back to being an all-male trio after the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley earlier this year -- spent so much time in the United States promoting its last album, "Meltdown," that the members decided they might as well live there.

Wheeler and bassist Mark Hamilton were as good as their word, although drummer Rick McMurray commutes from his home in Scotland.But that hasn't hampered recording. Wheeler has already written nearly 30 new songs. A sampling indicates a less metal, more melodic approach seems to have taken over the band. There are also touches of psychedelia ("Shattered Glass") and some Coldplay-esque piano on another as-yet-untitled jam.

Relations with Hatherley, who is currently recording her second solo set, remain cordial to the point that Wheeler hopes she will rejoin them on stage for future special occasions. "I haven't played her any of the new stuff though," he says. "That would be too much like seeing your ex-girlfriend."

Reuters/Billboard

More than a quarter of all music albums bought in Britain now pass through supermarket checkouts, figures have revealed.

They show the increasingly dominant position of high street giants such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's in the music industry, with supermarkets taking 26 per cent of total sales last year. Just a decade ago, the supermarkets barely stocked CDs and as recently as 2001 they spoke for only 15 per cent of the market.

The best-selling album in the world last year was Coldplay's X&Y followed by Maria Carey's The Emancipation Of Mimi and 50 Cent's The Massacre. The top-selling album in Britain was James Blunt's You're Beautiful. Exactly 50 per cent of the album sales in Britain came from homegrown artists.

Today's figures, published by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, show that specialist music shops, including chains such as HMV, now control only 44 per cent of the market, down from 52 per cent in 2001.

Critics warn that as the supermarkets increase their share of the market, their cut-price offers on a limited range of top-selling CDs will stifle smaller labels and kill off independent music stores.

Supermarkets argue that their lower prices benefit consumers and the music industry is as vibrant as ever.

A spokesman for Asda said: "We helped get album prices down from £13 or £14 to below £10 and in terms of volume people are buying more music than 10 years ago.

"Obviously we are mindful of the fact that you can always find a record shop on the high street that has gone out of business.

"However, we see no reason why there isn't room for other people in the same way artisan butchers and bakers still have a role to play and offer something other than what the supermarkets are providing."

The other big winner has been the internet with the rise of iPods and digital downloading, although the web still accounts for only 11 per cent of sales.

The figures show that in total 31,290 albums were released last year, a 10 per cent rise on 2004 . About 5,000 of those were released only on the internet.

There has also been a marked shift in the type of music consumersare buying. Last year rock overtook pop for the first time, partly because an ageing listening public is buying more of the "heavier" music styles of its younger days.

The over-Forties now account for almost half of a market once regarded as youth dominated. Last year, rock sales were 36 per cent of the total, easily outstripping pop with 26 per cent. Total retail sales of all forms of recorded music in Britain were £1.89billion last year, down 2.7 per cent on 2004. This included 172.6 million CDs and 8.3 million DVDs.

Where we buy:

2001 2003 2005

Music specialist 52% 47% 44%

Supermarkets 15% 22% 26%

Chains 19% 16% 13%

Internet 5% 8% 11%

Mail order/clubs 6% 4% 3%

Other 3% 4% 3%

Source: Audio Visual Trak Survey

"System is perfect for people allergic to computers"

Bankrupt on-line song-swapping service Napster is hoping to recapture past popularity with its new big-grassy-field-based music-swapping system.

In its first incarnation the InterWeb company allowed users to swap music on-line for free, until a contentious battle in court with music companies last year forced it to take its services offline. Although plans were in progress to continue as a fee-paying service, this has now been dropped when it was realised that people don't like spending money.

The new system is extremely easy to use. Swappers choose CDs that they like the looks of from a big pile of music, and throw a selection of their own CDs back in. To kick things off, the Chief Executive of Napster threw in a couple of old Status Quo albums, and a Bob the Builder single that he'd received for Christmas, and the collection has grown from there. Whilst there is no full cataloguing system in place at present, the CD pile is fully searchable with spades provided. Napster hold great hopes for the new venture:"We hold great hopes for the new venture," said Napster's Head of Folk, World Music and Nu-Metal, Gemma McToothpaste, "Its a wonderful system that is perfect for people who are missing the happy times they had with good ol' Napster. And of course everyone who never used it. Y'know, people allergic to computers and that. Its darn perfect."

Napster has gone to great lengths to prevent another lengthy legal battle over copyright. Users are forced to promise not to copy any music taken onto tape cassette or minidisc, swearing on the life of a loved family member or favourite politician. Whilst there have been initial problems with cattle eating parts of the shared resources, it is on the whole fully 100% expected that this may or may not be the start of something big.

British record label Parlophone has moved quickly to quash reports it has handed Pete Doherty's band Babyshambles a £1m contract.

A spokesperson for the music company, which was once the home of The Beatles and now has deals with Coldplay and Gorillaz, admits talks have taken place with Doherty, but no money-spinning deal has been agreed.

However, the representative suggests Parlophone will release at least one Babyshambles track: "We are looking forward to making a great record with Babyshambles."

A SENIOR civil servant and his fiancée have complained about MCD, the concert promoter, to the Equality Tribunal after the company’s security staff allegedly accused them of being drug dealers.

Shane McCarrick, an executive officer in the Department of Agriculture, suffers from Crohn’s disease, a condition that requires him to take steroid tablets at three-hour intervals. His fiancée has type one diabetes and requires regular injections of insulin and carbohydrates in the form of fruit drinks.

The couple say that at the entrance to an REM concert in Balbriggan in June 2005, MCD security staff emptied McCarrick’s bag of drinks and medication on the ground and said the couple would be arrested for drug dealing.“They said I was a dealer because my bag was full of prescription drugs,” said McCarrick. “They accused my fiancée of planning to inject drugs with her insulin needle. I’ve never before been harassed and embarrassed in front of other people like this.”

McCarrick said the security staff ignored the couple’s civil service identification cards and doctors’ letters that explained their need for medication. They were also unhappy at security staff removing the caps from their drinks — something done at concerts to prevent bottles being used as missiles. The couple were questioned for 30 minutes by security staff. MCD later arranged for them to attend a Coldplay concert by way of compensation for the inconvenience.

But McCarrick said security staff at the Coldplay concert in Marlay Park also asked them to wait in a medical tent to meet with an event controller.

“We didn’t know why she wanted to meet us, but we waited for over an hour before her assistant turned up,” said McCarrick. “She then asked us to detail what happened at the REM concert, but couldn’t hear us because we were so close to the stage. We ended up missing a large part of the show.”

MCD offered the couple six pairs of tickets to any show of their choosing after McCarrick threatened to bring a case for compensation to the small claims court. The civil servant no longer wants compensation but an admission that MCD mistreated him.

He decided to bring his case to the Equality Tribunal after being refused permission to talk about it on boards.ie, an internet forum. The website has banned all discussion of MCD events after the company sued it for hosting an alleged defamatory comment about security at the Oxegen festival in July.

Sophie Ridley, MCD’s event controller, said security staff stopped the couple because their “tablets and other substances” were not clearly identifiable. MCD was surprised the case had been put in the hands of lawyers, Ridley said, as the company believed the matter had been handled satisfactorily and “all proper procedures had been followed”.

Anna Clarke of the Diabetes Federation of Ireland says there is widespread discrimination against diabetics and people with serious medical conditions. “Security taking bottle caps from a diabetic person is simply discrimination,” she said. “It comes from a lack of awareness as to what diabetes is and that some diabetics need to carry carbohydrates at all times.

“A note from a doctor should always be enough to explain this.”

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

London, Aug 29: Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has got a certificate of an “incredible mother” from none other than her own mum Blythe Danner.

Praising her daughter's motherly skills, the Meet The Fockers actress has said that being a granny is “fabulous” and has given her a new lease of life. "Being a mother’s not the easiest job. Gwyneth’s an incredible one," the Sun quoted Blythe, 63, as saying.

Gwyneth, 33, has two kids with Coldplay rocker Chris Martin - two-year-old daughter Apple and four-month-old son Moses.

(CBS News) NEW YORK From jazz to hip-hop, New Orleans has played an important role in the development of American music. Because of its rich history, it holds a special place in the hearts of musicians from all over the world.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, musicians sprung into action – donating money, holding auctions and organizing benefit concerts.

Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005 and only a few days later, on September 2, musicians and celebrities from film and television gathered for a telethon called "A Concert For Hurricane Relief" which aired on NBC, CNBC, MSN and Pax.The event included performances by New Orleans natives Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Aaron Neville, Louisiana-born Tim McGraw, and Missippi native Faith Hill. In between performances, celebrities urged people to call in and donate money to the American Red Cross.

"A Concert For Hurricane Relief" received pledges totaling more than $50 million.

On Sept. 9, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, the WB and several cable networks, aired another telethon, "Shelter From The Storm: A Concert For The Gulf Coast." Viewers in nearly 100 countries were able to watch the telethon and performances by Bono, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Dr. John, Neil Young, Foo Fighters, Mariah Carey, Paul Simon, and Garth Brooks among others.

Approximately $30 million was pledged for the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

BET received $11 million in pledges from its telethon, "Saving Ourselves (SOS)," which featured performances by Diddy, Jay-Z, Patti Labelle, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, and Eryakah Badhu.

During the telethon, rapper Lil' Jon presented a check for $250,000; Queen Latifah donated $100,000; and Russell and Kimorah Lee Simmons donated $100,000.

On Sept. 10, VH1, MTV, and CMT held their telethon with performances by Usher, Green Day, Ludacris, Alicia Keys, Usher, Dave Matthews Band, Rob Thomas, John Mellencamp, Gretchen Wilson and many others.

On Sept. 17, Wynton Marsalis, Bill Cosby, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall performed at the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert for Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. The event was simulcast on National Public Radio and XM Satellite Radio.

Four years after receiving an outpouring of support and donations following the events of Sept. 11, New York had a chance to give back with "From The Big Apple To The Big Easy," a live concert that featured Cyndi Lauper, Elton John, Lenny Kravitz, Buckwheat Zydeco, Bette Midler and many others.

The Great American Country channel aired "Concert at the Grand Ole Opry on Sept. 27, with Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Keith Urban, Marty Stuart and others.

Many of the concerts were released on DVD with proceeds going to charity.

Several artists contributed songs to compilation albums, or gave proceeds from their own albums to charity.

EMI Group, SONYBMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Concord Music Group jointly released the compilation "Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now" in November. The album contains songs from a star-studded list of artists including Louis Armstrong, Dr. John and Fats Domino. Coldplay, Norah Jones, Wyclef Jean, John Mayer, James Brown, Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt, R. Kelly, Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

All of the record labels, publishers, songwriters and artists on the project waived 100 percent of their fees so that all proceeds could go to charity. The album's title track featured 27 diverse top artists from Aaron Carter to Celine Dion and The Game.

Other compilations included "Hip Hop Helps: After The Storm" with Young Buck, Lil Flip, David Banner; "Hurricane Katrina: We Gon' Bounce Back" featuring Master P, Paul Wall, and Krazy; and "I Believe To My Soul" featuring soul legends Ann Peebles, Billy Preston, Mavis Staples, Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint..

Steve Wonder and Prince are among the artists who released singles with a portion of record sales going to charity.

In addition to lending their voices to the cause, musicians donated funds and rolled up their sleeves to help clean up after the storm.

Ludacris donated $100,000 in support of hurricane victims, with some of the money going to provide 15 families affected by the storm with housing, food and help getting jobs.

Hilary Duff donated $200,000 to the American Red Cross and $50,000 to USA Harvest. She also encouraged fans to bring canned food donations to her concerts.

Celine Dion donated $1 million to the American Red Cross as did the Rolling Stones.

Paul Simon visited Biloxi, Mississippi on Sept. 5 to launch an organization that provided medical aid.

Dave Matthews Band donated around $1.5 million from a concert on Sept. 12 at Denver's Red Rocks Amphitheater to the American Red Cross.

Eminem donated $200,000 to the American Red Cross.

Rapper T.I. helped raise $263,000 during an Atlanta radio telethon, including $50,000 of his own money.

Rapper Young Jeezy opened up his mansion in Atlanta to shelter disaster victims, and Bo Bice invited a family to stay in his Alabama home.

The Game donated his Bentley — worth more than $250,000 — to Morgan Freeman's Charity Folks auction benefiting the American Red Cross.

Jay-Z and Diddy donated a combined $1 million to the American Red Cross and sent large amounts of clothing to hurricane survivors from their signature labels Roc-A-Wear and Sean John respectively.

Britney Spears donated grants through her foundation to Habitat For Humanity and the East Baton Rouge School System.

Spears also went to New Orleans in February for Mardi Gras where she visited a school in suburban Matairie, and took four girls from New Orleans shopping and to dine at one of Cajun chef Emeril's restaurants.

The Louisiana native also donated items for an online auction on Ebay benefiting hurricane victims. A black Gucci dress went for nearly $1,000 while a pink rabbit coat fetched more than $900.

On Sept. 4, singer Macy Gray went to the Houston Astrodome where she handed out clothing and toiletries to hurricane survivors who had fled to Texas.

New Orleans native Harry Connick visited the Superdome to speak to victims shortly after the hurricane. In addition, Connick helped organize the NBC-sponsored benefit "A Concert for Hurriane Relief," and was named honorary chairman for Habitat for Humanity's "Operation Home Delivery."

Connick teamed up with musician Branford Marsalis and Habitat for Humanity to create affordable housing for musicians of modest means in the area.

In June, 2006, Usher traveled to New Orleans where he joined dozens of volunteers to clear the overgrown lawn of the International School of Louisiana, the state's first foreign language-based charter school, which has been closed since Katrina hit Aug. 29.

Of course, musicians weren't the only celebrities that rose to the occasion. Dozens of actors participated in the telethons, making please for donations in between the musical performances.

Jay Leno asked guests to autograph a Harley-Davidson that was eventually auctioned for over $500,000. .

Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Julia Roberts, John Travolta and Oprah Winfrey all visited the area bringing supplies and comforting victims.

Winfrey also donated $10 million to relief funds.

Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner and Cicely Tyson joined a group of women brought to the area by the Children's Defense Fund to bring attention to the needs of storm victims, particularly traumatized children.

Many stars contributed items for Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman's online auction on CharityFolks.com.

Ellen Degeneres, who was born and raised near New Orleans and attended New Orleans University, was a tireless fundraiser for relief efforts. She raised over $10 million from individual and corporate sponsors.

Veteran fundraiser Jerry Lewis earmarked $1 million of funds raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association to go to the Salvation Army's disaster relief fund.

There were other celebrities too numerous to mention who donated their time and funds to help victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. For many, being able to help was an emotionally powerful experience.

"It is very humbling, but I loved every second of it," Macy Gray told the Associated Press, speaking about her visit to the Astrodome. "It was really gratifying and I had a great time."

Source: http://wjz.com

Ever since leaving drama school 12 years ago, Andrew Lincoln has led a charmed life. The son of a civil engineer, Lincoln – who perhaps wisely dropped his real surname, Clutterbuck – had been out of Rada for less than a year when he won the role of Egg, the day-dreaming law-firm drop-out in BBC2's This Life.

No wonder Lincoln is in such a cheerful mood; at the age of 32, his place in television history is already assured. The atmosphere only cools when I ask about reports that Apple Martin – daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin – was a bridesmaid at his wedding. "So was my goddaughter, Amber, and Gael's goddaughter as well – they all looked so beautiful, like three little Munchkins," he says.

"But I would rather not talk about how we met Apple's parents. The privacy laws in this country for megastars like those two guys are not good enough."

Read the full article here

Bertelsmann's decision to sell the music publisher that owns copyrights to songs by Coldplay and Christina Aguilera stems from its controlling family’s desire to avoid a flotation.

The German company, controlled by the Mohn family and an allied foundation, was faced with the choice of buying back a 25 percent stake held by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert or being forced into going public.

Bertelsmann opted to pay €4.5 billion (£3 billion) to buy out the minority investor, but to cut down the extra debt built up, it said that it would sell BMG Music Publishing, raising about €2 billion to help defray the cost.Liz Mohn, the head of the family, who is married to the ageing patriarch Reinhard, is thought to be suspicious of the public markets, concerned that a media company would come under pressure to make short-term decisions.

Thomas Middelhof, the company’s former chief executive was pushed out in 2002, after he made no secret of his desire to go for a flotation as a way of expanding the company. He was replaced by Gunther Thielen, the current chief executive, who is not willing to risk a breach with the family.

Although not an easy decision — Bertelsmann’s interest in music dates back many years — the German group reached the view that its investment in music had be sacrificed so it could maintain its leading position in European commercial television and English-language publishing.

As well as owning BMG, Bertelsmann owns Five, the British broadcaster, via its television subsidiary RTL, The Bill, through its production arm Fremantle Media, and The Da Vinci Code, via its publishing arm Random House. The German company is Europe’s biggest consumer media group, earning €1.04 billion last year.

Bertelsmann’s historic preference is to try to build market share ahead of going for maximum profitability, although under Herr Thielen, much of the business has been rationalised and its profit margins improved.

Bertelsmann had already signalled that it was losing interest in music when it moved its recorded music operation into a joint-venture with Sony. Once BMG is offloaded, the rationale for retaining a half interest in Sony BMG becomes limited, and few expect the joint-venture’s ownership to remain stable for long.

However, the German company is held back by Sony’s unwillingness to buy it out, amid its own difficulties, and the dismal commercial performance of Sony BMG.

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

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. media conglomerate Viacom has teamed up with private equity group Apollo to submit an offer for BMG Music Publishing in a bid battle that could top 1.5 billion euros (1 billion pounds), sources close to the matter said.

BMG Music Publishing, which owns the rights to thousands of songs including hits by Christina Aguilera and Coldplay, is being sold by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann to help finance a 4.5 billion-euro buyback of a minority stake in the company.

The Viacom/Apollo group submitted its offer by a deadline of Thursday, the sources said on Friday. Warner Music Group also bid, and Vivendi's Universal Music was also planning to turn in an offer, the sources said.Bertelsmann originally sent financial information about BMG Music Publishing to 15 suitors, and this group was later halved after the initial bidding.

Other suitors originally in the frame included a consortium of EMI Group with U.S. buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, although one of the sources said the pair did not submit an offer by Thursday's deadline. Sony Music had also decided not to bid, the sources said.

It was not immediately clear whether Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR, which sources said was mulling its options, had submitted a bid.

One of the sources said BMG, which is being advised by JP Morgan and Citigroup, would sift through the bids over the next week to ten days and then inform prospective buyers as to the next stage.

Music publishers earn money from CD and download sales, in what are known as mechanical royalties. They are also paid when songs are performed live or when they are played in films or TV programmes, which means publishers have been shielded from some of the piracy problems that have plagued the music industry.

Bertelsmann reported that music publishing generated 372.4 million euros of revenue in 2005, but it did not disclose operating profit or margins. The music-publishing arm, established in 1987, "had its most successful year to date, again generating double-digit return on sales," Bertelsmann said.

Universal Music has been considered by many in the industry as a frontrunner in the auction in part because it could likely find big cost savings by combining BMG's massive operation with its own. Although it is the world's biggest seller of recorded music, Vivendi's publishing arm trails some of its rivals. Vivendi also said earlier this year it is looking to expand its music-publishing business by acquisition.

BMG, Warner, EMI and the private equity firms all declined to comment or could not immediately be reached for comment.

LONDON - BMG Music Publishing, which publishes music from artists including Coldplay and Robbie Williams, has launched a B2B pop music web portal, enabling companies to choose music for film, TV and commercial productions.

The song search website, BMG Music Search, has been developed in conjunction with web consultancy bit10 and includes thousands of music tracks online.

Christopher Newman, head of new media at BMG, said: "The BMG Music Search website puts the BMG catalogue online, making it much easier for broadcasters, producers and advertisers to search, listen and licence thousands of pop and classical titles. Now clients can surf our website to find the tracks that they want and we can then send them a broadcast quality version of the song via a secure download link over email."

Richina Pacific's Mainzeal contruction arm has again delayed the finish date for the $80 million Vector Arena in central Auckland, forecasting more cost overuns for a project that is already a year overdue.

Mainzeal was supposed to have completed the 12,200 seat covered stadium in the middle of last year, but a spate of problems, including alterations to its unusual curved roof, have plagued the project and inflated costs by up to $12 million.

The delays forced rock band Coldplay and rap star 50 Cent to sidestep Auckland this year because it is the only purpose built covered stadium suitable for concerts of that size.Earlier this year Richina Pacific pushed back the initial mid-2005 deadline to the end of August this year, but chief executive Richard Yan said this deadline would now not be met. He would not say when the arena would be completed by. "But it would be well before the end of the year," he said.

Releasing its half-year results on Tuesday Richina Pacific said that there would also be some additional cost over-runs from the project.

Mainzeal had earlier made a provision of US$7.3 million ($12 million) for losses on the arena as well as an Auckland apartment block. Mr Yan - who relocated to Auckland earlier this year to sort out the poorly performing Mainzeal - said there would now be a "small amount" of additional losses but he would not say how much.

Mainzeal has also taken legal action against the US architecture firm - Crawford Architects - that designed the arena for $1 million. Mr Yan said he believed they had a very strong claim against the firm. "It's going through the normal legal process and will probably take a couple of years."

Richina Pacific posted a after tax profit of US$3.6 million (NZ$5.7 million) for the six months to June 30, up 15 per cent on the year before. Revenue was US$240.2 million, up 2.1 per cent. However the company's operating cashflows were minus US$13.1 million compared to minus US$8.3 million in the June 2005 half.

Richina Pacific had US$17.93 million in cash on hand at the end of June.

Mr Yan said the company typically used cash in its first half to build up stock. This year the negative cashflow situation had been exacerbated by the losses from the arena and Scene Apartment projects, he said. Even though Richina made provisions for the losses last year "the actual physical cash goes out as we finish the projects, Mr Yan said.

Listed in New Zealand and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Richina has most of its assets in China, where it owns about 20 subsidiaries - mainly in leather-related industries - bought from the Chinese government.

The company's strategy is to convert many of its industrial sites in and around Shanghai into commercial property developments. Richina said it expected to deliver an improved second half result.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz

The world's largest music company is backing a deal that will allow consumers to download music for free.

The new service, involving New York-based SpiralFrog and Universal Music Group, will rely on advertising to create revenue, representing a departure from Apple's 79p-a-song offering in the UK and other legal download services which at present charge a subscription fee.

SpiralFrog is initially planning to launch its free service in Canada and the US in December. It is hoping to launch in the UK and other European markets by next March and the Far East at some future date.

The move reflects the willingness of music companies to experiment as they try to cash in on some of the benefits from the boom in digital distribution which is still dominated by illegal file-sharing networks.

A report published last month by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) claimed 40 illegal downloads were made for every legal one in the US. The ratio, believed to be much the same in the UK, costs the music industry tens of millions of pounds in lost revenue each year.

Glasgow-based rock band Snow Patrol, U2, and American singer Gwen Stefani are among artists tied to Universal whose music could be downloaded free as part of the new service. SpiralFrog has also held talks with EMI, Sony-BMG and Warner Music and hopes they may be lured by the surge in advertising which could be on the site.

Should agreement be reached, music by EMI artists who include Coldplay, Robbie Williams, and Pink Floyd; Annie Lennox, Alicia Keys, and Rod Stewart who are signed up with Sony-BMG; and Madonna, Daniel Powter and REM from the Warner Music stable could also be downloaded free. SpiralFrog says half of the advertising revenue generated would be paid to the record labels.

Robin Kent, SpiralFrog's chief executive officer, said: "Offering young consumers an easy-to-use alternative to pirated music sites will be compelling. SpiralFrog will offer those consumers a better experience and environment than they can get from any pirate site."

Lance Ford, chief marketing and sales officer with SpiralFrog, said: "Record labels get no money from pirated songs which makes it a very bad financial situation for them. We hope to change the behaviour of a generation of teenagers and 20-somethings who won't pay for music because they know they can get it for free. We are going to try and launch with as much content as we can. Anything we don't have we are hopeful of getting as the site becomes more established."

Mr Ford said the new service would not be compatible with Apple's iTunes. He said it was not in direct competition to iTunes and could even benefit it because people using SpiralFrog's service may go back to iTunes to buy a song after hearing it for free.

Josh Lawler, a US-based music industry legal specialist, said news of the new service was "inevitable". He said questions over how artists would be paid may make some reluctant to agree to the free service. "SpiralFrog will have to find a way to pay artists from the advertising dollars they are generating," he added. "But they're not necessarily going to know how many advertising dollars there are and so some artists are going to be hesitant about it."

The music download industry is a vastly growing market. According to the IFPI, 60 million MP3 players were sold last year while 420 million single tracks were downloaded during the same period, 20 times higher than the number in 2003.

Source: http://www.theherald.co.uk

EMI Group Plc., the world's third- largest music company, and affiliate Capitol Records, Inc. must face a suit by representatives of the Beatles claiming the companies improperly "pocketed millions of dollars'' in music royalties from the band.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Karla Moskowitz denied EMI's request that the suit for fraud and breach of contract be thrown out. The complaint seeks to reclaim rights to all of the master recordings by the defunct British rock band, said Beatles lawyer Paul LiCalsi.

"It's a great win for us,'' said LiCalsi, a lawyer with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in New York. "It's been a very complicated and long-standing relationship between them. We're now being allowed to have a chance to show that there's a higher than simple contractual duty.'' The dispute between the Beatles, Capitol and London-based EMI dates back three decades, Moskowitz said in a Aug. 23 ruling, to when the Beatles alleged in a 1979 suit that the companies underpaid the band by more than $20 million. The Beatles' company Apple Corps Ltd. is also a plaintiff.

A settlement was reached in that case in 1989, LiCalsi said, granting the band and Apple increased royalty rates and requiring EMI and Capitol to follow more stringent auditing requirements. The lawyer said a recent audit uncovered fraud, triggering the filing of the new lawsuit in December.

The Beatles, including the estate of the late George Harrison and John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, claimed that EMI and Capitol wrongly classified copies of Beatles recordings as destroyed or damaged, and secretly sold them for more than $19 million, retaining the proceeds.

The suit also claimed the music company underreported the number of units sold. The Beatles are seeking at least $25 million in damages and unspecified punitive damages, LiCalsi said. The band's representatives said the record companies had exercised a "half-century exclusive right to exploit commercially the Beatles' recordings on a worldwide basis,'' Judge Moskowitz said today.

EMI argued in court papers that the suit is an attempt to "dress up a contract claim,'' and that it should be dismissed as untimely and because a fiduciary relationship no longer exists between the company and the band.

Anthony Diana, a lawyer for EMI and Capitol with the law firm of Mayer Brown Rose & Maw in New York, didn't return a call seeking comment. A spokesman for EMI wasn't immediately available for comment.

The company abandoned last month a third effort to buy Warner Music Group and form the world's second-biggest music company after a European Union court decision dimmed the prospects for regulatory approval.

EMI and New York-based Warner Music each offered about $4.6 billion for the other in June. EMI had been trying since 2000 to buy Warner. The combined company would have had a quarter of the market, moving ahead of Sony BMG to rank behind Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group.

EMI, with artists including Coldplay, has long been strong in the U.K., while Warner is known for U.S. acts including Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the U.S. last year, Warner had a 17.3 percent market share to EMI's 10.4 percent, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

The case is: Apple Corps Ltd, Apple Records et al v. Capitol Records Inc. and EMI Records Limited, No. 05-604385, New York Supreme Court, New York County.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com