MTV Video Music Awards 30/08/05 The MTV Video Music Awards were held in Miami on 28th August, here is a complete list of all the winners:
Source: www.mtv.com
GREEN DAY DOMINATE MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 29/08/05 Green Day continued their charmed year by dominating the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards last night (Aug. 28) in Miami. The group's video for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" won six awards, including video of the year, best group video, best rock video and two trophies for direction and cinematography (for director Samuel Bayer). Another clip, "American Idiot," won the viewer's choice award.
Source: www.billboard.com
GREEN DAY TRUIMPH AT KERRANG! AWARDS 28/08/05
As the global gong season races off from the starting blocks early UK runners Kerrang! have made Green Day their favourite band. The US punk-pop trio who sold 7 million copies of their 'American Idiot' album won awards for best band on the planet and best live act.
Another US act, My Chemical Romance, won best video for the promo for the single ' Helena' as well as best album for 'Sweet Revenge'. Wales had a good night as Funeral For A Friend won best British band and Bullet For My Valentine won best British newcomer. Trivium won best international newcomers.
Iron Maiden , who recently incurred the wrath (and it seems sound tampering antics) of Sharon Osbourne for being 'disrespectful to her family' and Ozzy were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame; Killing Joke received a lifetime achievement award and Trent Raznor ( Nine Inch Nails ) a classic songwritng award. Marilyn Manson accepted the icon award breaking the news that he is to retire from the music industry to concentrate on filmmaking and acting.
STONES EXTEND BIGGER BANG 25/08/05
The Rolling Stones have announced 15 new dates for their 'A Bigger Bang' world tour on Wednesday through a special deal with Yahoo!. Visitors to Yahoo.com were the first to find out about new international stops and can take part in a pre-sale for eight of the new dates in North America. The Stones have also added such artists as Alanis Morissette, Trey Anastasio, Wilco, Jason Mraz and Merle Haggard to their list of North American support.
Website: www.rollingstones.com
TIMBERLAKE ACCEPTS SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGES FOR LIBEL 25/08/05
Justin Timberlake has accepted "substantial" libel damages from the News of the World following a fabricated story it ran last year about the singer having an affair with a model behind girlfriend Cameron Diaz's back. The settlement is undisclosed but said to be "substantial" and Timberlake has said he will donate the sum to charity.
MUSICWORKS CONFERENCE BACK IN GLASGOW 25/08/05
MusicWorks hits Glasgow from 31st August to 3rd September as the music and creative industries explore the very latest cross-media business opportunities and take in four nights of live music action. To find out more and to register, see: www.musicworksuk.com.
PEARL JAM TO OFFER DOWNLOAD CONCERT BOOTLEGS 25/08/05
Pearl Jam - long time supporters of the live show 'official bootleg' - have set up their own download service offering full recordings from their upcoming tour. They cost $9.99 each and will be available within a few hours of the shows ending. The downloads also come with artwork and photos from the gigs in question.
Source: FiveEight magazine
10th ANNUAL MOBO NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED 25/08/05
Lemar leads the list of nominations for this year's Music of Black Origin Awards (Mobo) with five checks. The BBC Fame Academy finalist is up against Joss Stone and Estelle for UK Act of the Year. His other nominations include Best
R&B Act and Best Video. John Legend has three nominations and Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg are both up for two awards. Rapper Kano, Sean Paul and Jamiroquai are also among nominees. The ceremony will be at London's Royal Albert Hall on 22 September 2005.
Website: www.mobo.com
SANCTUARY SHARES DROP 40% 25/08/05
Shares in Sanctuary Group dropped 40% (closing to a new low at 10p a share) yesterday (23rd August) as talks about a possible buyout fell through (rumoured to have been with Warner Music). Sanctuary says it is in talks with other parties but has issued a statement warning of "further
deterioration of results for the full year".
The company, headed by Andy Taylor and Rod Smallwood floated in 1988 and has been in a formal take over offer period since June. It has an estimated £120M in debts. The Group's activities cover recorded music product, tour merchandising, music publishing, band management, book publishing and artist booking with artists as diverse as Destiny's Child, Iron Maiden, Alison Moyet, Elton John and McFly.
Source: Five Eight Magazine and see www.guardian.co.uk
AOL ENTERS TICKET RESALE MARKET 23/08/05
AOL has increased its presence in the growing online business of reselling tickets to rock concerts, sporting events and other live shows. The company is set to announce today that it has lined up TicketsNow.com as the second partner in the ticketing endeavor, having previously struck a deal with StubHub.com. While AOL has been selling secondary live-event tickets for several months, it had been doing so without a dedicated Web home until today's official unveiling of AOLTicketMarketplace.com.
COURTNEY LOVE CLAIMS THAT SHE IS EXPECTING COOGAN LOVECHILD 23/08/05
Courtney Love claims that she is is pregnant by Alan Partridge creator Steve Coogan after a two-week fling. Love, 41, the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, is said to have enjoyed an affair with Coogan while they were both staying at the Sunset Marquis hotel in West Hollywood.
The Hole frontwoman is currently in drug rehabilitation after being given a final last chance by a US court to overcome her addiction. She had breached a court order after admitting using drugs whilst on probation for three separate drug and assault cases
EMINEM IN HOSPITAL FOR PILL ADDICTION 22/08/05
Having cancelled his European tour for 'exhaustion', Eminen has now been hospitalised for addiction to sleeping pills. US newspapers say that the rapper checked himself into Detroit's Brighton Hospital for dependency on the prescription pill Ambien. Eminen, real name Marshall Mathers III, had already indicated he wanted to take a break from live peformances and his own musical career to concentrate on producing other artists. Promoters of European dates including Slane Castle in Co Meath Ireland have already indicated they are considering legal action over losses resulting from the cancelled tour dates. Other tour dates included a planned return to the Milton Keynes Bowl and in Edinburgh.
AUDIOSLAVE LINE UP FIRST BIG US TOUR 22/08/05
Audioslave 's first extensive North American tour in support of its sophomore album, "Out
of Exile," will begin Sept. 25 in San Francisco. No venues have yet been announced for the nearly two-month outing, which has dates on the books through mid-November. Seether and U.K. based Kasabian will support. "Out
of Exile" debuted in May at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has already sold 693,000 copies in the United States.
PLAYLOUDER INKS FIRST CONTENT DEAL WITH MAJOR 22/08/05
Web portal Playlouder.com as signed a content deal with Sony BMG. It has long-standing deals in place with the independents, but this is its first with a major. The Playlouder ISP costs £26
a month. For this, users get a broadband connection and can share as much music
as they want with other subscribers. It is being pushed as a means of controlling
and monetising P2P's technology and user appeal. It is expected that the other
majors could soon follow suit. Playlouder has argued that
if all the UK ISPs were to adopt its model, the record industry would make
an extra £300M a year
V FESTIVAL A MAJOR HIT IN UK 22/08/05
The 10th annual V Festival at Chelmsford, Essex, and Weston Park, Staffordshire proved to be a massive success with over 120,000 tickets sold and mass media coverage in the UK from Channel 4, E4 and Virgin Radio. Headline artists included Oasis, Kasier Chiefs, Joss Stone, Franz Ferdinand and the Scissor Sisters.
For a link to the sponsor's take on the Festival see www.guardian.co.uk
MADONNA TAKES A TUMBLE 19/08/05
Madonna has suffered three cracked ribs, a broken hand,broken collar bone and serious bruising in a tumble from her horse. The superstar was riding on her English estate at Ashcombe House which she shares with husband Guy Ritchie and their children. The singer was on a new horse whilst riding with an assistant. The singer is due to release a new album, 'Confessions on a Dance Floor', in November 2005 via Warners.
LONDON DOME TO REBRAND AS 02 IN SPONSORSHIP DEAL 19/08/05
London's much ridiculed Millennium Dome which has alreday
cost the UK taxpayer and UK lottery funds over £1 billion is due to be
rebranded "The 02" after the mobile telecoms company
paid £6 million in sponsorship ($10.8 million). The site has remained
vacant for three and a half years but new owner AEG plan a 23,000 entertainment venue for 2007 and have agreed to host Olympic gymnastics and basketball in 2012.
WARNERS LOSE ATLANTIC CEO 19/08/05
Warner Music Group has said that Jason Flom, CEO and Chairman of its Atlantic Records division has resigned. His departure is said to be after a series of clashes with Lyon Cohen, head of Warner Music US. Mr Flom will be replaced by Atlantic Chief Operating Officer Craig Callman.
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCHERS POINT TO NOISE DANGERS OF PERSONAL MUSIC 19/08/05
The dramatic increase in the use of personal music players such as i-Pods and other MP3 players is adding to the risk of long term hearing damage by young people who use the devices at high volume.
Whilst most research has concentrated on risks of live amplified music researchers from the National Acoustics Laboratory in Sydney found that a quarter of personal player users have the volume at the danger level. In the UK the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) said that the Australian research supported its own findings which showed that 39% of 16-24 years olds listened to music players at least one hour a day and nearly half thought they played these at volumes which were too high.
The RNID regards 80dB as the the level where hearing can be damaged. A busy street is 70dB and 80dB is shouting. A nightclub would be 90dB on average and rock concerts can be between 110dB and 120dB. The RNID have launched a campaign - 'Don't Lose the Music' - warning of the risks of high volumes and advise users to take a break from volume in nightclubs and to avoid exposure to extremely high volumes.
OYSTER PRODUCES A LITTLE GEM 19/08/05
We are very happy to announce the arrival of a new member of the ILMC team: Francesca Humphrey - born on August 14th to happy parents and long-suffering ILMC designers, Iain and Janine of Oyster Studios.
All the luck in the world, chaps!
JOHN LODER 1946 - 2005 18/08/05
John Loder , undoubtably one of the most important characters on the UK's independent music scene for many years died last weekend from a brain tumour. John's work with Southern Studios and distribution over the years, with Crass, Alternative Tentacles, Fugazi and many more - kept the UK's alternative scene running virtually single-handed.
Tribute: http://johnloder.blogspot.com
EMINEM CANCELS EUROPEAN DATES 18/08/05
Eminem has cancelled a planned 12 date tour of Europe citing exhaustion. The outing was part of the Anger Management outing with 50 Cent, D12, G-Unit and other acts.
The tour was to get underway on September 1st in Hamburg, Germany and wrap September 17 in Meath, Ireland. According to a statement from Interscope Records, "Eminem is currently being treated for exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues." The canceled European shows are not expected to be rescheduled, according to the label.
LEONARD COHEN FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST EX-MANAGER FOR $5 MILLION FRAUD 16/08/05
Leonard Cohen has filed a law suit against his longtime business manager Kelly Lynch allegedly defrauding the famed singer/songwriter of at least $5 million. The complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks damages for alleged breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, common law fraud, professional negligence and other claims against Lynch, Cohen's manager for 17 years, till she was fired in October 2004. Tax lawyer Richard Westin was also named as a defendant for allegedly mismanaging Cohen's retirement funds.
KEANE AND THE MAGIC NUMBERS JOIN WARCHILD ALBUM 16/08/05
Keane and The Magic Numbers have joined Radiohead and other bands by each promising to provide a track for the 10th anniversary WarChild album. The album, 'Help: A Day in the Life', is set for recording, mixing, and download release all on September 9.
Gorillaz and Razorlight are already among the artists involved along with Bloc Party, The Coral, Elbow, Hard-Fi, Keane, Manic Street Preachers, Maxïmo Park, Mylo and The Zutons with yet more names expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Also on board is producer Mark 'Spike' Stent, one of the music industry's most highly respected and in-demand record producer-engineers. The album will once again raise funds to help children in war-torn regions including Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and The Democratic Republic of The Congo. It will be available from the WarChild website and other sites from September 9. A CD release will follow.
OZZY TO TAKE A FINAL BOW FOR OZZFEST 16/08/05
Ozzy Osbourne has confirmed that this will be his final year headlining his Ozzfest festival. The 9 year old hard rock festival, which launched in 1996 has always included Osbourne as a show closer either with Black Sabbath or with his solo band. In 2006 Osbourne will still participate in Ozzfest, though only at a few of the tour's stops. "After
10 years, the Ozzfest's name and reputation has been established," the artist said in a statement. "It's
time for me to move on and do other things."
Source: www.billboard.com
VAN HALEN LAWSUIT TO GO TO TRIAL 16/08/05
The $2M lawsuit brought by rockers Van Halen against the Baltimore Orioles is going to trial. It is over an alleged breach of contract for a gig: The band claim that the baseball team backed out of an agreement to stage a concert with the band. The Los Angeles District Court denied an application for summary judgement and Judge William Matthew Byrne Jnr ordered a trial.
Source: www.billboard.com
INSURANCE COMPANY ASK FOR RULING ON LIMP BIZKIT LIABILITY 16/08/05
The insurance company that issued a policy to Limp Bizkit is asking the LA Superior Court to rule that it has no liability for any damages awarded after a fan was killed at a Limp Bizkit gig in Australia in 2001.
Diamond State Insurance Co has asked for the ruling which relates to liability for the death of 16 year old fan Jessica Michalik at the Big Day Out event in January 2001.
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
JAPAN'S I-TUNES LAUNCH A BIG SUCCESS 08/08/05
Apple's i-Tunes Music Store launched in Japan last week and hit the ground running. In its first four days of business, it sold over one million downloads. Domestic artists dominated in terms of sales with Def Tech having the top-selling single and Ulfuls having the top-selling album. The initial success of the service's launch saw Apple's Steve Jobs in fighting talk mode, claiming that iTunes"sold
twice as many songs in just four days as all the other online music services
in Japan sell in one month".
DANCE MUSIC MARKET SHARE SLIPS AWAY IN THE UK 08/08/05
Jim King 's Dance Club at ILMC 17 were all agreed that that dance music was performing well around the world. The panel felt that in the twelve months to March 2005 dance acts tour sales have been very strong and the festival market appears even stronger. Internationally Skol Beats, Dance Valley, Exit and Tiesto in Concert have had continued success and in the UK Homelands, Creamfields and Global are again experiencing growth. See the conference report for full details.
Recent figures from the IFPI show that that dance is out and rock is in in a survey of the UK's music buying habits. The report shows that rock music makes up 30% of CD sales (up 4%) and pop has a 30% market share (down 2%) but dance sales have fallen from 13% to 7%.
A significant gain is in urban/rap/hip hop market which has seen a market share increase from 4% to 7%. It seems that older consumers are still buying CDs as younger msuic fans move to downloading - both legal and illegal - perhaps explaining why dance's share of the market has shrunk whilst rock and MOR (artists such as James Blunt, Norah Jones and Katie Melua) have seen growth with MOR up 3% to 8% of all CD sales. remaining market shares are Classical (3%), Jazz (3%) and country (2%).
The UK recorded market is still growing with a turnover of £2.1 billion in 2004 and is now the world's third largest music market (behind the USA and Japan) representing 10% of records sold globally. The UKs top three albums were Scissor Sisters ( Scissor Sisters ), Keane ( Hopes and Fears ) and Robbie Williams ( Greatest Hits ) followed by albums from Maroon 5, Katie Melua, Anastacia, Usher, Norah Jones and Snow Patrol.
IBRAHIM FERRER 1927 - 2005 08/08/05
Buena Vista Social Club member Ibrahim Ferrer has died aged 78 after returning from a month long European tour. The singer was a devotee of traditonal styles of cuban music and was born at a social club dance on the island after his mother went into labour unexpectedly. Whilst Ferrer enjoyed domestic success in the 1950's he hit hard times until guitarist Ry Cooder brought together a group of musicians to record the Buena Vista Social Club album in 1997. The project was a huge success winnng the band a grammy and worldwide acclaim. Ferrer won a Latin Grammy in 2000 as best new artist - at the age of 72.
JACKSON DECISION TO STAND AS TRIAL PRIVACY PRECENDENT 03/08/05
The California Supreme Court has affirmed a recent District Court of Appeal decision allowing the Michael Jackson case to stand as a precedent on secrecy. Many media and legal experts say that this could shut off public access to information in high-profile cases. In a brief decision last week, the California Supreme Court denied a request by news organizations to "depublish" the ruling, meaning it will stay on the legal books and can be used by judges and lawyers on the issue of sealing documents in other cases. A three-member panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled in April that the judge in Jackson's child molestation trial had been justified in sealing dozens of court records. The judge had said that releasing the documents could have prejudiced the jury pool. He said he was protecting the fair trial right of Jackson who was acquitted of all charges in June.
Source: www.billboard.com
OASIS, BECK AND THE PIXIES HEAD OUT ACCROSS THE POND 02/08/05
Some of the top names in rock have signed on for the inaugural Across the Pond concerts, which will be held simultaneously at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, N.Y. Billboard.com has revealed. Both venues will host shows on Oct. 1-2, with the Pixies, Oasis, The Killers and Beck set to appear on yet-to-be-determined bills.
WELSH JAZZ FESTIVAL UPSET BY PRS BILL 02/08/05
A Welsh jazz festival has claimed it is under threat after receiving a £3,000 (E4,400) PRS bill for playing music. The Performing Rights Society and its lawyers demanded the sum for a music licence and legal costs from the Abersoch Jazz Society, run by volunteers.
Licence fees for the last two years, totalling more than £1,200, were paid but the committee was challenging the legal costs of £1,500. The Festival said that it was not experienced in the music industry prior to 2001 and that whilst it recognised its debts it did not budget for the licence fee for this year's festival and instead, the committee wanted to pay the fee next year. The committe said that in 2001 "none of us at that point had ever heard of PRS. We went to our local council and police to ask what licences we needed to run a festival. We were given all the information we thought we needed and, in all good faith, set about organising our jazz festival." The Festival said that their aim was to promote live music.
MEGADETH AT WAR OVER USE OF NAME 02/08/05
In a slightly unsual case Megadeth's lead singer has accused their ex-bassist of using the heavy metal group's name without permission. Band founder and vocalist David Mustaine claims he and bassist David Ellefson had an agreement restricting Mr Ellefson's use of the group's name. Mr Mustaine says an advert Mr Ellefson made for musical equipment contravenes this deal. He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
In the legal action filed at Los Angeles' Superior Court, Mr Mustaine stated that Mr Ellefson"shall not use the work or mark 'Megadeth' to advertise, market or promote any product or service". Mr Mustaine claims that an advertisement in Bass Player magazine, which features Mr Ellefson holding a pedal tuner for bass guitars and includes the names of bands he is involved with - including Megadeth - breaks a settlement agreement both parties entered into which prevented Mr Ellefson using the band's name - even as a historical reference to groups Ellefson had performed with and not as a direct endorsement.
IFPI PUBLISH 12TH RECORDING INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS REPORT 02/08/05
The International Federation of Phonographic Industries has published its 12th Annual Recording Industry in Numbers which includes record company market share figures for 2004, and, for the first time shows global revenues from the collection of performance rights, along with data, statistics and trends in 65 countries' music markets.
NEW UK LICENSING ACT CAUSES CHAOS AS PUBS, CLUBS AND VENUES FAIL TO MEET DEADLINE 02/08/05
The UK's live music scene is under threat as numerous pubs and clubs have failed to re-apply for licences to sell alcohol and provide entertainment according to a new report. Under the Licensing Act 2003, anyone wanting to keep selling alcohol must complete the paperwork by 6 August 2005.
The new application contains details of what entertainment the venue or pub wish to promote. But research by drinks company Glenfiddich has found that half of all pub, bar and restaurant owners are yet to apply and the report claims that the number of gigs taking place in the UK every day could fall from an average of 4,500 gigs to 2,250, if the venues are forced to close due to a lack of licence. The 6 August deadline has been set by the government as the final date for premises to convert their licence and apply for their flexible opening hours and entertainment licenses It requires everyone in the industry to renew their licence, whether they want to open later or not. Current licences will usually expire in November after which pubs, clubs and venues will be unlicensed.
There was intense lobbying from both the music industry and the brewery trade againt the Act which was largly ignored by Goverment. The Government did set up the Live Music Forum under chair Feargal Sharkey who has championed the cause of live music against a background of increasing regulation and regulatory cost but many small clubs and pubs seem unsettled by the new regime. The live music industry also had to come to terms with new disability discrimination provisions and door supervisor regulations over the last year.
At ILMC 17Feargal chaired a panel explaining the effects of legislation on the live industry (Make Yourself At Home with the LMF, Saturday) and Sarah Waddington (Simkins Partnership, UK) and Leon Raemakers (Mojo, NL) co-chaired a session (Legislation - Playing By The Rules, Sunday) looking at the effect of legislation of the industry. See the Conference Reports on this site for details and see the article on regulation in the live music industry by Ben Challis
Regulated to Death: Safety Regulation In The Live Music Industry
ROBBIE TIES UP DIRECT WITH T-MOBILE 01/08/05
With another innovative deal, Robbie Williams has signed direct with T-mobile in Germany giving the telecoms operator the right to stream certain tracks before they go on general release and exclusive video footage. Whilst the deal is direct it is understood that under Robbie's unique record deal, EMI will participate in the income stream from T-Mobile. At ILMC 17Robbie's management, Tim Clark and David Enthoven of i.e. music were the guests of Ed Bicknell at the Breakfast Meeting (see the conference report for full details)
IS PODCASTING THE NEW BLACK? 01/08/05
The BBC have been hailing their free podcasting service as a major success. The experiment allowed BBC Radio listeners to download selected shows from the corporation free onto their MP3 players. The BBC announced that over 1.4 million people downloaded the Beethoven symphonies although it is thought that over half were taken up by users in the USA.
Writing in the Observer newspaper (31st July) John Naughton explains that podcasting is the delivery of an enclosed file to a computer where it can be downloaded to an MP3 player. The technology started to be used in blogs but was recently incorporated into Apple's i-Tunes software. Podcasting enables anyone to create what are effectively self published radio 'programmes'. Anyone who wishes to receive the programme subscribes to the author's syndication feed which may of course be for a fee.
UNIVERSAL TRY NEW CD PRICING MODEL IN GERMANY 01/08/05
Universal is introducing a new CD pricing model in Germany to help revive the market. CDs by previously unknown acts will sell for E13 and, as the bands get more successful, the price will go up. CDs with extra content will also cost about 25% more. More interestingly, 'paperback' copies of albums (i.e. ones with cheaper packaging) will sell for E10. While the book publishing industry has managed to sell essentially the same product at different prices (hardbacks at a premium and paperbacks at a lower price), the music industry's attempts have been less successfully. A tiered pricing model was trialled in the US in 2003, but was quickly abandoned.
Source: FiveEight magazine
UNIVERSAL AND SONY OFFER UP MIXED RESULTS 01/08/05
Sony have dramatically reduced profit forcasts whereas Universal are upbeat in latest financial statements. Both companies are conglomerates and the Sony electronics,
entertainment and media group has lowered its earnings forecast by 90% after
a second quarter of losses. The group reported Q2 losses of 7.3bn yen (£37m)
compared with a 23.3bn yen profit last year. The news compounds the pressure
on Howard Stringer, Sony's first non-Japanese chief executive who is expected to announce a radical business strategy in September that could see several ailing business divisions culled.
Vivendi Universal has posted a 9% increase in first-half sales, with strong performance from its games division and French mobile operator SFR
Source: www.guardian.co.uk