Rolls-Royce has joined with MTV to raise $25,000 for the Staying Alive Foundation, a global organisation dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Rolls-Royce provided a new Phantom for last year’s MTV European Music Awards in Lisbon and invited artists to autograph the back seat. By the end of the event more than 20 major celebrities had signed.

The seat was then removed from the Phantom and turned into the world’s most exclusive sofa by Nick Gutfreund, an up-and-coming UK furniture designer and maker. It was subsequently bought by Hard Rock for $25,000 with the proceeds donated by Rolls-Royce to the Staying Alive Foundation. The cheque was handed over last Friday at Hard Rock’s 35th birthday celebrations in London.Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chairman and Chief Executive, Ian Robertson, said, "We are delighted to have been involved with MTV and Hard Rock on such an innovative project, and one that has raised a considerable sum of money to assist Staying Alive in their continued efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS."

MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation (www.staying-alive.org) promotes and supports young people everywhere who are protecting themselves and their communities against the multiple threats posed by the spread of HIV and AIDS. The Foundation does this by presenting the Staying Alive Award annually, to young individuals and youth groups who are focused on stopping the spread of HIV, and who have demonstrated the potential to become future leaders.

Bill Roedy, President of MTV Networks International and chair of the Staying Alive Foundation, said: "Business collaboration is vital in the battle against HIV and AIDS. This money will go to supporting grass roots education and prevention projects and we are grateful to Rolls-Royce and Hard Rock for making this possible."

"This one-of-a-kind piece from MTV and Rolls-Royce is a unique addition to our iconic memorabilia collection," said Hamish Dodds, President and CEO, Hard Rock International. "MTV has played an incredible role in HIV prevention and we at Hard Rock are proud of the role we continue to play in promoting pop culture, and keeping audiences aware and engaged in important causes throughout the world."

Peter McLachlan, from Peter MC Ltd, brought MTV, Rolls-Royce and Hard Rock together to form this unique partnership.

Celebrities who signed the sofa included Anastacia, Black Eyed Peas, Brittany Murphy, Coldplay, Nelly Furtado, Craig David, Bob Geldof, Shakira and Akon. Then also, Alison Goldfrapp, Chemical Brothers, Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen), footballer Diego Luna, Foo Fighters, actor Gael Garcia Bernal, Green Day, Formula 1 driver Jenson Button, footballer Luis Figo, Sean Paul, Shaggy, Sugababes, TATU and the MTV presenters Tim Kash and Trevor Nelson.

Source: http://easier.com

Anybody watching BBC1 early Saturday evening would have witnessed a mesmerising display of passion and precision: stirring highs, gut-wrenching lows and a surprise victory by a veteran team whom some had written off but who have recently enjoyed a spectacular return to form.

By which I mean the closing montage screened after England's grimly predictable elimination by Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.

To my mind, the BBC's farewell-England montage is one of the unacknowledged highlights of any international football tournament. I love the editing-room wizardry, the way the action dips and soars in unison with the music, the speed at which the BBC team must have cut together those miserable missed penalties during the pundits' post mortem.While the pre-tournament songs are obliged to exude gung-ho optimism (or, in the case of Embrace, half-hearted wishful thinking), the one selected for the closing montage has a heavier burden to shoulder. With millions of dejected viewers slumped in their sofas, it's a kind of catharsis.

In 1996, when England's vanquisher was Germany, Cast's Walk Away was used and became a kind of funeral march for Britpop's golden age. In 2004 (Portugal again), the BBC missed a trick by not choosing Dry Your Eyes by the Streets, but the fans took matters into their own hands by singing "Dry your eyes, Becks." This year, if bookies had been taking bets, the favourites would surely have been those British bands - Coldplay, Keane, Snow Patrol, Athlete - whose ouevre is tailor-made to accompany shots of Steven Gerrard gazing dolefully at his boots. Instead, the honour went to the Pet Shop Boys' operatically depressive ballad Numb, from their Fundamental album.

Before Saturday I thought it was one of the album's weaker moments, but here it was perfect: the slow build soundtracking all the missed chances, the explosive chorus heralding the goals, the line "about to lose my mind" chiming with Rooney's red card, the final bleak descent into failure and the message of blank denial: "I don't want to think, I don't want to feel nothing, I just wanna be numb." Arsenal fan Chris Lowe did produce Ian Wright's 1993 single Do The Right Thing and at the end of every match the stadium PA plays a terrible rewrite of their hit Go West, but the Pet Shop Boys were a wonderfully improbable choice. Factor in the pre-match montage, which employed Joy Division's Atmosphere, and at least it was a good day for fans of superior '80s pop.

Numb's sudden appearance in the iTunes chart confirms that, as music videos decline in importance, montages are becoming a potent way to sell a tune. On US TV they have become essential to every season finale; the careers of Imogen Heap and Zero 7 vocalist Sia Furler were boosted incalculably by the use of their songs in closing montages for The OC and Six Feet Under respectively.

Months, or even years, of emotional engagement are poured into those three or four minutes. Even the most acclaimed music video of recent years, Johnny Cash's Hurt, was a montage of scenes from his life. We are drawn ever more strongly to retrospectives and epitaphs.

If you're in a band, never mind trying to write the official Euro 2008 song. Aim for the montage instead.

Source: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is set to return to the big screen - playing a spurned bride.

She took a break from Hollywood to raise her two children with Coldplay's Chris Martin, Apple and Moses. Now she will star in comedy Seven Day Itch with Ben Stiller.

According to US reports, Paltrow, 33, plays Stiller's new wife. And she's less than happy when he meets the girl of his dreams on his honeymoon. The Farrelly Brothers - who directed Paltrow in 2001's Shallow Hal - are at the helm. The new movie is a remake of 1972 comedy The Heartbreak Kid.

Source: http://dailyrecord.co.uk

We [more specifically 104.7 Triple M] will try to fix all you broken-hearted Coldplay fans who missed out on tickets.

In conjunction with Triple M and the New Zoo crew, John Blackman, Jane Reilly, Scott McBain and Cosi - there are two gold double-passes to win today and tomorrow. (Coldplay performs at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre tomorrow night).

For your chance to score, take note of today's Coldplay codeword: APPLE. Then, listen to 104.7 Triple M's New Zoo between 8-8.30am today to find out how to win. If you miss out today, all is not lost - grab (Confidential) again tomorrow and listen to Triple M.

Grab your earmuffs and duck for cover, the popstars are on the attack.

Yes, after suffering years of abuse for musical crimes that they did commit, a crack team of popstars has decided to hit back. Literally.

The ‘drama’ (work with us here, we’re trying to make this thing exciting) began on a wee stage in a wee park in London. Hyde Park, to be exact. As Sharleen Spiteri belted out one of those instantly forgettable Texas classics, someone decided to lob their shoe at her.“**** *** *** ******* ****,” Spiteri allegedly said (forgive us if this interpretation is not entirely accurate, the woman is unintelligible).

Meanwhile, in leafy suburb of London, Chris Martin was busy barracking a Coldplay fan. Or former Coldplay fan.

As the woeful wonder unloaded his car, it seems that the woman decided to point out that his music was rubbish. Wver the diplomat, the singer retorted by calling her fat. “I advised her to go to Weight watchers,” Martin mused about the altercation.

Which might be sage advice for the woman in question, but it's not something that Noel and Liam’s mum will be suggesting.

In fact, the Oasis singers’ mum is so desperate to fatten them up for Christmas that she’s ordered them back to Manchester for some “homemade dinner”.

Now, whether this story has an iota of truth in it remains to be seen, but we’ll plunder on regardless.

Peggy – a former dinner lady – was flabbergasted when she heard that her young champs were keen to lose their chump. “She is terrified that they will start wasting away,” a source told The Sun. So she’s ordered them to stop eating “that poncy muck you get in London.” Of course she did.

And finally, Kate Moss is back in therapy. And that's exactly where we'll all be if she carries on like this.

Source: http://itv.com

UK music giant EMI is considering raising its bid for US rival Warner Music to £2.6 billion as the takeover tug-of-war between the two groups continues.

The move would come just days after EMI - home to Coldplay, the Gorillaz and Robbie Williams - announced it had rejected a 320p-a-share offer from Warner, which valued the London-based company at £2.54bn.

The Warner bid itself came in response to an earlier £2.52bn offer from EMI, which the US firm rejected.Analysts expect the firms to reach an agreement in the coming fortnight, but it was claimed Warner may have to raise its offer to as high as 400p a share in order to be successful.

If the two groups can agree a takeover, the head of EMI's music division, Alain Levy, could net more than £16m.

It is thought he would receive a lump sum severance payment of more than £1m, a further bonus payment and retirement benefits, plus share options that could be £13.4m if EMI were to agree a takeover offer of 350p a share.

British music firm EMI Group Plc is considering raising its bid for smaller U.S. rival Warner Music Group Corp. to $33 a share from $31, the Observer newspaper said in an unsourced report on Sunday.

London-based EMI and Warner Music are locked in a takeover battle, with each trying to acquire the other to create a combined company that would shrink the industry to three main players.

EMI, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said on Friday it had rejected a 2.5 billion pound ($4.6 billion) cash offer from Warner and that that it had sweetened its bid for the U.S. firm, which features artists including Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to $31 a share, or $4.6 billion in total, from its original May offer of $28.50. EMI was not immediately available for comment.

Warner Music addressed fears it was struggling to line up sufficient funding for its £2.6bn (E3.76bn, $4.8bn) bid for rival EMI last week by securing a formal guarantee from investment banks Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs to underwrite the debt.

The details of the financing, seen by The Business, will reassure the board of EMI, which had concerns.

EMI and Warner, the world’s third and fourth-largest music groups, are bidding to buy each other.In a document known as a “highly confident” letter sent to Warner from its adviser Goldman Sachs dated 27 June, it uses banking terminology that is akin to a full commitment to funding the deal.

It reads: “… we are pleased to inform you that, as of date hereof, we are highly confident that the sale and placement of the securities and the structuring and syndication of the credit facility can be accomplished by the banks as part of the financing for the acquisition as described above.”

This means that the two banks have committed to raising the capital from third parties in different tranches of debt. The transaction has passed through the banks’ internal processes and the risk now lies on the balance sheet of Lehman and Goldman, which are committed to raising the funds in the event Warner’s bid is sucecssful.

The “highly confident” letter is a standard tool that gives Warner solid comfort that no matter what happens in the debt markets between now and when they might need to call on the cash, Lehman and Goldman have effectively underwritten the amount.

EMI, which has signed Robbie Williams and Coldplay, made an increased all-cash $31-a-share bid for Warner last week, which was rejected. Warner in turn bid 315p a share for EMI, which was also rejected.

Source: http://www.thebusinessonline.com

Nelly Furtado is back with a sexier, dance-floor sound, and the result is proving commercially potent - the Canadian singer has the new No. 1 album on the U.S. pop chart with her third CD, "Loose."

The album, which sold 219,000 copies in its first week in stores, opened strong thanks to "Promiscuous," a radio hit of the moment that benefited from the presence of Timbaland, who is on hand as a producer for 10 of the album's 13 tracks.

The album finds Furtado in her familiar mode of eclectic music styles: There's room enough on the CD for her to flirt with reggaeton, folk, pop and hip-hop and the credits include collaborators as far-flung as Colombian star Juanes and Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Read the full review here

When anxious mum-of-two Mandy Sellers watches hubby Piers blast off to space from the roof of the Kennedy Space Center today she will take comfort that her husband is carrying a little reminder of home.

For each morning, as Piers is woken by Houston controllers, the song Clocks by Coldplay will be played in to the shuttle Discovery.

The track was chose for him by his family - Mandy, Imogen, 21, and Tom, 18. "All four of us love it," says Mandy.Going into space was a boyhood dream for Piers, from Crowborough, East Sussex. Speaking on the eve of the launch, Mandy described her pride in an exclusive interview with The Daily Mirror.

"I'll just stand there with my fingers crossed and my arms round my kids and feel very proud," the 50-year-old from Hebden Bridge, West Yorks, says. "He's wanted to do this since he was a little boy. I'm the grounded one and he's the risk-taker."

Piers, 51, will be doing three spacewalks on his 13-day mission to test safety changes introduced to the fleet after the 2003 Columbia disaster that killed all seven crew. It is his second trip to the stars, having been up with Atlantis in 2002.

It has been a long journey to this moment for the couple who met in Leeds. He was studying biometeorology, she was a student nurse. To pursue his space dream he needed to go to the US and two years after they married she found herself in Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC, with three suitcases and just 60 dollars in cash. Two days later, Piers started work as a research scientist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre. When Piers was finally accepted into Nasa's astronaut training corps in 1996, they moved to Houston, Texas, the heart of Nasa's astronaut community.

There have been sacrifices along the way and Mandy, who has continued nursing, shares the longings of all those who have been moved away from their roots. Mandy and Piers have raised their children to know their British background. "They were born in America but we've got two British kids really, with British ways. They say things like "biscuits" instead of "cookies," says Mandy.

BUT it is only she and her husband who truly know what it is to miss things like Marmite and English pubs. When they go home to visit family, takeaway fish and chips is one of the first meals on the menu. "And we miss curry so much it's unbelievable," she sighs. "I'm still homesick for England."

Mandy won't be the only one at the launch pad with her fingers crossed. Also at Florida's Cape Canaveral are Piers's mother Lyndsay, 78, and his four brothers. Three have flown in from Britain and one from New Zealand - along with their wives and 10 children. They all know there is extra danger attached to this mission which some say should not go ahead. Her mother-in-law Lyndsay, from Elstead, Surrey, says: "Poor Mandy is probably suffering more this time than last time," she reveals.

"Columbia comes into our feelings, you can't avoid that. I have spent an awful lot of time talking to God - he's getting an earful from me at the moment!" The last proper chance for the family to wave farewell was on Thursday when they joined the rest of the crew for a barbecue at a beach house on a remote stretch of sand at Kennedy Space Center.

It won't be Mandy'a last word. Shortly before the scheduled take-off, she tucked a letter into the few personal effects Piers will take into space. And only when he's thousands of miles above Earth will he find his personal message of love and support from the wife who helped him get up there.

Source: http://mirror.co.uk

Last Canada Day weekend, CTV presented 18 hours of television that joined together over 10 million Canadians to hear music with a message.

Now, one year later, CTV revisits Live 8 with the new 90-minute MTV special Live8: What A Difference A Day Made, airing Saturday, July 1 at 12 midnight exclusively on CTV. The special will air as part of the MTVonCTV branded block. Once again, CTV will join the world in an international broadcasting event when the special is also broadcast to 480 million households on MTV Networks worldwide.

With a special introduction by Live 8 founder Sir Bob Geldof, Live8: What A Difference A Day Made provides a retrospective on how far the world has traveled since the historic event last July and why it's important to remember one year later.Live8: What A Difference A Day Made includes a selection of highlights from the most inspirational performances and presentations that took place across 10 cities last July 2, including Barrie, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Philadelphia, Moscow and Edinburgh. Live8: What A Difference A Day Made relives the moments when U2, Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, Madonna, Youssou N'Dour and Dido, Robbie Williams, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Paul McCartney and others captured the hope and optimism of the world and rallied the crowds to fight against poverty in Africa and to lobby the G8 leaders to makes promises on debt relief, AIDS drugs, trade tariffs and education.

Live8: What A Difference A Day Made will air on MTV's channels in the lead-up the 2006 G8 Summit on July 15 in St. Petersburg, Russia where G8 leaders are expected to discuss international issues such as global energy security, infectious diseases and education.

Reaching an audience of over 10-million Canadians, CTV's 18-plus hour broadcast featured every act from the Canadian event in Barrie, ON, while weaving in the international acts from every single concert around the world.

Source: http://www.broadcastermagazine.com

A year after the historic Live 8 global concerts, one of the organizations behind the massive events has issued a report card on the Group of 8's promises to Africa on aid and debt relief.

The results? If the G8 were high school seniors, they might be in for some summer school.

"Live 8 was and remains a brilliant moment, but what is more important is the brilliant movement of which it was a part," said U2's Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) and One.org, which issued the report. "This gives the poorest of the poor real political muscle for the first time. ... It is this movement of church people and trade unions, soccer moms and student activists, that will carry the spirit of Live 8 on," Bono said of the concerts, which featured everyone from Coldplay, Madonna and Will Smith to Green Day, Velvet Revolver and Sir Paul McCartney (see "Jay-Z, U2, Madonna, Pink Floyd Deliver Live 8 Highlights").Despite ambitious pledges by the G8 — the international assembly of world leaders who announced plans to accelerate economic development in Africa at the Gleneagles summit five days after Live 8 — the report says the rate of change is "painfully slow." The goals for Africa by 2010 include providing access to life-saving treatments to 4 million Africans with HIV/ AIDS, saving 600,000 children from malaria each year and allowing 30 million children to attend school.

According to DATA, the U.S. has increased its development-assistance pledges but is increasingly off-track in meeting them and, in general, the G8 is moving slowly in the effort to meet its promises.

The DATA Report, which will be issued annually from now on, found that the G8 "strode forward down the promised path on debt, but have shuffled at half-pace on aid, and fell backwards on trade," according to Jamie Drummond, executive director of DATA. "The campaigners around the world who got the G8 close to the right path in the first place must now encourage them to accelerate down it. After a slow start in 2005 a faster pace is now needed, or the G8 Africa targets will be missed."

The G8 had agreed to cancel 100 percent of the debts owed to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank by some of the poorest, most indebted countries. That pledge has been met for 19 countries; 44 are eligible under World Bank and International Monetary Fund programs.

Among the report's findings:

The U.S. increased development assistance to Africa by $480 million in 2005, but that was far below the pace needed to reach the promise of doubling assistance to Africa pledged by President Bush. The U.S. would need to increase development assistance to Africa by $720 million this year in order to meet its Gleneagles promise.

On establishing a world-trade deal beneficial to African development, the report found the G8 actually losing ground. A recent round of development negotiations is on the verge of collapse and no new proposals appear on the horizon.

On development assistance, DATA's numbers suggest that the G8 spent an extra $1.6 billion on Africa in 2005, but in order to stay on a schedule that will allow the countries to meet their 2010 commitments, they must collectively increase development assistance to Africa by $3.9 billion this year and each year after. So far, France is the only G8 country that looks likely to meet its 2010 development-assistance goals. The U.S., U.K. and Italy increased aid to Africa in 2005, but Germany maintained its former level of contribution and Canada decreased aid in 2005.

There was good news on the fight against HIV/ AIDS in Africa, with 810,000 Africans receiving HIV/ AIDS treatment in 2005, up from 100,000 in 2003.

There was also good news on debt cancellation, with the G8 on track to meet its commitments. In the 19 nations where debt relief has been enacted, the impact is already being felt: In Zambia, user fees have been abolished for basic healthcare and thousands more doctors, nurses and teachers are getting paid using these freed-up funds. In Tanzania, newly free resources are being used to import free or heavily subsidized food for the nation's 3.7 million people at risk of hunger due to drought.

Source: http://mtv.com

One year on from the historic Live8 concert, MTV Networks International is celebrating the first anniversary of the momentous music event by airing a new special called Live8: What A Difference A Day Made, through a partnership with Network LIVE.

An estimated three billion people from all over the world watched Live8, billed as the greatest show on earth, where the creme of the world's music artists came together to perform with one message -- make poverty history.

Beginning 2nd July 2006, in recognition of the day that music changed the world, MTV Networks will premiere the 90-minute special to its network of 50, reaching 480 million households around the world in major markets including US, Japan, UK, France, Germany and Latin America. In addition to providing viewers the chance to relive the music spectacular of Live8, Bob Geldof will introduce the programme by giving a retrospective on how far we have travelled since the historic event and why it's important to remember one year later.The programme is a selection of highlights from most inspirational performances and presentations that took place across 10 cities including London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Ontario, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Philadelphia, Moscow and Edinburgh. Live8: What A Difference A Day Made relives the moments when U2, Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, Madonna, Youssou N'Dour and Dido, Robbie Williams, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Paul McCartney and others captured the hope and optimism of the world and rallied the crowds to fight against poverty in Africa and to lobby the G8 leaders to makes promises on debt relief, AIDS drugs, trade tariffs and education.

Live8: What A Difference A Day Made, distributed by Network LIVE, will air on MTV's channels in the lead up the G8 Summit 2006 on 15 July in St Petersburg, Russia where G8 leaders are expected to discuss international issues such as global energy security, infectious diseases and education. Live8 was executive produced by Network Live CEO Kevin Wall.

MTV has a long history of providing a platform in support of pro social issues, and regularly offers its audiences opportunities for direct dialogue with world leaders. In 2005 in the week leading to the G8 Summit and Live8 concerts UK Prime Minister and Chair of the G8 summit Tony Blair and Live8's leading force Bob Geldof took tough questions on African poverty, debt relief and Bush policies on climate control from MTV viewers representing 24 countries around the world -- including 7 African nations.

In addition, MTV's pro-social activities include the award-winning Staying Alive campaign. Launched in 1998, Staying Alive is a multimedia global HIV and AIDS prevention campaign that challenges stigma and discrimination associated with HIV AIDS as well empowers young people to protect themselves from infection. The Emmy award-winning campaign consists of documentaries, public service announcements, youth forums and Web content. Staying Alive provides all its television programming rights-free and at no cost to 3rd party broadcasters globally to get crucial prevention messages out to the widest possible audience.

For more information on Live8 and the issues it was set up to address, please visit http://www.live8live.com/

It pays to be "Promiscuous," propelled by the Timbaland-produced hit, Nelly Furtado`s album 'Loose' arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week.

The Mosley/Geffen/Interscope album, the Canadian singer`s third, reaped first-week sales of 219,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ended June 25. Furtado`s previous personal best - her 2000 debut, 'Whoa, Nelly!' - peaked at No. 24, ultimately selling 2.4 million units.

Florida Christian metal act Underoath`s second full-length album, 'Define the Great Line,' makes its debut at No. 2 on the album chart. The collection, released by Christian rock specialists Tooth & Nail, sold 98,000 copies in its first week. Dixie Chicks` 'Taking the Long Way' (Columbia) dips one notch to No. 3. The country trio`s collection, which debuted at No. 1, scored sales of 87,000 in the its fifth chart week.

Melodic English rock unit Keane`s sophomore collection, 'Under the Iron Sea' (Interscope), pulls in at No. 4. The Coldplay-esque trio attains its highest U.S. chart position to date with a 75,000-unit debut week.

'The Big Bang,' rapmaster Busta Rhymes` No. 1 debut of last week, cools off and falls to No. 5, with a 67 percent sales decline and a second-week tally of 69,000 units. Disney`s 'High School Musical' soundtrack continues at a fairly torrid pace after nearly six months on the chart; it drops two positions to No. 6, marking a comparatively modest slip of 17 percent and sales of 66,000.

Atlanta hip-hop duo Field Mob`s 'Light Poles and Pine Trees' climbs onboard the chart at No. 7. The latest Dirty South phenoms` label debut for Geffen sold 63,000 units.

Seven proves a lucky number for Gnarls Barkley: After six weeks bubbling under the top 10, the duo of Cee-Lo Green and Danger Mouse gain three positions and hit No. 8 with their suave neo-soul release 'St. Elsewhere.' The Downtown/Atlantic title sold 58,000.

Completing the top 10 are punksters AFI`s 'Decemberunderground' (Interscope), which drops six slots to No. 9 with 57,000 sold, and the Disney soundtrack for the animated feature 'Cars,' down four positions to No. 10 with 56,000 sold.

EMI Group and Warner Music Group (WMG) stepped on each other's feet in their long-running merger dance as each disclosed in dueling press releases Wednesday that it offered to buy the other this week - to no avail.

On Tuesday night, Warner rejected a $4.7 billion cash offer from EMI. But in a move that took some analysts by surprise, Warner turned around and bid $4.6 billion in cash for its British rival.

EMI says its board "unanimously rejected" Warner's offer because the price doesn't account for "EMI's prospects, the potential synergy benefits of a combination of the two companies and the range of strategic options available to EMI."It added that it still believes its proposal to pay $31 a share for Warner "would be very attractive to both sets of shareholders."

In response, Warner said it rejected EMI's offer partly because it required Warner first to sell its Warner/Chappell Music publishing unit, which would "increase execution risk." Warner said it still believes its offer would be "value-enhancing to EMI shareholders."

The news sent EMI shares up 8.4% in London while WMG, which trades here, rose 3.2% to $28.11.

"I haven't seen a good, old-fashioned bidding war like this since the

80s," says Wachovia Capital Markets analyst Bishop Cheen. "You'd have to think there's some sort of marriage here. But I couldn't handicap who's going to get whom."

EMI and Warner Music have tried to combine since 2000 as they've grappled with an industry-wide slowdown and watched merging rivals take center stage. Universal leads with 26% of global sales, and Sony BMG has 20%, according to Credit Suisse.

By contrast, EMI - whose roster includes Coldplay, Norah Jones, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones - has 14%. Warner - with Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, and Gnarls Barkley - has 12%.

The companies could save an estimated $250 million by joining forces and eliminating redundancies, but they'd have a tough time reaching the altar.

In terms of publishing rights, EMI is the No. 1 music publisher and Warner is No. 2. That likely would arouse the interest of U.S. and European antitrust officials.

In addition, EMI Group Chairman Eric Nicoli and Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. are strong personalities, unlikely to share power.

"It's like American Idol: Somebody is going home after this," Cheen says.

Warner's bid for EMI goes against the conventional wisdom it would be the one to go on the block. About 72% of Warner's stock is owned by private equity investors, who helped to buy the company for $2.6 billion from Time Warner in 2004. And their aggressive efforts to slash costs, including a 30% cut in the artist roster, seemed to indicate that they were eager for a quick payoff.

Source: http://9news.com

Be careful about putting the word "rejects" in your rock band; people might take the name seriously.

That's especially true if you give an interview that includes joking about women having no "sense of rationality and direction." That's how singer Tyson Ritter of the band All-American Rejects characterizes how he thinks "like a woman" while writing songs.

In addition, the band seems to have disdain for the music of Coldplay, about whom Ritter says: "it's the same beat on every song with that band."

The discourse reaches a high/low mark when Ritter asks bandmate Chris Gaylor: "You know why you're gay?" "You like Coldplay," responds the drummer.The band is touring the UK in the wake of the success of their single, "Dirty Little Secret," which uses material from the popular website Postsecret.com, where real people send in confessions on decorated postcards.

It's too soon to tell what the fanbase for All-American Rejects will eventually be, but they may have an uphill battle wooing women. Or Coldplay fans.

Source: http://www.tmz.com

British music company EMI Group Plc rejected an approach worth 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) from smaller U.S. rival Warner Music Group, saying on Wednesday the offer was "wholly unacceptable".

Warner Music's 320 pence per share move on EMI was an attempt to take control of the company that has been pursuing it. EMI shares rose 9.6 percent to set a four-year high at 311 pence in early trading.

On May 3, Warner Music, the world's fourth largest music company and home to Green Day and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, rejected a $4.2 billion approach worth $28.50 per share from EMI, whose artists include Coldplay and Robbie Williams.EMI revealed on Wednesday it had since raised its offer -- to $31 cash per Warner Music share -- and also said it had rejected a previous offer at 315 pence per share on June 14 from Warner.

"EMI continues to believe that an acquisition of Warner Music by EMI at $31 per share in cash would be very attractive to both sets of shareholders and would deliver value to EMI's shareholders which is far superior to Warner Music's revised alternative proposal," it said.

The developments are the latest move in a long-running quest to combine the companies. A combined EMI-Warner Music would be roughly on par with music majors Universal Music and Sony-BMG, and analysts estimate a merger would produce several hundred million pounds in cost savings.

On May 23, EMI also reported a 13 percent rise in underlying annual profit. Its results included a surge in digital music sales to 112 million pounds from 47 million pounds.

The music industry expects revenues from mobile phones and song downloads eventually to offset the decline in physical formats such as CDs.

Warner Music shares fell 1.1 percent to $27.23 on Tuesday.

Source:

U.S. Warner Music Group has bid 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) for Britain's EMI Group Plc in an attempt to take control of the company that has been pursuing it, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

The offer is worth 320 pence per EMI share which closed at 283.75 pence on Tuesday, the FT said on its Web site. EMI was not immediately available for comment.

On May 3 Warner Music (WMG.N: Quote), the world's fourth largest music company and home to Green Day and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, rejected a $4.2-billion takeover approach worth $28.50 per share from its larger rival EMI, the latest move in a long-running quest to combine the companies. EMI, whose artists include Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said at the time that buying Warner Music would be a good deal for both companies' shareholders.A combined EMI-Warner Music would be roughly on par with music majors Universal Music and Sony-BMG, and analysts estimate a merger would produce several hundred million pounds in cost savings. However, EMI and Warner Music have tried to combine several times before without success.

On May 23 EMI reported annual results which included a surge in digital music sales to 112 million pounds from 47 million pounds. The music industry expects revenues from mobile phones and song downloads eventually to offset the continued decline in physical formats like CDs.

Source: Reuters

In the midst of their summer tour, Pearl Jam treated a few hundred lucky fans to an intimate performance for a taping of VH1 Storytellers on Wednesday, May 31 at Avalon in New York City.

"VH1 Storytellers: Pearl Jam" premieres Saturday, July 1 at 10pm. MHD: Music High- Definition Channel, MTV Networks' music-centric high-definition channel will simulcast the episode at the same time.

Pearl Jam joins Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen as the most recent artists to take the stage and share their stories.The episode treats fans to a unique experience as Pearl Jam performs new songs from their latest self-titled album Pearl Jam (click for review) in addition to previous hits. In quintessential "Storytellers" form, the band (Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron) answer questions from fans and in a new interview give an honest and revealing look at the stories behind the songs. Viewers will get a unique opportunity to hear the inspiration behind such hits as "Betterman" and "Alive" and from their new album Pearl Jam, "Worldwide Suicide," "Life Wasted" and "Gone."

Woven throughout the show are political musings and points of view by the band and a solo acoustic performance by Eddie Vedder of "Here's To The State." The song is a reworking of late folk singer Phil Ochs' song "Here's to the State of Mississippi" with a new title and lyrics directed at President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Evangelist Jerry Falwell and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

Source: http://www.starpulse.com

Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow has reportedly recorded a series of tracks with producer William Orbit.

The Sun reports Paltrow - who sang in the 2000 flop movie Duets - has been writing and recording with Orbit, who produced her pal Madonna's Ray of Light album.

A source tells the publication: "Gwyneth has messed around with Chris (Martin, her husband and Coldplay frontman). She would not work on music with her husband - she feels like she would be treading on his toes. When they are together they like to be away from work. But Gwyneth has got a fantastic voice."

More on this story here

"Audiences not reached on air can be reached on the ground."

This is the philosophy of MTV Philippines, a subsidiary of MTV, the multimedia brand for the youth, said MTV Philippines managing director Jack Madrid.

MTV Philippines is free to air because it is a UHF channel. However, the channel reaches only about a third or four million of the over 12 million households with television in the Philippines.“What we can’t reach through our television programs, we reach them through our ground events,” Madrid said in an interview.

Madrid was in Cebu to speak at the Entrepreneurship Conference at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino last Friday.

Aside from on-ground events, MTV is also strengthening its relationship with cable operators, to urge them to air the channel in their network.

“After all, it’s free. They are not obliged to pay us,” he said.

MTV Philippines is celebrating its sixth anniversary this year. It plays songs of a wide variety of international artists, such as Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Coldplay, Eminem, Franz Ferdinand and Gwen Stefani.

The channel also supports local music, including those of Gary Valenciano, Kyla, Regine Velasquez, Nina, Ogie Alcasid and Southborder.

Source: http://sunstar.com.ph

Long, after the ignominious death of so-called "art rock,'' the English quintet Radiohead gave a 2140 performance Friday at Berkeley's Greek Theater that was the aural equivalent of a modernist painting by Salvador Dali or Jackson Pollock.

For almost two hours, in an outdoor show where the thick fog seemed to be a special effect, this band showed its softer, dreamier side with its own version of clocks melting -- ambient, spacey music that sounded like soundtracks to films not yet made, bathed in purple and blue lights.

With a much tamer set than it played three years ago at Shoreline Amphitheatre for the release of its "Hail to the Thief'' disc, this band, which has been compared to U2 and the Beatles, debuted almost a dozen new songs, all pleasing, and a few that strayed into new territory for these staid Brits, with hints of American funk and soul.It may have disappointed some fans who longed for more familiar songs, or the higher intensity of past shows, but, for those with the patience to listen to something new, it was a majestic night from a group that lacks U2's charisma, or Coldplay's accessibility, but is at the cutting edge of exploring new sounds and pushing the borders of rock.

The theater was packed like sardines in a crushed tin box, if I can borrow a song title from the band's 2001 "Amnesiac'' album, and the audience, like the show, was lower key than years past. But this was a special, smaller venue 19-city tour, a chance to let devoted fans hear the new material, rather than the past arena spectacles.

Singer Thom Yorke, whose first solo disc "The Eraser'' is due out July 10, joked and apologized for delivering so much new music. After opening on piano and Rudy Vallee voice on "You and Whose Army'' and a "National Anthem'' that, as always, threatened to fall apart under guitarist Johnny Greenwood's strange assaults, Yorke ended the "foreplay'' and launched into a new tune with a surprisingly disco beat.

"What the ...?'' he said, imitating what the audience was thinking.

It was a pattern that continued: a familiar, hummable, "Morning Bell,'' and then something new. A phenomenal "There There'' and "Like Spinning Plates,'' like Radiohead on random shuffle, into more new songs. Yorke shifted from piano, to guitar, to nerdy, dancing singer, all with the endearing and awkward grace of a kindergartner in his first school play.

This guy is no Mick Jagger, but a self-professed "creep and weirdo'' whose songwriting is among rock's most sophisticated. Last year, Spin magazine voted 1997's "OK Computer,'' the best album of the past 20 years and the band has subtly picked up the strains of art rock without sinking under its pretentions.

The band's main strength is its ability to sound ancient and new at once. Its lyrical themes tend toward science-fiction, with references to androids, amnesia, clones and the like. But the lyrics are dwarfed by its symphonic renderings of chord progressions that conjure the rich depths of Latin hymnals, Hebrew psalms or Celtic dirges.

It's not so much what Yorke is saying, because often his voice is like an orchestral instrument, a crying violin or moaning bassoon, but the way he casually inserts lush, dark passages that have little precedent in rock music.

In fact, as a longtime fan of the band, I can't tell you what one song after the early 1990s hit "Creep'' is about (the same is true of Coldplay). He might as well be singing in another language. Yet, some lyrics glom onto my brain and bring forth almost primordial emotions, beyond logical description, like Amnesiac's "I Might Be Wrong'':

"Let's go down the waterfall

Have ourselves a good time, it's nothing at all.''

Or the same album's "Pyramid'':

"I jumped in the river and what did I see?

black-eyed angels swimming with me

a moon full of stars and astral cars.''

They were two of many haunting songs Friday, unabashedly steeped in enough mysterious balderdash to make Robert Plant less regretful of his hedgerows and May queens.

But like "Stairway to Heaven,'' this band is producing rock that will last long enough to be considered classic.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com

Ozzfest remains one of rock's biggest juggernauts.

Generating almost $20 million a year in ticket sales - in addition to a lucrative mini-industry of souvenirs, merchandise and related CDs and DVDs - the heavy-metal music fest ranks among the top-selling tours in the nation.

But this year, Ozzy Osbourne and his tour are confronting an uncomfortable reality: rust. It's unclear how many more years he can stay with the tour. The $3-billion-a-year concert industry is worried about Ozzy and all his contemporaries, too.

This summer, many of the big-name tours are led by people eligible for AARP membership: Tom Petty is 55, Jimmy Buffett is 59, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend are both 61. Madonna, whose tour is the hottest so far this year, is 47.

Last year, according to the concert trade journal Pollstar, six of the 10 highest-grossing tours starred artists in their late 50s or 60s, among them the Rolling Stones and Elton John. Those six accounted for more than $470 million in domestic ticket sales - about 30 percent of the total for the year's 50 biggest tours.

But keeping those guys on the road gets harder every year, with more canceled performances and more Bengay.

U2, Metallica and Prince, who made it big in the '80s, seem to be going strong. After them, though, it's a precipitous drop-off to the next tier of younger performers. Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay and Radiohead are often discussed as successors; Green Day and upstarts the Killers also are mentioned. None, however, can draw mass audiences at premium prices the way the older acts do.

"Eventually, we're going to run out of headliners," said Randy Phillips, CEO of the concert promoter AEG Live.

Accounting for the shallow talent pool, some industry executives cite the effects of MTV, which lets fans see performers without ever leaving their couch. Others blame a recording industry more focused on disposable hits than long-term career development. Whatever the case, John Scher, the New York music promoter and entrepreneur, says that unless the industry's dynamics change, many of the nation's big summer music venues "will be plowed over and be made into housing projects."

Many fans - and rival concert organizers - attribute Ozzfest's staying power to its mix. A daylong affair featuring 20 bands, it combines established rock acts that have older fans with up-and-coming metal talent that sways a fervent younger audience.

But the numbers are already slipping: Roughly 431,000 fans purchased tickets last year, down from almost 575,000 in 2001, according to data from Pollstar, and tickets to shows Ozzy Osbourne is skipping generally go for less than those he intends to play (he's not in the Phoenix lineup).

Until anyone comes up with a better model, or a new roster of proven performers, the industry's war horses are doing their best to keep going.

• Kiss no longer rocks and rolls all night. "They definitely take more ibuprofen than cocaine," band manager Doc McGhee says.

• Aerosmith has made regular use of a nutritionist.

• According to the Smoking Gun Web site, James Taylor, 58, wants his band's hospitality room stocked with packets of Emergen-C powder.

• The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur qualified in either Swedish or Oriental deep-tissue massage.

Source: http://www.azcentral.com

The boom in digital music has left a lot of iPods to fill and made millions of songs available online. But how to choose which ones? Music recommendation services are using tech wizardry to solve the problem.

It used to be so simple: Music fans discovered new songs by talking to friends or listening to the radio, then paid a visit to the local record store. But now, with online music stores like iTunes and Napster offering millions of often obscure songs, users are searching for a better way.

Two of the most popular services, Pandora and Last.fm, take radically different approaches.Pandora (http://www.pandora.com) sets up a personalized online radio station based on a few favourite artists or songs, then adds new songs basing the selections on attributes of the music you've chosen.

For example, I set up a Pandora station of soul music (http://tinyurl.com/ltu7a) with artists like Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway, which I then refined by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to various songs while listening on my computer.

How are the songs selected? According to Pandora, I like songs that "feature mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, electric pianos, and subtle use of strings," among other things.

The idea that my musical taste can be so easily pigeonholed is slightly distressing, but the results are uncannily accurate.

THE WISDOM OF CROWDS

If Pandora recommends songs based on their inherent qualities, Last.fm (http://www.last.fm) takes a very different approach by relying solely on the power of social networks: If you and a lot of other music fans like one song, it's likely that you also have other favourite songs in common.

The concept is known as collaborative filtering, and it often shows up on Web sites like Amazon that offer recommendations stating that "customers who liked X also liked Y."

Last.fm works through two separate pieces of software: One that monitors the music you listen to on software like Apple's iTunes and another that streams a personalized radio station to your computer.

The Last.fm Web site also allows you to search for a given artist and find similar music, as well as listen to 30-second samples of most songs.

The statistics on my listening choices were surprising -- Do I really listen to the Beastie Boys that much? -- but I liked most of songs the service delivered. Last.fm also has grown into a large online community of music lovers, based on shared musical taste.

TO EACH THEIR OWN

Last.fm and Pandora are far from the only services vying to separate the musical wheat from the chaff. Other sites include Live365 (http://www.live365.com), which offers some 7,500 user-generated radio stations, and MusicStrands (http://www.musicstrands.com/), a comprehensive music recommendation and community Web site.

Live Plasma (http://www.liveplasma.com) is a site that draws striking graphical maps that show the overlapping relationships between artists. Aretha Franklin, for example, is orbited by Teddy Pendergrass, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye and Barry White.

Despite the use of technology, musical taste remains an idiosyncratic matter for most people, so it pays to try multiple services -- and to remember tried-and-true real-world methods.

Mitch McAlister, a 30-year-old American living in London, has used Last.fm and Pandora with varying results.

"Last.fm is somewhat interesting to me, but I think Pandora kinda sucks all around -- for some reason they keep recommending Coldplay for all my music choices," he said. "Last.fm has been measuring my iTunes plays for a while now. I think there might be too many options and too many different applications, but I don't get Coldplay over and over again."

In the end, McConnell said that neither service exposed him to new music he truly liked. For that, he relies on methods that involve little to no technology at all.

"I am a cynic when it comes to music. I go to shows and talk to people," he said.

Source: http://news.scotsman.com

Whoa, Nelly! You almost don't realize that the woman rapping and dancing in the "Promiscuous" video is the same girl from 2000's "I'm Like a Bird." She's loosened up all right, but it's not just her sexy new moves that constitute a makeover.

Thanks to some Miami vices — like late-night recording sessions with Timbaland — Furtado's also getting down and dirty with '80s synth sounds, buzzing beats and a looser vibe, making Loose one of the hottest records of the summer.

You'll read about that — as well as Nelly dancing in her underwear and what makes Coldplay's Chris Martin nervous — in this Q&A...MTV: Apparently MTV was responsible for bringing you together with one of your many collaborators on Loose. How did that happen?

Nelly Furtado: Chris Martin from Coldplay and I bumped into each other in Miami at the VMAs. I was recording with Timbaland. It's kind of ironic, because just the week before, all Tim would play in the studio was [Coldplay's album] X&Y — Tim actually listens to a lot of rock music — so I got [Martin] to come to the studio. At first he was nervous, because Tim kept calling Chris "Coldplay," like, "Hey, Coldplay!" and "Coldplay's here!" And "All Good Things (Come to an End)" is a fusion of Tim's rough-sounding hip-hop beats with that melancholy Chris has mastered, and I'm in-between. Chris got to express his inner James Brown. At one point, Chris broke out with a rendition of Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," but we had to scrap that.

MTV: You scrapped a lot of tracks, considering you recorded what, 40 of them? Your sessions with Pharrell, Scott Storch and Nellee Hooper didn't even make the album. Do you have any plans to release the lost tracks?

Furtado: I hope so. The Pharrell tracks were so much fun, he gave me a shout-out in his single, "Can I Have It Like That" ("Flying like a bird/ Like Nelly Furtado"). I arrived in Miami not knowing who Daddy Yankee was, and Pharrell introduced me to reggaetón. It's got fire, it's really exciting. My song isn't exactly a reggaetón song, but I did a song on the album inspired by it called "No Hay Igual," all sung in Spanish. It's my most comfortable song. And with Scott Storch, we did this straight-up rap song. [Producer/songwriter] Lester Mendez and I did a lot of beautiful acoustic stuff. Nellee Hooper and I did something kind of reggae-ish, actually. He's obsessed with Lil Jon, so we imposed his vocals over the top, it was really funny. To me, the producers are the real rock stars. Rappers walk in their studios carrying around briefcases of cash [in case they] need a beat at the last minute. I love being around hip-hop energy: It's alive, it's fun, it's exhilarating.

MTV: So how did you decide which songs would make the album?

Furtado: It all comes down to sonics. Tim is a sonic extraterrestrial. He came up with a sequence that flows; supposedly the one I came up with sucked. It's funny, because I think musically, I'm a promiscuous girl, because I'm not faithful to anyone's musical style. I'm all over the map. This is more urban, more American, more hip-hop, more simplified. I usually layer things more, make them more textured, but I tend to overthink things. When I was in the studio with Timbaland, it was like I was in the VIP boys club of just letting go and following your impulses a bit more. "Maneater" is like an analogy of how I got to consume Tim and his crew's creative energy, and put that into the album.

MTV: So did that give the album a tougher feel?

Furtado: I was very ruthless, like, "No, no, no, you have to attack the listener." It's kind of like being tackled in football — and that's how I wanted it. I've been listening to Bloc Party, System of a Down, Queens of the Stone Age, Metric and different electro things, and it's all very loud and has a garage theme to it. I feel like I captured a little bit of that aesthetic. There are distorted bass lines, there's a lot of laughter from studio outtakes, there's room for error. We thought, "How about we just take away all that pristine stuff and have it be really raw? No rules?" It's about feel, and that's why it's called Loose.

MTV: You had to know that people were going to read things into that title, considering the sexual aggressiveness of some of the songs.

Furtado: Well, I wanted it to be assertive and cool, like TLC, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah — they're sexy but fun. When I was 14, Janet Jackson came out with "That's the Way Love Goes," and she was comfortable in her sexuality and womanhood, and that was inspiring to me. I'm enjoying life. It's a party.

MTV: Kind of like how you're not wearing anything overtly sexy in your videos for "Promiscuous" and "Maneater"?

Furtado: It's very subtle when you're making videos, so you have to kind of flip it: I'm wearing a T-shirt but I'm doing these really sexy moves. If I was wearing a corset, it might not come off in the right way. I'm kind of celebrating the maneater cliché and parodying it at the same time. I call "Maneater" a couture pop song. It's like having too much cheesecake, in a good way. It's got a crazy loud beat, and the vocals are bitchy and loud. A lot of people say it sounds like Peaches, because of the delivery, the spooky vocals. Dancing in your underwear in front of the mirror, you're there and you don't care. Everybody does it. Everybody's just hot on themselves, "Oh, I'm turning myself on."

Source: http://mtv.com