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"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

Even if he's singing in character, it can be a little hard to swallow the opening line of Coldplay's 2008 hit Viva la Vida. "I used to rule the world," front man Chris Martin croons over a mix of regal cellos and dance beats, but anyone who's even casually followed popular music in the past few years can tell you that the British rock group's rule is far from over, writes the Tennessean ahead of Coldplay's show at the Sommet Center on Saturday.   The group is one of the few modern rock acts able

Realizing that attending Saturday night's Coldplay show--their first in Nashville in six years--was a no-lose situation, as we were guaranteed an entertaining spectacle of sound and vision, we decided we owed it to ourselves to witness the phenomenon of the band's success firsthand, and made it down to the Sommet Center on time, writes the Nashville Scene blogs.   There, we got caught up in the cattle-herd of teenagers outfitted in Viva La Vida fatigues, popped-collar frat boys and their girlfri

Concerts rarely inspire audience members to turn their attention in as many different directions as Coldplay's Saturday night show at Nashville's Sommet Center did, writes The Tennessean.   The British rock group's lavish stage production frequently urged its attendees to take in the spectacle around them rather than focus on the band on stage. Lasers shot across the venue for their hypnotic performance of "Clocks." Giant balloons rained from the ceiling at the start of the band's breakthrough h

A music company that has been used by top stars such as Britney Spears, Coldplay and Shirley Bassey is plagued with an embarrassing problem... a nasty stench wafting into its offices.   Music hire and production company John Henry's caters for a glittering roll call of the biggest names in the music business. But the company in Brewery Road, Holloway, also has to contend with a pungent cooking whiff wafting in up to four times a week.   John Henry's alleges the smell may be from the next-door k

Natalie Imbruglia has joked that collaborating with Chris Martin was hard work. The Australian singer has recorded material written by the Coldplay frontman, 32, for her new album.   'When I worked with Chris Martin he was very honest and brutal with me,' Natalie, 34, tells NME. 'He helped me with my tracklisting and we got rid of riff-raff. Sometimes we agreed, sometimes we disagreed... the hard bit is him saying which songs he doesn't like, but it's refreshing to have someone of that calibre w

Popjustice.com spoke with Ne-Yo in a Q&A, where the R&B singer talked about how his third album ‘Year of the Gentleman’ was inspired by UK music. Asked which UK acts were the inspiration, the 28-year-old responded, “I like Leona Lewis, she’s got an incredible voice. I’ve been working with her on her new album. I’m a huge fan of Coldplay, and of course Amy Winehouse.”   In the meantime, the smooth soulster is keeping busy with his well-mannered third album. He said, "The idea of gentleman

Once upon a time, the honour was undisputed. In the 60s, it was accepted that the Beatles were the world's greatest act. In the 70s, it was the Stones. In the 80s, it was U2's turn. Hindsight tells us, of course, that other acts had legitimate claims - James Brown, notably - but they were ignored by the white rock-and-pop establishment, writes The Guardian.   And so the title of "the greatest" became a competition between a succession of guitar bands, even as guitar rock was being left behind as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32mr0IoygIY   All Good Things (Come To An End) is our favorite song of Nelly Furtado’s new album, Loose.   While Maneater is nicely hovering near the top of the charts in America, the Canadian crackerjack has chosen to release Good Things as the third single in Europe. And, the video for the song is easily our favorite off the new record.   Not trying as hard as the others - no dance moves - the video (with its water motif and sepia tinted cinematography) reminds u

Her career hotting up for the second time, Furtado plans to record with Timbaland again later this year in what she describes as "a band project like Gorillaz or Gnarls Barkley".   She has also contributed to Justin Timberlake's forthcoming album (also produced by Timbaland) but will not confirm rumours her ex-boyfriend and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin - who co-wrote the Loose track All Good Things (Come to an End) - is working on a solo record with Timbaland.   "I've come to this great place

Due to stupid label politics, the fantastic duet of Nelly Furtado and Chris Martin, All Good Things (Come to an End), didn't make it on Nelly's album 'Loose'.   But she has now decided to release the album version as her third single - which raises hopes that the wonderful version with Chris might make it as a b-side on the CD Single!   You can see the video for the single here   More on this here [thanks Flying Sparks]

Canada's Nelly Furtado continues to celebrate her "best pop and rock act in the world" gong and plans to release a new single.   The song, All Good Things (Come To An End) was co-written by Nelly, Coldplay's Chris Martin and uber-producer Timbaland. She said: "It was a great story. He came in a jam with us in Miami actually. We were jamming all night and he had to leave cos he had a Coldplay gig the next day. I said, why do all good jams have to come to an end and then the next jam was this song

It sounds like a surreal dream or the beginnings of a corny joke: Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado, hip-hop producer Timbaland and Coldplay main man Chris Martin walk into a studio in the middle of the night.   They jam together for hours, Martin provides some comic relief with a James Brown impression, and by the time dawn breaks they've finished an amazing new song.   But sometimes the strangest of bedfellows can make for great musical collaborations, and fans of both urban beats and E

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

Coldplay fan John Lydon is taking a break from revisionist history to sell Country Life butter. A fitting product tie-in for someone who's gone (always was?) so soft. Surprisingly, it's reportedly the first time he's appeared in a television commercial, because going to board rooms to hawk Guitar Hero III doesn't count. The details:   "People know I only do things that I want to or that I believe in and I have to do it my way," said Lydon on deciding to appear in the TV ad. "I've never done anyt

Promoters auction off best seats   Concert promoters used to sell tickets at set-in-stone prices - even if those prices went up every year.   But a new trend has artists and promoters forcing fans to bid on the best seats in the house - something they only experienced before from rogue Internet entrepreneurs or scalpers.   Frustrated by the astronomical prices some Internet companies get for resold ducats, America's largest ticketing agency, Ticketmaster, has convinced top artists from Coldplay

UK record companies offered music fans a record 31,291 new album releases across over 16 official genres in 2005, according to figures published today by trade association the BPI.   This is more than double the number of albums released ten years' previously - 15,393 albums were released in 1996 - with consumer choice growing across 16 different genres.   Online retailers are responsible for an increasing share of the albums market and can stock a huge range of titles. Combined with the emerg

UK record companies offered music fans a record 31,291 new album releases across over 16 official genres in 2005, according to figures published today by trade association the BPI.   This is more than double the number of albums released ten years' previously - 15,393 albums were released in 1996 - with consumer choice growing across 16 different genres.   Online retailers are responsible for an increasing share of the albums market and can stock a huge range of titles. Combined with the emerg

A new interview with Chris Martin has surfaced online - the source being Men's magazine Maxim. In it, Chris discusses (again) the Rihanna collaboration, and other topics such as his 'buff new physique', fighting with desks, waking up in a school playground in South Chicago, and the Bruce Springsteen influence. Incidentally, the interviewer, Joe Levy, is the same interviewer who was asking the questions for the Charlie Rose programme aired in 2006. Read on... [Discuss this article in the Coldplay

It's been a busy week already in Coldplay circles, and its only Wednesday. Already, we've had strange going's on at the Bakery captured by a fan, sat talking to an old Irish fella, and then later that day new graffiti artwork revealed on Coldplay's Twitter by fifth member, Phil Harvey.   Possibly the most revealing news about the LP5 era came yesterday in the form of a short silent video uploaded onto Coldplay's YouTube channel, around the same time that new lyrics were posted on their Twitter a

Will Champion spoke a few days ago to LVZ in Germany just prior to the Leipzig show. Here is the online article (which has been gratefully translated into English by NancyK58). In the interview Will speaks about shyness, energy, Rihanna and a Leipzig-experience almost 12 years ago... [thanks Nancyk58]   Q. Coldplay become bigger and bigger. Do you wake up sometimes and are afraid that this is all a giant bubble that could suddenly burst?   Will Champion: "Something like that. I wake up and canno

You have to be in awe of the way Coldplay has been embracing social media, writes Bit Rebels. First they announced they were giving away their album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft via a free download. The next step was to give the album away to everyone who purchased a ticket and arrived at the show. A bonus to fans, since most had already downloaded the album, but who doesn’t like free CDs?   But their newest social media masterpiece is quite unique. It’s called the Exhibition Room and it proves to be

While tickets for 2006's festivals sell out one after another in the absence of Glasto this summer, Mean Fiddler Managing Director Melvin Benn has announced that a large new festival is to emerge.   Benn told 6music that the festival would be a Mean Fiddler venture, and would take place in the east of England. As yet he has revealed no further details, but commented: "More and more people are growing up with festivals being on the TV, and festivals being on Radio 1 and 6music, all that sort of

The head of the private equity owner of EMI, the home of Robbie Williams and Coldplay, yesterday unveiled his vision for turning around the famous music label amid challenging industry conditions.   Guy Hands, chief executive and founder of Terra Firma, vowed to retain the group's recorded music division and to invest in artists big and small to restore the company's fortunes following its £2.4bn buyout.   The deal ended months of speculation over the future of EMI - which had endured a rollerco

The Pussycat Dolls have revealed that several songs on their new album have a "Coldplay-ish" sound.   Band member Kimberly Wyatt said the group has "messed around with a lot of different genres" on new album Doll Domination, to be released later this month. "There are songs [on the album] that show the more vulnerable side of the Pussycat Dolls," she told DigitalSpy. "The sound is something different than we've really done before, it's a little more Coldplay-ish. It's kinda got an indie-rock vib