Coldplay and Oxfam America are working together to promote awareness of trade rules that keep millions of farmers in poverty.

Coldplay will be championing the Make Trade Fair campaign during the “Twisted Logic” tour in August and September. The concerts will feature music from their long awaited third release—“X&Y”—and a call to sign the Big Noise petition. This petition calls on world leaders to change trade rules that keep millions of farmers across the world in poverty.

Coldplay’s 36-date US tour, which begins Aug. 4 in Hartford, CT., will mark a new level of advocacy for both Coldplay and Oxfam America. In 2003, Oxfam gathered 10,000 Big Noise signatures during Coldplay’s 14-date US tour. This year, Oxfam hopes get 50,000 signatures.Before each concert, Coldplay will show a brief video on the suffering caused by bad trade policies and the potential for trade reform to lift millions out of poverty. The video will call on concert-goers to sign the Big Noise petition by using their cell phones to send a text message. Sun Microsystems is providing the technology and support for thousands of anticipated text messages. Oxfam volunteers will also collect petition signatures by hand.

The Big Noise petition has been signed by 7.7 million people globally. Oxfam will deliver the Big Noise to world trade ministers this December at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong.

Coldplay front man Chris Martin has seen firsthand the crippling effects of bad trade rules on small farmers after traveling to both Ghana and Haiti with Oxfam.

"How on earth could anybody stand in a field with these people and say that it's the right thing to do to dump their excess produce cheaply on a third world country? It's beyond me. But the truth is, the people responsible haven't talked to the farmers in the areas affected."

In July, Coldplay teamed up with prodigious A-list music stars at London’s Live 8 concert to insist that politicians take steps to end extreme global poverty. And following the Live 8 performance, Coldplay began a series of European shows where they teamed up with Oxfam Great Britain to promote the movement against unfair trade.

Source: OxfamAmerica.org

Coldplay is the most played artist in the world this week on Audioscrobbler. Latest track positions are as follows:

1st: Speed Of Sound

2nd: Fix You

7th: Talk

9th: Square One

Audioscrobbler builds a profile of your musical taste using a plugin for your media player (Winamp, iTunes, XMMS etc..). Plugins send the name of every song you play to the Audioscrobbler server, which updates your musical profile with the new song. Every person with a plugin has their own page on this site which shows their listening statistics. The system automatically matches you to people with a similar music taste, and generates personalised recommendations.

Details and pictures here

MTV today announced the nominees for the "2005 MTV Video Music Awards." Speed of Sound was nominated in several categories (4) including Video Of The Year.

Green Day topped the list with eight nominations, Gwen Stefani and Missy Elliott follow with six each and U2 five nominations. The 2005 VMAs will be hosted by P.Diddy & broadcast live from American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL on Sunday, August 28, 2005 at 8:00pm.

Here are Coldplay's nominations in full:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Director: Mark Romanek

Producer: Arif McGarry

Production Company: Anonymous Content

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS IN A VIDEO

Production Company: Anonymous Content

Special Effects: A52

BEST EDITING IN A VIDEO

Production Company: Anonymous Content

Editor: Adam Pertofsky

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A VIDEO

Production Company: Anonymous Content

Cinematographer: Harris Savides

The "2005 MTV Video Music Awards" will be available to a potential viewing audience of over 1 billion people via MTV's 45 channels reaching 429.1 million households around the world.

Source: coldplay.com

Coldplay have just announced several new tour dates across Europe in October and November this year.

26 October: Sports Palace, Antwerp, Belgium

28 October: Arena, Oberhausen, Germany

30 October: Forum, Copenhagen, Denmark

31 October: Spektrum, Olso, Norway

7 November: Globe, Stockholm, Sweden

9 November: Arena, Leipzig, Germany

10 November: Maimarkhalle, Mannheim, Germany

12 November: Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland

14 November: Fillaforum, Milan, Italy

15 November: Palamalagott, Bologna, Italy

17 November: Dome, Marseille, France

18 November: Zenith, Toulouse, France

20 November: Palau Saint Jordi, Barcelona, Spain

22 November: Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, Spain

23 November: Atlantico Pavillion, Lisbon, Portugal

25 November: Velodromo Anoeta, San Sebastian, Spain

28 November: Tony Garnier Hall, Lyon, France

29 November: Bercy, Paris, France

Extra dates will be added soon. Please keep an eye out here and at our tour listings.

An exclusive screening of the brand new video for Fix You, the second single from Coldplay's chart-topping album X&Y will appear on UK television in August.

Starting: 22:50 on Wednesday 3rd August. Duration: 5 minutes.

Showing on Channel 4.

Want to know what the nation's top record executives really think about their biggest stars? I mean really think? No holds barred?

Here's what one says about Eminem: "I feel his moment has come and gone." Another on Britney Spears: "Trust me, she's over." And U2 fans should brace themselves: "Time is catching up with them. I'd rather have Coldplay on my roster."

The top artists on the list clearly benefited from being in the glow of recent albums that were both critical and commercial knockouts. Usher's "Confessions" is a frequently compelling look at sexual temptation, consequence and regret. Keys' "The Diary of Alicia Keys" was a marvelous updating of the Motown R&B-pop tradition, while Coldplay's X&Y contains some of the most gorgeous love songs in ages.

Many of the executives grew up on rock 'n' roll and said they were saddened they couldn't find more room on their lists for rock artists. Though several groups, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have generated massive sales totals in recent years, only Coldplay, U2, Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and Green Day made more than three Top 10 lists.

"Rock has really been hurt by the new reality in our world," said one executive, whose list included only two rock acts. "It's is the most stolen, pirated, whatever you want to say, genre we have now. Whatever you think you could sell with a rock album, you have to cut it by a third."

Coldplay was the only rock group that executives across the board saw being able to match those numbers. The "new U2" tag came up often in the interviews. The comparison is far from perfect. Coldplay doesn't have the thematic range and depth or sheer musical originality of U2, but the group's best songs have a wonderfully warm, engaging feel that makes it acceptable on mainstream radio.

"I just thank the pop-music gods that there is a band like Coldplay," one executive said. "They play mainstream pop-rock that gets on the radio and is lovely without being fluffy."These weren't careless comments overheard in the valet line at the Ivy or spied in an intercepted e-mail. They came straight from the executives' mouths to our tape recorder.

We promised 21 of the industry's biggest movers and shakers — including BMG's Clive Davis, Interscope Geffen A&M's Jimmy Iovine, Sony Music's Don Ienner and red-hot artist/executives Kanye West and Jermaine Dupri — that we would let them comment anonymously in exchange for their promise of complete candor. The goal: to learn which artists they think would sell the most albums (and thus bring them the biggest bonuses) over the next five years.

No one was prohibited from voting for his or her own acts, but most seemed to bend over backward to avoid blatantly self-serving picks. Some got so caught up in the concept they called back the next day to change their votes. And most closed the conversation by saying, "No one is going to know who's saying what, right?"

The result — the 2005 Pop Power List — shows a vastly different pop royalty than the one we highlighted the last time we did this, in 2001. This year, Usher and Alicia Keys finished one-two in a pop world that now is dominated by R&B and hip-hop. Neither was in the Top 10 in the 2001 survey.

It's a time of rapid change, which is why executives are scrambling to find a way to stop the fiscal bleeding in a troubled industry — and, perhaps, save their jobs in the process.

Except for a modest 1.6% increase in 2004, album sales have been down every year since 2001 — and this year's drop is a sobering 7% so far. Industry observers blame this on all sorts of factors, including illegal downloading and competition from video games.

The conversations with the executives offer a rare snapshot of the innermost thoughts of the men and women who run a dynamic industry that is one of the cornerstones of pop culture around the world.

One message that emerges from the interviews is this: A craving for new stars drives the business.

Consider: Only three of the artists named among the 10 hottest properties in our last survey in 2001 finished even in the Top 20 this time. Among the missing: Madonna, Shania Twain, Limp Bizkit and Celine Dion.

The big loser was rock, which landed only one act in the Top 10 (Coldplay finished third).

Usher, the R&B singer with massive charisma on stage, is considered such a sure-fire property that 17 of the 21 executives placed him in their Top 10. Six declared him their first choice.

"He could be the Michael Jackson of this decade," says a label head, referring to Jackson's glory years. "His 'Confessions' album sold 9 million copies in the U.S. and that's almost 'Thriller'-type numbers in this era of downloading and declining sales."

Executives were almost as high on Keys, the New York singer-songwriter who is often compared to Stevie Wonder and Prince. Fifteen of the executives named her as one of the 10 hottest properties. Two listed her first. That's the strongest showing ever for a female artist on the Pop Power List, which has been assembled four times since 1985.

"Alicia has the talent to make any type of record she wants," said one label head. "She can do a jazz album, a pop album, a Broadway album and make it sound fresh and inspired."

Not everyone thinks Eminem's days are numbered. Nine executives thought so highly of Eminem's future that they ranked him among their top three artists. Yet 10 executives didn't put him anywhere in their Top 10, leaving him to finish fourth overall. The rest of the Top 10, in order: Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, OutKast, 50 Cent, Kanye West and Dr. Dre.

These artists also appeared on more than three lists: Josh Groban, Green Day, U2, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and John Legend.

During the separate interviews, executives mentioned time and again the difficulty of making decisions during a time in pop in which fan loyalty seems as outdated as grunge guitars.

"There are no guarantees anymore," one executive said. "But as long as I have to worry, I'd rather worry with Usher and Alicia Keys on my roster."

Life in the fast lane

Think of the record industry as the racy cousin of the movie business — a world where things move so fast that the film machinations appear downright glacial.

An unknown can walk into a record company with a catchy song and get signed in less time than it takes film executives to watch their latest release, much less agonize for months over script changes and then go on location, hoping the weather cooperates.

Success for music executives is based on recognizing potential, and it's not easy. Some of the biggest acts ever — including the Beatles, U2 and Garth Brooks — were rejected repeatedly before someone finally took a chance on them.

Correct decisions can mean hundreds of millions in record sales; wrong ones can mean tens of millions in wasted contract bonuses, promotional videos and marketing expenses.

Executives say their jobs are more difficult than ever because of a bottom-line consciousness at conglomerates that encourages labels to sign acts that can deliver immediate sales.

Things are so bad that some executives hold their breath every time they release an album — even one by a proven bestseller. Artists' careers have long risen and fallen with each new release, but it has never been more foolish to use ink when writing executive names and titles in your Rolodex.

The cost of signing and promoting artists is so high labels can no longer afford the luxury of spending years nurturing acts who need three or four albums to develop their craft and to build their audience — the way Columbia did in the '70s with Bruce Springsteen and Island did in the '80s with U2.

Now, it's often one album and out the door unless you have a hit, because it can cost a major label $2 million to $5 million every time it releases a new album. When labels have 40 to 60 acts on the roster, that tab escalates rapidly.

"There would be no U2 the way things are now," Bono said when inducting Springsteen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March, talking about the lack of interest in career development.

Much of the excitement over Usher, Keys and Coldplay is because they are relatively young artists with substance and the ability to deliver hits.

They each score highly on most of the qualities that the executives say are important in gauging success in the music business: They are coming off hot albums, have global appeal, put on strong live shows and, crucially, make music that appeals to today's main pop-radio formats. Radio airplay continues to be the single most important factor in generating massive sales.

"Usher is the quintessential artist for today's pop market," one executive said. "He's got almost no negatives. He's got the talent, the drive, the competitiveness. Girls love him, boys love him. He's the perfect date artist."

It's a tribute to Usher's high standing that one of the strongest compliments an executive could apply to Keys is that she is like a "female Usher."

"She's an undeniable talent, a great performer who is driven and seems to be cool-headed," the executive added. "She makes music that isn't contrived or trite. She is likely to last for years."

Support for the pair was so widespread that it was surprising when one executive left one off his Top 10 list. Asked about it, he looked sheepish. "To be honest, I forgot her when I was looking over the list. Is it too late to add her?"

Keeping it real (secret)

To assist executives in thinking about possible Top 10 choices, I gave each a list of 100 or so of today's bestsellers, but they were free to vote for anyone on or off the list. Then I asked why they voted for their favorites and why they passed on other high-profile artists. And finally, when it was all over, I destroyed the tapes. I didn't want the responsibility of them falling into the wrong hands.

(Imagine the embarrassment if artists overheard some of the comments. They'd be shocked at how little some of their bosses think of their commercial future. On the other end of the scale, some artists were so highly praised that their attorneys would have lots of ammunition to march into the executives' offices and demand the artists' contracts be sweetened.)

The 2005 Pop Power List panel

Polly Anthony

President, Geffen Records

Michele Anthony

Chief operating officer, Sony Music Label Group, U.S.

Bill Bennett

Executive vice president, Warner Bros. Records

Tony Brown

Senior partner, Universal South Records

Clive Davis

Chairman and CEO, BMG, U.S.

Jermaine Dupri

President, urban music, Virgin Records

Ron Fair

President, A&M Records

Jason Flom

Chairman and CEO, Atlantic Records Group

Andy Gershon

President, V2 Records

Don Ienner

CEO and president, Sony Music, U.S.

Jimmy Iovine

Chairman, Interscope Geffen A&M Records

Luke Lewis

Co-chairman, Universal Music Group Nashville

Antonio "LA" Reid

Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group

Sylvia Rhone

President, Motown Records

Rick Rubin

Founder, American Recordings

Matt Serletic

Chairman and CEO, Virgin Records, America

Russell Simmons

Chairman, Russell Simmons Music Group

Andrew Slater

President and CEO, Capitol Records

Barry Weiss

President and CEO, Zomba Label Group

Kanye West

Founder and CEO, Getting Out Our Dreams (G.O.O.D.)

Tom Whalley

Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. Records

Source: latimes.com

Cold lasers + Coldplay + cool dome theatre = hot date? Yes, which is surprising given that the novelty of laser shows has waned since the trend crested in the 1980s.

Vancouver's Roundhouse Productions continues to rock the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre at Vanier Park, recently adding Laser Coldplay to a repertoire anchored by long-running faves Pink Floyd: The Wall and Laser Zeppelin.

Although these AV "concerts" skirt cheesiness at every flipped switch, they still pack enough punch to move the jaded Xbox generation.

It helps that Roundhouse and the Space Centre have beefed up the hardware since the planetarium first went stadium pop in 1978. In the early days, only two lasers scribbled simple, three-colour, Spirograph-like patterns on the ceiling.

Today, the auditorium boasts seven lasers with an unlimited palette. Laser effects range from the classic slice-of-smoke trick (green beams shone through a puff of chemical fog) to newer, more intricate configurations, including a 3-D cloud of laser pinpricks that resembles the Horsehead Nebula.

Roundhouse packs its shows with astronomical references, giving the creators the chance to constantly involve Harold -- the planetarium's circa-1968 Zeiss star projector (ironically, a non-laser device).

Rising out of its pit, the giant, lens-studded, dumbbell-shaped contraption blankets the concave screen with the galaxies that lovers don't get to see in a light-polluted city. It has a guaranteed snuggle-inducing effect.

As for the music, the track list draws heavily from Coldplay's recent X&Y album, with the show-stopping numbers Yellow and Clocks added as nods to the British band's previous two releases.

Vocalist Chris Martin's line "Look at the stars; look how they shine for you" has a nice ring to it under this celestial big-top.

Laser Coldplay runs Thursday to Saturday at 9:30 p.m. in the Planetarium Star Theatre at the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St., 604-738-7827.

Source: theglobeandmail.com

For the third week in a row the Black Eyed Peas hold back Coldplay to retain first place on the chart.

The Peas' funk stylings on Monkey Business are winning over people all across Canada, leaving Coldplay's "meandering piano sadness" to settle for second place. Of course, Coldplay's music might not be the reason for their #2 finish, by now every Canadian probably owns the band's latest record X&Y.After jumping two spots to #3 two weeks ago, pop-opera foursome Il Divo stay put. The hair-gelled dudes have been dominating the chart for 13 weeks now, no small feat when you consider all the competition they've had to face to stay where they are.

If you haven't figured it out by now, not much has changed on the chart since last week. Even the Backstreet Boys and their new Avril/Coldplay rip off Never Gone, get to remain at #4.

You can tell it's a slow week when Gwen Stefani manages to climb three spots to grab the fifth spot on the chart. Love.Angel.Music.Baby has been on the verge of top 10 extinction for weeks now, but probably due to a slow July, her fans have managed to put her right back in the thick of things.

Like Stefani, Green Day almost dropped out of the top 10 a few times, but every week they manage to survive. This week they climb a place to #6.

Swapping spots with Green Day are System Of A Down who end up at #7.

The biggest drop of the week goes to Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. The double disc In Your Honor just can't catch a break. It hasn't charted higher than the Backstreet Boys and now it's fallen three spaces to #8.

Michael Buble has been doing so well on the chart over the last 23 weeks that it wouldn't come as a surprise if he got his own travelling festival. However, don't expect to see Bublepalooza just yet, the crooner might drop off the top of the chart next week as he sits at #9.

The one surprise this week is that The Killers have returned to the top 10. The band have been on the chart for 57 weeks, sitting at #14 for the last two weeks. For some inexplicable reason, the new wavers moved up to #10.

Coldplay have ruled out the possibility of playing a triumphant stadium tour when they return to their native England, because they first want to master anthemic rock in the same vein as Bon Jovi.

They feel their sound is not yet big enough to fill huge, open-air venues - despite delivering a highly-acclaimed performance at the London leg of Live 8 earlier this month.

Chris Martin is quoted as saying, "I think all of us feel like when we next come to England - when we next come home - we only want to play indoors because we don't feel we can really make the most of that space yet. It's all getting very geeky and technological, but we are not Bon Jovi quite yet."

Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow teamed up with designer Stella McCartney to poke fun at famous pal Madonna by mocking her 'American Life' hit at a recent party.

Madonna invited her famous chums to her Ashcombe Manor home in rural England to celebrate her fourth wedding anniversary with director Guy Ritchie and asked them all to perform a song, a poem or a short acting performance.

Cheeky Martin and his wife rewrote the lyrics to American Life and renamed it 'American Wife' - and performed it in the Ritchies' living room.Madonna recalls, "Gwyneth did fantastic rap and Stella sang background vocals and, well, Chris played the piano."

Another musical interlude came when STING performed on a lute and Madonna herself performed a scene from Restoration play The Town Wench Or Chastity Rewarded. The evening's entertainment was designed by Madonna to relive the days of party loving photography legend Cecil Beaton, who lived at Ashcombe Manor in the 1930s.

Source: Contactmusic.com

Coldplay are up for this year's Mercury prize alongside debut acts such as Kaiser Chiefs, M.I.A and Bloc Party, it was announced today.

But as well as huge global names - Coldplay's X&Y sold close to 500,000 copies in its first week on sale in the UK - the shortlist includes no fewer than eight debut albums, among them Kitty Jay by Seth Lakeman, a folk artist from Dartmoor who released the album on his own Devon-based record label.

Other debut offerings include albums from Newcastle guitar band Maximo Park, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall and British-Sri Lankan M.I.A., otherwise known as Maya Arulpragasam.

The Kaiser Chiefs' own debut, Employment, is the bookmakers' favourite to take the £20,000 prize, currently rated as 4/1 favourites.

But bookies were predicting a tight race. "It's a very close year - every album could be a winner," said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe.

Commenting on the shortlist - whittled down from 170 entries - chair of the judges Simon Frith said: "The renaissance in British music continues with the emergence of a wealth of new talents, demonstrated by the presence of eight debut albums.

"It's also significant that the country's musical excellence includes such contrasting releases as Coldplay's worldwide number one hit album and Seth Lakeman's self-released folk record - I'm pleased that both have a place on the same shortlist."

The 2004 winners were Glasgow art pop group Franz Ferdinand, who scooped the £20,000 prize under the noses of their fellow Scots Belle and Sebastian. This year's winner will be announced on September 6, with a show broadcast live on BBC radio and TV.

The shortlist in full

· Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

· Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

· Coldplay - X&Y

· The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike

· Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV

· KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope

· Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

· The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers

· Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger

· M.I.A. - Arular

· Polar Bear - Held on the Tips of Fingers

· Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay

Fix You with a re-vamped version of 'Poor Me' is due out on September 5th according to wikipedia.org. The single cover as seen here is also available there in larger format.

The music video for Fix You was shot at the end of two concerts on July 4 and July 5, 2005 at Reebok Stadium in Bolton, England. The concertgoers doubled as extras for the video shoot, which required two takes on each day to complete.

[thanks BurningGradius]

Full details of XFM's Indie Supergroup are now online here [with some interesting results!]

Apple has announced that it has now sold over 500,000,000 songs through its iTunes Music store.

In an attempt to push past the 500m barrier, Apple offered a top prize of ten iPods, a 10,000-song iTunes gift card and an all-expenses paid trip for four to see Coldplay live to the person who downloaded the 500 millionth song.

Amy Greer of Lafayette, Indiana, the 500 Millionth Song Grand Prize Winner downloading Mississippi Girl by Faith Hill. Apple also said it would hand over an iPod Mini and a 50-song bundle every 100,000 songs. Apple launched its first online store in the US on April 28, 2003

Vote Coldplay members Into The Greatest Indie Band Of All Time!

As a new poll ranks the Top Ten best rock singers, drummers, bassists and guitarists, XFM have decided to launch a vote to find out who would be in the World’s Greatest Ever Indie Supergroup.

You can vote for Chris Martin as best singer and Jonny Buckland as best guitarist by clicking here

Coldplay's 'Speed Of Sound' single is featured on the forthcoming "Now That's What I Call Music! 19" CD, in stores this Tuesday, July 19 (US), along with tracks from The Killers, Gorillaz, Eminem and Gwen Stefani.

For more details click here

Coldplay sell out European stadiums and launch major U.S. tour

Coldplay are no strangers to huge crowds -- the band's last tour, in 2003, ended with a sold-out show at New York's Madison Square Garden. But Coldplay's new album, X&Y, has sent the band into the top echelon of touring rock stars; two shows at London's Crystal Palace drew 80,000 people, and two concerts at Glasgow's Bellahouston Park had 50,000.

"The gigs have got really big," says guitarist Jonny Buckland. "Almost too big. The temptation is to put in all the cheesy moves and run around and get down on your knees and shit. We try to do what we do -- but just slightly bigger."After hitting Number One on the U.S. charts for three straight weeks with X&Y (and Number One its first week in twenty-seven other countries) and selling out eighteen shows in Europe, Coldplay head for North America on August 2nd. They sold 400,000 tickets for their thirty-eight-show North American tour in one early-June weekend, including sellouts in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and the other big markets. X&Y made its debut in mid-June with first-week sales of 737,000 copies in the U.S. and broke the million mark in just three weeks.

The quartet will play mostly amphitheaters in the 15,000-to-35,000-fan range per city. Though the Rolling Stones, U2 and Paul McCartney are expected to be blockbuster tours, Alex Hodges, executive vice president of House of Blues Concerts, says Coldplay rank right behind them, along with Green Day, Jimmy Buffett and Tom Petty.

"As far as being the biggest band in the world, who's to say?" says Dave Holmes, Coldplay's manager. "Like any artist, they just want to have a long career." Says Buckland, "It really is as cheesy as this -- we aspire to be good. Wherever that takes us, we'll go, if it takes us to stadiums or back to clubs or playing toilets."

Coldplay North American tour dates:

8/2: Toronto, Air Canada Centre

8/3: Montreal, Bell Centre

8/4: Hartford, CT, Meadows Music Theater

8/6: Mansfield, MA, Tweeter Center

8/8: Camden, NJ, Tweeter Center

8/9: Cincinnati, Riverbend Music Center

8/11: Burgettstown, PA, Post Gazette Pavilion

8/12: Noblesville, IN, Verizon Wireless Music Center

8/13: East Troy, WI, Alpine Valley Music Theatre

8/16: Auburn, WA, White River Amphitheatre

8/17: Ridgefield, WA, Amphitheatre at Clark County

8/19: Mountain View, CA, Shoreline Amphitheatre

8/20: Irvine, CA, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

8/24: Albuquerque, NM, Journal Pavilion

8/25: Phoenix, Cricket Pavilion

8/26: San Diego, Coors Amphitheatre

8/30: Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre

8/31: Columbus, OH, Germain Amphitheater

9/1: Darien Center, NY, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

9/3: Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center

9/6: New York, Madison Square Garden

9/7: New York, Madison Square Garden

9/9: Charlotte, NC, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

9/10: Raleigh, NC, Alltel Pavilion

9/13: West Palm Beach, FL, Sound Advice Amphitheatre

9/14: Tampa, FL, Ford Amphitheatre

9/16: Pelham, AL, Verizon Wireless Music Center

9/17: Maryland Heights, MO, UMB Bank Pavilion

9/18: Antioch, TN, Starwood Amphitheatre

9/20: Minneapolis, Target Center

9/21: Bonner Springs, KS, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

9/23: Dallas, Smirnoff Music Center

9/24: The Woodlands, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

9/25: Austin, Austin City Limits Music Festival

9/28: Atlanta, Philips Arena

9/29: Virginia Beach, VA, Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater

9/30: Bristow, VA, Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge

Source: Rolling Stone

Coldplay did EMI shareholders an unintended favour yesterday after the music company reported improved revenues and profits at its recorded music division.

EMI issued a profit warning in February, and saw £300m wiped off its market value, after Coldplay delayed completion of its third album, X&Y. Chris Martin, lead singer of the group, later dismissed his paymasters' troubles, describing shareholders as "the greatest evil in this modern world".

EMI made shareholders happier yesterday with a trading statement delivered at its annual meeting. It confirmed that 6 million units of X&Y had been shipped since its release last month.The second album by Gorillaz, whose delayed release also contributed to the February warning, also boosted revenues by selling 2 million units. EMI said revenues and profits had improved at its recorded music arm and at its industry-leading music publishing unit but did not release figures.

Coldplay has gone from playing small gigs in Camden to becoming a major earner for the world's third-largest music company in five years. The band's second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, sold 9 million copies and accounted for up to 3% of EMI's sales in 2002, according to analysts.

Elsewhere in the statement, EMI said digital revenues in the first quarter of its financial year represented 4.8% of total turnover, up from 3.5% in the previous quarter. It added that first-quarter digital sales were more than double those in the same period last year.

Eric Nicoli, EMI's chairman, said: "We expect consumer uptake of legitimate digital music to be the key industry growth driver in the coming years."

Shares in EMI rose 1% to 258p yesterday. Anthony de Larrinaga, an analyst at SG Securities, said improving dig ital sales were the most positive development but there was no guarantee that growth in online turnover would continue at the same rate.

"As a percentage of overall sales, it is very impressive. But it does not tell us the run-rate for the full year, so I would be cautious on drawing too many conclusions," he said.

EMI's critical quarter is Christmas, when the success of its release schedule will determine whether it hits full-year numbers. It is pinning its hopes on a new album from Robbie Williams, with the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney also expected to release albums with EMI in the next year.

Source: Guardian

Advance sales for next year's T in the Park festival broke all previous records yesterday, when 25,000 tickets were sold in less than three hours.

Music fans inundated the festival's hotlines with calls to get a ticket for next year's event, without even knowing the line-up. The first 20,000 tickets released for T in the Park 2006 went on sale at 9am and sold out before 11:30am. An extra 5,000 were sold by noon.

Last year, it took just under a month for 20,000 advance tickets to be sold. This contrasts with four years ago, when the festival only sold out in the weeks before it took place. However, the cancellation of Glastonbury next year means the festival will be the biggest single music event in Britain.

Noise from a Coldplay concert gave one man "a rush of blood to the head" NINE miles away.

Jim Fisher, from Kenley in Surrey, complained to Bromley Council after the event last Tuesday, saying he could hear the noise of the concert above his TV. Coldplay played two nights at the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace.Mr Fisher said: "My first reaction was that it was probably a neighbour's band having a rehearsal but after a couple of hours I checked but I found no one was in. I was absolutely gobsmacked when I was told the noise had come from Crystal Palace. I found it incredible a concert being played within so-called 'regulations' could permeate this distance. That is totally unacceptable. The council ought to apply a bit of discretion in using what they consider to be acceptable noise levels. I just think they should take this event on board for future reference, do their own checks and learn lessons from them. It was a balmy evening and sound could have travelled further, but if I know that surely the council must."

Over the two nights, 15 people called a council helpline with comments and complaints about the concert. But Bromley Council insists that noise levels at the concert had been lowered by 10 decibels from 75dBs, the level set by national guidelines for the nearest residential property.

A spokesman said: "We follow national guidelines and our noise levels on the night were significantly stricter than those set out nationally. We had teams of officers taking readings in the area liaising with an environmental health officer on the mixing desk, so any breach of sound levels could be dealt with quickly. We had an emergency help-line as well. We had 15 calls over the two-night event, which were all relatively local. Bearing in mind how many properties there are in the area, 15 calls is actually quite a low level. Judging by the low level of complaints on the night and by the fact that our post-analysis showed noise levels had been adhered to, we have done all we can.

Three new unconfirmed Coldplay dates have been added to the European tour diary for October/November in Germany.

For more information click here

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the.....pond, the frog is back!

Crazy Frog beat Coldplay to the No.1 spot in the UK Singles Chart, but watch out - the Crazy Frog album is released in the UK on July 25th, and a new single, 'Popcorn' is released in the UK on August 15th.

Is there no end to this annoying ringtone nightmare? Click here for full details.

[thanks Sven Laiselberg]

Radical Lighting's new NG1 digital media server is making its debut on Coldplay's Twisted Logic world tour. The NG1 was specified by show director Bryan Leitch and lighting designer Nick Whitehouse who collaboratively devised the show that is already receiving rave reviews.

Along with the rest of the lighting equipment, the NG1 is being supplied by leading rental company Siyan. It is Coldplay's second world tour with Siyan. The last became a two-year marathon stint throughout 2003 to 2004, with Radical Lighting's RADlite media server at the core of the show.Leitch and Whitehouse chose the NG1 this time around after their very positive experience with RADlite. "Using the latest product from Radical was a logical progression," says Whitehouse. "We also wanted to do something really big with video." Video images are beamed onto an upstage screen for approximately a third of the set - an innovative combination of live IMAG footage and assorted playback sources, the vast majority of which are abstract so as not to distract from the show, and are stored on the NG1.

All sources sent from the NG1 are high definition video. Radical Lighting specially customised the system for Coldplay to allow four SDI video inputs to be run through the NG1. They are actually running eight camera feeds into it, with Whitehouse choosing which ones to output to the centre stage screen via the Avolites Diamond 4 lighting console. The desk treats each layer of the NG1 as a fixture.

In addition to the four main IMAG cameras mixed by video director Alan Yates, Whitehouse has two additional mini cams clamped to the side of the piano, one on the drum kit and a roaming hand-held onstage. Yates controls where all the cameras actually point - and these are operated by him on stage right and output to the two side screens.

Whitehouse and Leitch originated and treated all the playback/pre-recorded footage themselves - about 30 clips in total - shooting new footage as well as utilising some standard NG1 library images.

Source: lsionline.co.uk

Did you go to Arena di Verona last night? If so you can relive the gig here

[thanks dylan86]