If its predecessor, Absolution, was steeped in portents gloomy enough to gladden the heart of the most heavily mascara-ed Goth, Black Holes and Revelations takes Muse's trademark paranoid political outlook to a new pitch of melodramatic intensity.

Though often compared to Queen, the trio are closer to the Seventies prog-rockers Rush: like them, Muse fuse grandiose pomp-rock and fanciful political beliefs with outlandish sci-fi overtones - but without quite reaching the solipsistic absurdity of the French art-rockers Magma, who devised a private language for their dubious social fables.

At least, with Muse, you get to hear just how daft Matt Bellamy's opinions are, even though one might be broadly in agreement with him on some points.

Read the full article here

GENEVA/PARIS, June 22: French broadband ISP Free is working with i-concerts to offer its subscribers a high-definition channel and an IPTV VOD platform, both featuring performances from some of today’s top artists.

The ADSL channel i-concerts HD launched yesterday. It will offer up performances by artists such as Robbie Williams, U2, James Blunt, Radiohead and James Brown.

The two companies have also combined forces to create i-concerts Jukebox, which provides Free’s Freebox subscribers with Europe’s largest IPTV VOD concert platform, featuring performances from artists such as Eminem, Usher, REM, Andrea Bocelli, Lou Reed and Coldplay, as well as backstage footage and music festivals.“The launch of this comprehensive VOD and HD broadcast service into the French market is the first of its kind,” said Free CEO Michaël Boukobza, “and i-concert’s reputation as being one of the largest content providers of music programming for broadband platforms makes them a perfect partner.”

Source: http://worldscreen.com

Bertelsmann AG, the German media group, said Thursday it sent 15 investors financial information and details about its BMG Music Publishing unit, which it is planning to sell.

BMG Music Publishing has rights to more than 1 million songs and contracts with artists including Christina Aguilera , R. Kelly, Justin Timberlake , Robbie Williams and Coldplay. Last year, it generated some 370 million euros ($465.5 million) in revenue for the company.

A decision on to whom to sell the unit could come as early as September.

It must be the contrarian in me. With Coldplay about to begin their Australian tour tomorrow night, why do I find myself searching through my old boxes of vinyl seeking out long-neglected albums by Public Image Limited, Robert Wyatt and Can?

And for the first time in about 30 years having conversations with people which feature the words Amon Duul and Van Der Graaf Generator? Not to mention sitting here with the headphones on chuckling at the new album by new millennium sonic riddlers Matmos.

These names may mean nothing to you and, indeed, the number of people who own albums by both Coldplay and, say, Robert Wyatt, Can and Matmos are not numerous. The former, you might have noticed, sell records and concert tickets – 20,000 this weekend in Brisbane – by the bucketload. The latter do not. Tunes much harder to whistle, as well.Confession: I have never owned an album by Amon Duul (art-rock innovators, late '60s, from Germany) and Van Der Graaf Generator (ditto, from England) although I've always rather thought that I should, ever since devouring reviews of their work in music papers at school when I should have been paying attention in economics or history.

Of course, it's a slippery slope from there to being a music writer.

This week, I've hardened my resolve to join the small band in the Amon Duul owners club. And if I'm feeling that contrary, it must be June. At this time of year a teetering stack of "commercial" releases – they like to shove 'em out before the end of the financial year, presumably in a bottom-line building exercise – sits before me, works of genius possibly in there somewhere, fighting for attention with the predictable to the plain awful.

Bloody reviewers, people say. They always like the weird stuff.

Well, I love my pop as much as anyone and have the Monkees and Supremes records to prove it. But for me there has always been the allure of the exotic as well. The ear is like the palate. Sometimes your favourite flavour loses its kick and you need a surprise or three to get the taste back.

Whether it's a good thing that the surprises are so easily available these days – Amon Duul's Tanze Der Lemminge available for $22.49 from Amazon, it just took me three seconds to discover – is a matter for conjecture. Part of the thrill, perhaps the most important point, was that this stuff took work to discover and explore. But there is still plenty of strangeness for anyone who cares to go digging for it.

For instance, The Rose Has Teeth In the Mouth of a Beast by Matmos, a collection of 10 "sound portraits" from the San Francisco avant-experimentalists, each inspired by a bunch of people they admire, from William S. Burroughs to ill-starred English record producer Joe Meek.

There is more to this than blipping synthesisers and nervy rhythms, even if the concept does read like it might be the kind of thing usually reserved for publicly funded festival commissions, and therefore of no interest to contrarians.

Don't be put off by the fact that Matmos claim to have had snails crawl across the path of a laser to trigger effects on a light-sensitive theremin for Snails and Lasers for Patricia Highsmith. The results are much more fun than that sounds.

Also coming soon: The Eraser, debut solo album from Radiohead's Thom Yorke. More jittery bits, "tech-jazz" and minimalistic laptop sketches? According to all reports, yes.

Will it raise as many grins as the musings of Matmos? With a song called Harrowdown Hill – the English woods where weapons inspector Dr David Kelly committed suicide – certainly not.

Still, contrary types and Can enthusiasts ahoy. Strangeness awaits!

Source: http://couriermail.news.com.au

It's a girl! In a new interview with the Guardian, Jo reveals that she and Guy [pictured] are expecting a daughter, and discusses her pregnancy style, including high heels, and the tough decision of altering her wedding dress so that she can wear it again, or saving it for her daughter!

This will be the third Coldplay baby this year, as well as the third Coldplay girl.

Ava Champion is now almost 2 months old, Moses Martin 2 1/2 months, and Apple just turned two in May.Thanks to the girls at Visions for the link.

Originally posted May 17th: Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman and his wife Jo are expecting their first child. No other details were released, but Jo appears to be at least five months along.

Source: http://celebrity-babies.com

MTV Asia will roll out the red carpet and welcome the biggest stars of Asian and international movies when it stages its first movie awards show on 7 October 2006 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

As part of the creative vision of the event, the iconic Southeast Asian performance venue will be fitted-out in true Hollywood glitz and glamour to accommodate the star-studded night and will set the tone for a night of awards, superstar presenters, musical tributes and celebrity antics.

As is the case with the US show the MTV Asia Movie Awards will take a unique twist to ‘traditional’ movie kudofests by offering off-the-wall categories appealing to MTV’s audience such as “Best Kiss” and “Best Fight” filling out the list of golden popcorn trophies awarded on the night.The awards will also feature live performances from international and regional acts, making the event a blend of movie glamour and popular music.

MTV notes that Asian stars, directors and films are increasingly captivating the global movie buffs. The show will feature the biggest names from Hollywood to Bollywood. Industry A-listers from India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore will share the spotlight with international headline-grabbing celebrities who top the list of nominees, presenters and attendees taking part in the MTV Asia Movie Awards.

MTV executive VP creative David Flack says, “The MTV Asia Movie Awards will give a unique spin to the only telecast hailed as the wackiest awards show around. With so many Asian filmmakers, stars and movies impacting global pop culture, there has never been a better time for MTV to celebrate and highlight the Asian Movie Industry with its unique sense of fun and humour.”

The MTV Asia Movie Awards will be staged under the US$50 million strategic alliance formalised between MTV Asia and the Singapore Tourism Board in February 2006. Singapore will host 17 MTV and Nickelodeon events under the alliance; the first MTV Fashionably Loud event featured Placebo in March, with Coldplay performing at the upcoming MTV Centrestage in July.

Source: http://indiantelevision.com

Fifteen suitors have been sent financial information about BMG Music Publishing, including four music majors and a number of private equity firms, with first bids due in about a month, the parent company's chief executive said.

Gunter Thielen, the CEO of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, also told Reuters that despite reports to the contrary, there are no plans to restructure its joint venture music company Sony BMG with partner Sony Corp. He added that Belgian financier Albert Frere was a reluctant seller of a 25 percent stake back to Bertelsmann last month.

Bertelsmann, based in Guetersloh, Germany, is selling its music publishing arm, which owns copyrights to thousands of songs including those by Coldplay and Nelly, to help finance a deal reached last month to buy back the rest of the company from Groupe Bruxelles Lambert for 4.5 billion euros.BMG Music Publishing, which Bertelsmann is selling to help pay for that stake, is expected by industry executives to fetch at least 1.5 billion euros ($1.89 billion).Thielen said he believes it will take about three months to strike an agreement with a buyer.

"I think four weeks from now we'll have an indication, and then by the end of September maybe we complete a deal," Thielen said in Cannes, France, where he received the media person of the year award from the advertising industry on Tuesday night.

BMG Music Publishing's key cashflow measure, net publishers share (NPS), was about 170 million euros last year, people familiar with the situation have said. Bertelsmann reported that music publishing generated 372.4 million euros in 2005, but it did not disclose the unit's NPS.

Vivendi's Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Group are all among those interested in the business, Thielen said.

BMG Music Publishing CEO Nicholas Firth, also said he would explore a management buyout with some of his colleagues if a "qualified financial sponsor" was interested.

According to Thielen, Frere did not want to exit Bertelsmann, but a 50 percent partner in GBL's parent company, the Desmarais family of Canada, forced him to do so.

"He regrets that a lot because the asset was so sexy, and the people were so nice and he liked the management and the Mohns," Thielen said, referring to the Mohn family, which controls Bertelsmann.

GBL's dividend from Bertelsmann also would have been sharply cut after a five-year agreement that paid it 120 million euros a year, which was another motivating factor, Thielen said.

The company looked at other options besides selling its music publishing arm to help pay to buy back GBL's stake, but it did not consider floating more of its pan-European television broadcaster RTL Group.

"That's a strategic asset and at the end of the day we need 100 percent of it, and therefore it doesn't make sense to float only because we need some money," Thielen said.

Bertelsmann owns about 89.8 percent of RTL, and the rest is publicly listed. It also owns magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, book publisher Random House and a global book, CD and DVD club business.

The company considered borrowing against its 50 percent stake in Sony BMG, the world's second largest music company, but Thielen said there are no longer any plans that would see Bertelsmann restructure the joint venture.

"We want to stay in Sony BMG," he said.

Meanwhile, Thielen said the German advertising market has softened in June, despite an expected bump from the World Cup soccer tournament, after 5-8 percent growth in television and print during the first five months of the year.

"The month of June is weak. I don't know why," he said. But he added: "I'm optimistic. I think at the end of the year we will have an increase of 3-6 percent in advertising in Germany. That's nice, and the first time in five years."

Source: http://in.today.reuters.com

As recently rumoured, the Arctic Monkeys bass player Andy Nicholson has left the rock band for good after pulling out of their North American tour last month.

"We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with the band," his former bandmates said on their website. "We have been mates for a long time and have been through some amazing things together that no-one can take away."

Nick O'Malley, who replaced Nicholson in May, will continue playing with the group for the rest of the summer. The bass player's initial departure last month came days before the band were due to start a 17-date tour of the US and Canada.

This explanation is certainly consistent with other reports of Nicholson's behaviour on the road. When the rest of the band trooped off to a star-studded party in honour of Coldplay at the celebrated Manhattan restaurant The Spotted Pig last month, the bass player cried off, pleading "fatigue". "I find that sort of thing right awkward, so I stopped in bed," he explained.At the time, his absence was attributed to "fatigue following an intensive period of touring".

The Sheffield-based four-piece will be in Germany on Friday to play at the Hurricane Festival in Scheesel, near Hamburg. That will be followed by appearances in France, Spain and Italy.

The Arctic Monkeys' album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history when it was released in January.

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

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has turned to actress Gwyneth Paltrow for advice on how to combat the ghouls tormenting him and fiancee Nicole Appleton at their plush London home, according to reports.

Unexplained noises and chilling footsteps have unnerved the singer, and now the disappearance of several household objects has convinced him that his home is haunted. Paltrow employed the services of a Kabbalah priest to exorcise "bad energy" from the home she shares with Coldplay frontman husband Chris Martin, and it would seem as though Liam is prepared to go down a similar route.

A source told the Daily Star: "A week ago he lost his keys and then they turned up in a kitchen cupboard and no-one had moved them. And now two pans have gone missing. Sometimes he will hear sounds that don't make any sense. He is just asking Gwyneth what she did so he can follow suit."

More on this story here

Scotland's hospitality industry last night hit out at plans to target tourists by imposing a "green tax".

Tourism chiefs, the business community and environmental groups are considering introducing a £5 charge per person. Amid increasing concern about pollution from transport, the voluntary levy would allow "eco-friendly" tourists to offset carbon emissions generated in travelling here and support green projects, such as growing trees.

The approach has been popular with environmentally-conscious companies and rock bands such as Coldplay in an effort to become "carbon neutral".The charge would be added when booking holidays over the internet or on entrance to the country.

However, the British Hospitality Association Scotland yesterday warned that such red tape could harm the industry. VisitScotland and the World Wildlife Fund Scotland were among the organisations that considered the scheme at a recent meeting. Allan Rankin, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Forum, said the industry needed to consider ways to appeal to environmentally-conscious tourists. "Consumers are increasingly taking their decisions on whether to buy or not on how seriously businesses - or countries - take their environmental responsibilities. So there some merit in looking into this."

But he warned that a mandatory fee could damage the industry: "A compulsory tax would not be the best option because of international competitiveness and Scotland is already seen as an expensive destination. We must be careful before we go anywhere near additional cost to the consumer."

VisitScotland said no decisions would be made until a feasibility study had been carried out. It is not clear how the voluntary scheme would operate. Suggestions include forms given out on airplanes, at bed-and-breakfasts or on tour buses. Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said any charge would be under £5. "It would certainly not be something that would put you off coming to Scotland," he said.

"But something that might make you feel a bit better about coming to Scotland because you would feel your output would be offset."

However, Gavin Ellis, chairman of the British Hospitality Association Scotland, suggested the industry could be damaged by such measures. "While we are trying to grow tourism in Scotland by 50 per cent, another tax that gets in the way of obtaining that goal would not be helpful," he said.

Mr Ellis said the industry should be encouraging more recycling and green energy rather than considering taxes. "There are green issues like bio fuels that could be sped up. Tax only slows things down."

Jamie McGrigor, the Conservative spokesman for tourism, said it was up to the individual to decide to offset carbon emissions rather than being asked. "All it is going to do is to add yet more red tape to the tourism industry," he said. "It is intrusive to the tourism trade and the one thing the tourism trade cannot take any more of is regulations or any more tax. Tourism is our biggest industry in Scotland; we should be encouraging it, not putting people off."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "We are aware of the discussions, but they are at a very early stage. We would also be keen to stress that this is not a tax being proposed. However, sustainability is at the heart of the recent tourism strategy and we will monitor developments with interest."

Source: http://news.scotsman.com

The scene at London's Astoria was one of jubilation. But as Kylie Minogue walked backstage to the sound of rapturous applause, her broad smile swiftly crumpled, and within seconds she had dissolved into tears. Instantly a throng of concerned friends rushed to her side, aghast at this sudden change in her demeanour.

What was wrong? After 12 months of painstakingly slow recovery from breast cancer, had she stepped back into the limelight too soon? Was she, God forbid, feeling ill again?

Sources close to the star say that Kylie's decision to settle down in Paris with Olivier is one of the best she has ever made, a city where she now feels completely at home. On her 38th birthday three weeks ago, she received countless gifts from showbusiness chums such as Robbie Williams and Chris Martin, Coldplay's lead singer and the husband of Gwyneth Paltrow.

Read the full article here

Gwyneth Paltrow avoids going to Italy whenever possible because she claims something always bad happens to her when she does.

On her last trip, she flew to Venice for awards ceremony and her plane had to make an emergency landing: “The captain said there was a problem with the plane. All the on-board computers failed and we had to land. There were ambulances and fire trucks on the runway and I realised what a close call it had been.”

Before that though, it’s been a place for bad news: “I was there when I got the news that my grandfather had cancer, then I was shooting The Talented Mr Ripley over there and I heard my father was terminally ill. I went back for my [30th] birthday and my father died while I was in Rome. Lightning even struck my hotel one night. I don’t think Italy wants me there.”

Source: http://fametastic.co.uk

Watching the World Cup on television in Germany is, despite the pictures being the same, subtly different from watching back home. No Gabriel Clarke for a start.

The tournament, albeit in its infancy, is already bearing comparison to that held in 1950, but it is too early to discern whether this will have lasting significance. Not too early, however, to thank the thousands upon thousands of you who have, a colleague informs me, 'downloaded' my World Cup ditty 'England England Uber Alles'. It is still available at geoffreymortlake.co.uk for the next few days before matters take on an altogether more commercial footing.

Needless to say, others are jumping on my bandwagon including someone called Coldplay, who have launched a song based on Peter Crouch's dance. This strikes me as misguided because the man, described by Holtkamp as 'a three-metre stick of asparagus', revealed to me while we were queuing at a hotdog kiosk on his day off that his dancing days are over: 'I have no wish to be a national joke, Geoffrey.' 'That goes for the both of us, Crouchy.'

Read the full article here

And the knock-on effect from the event, also hailed a success by organisers Solo, artists, police and the IW Council, should add further millions in coming years.

More than 50,000 people attended the Seaclose Park festival, the fifth revived event, with police praising the behaviour of festival-goers. Artists were among those to declare the event a success.

Promoter John Giddings said: "Backstage, Chris Martin from Coldplay said the audience was phenomenal. He thought it was one of the band's best shows ever. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters has also been on Radio One raving about the event.

Read the full article here

Musicians and politicians have called on Liverpool council to save one of the city's most important cultural centres by ploughing £250,000 into a takeover bid.

Small businesses based in the Parr Street complex have been served with eviction notices, including the celebrated 3345 private members club, and told they must leave by July 31 by rock star Phil Collins's company, which owns it.

The recording studios are the largest outside London and have attracted names such as Pulp, New Order and Coldplay.Last night, councillors on the Waterfront Neighbourhood Committee passed a motion calling for the council to hand over cash to help the consortium of tenants and local businesses buy the building.

Labour councillors have also sent an open letter to the council leader Warren Bradley and new chief executive Colin Hilton calling for them to intervene. The pension fund that officially owns the Parr Street building, which belongs to the ex-Genesis frontman and two other former band members, wanted to close the centre and turn the building into apartments. A business consortium led by singer Thomas Lang, who is behind the 3345 bar, tried to buy it, but the deal collapsed.

Owners Hit and Run then announced they were withdrawing the building from sale and the studios would remain open. But other businesses sharing the city centre site, including local design firms and music management companies, have been told to leave.

Cllr Steve Munby said: "How can we go forward to European Capital of Culture if we lose this? The council has a moral duty and a businesses and cultural incentive to protect Parr Street."

The consortium of tenants and local businesses has spent all year negotiating to buy the businesses for a price agreed in January. "Now they've jacked the price up to £1.6m and issued eviction notices to the tenants. We need to call their bluff. Liverpool Culture Company spent around a quarter of a million on a one-off event at the Royal Court. Surely they can find the same amount to save the Parr Street studio?"

Earlier this year, agents for the owners applied for planning permission to turn it into 47 apartments along with shop, office and leisure space but the planning application has been deferred.

No one from Hit and Run was available for comment last night.

Source: http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk

We hate to be the ones to tell you, but there's been a murder in the music industry.

OK, no one actually died. But it does appear TV killed the video star.

We started noticing this a few months back, when shows like Style Star and E! True Hollywood Story ran more than VideoFlow, but it wasn't until we set out to predict the winners of the 17th annual MuchMusic Video Awards (tomorrow at 8 p.m. on Much and City) that we realized we hadn't seen half the nominees.A quick RealPlayer sesh on the channel's site saved our humps in the educated-guess department. Not like anyone would know the difference -- the vids are a mere portion of tomorrow's show, which features Hollywood presenters Paris Hilton, Tori Spelling, Amanda Bynes and Jesse Metcalfe.

And who needs videos when you've got Paris? Who, in fact, just released a video of her own (yikes) -- a perfectly good reason (besides the $20,000 goodie bag) to actually show up at Toronto's informal little bash where Avril Lavigne's buttcrack is an annual staple.

Other presenters include Evanescence, Elisha Cuthbert and Tricia Helfer and Jay Manuel of Top Model fame; while Fall Out Boy, Rihanna, Nick Lachey and Nelly Furtado are on the performance roster.

Having seen so little of these noms, we called on the Sun's crystal ball for reinforcement. Here's what it told us:

Best Video

Nominees: Billy Talent, Devil in a Midnight Mass; Buck 65, Devil's Eyes; Kardinal Offishall f. Ray Robinson, Everyday (Rudebwoy); Nickelback, Photograph; The Trews, So She's Leaving.

Crystal ball says ... Billy Talent. These Toronto punk-rockers' quintuple-nominee has earned major props for production, but the eerie church setting, talkable topic (child molestation by a priest) and oh yes, the song make it mighty worthy of the coveted MMVA.

Best Pop Video

Nominees: Bedouin Soundclash, Shelter; City and Colour, Save Your Scissors; Hot Hot Heat, Middle of Nowhere; Kardinal Offishall f. Ray Robinson, Everyday (Rudebwoy); Massari, Be Easy.

Crystal ball says ... Massari. A sweet ride, belly dancers with extra jelly and a far-from-shabby-looking rapper -- this is the stuff teen dreams are made of.

Best Rock Video

Nominees: Billy Talent, Devil in a Midnight Mass; Hedley, On My Own; Nickelback, Photograph; Simple Plan, Crazy; The Trews, So She's Leaving.

Crystal ball says ... Billy Talent. Remember kids, the best rock video has to rock.

Best Rap Video

Nominees: Alias Donmillion, Dirty Dot; Classified, No Mistakes; JDiggz, Puush It Up; Jelleestone f. Nelly Furtado, Friendamine; Sweatshop Union, Try.

Crystal ball says ... Jelleestone f. Nelly Furtado. Indeed the bearded homeless man and dim-lit hospital room look something out of, well, every other rap vid -- but cutie-gone-hottie Furtado is the main draw anyway.

MuchMoreMusic Award

Nominees: Bedoin Soundclash, Shelter; Daniel Powter, Bad Day; Feist, Mushaboom; Michael Buble, Save the Last Dance For Me; Sam Roberts, The Gate.

Crystal ball says ... Feist. Obviously this is wishful forecasting, with Powter and Buble both having that heartthrob thing going for them.

Best International Video -- Artist

Nominees: James Blunt, You're Beautiful; Kanye West, Touch the Sky; Kanye West, Gold Digger; Kelly Clarkson, Behind Those Hazel Eyes; Madonna, Hung Up; Mariah Carey, Don't Forget About Us; Ne-Yo, So Sick; Pink, Stupid Girls; Rihanna, S.O.S. (Rescue Me); Sean Paul, Temperature.

Crystal ball says ... Kanye West. Kanye vs. Kanye? One of him's bound to win. All of the single-named divas are possible choices -- if you're OK with day-old goods (Rihanna aside).

Best International Video -- Group

Nominees: Angels and Airwaves, The Adventure; Fall Out Boy, Dance, Dance; Franz Ferdinand, Do You Want To; Green Day, Jesus of Suburbia; Green Day, Wake Me Up When September Ends; Panic! At the Disco, I Write Sins Not Tragedies; Pussycat Dolls f. Busta Rhymes, Don't Cha; Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dani California; All American Rejects, Dirty Little Secret; Black Eyed Peas, My Humps.

Crystal ball says ... Red Hot Chili Peppers. Pairing Blink 182 mockery with their own zany 'tude, these Cali funk vets mimic rock's many faces over the decades -- from the jukebox era to big hair, to Nirvana's '94 unplugged New York show -- in a charming way young up-and-comers must learn from.

People's Choice: Favourite International Group

Nominees: Coldplay, Speed of Sound; Fall Out Boy, Dance, Dance; Green Day, Wake Me Up When September Ends; Pussycat Dolls f. Busta Rhymes, Don't Cha; Black Eyed Peas, My Humps.

Crystal ball says ... Green Day. People love sap. They love it even more when it involves teen love shattered by war. No hump or studded lingerie can top that. We think.

People's Choice: Favourite International Artist

Nominees: James Blunt, You're Beautiful; Kelly Clarkson, Because of You; Kanye West, Gold Digger; Mariah Carey, Shake It Off; Rihanna, S.O.S. (Rescue Me).

Crystal ball says ... Rihanna. Hot hot hot. Shaking it ALL off wouldn't help Mariah here.

People's Choice: Favourite Canadian Group

Nominees: Hedley, 3 2 1; Nickelback, Photograph; Our Lady Peace, Angels Losing Sleep; Simple Plan, Crazy; Theory of a Deadman, Santa Monica.

Crystal ball says ... Hedley. As painful as it is to predict Canadian Idol alum Jacob Hoggard's troupe will take the prize, it's even more painful to imagine tired CanRock outfits (do we need to name names?) winning anything anymore.

People's Choice: Favourite Canadian Artist

Nominees: Bif Naked, Let Down; City and Colour, Save Your Scissors; Kardinal Offishall f. Ray Robinson, Everyday (Rudebwoy); Massari, Real Love; Sam Roberts, The Gate.

Crystal ball says ... Massari. Again this hurts, especially since Bif and Sam Roberts are in the same category. Maybe they'll just give it to C & C's Dallas Green so he'll stop crying.

Source: http://winnipegsun.com

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that WPDH-FM Poughkeepsie Program Director Gary Cee was linked yesterday for a second time to New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s payola investigation into the radio and music industries. Cee's connection to the investigation is related to his former job at WLIR Long Island.

"I have never and would not ever make a deal for payola," said Cee, who worked at WLIR from 1991-2003, the last five years as the station's program director. "We just don't do that at WPDH and I didn't do that at WLIR."

One e-mail that Spitzer released yesterday is dated Jan. 14, 2003. It left out the names of the sender and recipient. The subject is "WLIR/Long Island in on Everclear." The text of the message reads: "Gary Cee is asking for some promotional support for this add and moving Coldplay to 5x/day ... he asked for $1,500 in tee shirts, I said there was no way, he then asked for $1,000 — I said I would check, lemme know what I can do ... cheers," Chuck Benfer, general manager for Cumulus Media in Poughkeepsie, had no comment regarding WLIR. But, he said, "We certainly have never done anything that we have to be worried about and Gary Cee has never done anything while working for us that we have to be worried about. We're completely above board and would never participate in any kind of pay-for-play scandal."

Benfer added, "Just because there was an e-mail about something doesn't mean there was payola going on."

Source: http://www.radioink.com

SHE loves England so much that Gwyneth Paltrow has decided to stay in the country for her summer holiday.

The American actress and renowned Anglophile has asked concierge company Quintessential to book a stately home for her, hubby Chris Martin and their children Apple and Moses to get away from it all.

Still, Gwyn hasn't turned her back on Hollywood excess completely - a helicopter will fly the family in and out of the grounds of the country retreat.

Source - Daily Mirror

As previously reported, The 17th Annual MuchMusic Video Awards airs globally for the 12th year on Sunday June 18th, with the number of televised international broadcasts growing to a record-breaking 65 countries across five continents. It's Canada's hottest awards show and red-carpet scene, star-packed and energized by thousands of screaming fans - airing live and direct from MuchMusic's famed street-front world headquarters in Toronto, Canada.

Once again the MMVAs delivers the best artists and celebrities from Canada and around the world. Plus, this year there's the addition of a very special international broadcast partner: the show will be seen by Canadian forces deployed in Europe, Africa and the Middle East - including Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan - via Canadian Forces Radio and Television, operated by the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency.

Fans worldwide can get their buzz on beginning with the MMVAs '06 Red Carpet Arrivals Special. Then it's The 2006 MuchMusic Video Awards broadcast in HD / 5.1 Surround Sound (simulcast on 104.5 CHUM FM). In addition, fans can tune in to select CHUM Radio stations across Canada and www.icebergradio.com for exclusive MMVAs content detailed below.

EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest music company, said on Thursday it has agreed to pay $3.75 million to settle charges by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that it made secret payments to radio stations in exchange for airplay.

The music company behind such artists as the Rolling Stones and Coldplay is the last of the big four music groups to settle with the Attorney General's office over allegations of pay-for- play practices, also known as payola, in the music industry.

EMI provided illegal "financial benefits to obtain airplay and boost the chart position of its artists by bribing radio station employees with concert tickets, video games and hotel and air fare expenses," according to a statement from Spitzer's office.EMI said it voluntarily adopted policies last year to prevent such practices and has been working with the attorney general to reinforce these policies.

Artists who benefited from the payola scheme, besides the Rolling Stones and Coldplay, included Norah Jones and the band Gorillaz, according to Spitzer's statement.

Other record companies have settled with the New York Attorney General in the last few months. Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group agreed to pay $12 million, Sony BMG agreed to pay $10 million, while Warner Music Group Corp. settled for $5 million. EMI is the smallest of the four in terms of U.S. market share.

The Attorney General's office has been investigating pay- for-play practices for nearly two years in an investigation that has included record companies, radio station conglomerates and independent promoters.

"Our investigation is continuing to probe radio conglomerates participation in payola in the music industry," said Juanita Scarlett, spokeswoman for the Spitzer's office.

Spitzer, who is running for New York State governor this year, issued subpoenas to the radio conglomerates last year, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., Cox Radio Inc. and CBS Corp.'s CBS Radio.

In March, Spitzer filed a lawsuit against Entercom Communications Corp. accusing it of soliciting and accepting payments for airplay from record companies.

Source: Various

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--Record label EMI Music Publishing is talking to YouTube, Revver and other video upload sites about alliances that would help it monitor and curtail misuse of its copyrights--and loss of advertising or download sales--from unauthorized music videos that are posted to their sites.

"We're actively trying to strike relationships (with user-generated video sites) for the showing of our music videos," Thomas Ryan, EMI Music's senior vice president of digital and mobile strategy, said Wednesday here at the Piper Jaffray Global Internet Summit, a three-day confab of investors and Internet executives.

"It's our hope that those commercial relationships will help us remove infringing material that someone uploaded and we're not being compensated for," Ryan said during a panel discussion about online entertainment.Ryan said EMI is interested in protecting video produced by the label, or video produced by someone else but which infringes on its intellectual property--for example, someone lip-syncing a protected song or who has remixed a music video clip. One solution to the problem is digital tracking technology.

Reminiscent of the early days of Napster, record labels and music studios face new piracy challenges as video consumption explodes on the Internet and through digital devices such as Apple Computer's iPod. Many companies like EMI are trying to promote download sales of music videos, subscriptions and advertising-supported streaming of trailers, music videos and other promotional material.

But those goals can be diametrically opposed to emerging trends within sites like YouTube and Revver--which have thousands of young people uploading their own versions of videos for distribution, or are redistributing copies of their favorite music video without the permission of rights holders.

As part of its policy, YouTube prohibits anyone except legitimate rights holders, such as EMI, from uploading copyright content to its site. Despite that, such content does get posted illegally. As a result, Ryan said, a fingerprinting technology could be used to automate the process for detecting illegally uploaded material. Such marking technology has long been used to track illegally distributed MP3s in peer-to-peer networks.

Ryan pointed to fingerprinting technologies, designed to automatically identify and block transmission of digital-video files, such as those from Audible Magic or Snocap as possibilities.

However, there is a line between what could and could not be seen as infringement, according to Ryan. For example, a user-generated video of a fan lip-syncing a popular song may be viewed as harmless, or even helpful for promoting the band, among rights holders. But depending on the band, song and the nature of the video (if say, it contains racy material), the uploaded video might be taken down if the record label has its way.

Still, EMI is trying to take a progressive approach when it comes to video online, and not necessarily trying to stop the organic promotion of artists like Coldplay on sites and personal pages around the Web. Rather, the label is just concerned with protecting its own revenue stream, Ryan said.

To this end, EMI has struck deals with companies like Rhythm Media to stream music videos to mobile phones, with advertisements that appear before the video. It shares revenue on the ads, and Ryan said those test runs have been successful with viewers.

In recent weeks, it also teamed with a new service called Qtrax, an advertising-supported peer-to-peer network, which is slated to launch later this year. EMI will make its music catalog available on the peer-to-peer service in a bold move to embrace technology it once sought to disable for piracy.

With all such services, "our goal is to up-sell them," Ryan said. "This is a learning experience for us."

YouTube representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Source: Various

Pearl Jam's debut video was the first non-lipsynched MTV video ever, because they didn't go in for that phoney bullshit thank you very much.

To insist on this sort of thing BEFORE you're famous shows some conviction. This commitment to doing what they want without care for what's good for their career has largely been behind their mixed commercial fortunes since the mega-sales of their first two LPs in the early '90s. Recent albums have sounded indifferent.

Now it's 2006, they're all in their 40s and it's album #8. The long slow slide into obscurity and irrelevance must've really sunk in by now right? Fuck off. The fire is back. This is a cracker.

here

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- "Who is the man I see where I'm supposed to be?'' Keane singer Tom Chaplin asks on the track "Crystal Ball.''

Well, sometimes he's Bono, sometimes he's Thom Yorke of Radiohead, and sometimes he's the late, great Freddie Mercury. Most of the time, though, he's Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Keane's guitar-free debut album, "Hopes and Fears,'' blended Chaplin's soaring voice with metronomic piano riffs and pounding drums. In its second outing, "Under the Iron Sea,'' the band has borrowed some sonic tricks from its peers in the alternative rock space.

Read the full review here

Clear Channel has launched KPTL (Capital 106.3) in Des Moines, which will focus on triple-A as well as local Iowa acts. The station will target a 25-54 audience.

KDBR (the Bus), which previously occupied the 106.3 frequency, will move to a stronger signal at 100.3. The top 40 station known as "My 100" was dropped at the locale last month and until the flip to Capital, the Bus was being simulcast at 106.9 and 100.3.

"People who liked KFMG, and before that KDMG, would like this station," said CC Des Moines GM Joel McCrea, in an article in the Des Moines Register. "People who like the feel and the sound of National Public Radio are probably going to like this radio station." Acts will include U2, R.E.M., Norah Jones and Coldplay.KPTL will hire at least three on-air personalities and is developing such shows as "Studio C," "Freedom Rock" and "Iowa Music." Studio C will feature exclusive performances captured live in Clear Channel's new basement recording facilities in the city.

McCrea told the Register that the percentage of local music was unclear. "They have to be good," McCrea said. "We’re not anti-local artists, we just want it to be pretty darn good and pretty mass appeal."

Source: http://billboardradiomonitor.com

Gwyneth Paltrow is already planning an acting career for her daughter Apple, even though the tot is only two!

The Oscar-winner insists she will support her children, Apple, and Moses, three months, in whatever life they choose, but admits she already sees a career on the stage or silver screen for her eldest child.

The Proof beauty says, "My daughter can be quite dramatic. So I think there is a chance that she'll do something like that (acting) - but I'll support her whatever she wants to do."

Source - www.itv.com