The Band Aid 20 video of the song Do They Know It's Christmas? featuring Chris Martin is now available online. You can download or stream the Band Aid video filmed at Air Studios during the recording or Band Aid 2004.

There are two versions - the video download which is very high quality (800kbps) and you can keep forever or the streamed version (300kbps). Alternatively, you may only want the audio version of 'Do they know it's Christmas?'

An ideal chance for you to take part in helping the people of Sudan. Feed the world.

EMI has seen download music sales rise by almost 600% in the six months to the end of September, and says they are becoming a major part of its business. Analysts said by 2009 digital music and publishing should account for about a quarter of total turnover at the home to Kylie Minogue and Norah Jones.

CDs, however, still account for most of EMI's turnover, and overall sales fell at EMI by 11.4% during the half year. It said half-year profits were £36.9m ($68.2m), down from £39.8m.

Overall sales in the period were £851m compared with £960m in 2003. Shares in EMI closed up 15% in London on Friday as investors saw the results as an indication that the industry was rebounding as online music sales start to take off.Download music revenue was £12.2m, up from £2.1m a year earlier, while the group's music publishing division saw its online sales increase to £6.1m from £2.8m.

"The legitimate digital music market continues to expand rapidly and we remain confident that digital represents a key driver for future industry growth," said EMI chairman Eric Nicoli. Mobile phones are also providing a line to future revenue sources through ringtones and other innovations and EMI said it sees "exciting opportunities".

A mobile phone memory card featuring music and videos by EMI artist Robbie Williams has recently been issued. EMI said new releases from The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and Blue during October and November meant it was on course to meet full-year profit expectations. "Turnover for October and November to date is well ahead of last year, significantly reducing the first-half decline," said Mr Nicoli.

UK-based EMI added it had suffered from the weakness of the dollar, which cuts the value of any profits it makes in the US. EMI said continental Europe had proved its most difficult market, with sales "experiencing significant declines during the period".

In March the world's third largest record company said it would axe 1,500 jobs and outsource CD production in Europe and the US as part of a restructuring.

The nation fell silent for Do They Know It's Christmas? in the UK's biggest simultaneous broadcast ever. The single - expected to raise £20 million for famine-stricken Sudan - will hit the shops on November 29, and is tipped to be the seasonal Number One.

A third of the population was glued to screens to see a star-studded line-up belt out the single last night. Madonna introduced the broadcast by saying: "Bob Geldof and his friends are here to remind you that we can never forget. Not ever. Feed the world. I am honoured to introduce Band Aid 20."

The screening was shown on Sky One, Sky Sports, Sky Mix, Sky Travel, all MTV channels, BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, CBBC, ITV, C4, Five, The Amp, Flaunt, The Box, Kiss, Magic, Kerrang and Q.

A Band Aid spokesman said: "This is unprecendented. I've never known it even for a royal occasion, like the Queen's Speech, to be shown on all channels like that. We have to make sure that as many people as possible buy the single and I can't think of a better way of doing it."

The video includes footage of Birhan Woldu, an Ethiopian survivor who was left for dead 20 years ago. U2 frontman Bono, Coldplay's Chris Martin (picture supplied by Mimi), singers Dido and Robbie Williams made contributions to the recording.

Geldof and Midge Ure brought together a group of current pop and rock stars to record a cover version of 1984 hit Do They Know It's Christmas? to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the single and to raise money for refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Westlife and Keating were omitted from the list - and they are convinced it's because they aren't cool enough. Singer Nicky Byrne moaned, "I've never met Bob Geldof but I know he made a few comments that Westlife were unimportant to the music industry. Fair enough. We don't write our own records so we're not going to change the world with our music but there are 34 million people out there who've bought our records in the last six years. We couldn't compete with U2 or Coldplay but it would have been fantastic to be part of it. We'd have given anything to be on that record.

Keating adds, "They're not going for pop acts, they want credible cool acts. If that works, fair enough, but at the end of the day they want to make money for the cause so they should think about that."

As previously reported many bookmakers are no longer taking bets on which single will hit the prestigious Number 1 slot as it’s considered that the Band Aid 20 single is such a dead cert. However this hasn’t stopped one music industry insider trying his/her best to get a piece of the action.

"The customer tried to stake £1 million on Band Aid at odds of 1/5 but we turned down the bet,” Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush said, “We offered him the opportunity to place a smaller bet but he said it was £1 million or nothing.

"If he were to have had the bet he would have won £200,000, taking home £1.2 million. He remarked that it was better interest than that offered by a bank or building society. We didn't take the bet as it seems like it will take a miracle for it not to go to number one. The customer wishes to stay anonymous at this stage."It’s not known whether the person in question would have donated their winnings to the Band Aid Trust, or whether they were just a greedy, opportunist fuckwit trying to immorally illicit some cash from a purely charitable cause and generally acting like a massive wanker.

In related news following the recording of the Band Aid 20 single last night, the tracks odds to his Number 1 were cut today (November 15) from 1/5 to 1/8.

The new Ladbrokes odds for the Christmas Number One are:

Band Aid (1/8)

Ronan Keating and Cat Stevens (10/1)

X Factor Winner (16/1)

Robbie Williams (20/1)

The Undertones (25/1)

Ricky Gervais and Noel Gallagher (25/1)

Kylie Minogue (25/1)

Madonna (25/1)

Paul Holt (25/1)

Westlife (25/1)

Girls Aloud (25/1)

Source: XFM

The likes of Coldplay's Chris Martin, Dido and Robbie Williams are heard on the track, whose original featured George Michael, U2 and Duran Duran. Radio Five Live's Nicky Campbell, who played the Band Aid 20 record this morning, said it had "a more melancholic, soulful feel than the original".

The new version of Do They Know It's Christmas? does not have jingle bells ringing through it and is a little longer than the original, made 20 years ago. Mercury Prize winner Dizzee Rascal raps near the end, and Joss Stone's voice also rings out. Callers to the radio show said the song made them cry but others said it was "terrible". Music journalist Robin Eggar said: "When I heard it on the radio, it reduced me to tears. Musically, it is very different from the original."

The single will go on sale on November 29, with all proceeds going to famine relief in the Darfur region of Sudan."It sounds gaudy, but I guess there is a legacy," said Bob Geldof, who wrote Do They Know It's Christmas? in 1984 with Midge Ure for a superstar group they called Band Aid.

The original record raised millions of dollars for those starving in Ethiopia. Geldof, who also planned the 1985 Live Aid concerts and has been knighted for his activism, said he hoped the new recording would spur Britain's government to use its 2005 stints heading the European Union and the G-8 group of wealthy nations to improve life for those in poor countries. "The reality is that only politics created this dilemma and only politics can resolve it," he said.

Among those who participated in the 1984 recording were Boy George, George Michael, Sting, Phil Collins, Bono and the members of Duran Duran, Bananarama and Spandau Ballet.

Sir Paul McCartney, Coldplay's Chris Martin and The Darkness' Justin Hawkins are among those taking part.

Updates on the stars and the session will appear throughout the day. Click more for full details...

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 0845 GMT

The great Band Aid bandwagon is already in full motion, with Sir George Martin's recording studio in Hampstead, north London, a hive of activity. There is already a gaggle of fans and photographers outside the impressive converted church.

We are not allowed into the studio because Coldplay's Chris Martin is already in there recording something. Scruffy and blending in with all the beardy studio blokes, he wanders out into the foyer after a while and chats to a few people.

It transpires that quite a lot of the song has already been recorded - the music done on Friday and many of the solo lines done on Saturday.

All the talk is of Dizzee Rascal's contribution - he has written rap lines that act as responses to lines sung by The Darkness' Justin Hawkins.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 0920 GMT

I am called into an office to listen to a rough version of the parts of the song that have been recorded already.

Coldplay's Chris Martin has done the opening verse, originally recorded by Paul Young. That will definitely be in the finished version - but everything else is up for grabs.

In the rough cut, Dido has done Boy George's part, Sugababes have taken Simon Le Bon's place and The Darkness' Justin Hawkins sings Bono's famous line: "Well, tonight thank God it's them instead of you," with a typical falsetto flourish at the end.

Bono has also re-recorded this part and sent it down the phone line from Ireland, where it was his dad's 90th birthday.

Dizzee Rascal's section is startling, and brings the song firmly into the 21st Century. It works fantastically. The Darkness' elaborate guitar work plays over the part where the chorus will come in later.AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1015 GMT

Midge Ure, who produced the 1984 record, comes into my booth to remind us why it is all happening again, 20 years later. He recently went back to Ethiopia and said the situation there has improved - but there are still lots of problems in the continent that need solving.

He also hopes that as well as raising money, the new song will put pressure on politicians as the UK hosts the G8 summit next year.

As for the song, he says Dizzee Rascal was "brilliant".

"He came in and did this little rap thing in the middle of the song," he says. "He did two lines - one take each - and when he realised the gap was actually smaller than what he'd written, he went off for 10 minutes and came back with this whole new line.

"He came up with this fantastic line, something about 'help the helpless', which was fabulous."

As for the wrangle over Bono's line, he says lots of people have recorded it but no decisions had been made. They may even use Bono's original vocals.

"It's got to be the one that works the best, the one that's got that hair-standing-on-end factor.

"You've got to stand back and listen to it all and think what's the best one? What's the one that grabs that moment?"

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1130 GMT

Outside, a media circus has sprung up with a line of TV cameras leading up to the studio doors.

Jamelia is the next star to arrive, with her daughter. She comes into the press booth and grabs a nearby box of cookies before hiding it under the table when a photographer starts taking pictures.

She will sing lines with Will Young - she does not know which yet - and it was "such a huge thing to be involved in".

"Of course, we can't stress any more it's for a fantastic cause and something I truly believe in," she said, revealing she would be travelling to Rwanda in January.

"I'm using my popularity to create awareness for something that's so real, it's still here. It's very sad that we're living in a world where we want for nothing but not too far away, there are people in 100% poverty."

The atmosphere was "a lot more relaxed than I expected", she said, adding she got "the biggest telling off ever" from her mum after referring to Band Aid as "that song".

Rom-com writer Richard Curtis is outside and Rita Gilligan MBE, a waitress from the Hard Rock Café, who are providing the catering, also pops in.

She would serve 200 meals on Sunday, she said. "We'll feed them all. Feed the world, as they say."

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1215 GMT

The stars are coming thick and fast, with Joss Stone, Travis frontman Fran Healy, Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody and the man who started it all, Bob Geldof, all arriving - most wrapped up to protect against the cold.

But The Darkness' Justin Hawkins swans past the TV cameras with shirt open and chest on show plus leather trousers, only stopping to take part in a photogenic embrace with Geldof.

Inside, Jamelia and Will Young emerge from a smaller studio where they have been recording their two lines. "It took 10 minutes, so it was alright," Jamelia says.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1300 GMT

Busted, Keane and Rachel Stevens are the latest to arrive. At one point, the cast list in the press booth includes Keane singer Tom Chaplin, Katie Melua, Busted and Feeder frontman Grant Nicholas.

Chaplin laid down his lines on Saturday - the song's first refrains of "Feed the World", he says. "It's changed a little bit from the original," he says.

"It's a slightly different take on it. I'm not even sure it was in the original. I listened to the original single a few times to try and learn how it went."

Busted, meanwhile, say the day feels a bit like the first day at school.

"Everyone's like 'ooh, should I talk to anyone?'" singer Charlie Simpson said. "I'm glad we're here as a band because a lot of people are here as a band I think and we can just talk to each other."

Matt Jay said he thought the charitable message would reach their young fans.

"I think some of our fans it will really hit home for them, and if not, I think us being involved in it will shed some light on it for them."

James Bourne added: "Charity is a term pretty much everyone understands - whether you're four or five years old, everyone knows it's for a good cause."

Others milling around include Bob Geldof's daughter Pixie, wearing the "Feed the World" T-shirt her dad wore at the original recording session 20 years ago.

Outside, the scores of photographers, fans and police are causing havoc for residents of this leafy Hampstead street. The heavy security has guarded the building, but two gatecrashers did make it in.

Two stray dogs got into the studio without anyone noticing before settling down in the corner of the hall where the finale will be recorded.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1345 GMT

The artists are told the football team-style group photo is going to happen soon. Two rows of chairs have been set up in the hall, each with a sticker with a different artist's name on it.

In the hall and foyer, artists are tentatively mingling - The Darkness talking to Travis, Ms Dynamite and Lemar, Natasha Bedingfield sharing a chat with Shaznay Lewis and Estelle.

Everyone seems to be behaving, with numerous children and managers also milling around.

In the Hard Rock Cafe section of the studio, I grab an egg sandwich and put a donation into two metal buckets that have been put out to raise more money for the Band Aid Trust.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1400 GMT

Bob Geldof gathers the artists to remind them this is not just another jolly.

In Band Aid 20, you're not just keeping hundreds of thousands of people going with the proceeds," he told the huddle.

"This year, when people buy your record, they're making a political statement.

"What you're doing this morning and giving up your Sunday is that you are making that political demand. Next year, we must keep that pressure up."

To press home his point, he played a video of the Ethiopian famine from 20 years ago, bringing many of these stars back down to earth with a bump.

As it ended, he introduced a young Ethiopian woman who was featured on the video as a malnourished child.

"This is proof that Band Aid and Live Aid work. You're part of it now. You're part of the gang."

There were few dry eyes in the hall, with the likes of Joss Stone, Ms Dynamites and Sugababes all overcome by the emotion.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1415 GMT

The stars are told to assemble for the "school photo", in which almost all the participating artists line up.

It is indie blokes at the back and pop starlets at the front, with only a few absentees - Dizzee Rascal, who recorded his part on Saturday, has not come back, and celebrity bassist Sir Paul McCartney is also not here.

Despite an order for no other cameras apart from the official photographer's - he has paid a lot of money to be here - Ms Dynamite spots on the balcony taking pictures. They are nabbed by security.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1430 GMT

Joss Stone enters the press booth, upset and angry at the emotional moment she has just witnessed.

"You can't stop me from crying, it was so embarrassing," she says.

"It's just sad. It's just so horrible and it doesn't have to be like that. I don't know why it is like that.

"We have all the food in the world and we don't even eat all of it. It makes me so mad."

She was not born when the first Band Aid happened and has never seen the 1984 video. The atmosphere this time was "nice, everyone's working together".

"This isn't about money. It's about people's lives. That's a little bit more important," she says.

After she leaves, Damon Albarn wanders in wearing an apron and carrying a tray of cups of tea, which he has been handing out outside.

He has his photo taken with Bob Geldof, who Joss Stone calls Gandalf.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1445 GMT

Bob Geldof sits down to talk to the press. He says he showed the stars a hard-hitting video of the 1984 Ethiopian famine to remind them why they were there.

"If anything it's of more importance this time, so I just wanted [to show it to them] if there was any doubt or if they were a bit fed up that they had to give up their Sunday.

"I wanted to let them know that it works, it works at every level. I think they got it."

"You can get carried away by the event, especially if you're in a pop group. It is about something other. It's about using art and culture to move something that is a grevious sore. And it works."

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1500 GMT

The group of about 40 musicians gathers like a school choir to record the finale, each with a pair of headphones playing them the rest of the track.

They spontaneously break into refrains of "Feed the world" and "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and occasionally a very loud "1-2-3-4".

Then the musicians' resemblance to a school choir gets even more striking as they do it again with childrens' instruments - Rachel Stevens has her maracas, Fran Healy has castanets and Ms Dynamite a wood block.

Healy said the new version would be different to the 1984 original.

"This reflects the sound that's being made by the current artists," he said.

Some, like The Darkness drummer Ed Graham, did not join the chorus and he was pacing the corridor.

Will Young and Natasha Bedingfield rush out before the end, looking like they have other very important places to be.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1550 GMT

The Hard Rock Cafe area is packed with stars getting a late lunch. The donations buckets now have about £100 of notes in them.

The choir reconvenes - this time with proper instruments. Fran Healy is on one of three drum kits as Ms Dynamite and a Sugababe wildly bash another.

Beverley Knight is on keyboards and Daniel Bedingfield grabs a guitar. The celebratory atmosphere has returned and these scenes will be in the single's video and undoubtedly played countless times by Christmas.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1620 GMT

The artists are starting to drift away, but The Darkness and Sugababes come into the press booth and the naughty children of the school choir cannot resist messing around.

Damon Albarn, still in pink apron, comes back and offers me a cup of tea. He asks if I take sugar.

Midge Ure, the single's executive producer, says the parts they will use from the different artists is still up in the air, and Bono is flying in from Ireland this evening to re-record the line he had in 1984.

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1745 GMT

Most artists have left and the studio is emptying. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure come back to give us a round-up of how the day has gone.

"It's been fantastic, we could ask for nothing better," Ure says.

"We've had the creme de la creme of what the UK's got to offer. The quality of the singing and the quality of the musicianship is unbelievable."

Geldof adds his tribute to the artists, adding a request for everybody to buy one - or more - copies of the single when it is released on 29 November.

"For some reason, this country throws up people who can play rock music and it's world-beating," he says.

"But the best thing of all is the attitude. What happened in this room today is properly important and memorable and will be remembered."

AIR STUDIOS, LONDON :: 1955 GMT

Bono has been delayed so I leave the studio. There is a single candlelit table set up in the centre of the hall where those still working on the song, including producer Nigel Godrich and Travis singer Fran Healy, are about to eat sushi.

A helper passes Bob Geldof two things from fans outside - a note from someone claiming to have very early Boomtown Rats tapes and an envelope simply marked "Donation".

Sir Paul McCartney, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Busted and Keane will also be at Sir George Martin's Air Studios. It is to be released on 29 November. Robbie Williams and Dido have already recorded their parts. Joss Stone (pictured) and Dizzee Rascal were the latest stars to sign up.

It will be titled Band Aid 20 to mark the 20th anniversary of the original song, which featured stars such as George Michael, Duran Duran and Phil Collins. It was organised by Bob Geldof after he saw news footage of the starving in Ethiopia, and sold more than 3.5 million copies in the UK alone.

Sold on CD for £3.99 and also available as a download, the new version is hot favourite to be Christmas number one in the UK this year, and retailers expect to sell about 500,000 copies in its first week. Retailers Woolworths and Virgin Megastores will give their proceeds to the Band Aid Trust charity, while Chancellor Gordon Brown has decided not to charge VAT. The Band Aid Trust spent more than $144m (£77.5m) on famine relief in Africa between 1985 and the release of a Live Aid DVD earlier this month.

The artists - who also include The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins, Will Young, Jamelia, Travis singer Fran Healy, Beverley Knight, Ms Dynamite, Natasha Bedingfield, Katie Melua and Snow Patrol - are donating their time.

Geldof has recently returned from Africa and said conditions had not improved since the first Band Aid. "It sickens me that everyday hunger, they see as normal," he said. "That dying of hunger is normal. Today more people die of hunger than of war, Aids, polio, TB and malaria combined in Africa."

Air Studios in Hampstead, north London, has previously played host to recording sessions for Robbie Williams, George Michael, U2 and Coldplay.

Chris hasn't exactly been friendly with photographers in the past - last year he was charged with assaulting a celebrity snapper on an Australian beach - but now he has taken the step of reporting them to the police.

A source told Female First, "Chris went to Belgravia CID at the end of last week to complain about this black cab driver who has been selling photos to the tabloids over the past year. Early this week, Chris was interviewed by officers investigating the offence and was assured the case was being actively pursued. Chris is known to be particularly protective of Gwyneth, especially since the birth of their daughter, Apple, and refuses to put up with harassment of this kind."

Source: Digital Spy

Meanwhile, former S Club 7 star Rachel Stevens is the latest star to be added to the Band Aid line-up. She will sing alongside Coldplay's Chris Martin, Dido, Busted and Bono reports the Daily Star.

The recording of Band Aid will take place on Sunday at Air Studios in London, with the single being released on November 29.

The original concert which was set to feature Coldplay members Chris Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland was postponed by the station last month for undisclosed reasons. The concert will take place at the city's Universal Ampitheatre reports NME.com.

The show is currently sold out and tickets for the original date of November 20, will be honoured at next year's show.

For more on this please click here - maybe Will and Guy will be involved this time...

Sarah, 17, wrote to the rockers requesting help with her school’s appeal to aid Breast Cancer Care. She was astonished when the band sent her the signed disc of their album A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Sarah, of Farnham, Surrey, sent the gift to a London fashion event, where it was auctioned for £4,000.

She said: “I was amazed and delighted when I heard how much it fetched.”

Source: The Sun

The surprise announcement was made by Sir Bob Geldof yesterday (November 7) at the official launch of the official DVD of the Live Aid concert that took place at the Odeon Kensigton, West London. A statement from Geldof reads:

“In a remarkable gesture and one that is wholly in the spirit of Band Aid, Gordon Brown has announced that The Government through The Treasury have refused to take a single penny from sales of the Band Aid 20 record and the Live Aid DVD."

Those of us old enough to remember the original song, twenty years ago, will have noted the contrast between the government’s response then and no. It is further proof that the Band Aid 20 record has already become the starting pistol for the vital political year of 2005.

Speaking to Xfm at the DVD launch Geldof explained how things have changed since the original single in 1984 and how the deal came about.

“It's great news, and it indicates the difference of twenty years. I used to have these huge fights with Madame X – Margaret Thatcher - twenty years ago, but now the government understands that it just isn’t worth it to go up against this, as it has a sort of unique significance.

“I was in the Congo – as you do – as the phone rings and it's Gordon Brown. So I say ‘Hello Gordon,’ and he goes [adopts gruff Scottish accent] ‘Grrrrr, hello Bob. What about the VAT on the record?’ I said ‘Well, I haven’t thought about that’ as I hadn’t. I’d forgotten about all that stuff. But they hadn’t cos they’re the same generation, the Live Aid generation. Blair and Brown, they’re the same age as me.

“It’ll mean about £8 million, that’s serious wedge. It also demonstrates the change in political climate, and we’ll carry that forward into 2005."

The Live Aid DVD is released today (November 8) and the Band Aid 20 single will be recorded at Air Studios in North London on Sunday November 14 and hit shops on Monday November 29 on Mercury Records and The Band Aid Trust.

Source: XFM.co.uk

The duo were recording a £15 million Pepsi advert at London's Townhouse Studios and ordered a makeshift partition for the nearby suite where Chris Martin and his band were working, reports the Daily Star newspaper.

A source says, "They were making a huge fuss about making sure no one could hear them and insisted on having a huge partition put up between their area of the studio and Coldplay's.

According to reports, Coldplay are busy putting the finishing touches to their hotly-anticipated third album and are scheduled to play in June. But we're sure they'll still belt out Yellow, don't worry.

You can discuss this story here

Source: MegaStar.co.uk

Please add your comments and spread the word on this music!

"It's great Macca is involved. He is a real statesman and will give this record even more clout," a source said. He’s the most famous bass player in the world and was keen to support the project. It will hopefully raise a huge amount of money for victims of famine in Africa. It’s a great way to commemorate 20 years since the first singe and help raise awareness of the famine for a whole new generation."

U2’s Bono will also take part, singing his infamous line from the 1984 recording. He is the only artist involved from the original line-up. Coldplay’s Chris Martin is believed to be opening the song, Supergrass’ Danny Goffey is to play the drums, while Travis’ Fran Healy is to play in the guitar section. Robbie Williams has reportedly recorded the whole track, leaving producer Nigel Godrich to choose which of the pop star’s lines he wishes to use in the song.

Williams recorded his section in LA on Monday (November 1) as he won’t be available for the live recording session in London. Dido is also believed to have done the same. Snow Patrol and Keane have also confirmed their contribution to the charity single. The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins, Jamelia and Sugababes will also be taking part.

The single is tipped to go straight to the top of the charts following its release (November 29) and stay there to take the Christmas Number One spot. Bookies believe that the song could be the biggest seller since ‘Candle In The Wind '97’.Meanwhile, the odds of Band Aid III topping the chart on Christmas Day have shortened following speculation that the single will be released on November 29. The charity single features contributions from a plethora of artists including Noel Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Coldplay and The Darkness.

Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush told Digital Spy: "Band Aid is still the odds-on favourite for Christmas Number One but we have slightly lengthened the odds on its chances of success because it will have to remain at number one for three weeks. We are seeing money for other contenders."

A collaboration between Ronan Keating and Cat Stevens is second at 7/1, while a late entry from the X Factor winner is a 16/1 shot.

It will be available from Monday 29th November on Mercury records, with all proceeds from the single helping victims of the famine in the Darfur region of Sudan via The Band Aid Trust.

The track will be recorded at Air Studios in London on Sunday 14 November and be produced by Nigel Godrich, best known for his work with Radiohead.

Already confirmed to appear on the track alongside Chris are:

Midge Ure, Robbie Williams, Justin Hawkins, Dido, Fran Healy (Travis), Beverley Knight, Jamelia, The Sugababes, and Skye Edwards (Morcheeba) Danny Goffey (Supergrass). Further names will be announced shortly as they are confirmed, Tom from Keane being another possibility.Controversial British contemporary artist Damien Hirst will design the sleeve artwork.

The single is also being lined up as one of the biggest internet download singles ever with further details to follow, together with details of the b-side. Manufacturing plants are gearing up for one of the quickest turnarounds from record date to onsale street date.

It will be released on one format only on CD and will retail at £3.99.

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The band's frontman is nervous over how their third studio album will be received and wants it to live up to expectations reports The Sun. So he has been returning to the family home in North London only to grab a much-needed kip. As a result he has been getting rollickings from actress Gwyneth for not spending enough time at home.

Chris has also been clocking up thousands of airmiles, recording in various studios around the world to fine-tune his masterpiece. As Coldplay's major songwriter, he has been piling the pressure on himself and working much longer hours than his bandmates Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Jonny Buckland.

He now hopes to have the album done and dusted before Christmas, ready for release early next year. He is determined it will be just as huge as Coldplay's last album, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, which stormed to No1 in September 2002.

A source said: "He is getting very stressed and Gwyneth was worried that he was at risk of burning out. She told him he should slow down a bit."

You can discuss this story here

Source: Ananova

Bosses at Universal have decided to rush the single out to the shops as soon as it is finished reports The Sun. It will be recorded at Air Studios on November 14. The latest stars to sign up are Snow Patrol, Keane and the Sugababes.

A star-studded line-up including Coldplay Travis and The Darkness, has already been confirmed. Geoffrey Wonfor, who filmed The Beatles' Anthology, is being lined up to shoot the video on the day.

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Source: Ananova

Chris Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland were due to perform as part of Los Angeles radio station KCRW’s ‘A Sounds Eclectic Evening’ alongside Rilo Kiley and several other artists.

Yesterday though, the station announced due to "scheduling and logistical conflicts" the event, originally due to take place on November 20 at the Universal Ampitheatre, will now take place next year. Tickets have already sold out for the event and KCRW said they hope to release information on the new date as soon as possible.

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Source: You can discuss this story NME

It's a huge snub for the Queen of Pop, who calls herself an "Anglophile" and lives in London. She had hoped to join Robbie Williams, Oasis star Noel Gallagher, Coldplay and The Darkness to re-record the hit Do They Know It's Christmas?

Madonna, 46, who is married to British film director Guy Ritchie, also missed out on the original 1984 Band Aid appeal to raise cash for starving kids in Africa. Midge Ure - who is wrote the hit with Geldof - revealed: "As Bob says, at the end of the day she's a Yank. We don't need her."

But Ure hopes Madonna will take part in the Live Aid 2 concert planned next year.

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Source: People

The trio of rockers will also be joined by Radiohead singer Thom Yorke and British R'n'B sensation Jamelia for a series of Make Trade Fair posters to be unveiled next month.

A source revealed: "Bono, Chris and Michael are all staunch supporters of the campaign and have done wonders in raising its profile." Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign was created to make governments and multinational companies change world trade rules to help third world farmers and traders.

Coldplay star Chris, who has appeared at concerts with Fair Trade slogans written on his hands, will appear drowning under a mountain of rice, in a stark image designed to shock, while Jamelia has been snapped completely naked with only some carefully placed feathers protecting her modesty.

You can discuss this story hereBut by far the most controversial poster features Yorke, who is pictured dripping in blood from head to toe.

However, the 'Paranoid Android' singer refused to be covered in real blood because of his vegetarian beliefs, so the organisers had to use a realistic substitute.

The source added: "He didn't want to have real blood poured over him. We had to concoct a real realistic-looking blood replacement using chocolate."

Chris, who is married to Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jamelia have also agreed to join a host of other musicians for Band Aid III to re-record the classic hit 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', which will raise money for victims of famine.

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Speaking to nme.com, McNamara said if it wasn't for the success brought by the Martin penned 'Gravity', his band would have been dumped by their label and split up.

"I think Chris Martin is a genius, but it's not easy for him," he said. "I speak to him every week, pretty much, and he sets impossibly high standards for himself and then somehow he manages to reach them. The thing of giving us 'Gravity' – it’s easy to give away any song, but he gave us a really fucking good one, just like an amazing gift. No matter how good a songwriter you are, a song like that only comes along maybe twice a year."

You can discuss this story hereThe massive success of ‘Gravity’ prompted a complete resurgence in fortunes for Embrace after a number of years on the periphery. Their comeback album ‘Out Of Nothing’ shot straight to Number One, shifting almost 250,000 copies in a month, and they are about to start a sold-out British and European tour, with further dates in the spring.

"If the album hadn’t have done well, we wouldn’t be together any more because we would have dropped, I’m pretty sure about that," said McNamara.

Embrace release new single ‘Ashes’ on November 15.