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 stuff. It's very much become part of a greater culture, rather than a minority culture."

Meanwhile as previously reported, just off mainland British shores, Coldplay have been announced for the Isle of Wight Festival, alongside the Foo Fighters, and KT Tunstall, The Young Knives, Mylo and Erol Alkan are all confirmed to play the Isle of Skye Festival.

More on this here. Where do you think the new festival will take place? Are we becoming oversaturated with festivals>?

Would you put off a luxury holiday and give the money to your favourite new band instead? Would you delay buying a new kitchen to help a great new group off the ground? Would you give them your life savings?

About 30 dedicated fans of Leeds band Four Day Hombre have gone above and beyond the call of normal fandom by funding their debut album, which is out on Monday. Many have ploughed thousands of pounds into the group's own label, which they set up after other record deals fell through.

And the investment could be about to pay off, with the band being described as "somewhere on the radar between Coldplay and Radiohead" by The Sun.When Four Day Hombre were offered a string of record deals two-and-a-half years ago, the financial clout and creative control the band wanted were missing.

"We came close to a couple of (major) deals and then we were going to go through an independent label, but then it just fell through," singer Simon Wainwright says.

"We decided that it was either carry on and get the money one way or another and set up a label and do it ourselves - or it was just throw the towel in and say enough's enough. And none of us were really ready to do that."

So the band sent an email to fans asking them to buy shares in their own label. Alamo Music was born and the band promptly gave themselves a three-album deal.

"Let's say we raised more than we would have got from a good independent deal," Wainwright says. "In fact, let's say we raised a lot more. It was brilliant. "The people really, really do support us that deeply - it goes to an incredible level. People were literally giving us their life savings. I just hope we don't muck it up."

The practice of fans directly funding their favourite artists is not unknown in the music industry. Marillion followers have bankrolled the group's past two albums, while John Otway supporters paid up to £7,000 to fund a world tour. But they already had large, established and highly dedicated fan bases.

Ben Denison, a 28-year-old IT manager from Leeds, has ploughed £2,400 into Four Day Hombre. "I thought it was an opportunity I couldn't really miss," he says. "I had to get it past the girlfriend first - it was a new kitchen or a share in an indie record label."

Asking fans to invest also means they have a vested interest in spreading the word, and Mr Denison has helped set up a street team for the band. "I just had faith, just had a good feeling, and it was put your money where your mouth is," he says. "I'd been an armchair 'I saw this band first' type of person. It's a gamble I suppose and I went into it eyes open knowing that probably I would lose all the money. But along the way I hoped to get in return a lot of experience in the industry and a lot of excitement as well."

And if the album does do well, the investors stand to get a share of the profits. "There's always in the back of your mind the hope that things might go amazingly well," Mr Denison says. "But that's not really what I was in it for. Other people might have felt differently."

Another shareholder, Mark Parrini, 35, says he is "absolutely not" worried about recouping his £3,500. "How about in five years time when they're the next Coldplay, that you miss out on that initial lift for them to get the ball rolling?" he says. "It's not an investment opportunity at all. I might end up throwing away £3,500, but at least these guys have had an opportunity to get out there so a lot more people can see what they're like."

Source: BBC.co.uk

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 to Bon Jovi to use what they call "dynamic pricing."In this system, the most desirable seats are offered in timed auctions, with bids often opening above the face value of the ticket, then shooting north, based on demand.

This weekend, for instance, Ticketmaster is auctioning the best seats for the Faith Hill/Tim McGraw tour, which hits Madison Square Garden June 23. (Minimum bid: $120, up from the normal top ticket fee of $99.50.)

"This helps keep tickets out of the unauthorized, secondary markets where [another company] determines how much the consumer is going to pay," explains Ticketmaster spokeswoman Bonnie Poindexter. "This way, fans decide."

Yet the fans' bidding process can result in prices that rival even the greediest secondary sellers. The peak price for a single seat during Bon Jovi's last tour via auction was $1,200.

"Dynamic pricing" began in June 2003 for a Lewis Johnson fight in Los Angeles. But it has only started to catch on in the concert industry in the last year. Ticketmaster claims the number of authorized auctions has risen 237% in 2005. The average number of tickets per show sold this way jumped from 17 to 61 last year. But, according to Poindexter, artists and fans have reacted so eagerly that soon Ticketmaster may put as much as half the house on sale by auction for certain shows.

Because this might raise prices overall, observers like Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade magazine Pollstar, believe some artists are "gun shy that the public will perceive this as gross profiteering."

Yet the industry feels it's more fair for the money to go to those involved in the show than to outsiders. And Poindexter argues that "dynamic pricing" at the top end can lead to a corresponding reduction in prices at the bottom, with people bidding down the nosebleed seats.

Regardless, Bongiovanni believes fans will get over whatever negative perceptions they have, the same way they did with corporate sponsorship at concerts. "People used to be wary," he says, "now, no one's concerned."

Source: nydailynews.com

This year’s Twenty-First Annual Induction Ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be held on March 13, 2006 in New York at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The artists being inducted this year are: Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sex Pistols, and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award are Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss.

The Sex Pistols entered the British invasion in the second wave (1978-1985), where the strength of the “new wave” inflated the popularity of British musicians, such as David Bowie, Elvis Costello, The Police, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, and the Culture Club. The waves continue to pound U.S. soil with the Fourth Wave (2001-present) with bands such as Coldplay, James Blunt, Joss Stone, Dido, Natasha Bedingfield, Elbow, Gorillaz and the latest “Welcome to the Jungle” the Arctic Monkeys.The foundation nominating committee is made up of rock and roll historians which select the nominees each year, then ballots are forwarded to another voting body that consists of approximately 700 rock experts. Susan Evans has been the Executive Director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame foundation since it was formed it 1983. So you want your favorite band inducted into the Hall of Fame? Let’s begin with the preliminaries, the artists only become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their recording. The committee also considers the influence and significance of the artist’s contribution to the development of rock and roll. Some of the past inductees have included Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen.

You still think your favorite band is worthy of the honor, right? Huge fanbase? The first thing to do is to write a letter of support to the campaign including the band you would like inducted, focusing on their contributions and recognition and the longevity of their popularity, and yes it would help if they are presently touring. You get the idea! It’s a real honor to be inducted, so why would any band refuse to attend? The Sex Pistols have declined one of the music industry’s greatest accolades. The Sex Pistols have retorted and snubbed their induction according to John Lydon’s website where it was reported; the band said they will not be attending. In a brief statement from distinguished executive director of the Rock and Roll’s Hall of Fame, Miss Evans said of the band’s decision to shun the honor: “They’re being the outrageous punksters that they are, and that’s rock’n roll.”

The Arctic Monkeys debut album, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”, is one of the fast-selling CD’s in Britain which sold a whopping 363, 735 copies in the first week. They will be performing on March 25, at Webster Hall in Manhattan, and are on tour this month in the U.S.

Source: canyon-news.com

U2 has maintained their longevity with well-crafted songs and a great live show. They exposed themselves on the world's stage in 1985 on Live Aid showing that anthemic quality they still possess. They became the biggest band in the world with 1987s sadly beautiful album The Joshua Tree and Rocks Hottest Ticket on the cover of Time magazine.

They reinvented themselves with 1991s Achtung Baby incorporating industrial and electronic influences creating another masterpiece and arguably their best to date. Sometimes the irony and music of the 'new' U2 alienated fans but they still moved forward peaking with 1997's underrated but lacklustre effort Pop. They came back with a safe, classic U2 record that mixed old and new with 2000s All that You Cant Leave Behind and returned to the top of the charts to save rock and roll all over again. The members of U2, especially St. Bono used fame for more meaningful purposes instead of the typical rock clichés.

As Chris Martin of Coldplay explained, U2 do what they want regardless of what people say.

Read the full article here

Nestled in the antebellum capital of Georgia, the campus of Georgia College & State University boasts traditional college fare: spacious greens, historic architecture and a steady stream of students scurrying about with familiar white headphones dangling from their ears.

But here, the students listening to their Apple iPods while walking between classes or glancing at them before catching a bus might just as well be studying for calculus as listening to the latest from Coldplay.

At least 100 of the rural Georgia school's employees use the digital music and video players as an education or research tool - impressive for a college with only about 300 faculty. Rather than simply making class lectures available for download to iPods - a practice now routine at many colleges and even a few high schools - the school's educators are pushing to find more strategic uses of the device.

Read the full article here

A Young songwriter is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Coldplay star Chris Martin after making it to the final of a music award.

Peter Ellis, 16, a fifth-year pupil at James Gillespie's high school, has beaten hundreds of hopefuls from across Britain to become one of 30 young people through to the finals of the Make It Break It (MIBI) awards.

Now songs written by Peter and the other contenders will be listened to and evaluated by some of the best-known figures in the music industry, including Chris Martin, rapper Ms Dynamite and broadcaster Mark Radcliffe.

Chris Martin was himself a winner of a forerunner of the MIBI awards as a fledgling musician, when he triumphed in the Yamaha Rock and Pop Awards in 1995.Peter, whose song This Town won him his place in the finals, is now keeping everything crossed that he will be chosen as one of six MIBI award winners on April 8.

The awards scheme, which is run jointly by Yamaha and the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA), was launched three years ago to inspire and showcase the talents of young songwriters across all popular music genres - rock, pop and urban/dance.

The winners will each get the chance to work with professional session musicians, before performing at the LIPA in front of a capacity crowd of invited supporters, music industry and record company executives.

Peter, who plays guitar, harmonica and sings in a band called Danny Cockroach with three friends, said: "It would be amazing to win, although I'm sure there are probably lots of musicians who want to get to that stage too."

Citing his band's main musical influences as Pink Floyd, Cream and Led Zeppelin, he said the thought of his song being judged by the likes of Chris Martin was "awe-inspiring".

A spokesman for the awards panel said: "The judges selected the 30 songs that they felt were the most structured, well-written and that showed songwriting talent. They chose the songs that were obviously commercial. Peter's song would have been chosen for all these reasons."

Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay and husband of Hollywood A-lister Gwyneth Paltrow, said his own experiences as a young musician made the MIBI awards especially significant for him.

"When I was invited to perform at Earls Court and rehearse with a group of top session musicians in 1995 for the then Yamaha Rock and Pop awards it was the biggest thing in my life and convinced me that my music mattered," he said. "That's why the MIBI awards are so important."

Radio DJ Mark Radcliffe added: "The MIBIs take your music to independent people who know about the business and care very much about helping real talent - that's the great thing."

Peter's father, Mike, a social worker, said he was very proud of Peter's achievement in getting to the finals. Speaking from the family home in Mertoun Place, Polwarth, Mr Ellis said: "It's fantastic news. He's always been interested in music, although I think he's fairly realistic about the chances of rock stardom."

His son added: "I'm considering a career in science, but obviously, if I could make it as a musician, I wouldn't mind that!"

Source: news.scotsman.com

Liz Phair struts her stuff, Anthony Kiedis has an Oasis moment

Liz Phair, supermodel? The singer-songwriter made her catwalk debut in Los Angeles recently as part of a GM pre-Academy Awards showcase for cars, fashion and music. If it sounds surreal for the architect of Exile in Guyville to be strolling down the runway alongside Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Eva Longoria and Carmen Electra, Phair thought the same thing at first. "I was kind of shocked," she says of the invitation to participate. "'You want me to do what, and no guitar?'" She was impressed with some of her runway-mates, though. "Jeremy Piven not only stole the show -- he stole it and, like, re-licensed it to another country."

The Tool- and Depeche Mode-helmed Coachella is rapidly approaching, but Anthony Kiedis, of former headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, took a moment to reflect when he checked out the premiere of the Coachella documentary. "They chose a pretty great selection of bands to cover," he chimed in. As for the behind-the-scenes interviews, his favorite? "I got a big kick out of the Liam Gallagher cynicism. Pretty hysterical." . . .

On the big-screen tip, had the chance to hang recently with She's the Man star (and new Liz Smith "It" girl) Amanda Bynes, who says music is a big influence on her. "I cannot imagine life without it!" she swooned. But the girl's tastes are all over the map: "I love Coldplay, Ryan Adams -- and Kelly Clarkson! She makes music girls can relate to. She's like a strong woman for women." . . .

Read the full article rollingstone.com

Teasing festival fans by declaring that there will be 'a lot of surprises' at next year's Glastonbury, Michael Eavis has given a glimpse of what could be in store by revealing he's in talks with Dire Straits...

Speaking on XFM's breakfast show this morning, Eavis refused to be drawn on who might be playing at next year's festival - that was until presenter Shaun Keavney joked that Dire Straits should be asked to headline.

Eavis cooly replied: "Oh, we're talking to them. They might be there ... not on the Pyramid Stage but they might be involved in something else. We're talking to a lot of bands at the moment."The 70-year-old Glasto founder, who's recent booking coups have included Paul McCartney, David Bowie, and Radiohead, revealed he already has his headliners in mind but reckoned they could raise an eyebrow or two.

He said: "There are going to be a lot of surprises next year. It's going to be brilliant."

Having made no secret of his previous attempts to woo the likes of U2, Prince and The Rolling Stones to Worthy Farm, Eavis also hinted at a possible change of tack in booking policy. He said: "We're moving away from the tradtional headliners."

When asked about The Stones, one of his favourite bands, the farm-owner replied: "We couldn't afford them. They ask for about a million and we can only really justify a few hundred grand for our top acts. I don't blame them really, they can do what they like."

Similar noises were made last year when Michael's daughter Emily hinted that the headliners for 2005 would be 'smaller' than in 2004, when Oasis, Paul McCartney, and Muse topped the bill.

Eventually however, heavyweights The White Stripes, Coldplay and Kylie were booked to headline the festival, before Basement Jaxx replaced Kylie following her cancer diagnosis.

So far, both members of the Eavis family have remained tight-lipped over who might be headlining, apart from when Michael boasted that Eric Clapton had agreed to fill one of the slots in the lead up to last year's festival. However, he has since revealed that he'd like Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs to play at the festival.

Source: virtualfestivals.com

Coldplaying's friends over at Rolling Stone's the Smoking Section report further on Coldplay in New York...

The Strokes kicked off their U.S. tour in grand style in New York -- you'll dig the new light show and, finally, encores! In the house were friends and family, including the dudes in Coldplay.

CP fans freaked after Chris Martin declared at the Brit Awards, "We won't see you for a long time," fueling speculation that the band might split up. But Martin assures the SS that the end is not near. "Coldhead are having the best tour of our lives," the cheeky mofo tells us. "We're plotting how to change music forever, for the better. Our best stuff is yet to come -- I know it is, 'cause we've written it." Coldplay took off after the show to ring in Martin's twenty-ninth b-day (March 2nd), while the Strokes raged at an East Village pool hall.

Next up for the Strokes is their first gig at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. While in Music City, they told the SS that their squad will face off in a baseball game against the Kings of Leon camp, who just started preproduction on their third album, to be titled Because of the Times. Believe it!

We've spent three decades laughing at soft rock and its fluffy-haired fans. So why is it suddenly OK to like it again?

You could argue that the soft rock revival has been with us since the turn of the century. The epic piano ballads of Coldplay and their opportunistic brethren may have their roots in Radiohead's more elegiac moments, but over the years their surfaces have been sanded down and glossed until they sound like something else entirely.

One online encyclopedia's definition claims "soft rock is usually sung with higher-pitched vocals, the lyrics tend to be non-confrontational, focusing in very general language on themes like love and relationships, and the genre tends to make heavy use of pianos", which more or less precisely describes Keane.

Read the full article here

EMI is kicking off a review of its £14m UK media planning and buying business.

The record company, home to artists including Coldplay and KanYe West, has already embarked on a market-bymarket review across Europe which excluded the UK.

However, it is understood EMI will now hold a separate pitch for its UK media account, which Carat has held since 1997. Reports have linked the7stars to the EMI account. However, sources said that the account will be reviewed thoroughly with other major agencies invited to pitch. However, an EMI spokeswoman said: "There is definitely no review running in the UK. The UK is excluded from the European review."

EMI's media spend has increased in the past year on the back of major releases from Coldplay and Gorillaz. According to Nielsen Media Research, the record label's largest single media spend on an album release was £2.1m to support the release of KT Tunstall's album Eye to the Telescope [pictured].

Source: brandrepublic.com

Carey Ott's melodic pop is catchy and appealing

Former Chicagoan Carey Ott's new LP is one of a good-sized handful of anticipated 2006 releases from Nashville's rock and pop community — and judging by early tastes of it, might be one of the discs with the widest appeal.

Due out in May on Nashville label Dualtone, Ott's Lucid Dream straddles a couple of melodic lines comfortably, with sounds that fit in the pop singer-songwriter landscape with fellow Nashvillian David Mead and former Nashvillian Josh Rouse, but also keeps a moody melodicism that will appeal to Anglophiles who gravitate more toward polished Britrock players like Travis.

It's the kind of pop that can appeal to both collegiate types and their moms — á la Coldplay — in that it's inoffensive and catchy, but still has some youthful enthusiasm. Fans of TV's Grey's Anatomy got a little preview of Ott's new music early this year, when the show played Dream's leadoff track, Am I Just One, in a January episode.

Source: rctimes.com

A Year to Remember at Halifax's 2006 Junos Awards

The Juno Awards have been getting bigger and bigger every year, but it looks like this year's trip to Halifax could prove to be the best destination yet for the music awards with a number of announcements over the last month that are sure to inspire fans. Among the 11 musical performances that have been announced, some of the biggest names include Coldplay, Michael Bublé, Nickelback, the Black Eyed Peas, and Massari.

Since CTV took over broadcasting the awards in 2002 the Junos have been held in St. John's (2002), Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004), and Winnipeg (2005). Each year the show has seemed to become just a little bigger. Hosts like Shania Twain and the Barenaked Ladies took the stage and wowed the crowds, events took place all over the host cities, and of course, awards were handed out.But 2006 just seems to be a notch bigger than ever before. With Pamela Anderson as this year's host, and all the artists who will be performing, on top of the Juno Weekend events, it's easy to get a bit excited about this year's Juno festivities.

The full list of performers for the Juno Awards telecast on Sunday, April 2nd include: Coldplay, Michael Bublé, Nickelback, Black Eyed Peas, Hedley, Buck 65, Divine Brown, Massari, Bedouin Soundclash, Broken Social Scene and 2006 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Adams.

For fans attending the events in Halifax it doesn't stop there though. On Friday, March 31st at 7:30 p.m. at the Halifax Forum fans can check out the Juno Cup where Canadian musicians take on NHL Greats for a fundraiser supporting the music education program, MusiCan.

On Friday and Saturday, JunoFest takes to the clubs and music venues of Halifax and will include over 100 local, regional and national artists. Among the artists set to perform are Pilate, Corb Lund, Sloan, The Road Hammers, plus Juno nominees Elliott Brood and Ron Sexsmith.

Fans can also head over to Juno Fan Fare on Saturday to get autographs from their favorite Juno nominees, and on Sunday afternoon before the big Juno telecast, the Songwriters' Circle will include Alan Doyle, Martha Wainwright, and Ron Sexsmith, among others, talking about their careers and performing songs.

Finally, there's the industry's Gala Dinner and Awards, which is where most of the Juno Awards will be handed out. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of amazing artists won't get their time on national TV, but it also means that Sunday evening's telecast won't drag on for hours.

If you aren't lucky enough to have a ticket to the Junos, or to catch any of the other events over the weekend, you can tune in to CTV on Sunday, April 2, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm (ET). Plus, stay tuned to The GATE's Juno Awards Spotlight for ongoing coverage, including interviews, photos, the 'Juno Blog', and the top stories from the Junos.

Source: thegate.ca

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 (Research) and Samsung are trying to create iPod slayers.

And the field is only getting more crowded. By summer, Amazon (Research) may launch a digital music service with a branded MP3 player, possibly made by Samsung. It is already being referred to in the industry as the aPod. Amazon won't discuss its plans, but sources tell FORTUNE that Amazon is targeting people over 40 years old--it refers to them as "the NPR crowd" --who aren't as likely to own iPods as MySpace users.Yet Apple's challengers all face the same problem: Jobs' company will no doubt dominate the digital music market for years to come. That's because Apple has learned its lesson about closed systems.

In the desktop market Apple shrank to a niche player because it designed proprietary hardware and software that were often incompatible with programs that proliferated in the PC universe. Microsoft replicated the basic features of the Macintosh operating system in Windows and licensed it to mass-market PC manufacturers like Dell. Apple ended up with 3.2% of the U.S. desktop market.

With the iPod, Jobs created a closed system with mass appeal. Fulcrum Global Partners estimates that iPods now account for 73% of the 30 million MP3 players currently in use in the U.S. That's partially because Apple released versions of the player and iTunes for Windows.

But it's also because Jobs cut a deal with the Big Five record companies in 2003 that locked up his device. The music companies wanted to sell songs on iTunes, but they were afraid of Internet piracy. So Jobs promised to wrap their songs in Apple's FairPlay--the only copy-protection software that is iPod-compatible.

Other digital music services such as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster reached similar deals with the big record labels. But Apple refused to license FairPlay to them. So those companies turned to Microsoft for copy protection.

That satisfied fearful music companies, but it means none of the songs sold by those services can be played on the wildly popular iPod. Instead, users of the services had to rely on inferior devices made by companies like Samsung and SanDisk that supported Microsoft's Windows Media format.

The situation has been a disaster for Apple's competitors. iTunes holds a commanding lead over its rivals, selling more than 75% of all digital songs, according to NPD. The second-place digital music store, eMusic, can't sell any major label hits because it refuses to copy protect them. Instead, it relies on independent labels for content.

But eMusic has a 9% share of the market, largely because you can play its unprotected MP3s on an iPod. Meanwhile, Rhapsody, Napster, Sony, Wal-Mart (Research), AOL, and Yahoo--nearly all of which have deals with the major labels but are stuck with Microsoft's technology--are fighting over the remaining 16% of the digital-music-store market.

Most of these music services argue that they have something to offer music lovers that Apple doesn't: digital music subscriptions providing customers the chance to listen to more than million songs for a monthly fee of roughly $10. You can't burn these songs onto CDs, and they become unplayable if you don't pay your bill. But Napster argues that it is cheaper to listen to music this way than to buy thousands of iTunes.

True enough. But the software that Microsoft developed to allow this heavily protected music to be moved to portable devices has been so buggy that a lot of subscribers have given up and just listen to songs on their computers.

Poor Microsoft. Nearly every music service and MP3 player maker other than Apple supports Windows Media and its copy-protection software. But not enough music lovers want to use them. It's a far cry from what happened in the desktop wars. It's no fun when you're outside of the closed system looking in.

Source: money.cnn.com

TAIPEI (Billboard) - Yahoo China's music search engine has turned up bad news for the music industry and possible legal action against the global Web portal.

In a situation that seems to mirror that of market-leading -- and already sued -- local portal http://www.baidu.com, Yahoo China's music pages link directly to unlicensed downloads and streams of songs by domestic and international artists.

Other links to such acts as Eminem and Coldplay represent the remaining major labels. Independent labels have also been affected. "We don't have a licensing agreement with Yahoo China," says a representative for leading Tokyo-based independent label Avex. Yet the Yahoo China Web site features links to MP3 files of songs by such Avex acts as Japanese diva Ayumi Hamasaki."Deep linking," as the practice is known, differs from sending Web searchers to other pages that may host unlicensed music. Instead, the links on Baidu and Yahoo directly trigger a download of music hosted by sites that appear to be unaffiliated with Yahoo.

The most obvious examples of apparent copyright infringement on the Yahoo China site include deep links to music by the Beatles. The band's catalogue has never been licensed to a digital service. This is similar to http://www.top100.cn, a Chinese music Web site that claimed legitimacy but sold unlicensed music.

Yahoo China management denies that such links are examples of copyright violations.

Yahoo "is a directory of what's on the Web," says Porter Erisman, international marketing VP of Beijing-based Alibaba International, the company that manages Yahoo China. Erisman says that if content is streaming or being downloaded from another site, such violations would be the responsibility of that site. "Yahoo China doesn't actually post the works which (users) are downloading," Erisman says.

California-based Yahoo paid $1 billion (576 million pounds) for a 40% stake in Internet auction site Alibaba last August, then turned over management and operation of its China portal to Alibaba. Yahoo China is a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S.-based Internet portal Yahoo. The U.S. operation http://www.yahoo.com links directly to http://www.yahoo.com.cn, which makes yahoo.com users three clicks from downloading unlicensed music.

"Yahoo absolutely supports the widespread protection of copyright laws and strongly opposes the violation of copyright protections by companies or individuals," a Yahoo representative wrote in an e-mail. "Yahoo aims to respect all intellectual property rights and will remove any content when we become aware of material that infringes on copyrights. It is worth noting that as of October 2005, alibaba.com operates and manages the Yahoo China business, including its search compliance processes."

Chinese courts have ruled against deep linking in seemingly similar cases. Baidu was found guilty of copyright infringement by the Beijing People's Local Court September 16, 2005, in a case brought by Shanghai Bu-sheng Music Culture Media, the local distributor for EMI. Baidu has appealed the ruling, and appears to continue to post copyright-infringing links.

Like Baidu, Yahoo China deep links to downloads from a host of internationally popular artists. Yahoo.cn takes the unlicensed digital music experience one step further, offering access to streaming songs. Once users are logged into their Yahoo accounts -- U.S. yahoo.com accounts work -- they can select from a list of hundreds of artists to open a new Web page with Yahoo formatting and Yahoo's logo that will stream the music. As with the downloads, this music appears to be hosted by sites unaffiliated with Yahoo.

RINGTONES, TOO

Billboard also found links on yahoo.cn for ringtone downloads at http://www.3721.com, a site bearing the Yahoo name and logo and registered to Alibaba.com Corp. of Hong Kong. Users of 3721 are asked to provide their name, cell phone number and handset model before a ringtone is sent to their phone for a charge of 2 renminbi (25 cents). A Chinese software and keyword engine, 3721 Network Software was acquired by Yahoo for $120 million in 2003.

Billboard was unable to determine the licensing status of ringtones sold on 3721. But the Beatles' music, which has never been made available for ringtones, was for sale.

Industry executives say Yahoo China's music service clearly violates their copyrights. "We have not licensed anything to Yahoo China," says Swee Wong, Hong Kong-based managing director of Sony BMG China. "Our view is that they are in the same category as Baidu, using 'deep links' to make available our repertoire illegally." Yahoo China links to sites offering downloads of tracks by Sony BMG artists, including Michael Jackson and Avril Lavigne. Sony BMG star Kelly Clarkson's hit "Because of You" could be downloaded and streamed for free and appeared to be for sale as a ringtone.

"Yahoo China is as bad as Baidu, where illegal MP3 search accounts for the majority of the traffic," echoes Ken Cheung,Warner Music Asia Pacific's new media/business development VP, also based in Hong Kong. Yahoo China deep linked to tracks from Green Day, a Warner Music Group act.

LEGALLY WARNED?

Sony BMG China's Wong says the Asia Pacific regional office of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the music business' main lobbying arm, sent Yahoo China cease-and-desist warnings on behalf of the four major international labels in December.

In an e-mailed statement, IFPI general counsel Geoff Taylor stopped short of confirming the letters, but wrote, "It appears that the China Yahoo service is infringing our members' copyrights by making available via 'deep links' songs that they have not been licensed to distribute. We have raised our concerns with Yahoo and China Yahoo. We are hoping that this activity will now be stopped. In the meantime, we are reserving our members' rights to take legal action if it proves necessary."

China's difficulties in controlling piracy are well documented. The IFPI estimates that 90% of the music sold in China, the world's 20th-largest music market, is from pirated sources.

"Yahoo is facing a lot of competition in China from local search engines and portals, and with Baidu's music service being so popular they need to start offering the same services to keep up," says Vivek Couto, executive director of Hong Kong-based consulting firm Media Partners Asia.

The Yahoo China operation is no stranger to controversy. According to human-rights group Amnesty International, Yahoo provided account-holder information on journalist Shi Tao to Chinese state authorities who had accused Shi in April 2004 of "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities" by using his Yahoo e-mail account to send an e-mail to the United States. Shi is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.

Reuters/Billboard

MUMBAI: MTV International is looking to grow the brand in Europe further through the mobile route. It has announced a deal with T-Mobile to deliver MTVNI’s diverse portfolio of entertainment brands to mobile TV subscribers across multiple European markets.

The deal, which sees MTVNI’s premier content being made available for the first time to T-Mobile subscribers for mobile TV in Germany and Austria and later in the UK, is a significant step forward in building the company’s European digital media offering.

T-Mobile subscribers in Germany and Austria can access the best and most exciting MTVNI content on mobile TV, including MTV Music and MTV Shorts. Nickelodeon animation shows including SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer are available now in Germany and from September in Austria. MTV Music is a back-to-back simulcast of a music video hits TV channel showing the best of all genres such as Coldplay, Gwen Stefani and 50 Cent.And, MTV Shorts is a mobile TV channel of popular hit shows optimised for mobile, such as Punk’d and Dirty Sanchez, along with made-for-mobile programming such as Head & Body – an eight-mobisode comedy adventure.

In addition to these three channels, UK subscribers will soon be able to experience classic comedy stand up routines and clips from hit shows such as Becker on Paramount Comedy starting this summer. In the UK, MTV Shorts & MTV Music are known as MTV Snax & Trax, respectively.

MTVNI senior VP, digital media Gideon Bierer says, "This multi-market multi-brand strategic partnership gives T-Mobile subscribers access to the most diverse portfolio of entertainment brands available today on mobile TV. MTV Networks is uniquely positioned to help operators drive their mobile TV businesses by providing consumers with access to our world class brands on-the-go."

T-Mobile International VP mobile data Ingo Schneider says, “T-Mobile is committed to making mobile TV a successful and fulfilling service for our customers and we are very pleased to now offer the exciting content from MTV Networks International. T-Mobile is especially proud to be the mobile operator for MTVNI’s first multi-market and multi-brand mobile TV partnership in Europe”.

T-Mobile customers in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia can already enjoy the benefits of mobile TV on a range of about 10 3G devices in each market. The mobile TV service enables customers to access six TV genres including news, sport, music, comedy, youth and entertainment around the clock so they never miss their favourite TV series or the latest news when they are on the move.

T-Mobile provides customers with a range of options including a monthly subscription or integration into special tariff packages. The mobile TV service is currently being offered on a free trial basis until 31 March in Germany and Austria.

In addition to mobile video-on-demand, MTVNI currently offers 12 channels on mobile TV across Europe in 10 countries from its portfolio of brands including MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Comedy and Game One. MTVNI’s expert digital production team, who ensures that the company’s high quality content offers users the ultimate viewing experience on handsets, programmes the new mobile TV channels.

In the US, IFILM is available to mobile TV subscribers, and the company recently announced the availability of IFILM on mobile TV to operators across Europe at 3GSM in Barcelona.

MTV has partnerships with 63 mobile operators globally, using its distinctive editorial voice to deliver a broad range of digital content, applications and services, including short video clips, games, ring tones, voice products on mobile, text alerts and interactive applications.

The company optimises its TV shows across its leading brands for digital platforms, creates new experiences based on its hit properties and develops original content for kid, youth and adult audiences. The company also enables audiences to become part of the creative process, facilitating the creation and distribution of user-generated content.

Source: indiantelevision.com

A new CD-trading website, launching Tuesday, could be the first of a new wave of sites that give consumers a way to legitimately get nearly free music.

The site, Lala.com, carries no inventory; it's more like eBay than used CD sites such as Djangomusic.com.

How it works: Users start by listing all their CDs. Then they look at menus of available CDs or through other people's CD collections, clicking on those they'd like to receive.

A request, say, for Coldplay's X&Y, generates a blind notice to anyone who has that CD that someone wants it. The first to agree to send it sees the address of the person who wants the CD, then mails it in a pre-paid envelope (which La La sends users when they sign up).La La users get charged $1 for each CD they receive. They have to send a CD to get a CD, which is supposed to prevent anyone from abusing the system by only receiving CDs. Users are instructed to send the original CD, not a copy.

At launch, La La will be a "closed beta" — you have to be invited to use it until the site goes live this summer. (Related item: Kevin Maney's blog)

Though La La is the first high-profile site to create a CD-trading market, analysts say others will follow.

At a Billboard magazine conference last week, MySpace executives said it's "worth exploring" ways to incorporate eBay-like music trading capabilities.

"This legal peer-to-peer music trading is going to be something you'll see a lot more of," says Rich Greenfield, media analyst at Pali Research.

While LaLa.com "is not a slam-dunk, it could tap a new vein in digital and analog music," says Tim Bajarin, analyst at Creative Strategies.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based La La — which got $9 million in venture capital — might only be a niche player on its own, Bajarin says. But it could be powerful if bought by an entity such as MySpace or AOL and incorporated into established communities.

"I would not be surprised if that is part of the real goal," Bajarin says.

Music companies are trying to figure out what La La might mean to them.

Online trading could hurt sales if users can legally trade for a CD they might otherwise buy.

But La La CEO Bill Nguyen — who previously started and sold Seven Networks and Onebox.com — says he is reaching out to record labels.

His pitch: Through trading, users typically will get only 10% to 20% of the CDs they want.

For the CDs not available through trading, record companies could offer La La users new CDs or downloads.

"They could target people who want that CD" simply by seeing who was requesting it, Nguyen says.

Artists might support the site: Nguyen says he wants to funnel a cut of La-La's profits back to artists whose CDs get traded.

"I don't have any problems with the idea," says Chris Collingwood of the band Fountains of Wayne.

Source: usatoday.com

Music companies including EMI, the company behind Coldplay, are under investigation for alleged price fixing in the surging online market.

In the latest blow to the troubled music industry, officials from the US Justice Department are poised to issue subpoenas to leading players as they open an inquiry into the issue.

Although the investigators were tight-lipped yesterday, it is understood that the UK’s EMI, along with Germany’s Bertelsmann, Warner Music of the US and Japan’s Sony are central to the inquiry.The US Justice Department, which usually works in conjunction with the FBI, said yesterday: “The antitrust division is looking at the possibility of anti-competitive practices in the music download industry.”

At the heart of the investigation is the suggestion that the four major labels have been placing pressure on Apple, the computer company that has taken a strong hold of the download market, to increase prices.

Apple has been highly successful via its iTunes system in allowing people to download individual songs from its online music store for 99p in the UK and 99 cents in America.

It has sparked a near revolution in the music industry, which has been worried for years about illegal downloading and has, say critics, been slow to embrace the internet.

Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York who came to prominence for his assaults on Wall Street fraud, is already looking into the matter. His concern is that large record labels may be overcharging Apple to sell music online, as they fight to cling on to market share.

It seems likely that this new investigation was sparked by complaints from Apple to the Justice Department, though the company declined to comment.

Revenues from digital sales of music are soaring, and could top £1bn this year. Sales of CDs and other more traditional music formats are plummeting.

The big four claim that Apple’s pricing policy is itself uncompetitive. They would like to charge less than 99p for old songs but potentially much more for new releases. EMI would offer no comment on the inquiry yesterday.

It is understood that that the big four have received what are known as “civil investigative demands” - requests for more information. Full subpoenas are likely to be sent out in the very near future.

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

Patio season is coming to Halifax two months early this year thanks to the Junos.

Although restaurants and bars normally open their patios in May, Halifax regional council voted Tuesday to change the rules to accommodate the crowds expected for the big music event. Patios will now open on March 27, four days before the Juno festivities are set to begin.

The awards gala on April 2 will be hosted by former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson, and will feature performances by Coldplay, Bryan Adams and Nickelback. The 3,000 tickets for the show sold out in just 15 minutes.

Downtown merchants who had been pushing for the early start to patio season hope the weather co-operates. According to Environment Canada's three-month forecast, Atlantic Canada will enjoy warmer than average temperatures in the next three months.

Source: cbc.ca

“Dylan’s got the greatest song library ever."

"Of course, Bob Dylan can’t sing, can he, Chris? He just sort of whines away about some old shit and he can’t really play harmonica, can he, Chris? And anyway, what do you mean he wrote that Guns N’ Roses song? I don’t believe it. Anyway, he can’t even sing properly and what with that harmonica… blah blah blah, Chris… blah blah blah… [keeps going till end of life as we know it]."

Of all the world’s millions of misconceptions and generalisation - every Frenchman has a beret, Ringo Staff was luckier to be in The Beatles than they were to have him, I’m from Devon therefore my dad is properly also my sister; all that stuff - the one that drives me most bananas is this one about Bob Dylan. Like a high wall around a chocolate factory this singing thing stops a lot of people from getting into Bob Dylan.

Read the full article here

US music lovers are fuming about copy-protected CDs but in the UK they are rare. Is it because the record labels trust us - or fear us?

If you only read blogs, you could have believed that last November all CD buyers were convulsed with fury over Sony BMG’s use of copy-protection software to prevent people ripping some 50-odd CDs - from internationally known artists such as Foo Fighters, Alicia Keys and Santana - to MP3s. True, some bloggers were, but in the UK it was a non-issue: none of the CDs issued here had the software.

So while American bloggers examined the XCP software, written by the Oxford-based First4Internet, which covertly installed files deep in the Windows operating system if the CD was played on a PC, UK buyers could safely ignore it. Every new revelation - that XCP could open security holes on PCs where it was installed, that Microsoft classed it as “spyware”, that Sony BMG was offering replacement CDs - made no difference in the UK.

Read the full article here

Pop and rock musical acts have been crossing the pond in waves ever since The Beatles came to America more than four decades ago, and many signs seem to indicate that 2006 will be another big year for performers from the United Kingdom.

Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and Keane have brought big shows to America during the past two years. All three were among the nominees at the Grammys earlier this month, as were hip-hop act Floetry and the animated supergroup known as Gorillaz -- also both British.

"You're Beautiful," the hit single off British soldier-turned-rocker James Blunt's debut album, "Back To Bedlam," was No. 2 on the US Billboard charts. On Wednesday [Feb. 15], Blunt won two Brit awards -- the UK equivalent of the Grammys -- for best pop act and best male solo artist.

Read the full article [worth it] here

GWEN STEFANI [pictured], JAMIE FOXX, 50 CENT, DAVE MATTHEWS, COLDPLAY, SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS and BONO all star in the new thirty-second ad for the One campaign to fight extreme poverty and AIDS.

The spot, which also features actors TOM HANKS, GEORGE CLOONEY, CAMERON DIAZ, PENELOPE CRUZ and BRAD PITT, debuts Wednesday exclusively online at aimtoday.com.

One was founded in 2005, and includes an international coalition of over two million people and seventy of America's leading humanitarian and advocacy organizations. Last April, the group promoted awareness through a TV ad campaign featuring musicians MOS DEF and JEWEL; actors Pitt, SUSAN SARANDON and AL PACINO; and even PAT ROBERTSON, a leading figure of the Christian right.

Source: rollingstone.com

After lingering at No. 2 for three straight weeks, James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" tops the Billboard Hot 100 this week. As reported yesterday (March 1), the U.K. singer/songwriter thus becomes the first British artist to reach No. 1 on the chart since Elton John achieved the feat with "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight."

"You're Beautiful" ends the five-week run of Beyoncé's "Check on It" featuring Slim Thug, which falls to No. 2 on the Hot 100. The Blunt track also remains No. 1 on the Pop 100, Hot Digital Songs and Adult Top 40 charts.Sean Paul's "Temperature" is the Hot 100's greatest airplay gainer, rising 4-3, while Nelly's "Grillz" featuring Paul Wall and Ali & Gipp falls 3-4 but remains atop the Hot Ringtones chart for a fifth week. Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" holds at No. 5 on the Hot 100 and leads the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a 10th frame.

On the Hot 100, T-Pain's "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)" featuring Mike Jones and Chris Brown's "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" stay put at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" (No. 8) and Ne-Yo's "So Sick" (No. 9) swap positions, while Cascada's "Everytime We Touch," the chart's greatest sales gainer, climbs 16-10 to round out the top tier.

The Hot 100's top debut belongs to Prince's "Black Sweat" at No. 60. Also new are Madonna's "Sorry" (No. 70), 50 Cent and Olivia's "Best Friend" (No. 72), Nick Lachey's "What's Left of Me" (No. 89), LL Cool J's "Control Myself" featuring Jennifer Lopez (No. 93) and HIM's "Wings of a Butterfly" (No. 97).

Josh Turner's "Your Man" claims the No. 1 spot on the Hot Country Songs chart, as Brad Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going" featuring Dolly Parton falls to No. 2 after just one week on top. Daddy Yankee's "Rompe" notches a 14th week atop the Hot Latin Songs chart, while Lifehouse's "You and Me" leads Adult Contemporary for a seventh week.

Nine Inch Nails' "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" holds at No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart, while Nickelback's "Animals" remains atop the Mainstream Rock tally for a fifth week.