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The Wailers' bass player, Aston Barrett, has lost his high court bid for a £60m slice of Bob Marley's royalties. Barrett, nicknamed Family Man, is now superbly placed to write a song called 52 Kids and Not Enough Cash. But the case makes you wonder: how do bands split their royalties?   With difficulty. Songwriting royalties, not to be confused with recording royalties, come in four varieties - mechanical (eg CD sales); performing (radio airplay); synchronisation (film soundtracks); and print (s

British do-gooder Chris Martin of Coldplay might have been surprised to find himself lined up alongside Richard Branson and Terry Leahy (Tesco CEO) on George Monbiot's www.turnuptheheat.org.   Despite naming his children after fruit, his flight habit isn't that green. He was given a severe mauling when it transpired that, on tour, he flies home between gigs. Monbiot works out Martin's Learjet flights probably exceed his equitable quota of carbon by 250 times (this is a conservative estimate) eve

The Guardian have entertained us once again with their Coldplay quips. This weekend's 'unmissable' article reads as follows:   Bizarre's Smart Gordon has been leafing through the latest issue of Q magazine and his observations on an interview the mag featured with the Coldplay frontman are thus: "Chris Martin has come out - as a fan of Oirish balladeers Westlife," chortles the Sun man. Hilarious. Gays are so funny, as we all know.   But not as funny as Martin's confession to Q, in which he revea

Gwyneth Paltrow is looking to spend more time - and money - on this side of the pond, now that she’s buying property in the Hamptons.   Sources say the granola-crunching London resident, and sometime actress, is in contract to purchase a summer home in Amagansett.   This, of course, is a very good morale boost for us Yanks, since the Oscar winner has been quoted as saying that she prefers living in London instead of the U.S. because she believes that Brits are “more intelligent and civilized”

Enjoy the latest remix, The Hardest Fart here [thanks 15simon]   Fart (plural: farts) 1. An emission of digestive gases from the anus.

An interesting article about Coldplay's video 'The Hardest Part' below. Add your comments to their site here   There’s a memorable scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin where Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan are playing video games and trading “You wanna know how I know you’re gay?” ad libs. One volley from Rudd was “…because you like Coldplay.“   Rudd’s character probably was using “gay” in the pejorative sense, meaning “lame”. (Straights tend to do that a lot, unfortunately.) Me, I don’t think Coldplay i

NME have shared their take on the meaning of Parachutes to celebrate the 15th anniversary. Their article includes nice pics of our favourite band when they were just starting!   You can read the article, via our forums (Thanks Coeurli)   Here's a gallery of the band, from the 'Parachutes' era, compiled from the NME article:                       If you haven't voted already, you can choose your favourite track from 'Parachutes', 15 years on:   Mobile link   (

Chris Martin and Win Butler’s musical troupes “make me want to do better” says Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers.   Brandon Flowers [pictured] has admitted that the only bands who’ve pushed The Killers to greater heights are Coldplay and Arcade Fire. Speaking to London’s daily free paper Metro, Flowers also revealed that today’s bands are too ego-driven to take tips from their peers. “I think artists of my generation have too big egos to be inspired by each other”, he said. “Although I’m not afr

Mat Whitecross, who directs many of the band's music videos, including 'Paradise', has documented his experience of filming Coldplay's recent musical, with the Game of Thrones cast. The very popular TV series is currently in the spotlight for it's end of season shock, last night.   The article, titled 'Winter Is Humming' can be read via the link below.   Click here to read the 'Making of "Game of Thrones: The Musical" (Thanks to gai for posting)   The new snaps:              

Chris Martin is set to hold a wedding reception with wife Gwyneth Paltrow - nine months after they tied the knot.   The couple, who married in secret in December 2003, are planning a celebration with friends this month in London's Claridges Hotel. Those expected to attend include Elton John and George Michael.   Source: Breakingnews.iol.ie

When Primal Scream scooped the first ever Mercury Music Prize with their groundbreaking debut, Screamadelica, way back in 1992, they unwittingly set a precedent.   Not by famously managing to lose the awarded 20 grand cheque before they even left the building. No, because Bobby Gillespie's Creation-singed crew beat major label heavyweights like U2 by making what the judges considered to be the best album of the year. In hindsight, this was a sign of things to come - since then, the Mercury Prize

The iconic music video for Coldplay's first proper hit single, 'Yellow' was filmed 15 years to this day. Chris Martin getting soaked on the Dorset beach wasn't the original plan however. On a timeline entry within Coldplay's official website, a note from Chris is posted:     Read the full story, from Roadie 42, on the Coldplay.com timeline   Long time Coldplay friend and director, Mat Whitecross interviewing Chris, behind the scenes of the 'Yellow' vid:     The finished product and ti

I tivoed the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures that were on TV over the Christmas period and although they didn’t go in to depth about anything in particular they were quite entertaining and interesting. I’ve always had a love of maths so it was nice to see the subject get some TV time. Normally the only mathematical programming on TV is the number round on Countdown.   The 2006 lectures were presented by Marcus du Sautoy who’s as close to being a show biz mathematician as you’re likely to ge

The Orchard, the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, and QTRAX, the world's first ad-supported peer-to-peer (P2P) music network and a division of Brilliant Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: BLLN), today announced a licensing agreement that will make The Orchard's full catalogue available through QTRAX. The deal extends the presence of The Orchard into the P2P space and significantly expands the scope of QTRAX by adding the world's largest catalogue of independent music

Multi-Platinum Act Barenaked Ladies Provides Millionth Track; Catalogue Milestone Illustrates Power of 'Long Tail' Model   NEW YORK, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orchard, the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, today announced that multi-platinum act Barenaked Ladies' "Sound of Your Voice" has become the company's one millionth licensed track.   This milestone solidifies The Orchard's position as the top independent distribution company in the industry, with a

LAS VEGAS -- 2006 International CES Show -- The Orchard, the world's leading distributor and marketer of independent music, yesterday announced a landmark relationship with Verizon Wireless, the leading U.S. wireless provider. Verizon Wireless' new V CAST Music service, launching January 16, will draw from The Orchard's industry-leading catalogue of independent music and leverage The Orchard's music programming expertise in independent music. The Orchard and the four major labels constitute the

Through Landmark Agreement With SNOCAP - Pioneering Technology Firm to Facilitate Digital Storefront Solution for Orchard-Distributed Labels and Artists   NEW YORK, NY — (MARKET WIRE) — October 31, 2006 — The Orchard, the world’s leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, and SNOCAP, the first end-to-end provider of digital licensing, copyright management, and artist distribution for the digital music marketplace, today announced a groundbreaking agreement to deliver e-commer

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

The Philosopher Kings have been revving the mojos of the Canadian populace for over a decade with hit singles like "Charms," "Hurts To Love You" and "If I Ever Lose This Heaven." After a long hiatus where other side projects (Jarvis Church, Prozzak) were explored, TPK have their fourth studio album, Castles, ready to drop on Valentines Day. And although their music is always very soothing and full of suave sexual energy, when frontman Gerald Eaton is given the opportunity, he'll raise that deep

Alabama sisters The Pierces have branded our own Guy Berryman "Jesus" for resurrecting their music career, according to The Sun this morning. The girls - Catherine and Allison - had decided to call it a day after a frustrating nine-year slog that spawned three albums, beginning with their eponymously-titled 2000 debut.   But the Parable of the Good Samaritan took a modern twist a mere 24 hours later when their pal Guy called offering to produce their next record, prompting the siblings to reuni

Steve Jobs has had much to celebrate lately. But the Apple CEO was particularly happy in February when he announced that the iTunes Music Store had sold its billionth song, to a teenager in Michigan who had bought a copy of Coldplay's "Speed of Sound."   That milestone is all the more impressive when you remember that Apple (Research) has numerous competitors in the digital music world. Yahoo (Research) Music Unlimited and the legal incarnation of Napster are gunning for iTunes customers. Sony (

Q. You were touring with Coldplay — what was that like after not touring for so long?   A. It was really a lot of fun. It was surprisingly easy. I was thinking about 10 years ago, when I opened for big bands like that. I used to hate it — it was always in these huge places, the sound was really weird, and the people don’t know who you are, and the ones who do know don’t like you; they’re talking through the performance. But everything I hated about it was exactly the reason I wanted to go out th

Q. You were touring with Coldplay — what was that like after not touring for so long?   A. It was really a lot of fun. It was surprisingly easy. I was thinking about 10 years ago, when I opened for big bands like that. I used to hate it — it was always in these huge places, the sound was really weird, and the people don’t know who you are, and the ones who do know don’t like you; they’re talking through the performance. But everything I hated about it was exactly the reason I wanted to go out th

...posts on the messageboard.   And the winner is... to be announced here

Coldplay have made a huge variety of songs, which go to suit different moods, such as the uplifting 'A Sky Full Of Stars' from their most recent album or the chilled out 'Sparks', from their debut record. We turn our attention to the more somber side of the band and nestle through those ballads and the dark side of Coldplay's lyrics.   Lyrics from 'Fix You'   In an ongoing discussion on the Coldplaying messageboards,'Prospekts March' was one of the first songs to be references, with the lyr