Previous News Articles (2003)

FILE SWAPPERS ARRESTED IN JAPANESE ACTIONS 31/12/03
A Japanese peer-to-peer file-sharing network which claimed to keep user identities untraceable has failed to work and two users in Japan have been arrested. The developer of the P2P software has also had his home searched by police. There are around 250,000 users of the supposedly anonymous file-trading network, called Winny, which rides on the more well-known Freenet network.

Freenet is an open-source project and is part of a growing number of projects aimed at giving people the ability to communicate online without being tapped, traced or monitored.

MALASIAN SOFTWARE PIRATES RUN WILD 31/12/03
Malaysian software pirates are selling copies of the next generation of Microsoft's flagship Windows operating system, years before its official release and at a fraction of the expected price. Compact discs with a version of the system code-named Longhorn are being sold openly for less than $A 3.50 (£2.00) per copy .

Malaysia is one of the worst offenders, with CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs sold openly in stores and street stalls. Longhorn is still in development and won't officially be ready until 2005 at the earliest.

STARS FLOCK TO ROCK IN RIO IN LISBON 31/12/03
Britney Spears is the latest star to be confirmed for the 'Rock In Rio' event in Lisbon on June 5, alongside Slipknot, Metallica and Guns N'Roses.

Britney tours the US in March and April before venturing to Europe. Sting is amongst the other acts scheduled to appear at the festival, which attracts around 100,000 people and takes place between May 29-30 and June 3-6. Britney performed at 'Rock In Rio' in 2001 in Brazil. The Portuguese leg of the event is based on its Brazilian counterpart.

Source: dotmusic

ELLIOTT SMITH CASE TO BE RE-OPENED 31/12/03
The investigation into the death of 34 year old singer-songwriter Elliot Smith who tragically died in October from stab wounds may be re-opened. The case was first thought to be a suicide with self inflicted wounds - Smith had been on prescribed anti-depressants but was not using drugs. But the Los Angeles coroners office claim that they are unable to determine if the stab wounds that killed Smith were self-inflicted and his autopsy report leaves questions surrounding the nature of his death. It will remain an open case for the LAPD to continue investigations.

KAZAA MOST POPULAR SEARCH ON THE NET 31/12/03
Yahoo has announced some unwelcome news for the Recording Industry Association of America saying that the string "KaZaA" was the number one search term of the year, beating out the likes of popular boy wizard Harry Potter, television show American Idol, and singer Britney Spears, among others. Yahoo's annual report includes the ten most frequently sought terms on the portal and search engine over the full year.

Source: AVN Online.

US DOJ DROPS INVESTIGATION INTO MAJOR LABEL'S ONLINE ACTIVITIES 31/12/03
After more than two years of investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced that it is closing its antitrust scrutiny of the major record labels' online activities, without filing charges. When originally revealed in mid 2001, the regulators' investigation was said to be focused on the MusicNet and Pressplay online-music joint ventures and the possibility that the record labels were colluding to favour their own affiliated services at the expense of potential rivals. But events seem to have overtaken both the DOJ and the majors with services like OD2 and Apple's i-Tunes leading the field in field of legalised downloads.

Source: CNetAsia.

ROBBIE WILLIAMS NOW A TRADEMARK 31/12/03
Robbie Williams has trademarked his name and can now protect the right to use it on anything from videos and CDs to crayons and paper napkins. He joins stars such as Madonna and events such as the Glastonbury Festival who have filed their names to give them protection and added ammunition to avoid costly legal disputes over ownership of names.

Many well-known figures have used the system over the years provided their name is considered "distinctive" enough. Trademarks can give protection in numerous different areas and can now be applied for on a Europe wide basis (the Community Trade Mark).

Robbie is covered for a wide range of music and video recordings as well as clothing merchandise. The star is also protected for "printed matter", which includes address books, calendars, diaries and even tissues. Last year Robbie won ownership of the internet domain name back from an alleged 'cybersquatter' who had registered the domain name www.robbiewilliams.info which directed net users to a site full of pictures of Oasis - hohoho !

Source: www.Itv.com

US JUDGE ALLOWS ACCESS TO EMINEM 'RACIST' RECORDINGS 31/12/03
Controversial 'racist' recordings by rapper Eminen will be made available, a judge has ruled. US hip-hop magazine The Source had won the right to publish limited extracts from two tracks the rapper recorded as a teenager, which it maintains are racist.

The singer says he made the recordings when he was young, "frustrated, stupid and angry". His lawyers had argued that publishing the tracks would violate copyright laws but District Judge Gerald E Lynch ruled that limited reproduction constituted "fair use" of copyrighted material for the purposes of criticism. The magazine will be allowed to publish 20 seconds and eight lines from the songs. The Source magazine will now be allowed to publish CDs featuring up to 20 seconds of two previously unreleased works.

OZZY OUT OF INTENSIVE CARE 31/12/03
Ozzy Osbourne has been moved out of intensive care and into a private clinic to continue with his recovery from his quad bike crash earlier this month. The rocker was hospitalised after a quad bike accident at his home on December 8th. It is expected that it will take Ozzy six months to recover from his injuries. The singer benefited from massive UK popular support and he hit No 1 in the charts on December 14 for the first time in his career with 'Changes', the duet he had recorded with daughter Kelly though was unable to keep the position this week, when Michael Andrews feat Gary Jules scooped the Christmas Number One with 'Mad World'.

Source www.nme.com

ARE BLUR ON MARS? 25/12/03
As the rest of the UK settled down to Christmas lunch on December 25th, the members of Blur were holed up inside the Jodrell Bank Observatory waiting on word back from life on Mars.Today sees the climax of the band-backed Beagle 2 project, the British effort to land on Mars. If things go to plan, the probe will land on the planet's surface on Christmas Day and the first signal we Earthlings will hear back will be a Blur song. However, scientists are waiting for the signal, which wasn't heard when the probe was supposed to land. Damon Albarn composed Beagle 2, a song which first appeared as a B-side to their 1999 single 'No Distance Left To Run'.

Source www.nme.com

RECORDING INDUSTRY SUFFERS PIRACY SETBACKS IN THE NETHERLANDS, CANADA AND THE USA 21/12/03
It has been a very bad week for the record and music publishing industries as they face up to the ramifications of legal cases in three different territories.

Late last week the Canadian Copyright Board ruled that the personal dowloading of files from the internet was not illegal in Canada. Whilst an unusual decision Canada does have a system of blank tape, software and hardware levies which consumers pay and an exemption for personal use in the Copyrights Act.

Then in two separate decisions yesterday courts ruled against industry bodies. In Amsterdam the Netherlands Supreme Court rejected a case against Kazaa, the file-sharing program, ruling that the company cannot be held liable for the swapping of copyrighted music, movies and programs by users.

The Court upheld an earlier appeals court verdict rejecting a suit filed by music publisher societies Buma / Stemra. And in the USA in a substantial setback for industry efforts to stop music piracy, a Federal Appeals Court ruled yesterday that the Recording Industry Association of America cannot force Internet service providers to reveal the names and mailing addresses of alleged music swappers on their networks. By overturning a lower court's decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit eliminated a powerful tool used by the RIAA under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 to learn the identities of computer users and sue them for downloading music.

CANADA AND EUROPE TO TACKLE ONLINE PIRACY 17/12/03
The Canadian recording industry is about to get tough with Internet users who share music files. Brian Robertson, head of the Canadian recording Industry Association says it will file lawsuits against individuals similar to ones launched in the United States. The Association claims sales of compact discs have fallen by $450 million - or 23 per cent - since 1999 in Canada.

The European music industry also plans to take the fight against Internet piracy right to the doors of file sharers with individually targeted lawsuits, the head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) says. Chairman and CEO Jay Berman says: "Lawsuits on a large scale have so far been restricted to the US; this 'fight back' will almost inevitably have to take place internationally as well."

Berman 's piece outlines the industry's global Internet strategy for 2004, suggesting that the organisation has next year in mind for its legal assault. The good news for the Record Industry is that 2004 is expected to see the European debut of Apple's iTunes Music Store and other legitimate music download services alongside OD2, currently Europe's only legal song supplier with major label back catalogue on offer. In the USAi-Tunes has just notched up its 25 millionth sale at 99 cents each and is joined in a growing market by Rhapsody and Napster.

Source:www.IFPI.org

UNIVERSAL EXPAND IN CHINA 17/12/03
Universal plans a major expansion next year for its small but profitable operations in China. The company plans to opentwo new offices, doubling or tripling its small China headcount, which now stands at a modest figure of about 10 out of 800 Asia-wide.

Other major western labels in China include EMI Group Plc and the music divisions of Sony Corp and Time Warner Inc. It is estimated the legitimate market for music sales in China totals about $125 million annually but the illegal copying and sale of music CDs is pervasive in China, where an estimated 90 percent of music sales are believed to involve pirated material. Universal plans to do more promotion in China of its Taiwan and Hong Kong artists, as well as other artists from its catalogue.

Source: Reuters

ILMC SAFETY FOCUS GROUP WINS E160,000 GRANT 17/12/03
The Safety Focus Group has won a grant of E160,000 from the European Union to produce a vital safety guide. The guide is intended for use by live music promoters and workers throughout Europe and beyond. It will reflect best practice in a number of European countries. As one of the conditions of this grant, the SFG must now raise a further E40,000 funding from the live music industry to secure the project. Scheduled to be ready by late autumn, 2004, the guide will primarily be accessible via a specially designed website, although a limited number of hard copies will be produced.

The grant has been awarded by the Bilbao-based European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA), The successful application was put together by the SFG (which has representatives from six different countries), the UK's Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College led by Professor Chris Kemp and live music welfare consultant Penny Mellor.

STONES, BRUCE AND CHER TOP THE 2003 LIVE TOUR GROSS 17/12/03
Seasoned veterans once again dominated the touring business in 2003. The top three tours for the year (to Nov. 18) were by The Rolling Stones (grossing $299.5 million), Bruce Springsteen ($181.7 million) and Cher ($76.3 million).

Source:www.billboard.com

WHITE STRIPES DATES PLANNED 16/12/03
Billboard report that The White Stripes have confirmed a New Year's Eve concert in Chicago, and will kick off 2004 with a handful of European/U.K. dates, taking up the latter half of January and stretching into February.

The Dec. 31 show at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom will see the Detroit blues duo share a bill with the Flaming Lips and Blanche. In mid-January, theStripes will begin a nine date UK tour on Jan 19 with shows in Liverpool, London's Alexandra Palace, Glasgow, Scotland's SECC and Blackpool Empress Ballroom followed by a February 1 date in Paris.

I-POD THE CHRISTMAS GIFT TO HAVE 16/12/03
Apple are reporting massive sales of their I-Pod player in the run up to Christmas in both Europe and the USA and MD of Apple, Steve Jobs said yesterday that more than 25 million songs have been downloaded from Apple's iTunes music store, launched in April. I-tunes, which charges 99 cents a song will soon face big new competitors. Wal-Mart is expected to launch a downloading site before year's end and Sony, Microsoft and Coke plan to enter the market in 2004.

BEYONCE, R.KELLY WIN BIG AT BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS 12/12/03
Beyonce and R. Kelly were the big winners at the 14th annual Billboard Music Awards, held last night (Dec. 10) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas and aired live on Fox. Each snared four trophies, while Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz, Shania Twain and 50 Cent each took home three awards. The event aired live on Fox.

Source:www.Billboard.com

GREAT WHITE INDICTMENTS ISSUED 11/12/03
After a ten month investigation into the Rhode Island tragedy on February 20th at the Station Nightclub when pyrotechnics ignited during a peformance by Great White caused an inferno, the Grand Jury has now issued criminal indictments. The fire killed 100 people, including Great White guitarist Ty Longley, and injured about 200 others.

In the first indictments, former Great White tour manager Dan Biechele, and club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian were each charged with 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter with criminal negligence and 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in violation of a misdemeanor. They were arraigned in Kent County Superior Court; all three pleaded innocent. Bail for the Derderians was set at $50,000, and $100,000 for Biechele, who lives in Florida; all were expected to make bail by the end of the day. At the same time it is estimated that over US$1 billion of civil lawsuits have been filed.

Source:www.Billboard.com

OZZY CRASH HORROR 09/12/03
Ozzy Osbourne has been seriously injured in a quad bike accident in the grounds of his Buckinghamshire estate. The 55-year-old rock star was transferred to hospital in Slough where he underwent emergency surgery after his circulation partially failed and to stem beeleding in his lungs.

Ozzy also broke his collarbone, six ribs and a vertebra in his neck. He was said to be in a stable, non life-threatening condition. Osbourne was taking a day off from promoting the UK release of 'Changes', a duet with his daughter Kelly, when the accident occurred and was due to be interviewed for Radio 1 this morning (9th December).

UK CHART ROW OVER COKE SPONSORSHIP 09/12/03
The British Phonographic Industry and Coca-Cola have agreed a new £2 million sponsorship package for the official UK charts but seem to have conveniently forgotten that official chart broadcaster BBC Radio 1 and BBC1 (which broadcasts Top of The Pops) are both governed by a charter which prohibits the state broadcaster having active involvement in commercial sponsorship and advertising.

The row has been escalated because the UK Government is currently targeting obesity in children and the dangers of junk food and sugar drinks, fuelling claims that the BBC is at worst hypocritical if not downright irresponsible. The BBC says it was not 'a party' to the negotiations although press reports say it was consulted and fully aware. It is understood that if the BBC stands firm, indepdent local radio owners will demand an investigation into the BBC's board of governors

Source:www.guardian.co.uk

MUSIC 2.0 CONFERENCE CHEERS UP LABELS 09/12/03
The Music 2.0 Conference held in Universal City heard that online music piracy isn't likely to vanish soon, but the rise of paid online services and the growing popularity of portable digital players portend better fortunes for the recording industry. Taking a mostly positive outlook on an industry that has suffered three years of falling CD sales, executives for record companies and Internet music retailers told hundreds of delegates that online music sales should take off in 2004. The recording industry feels it has made progress in 2003, after two years of trying to develop an online digital music model that could appeal to a majority of music fans - and educate those who make copies by downloading for personal use for a fraction of a CD's cost.

2003 has seen a rash of new online music services, offering music for subscription, download or both. Apple Computer's ITunes Music Store, which launched in April and sells individual song downloads for 99 cents, has sold more than 17 million song downloads as of last month. Napster has relaunched, playlouder.com are setting up a legal P2P file-swapping service, Coca-cola are reported to be entering the market and in CanadaPuretracks.com is has succesfully launched.

Delegates heard that the demand for portable music players and the rise of home networking devices, which allow people to also enjoy digital music and movies on their entertainment centres and stereos, will also drive digital music. Many of the panelists said they were bullish on the chances for digital music sales to pick up next year, but conceded that the industry has to be willing to change as it embraces the online music business model including making 'deep catalogue' (rare cuts, B sides, concert recordings) available to consumers online.

Source: LA Daily News

KAZAA LITE ELIMINATED 08/12/03
Sharman Networks , who own the controversial Kazaa software, have used legal tools to eliminate a pirate modified version called Kazaa Lite K++ which was touted as a way to protect Peer-2-Peer users from "organisations such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) " invading their privacy and also blocked features of the Kazaa software deemed as adware and spyware.

Sharman Networks has reportedly contacted the Internet service provider of every Web site which hosted Kazaa Lite K++ and threatened under the provisions of the USA's Digital Millenium Copyright Act unless access to the modified software was removed. This follows a move earlier in the year when Sharman Networks used the same legislation to force Google to remove links or face a legal action.
Sharman Networks itself still face numerous legal challenges from the RIAA over the legitimacy of the Kazaa software.

Source:www.ZDNet.com

MEAN FIDDLER LINKS UP WITH MSD 08/12/03
The UK's Observer newspaper has reported that Vince Power's Mean Fiddler Group and Denis Desmond's MCD are to link up with MCD buying 16% of the Mean Fiddler Group for £4.6 million (E6.4 approx). Power remains the major shareholder in Mean Fiddler with a 35% stake but the group will be a powerful combined presence in the Anglo-Irish markets.

FLU STRUCK BOWIE CANCELS US DATES 08/12/03
David Bowie has cancelled two shows in the US which were part of his A Reality tour.. The dates were in Atlantic City (December 6th) and Fairfax (December 7th). Doctors have ordered the singer to stay in bed and the date for a return to touring has not been set although it is expected he will be well enough to perform at Boston on December 9th. The cancelled shows will be re-scheduled.

Source:www.livedaily.com

US LABELS ISSUE MORE DOWNLOAD LAWSUITS 05/12/03
In addition to the first round of lawsuits issued in September the Recording Industry Association of America has issued a further 41 lawsuits to private individuals who the RIAA say are 'chronic' abusers of online file swapping services. The news comes as the industry digests mixed data and results. Use of the high profile KazaA service seems to have declined and recent data shows that file swapping and downloading has passed its peak. In fact for the last two months CD sales in the US have been rising (although this could be blamed on big pre-christmas releases). However the US record industry is facing mounting claims of a 'heavy handed' approach and some commentators are now challenging the legitimacy of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which the RIAA has been using and whether the Act itself is constitutional.

A number of Internet Service Providers and Academic Instutions claim that the RIAA's actions breach privacy LAW and the use of subpoenas issued without court approval is unlawful and unconstitutional.

VIRGIN ENTERS ONLINE MUSIC MARKET 05/12/03
Virgin announcing it is planning to jump into the crowded online-music download market. At the re-opening of a Virgin Megastore in San Francisco late Wednesday night, Glen Ward, the company's chief executive, said the British retailer's Internet music service would be launched early next year joining pay sites like Apple's iTunes. Roxio's Napster 2.0, BuyMusic and MusicNow.

HIP HOP LEADS GRAMMY NOMINATIONS 05/12/03
Beyonce , Jay-Z, OutKast and Pharrell Williams have each received six nominations for this year's Grammy's. Five nominations apiece went to Missy Elliott, Eminem, Evanescence, 50 Cent , Chad Hugo, Ricky Skaggs, Justin Timberlake, Luther Vandross and the late Warren Zevon.

Four of the five nominees for record of the year fell into the rap or R&B category:

• Beyonce:"Crazy in Love"
• Black Eyed Peas & Justin Timberlake:"Where Is The Love"
• Eminem:"Lose Yourself"
• Outkast:Hey Ya

Brit rockers Coldplay's song "Clocks" was the only exception. Rap and R&B also dominated the album of the year category although there is a strong showing from Evanescence in five categories.

VIVENDI UNIVERSAL ADDS TO RECORD COMPANY GLOOM 03/12/03
French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal added to record company woes by warning of further sales slides in 2004. Universal, which slashed CD prices by a quarter in the US two months ago, reported continued losses at the Universal Music Group (UMG). UMG lost E38 million (£53 million) in the first nine months of 2003 on a 22% sales slide. Online music piracy and competition from video games are blamed as a major factors in the decline. UMG has announced recent job losses and restructuring to stem losses.

MEAN FIDDLER BUYS BORDERLINE 03/12/03
London 's Evening Standard has reported (02/12/03) that Vince Power's Mean Fidler Group has purchased the Borderline venue in Soho for an undisclosed sum, extending the group's central London venues to seven in total.

UK CHART SPONSORSHIP SHAKES BBC 03/12/03
The UK's state and public broadcaster was adding a shy 'no comment' to reports that the UK's singles and albums charts would now be sponsored by Coca-cola and Coke. The bastion of public service said that the sponsorship was for the charts, not the channel, and that the BBC would not recieve a penny of the rumoured £2 million sponsorship despite the fact they would have to broadcast a sponsored chart. The BBC's charter prohibits such commercial arrangements being entered into directly.

STROKES SHOW STOPPED OVER CROWD SURGE PROBLEMS 02/12/03
The Strokes had to stop their show at the Glasgow Braehead Arena last night (Dec 1) amid crowd safety concerns. The show was the first Scottish show in support of their second album 'Room On Fire'.

The set was halted for approximately seven minutes. As well as appeals from singer Julian Casablancas, the group's tour manager came on the stage to appeal to the capacity crowd to move backwards, amid concerns that the front barrier might have to have been moved. After a short delay, the set continued as planned. The venue's manager told the Daily Record: 'There were no serious injuries and no danger of the barrier collapsing. The show was stopped while some precautionary measures were taken to move the barrier further back.'The Strokes resume the tour in Cardiff (December 3) and London Alexandra Palace (Dec 5-6) before the band head off into Europe for more shows.

Source:www.nme.com

MANDELA'S AIDS AWARENESS CONCERT FOCUSES ON AFRICA'S GROWING TRAGEDY
02/12/03
Bono , Beyonce Knowles, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Gabriel, Queen, The Corrs, Bob Geldof, and Ms Dynamite were among stars taking part Nelson Mandela's South Africa gig to boost the fight against Aids.

The five-hour concert was broadcast live on the web on Sunday (31 November) at www.46664.com. Highlights included a duet between Bono and Beyonce on 'American Prayer' and Peter Gabriel performing ' 'Biko' with the Soweto Gospel Choir.The remaining members of Queen unveiled a new track, 'Invincible Hope', that featured samples of Mr Mandela's voice. The song 'Long Walk To Freedom', written by Dave Stewart and the late Joe Strummer , was performed by Stewart and Bono.

The concert was organised to raise awareness of World AIDS day. Mandela, whose prison number was 46664, said that AIDS was a greater threat to South Africa than apartheid had been and added "millions of people infected with HIV and AIDS are in danger of being reduced to mere numbers unless we act. They too are serving a prison sentence for life so I have allowed my prison number to help drive this campaign".

Source:www.dotmusic.com
Photo Credit: The Corrs by Sean Preston

BOWIE TO HEADLINE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL 02/12/03
David Bowie will be appearing at a series of UK festivals next summer including the newly reinstated Isle Of Wight Festival 2004. Bowie is the first name to confirm he is playing the Isle Of Wight Festival in 2004, an event that has, since its rebirth in 2002, witnessed performances by The Charlatans, Ash, Starsailor, The Coral, The Bees, The Cooper Temple Clause, The Thrills, and The Darkness.

The Independent newspaper reported Bowie as saying "I jumped at it ... I was so envious of other acts that got to do the other Isle Of Wight Festival."

The first Isle Of Wight Festival was held in 1968 and Bob Dylan, The Who and T Rex all played the event with the final year of the Festival in 1970 boasting the legendary line up of The Doors, Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix. The Isle if Wight Festival takes place from June 11th till 13th.

EDINBURGH TO RECEIVE MTV AWARD 02/12/03
In a world first, Scotland and Edinburgh are to get an MTV award. Never in the event's ten year history have the host nation and city of the MTV Europe awards been given a prize. Organisers wanted to reflect the reaction of stars like Christina Aguilera, The Darkness, Justin Timberlake and Black Eyed Peas, who attended the cermony at Leith docks last month, praising Scottish hospitality.

Source: Scotland Today and see ILMC RTC News 07/11/2003

GLASTONBURY LICENCE GRANTED FOR 2004 27/11/03
After a three hour meeting Mendip District Council has granted a public entertainment licence for Michael Eavis's 2004 Glastonbury Festival on a 10-1 vote. There were no objections from the police or fire service although recommendations will be taken; eight points will be actioned for the fire service and all security personnel will be checked with the Avon & Somerset Police.

Director of Operations Melvin Benn confirmed that the 2003 Festival was very successful and should be adopted as the baseline standard. A number of areas will be improved to maintain the high standard of the Festival and reduce the impact on local villagers. These include improved site design, the fire exits in backstage areas to be brought up to the same standard as front of house, two village liaison officers, a reduction of conflict between vehicles and the public on-site, an improved waste recycling policy and additional lighting in the camping areas.

Website:www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

STONES NEARLY BREAK THEIR OWN RECORD 27/11/03
The Rolling Stones ' 2002-03 Licks world tour posted the second-highest gross concert tour ever, Billboard Bulletin reports. The tour grossed nearly $300 million and played to more than 3.4 million people, putting it behind only the Stones' marathon Voodoo Lounge stadium tour, which grossed $320 million in 1994-95.

MEATLOAF RECOVERS 27/11/03
Meat Loaf has undergone heart surgery in a London hospital after being diagnosed with a condition that causes an irregular heartbeat.

The 52 year old star collapsed November. 17 as he performed at London's Wembley Arena and was taken to Northwick Park Hospital to recover from exhaustion due to a prolonged viral infection.

GLEN CAMPBELL ARRESTED FOR DRINK DRIVING OFFENCE 27/11/03
Country singer Glen Campbell, whose hits included 'Rhinestone Cowboy', struck another car while driving drunk, left the scene, then later kneed a police officer while demanding to see the police chief, authorities said today. The Toronto Star reported that he was freed early today on $2,000 ( U.S.) bail on charges of drunken driving and hit and run. He also was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. Campbell, 67, was arrested Monday at his home after a collision at a Phoenix intersection in which nobody was hurt.

EMI LEFT OUT IN WARNER'S MUSICAL CHAIRS 25/11/03
UK record and publishing giant EMI seems to have been outbid in its attempt to buy Warner Music from Time Warner. Time Warner has received a higher offer from a consortium lead by Edgar Bronfman (who brought Universal whilst at Seagram) and television mogul Haim Saban which values the Warner music division at US $2.5 billion. Time Warner are no doubt attracted by the higher offer and also the fact that the Bronfman offer would not need to pass the detailed scrutiny of European and US competition regulators who would certainly need to examine any EMI-Warner tie up.

Source: The Independent 22/11/03

CANCELLED OZZY EUROPEAN DATES RESCHEDULED 24/11/03
Ozzy Osbourne , who cancelled his European tour at the last moment last month because of health worries, has announced rescheduled dates beginning in Germany on January 15th and ending in his home town of Birmingham on February 26th. As well as German dates the tour takes in Holland (Rotterdam Ahoy), Denmark (Copenhagen Valby Hallen), Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Austria (Vienna Stadthalle), Croatia, Czech Republic (Prague T-Mobile Arena), Hungary and final dates on February 22 in London (Wembley Arena) and February 24th and 26th at the National Exhibition Centre.

EVANESCENCE CANCEL US DATES 24/11/03
Evanescence has postponed its upcoming U.S. tour dates but the band will resume live performances with three shows in Canada in December Those will be followed by three weeks of dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. U.S. dates may follow in the spring.

JACKSON CHARGED WITH CHILD MOLESTATION, SPECTOR WITH MURDER 24/11/03
Michael Jackson has been arested and charged with multiple counts of child molestation by the Santa Barbara police and has been released on $3 million bail.

Legendary record producer Phil Spector, who had been arrested on the suspicion of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson in February after she was shot dead at his home, has now been charged with her murder. Spector is currently on $1 million bail.

ILMC TAX WORKING PARTY SCORES A HIT (Pt.2) 19/11/03
Back in June of 2003 the ILMC's own Dick Molenaar and Dr Harald Grams celebrated a major 'victory for common sense' after the European Court of Justice delivered it's final verdict in the long-running Arnoud Gerritse case - a vital test case in the battle against inequitable artist tax rates in Germany (and therefore elsewhere in the EU). Now you can read the full story in an article that was originally published by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), Amsterdam in their monthly magazine called European Taxation (October 2003 issue).
"That is a top magazine, that international tax specialists are reading" - Dick Molenaar

Click Here to download the full article in .pdf format (220k).

JACKSON'S NEVERLAND IS SEARCHED 19/11/03
Police officers used a search warrant to enter Michael Jackson's fantasy Neverland ranch in California on the 18th November. The purpose of the raid and the investigation were not made public. Jackson was away from the ranch at the time shooting a promotional video.

EMI PROFITS FALL SHORT 19/11/03
EMI revealed that adjusted pre-tax profits had slipped to £39.4m from £42.2m in the six months to September, compared to the same period last year. Chairman Eric Nicoli pointed out that EMI sales had remained flat at £758.6m but had outperformed the global industry which had declined by more than 10%. EMI continues to talk with TimeWarner about a possible tie up with Warner Music.

SOLID PROFITS FROM CHRYSALIS 18/11/03
Multi media group Chrysalis annonced a strong growth in profits for their year end. The Group more than quadrupled pre-tax profits to £23.9 million (approx E34 million) for the year to 31 August 2003 on tuernover of £246 million (approx E340 million). CEO Richard Huntingford reported that radio advertising revenues were up 17.5% in the first quarter of the new financial year and that the Group's radio station Heart 106.2 had recently become the number one station in London. The Group's recorded music division achieved a 12% growth to £71.4 milion turnover on artists which include Outkast and David Gray.

UK COURT CASE HAS LIVE EVENT INSURANCE RAMIFICATIONS 14/11/03
A seemingly uninteresting case involving a cricket club could have important ramificatons in the live event industry. In a Court of Appeal decision (Bottomley -v- Todmorden Cricket Club) a small cricket club which engaged an independent contractor to put on a pyrotechnics (fireworks) display at the ground owed a duty to ensure that the contractor had adequate public liability insurance. It made no difference that the contractors were paid a fee.

Lord Justice Brookes said there might be many occasions when an occupier could be liable in negligence in respect of activities permitted or encouraged on his land. Here the club allowed a dangerous event to take place on its land with no written safety plan and no insurance and the occupier could not show that they had taken reasonable care to select a competent contractor. They were therefore liable in damages for injuries sustained by the cliamant.

LUMINAR TO SPEND £100k ON CLUB REFITS 14/11/03
Luminar Leisure is to spend £100 million to re-fit some of its unthemed nightclubs and to improve other clubs in an effort to boost business. The Group has seen interim profits drop by 20% and a recent drop in sales of 4%. Luminar's themed bars include Liquid and Chicago Rocks and the Group has pointed out that they wll be well placed to benefit from liquor licensing de-regulation in the UK in 2005.

Source: The Times 13/11/03

RIAA LEGAL ACTIONS TAKE EFFECT 13/11/03
A recent report shows that the threat of legal action against individuals who download copyrighted songs and swap files has led to a reduction in the number of infringements in the USA. The number of households acquiring digital music via p2p file-sharing services declined by 11% from August to September and the total number of music files downloaded decreased 9%. However the report also shows that the public image of record labels has suffered badly.

Source:www.musicdish.com

US MUSIC PUBLISHERS INCREASE REVENUE 13/11/03
US collection society BMI, which represents music publishers and artists such as Britney Spears, Sheryl Crow, Pink and Eminen, has announced increased annual revenues for last year, pre record industry actions. The performing rights organisation distributed royalties of more than $533 million, the largest distribution to BMI's songwriters, composers and music publishers in the company's history.

Royalties increased by $50.6 million or 10.5% from the previous year. Foreign collections also increased. This is particularly interesting in a period of rapid decline in CD sales; the increased distribution can be partially attributed to cost efficiency at BMI; the revenue increases to new forms of broadcast licensing and new income sources such as mobile ringtones.

Source:www.musicdish.com

PUB LANDLORD 1 VAN MORRISON 0 12/11/03
English pub landlord Gary Marlow has been awarded aproximately £40,000 in damages after Van Morrison cancelled a concert at the Crown Hotel public House in 2002.
The singer and his production company Exile claimed that the contract had been breached by Marlow publicly advertising the event but the court thought otherwise.

The damages included the return of a £20,000 deposit. However the damages fell far short of what Mr Marlow had asked for - he claimed the failed concert severely damaged the business of his pub and wanted damages of £400,000 for the long term damages to his business. This was not accepted in the High Court and Mr Marlow faces a substantial legal bill -it is also thought he may have turned down an offer of more than £40,000 from the singer to pursue the claim.

IFPI ANNOUNCE NEW ONLINE LICENSING SCHEME 12/11/03
In a deal negotiated by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, internet service providers will be able to negotiate multi-territory licensing agreements with the music industry rather than face negotiations in each country where they provide webcast music services. The IFPI, which represents more than 1,500 music companies in 76 countries, said the system would modernise licensing arrangements by so-called collecting societies - the national organisations which hold the rights to sound recordings.

Jay Berman , chairman and chief executive of the IFPI, said "This is another milestone in the development of online music services. In the past, setting up webcasting licenses in multiple countries, for example across Europe, has been an arduous and time-consuming task. It was important for our collecting societies to set up a system that would remove these hurdles. It will be much easier for these companies to operate across borders, and we expect to see webcasting gain momentum as a result of this agreement."

Source:www.ifpi.org

AUSTRALIAN MUSIC WEEK 2004 10/11/03
St Kilda is set to become an international music hot spot when Australian Music Week moves to the picturesque Melbourne beachside suburb for five days of forums, industry networking, music and fun.

Australian Music Week 2004 will be hosted at The Esplanade Hotel between February 4 - 8 and will feature forums with Australian and international guest speakers, musician master classes, mentor sessions, networking parties, the AMW Song contest and up to a 100 acts on three performance stages over five days and nights.

"Melbourne to many, is the capital of Australian music," says AMW President, Michael Chugg. "World famous for it's thriving pub and club circuit with hundreds of bands and artists that have gone on to national success and some like Men At Work, The Little River Band and Kylie, who have had huge international success."

The 2004 Australian Music Week will include the largest showcase program in the country. One hundred unsigned acts (including 22 internationals) will showcase their talents to top music industry professionals from Australia and around the world. The winners will be guest performers on the Sunday at The Melbourne International Music & Blues Festival or the AMW Song Contest Awards to be held at The Hard Rock Cafe, Melbourne.

Says Event Director, Colleen Zulian: "This is Australia's major event for people who are serious about music. It gives young aspiring artists and musicians a chance to network with industry peers, make new contacts, hear the experts and have their music heard by the decision makers."

Information:www.australianmusicweek.com.au

SANCTUARY RAISE ADDITIONAL £20 MILLION 10/11/03
Sanctuary , whose interests extend from artists management to music publishing and whose artists include Led Zeppelin, Dolly Parton, Iron Maiden, The Strokes and Alison Moyet, have announced they have raised another £20.5 million in funding to allow for continued expansion and to repay some of the Group's more expensive bank debt. Sanctuary recently acquired MW Entertainment which manages Beyonce and Destiny's Child and is said to be looking at acqusitions in niche areas such as blues and reggae where the company has performed well.

SUEDE CALL IT A DAY 10/11/03
After over ten years of success, Britpop rockers Suede have decided to disband after their current tour. The band, fronted by Brett Anderson, said the split would not affect existing tour commitments. "Suede would like to announce that from next year they will be working on their own individual projects," a statement on their website (www.suede.net) said. "There will not be a new studio album until the band feel that the moment is artistically right to make one."

They had a string of hit singles including 'Metal Mickey', 'Animal Nitrate' and 'Trash'. Albums included their eponymous 1993 debut followed by 'Dog Man Star'. The band recently played five nights at London's ICA venue, to coincide with a greatest hits album. The band's early attempts to conquer the US market were almost defeated by American folk singer Suzanne DeBronkart who had recorded under the name Suede and held the trademark. Eventually, the group changed their name to The London Suede for their transatlantic fans.
Photo: Paula Davage

MTV EUROPEAN MUSIC AWARDS 07/11/03
And the winners from last night are:

• Justin Timberlake (best album, best male),
• Beyonce (best single, best R&B),
• Sean Paul (best newcomer),
• Eminen (best hip hop),
• Punjabi MC (best dance),
• White Stripes (best rock),
• Awards host and lady of the many outfits Christina Aguilera (best female)
• Sigur Ros (best video).

Congratulations to one and all.
Source;www.mtv.co.uk

TKA LAUNCH NEW INTERACTIVE WEBSITE 07/11/03
International booking agency, Ted Kurland Associates have launched a new intercative website which contains features which facilitate the on-line booking as well as dynamic content which will promote and market TKA artists worldwide.

TKA 's Director of Information Systems, Pauletta Ridout said "Each artist profile includes an increased amount of content, additional files of reviews, bios, one sheets and outside links. We also implemented the availability of music clips on the site." The site also includes private management and artist-only views to pass back information in the booking process.

Source;www.tedkurland.com

SONY AND BMG TO MERGE MUSIC DIVISIONS 07/11/03
Sony Music and BMG have today (7 November) said they plan to combine their music divisions in a further move consolidation the music industry as it faces falling online CD sales online file-sharing and fierce competition with other forms of entertainment. The new 50-50 joint venture combines world No 2 company Sony, which includes such artists as Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen, with world no No 5 BMG (part of German media firm Bertelsmann) that is home to Britney Spears and Elvis Presley.

Both labels promise to try to maintain roster strength in light of the merger. No cash is expected to change hands although it is thought that both company's publishing interests and Sony's manufacturing interests will be excluded from the venture. Sony Music's Andy Lack will be chief executive of the venture and BMG's Rolf Schmidt-Holtz will become chairman. Both the Sony-BMG tie up and the proposed EMI-Warners merger will be subject to regulatory approval on both sides of the Atlantic. Sony-BMG would have a 24% market share and EMI-Warners 25%, rivalling Universal. But both European and US competition watchdogs have blocked earlier attempts to merge two of the world's top five music labels and would look carefully to a market reduced to just three major labels.

CLEAR CHANNEL REPORT FLAT RADIO MARKET IN USA 05/11/03
Clear Channel which has over 1,200 radio stations in the USA has reported radio revenues of $964 million (£590 million) for its third quarter showing no real growth in the readio advertising market. Televison and print advertising has been growing in recent months. Clear Channel's outdoor advertising division performed better with a 13% rise in revenues to $540 million in the third quarter.

BRITNEY PULLS OUT OF MTV AWARDS 05/11/03
Britney Spears has pulled out of the European Music Awards on 6th November at Edinburgh's Ocean Terminal Arena after suffering from exhaustion. MTV professed that they would miss Britney but still had a fantastic line-up including The Darkness, The White Stripes, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue, Pink, The Chemical Brothers, The Flaming Lips and Travis.

CLAPTON ANNOUNCES NEW WORLD DATES 04/11/03
Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton has announced six months of touring beginning in Japan. The Japanese dates begin at the Green Arena in Hiroshima on November 15th and run through to the Budokan Hall on December 13th 2003 where Clapton will play eight nights in total.

In April 2004 the European leg of the tour begins with shows in Antwerp (Sportpaleis) and then two nights at the Rotterdam Ahoy. Aiken Promotions have two shows in Dublin and Belfast before 3A Entertainments promote the final UK leg of the tour with shows at the Glasgow SECC, Manchester MEN Arena, Newcastle Telewest Arena, Birmingham NEC and six nights at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2004.

PINK FLOYD MANAGER DIES 31/10/03
The international music industry has been rocked by the news that one of it's leading lights has passed away. Steve O'Rourke, legendary manager of Pink Floyd, died suddenly on Wednesday, October 28th, after suffering a stroke.

Steve 's relationship with the Floyd began in 1968 when he was working for the Bryan Morrison Agency. He also managed the individual careers of David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright. Apart from his accomplishments in the music business, though, Steve was also well-known on the world's motor racing circuits - both as a driver and team owner.

Our thoughts go to Steve's wife and children. To say that he will be deeply missed would be an understatement.

NEW ONLINE KAZAA WINDOW FOR EMERGING AND UNSIGNED BANDS 31/10/03
Emerging and unsigned artists have a new distribution method with Kazaa offering a special channel on their network for new artists. The Kazaa"Emerging Artists Channel" will offer unsigned artists the opportunity to promote their music on the Kazaa network of around 60 million users.

The service will cost musicians and bands a one time set up fee of US$49.95 plus US$9.99 per track to have their songs promoted in two ways; The songs are given preferred placement in Kazaa search results using Altnet's TopSearch service and tracks will feature on the Emerging Artist Channel. Altnet will digitally secure each song to allow artists to control the distribution of their works - as paid downloads, try-before-you-buy or free samples.

Source:www.zdnet.com.au

THE MONEY ROLLS IN FOR MACCA, MADGE AND MICK 31/10/03
Reports out today on the pop music 'rich list' estimated that Sir Paul MacCartney earned £40 million last year, motsly from his 'Back In The World' tour. The Sunday Times list estimates that Mick Jagger made £12 million again mostly from touring.

Estimates also had Madonna earning £15 million and Kylie £5 million. It is estimated Robbie Williams banked £26 million from his new deal with EMI. And yesterday Sir Paul and his wife Heather announced the happy news of birth of their daughter, slightly earlier than planned. Congratulations!

DREAMWORKS TO SELL LABEL TO UNIVERSAL IN $100 MILLION DEAL 31/10/03
DreamWorks SKG , the multimedia group set up by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg founded with great fanfare in 1994 is set to sell its record label to the Universal Music Group for approximately $100 million in another move towards industry consolidation. More job losses and possible roster shrinkage are expected. Dreamworks Records is one of the biggest independent labels and home to Eels, AFI, singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado and music country star Toby Keith.

MASSIVE PIRACY RAID IN ITALY 30/10/03
Police in Naples, Italy, have dismantled a major organised ring involved in the mass duplication of music, movies and software. The raids followed months of investigation, and involved 50 of Italy's Fiscal Police who located and seized six undercover burning laboratories in the suburbs of Naples on October 24.

The raids netted 496 CD and DVD burners, including 200 CD burners found at one location. Over 60,000 burned CDs and DVDs ready for distribution throughout Italy were also found. They included the latest film and music titles, such as Tomb Raider II and In Time: The Best Of R.E.M.. Nine people have been charged with criminal copyright law infringement. Enzo Mazza of FPM (Italian Record Labels Association) said: "This anti-piracy operation represents a very important step in the fight against an illegal trade that in Italy alone generates huge fiscal and cultural damage to the movie, music and software industries, as well as the loss of thousands of jobs and loss of taxes to government. The IFPI, movie and computer software trade associations assisted with the raid."

KYLIE APPOINTED AMBASSADOR FOR THE NSPCC 29/10/03
Kylie Minogue has been appointed Ambassador for the NSPCC (the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the United Kingdom). Kylie, who releases new album, 'Body Language', on November 17 will lend her support to NSPCC led campaigns and act as an advocate for young people as part of her role.

Speaking of her new position, Kylie said: "Cruelty to children is an everyday occurrence, which must be stopped. The work undertaken by the NSPCC is essential and I fully support its mission to end child cruelty". In her role as Ambassador, Kylie will work predominately with the NSPCC's Child Protection Helpline, though her involvement with the Society's work will range from supporting the charities FULL STOP Appeal to providing auction items at major fundraising events. Mary Marsh, Chief Executive NSPCC commented: "We are delighted to name Kylie as our Ambassador for young people. We are honoured that she is lending her support to the Society and our work in protecting children."

AOL have reported that a pair of tickets for Kylie's forthcoming one-off live show at London's Carling Apollo, changed hands for £8,000 after boxing champ Joe Calzaghe became the first person to purchase them.

Source:www.nspcc.org.uk

HISTORIC DUTCH VENUE GETS FACELIFT 29/10/03
The legendary Paard van Troje, the largest live music venue in The Hague, has reopened to the public after a complete refit of the 20-year-old facility. Formerly housing a single auditorium, it now has one 1,100-capacity room and a smaller hall for up to 400 - both equipped with state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems designed by Ampco Flashlight Group. As the building is located in the city centre and surrounded by housing, each room has been built along the lines of recording studios using an acoustically isolating 'box within a box' construction. The main hall also boasts moveable first and second floor balconies, allowing the room to be reconfigured for different formats.

Contact:mikel@gasolinemedia.com

STONE'S CHINESE DATES SCRAPPED AGAIN 29/10/03
The Rolling Stones , whose original Beijing and Shanghai shows in April last were cancelled due to the SARS epidemic (see previous RTCNEWS), have again cancelled planned November shows in China after difficulties in scheduling the shows in mainland China. However the band will play two Hong Kong shows, their first ever in the territory, on November 7th and 9th. Previous Hong Kong shows were also cancelled because of SARS.

In other news, a number of Canadian retailers HMV Canada, Pindoff Record Sales and Sunrise Records are pulling all Stones product (including CDs, DVDs, videotapes and accessories). The retailers say the move is a response to the recent announcement that the veteran rock band's new four-disc DVD boxed set "Four Flicks", will be exclusively available through retailer Best Buy and not available at other stores.

Source:www.billboard.com

KORN AND LIMP BIZKIT JOIN UP FOR XBOX TOUR 29/10/03
Longtime pals Korn and Limp Bizkit have announced 12-city US/Canada tour for November that will see the nu-metal hereoes co-headlining small theater-sized venues. Dubbed the XBOX Live: Back 2 Basics Tour, the jaunt will kick off Nov. 10 in Las Vegas. At each venue a competition winning fans will have the chance to compete against band members on X-box gaming.

Source:www.rollingstone.com

NEW ONLINE MUSIC FILE SERVICE 27/10/03
PlayLouder.com has announced today that it is to launch a new-concept ISP, PlayLouder MSP (Music Service Provider), specifically set-up to capitalise on users who love music and use the internet for music access and access to music files. PlayLouder MSP has deals in place with leading Independent Record Companies to legally share their music files online, making PlayLouder the first ever ISP to legalise digital music trading. Discussions are ongoing with the major labels and technical trials begin 1 November for PlayLouder MSP. Playlouder has been the Glastonbury Festival's website partner and webcaster since 2000 and staged the world's first ever 'virtual festival' with Glastonbury in 2001.

Source:www.playloudermsp.com

POLL SAYS CHEAPER CD PRICES WILL REDUCE ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING 26/10/03
A poll of over 13,000 music users by Billboard magazine has shown that 73% of music lovers beleive that lower CD prices would stop internet piracy. However a hard and sizeable core of 27% beleive that if the same music that's on the CD is available for free, "why pay for it?", and this group is obviously resistant to recent record industry legal moves to curb piracy. Universal Music Group announced in September that it will drop its frontline pricing in the U.S. to $12.98 from $18.98.

Source:www.billboard.com

METALLICA CANCEL SOUTH AMERICAN DATES 26/10/03
Metallica have announced that they are cancelling their South American tour, which was set to begin on October 25th. All the shows in Brazil, Agrentina and ChIle have been cancelled, and no dates have been rescheduled at this time. The band cited physical injury and mental exhaustion as the reason for the cancellations.

In the offical press release Metallica's James Hetfield said "Between reconnecting, recording, and touring St. Anger, we've been going non-stop for the last eighteen months, and, simply put, we are fried... both in body and in mind." In particular, drummer Lars Ulrich, is being treated for a recurring rotator cuff injury, dating back to their 1991-93 Black Album tour, and has been advised to continue to rest his shoulder in order to avoid any further aggravation to the injury. The band's website goes on to say that the band "wanted to make sure that we would 100% be able to keep our commitment to our Japanese friends" The band have six dates in Japan commencing November 6.

Source:www.metallica.com

EMI LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE UK SERVICE WITH WIPPIT 25/10/03
EMI has struck a deal with UK file-sharing network WIPPIT to offer its entire digital music catalogue online. It means customers will be able to inexpensively download thousands of songs by artists such as Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Radiohead and The Rolling Stones. Subscribers to London-based www.Wippit.com pay a flat annual £30.00 fee. For this amount they can potentially legally download about 100,000 songs from EMI's vast back catalogue. The new service will be available from the middle of November. Wippit already offers its 5,000 subscribers 60,000 tracks from 200 independent labels, including Richard Branson's V2, Telstar, Domino and Grand Central.

Source:www.bbc.co.uk/entertainment

SONY JOB LOSSES ADD TO RECORD INDUSTRY GLOOM 23/10/03
Japanese technology and entertainment giant Sony has announced over 20,000 job losses across all of its divisions. The company's music division will loose approximately 10% of its staff, about 1,400 people, adding to the numbers being shed by Universal. The company says it needs to reduce core costs over the next three years in the face of recession and music piracy problems in the music and entertainment industries. The losses are expected to hit the music division in the USA and Europe in particular. Sony have also entered into exploratory talks with BMG about possible joint ventures after German based BMG ended talks with Warner Music after EMI made approaches to the US group.

BRITS BRING BACK BOOZE 23/10/03
The BRITS , the UK's prestigious live and television show promoted by the British Phonographic Industry are planing to bring back alcohol at the 2004 awards show after the 2003 event was branded 'boring'.

The BRITS have had a number of 'interesting' incidents in recent years including Jarvis Cocker famously stage invasion and bum wiggling during Michael Jackson's peformance of his 'Earth Song' and DJ Brandon Block's rambling attack on the 'wrinkly' Rolling Stones. Radio 1 presenter Sara Cox admitted she missed some performances at last years events whilst drinking wine from 'plastic cups' backstage and that the event audience was full of 'suits'. The 2004 event will be held at Earls Court and broadcast on ITV in the UK and in over 40 territories worldwide.

BRITISH COMEDIAN FACES CLAIM AFTER SHOW CANCELLATION 23/10/03
The British comedian Jim Davidson faces a claim of £35,000 after he cancelled a show at Plymouth Pavilions. The comedian backed out of the show after audience members in wheelchairs refused to move from the front row of the theatre before the show began.

The venue refunded 1,700 audience members with the cost of their tickets (£17.50 and £19.50) and the cost of programmes brought. However, Mr Davidson justified his actions because his show involves him 'taking the micky' out of the front row of any show and in the circumstances he did not want to appear to be insulting the front row which was wholly made up of disabled patrons.

Source; The Times 22/10/03

MICROSOFT IN THE DOCK AGAIN 21/10/03
Nearly a year after Microsoft Corp agreed to end its anticompetitive behaviour with the US Government and state justice departments, the Government is raising concerns the world's largest software maker is trying to use its dominant Windows operating system to influence where customers buy their music online.

If the dispute isn't resolved by the end of this week it could become the first test of Microsoft's unique and federal Court approved anti-trust settlement.The Justice Department and 19 state attorneys general have formally complained to a federal judge about a design feature of Windows that compels consumers who buy music online to use only Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and steers them to a web site operated by the company.

NEW EVENT SAFETY BOOK TO BE PUBLISHED 21/10/03
A new health and safety book edited by Professor Chris Kemp and Iain Hill and titled Health and Safety Aspects in the Live Music Industry is being published in November by Entertainment Technology Press in the UK. Chris Kemp was a panellist at ILMC 15.

The book features a number of specialist chapters written by ILMC regulars including safe stage design (Roger Barrett), crowd safety (Mick Upton), audience welfare (Penny Mellor) and the law (Ben Challis). The book also contains a thesis by Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College's prize winning sudent Holly Marshall whose work on anti-social behaviour at rock concerts (and an examination of audience attitude to moshing, crowd dynamics and crowd management) is included as a final chapter.

The ISBN is 1-904031-22-6 and the publisher's website is www.etnow.com

US RECORD INDUSTRY ATTACKS FILE SWAPPING 21/10/03
The Recording Industry of Association of America has sent out a further 204 letters to 'chronic' file swappers in the USA warning them of potential legal action for copyright infringement. This is a further effort by the labels to crack down on piracy and file swapping which they say has devasted CD sales. The RIAA claim that these individuals, like the 261 individuals who were served with lawsuits by the RIAA in September, all had downloaded or transferred substantial numbers of music copyrights.

Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation continue to speak out against the industry's "attack" of its own customers arguing that instead of continuing their litigation, the record labels should give their customers the option to pay a "reasonable fee" to continue file-sharing. The first wave of law suits sparked some strong anti-RIAA press and also a number of complaints from people served who denied any knowledge of file swapping.

WHITE STRIPES AND THE DARKNESS ADDED TO MTV EUROPE AWARDS 20/10/03
The Darkness and The White Stripes are to perform live at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2003 joining Beyonce, Kylie Minogue, Pink, The Chemical Brothers, The Flaming Lips and Travis.

MTV has also announced that Britney Spears, Kelly Osbourne and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) will be joining Laurence Fishburne, Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Justin Timberlake as presenters of the annual awards which will be held at the Ocean Terminal Arena in Leith, Edingburgh on the 6th November 2003. The awards are to be hosted by Christina Aguilera. The MTV Europe Music Awards have a potential global TV reach of one billion viewers.

Source:www.mtv.co.uk

NEW LENNON MUSICAL PLANNED 17/10/03
After the success of Queen's "We Will Rock You", Abba's "Mama Mia" and Madness' "Our House" the latest musical being planned is a play based on the works of John Lennon. Simply called "The Lennon Project" the musical has the support of John's widow, Yoko Ono. As many as 30 of the former Beatle's tracks will be used and negotiations continue with Sony Music who control the composition rights to Lennon's back catalogue. The musical's co-producer Don Scardino said the show was expected to reach Broadway theatres next year and would tour internationally.

CD PRICE WAR EXPECTED FOR UK CHRISTMAS 17/10/03
After Universal slashed CD prices in the US, UK retailer WH Smith has announced that 2003 will be a 'very very competitive christmas' and that CD and DVD prices will be slashed by retailers. Retailers such as Woolworths and Virgin are alreday advertising heavily discounted new albums in time for the Christmas sales window and retalers say that the real winners will be the consumer.

OZZY TOUR CANCELLED 16/10/03
Ozzy Osbourne has cancelled his European tour after undergoing treatment for a nervous tremor. Osbourne had been previously worried that he might have Parkinsons disease but tests ruled this out. reports say that the 56 year old has been prescribed drugs which dry out his mouth preventing him from singing. The tour was due to open in Eire next week.

UNIVERSAL CUTS STAFF NUMBERS 16/10/03
Universal Music is to slash its staff by 800 as the record industry slump lingers on. Universal, the largest of the five majors with a near 25% market share, recently cut the price of CDs and DVDs in the USA to stimulate consumer sales.
Along with the other majors the label is in an ongoing battle against music piracy but the labels themselves are facing increasing pressure and complaints from consumers, commentators and their own artists over their response to the challenge of the internet.

EMI SHARES LEAP AS FORMER EXECUTIVE REVIEWS COMPANY 15/10/03
EMI shares leapt 5.46% today amid reports that its music division's former president and chief executive is considering a takeover for the music group. Jim Fitfield is said to have already approached private equity groups over a possible bid for the Group, according to the Financial Times. EMI SHARES LEAP AS FORMER EXECUTIVE REVIEWS COMPANY 15/10/03
EMI shares leapt 5.46% today amid reports that its music division's former president and chief executive is considering a takeover for the music group. Jim Fitfield is said to have already approached private equity groups over a possible bid for the Group, according to the Financial Times. Fitfield resigned from EMI in 1998 with a alleged £12 million pay-off.

The news comes as EMI continues negotiations with US media group Time Warner over a cash and stock offer for Warner Music in a two-way battle with BMG who were Warner's original suitors - all against a backdrop of regulatory interest in both the US and Europe. EMI shares have risen from just over 100p in may 2003 to 183p today. The Times recently posted a short news item saying that Dutch entrepeneur Jon De Mol had built up a 1.4% stake in EMI. De Mol also has a shareholding in Manchester United.

APPLE EXTENDS iTUNES TO WINDOWS 15/10/03
Apple will extend its online download service into a broader market with a Windows-compatible version of its iTunes Music Store on Thursday (October 16).
However the successful service, which has already achieved 10 million downloads at 99c each, is now facing a growing list of rivals, including Napster, MusicMatch, Rhapsody, and soon also Dell, America Online and Amazon. Apple users can copy, or "burn," single songs onto CDs an unlimited number of times, but not more than 10 times with the same playlist. Customers can transfer purchased songs to up to three computers and by seamless transfer to Apple's iPod portable music player.

REM TO PLAY SECRET LONDON GIG 14/10/03
REM are to play a one off secret concert in London this week to celebrate the release of their upcoming greatest hits LP. The band will play an exclusive set in front of just 250 people at Bush Hall in West London on Thursday, October 16. The afternoon show is invite-only though a number of tickets will be given away on London radio station XFM. The band release their greatest hits LP 'In Time: The Best Of REM 1988 - 2003' on October 27.

Photo: Sean Preston

UK VENUE OWNER RECEIVES SUSPENDED PRISON SENTENCE 14/10/03
The proprietor of an establishment in Guildford, England, breached a court order by failing to pay licence fees to Phonographic Performance Ltd in relation to certain sound recordings played at his establishment. He had also failed to comply with undertakings given to the court on a number of occasions. PPL applied for an order to commit the defendant, Tierney, for contempt of court in respect of his failure to comply with the court order. PPL suceeded in its application. Mr Tierney had been warned of the consequences of further breaches of the court order only six months previously. The court imposed a term of imprisonment of 35 days. In order that the sentence had the effect of ensuring future compliance, the court suspended the sentence for 40 months.

Source: www.simkins.com

DURAN DURAN SELLS OUT IN 4 MINUTES AS THE EIGHTIES COME ALIVE 12/10/03
Duran Duran 's one off concert at London's Forum sold out in four minutes as fans deluged phone lines for the 2,000 capacity venue. It is estimated that over 200,000 customers tried to obtain tickets for the concert. The band won a lifetme achievement award at the 2003 Q Awards and Robbie Williams has invited Duran Duran to tour with him in Australia 2004.

Duran Duran lead a host of 80s bands expected to reap the rewards of a resurgence in their popularity well over a decade later.

• Kevin Rowland has reformed Dexy's Midnight Runners and Chas Cole (CMP) is presenting a 17 date UK and Eire tour starting October 21.
• CMP also have a 30 venue tour with Level 42.
• SJM are presenting a 19 date tour for Electro-pop trio The Human League in the UK in December.
• The Here & Now Tour featuring:
• Paul Young
• ABC
• Five Star
• Kim Wilde
• T'pau
• China Crisis
• Heaven 17
• Howard Jones

runs from December 12th to December 20th with dates at Sheffield Arena, Cardiff Internatonal Arena, Brighton Centre, Newcastle Arena, Manchester MEN, Wembley Arena and Birmingam NEC. The UK tour is preceded by November dates in Australia at Perth Burswood Casino, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, Brisbane Entertainment Centre and Sydney Entertainment Centre.

• 3A Entertainments are promoting Blondie with November dates in the UK.
• Regular have a mostly 'sold out' 28 venue tour with The Proclaimers from October to December.

Source: www.ananova.com

COURTNEY LOVE CHARGED WITH DRUG OFFENCES 12/10/03
Courtney Love faces a misdemeanor charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance after an incident last week outside the L.A. home of her ex-boyfriend, producer and manager Jim Barber. The charge carries a minimum penalty of ninety days imprisonment and a maximum of one year.

Police arrested Love after responding to a burglary call around 2 a.m. It is alleged that Love had broken windows of the house and was standing in the middle of the street when officers arrived. Delivery of Love's new album, 'America's Sweetheart', has been delayed by more than three months and is now expected February 10th 2004.

NEW IFPI INITIATIVES FOR 2003 11/10/03
A delegation from the IFPI met officials and minsters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the importance of implementing strong measures to protect intellectual property rights in the music industry accross the Middle East.

The delegation consisted of representatives from leading international and regional music companies, including Founoon, Rotana and MegaStar. The delegation was led by Trevor Pearcy, Director of Planning and Administration at the IFPI Secretariat headquarters, and Joe Papovich, Senior Vice-President International of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). UAE Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Information officials have said that they are using their copyright laws to penalise violators and have succeeded in bringing down piracy levels considerably over the past few years.

The Middle East is a focus of preventative measures against the illegal copying of music and the region is responding to change. The next IFPI regional meeting in Dubai will cover this topic. Jordan recently amended its copyright laws to cover the digital distribution of music.

The IFPI are also promoting their online pro-music initiative www.pro-music.org and www.pro-musicorg.de launched in May 2003 to promote legitimate online music services and "confront the myths surrounding online music piracy". The website is supported by an international alliance of musicians, performers, artists, major and independent record companies and retailers across the music industry including Warners, EMI, Universal, GERA-Europe (representing entertainment retailers in Europe) GIART (representing music performers in Europe), the International Musicians Union (FIM) and the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF). The site includes the biggest international repository of information on the growing number of legitimate online music. The contact for the pro-music initiative at the IFPI is ILMC regular Fiona Harley.

BIZKIT SUED BY IRATE FANS 10/10/03
Limp Bizkit are being sued by 172 rock fans who attended July's infamous Chicago show, which ended after only 17 minutes when the band were booed off stage. A lawsuit was submitted yesterday to Cook County District Court in Illinois. The band were supporting Metallica on the 'Summer Sanitarium' tour, at Chigaco's Hawthorne Racetrack.

The suit alleges that the plaintiffs were expecting a ninety minute show but the band's front man, Fred Durst, fired-off a tirade against the city and the audience, before challenging the entire crowd to a fight. The breach-of-contract suit has been filed by Michael Young, the lawyer acting on behalf of the 172 aggrieved concertgoers, who are seeking a $25 refund from the July 26 show. opening the doors to some 40,000 re-payment claims.

Source: www.dotmusic.com
Simkins Spacebar: Limp Bizkit & Big Day Out

MICHAELSON WINS CASE AGAINST HOLLY VALANCE 10/10/03
Holly Valance 's ex-manager, sacked by the star when her pop career began to take off, has won his action against the star in an Australian court. The Court held that Vallance had unfairly terminated the contract of Scott Michaelson in January 2002. Lawyers for Valance claimed Michaelson - like Valance, a former 'Neighbours' actor - had been ill-equipped to manage the star's burgeoning music career.

Michaelson is seeking £160,000 in lost income, a 20% cut of sales of Valance's second album and exemplary damages. The Court will now assess damages. Valance first found fame in 'Neighbours'. She released her first album, 'Footprints', in October last year.

EARL'S COURT CELEBRATES RECORD YEAR 10/10/03
London's Earl's Court is celebrating a record number of seated shows for 2003. The venue has presented shows from Coldplay and Paul McCartney and hosted the annual BRIT Awards show. Other 2003 shows before the year end will include Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, Justin Timberlake, Iron Maiden, Metallica and The Stereophonics.

Special Events Manager Charlie Shun commented "I have had a fantasic year here in my first full year at Earls Court - breaking the all time record for show numbers with a great line-up of artists and events - a nice way to celebrate my 30th year in the business".

BLACKBURN MAKES HIS POINT 10/10/03
ILMC stalwart Nick Blackburn, MD of ticketing operator the Way Ahead Group, has hit out at UK ticket agencies charging 25% and more on London West End tickets.
In an article in The Stage Blackburn claims that many ticket agencies are flouting their own rules and charging unjustifiable booking fees and mark ups.

The UK Consumer magazine Which? ran an independent survey into ticket fees and mark ups showing how ticket prices could vary hugely dependant on which agency was usd. Independent agencies have said that they need higher commissions to cover marketing, advertising and call centre costs.

BROADWAY THEATRES HAVE $5 MILLION MAKEOVER 10/10/03
The sixteen Broadway theatres owned by the Shubert Organisation are having $5 million spent improving access and facilities for disabled patrons. Box offices will have user friendly low level intercoms for wheelchair users, flooring will be improved, new handrails and grab bars will be installed along with new signage and ramps. In adittion venue personnel will recive training to assist wheelchair and other disabled customers. Some changes are required because of 1992 US disabilities legislation but the Shubert Organisation is taking a lead in improving facilites.

AOL TO LAUNCH ONLINE RADIO IN 2004 09/10/03
AOL has announced plans to launch over 100 internet radio stations in the UK in mid 2004. The Radio@AOL broadband service will offer wide variety of formats, all of them planned to be advert free listening. The broadband market in the UK is now very competitive and several service providers already such as Freeserve already offer music download facilities to users in partnership with Peter Gabriels OD2 music rights provider which has a catalogue of over 150,000 songs available. AOL are expected to join in with a download service and AOL's obvious source of catalogue is from sister company Warner Music.

PROPOSED NY PHILHARMONIC AND CARNEGIE MERGER OFF 09/10/03
The much lauded move by the New York Philharmonic to the Carnegie Hall was scrapped yesterday (Oct. 7). The US's oldest orchestra and its most fabled concert hall announced they would not merge, four months after the bold idea was first outlined. That means the Philharmonic will remain in its Avery Fisher Hall home at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Both organizations have said that each was better off on its own. "It is clear that each institution has unique, undeniable core values, which could have been compromised," the statement said. Reasons for the proposed move included the superb acoustics at Carnegie Hall. The planned merger left Lincoln Center's programming in chaos. Within three years, the Lincoln would had a 2,738-seat hall to fill so at least one party is happy "We're delighted they're back,"Lincoln Center president Reynold Levy said.

Source: www.billboard.com

AC/DC RELAUNCH REFURBISHED CARLING HAMMERSMITH APOLLO 08/10/03
Aussie rockers AC/DC return to the UK for the relaunch of the Carling Hammersmith Apollo in London on October 21. This will be the band's first UK show since playing Milton Keynes Bowl in 2001, and their first time at the Hammersmith Apollo since 1980. To mark the special event, Carling have capped the ticket price at the 1980 price of £10. The Carling Hammersmith Apollo reopens in October at almost double the capacity. After refurbishment, and with the venue's seats removed, it will move up from a 3,000 capacity venue to holding well over 5,000.

Source: www.nme.com and www.carlinglive.com.

NAPSTER GOES LEGITIMATE 07/10/03
Napster , the first truly global pioneer of free music sharing on the Internet, returns to life this week after being shut down by the US Courts in 2001. This time Napster is a legitimate service hoping to attract paying customers.

Software manufacturer Roxio (Easy CD Creator) paid $5 million to buy the Napster name in bankruptcy court, and an additional $40 million for the struggling Pressplay fee-based music subscription service last year. Pressplay shuts down Tuesday with its estimated 100,000 subscribers along with purchasers of a new Samsung "Napster" MP3 player the first users to test Napster 2.0 when it launches Thursday.

The service will debut with 500,000 songs (in comparison, Apple's iTunes has 200,000) and users will be able to buy songs a la carte, for about $1 per song, or download as much as they want for a monthly fee. There will be additional charge per song of probably about $1 for monthly users if they want to take hard copies of a track. Apple's iTunes has no subscription element and has sold 10 million downloads since launching in April at 99c per track.

Source:www.usatoday.com

DIDO SALES SOAR 06/10/03
Sales of Dido's 'Life for Rent' have topped 250,000 in five days after release on Monday (September 29th) making it the fastest selling album in six years. Weekend sales are expected to push total week one sales to 350,000. The London born singer helped sales on the way by chartering a jet and playing London and New York on the first day of sales.

ROBBIE WINS BEST LIVE ACT 03/10/03
The UK's Robbie Williams whose three sell out Knebworth concerts attracted over 350,000 customers won best live act at the Q Awards last night (2nd October). Other winners included Radiohead (best act in the world), Blur (best album, 'Think Tank'), The Cure (Inspiration Award) and Muse (Innovation award). The Thrills won best new act.

Photo: Sean Preston

THE VAN MORRISON CANCELLED PUB GIG REACHES COURT 03/10/03
The legal case between an English pub landlord and Van Morrison reached the High Court yesterday (2nd October). The landlord, Gary Marlow, is suing Van Morrison and his production company Exile for £400,000. The claim includes £20,000 for the return of an advance allegedly paid.

Van Morrison 's defence is that Mr Marlow breached the terms of a contract clause which prohibited any publicity save local advertising and advertising in the pub itself, the Crown Hotel in Wiltshire. Mr Marlow had previously staged concerts with John Mayall and Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green but says that his business has been suffering since the cancellation in July 2002.

20 HURT IN BIRMINGHAM STAGE COLLAPSE 02/10/03
20 actors and musicians were injurned in Birmingham, England yesterday during a Sound of Music tribute show yesterday. Injuries included head wounds, broken limbs, cuts and shock. The incident happened when members of the audience, dressed as nuns or members of the Von Trapp family , were invited onto the crowded stage, pushing performers forward over onto the covered orchestra pit at the Alexandra Theatre which was unable to take their weight. The incident will be investigated by Health & Safety officials.

SANCTUARY GROUP TAKE ON MWE 02/10/03
The Sanctuary Group, headed by Andy Taylor and Rod McSween and whose diverse activities include management (The Who, Kiss, Iron Maiden), Record Label (Alison Moyet) and music publishing (Trojan) have agreed to buy World Music Entertainment for £6 million (US $10 million) in cash and shares. MWE is owned by Mathew Knowles, father of R'n'B star Beyonce and manages Destiny's Child and members Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland. The move is expected to allow Sanctuary to expand into the fast-growing urban music scene

Source:www.ft.com

RECORD UK DAMAGES FOR SHOW INJURY 02/10/03
A trapeze artist who fell 20 feet from a hot air balloon at the Millennium Dome in London received damages of £510,000 (approx E800,000) from insurers of the performer's employer and the manufacturers of the faulty harness she was wearing.

Acrobat and choreographer Suzy Barton is now crippled, requires constant physiotherapy, has flashbacks and cannot stand for longer than ten minutes. The High Court heard that the harness had not been checked. Employers The Dream Engine admitted liability. Solicitors Douglas Mann, acting for Ms Barton through actors trade association Equity (British Actors Equity Association), negotiated the settlement with three insurers.

Source: The Times

RIAA SETTLE LAWSUITS AGAINST FILE SWAPPERS 01/10/03
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced that it has negotiated out-of-court settlements with 64 individuals accused of file-sharing, three weeks after the trade group revealed that it had filed copyright-infringement lawsuits against 261 users of peer-to-peer networks. The Association has also made over 800 amnesty offers to peer-2-peer file swappers who have agreed to stop illegally copying files over the internet.

Source:Billboard

COLDPLAY PUSH FAIR TRADE CENTRE STAGE 01/10/03
Chris Martin , singer and pianist with Brit rockets Coldplay have re-affirmed their support to Fair Trade. Two years ago, the band was approached by OxFam, the global humanitarian organization, and asked to spread the word about fair-trade practices and worldwide poverty. Having travelled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to witness first hand the negative effects of global-trade policies, Martin has become the poster child for OxFam's Make Trade Fair campaign.

At the Video Music Awards in August, he had the Oxfam web address written on his hand, and during the Glastonbury Festival a special vdieo was shown as part of the BBC television coverage showing Chris and festival organiser Emily Eavis's trip to the Dominican Republic in support of Fair Trade. Coldplay also dropped in on the World Trade Organization meetings in Cancun to present the head of the WTO, Supachai Panitchpakdi, with a petition containing nearly 4 million signatures seeking reform of trade rules, with more than 30,000 of those collected at Coldplay shows.

See:www.maketradefair.com

EMI RAISES E425 MILLION 01/10/03
EMI , currently in consolidation talks with Time Warner, has secured E425m in 10-year bonds, topping the E300m hoped for when EMI announced the plan two weeks ago giving the label increased flexibility in its negotiations with Warner. EMI's shares rose 1.25p to 147.75p.

Source:www.telegraph.co.uk

TIMBERLAKE, WHITE STRIPES AND 50 CENT TOP MTV EUROPE NOMINATIONS 01/10/03
Justin Timberlake , White Stripes and 50 Cent have all been nominated for gongs at the 10th annual MTV Europe Music Awards, which will be presented November 6th in Edinburgh. Timberlake leads the way with the most nominations. He is up for best album ("Justified"), best male, best pop, best new act and best song ("Cry Me A River"). The White Stripes are up for best album ("Elephant"), group, rock and video ("Seven Nation Army"). 50 Cent is nominated in three categories.

NEW LAW PASSED IN FLORIDA TO BLOCK CONCERT SUICIDE 01/10/03
The St. Petersburg city council passed a law on Monday (Sept. 29) designed to scuttle a rock group's plans to feature an onstage suicide. The hard rock band Hell On Earth had said that a suicide by a terminally ill person would take place during a concert Saturday to raise awareness of right-to-die issues. The band created the furor by announcing the suicide would happen Saturday at the Palace Theater in downtown St. Petersburg. But the theater's owner, David Hundley, promptly cancelled the band's show, and another venue also turned away the event.

Source:Billboard

HMV CONTRADICTS THE BPI'S DOOM AND GLOOM 01/10/03
UK, Eire and European retailer HMV has contradicted the record industry's oft repeated fears that internet piracy is destroying CD sales by reporting bouyant album sales. The Group went on to predict a bumper Christmas and stong sales from artists like Dido, Kylie and Robbie Williams.

The BPI had said that record sales slumpted by 7% in the first six months of 2003 but HMV pointed to the UK's Official Charts which showed music sales actually increasing by 4% in the first half of the year. DVDs and games were also expected to be strong performers. Alan Giles, HMV's CEO said that the Group is working with record labels to get the price of singles down as these are what get young people into record shops in the first place.The HMV Group also includes Waterstones.

MEAN FIDDLER POST INTERIM LOSS 30/09/03
The Mean Fiddler Music Group which organises the Leeds and Reading Festivals has reported a pre-tax loss of £3.2 million for the first six months to June 30th, down from £4.1 million for the similar period in 2002. Turnover was up to £14.6 million (from £13.4 million). The results do not include the sell out Reading and Leeds festivals in August which the Group said would contribute significantly. The Group posted a £8.3 million loss for their 2002 year end (see RTC News 05/07/03).

The company, headed by Vince Power, announced that it is continuing to expand into Europe and is looking at a series of summer festivals in Spain, Eire and Germany. The company also plans new live 'Jazz Cafe' venues to be rolled out.

Source: The Guardian 30/09/03

ALLENTOWN USES PROHOBITION-ERA LAW TO RESTRICT NIGHT CLUBS 30/09/03
City officials in Allentown are reverting to a Prohibition-era law to restrict late-night dancing at the city's two dance clubs, which officials say contribute to early morning fights as the City's mayor looks to quieten down clubs after 1.00am by banning dancing.

Allentown dance clubs are allowed to stay open until 5 a.m but under the dance ban, which applies to clubs that don't have liquor licenses, individuals can face $25 fines for dancing after 1 a.m. Police, however, have been instructed to instead close the clubs when they see violations using a 1931 law.

Other US cities are also using legislation to restrict clubs - in Scranton, officials may make zoning changes to restrict dance halls and bring-your-own-bottle clubs. In Cherry Hill, N.J., a Philadelphia suburb, officials used a nuisance law to shut down an under-21 dance club two years ago after responding to brawls and a shooting outside. Drug arrests and an overdose at a rave club in Orange County, Fla., prompted officials to pass an ordinance outlining rules which clubs must follow.

Source:www.pennlive.com

MUSIC PUBLISHER BUY OUT UNDER FIRE 28/09/03
The agreed £40 million management buy out for music publishers Boosey Hawkes led by director John Minch has come under fire from two rival suitors and one, HgCapital, has said that it is formulaing an alternative offer which will be be at a premium to the MBO who have offered 195p per share. Music Sales, which owns nearly 4% of Boosey is also thought to be consdering an offer. Boosey's shares closed up at 210p valuing the Group at £43 million.b

MOBOS END WITH A BACKLASH 26/09/03
The UK's MOBO awards (Music of Black Origin) ended in controversy last night as organisers defended that fact that three winners where white. Justin Timberlake won Best R&B, Christine Aguilera Best Video and Radio 1DJ Tim Westwood Best Radio DJ. The organisers pointed out that all performers including black, asian and white were open to win awards but the music must come from the 'black' genre. The London Evening Standard reported that a number of black websites were openly hostile to the Timberlake award. The ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall last night (September 25th) was held with tight security.

The big winner was 50 Cent (Best Hip Hop, Best Album, Best Single) whilst Soweto Kinch won Best Jazz, Wayne Wonder collected best reggae act and Ibrahim Ferrer Best World Music Act. Big Brovaz collected best newcomers and shared Best UK Act with Punjabi MC. George Benson and Kool and The Gang collected achievement awards.

ROBERT PALMER DIES 26/09/03
British rock singer Robert Palmer has died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 54. Best known for his 1985 hit 'Addicted to Love', Palmer was visiting Paris when he suffered the cardiac arrest. He was to travel on to Switzerland, where he had been residing for the past 16 years..

STEREOPHONICS SACK DRUMMER
25/09/03
The Stereophonics have sacked founder member Stuart Cable over 'committment' issues. The band have been using ex-Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman to cover the band's US dates and he will continue with the band. Cable has been ill recently but has also a number of interests outside of the Stereophonics including his own television show in Wales. A spokesman for V2 Records said that there was 'no concern about the band splitting up' and they would be playing forthcoming European and UK dates.

LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST INDIVIDUAL FILE-SWAPPERS 'UNLIKELY' IN THE UK
25/09/03
Individuals who make copyrighted music available via file-sharing networks such as KaZaA are unlikely to be sued in the UK but the British Phonographic Industry's (BPI) chairman Peter Jamieson said he would not 'rule this out'.

Jamieson , making the keynote address at the 'In the City' conference on 14th September turned the spotlight on internet piracy and the individuals who perpetrate it. In the UK, music sales fell 3% in value last year after a five-year growth run, and the industry attributes blame to the unauthorised peer-to-peer services that make songs available to users as free downloads from other users' computers. The BPI has already brought actions against web sites and FTP servers that host unauthorized music files.

The BPI is concentrating on educating people on the dangers that file-sharing poses to the industry. Jamieson said that if internet piracy continues it 'will kill the music they love.' But he did not rule out litigation against individuals. 'Do we intend to sue?' he asked. 'The answer is hopefully not.'

Source: www.Out-Law.com

REGULATORS START TO LOOK AT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY 25/09/03
The current music merger 'musical chairs' in the music industry continues with The Times reporting that as EMI have now gatecrashed the private talks between Warners and BMG. BMG are now looking to exploratory talks with Sony to discuss the possiblity of a merger. With Vivendi Universal's media assets up for sale this means that all of the five major labels are in one way or another involved in discssions which would lead to consolidation in the music industry. But competition regulators in both the US and Europe will keep a keen eye on the recording and publishing industries and the broadcast industries. BMG were blocked last year in abortive take over talks.

In a seperate matter, Clear Channel's wish to expand its radio interests in the United States were dealt an unexpected but welcome helping hand this week when the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael.K.Powell resigned. Powell had been formulating rules to limit ownership of radio stations and consolidation in the radio industry.

UNIVERSITY PANEL TALKS SHOP 25/09/03
Music industry professionals touched on a wide array of subjects at the 4th annual Music Industry Panel at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College in the UK. Panellists included Sony's Simon Aldridge and David Bloomfield , record producer Steve Levine, Faithless manager Aubrey Nunn, record company executive Richard Chamberlain and (ILMC chief 'grown up') lawyer Richard Taylor. The Panel was chaired by the University's Head of Music Management Department Frazer McKenzie.

Topics covered included the current state of internet piracy, the importance of live music in marketing a band, the 'new deal' between acts like Robbie Williams and record labels and the role of music publishers.

EMI GATECRASHES THE BMG/WARNERS PRIVATE MERGER PARTY 23/09/03
EMI Records has gatecrashed the merger talks between BMG and Warners to propose a cash based deal that would create the world's second largest music group. Whilst BMG (who have a 11.1% market share) and Warners (who have 11.9% market share) are meant to be locked in exclusive talks regarding a potential merger, EMI, who with 12% of the market are the world's third largest player, have offered what is apparently a cash based deal which wll be attractive to Warner parent company (AOL) Time Warner who are trying to reduce a $30 billion debt.

Even when merged, either of BMG/Warners or EMI/|Warners would only have a market share of about 23%, still behind the 25.9% controlled by Vivendi's Universal group although ahead of Sony Music's 14% market share. But even Universal's assets also have a 'for sale' sign up. In all events, a European - US merger or aquisition will still be subject to regulatory approvals and these have proved near fatal to recent market consolidation in the past as the EU Commission and US regulators have feared anti-competitive market changes.

Source: The Times September 20th 2003 & www.musiclawupdates.org.

US DOWNLOAD WRANGLE CONTINUES 19/09/03
The recording industry and internet service providers (ISPs) yesterday gave evidence before the US Senate Commerce Committee chaired by Senator Sam Brownback. ISPs are challenging the constitutionality of the Recording Industry Association of America's supboena process. Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) earlier this week introduced a bill to take away the subpoena power from RIAA.

RIAA president Cary Sherman defended the industry's use of the subpoenas, saying Congress has already carefully crafted a balanced arrangement of rights between content owners and ISPs. ISP Verizon executive VP and general counsel William Barr countered that the subpoenas, which are usually obtained from court clerks, violate due process.

Brownback said he supports "strong protections of intellectual property," and said his bill would restore a balance of rights. Instead of using informational subpoenas to gain the identities of alleged infringers, RIAA would have to file "John Doe" lawsuits and present evidence of infringement to a judge. The RIAA's recent action in launching 261 law suits against individual alleged peer-2-peer file swappers resulted in a 12 year old New York girl paying US$2,000 in damages for illegally downloading material from the internet.

Source: www.billboard.com

CREED LAWSUIT FAILS 19/09/03
A lawsuit brought by four fans who felt cheated by Creed's December 2002 show in Chicago has been dismissed by a District Court in Chicago. The Court had no sympathy with the plaintiffs and dismissed the $2 million dollar lawsuit which alleged that singer Scott Stapp appeared too intoxicated to perform well. Stapp has denied the allegation.

Source: www.billboard.com

THE DARKNESS HIT NEW YORK 19/09/03
UK Rock band The Darkness whose album 'Permission to Land' has topped the UK album charts for three weeks have hit New York City along with Hurricane Isabel. The band fronted, by spandex clad Justin Hawkins, played the Bowery Ballroom yesterday (September 18th). The Darkness have split audiences in the UK - whilst topping the charts, the music press has derided the band and their falsetto voiced frontman who draw heavily on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era and metal glam rock.

GREAT WHITE MEMORIAL 'REMOVED BY PARENT' 18/09/03
A memorial to Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who died in the club fire in Rhode Island in February, has gone missing - with an angry note claiming to be from a victim's parent left in its place. Two dedicated crosses had been at the site of the fire, which has become a memorial to all 100 people who died. But a note found in their place read: "Ty and his band killed my daughter. I'm sorry but Ty doesn't deserve to have a cross here. As many times as something goes up, I will tear it down". Police will investigate.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

SIMON & GARFUNKEL DATES SELL OUT 18/09/03
Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel, who split up acrimoniously in 1970, will embark on their first tour in 20 years next month.
Shows in Michigan, Chicago, Minnesota and San Jose in California have already sold out. Two more dates in California and two in Ohio have sold 90% of tickets, with more dates still to go on sale.
"We just put Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota, on sale, and they both sold out within minutes," said Jerry Mickelson, co-president of Chicago-based promoter Jam Productions. "Tickets just blew out so quickly. Demand is huge," he added.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel went their separate ways after their 1970 album 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', but have performed together occasionally since. Their most recent appearance was at the Grammy Awards in February, where they sang 'The Sound of Silence'. A new greatest hits album with 32 tracks will be released to coincide with the tour.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

NEW SINGAPORE ARTS CENTRE POSTS LOSS 18/09/03
The Esplanade performing arts centre in Singapore, which cost $341m (£213m) to build, has made a $2.3m (£1.4m) loss in its first six months. The complex opened to great fanfare in October, and has hosted 5.7 million visitors. But the country's entertainment industry suffered heavily from the Sars outbreak, with performers like the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow and Israeli folk singer Chava Alberstein cancelling shows.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

NEW ALBUM FOR DESTINY'S CHILD 18/09/03
R&B divas Destiny's Child will begin work on a new album early next year according to band member Beyonce Knowles. It will be the group's first album of new material since Survivor two years ago. Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams and Knowles took a break to pursue solo projects in 2001. Knowles's album, 'Dangerously in Love', topped the UK chart at the same time as her single, 'Crazy in Love', in July.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

MEAN FIDDLER REAP WINDFALLS 17/09/03
The Mean Fiddler Group has reaped windfalls of more than £3 million after the sale of its country music AM radio station, Mean Country, and a settlement with Islington Council in North London for the compulsory purchase of its Complex music venue. The sale of the radio station netted £1.5 million from Sunrise and Islington eventually paid £1.6 million (having originally offered £60,000).

The Group, fronted by Vince Power, pledged to expand its core businesses of interational touring, venues and festival management. Future possibilities include extra tour dates for its artists in Europe, more of its branded music venues and the promotion of additional festivals.

The Group posted a £8.3 million pound loss for 2002 (See RTC News 05/07/03) and less profitable parts of the company, including several non-music bars have also been sold off. Current figures look better after the Group's successful summer festivals at Reading, Leeds and a sell-out UK Justin Timberlake tour. The Group also has European expansion plans and Mean Fiddler has acquired stakes in two high profile live music festivals - Bizarre in Germany and the annual Doctor Music near Barcelona. Shares in Mean Fiddler surged 20pc to 23.75p following the update.

See; The Observer (15/09/03) and www.icliverpool.co.uk

APPLES's iTUNES FACES LEGAL CHALLENGE 15/09/03
Apple 's new and succesful online music store, which recently sold its ten millionth download at 99cents (62pence), faces a legal challenge from Apple, the management company behind the Beatles.

The management company, based in London, have served papers seeking injunctive relief and damages to prevent Apple Computers using the word "Apple" and the Apple Computer's logo in relation to iTunes. It seems that now the Computer company's activities have spread into the 'music' business, Appleng>"Apple" and the Apple Computer's logo in relation to iTunes. It seems that now the Computer company's activities have spread into the 'music' business, Apple management is seeking to protect its own business reputation, goodwill and name.

JOHNNY CASH DIES 12/09/03
Counry & Western star Johnny Cash has died in a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 71 from complications linked to diabetes. A true legend, Cash had worldwide hits with songs including 'Ring Of Fire', 'I Walk The Line' and 'A Boy Named Sue'. Cash recently enjoyed a recent return to critical acclaim with a trilogy of new albums. In the mid nineties Cash reached out to a whole new younger audience after a number of barnstorming live performances including a memorable set at the Glastonbury Festival in 1994 .

Cash won 11 Grammys and numerous Country Music Association awards. Cash was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. He recently missed collecting his 2003 MTV Video Award due to his illness.

BBC Website: full report

AUSTRALIAN TRIO FACE JAIL FOR MUSIC PIRACY 08/09/03
Three Sydney men face jail after pleading guilty last week to copyright infringement laws in what could well be the the world's first criminal prosecution for online music piracy.

Until now legal action against music websites such as Napster have relied on civil law and record industry representatives said the criminal case sent a powerful message that music piracy would face the full force of the law. The three defendants last week pleaded guilty to infringing the copyright of music giants Universal Music, Sony, Warner, BMG, EMI and Festival Mushroom Records.

Police arrested the trio in April after raiding their homes a joint investigation with Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), a record industry-funded watchdog. They face up to five years' jail and $60,500 in fines for illegally distributing up to $60 million worth of music on a website called "MP3 WMA land".

From Australian IT

EMI STALLED IN BID FOR WARNERS BUT VIVENDI UNIVERSAL STARTS TALKS WITH NBC 03/09/03
EMI 's hopes of bidding for Warner Music suffered a setback yesterday when Warner's parent company AOL Time Warner agreed to extend its period of exclusive bid talks for Warners with Bertelsmann, owners of BMG. At ILMC 15 a number of commentators pointed to the consolidation in the music and entertainment industries and it seems more than likely that Warners will merge with or be brought by one of the other five majors provided competition regulators in Europe and the US agree.

In a seperate move, Vivendi Universal entered into exclusive talks with General Electric, owners of the NBC TV network, which would see Vivendi put its entertainment assets into a new media group in return for approximately $4 billion in cash and $1.5 billion in debt reduction and a minority share in the new media group, NBC Universal.

CD SALES SPIRAL DOWNWARDS IN THE US 03/09/03
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced that CD shipments for the first six months of 2003 dropped by 15.8 percent compared with the same period last year. Overall, recorded music sales are down 31 percent since mid-2000, when the Napster online file-sharing phenomenon was in still operational.

The RIAA also say that sales of top 10 selling albums, which generate the bulk of profits for record labels, have dropped from 60 million units in 2000 to 34 million units last year. Since June, the RIAA has been gathering evidence to file civil copyright infringement lawsuits against individuals who use file-sharing programs like Kazaa. The RIAA have so far have issued over 1,000 subpoenas althoug have faced mounting criticism of their actions.

The RIAA are counting on the drop in sales to support their legal actions against software providers, internet service providers, telecommunicaton companies, educational institutions and indivdual peer-to-peer fileswappers. It is estimated that use of file swapping programmes dropped by over 20% after the RIAA began to take copyright infringement action against individuals. The RIAA have said that the "issue is not the decline in CDs; it's the decline in people paying for the music that they acquire. We need to get people back into the habit of paying for music, whether it's from record stores or a legal online service." But the labels face a concerted challenge from internet pressure groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation who launched their Let the Music Play campaign last month in support of on-line file swapping.
For details of the EFF campaign see www.eff.org

BEYONCE, BIG BROVAZ AND TERRI WALKER TOP MOBO NOMINATIONS 02/09/03
Beyonce Knowles , Big Brovaz and Terri Walker top the nomination list for this year's Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) awards, with four nominations each.

Knowles nominations include Best Album, Best Single and Best R&B Act whilst London based Big Brovaz will aim for the Best UK Act, Best Album, Best Video and Best Newcomer crowns. Walker is nominated for Best Album, Best UK Act, and Best R&B Artist as well as Best Newcomer - a category which also includes fellow Mercury nominees Dizzee Rascal and Floetry as well as Big Brovaz. 2002 winners Mis-Teeq are following closely behind with three nominations including UK Act of 2003.

Jay-Z , Eminem, Busta Rhymes and 50 Cent go head to head for Best Hip-Hop.The eighth MOBO Awards will take place at London's Royal Albert Hall on September 25th.

See www.nme.com

EMI LAUNCH BID FOR WARNERS 31/08/03
UK based EMI has launched a bid for Warners in a move which would create the world's biggest music group. EMI's interest come's as a surprise and the group still have to wait and see if a previously agreed period of exclusivity between Warner's owner AOL and German media group Bertelsmann, due to end today, will be extended by the American and German media groups.

AOL and Bertelsmann (BMG) have been discussing a merger of their own record companies for more than three months and an initial exclusivity period in July was extended to the end of August. However, EMI wants to break up this deal and believes its bid to acquire Warner Music would offer the cash-strapped AOL a better deal than the merger proposed by Bertelsmann. EMI is also confident that both US and EC regulatory risks to its offer are minimal particularly as AOL has now sold its music publishing interests.

EMI 's is to offer AOL shareholders cash for control of Warner Music, plus a stake in the enlarged EMI worth between 20-40 per cent of the company. The combined group $1 billion group would bring together artists including EMI's Norah Jones, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Coldplay with Warner's Madonna, REM, Craig David and The Corrs.

See www.telegraph.co.uk

MADONNA'S KISS STEALS MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 31/08/03
Two on stage kisses between Madonna and Britney Spears and Madonna and Christina Aguilera hit the headlines after the 20th Annual MTV VMA Awards after they opened the show with 'Like A Virgin'.

There were no big winners in 2003. Missy Elliott's 'Work It' won two awards, including video of the year, while Justin Timberlake, Coldplay and Beyonce all had three apiece.

The 71-year-old Johnny Cash, nominated seven times for 'Hurt', won once. but couldn't attend the show due to a stomach ailment. Timberlake paid tribute the country star after Cash's haunting 'Hurt' threatened to upstage all the craziness at the Radio City Music Hall extravaganza saying "my grandfather raised me on Johnny Cash," he said, "and I think he deserves this more than any of us in here tonight."

See www.cp.org

INDIE LABELS GO ONLINE 26/08/03
A new service aimed at giving independent music labels online distribution is being launched by San Francisco-based Independent Online Distribution Association. (IODA) which has deals in place to negotiate digital rights on behalf of 50 labels whose music it hopes to place with the growing Net download and subscription services. The service hopes to allow independent labels, some of which have limited staff expertise in digital rights, full internet distribution.

The "Big Five" labels represent about 80 percent of the music sold in the United States but independents typically have small but often dedicated fan bases. Some industry reports show that many indies have actually fared better than larger labels through the economic downturn, with sales growing in 2002 while overall industry revenues fell by close to 11 percent. Apple staffers met with representatives from independent labels in June, and are reportedly creating a program to let the labels link up with the company's iTunes service. IODA and other independent representatives want to give the indie labels more leverage, so they are able to win royalty deals closer to those the major labels get. IODA is launching with about 10,000 songs including ones by relatively well-known bands such as Green Day, Cracker, The Donnas and Del tha Funkee Homosapien.

See www.Cnet.com

AMERICAN IDOL GOES LIVE 26/08/03
American Idol winner Ruben Studdard is to perform two free concerts in his home state of Alabama. The "Believe in Alabama" concerts have been arranged to promote Governor Bob Riley's tax increase referendum. The Republican Governor is one of Studdard's biggest fans. The first concert in the town of Mobile on 2 September saw the capacity of 8,800 tickets sell out in half an hour. In Studdard's hometown of Birmingham, all tickets for the second concert on 5 September were gone in 17 minutes.

From www.bbc.co.uk

MOBILE PHONE RINGTONES SET TO OUTSELL CD SINGLES IN THE UK 13/08/03
Sales of downloadable ringtones for mobile phones look likely to outstrip CD singles in the UK in 2004. The ringtone market, estimated to be worth more than £70 million in the UK, is increasing rapidly. Sale of ringtones in 2002 were £40 million. CD singles are heading the other way with sales currently at about £150 million (2002) but with an estimated 37% drop in 2003 on last year's figures.

August '03 favourites include 'Flying on the Wings Of Love' by XTN and 'Crazy in Love' by Beyonce & Jay-Z.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE TO HOST FREE LONDON CONCERTS 13/08/03
David Gray and Morcheeba have been announced as headliners for the first of a new series of concerts to be held in London's Trafalgar square. The free open air concert for 10,000 guests will take place on August 31st. The Square has been up-graded and pedestrianised on the North side and the concert is part of the London Mayor's Totally London campaign.

USA COPYRIGHT CASES RESULT IN A NEW 'CHART' 11/08/03
As the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) prepares to issue its thousandth subpoena in the United States, www.slyck.com have used the Electronic Freedom Frontier database of the supboenas (at www.eff.org) to create a new chart of tracks and artists which, if downloaded, are most likely to result in a new legal action and the intial subpoena from the RIAA.

In total 223 artists have been named on the subpoenas while a total of 538 song titles are named. In particular, sharing songs by one Canadian artist is more likely to get your name at the end of a RIAA subpoena. Avril Lavigne is named 105 times and her song 'Complicated' is named 53 times.

This is the 'infringers' top twenty artist chart with each artist preceded by the number of times they appear in the subpoenas:

• 105 Avril Lavigne
• 68 Michael Jackson
• 48 Busta Rhymes
• 45 Marvin Gaye
• 43 Ludacris
• 39 U2
• 37 Guns N Roses
• 30 Incubus
• 30 Michelle Branch
• 28 Norah Jones
• 27 Madonna
• 26 Whitney Houston
• 25 Ice Cube
• 25 Usher
• 24 Nas
• 24 Snoop Dogg
• 22 Trick Daddy
• 21 Sade
• 20 Bon Jovi
• 20 Musiq

Other featured artists include No Doubt, Sheryl Crow and Fleetwood Mac.

But the record industry is facing increasing criticism in the United States and elsewhere over its 'heavyhanded' approach to copyright infringements by individuals.

• In the US senators have asked the RIAA to justify its approach.
• US and Australian educational institutions are horrified at beng asked to reveal details of its students using privacy laws to protect identities.
• Internet Service Providers are continuing to fight the record industry over revealing subscriber details.
• Campaign groups like the EFF continue to lobby against the RIAA. The EFF's 'Let The Music Play' campaign calls for new legislation to open up and legalise file sharing whilst allowing 'fair' recompense for artists.

MTV LICENCE TURNED DOWN IN LONDON 04/08/03
Westminster Council who only recently gave up trying to block the Mean Fiddler Group's application for a public entertainment licence for the Astoria have now refused MTV permission to use 1-4 Liecester Square (formally Home nightclub) as a venue for the new MTV show Total Request Live.

The show, already hosted from Time Square in New York, would have atracted A list stars such as Justin Timerlake, Eminem and Britney Spears. MTV were told that local groups opposed the licence and that the show could potentially bring hundreds of fans into Liecester square bringing with them public order issues. MTV are said to be disappointed with the decision but will launch the show from an undisclosed London venue in the near future.

UK CLASSICAL RECORD SALES AT ALL TIME LOW 04/08/03
Sales of classical music CDs and records have slumped to an all time low in the UK and Gramaphone magazine have decided to re-launch there Gramaphone Awards show as a 'Mercury Music prize' style show reflecting the continuing sucess of the Mecury prize in rock music. BPI figures show that only one in twenty CDs now sold features classical music compared to one in ten in 1990.

Between 2001 and 2002 classical sales fell from nearly 16 million units to 13 million units. The new format awards show will have celebrity judges and clear indications of what the most 'prestigious' prizes are.

CHARMENKO MOVES TO TURKEY 02/08/03
Eastern Europe specialists, Charmenko, have relocated from London to the sunnier climes of Istanbul. According to Nick Hobbs, the company is now 'working in co-operation with Pozitif Productions - while remaining separate businesses'. Nick is joined by two full time staff members - Selcuk Somersan and Savas Kilic.

For further information: www.charmenko.net

LEGENDARY PRODUCER SAM PHILLIPS DIES AGED 80 02/08/03
Sam Phillips , the legendary producer and label head who helped introduce Elvis Presley's music to the world, died yesterday at the age of 80. Phillips started his career as a disc jockey and engineer/producer working with artists such as Howlin' Wolf and BB King and in 1952 he set up Sun Records. In 1953 Elvis Presley recorded a session at Phillip's studio (which Phillips missed) but when Presley returned Phillips signed the future king of rock & roll.

In 1955 Phillips sold on Elvis's contract for the then astounding sum of $35,000 and used the money to develop Sun which then had a string of hits with acts such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Already a wealthy man, Phillips invested in the succesful Holiday Inn franchise and in 1969 retired from full time producing and sold the Sun label. Phillips was among the inaugural group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 alongside and exclusive group of only 8 double honours winners which includes Cash and Presley.

Source: www.rollingstone.com

UK's RADIO 1 LISTENERS AT LOWEST LEVEL EVER 01/08/03
Radio 1 , the UK's leading youth station which targets the 15 - 24 year old age group, has seen its listening figures slump to their lowest ever level. The recent RAJAR figures show that the station is losing listeners at an alarming rate with just 9.87 million tuning in each week, down 6.2% from 2002.

In its heyday the station attracted more than 20 million listeners. Radio 1 is hardest hit in London where Capital Radio provides strong competition to the national station. The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, hosted by Sara Cox, had lost over 8% of its audience in the last twelve months. This leaves Radio 2 as the most popular station in the UK, attracting over 13 million listeners a week. Top named stars like Terry Wogan and Johnathan Ross mixed with rock, classic pop and chat have proved a winning formula with an ever inceasing market share (now 16.3%).

RADIOHEAD OBJECT TO USE OF MUSIC IN ADVERT 31/07/03
Radiohead have threatened legal action against the BBC after the broadcaster used the track 'There There' as the soundbed for a campaign to get UK veiwers to pay their television licence fees by direct debit or bank standing orders.

The BBC have now removed the track from the advertisement. Radiohead's management have said that the group do not permit or licence their music for commercial uses. Usually specific consent is asked from both the songwriter (or music publisher) and the artist (and their label) before music is used In any advertisement. The BBC use a number of 'blanket' licences with trade associations and collection societies such as the MCPS, PRS and PPL (representing music publishers and record labels) and has said it felt that it had acted in accordance with record industry rules.

GLASTONBURY TAKES ACTION OVER DOMAIN NAME 31/07/03
The Glastonbury Festival is attempting to settle a domain name dispute after a pro life group, the UK Life League, registered www.glastonburymusicfestivals.co.uk

A Festival spokeman said "we received a complaint from a member of the public who said that a site she had visited thinking its was the festival's official site contained graphic images of aborted foetuses. The site clearly has nothing whatsoever to do with the Festival and we have invoked the Nominet UK domain name Dispute Resolution Service to obtain ownership of the name. We will always protect our name and trade marks from abuse in situations like this". The Festival said that the site in question had now been voluntarily taken down by the UK Life League and that they were hoping for an amicable resolution to the dispute in the near future.

See the Glastonbury website at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

EMI HIT BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC SALES SLIDE & POSSIBLE BMG/WARNERS MERGER 31/07/03
Shares in UK music group EMI Group Plc fell almost six percent on Thursday July 31st after news of a sharp drop in music sales at Franco-American peer Vivendi Universal spread fears over the outlook for the sector. Dealers said news of a 29 percent fall in sales at Vivendi's Universal Music unit in the second quarter sparked fears of a similar steep fall in EMI's sales. EMI is also under pressure following a Financial Times report that BMG, the music arm of German media group Bertelsmann had approached the European Commission to consider the likely reaction of a possible merger with Warner Music of the United States (part of Time Warner AOL). Turmoil within the majors in the record industry continues and Vivendi has already put it's entertainments interests up for sale, including the Universal group of labels.

Source: Reuters

GLASTONBURY 2003: THE SUN SHINES AND THE TV RATINGS RISE 30/07/03
The Glastonbury Festival was watched by a record TV audience this year with viewers peaking on saturday evening at 1.7 million when Radiohead hit the Pyramid stage. BBC2's share of audience was up to 8.9% (from 7.5% in 2002) and BBC3's share of viewers almost doubled at 1.7% of all viewers in multi-channel homes. BBC3's repeat programmes the week after the Festival had four times the audience of 2002.

The Festival's Executive Producer for Television Ben Challis said "Glastonbury now gives artists a comprehensive media platform in the UK with extensive coverage on BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, Radio1, Radio 4 and on the internet with Playlouder.com and Freeserve. The Festival is now very attractive to both domestic and visiting artists as the print, news, broadcast and internet media interest in the Festival provides extensive promotional opportunities in the UK. We are continuing to work with the BBC to provide better and wider coverage."

Festival organisers were delighted with international interest which included broadcasts to 15 million Farsi speakers in Iran and Afghanistan by the BBC World Service, a Ukranian film crew and a visiting Russian delegation. International coverage will include broadcasts in Australia, Canada and Japan.

Contact: press@glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

OSBOURNE TOUR MANAGER DIES 27/07/03
Ozzy Osbourne 's longtime tour manager, Bobby Thomson, 50, who had worked for Osbourne since 1983, died in his sleep on Thursday night (July 23rd) at the Townshend Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan, after an 18-month battle with throat cancer.

Thomson , a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and a resident of Los Angeles, was discovered in his hotel room on Thursday morning. In a statement Thursday, Osbourne said, "We are devastated by the loss of our dear friend Bobby. He has been a part of our family for 23 years and loved very much. He will be greatly missed by all of us. Our sincerest sympathies go out to the Thomson family."

This story from Anti Music News

SARS OUTBREAK A BIG BLOW TO ASIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY 27/07/03
The consensus among regional label executives in South East Asia is that SARS simply added one more layer of problems to an industry still reeling from the 1997 economic crisis and the region's ongoing piracy problem. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) data shows that in the three major markets of Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, first-quarter sales were down 2%, 11% and 28% respectively, compared with the first three months of 2002. This is compunded by the fact that the SARS crisis did not start until April.

But labels accept that SARS had both negative and positive effects on the region's music business - especially in the first phase of the crisis. When fear of infection kept people away from such public places as CD stores, music sales undoubtedly suffered. But as time went on, it became increasingly common for one member of the household to go out and buy several CDs and DVDs to keep everyone entertained until the outbreak had run its course.

"More leisure time has been spent indoors, which has meant greater time spent on computers and the Internet," says Norman Cheng, chairman/CEO of EMI Recorded Music Southeast Asia. "Therefore, new media in all its many forms and formats was being used more than ever."

But as such major territories as Hong Kong and Taiwan imposed quarantines for visitors from other SARS affected areas, labels drastically cut back promo tours within the region by local artists. Faced with that situation, Universal Music Southeast Asia held a region-wide video conference to announce its re-signing of top Asian star Jackie Chan, instead of taking him on the road to such key markets as Taiwan. The epidemic affected international acts' visibility in the region as well.

"We cancelled all promo trips by international artists in April and May," says Lachie Rutherford, president of Warner Music Asia. Live music undoubtedly suffered as tours and concerts were cancelled. But the crisis did not faze British female vocalist Sarah Brightman. "For us, one of the most moving moments during the very height of the SARS outbreak was when Sarah Brightman braved the crisis to make a special promotional visit to Taiwan." Chan says.

From the Gulf Daily News 27 July 2003

CONSUMERS AND PROTEST GROUPS TARGET RECORD INDUSTRY 22/07/03
Consumer groups and internet users are launching a protest against the record industry in the USA and its trade association, the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA has recently secured an important court decision allowing its members to obtain details of cable and internet subscribers to pursuse them for infringing copyrights. In a second decision the RIAA brought lawsuits against four students who were running there own peer-2-peer file swapping services.

Websites detailing the music of RIAA members have been put on the internet to aid boycotts, while street protests have been planned in a number of US states, including Texas, New Mexico and Georgia. In California, protests have been planned for various venues as anti-RIAA momentum grows. "They are picking on the kids, hoping their parents will go crazy and scream at their children for doing something the RIAA says is illegal," claimed Wayne Rosso, president at P2P network Grokster. "But the parents are going to ask: 'Why are you suing me because my kid downloaded a couple of files? You must be out of your mind' ."
Rosso described the RIAA's actions as "insane" and predicted that the organisation could find its mission to sue individuals blowing up in its face. He pointed out that the growing backlash in the US could prove more damaging to the industry than the cost of illegal downloads, and said the only result of legal action would be to turn more than a quarter of Americans into instant "felons".

For more details on this story see www.pcw.co.uk

UK COURT EXTENDS VENUE LIABILITY FOR DOORSTAFF'S ACTIONS 16/07/03
The Court of Appeal in the UK has held that a club doorman who stabbed a person in the vicinity of the club in revenge for an earlier violent attack on him in the club was acting in the course of his employment and so the club owner was vicariously liable for the doorman's actions.

The doorman was involved in a fight inside the club. The knifing happened after the doorman had gone home to get a knife and then attacked the victim some 100 metres away from the club. The victim was seriously injured. The doorman was convicted in a criminal court for grevious bodily harm (GBH) and sentenced to 8 years in prison. This civil action found that the club owner was liable for the actions of the doorman and so the victim could claim damages against the club.

The doorman was not registered and was expected to maintain order and discipline and was expected to perform his duties in an aggressive and intimidating manner. This meant that the doorman was violent both on the premises and off them and that the stabbing was directly linked to earlier activities inside the club when the doorman was on duty. Even though the doorman's actions were motivated by revenge the club owner's were liable in law for his actions.

This case follows on from a recent case where the police were held liable for an off-duty policeman who had borrowed a police van to move his girlfriend's house when the policeman assualted a third party and earlier cases such as Daniels -v- Whetstone Entertainments when liability for door staff's actions were clearly established whilst they were in the course of their employment.

Mattis -v- Pollock (t/a) Flamingos NightclubThe Times Law Report 16 July 2003

ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES THREATEN US VISITS 08/07/03
The Travel Industry Association of America has warned that new security measures intended to prevent terrorists from entering the United States would also quite likely deter visits by foreigners. The rules, to go into effect in coming months, require interviews of nearly all tourists who seek visas, as well as computer-readable passports from Europeans and others who do not need visas to travel to the United States.

By January, the government plans to put into effect a rigorous tracking system for foreign visitors, which will include fingerprints and photographs. Officials say the changes are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks. But executives at the travel association, which represents the largest airlines, hotels, cruise lines and car rental companies, said the measures could further weaken an industry that has been reeling since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The representatives of the association are calling on the government to delay the regulations, which they say will cause unnecessary delays and confusion for foreign travelers.

See: New York Times

ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES THREATEN US VISITS 08/07/03
The Travel Industry Association of America has warned that new security measures intended to prevent terrorists from entering the United States would also quite likely deter visits by foreigners. The rules, to go into effect in coming months, require interviews of nearly all tourists who seek visas, as well as computer-readable passports from Europeans and others who do not need visas to travel to the United States.

By January, the government plans to put into effect a rigorous tracking system for foreign visitors, which will include fingerprints and photographs. Officials say the changes are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks. But executives at the travel association, which represents the largest airlines, hotels, cruise lines and car rental companies, said the measures could further weaken an industry that has been reeling since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The representatives of the association are calling on the government to delay the regulations, which they say will cause unnecessary delays and confusion for foreign travelers.

See: New York Times

SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL 16 AT MOSCOW'S KRYLYA FESTIVAL 07/07/03
Sixteen people died and many more were injured when two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside of the popular Krylya festival in Moscow. More than 40,000 young people were inside the Tushino Airfield venue on Saturday 5th June when the first explosion was self detonated by a young woman, thought to be a Chechen separatist. The first explosion was at 14.39 local time just as Russian band Crematorium took to the stage. A second explosion also went off about ten minutes later followed by a third which is thought to have been the first bomber's undetonted explosives. The BBC reported that the second blast caused most deaths and fans were being directed to the gate where the second suicide bomber was waiting before the blast went off.

The authorities decided to continue with the festival to maintain order and prevent a panic. Ambulances arrived to take away the dead and the injured whilst the police evacuated the crown with a fleet of 200 buses. Many fans within the Festival were totally unaware of the blasts and were still enjoying music performances a couple of hours later whilst anxious relatives waited outside of the airfield. Mobile telephone calls were blocked to and from the Festival.

See: BBC News

SOUL LEGEND BARRY WHITE DIES AT 58 06/07/03
Soul singer Barry White has died at the age of 58 after kidney failure. The baritone has been in hospital since September last year and as well as treatment for kidney problems he also suffered a stroke.

White 's music career began as bass siger for The Upfronts before his 1973 disco classic 'Love's Theme' with the Love Unlimited Orchestra propelled him to world fame. His other hits include 'You're the First, The Last, My Everything', 'Never Never Gonna Give You Up' and 'Sho' You Right'. White's popularity was enduring and in 2000 he won two Grammys and acheived a iconinic status. But health problems dogged White in later life and his 1999 Tour had to be cut short due to ill health. Father of nine children (the last born just a few weeks ago) Barry White leaves a partner, Catherine Denton.

ROUGH RIDE FOR TOP UK PROMOTERS 05/07/03
One of the UK's leading concert promoters, Triple A, have announced that, due to financial difficulties brought about by monies of over £5 million owed to them, they have been forced to put the company into administration.
However, the three founding directors, Dennis Arnold, Pete Wilson and Martyn Stanger say that they have successfully secured substantial long-term investment enabling them to set up a new venture, 3A , which will allow them to continue with all shows planned or on sale for 2003 - except for July's 'Route of Kings' concerts in London's Hyde Park, which have been cancelled.

In a press statement, Dennis Arnold commented: 'We are obviously extremely disappointed that we have had to put Triple A into administration, particularly as we have enjoyed some great successes and have worked with a fantastic range of artists, agents, managers, venues and suppliers. We very much hope to continue working with them as part of our new venture and are extremely thankful to have received so much support from clients and suppliers across the industry'.

Since its foundation in 1998, Triple A was responsible for a turnover in excess of £35 million a year. The company presented over 1,000 arena shows around the UK for more than 70 artists, and were one of the country's few remaining independent promoters.

MEAN FIDDLER GROUP POST £8.3 MILLION LOSS FOR 2002 05/07/03
The Mean Fiddler Group have posted a pre-tax loss of of £8.3 million (approx Euro 11.60 million) for 2002. The Group blames losses on poor trade in their bars and clubs as well as at the Group's radio station and are taking action to sell off non performing assets - the radio station (Mean Country) has already been sold.

The Group's core activity, which includes touring artists like Justin Timberlake and the Leeds and Reading Festivals, are still money spinners. The Group has also had a highly successful role at the Glastonbury Festival in 2003. The Mean Fiddler Group, set up by Vince Power in 1982, will now focus on three main areas; festivals, venues and live touring.

see: BBC Website

POPKOMM LOOMS 04/07/03
Popkomm , the premiere trade market for independent labels and music publishers will take place in Cologne between August 14th and 16th. The long established German fair which attracts a global attendance will again feature showcases with 16 clubs lined up to host events. performers include Mogwai, The Gathering, Fehlfarben and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Source: Music Week 5th July 2003

MCKENZIE GROUP BUY LONDON'S MARQUEE VENUE 04/07/03
The McKenzie Group have purchased the London Marquee venue from administrators after negotiations with BDO Stoy Hayward. The club has been on the market after Dave Stewart's Artist Line went into administration at the beginning of 2003. But the name and brand 'The Marquee' remains with the administrators and the McKenzie Group will rebrand the North London venue under the 'Academy' banner along with its existing venues in Brixton and Glasgow.

UK LICENSING BILL TO BECOME LAW 04/07/03
The UK's unpopular Licensing Bill took another step towards becoming law after it passed through the upper house in the UK's parliament. Critics of the Bill, including the Musicians Union, had fought to exempt small clubs and venues from new 'draconian' and bureaucratic licence procedures which require all venues to have an entertainment licence. But the Government pushed ahead with the Bill although minister Lord McIntosh has promised a review of the law in twelve months if the Bill has an 'unintended, disproportionate, negative effect on the provision of live music'. The Government felt that the interests of health and safety were more important than the possible disincentive for small venues to put on live events argoung that there had been 1500 fires in pubs in England and Wales in 2001.

BLUE NAME BATTLE ENDS 04/07/03
Boy band BLUE have reached an out of court settlement with Scottish rock band BLUE after two days of a High Court hearing in London. The result, which can best be described as a 'mexican standoff' means that both bands will continue to use the samename.

• Boy band Blue and their label EMI/Virgin were awarded costs (thought to exceed £100,000) but have agreed not to apply for these provided that the 'old' Blue did not try to formalise ownership of the name in the future.
• The Scottish rockers, formed in 1973 have had only one top twenty hit (in 1977) but have had a succesful recording career, still selling albums by mail order and the internet.

The 'New' Blue formed in 2000 have had seven top ten hits and three UK number ones. Both bands had worked with Sir Elton John who had been expected to give evidence in the case. The judge in the case, Mr Justice Laddie, had expressed surprise at one point over whether fans of each group would really confuse the two 'Blues' saying to old Blue's counsel 'there is somewhat a difference in appearance. One is aged like you and me .. the other is a boy band'

BRAGG LAUNCHES 'ROADIES UNION' AT GLASTONBURY 01/07/03
Folk singer Billy Bragg has launched a a new union for road crew in the live concert industry supported by a number of other artists including Coldplay. The Roadcrew Provident Syndicate will be a branch of the GMB, one of the UK's biggest trade unions. It will offer help and advice on pensions, savings, pay and working conditions. The GMB will also work to improve terms and conditions in the industry which has traditionally offered roadies little in the way of job security, standard conditions of working, financial advice and pensions.

The launch was much talked about backstage at the Glastonbury 2003 Festival which is being hailed as one of the 'best ever'. The Festival saw 112,500 music fans enjoying performances from Moby, REM and Radiohead. The Festival seems to have dealt with the problems it has faced in the past with 'fence jumpers' and crime waves. The new 'super fence' has held for two years now and this year's measures to reduce crime both on and off-site were said to be 'very successful' by a Festival spokesperson.

See news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3024880.stm and www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk for further details.

UK'S NEW LICENSING BILL REJECTED BY UPPER HOUSE 21/06/03
The United Kingdom's new Licensing Bill has been rejected by the House of Lords after its members narrowly voted to amend the act to exempt small venues from the 'draconian' new laws.

The Musicians Union has been lobbying hard for the exemption and had delivered a 110,000 signature petition to the Government. But the Government spokesman in the House of Lords, Lord McIntosh, has said that the Government will fight to maintain the bill as it is as the new powers are needed to protect the safety of the public and young children and that they will give local residents a voice to protest against nuisance and will give the police new powers to fight crime and disorder in venues. But opposition groups in the Lords feel that the bill if passed will stifle live music and close small venues when they are faced with increased charges and new beauraucracy.

SO SOLID MEMBER JAILED FOR GUN OFFENCES 21/06/03
So Solid 's Jason Joab Phillips, better known to fans as G-Man, was jailed for 4 years yesterday on firearm offences. The rapper was stopped by police on suspicion of drug offences and ran away when police tried to search him. He threw a loaded handgun into a pile of rubbish and this was later retrieved by police.

DNA on the gun matched samples from Phillips. The offence which took place in November 2002 began when police became suspicious of Phillips and a friend when watching them on CCTV whilst they were standing outside of the Hippodrome nightclub. Sentencing Phillips the judge accepted that the rapper probably had no intention to use the weapon but that Phillips was fully aware of the dangers of possessing a loaded weapon.

MAVERICKS TOP PRS CHART FOR 4TH CONSECTIVE YEAR 21/06/03
The Maverick 's 'Dance The Night Away' was the most performed song in UK venues in 2002 followed by 'Hey Baby' and 'Livin La Vida Loca'. Kylie topped the chart for most played song in dance clubs with 'Can't Get You Outa My Head' followed by 'Murder on the Dancefloor' and and Liberty X's 'Just a Little'.

COPYRIGHT TRIBUNAL DATES SET FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC RATE 21/06/03
The Association of British Concert Promoters (ABCP) will have the chance to argue their case against the Performing Rights Society (PRS) at the Copyright Tribunal in October 2003.

ABCP have objected to PRS plans to raise the tariff to 7.3% of Box Office, nearly double the current tariff. The proposed increase would take place by way of yearly increments until 2007.

ILMC TAX WORKING PARTY SCORES A HIT 15/06/03

The ILMC's own Dick Molenaar and Dr Harald Grams are celebrating a major 'victory for common sense' after the European Court of Justice delivered it's final verdict in the long-running Arnoud Gerritse case - a vital test case in the battle against inequitable artist tax rates in Germany (and therefore elsewhere in the EU).

On June 12, the court ruled that:

1. foreign artists must have the right to deduct expenses prior to a performance
2. when profitable, foreign artists must have the right to be taxed at the normal, progressive tax rates
3. the free taxable amount is not applicable to foreigners

Dick Molenaar commented: 'In total, this is a very positive result. Item 1 is very important, item 2 is interesting for tax refunds, item 3 is negative but just a side issue. After this decision all EU countries need to change their artist tax legislation and adjust to European standards. England and the Netherlands are examples how to improve the artist tax rules'.

Further information will be posted when we receive it, meanwhile our congratulations - and thanks - go to Dick and Harald for their continued hard work.

50 CENT TOPS BILLBOARD R&B/HIPHOP NOMINATIONS 07/06/03
50 Cent tops the 2003 Billboard R&B/HipHop nominations with 10 nominations to his credit followed closely by Nelly and R Kelly with 8 and 7 nominations respectively.

The final awards will be announced on August 8 at the Jackie Gleason Theatre in Miami, Florida. 50 Cent is up against his mentor and label head Eminem in five categories, including top R&B/hip-hop album, top R&B/hip-hop artist, top R&B/hip-hop artist-male, top R&B/hip-hop albums artist, and top rap albums.

Other artists nominated include Musiq, Dru Hill, Missy 'Misdemeanour' Elliott and Ashanti.

More Info: Yahoo! Launch

MANSON BANNED FROM NEW YORK OZZFEST 07/06/03
Marilyn Manson who recently topped the US charts with his album 'The Golden Age of Grotesque' has been banned from playing the New York leg of the upcoming Ozzfest after officials at the Six Flags theme park venue deemed him inappropriate and used contract provisions with Ozzfest promoter Clear Channel to reject Manson from the line-up.

Billboard magazine also reports that Manson is facing similar problems with a headlining show scheduled to take place in Milan this weekend. Italian officials have expressed concern that the shock-rocker's Grotesque Burlesque show could be inappropriate for children. An earlier show in nearby Monza was recently moved for the same reason. With the exeption of the Six Flags show in Darien Lakes (NY), Manson will tour with the Ozzfest from June 28 in San Antonio to August 28 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

More Info: www.dotmusic.com.com

LONDON FLEADH AXED 02/06/03
The London Fleadh which usually takes place in June each year has been axed after promoters Mean Fiddler decided to give the event a year off. Journalist Burhan Wazir, writing in the UK's Observer newspaper, blamed the event's demise on a lack of headine contemporary Irish rock acts saying that on the international stage only U2 receive world acclaim and that Ireland's only other big name group at the moment is Westlife.

Niall Stokes , founder of Dublin's Hot Press magazine is quoted saying 'Christy Moore, The Chieftans and The Dubliners are still the biggest acts in Irish folk music. Most of them would have been seen at the Fleadh along the way. Unfortunately they are not being replaced by a younger generation fast enough ... there are only so many times you can ask Van Morrison to headline'.

UK'S NEW LICENSING LAWS CONTINUE TO HORRIFY 02/06/03
The UK's new licensing laws which will scrap current licensing practice at all live music venues and will bring even small pubs under local authority control are now threatening other areas of the entertainment industry. It now appears that traditional seaside entertainment stalls and in particular the famous 'Punch and Judy' booths will need public entertainment licences. The shows which usually involve one puppeteer in a tiny tent and about twenty children sitting out in front of the tent in the open on or close to the beach will now have to pay between £100.00 to £500.00 (E150-E750) for a licence and an additional £150.00 inspection fee. In a separate matter the new laws will also be used to curtail the public sale of home made ciders and wines by restricting the producers from attending more than a set limit of public events.

The Musicians Union in the UK has been actively campaigning against the new licensing legislation pointing out the the added beauracracy, red tape and additoinal fees will push many smaller venues and public houses away from promoting live music.

AUSTRALIAN VENUE OWNERS PUSH FOR NEW SOUNDPROOFING LAWS 29/05/03
The live music industry in Melbourne is pushing for a change in the law to put the obligation on builders and owners of new apartments built near live music venues to soundproof new buildings against the existing levels of noise. Venue owners say that as house and apartment prices in the inner city have soared, home owners' expectations have changed. The new, more affluent residents don't want to be kept awake at night by guitars and drums and their complaints about noise to local authorities and liquor-licensing bodies are increasingly being taken seriously.

In a recent case the Rainbow Hotel spent $30,000 on noise-reduction measures after one resident complained to Yarra Council. The council referred the matter to the Liquor Licensing Commission, which fined the Rainbow $1,000 four times for breaching noise restrictions. The resident had brought the apartment two years ago as a shell in a converted warehouse next to the venue which had previously been zoned as light industrial. The venue had been operating for a number of years prior to the neighbouring warehouse's change of use.

Venue owners are now lobbying for a change in the law to incorporate "first occupancies" - that is, if the pub or club was there first, the new resident should have to soundproof their own premises (or pay for the venue to do so), rather than venues having to cater for people who move in then complain.

This Report: www.theage.com.au

UK HYPNOTISTS FACE BLANKET LIVE BAN 28/05/03
British Actors Equity Association (Equity), the trade union which represents artists and performers, had brought an emergency motion to its annual conference after insurers announced that they were no longer able to secure public liability cover for hypnotists. As all performers using hypnotism must have public liability insurance in the United Kingdom when applying for a licence from the relevant local authority the current situation inevitably means that no licences can be granted and performances will be halted.

This Report: The Stage 22 May 2003

LEEDS FESTIVAL GRANTED LICENCE 28/05/03
The Carling Weekend Leeds Festival was successful in its applications for a public entertainment licence at both Temple Newsam and Bramham Park even after strong objections from local residents at the Festival's 2002 site, Temple Newsam. Last year's the Mean Fiddler Organisation's Festival ended in riots and arson and local residents had described the Festival's history as '4 years of hell'. But MFO's the Melvin Benn has decided to go ahead with the Bramham Park site after the local authority recognised the cultural and economic benefits the Festival brought to the local area.

The MFO's sister Festival the Carling Weekend Reading is likely to suffer transport chaos after the UK's national rail authority anounced it was it was closing the London-Reading train line over the August bank holiday weekend when the Festival is held, a decision decribed by lobby group Transport 2000 as 'the worst piece of rail maintainance work of the year'.

This Report: www.nme.com

MOJO'S BEN GIEZENAAR MOVES ON 27/05/03
After 25 years 'at the sharp end' of one of Europe's leading promoting companies, Ben Giezenaar has announced his departure from Clear Channel's Mojo Concerts. In a message circulated to his many contacts and friends throughout the industry, he commented, 'I felt it was about time to make a change and see what more life has to offer'.

The ILMC team wishes him every success for the future. Ben has been one of the real gentlemen in our business and we'll all miss having him around.

IVOR NOVELLO WINNERS ANNOUNCED 24/05/03
Coldplay topped the awards at The Ivors, the UK's top songwriting gong, for their album 'A Rush Of Blood To the Head'. David Gray took the Ivor for the best song musically and lyrically ('The Other Side') and The Streets (aka Mike Skinner) for best contemporary song ('Weak Become Heroes').

International awards went to Avril Lavigne (international hit of the year for 'Complicated') and special awards went to U2 (best song collection) and Brian Wilson (special international award). UB40 picked up an Ivor for international achievement and Bryan Ferry was honoured for his outstanding contribution to British music. Former Beach Boy, Brian Wilson was given a standing ovation as he received his award for his outstanding achievements in particular the band's classic 1966 album 'Pet Sounds'.

This Report: www.guardian.co.uk/arts

UK COURT DECISION BRINGS COMFORT FOR MERCHANDISERS 23/05/03
The Court of Appeal in London has overturned a decision in the High Court which had effectively allowed a street trader to sell Arsenal Football Club merchandise because he had made it clear that the merchandise was 'unofficial'. The same decision had been reached in Scotland in a separate case. But the Court of Appeal ageed with the Eurpopean Court of Justice that the purpose of a trade mark was to protect the registered owner agsinst a third party who use the mark on identical goods and therefor an unauthorised trader could be prevented from selling branded goods, in this case 'Arsenal' scarfs and other items. The case will provide some relief to merchandisers in the entertainments industry who faced the problem of having no effective protection in law against traders selling unofficial merchandise as long as those traders made it clear that their t-shirts, posters, etc were 'unofficial'.

'21st CENTURY' DOORS CAN USE NAME 18/05/03
John Densmore 's bid to keep his former Doors bandmates off the road this year has suffered a setback after a US judge denied the drummer's request for a temporary restraining order (injunction) that would have kept Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger from using the group's name on their tour.

The judge held that Manzarek and Krieger can still use the new band name the Doors 21st Century to promote the group.Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon agreed with Manzarek and Krieger's attorney that forcing the group to adopt a different name could damage the existing concerts and that the "21st Century" tag was sufficient to differentiate the group from the original Doors. The judge also noted that the public is well aware of original singer Jim Morrison's death, so fans won't think Morrison will be at the shows. He is replaced by Ian Astbury (The Cult). However Densmore's other actions against Manzarek and Krieger for breach of contract and revenue share continue.

In a separate action Police drummer Stewart Copeland who took Densmore's role in the Doors 21st Century has filed a $1 million suit against Manzarek and Krieger, after they dropped him from the band earlier this year following an injury he suffered last fall. Morrison's parents and in-laws are also suing Manzarek and Krieger, claiming copyright infringement.

From Yahoo Launch!

BMG DOMINATE ALBUM SALES BUT PIRACY TAKES ITS TOLL 18/05/03
BMG dominate the first quarter UK album sales with four of the top ten slots with Justin Timberlake (1), Avril Lavigne (3), Christine Aguilera (5) and Pink (7).

BMG 's market share increasd by 5% this quarter to 12%. EMI make the next best showing with Coldplay and Norah Jones in the top ten. But data published by the British Phonographic Industry shows that by the end of 2003 the number of copies of CDs pirated (through file downloads and re-writable CDs) will exceed the number of CDs legitimately sold. The BPI estimate that 211m will be sold and 216m copies made illegally.

The Times 17 May 2003

HENDRIX BASSIST DIES 13/05/03
Noel Redding , the bass player of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience, has been found dead at his home in Southern Ireland. He was 57. Although most famous for his time with Hendrix, Noel also fronted his own bands, Fat Mattress and the Noel Redding Band. In recent years he made frequent appearances at his local pub - accompanied by other notables from the rock world. To quote a message posted on one fan site: "His contributions to the Jimi Hendrix Experience shall never be forgotten."

CLUBBERS RUN RISK OF LONG TERM HEARING DAMAGE 11/05/03
The UK's charity for the deaf, RNID, has published a report suggesting that clubbers and rock fans risk early deafness by listening to loud music and dangerously high volumes. The Report says that teenagers are often exposd to volumes more damaging than working with a pneumatic drill.

The RNID wants young people to practice 'safe hearing' by wearing earplugs are live events and nightclubs where loud music is played and taking breaks away from the dance floor. The report highlighted that three quarters of teenagers have hearing problems after going to clubs and venues and that reports of tinnitus have risen threefold in the last twenty years.

The report highlights a 10 year Norwegian study which monitored hearing loss among 18 year olds. Over this time, the hearing loss among the study group increased from 15% to 35%, and this increase was linked to an increase in exposure to leisure related noise. After a public information campaign, the rate of hearing loss dropped back to 15% within 7 years.

Detailed report: www.studentbmj.com/back_issues/0999/news/315.html

ALL CHANGE AT VIP BOOKING 08/05/03
VIP Booking A/S - the Danish operation behind ticket vendors, TicMachine, and industry Internet resource, VIP-Booking.com, has been bought by TDC Innovation. Ronni Didriksen, the operation's founder and, until 1st May, owner of 60 percent of the company has, at the same time, bought the VIP-Booking.com activities from the company.

In a statement issued today, the reason for the split was given as 'the wish to be able to focus on and develop both business areas further'. It adds that 'co-operation agreements have been entered into which will strengthen both companies'.

UKRAINE STILL TOPS WORLD'S PIRACY LEAGUE 06/05/03
The US (on 2nd May) issued its annual list of countries with the worst record of protecting copyright material and other intellectual property, again identifying Ukraine as the worst culprit. The US Trade Representative's Office said $75 million in US sanctions on Ukraine would remain in effect because of that country's failure to adopt and enforce adequate protections against the illegal copying of optical media products such as music CDs, movie DVDs and computer software.

Story: www.itweb.co.za

VAN MORRISON FACES ACTION FROM ENGLISH PUBLIC HOUSE AFTER CANCELLED CONCERT 06/05/03
The landlord of a rural inn who staged rock concerts in his beer garden to boost profits and aid charities claimed he had been ruined after the singer Van Morrison pulled out. Landlord Gary Marlow spent two years trying to persuade the Belfast-born superstar to swap his more usual venues such as London and Munich for the backyard of the Crown Pub in Everleigh, Wiltshire.

The High Court in London was told Van Morrison abruptly pulled out of the concert scheduled for last August after complaining publicity surrounding it had breached his contract with Mr Marlow. Mr Marlow is claiming damages of £ 300,000 from Van Morrison and production company Exile.

The 1,600 capacity venue had previously hosted concerts including a show by Peter Green, the former guitarist with Fleetwood Mac. The claimant has increased his claim from £ 20,000 to £ 300,000 as he claims that Van Morrison's refusal to honour his contract had destroyed the reputation of the venue. The defended hearing continues.

Full story: news.independent.co.uk

JUDGE THROWS OUT CLAIM FOR DAMAGE TO HEARING FROM LOUD MUSIC 01/05/03
In an important case deciding legal liability for promoters and venue owners Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Schoenfeld decided that 'If you don't like loud music, don't go to rock concerts' and that nobody was forced to attend rock concerts.

56 year old US lawyer Jeffrey Powell had claimed that John Fogerty's music damaged his hearing in a $5 million lawsuit when he saw the former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman in concert six years ago. In the eight-page decision released yesterday, the judge referred to Powell as an "eggshell ear" - and threw out the claim. "That 'loud music' can cause hearing impairment is 'perfectly obvious' and 'commonly appreciated,'"Schoenfeld said.

Judge Schodenfeld added that Powell admitted he suffered ringing in his ears years ago after attending rock concerts but went to see Fogerty anyway with three pals.

See: www.nydailynews.com

APPLE LAUNCH MUSIC DOWNLOAD SERVICE 30/04/03
In one of the first major moves to make legitimate music downloads available to fans worldwide, Apple have just announced an on-line service that will give its customers the chance to download music for 99 cents (62p) per song, without subscription fees. The "iTunes Music Store" will offer some 200,000 songs from major companies including BMG, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal and Warner, as an alternative to free music-swapping services and services run by the record labels. For now the service is only available in the US and for Mac users, though the company plans a Windows version by the end of the year.

RAVE ACT RAILROADED THROUGH CONGRESS 26/04/03
Last week the highly controversial RAVE Act was passed through the US Congress, when Senator Joe Biden tied it into the totally unrelated Child Abduction Prevention Act, which allowed it to become law without any hearing, debate or voting.

The consequences for the live music industry and nightclubbing are huge, because 'crack house laws' can now be applied to any concert, club or music festival. In it's frighteningly draconian legislation, it now means that if just one person is caught smoking a joint at a public gathering, concert or club, then the promoter / organiser or property owner can be held accountable, and jailed for up to twenty years.

The Drug Policy Alliance warned that "Property owners can be punished for any drug offences that their customers commit - even if they work hard to prevent such offences."

Further Information: www.drugpolicy.org
This Report: Roger C

EMI LAUNCH SINGLES IN CYBERSPACE 26/04/03
EMI is the first of the majors to announce that it will release almost all of its new singles on the internet. Users wll be able to download singles first on the net in return for a download payment of £1 sterling ($1.6 approx, E1.3 approx).

Sales of CD singles fell in the UK by 16% in 2002. As well as singles EMI will make almost 150,000 archive tracks available. Again these can be brought online by payment of a monthly fee and copied onto a CD by the user. The compilers of national charts are now investigating including details of downloads of singles when compiling top 100 charts.

EUROPEAN COURT DECIDES THAT SOLOISTS CAN PROVIDE VAT FREE SERVICES IN GERMANY 26/04/03
The European Court of Justice held in an appeal that the meaning of 'cultural bodies' in the context of the supply of cultural services in the concert industry could extend to individual performers who would not need to charge VAT for their services. This case arose out of an appeal from the Federal Court of Justice in Germany (Bundesgerichtshof) by Mattias Hoffman against a criminal conviction for failing to account for VAT in respect of soloists engaged by him for a concert tour. The Court held that commercial nature of the activities did not preclude the services and their providers from being exempt from VAT in Germany.

Reference: Criminal proceedings against Hoffman ECJ Case C-144/00

IVOR NOVELLO NOMINEES ANNOUNCED 24/04/03
The Ivor Novello awards nominees have been announced. The most sought after prizes in songwriting (and second only in the gong league to an 'Arthur') are awarded at the annual Ivor Novello Awards ceremony on the 22nd May 2003 in London.

This year's nominees for song of the year include Oasis, Blur, Aqualung and David Gray. Ms Dynamite ("It Takes More") and The Streets ("Weak Become Heroes") head the favourites for best contemporary song. Kylie is nominated twice in the most performed work category for "Love at First Sight" and "In Your Eyes". Avril Lavigne is favourite to pick up the best international song award.

The first Ivors Live concert due to take place at the Royal Albert Hall on the 23rd May was cancelled in March over fears that the war with Iraq would still be ongoing but is scheduled to follow the 2004 awards ceremony.

BEACH ROCK TAKES 'A SABBATICAL' 16/04/03
Organisers of one of Belgium's leading out-door events, The Beach Rock Festival, have announced that the 2003 edition will now not take place. In a statement circulated today, Marc Klein and Arno Mangelschots commented:
"Firstly, we could not realize a program that we felt was strong enough to engage ourselves in what has become one of the biggest summer events in Belgium. Rather than having a year with a program that is not up to our standards, we have decided to have a sabbatical year. Secondly, last year we were forced to move to another site away from our beach. We feel we can use this year off to optimalize the use of the site and to rethink some aspects of our festival".

CLEAR CHANNEL REACTS TO PAYOLA ACCUSATIONS 15/04/03
Clear Channel has responded to accusations of 'payola' pay for play in the United States by announcing a decision to cut ties with all independent promoters. Clear Channel, which owns more than 1,200 radio stations in the US, stated that it had 'zero tolerance for pay for play but want to avoid even the sugegstion that such a practice takes place within our company'.

For further details and background on Clear Channel see the Times April 12 2003
www.timesonline.co.uk/business

APPLE COMPUTER EVALUATES UNIVERSAL 14/04/03
Vivendi , who put up the 'for sale' sign over Universal Music Group some time ago, are in talks with Apple Computer. Vivendi are looking to raise between $6 and $7 billion from the sale. The Vivendi-Universal marriage has looked more and more exposed recently as as the French utilitiy company's media and entertainment empire unravels.

Three of the remaining 'big five' major record labels remain part of multimedia groups. BMG is owned by Germany's Bertlesmann, Sony is ultimately owned in Japan and AOL Time Warner has its ownership in the USA). The remaining major, the UK's EMI, remains as the only 'pure' music group.

ASTORIA FIGHTS FOR LICENCE 09/04/03
The London Evening Standard has reported that the Astoria in Charing Cross Road faces a fight for its public entertainment licence after Westminster Council renewed efforts to remove the venue's licence. The venue has had a number of high profile problems and in the eight months between September 2001 and May 2002 the emergency services were called to the venue 152 times. In October 2001 there was a double shooting linked to rap band So Solid Crew at the Astoria.

The Council initially refused the venue's licence but the Astoria's owners, the Mean Fiddler Group Plc, successfully appealed the decision in the Magistrate's Court. Westminster Council have now lodged an appeal against the Magistrate's decision asking the superior court to uphold the original decision to refuse the licence.

GLASTONBURY TACKLES INTERNET TICKET TOUTS 03/04/03
Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis says he intends to tackle ticket touts who are using internet auction sites to sell tickets at inflated prices.
All 112,000 tickets sold out in less than 24 hours yesterday (April 1st). Eavis said: "We're getting on to Ebay who apparently can stop the sale of the tickets that are being offered at these extortionate prices. We do have a system of actually preventing those tickets being sold at those prices".
In 2002 it took ten weeks for the Festival to sell out.

See www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

GLASTONBURY SELLS OUT IN 24 HOURS 02/04/03
The Glastonbury Festival sold all 110,000 tickets available to the public within 24 hours of going on sale on April 1st. The festival, which had only announced a handful of headliners including REM and Radiohead, was only awarded its Public Entertainment Licence in February after a lengthy appeal.

MOBY CATCHES A COLD 01/04/03
Moby is the latest artist to cancel dates in Asia as a new form of influenza spreads. Thailand, China, Singapore all now have reported cases of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the worst affected territory, Hong Kong, now has suffered more than 20 deaths and is beginning a quarantine programme in schools and hospitals.

Moby joins a growing list of artists who have cancelled shows including Carlos Santana who cancelled his Hong Kong show and the Rolling Stones who cancelled two shows in China - today in Shanghai (April 1st) and in Beijing on April 4th.

SPRINSTEEN'S MANCHESTER LICENCE REFUSED 01/04/03
A Manchester concert featuring Bruce Springsteen has been cancelled after more than 50,000 tickets were sold. The concert was was due to take place at Old Trafford cricket ground at the end of May but the Local Authority has refused the licence application for the show after problems with previous concerts at the ground - home of Lancashire County Cricket Club. Promoters of the show have got three weeks to appeal against the decision or face refunding disappointed fans.

Leaders of Trafford Borough Council's Licensing Committee said that nearby residents had complained about noise and crowd problems during previous shows particulaly last year's concerts by Manchester favourites Oasis. The previous problems were compounded by the fact that the scheduled dat three weeks to appeal against the decision or face refunding disappointed fans.

Leaders of Trafford Borough Council's Licensing Committee said that nearby residents had complained about noise and crowd problems during previous shows particulaly last year's concerts by Manchester favourites Oasis. The previous problems were compounded by the fact that the scheduled date was scheduled for 29 May, a day after the UEFA Champions League final at Manchester United's nearby Old Trafford ground.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2897075.stm

UK BARS PAYS PRICE FOR CUSTOMER'S 'MOVING TO THE BEAT' 30/03/03
Undercover licensing officers for Westminster Council in London have investigated and now succesfully prosecuted Pathfinder Pubs, owner of the Pitcher & Piano chain of bars, for allowing customers to dance at bars which did not hold a public entertainment licence. The bars argued that customers were simply 'moving rhythmically' to the music. However, Horseferry Road Magistrates Court fined the chain £ 5,000 and required the chain to apply for two public entertainment licences.These will cost the chain £ 7,000 and the two bars in the local authority's jurisdiction will need £ 70,000 of works between them to qualify for the licences.

The issue of the increasing remit of legislation and the 'bureaucratization' of the live music industry has been a constant thread for a number of years at the ILMC and was again debated at ILMC 15. Whilst the London story might raise a wry grin, the importance of health and safety can only be reinforced by looking at the recent tragedies in Rhode Island and Chicago in the United States of America.

MAJOR RECORD LABELS REVEAL FINANCIAL HEADACHES 27/03/03
Two of the world's five major labels, BMG and Vivendi Universal, have announced financial shake-ups. german based Bertlesmann, parent comany of BMG, has announced that its is writing off more than two thirds of the £1.5 billion (E2.5 billion) purchase price paid for the Zomba record label in 2002.

Vivendi Universal , who recently purchased a controlling stake in French telecomms company Cegetel has announced at £2.4 billion (E3.5 billion) refinancing to ease the company's liquidity. The shape of the company in the future is not clear as it tries of offload various film, studio, television and telecomms assets.

www.timesonline.co.uk

GLOBAL CLAMPDOWN ON MUSIC PIRACY 26/03/03
The PRS / MCPS Alliance have announced a number of global successes in combating the sale of illegal music product.

• In ITALY collection society SIAE joined with the police in a series of high profile raids across the country targeting 454 premises and resulting in charges brought against 137 people with 78,000 CDs, 5,000 DVDs and 6,000 VHS cassettes confiscated along with 17 sets of mastering equipment.
• In RUSSIA a number of government agencies have joined forces with the trade mark protection agency and various intellectual property organisations to tackle counterfeiters. Russia has one of Europe's highest piracy levels with well over half of all music product sold being illegal copies.
• In THAILAND the British Government has formally asked the Thai Government to clampdown on illegal copies of music product flooding onto the world market. Thailand is the third largest exporter of illegal music product after China and Taiwan.
• In The UNITED KINGDOM two recent Crown Court cases saw heavy sentences handed down to music and computer software pirates: Yogesh Raizada was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and a confiscation order totalling £160,000 for eleven counts under the Trade Marks Act and two under the Video Recordings Act.
  In a separate case David Stanley was sentenced to 4 years and 5 months after a series of raids on computer fairs resulted in the seizure of illegal music product and computer software. Two co-defendants each received community penalties totalling 200 hours each.

MERCHANDISER SUES BRITNEY 24/03/03
SKETCHERS USA , Inc has announced that the Company has filed a lawsuit against singer Britney Spears and her companies, Britney Brands Inc. and Britney Touring Inc. for fraud and breach of contract.

The suit, which was filed in the Federal court in Los Angeles, also includes allegations of unjust enrichment and negligent misrepresentation, and seeks rescission of all agreements between Sketchers and Ms. Spears, return of all advances paid, costs, and compensatory and punitive damages in excess of ten million dollars. Sketchers signed an exclusive three year worldwide licensing deal with Britney for a line of Britney branded roller skates known as Britney 4 Wheelers and accompanying apparel and accessories.

The suit alleges that the singer breached her obligations to Sketchers under a merchandise license agreement by unreasonably delaying and failing to approve manufacturers, product designs and product advertising for Britney 4 Wheelers roller skates and apparel.

MARK KNOPFLER INJURED IN MOTORBIKE ACCIDENT 20/03/03
The Dire Straits front man was badly injured in a bike crash in London on the 18th March breaking six ribs and his collar bone whilst travelling to rehearsals for his European Tour. Knopfler was released from hospital the same day but has aleady cancelled his appearance at the all star Teenage Cancer Trust concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on the 2nd of April. Knopfler is due to begin a 45 date European Tour on April 23rd with the first date in Lisbon.

EMI "A LIKELY TARGET FOR MANAGEMENT BUYOUT" 18/03/03
The UK press have suggested that EMI, the UK music group, is being targeted by private equity groups after a dramatic slump in its share price during the past three months. EMI, whose artists include The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones and Robbie Williams, has seen its shares, already at a low, slump by 40% since December 2002 valuing the group at just £730 million, a fraction of its stockmarket value in the dotcom boom.

The Observer newspaper speculated that a buyout could be led by Alain Levy, the much respected head of EMI's recorded music division and that there would be no role for chairman Eric Nicoli. The press also speculated over the EMI's very successful music publishing arm, headed by Marty Bandier. There appear to be two possibilities: one involves selling the music publishing to clear EMI's debt; the other is to retain the business in order to demerge it at a later date.
See www.media.guardian.co.uk

MARCEL AVRAM WINS COURT BATTLE FOR CANCELLED MICHAEL JACKSON SHOWS 18/03/03
Michael Jackson has been ordered to pay over £3 million to Marcel Avram in compensation after a Californian court said he was responsible for the cancellation of two millennium eve concerts which left the German promoter with massive costs. The two shows in Australia and Hawaii were both scheduled for New Years Eve. Jackson's team is now said to be considering whether or not to appeal the jury's verdict.
See www.dotmusic.com

EAVIS STAGES ALL STAR ANTI WAR CONCERT IN LONDON 13/03/03
Emily Eavis , co-organiser of the Glastonbury Festival, is promoting ONE BIG NO at Shepherds Bush Empire in London on Saturday 15th March. The Concert will feature Faithless, Paul Weller, Garbage, Ms Dynamite and members of Travis and Coldplay. Put together under the broad Stop The WAR Coalition supports the campaign against imediate direct military intervention in Iraq by the US and UK. The concert will also support CND.

WELLER PARTS COMPANY WITH LABEL 13/03/03
Paul Weller has announced that he has parted company with Independiente Records after a partnership that has lasted for some ten years. Weller is reported as commenting: "so I am free (but not cheap) once again! Anyhow Andy McDonald the big chief there is a good fella and I wish him well. In the meantime we are in discussion with various other labels". Weller has just returned from touring in the the USA, and headline spots at several major UK events are about to be announced for this summer.

ILMC 15 ARTHUR AWARD WINNERS 10/03/03
The International Live Music Conference is proud to announce the following Arthur Award winners, that were presented at last weekend's ILMC 15, which took place at the Royal Garden Hotel in London.

• PROMOTERS' PROMOTER: Juri Makarov ( Makarov Muusik, Estonia)
• MOST STROKEABLE MANAGER: Terry Blamey (Kylie Minogue)
• 2ND LEAST OFFENSIVE AGENT: Steve Strange (Helter Skelter)
• FIRST VENUE TO COME INTO YOUR HEAD: SECC, Glasgow, Scotland.
• PLUMBER OF THE YEAR (PRODUCTION): Henry McGroggan (HCM)
• MOST PROFESSIONAL INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL: Martin Goebbels (Robertson Taylor Insurance Brokers, UK)
• MOST USER-FRIENDLY ARTIST: Kylie Minogue
• LIGGERS' FAVOURITE FESTIVAL: Paleo (Switzerland)
• ILMC 'BOTTLE' AWARD: Michael Gudinski (Frontier Touring, Australia)
• 'STREET POSTER': Quart Festival, Norway

UK LIVE ATTENDANCE ROCKETS 09/03/03
Research by the National Arenas Association reveals an impressive increase in the number of events taking place in 2002 with record audiences drawn to live events.
The 16 member association, which represents almost all of the major areas in the United Kingdom, announced a 41% in increase in event performances (to 1,189) with music events accounting for 641 of these (up 35%), family events totalling 538 (up 49%) and 10 dance events (up 25%).

Total attendance was up an amazing 45% to 7,054,010 paying customers. Teen performances accounted for the largest proportion of the music audience with Triple A Entertainment dominating the market with tours by Westlife (43 dates), Blue (29 dates) and Kylie (25 dates).
The average ticket price increased slightly to £ 20.30 although average music event prices dipped slightly. To contact the NAA or to order a copy of the report (£ 75.00 for ILMC delages) email Eileen Naughton
Website: www.ilmc.com/naa

DEF JAM FACE ACTION OVER SHOOTING 07/03/03
Def Jam , owned by Vivendi Universal, face a legal action over the death of Jerry Bonds who was shot dead at a Def Jam party in October 2002. Bond's mother is bringing the action against the label and against the Conga Room is Los Angeles where the party was held.

The lawsuit alleges that as organisers of the 'listening' party, which featured Def Jam music, the label should have known that serious criminal behaviour would occur and the label and venue should have taken action to avoid this. Def Jam have denied any responsibility.

COULD IT HAPPEN TO YOU? 07/03/03
The ILMC Safety Focus Group would like to extend its sympathy to the relatives and friends of all those who were killed or injured in the disaster at West Warwick, Rhode Island, last week.

Without wishing to comment on the circumstances of this tragedy, the group believes that it's appropriate for all promoters, venue owners and bands to review evacuation and fire procedures at their events. By following some simple guidelines the group strongly believes that accidents can be prevented and lives can be saved.

A full and detailed version of these guidelines has been posted on www.ilmc.com/ilmc15/sfg.html

GRAND JURY BEGINS ITS INVESTIGATION INTO RHODE ISLAND TRAGEDY 03/03/03
The Grand Jury began its investigation on February 26th behind closed doors at a National Guard training center in East Greenwich. The Grand Jury will decide whether anyone should be held responsible for the fire and the deaths of 97 peple in West Warwick. Most of the first Grand Jury session was devoted to preliminary talks between prosecutors and lawyers for the rock band Great White whose guitarist Ty Longley died in the blaze.

The investigation will centre on the causes of the fire and responsibility for the tragedy. This will probably include details of Great White's pyrotechnic display, the layout and construction of the nightclub, security, stewarding and safety precautions. There is also the specific issue of the use of inflammable soundproofing materials at the venue and there is a dispute over whether Great White had permission to use pyrotechnics. The band has said it received approval to use special effects, but the two brothers who own the club have denied they gave permission. Club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, along with band members, could be indicted on state charges as involuntary manslaughter or second-degree murder.

It appears that the brothers who own the club were about to sell the business and the Derderians were scheduled to begin transferring the liquor license the day after the disaster .

DOORS DRUMMER TAKES ACTION AGAINST NEW 'DOORS' 28/02/03
A reunion concert featuring two original members of the Doors has prompted a law suit from original drummer John Densmore in the Los Angeles Superior Court for breach of contract and unfair competition. Original keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger have teamed up with vocalist Ian Astbury (formerly of The Cult) and Stuart Copeland, drummer with The Police, to play a concert in Los Angeles.

Densmore claims that the band's name is owned as a partnership by the three living members and the late Jim Morrison's wife, Pamela Courson and that each partner has a right of veto over use of the name. He claims that the 'new' Doors are misusing the band's name and logo and will confuse the general public. Recent cases in the UK involving the use of original band names have included arguments over the ownership of Sweet and Bucks Fizz.

Further Details: www.news24.com/News24/Backpage

UK MUSICIANS' UNION SPEARHEADS CHALLENGE TO PROPOSED LICENSING LEGISLATION 28/02/03
Organisers of live music in small venues, currently exempt from needing a Public Entertainment Licence (PEL) and 'pub' venues where two or less performers are featured (known as the 'two in a bar' rule) are becoming increasingly alarmed at the hidden costs and bureaucracy emerging from the UK Government's proposed Licensing Bill. Audience magazine noted that 'far from deregulation or a boost to the industry, the legislation is likely to devastate the sector of live music where many aspiring performers take their first steps and others enjoy a modest living' (www.audience.com.

The initial plan of scrapping PELs and including a entertainment licence free with a venue's liquor licence initially seemed positive - not now, as both the live music industry and the licensed pub trade are becoming increasingly concerned. The plan to move liquor licensing from Magistrates Courts to local authorities is now opposed by the licensed trade and the live music industry is also alarmed that the new levels of local authority bureaucracy and increased costs will spell the end of small pub and club venues.

US DOUBLE TRAGEDY RE-FOCUSES LIVE INDUSTRY ATTENTION ON EVENT SAFETY 24/02/03
Following on from the death of 21 clubbers in Chicago on the 17th February, America was reeling after the deaths of at least 95 people in Rhode Island when the band Great White's pyrotechnic display set fire to the venue where they were playing.

The 17th February tragedy was caused by security staff letting off pepper spray in a nightclub to break up a fight; this caused members of the audience to panic and try to escape only to find that exits were locked. The Rhode Island tragedy was described by state Governor Don Carceieri as 'a real disaster. The building went up so fast no one had a chance'. It was estimated that over 300 people were inside the one story wooden building. 187 people were taken to hospital and over 30 remain critical. The low ceiling 'Station' club had no water sprinkler system as it was too small to require one by law. It also had no pyrotechnics licence although the band claim that they had checked in advance with the venue and permission for their display was given. In the earlier Chicago disaster, local fire chiefs pointed out that part of the club was supposedly closed to the public as it had previously failed fire safety checks.

Reports say that that after the pyrotechnics ignited the roof of the venue soundproofing material also ignited and the fire spread in seconds. Govenor Carceieri added 'if you weren't out of that building in 30 seconds you didn't have a prayer'.

GLASTONBURY GRANTED LICENCE AT SECOND ATTEMPT 19/02/03
The Glastonbury Festival's second application for a Public Entertainment LIcence for the 2003 Festival was finally successful after a marathon seven hour hearing by Mendip District Council. The original application which was supported by the Council's own licensing officers and the statutory consultees was turned down on a 5-4 vote because of a number of objections from local residents. In 2002 the Festival erected a 'superfence' which was hugely successful but which meant that a number of ticketless youths who could not get into the Festival went on a crime spree in local villages causing concern to local residents.

Festival Organiser Michael Eavis and Mean Fiddler Group's Melvin Benn presented new plans to curb problems in the local vicinity with co-operation from the police and a number of local residents attended the second meeting and voiced their support for the Festival.

For full details see www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk