Music Week articles from August 2006

Music Week archives from August 2006

EMI puts merger on hold.
August 5, 2006... Plan for tie-up with Warner shelved by Ben Cardew EMI is putting a brave face on the decision to temporarily shelve its Warner bid, despite fears that holding off any liaison attempt could prove harmful for the entire music industry....

Blogging the way to the Mercury.
August 5, 2006... Two of this year's Nationwide Mercury Prize nominees are providing Music Week with exclusive weekly blogs which will follow the bands up to the awards event on September 5. Beginning this week, Polydor-signed Guillemots, whose acclaimed...

IN BRIEF: Ruling to have `no impact' on auction.
August 5, 2006... Bertelsmann is adamant that the recent EU Court of First Instance ruling against Sony BMG "has no impact" on the German media group's auction of BMG Music Publishing. The spokesman would not confirm which companies remain in the second round of...

IN BRIEF: Universal Music Group's total revenues.
August 5, 2006... Sales of digital tracks, by artists including Rihanna and Nelly Furtado, now account for more than 10% of Universal Music Group's total revenues and in the first half of this year generated e222m (#151m), according to results issued last...

IN BRIEF: Sales at Woolworths.
August 5, 2006... Sales at Woolworths have fallen by more than 7% in the first half of the year, as the trading environment remains challenging. The company revealed in a trading statement that like-for-like sales fell 7.7% for the 25 weeks to July 22 and total...

IN BRIEF: New Deal For Musicians relaunch.
August 5, 2006... The Government's New Deal For Musicians is relaunching today (Monday) with the existing regional support system replaced by a single Music Industry Provider (Mip) for each of England, Scotland and Wales. Private sector education firm Armstrong...

IN BRIEF: Second quarter profits at Amazon.
August 5, 2006... Second quarter profits at Amazon have fallen by 58%, raising fears that the company's recent programme of investment in new technology could harm future profitability. The company posted a net income of $22m (#11.9m) for the period, compared to...

IN BRIEF: Sony first quarter results.
August 5, 2006... Sony Corp's first quarter results reveal that the combined Sony BMG group saw its losses grow to $81m (#43m) from $18m (#9.6m) in the same period last year. The company cites a decline in the worldwide market and the delay of various key...

IN BRIEF: Big Brother to release Oasis.
August 5, 2006... Big Brother is to release the first Oasis best of compilation in time for the Christmas market. Stop The Clocks, an 18-track double album of songs chosen by the band, will be released on November 20. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

IN BRIEF: France's new copyright bill.
August 5, 2006... France's Constitutional Council has made several changes to the country's controversial new copyright bill before passing it into law. Principle among the changes is the removal from the bill of a new series of graduated fines for those who...

IN BRIEF: 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds.
August 5, 2006... EMI is marking the 40th anniversary of the Beach Boys' landmark Pet Sounds by issuing a new version of the album on August 28 featuring previously-unseen DVD, footage and unheard tracks. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

IN BRIEF: Delegation is Tokyo-bound.
August 5, 2006... Fifty-five British acts and around 30 other UK music industry representatives are heading to Tokyo today (Monday) to raise the profile of UK music in Japan. The third annual trade mission, which continues until Friday, coincides with the launch...

IN BRIEF: Borders to restructure in-store management team.
August 5, 2006... Borders is to restructure its in-store management teams and increase the number of customer-facing staff, as part of plans to configure stores for optimum performance. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

IN BRIEF: BBC Music Magazine to launch US and Canada section.
August 5, 2006... BBC Music Magazine will next week launch a dedicated US and Canada section for the North American market. The special section, which will be published every two months in US and Canadian copies of the magazine, will feature specific classical...

IN BRIEF: Record stores powercut.
August 5, 2006... Record stores in Soho, London, were affected last Thursday by a powercut lasting four hours. EDF Energy says four unrelated faults caused a problem with distribution. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

IN BRIEF: 2006 BT Digital Music Awards.
August 5, 2006... The 2006 BT Digital Music Awards is taking place at the newly- refurbished Camden Roundhouse on October 3. Nineteen categories are open to entries from artists and music companies, with the deadline for entries set at August 21, after which...

IN BRIEF: JW Media Music produces compilation CD.
August 5, 2006... JW Media Music, an independent supplier of music to broadcasters, TV production companies and advertising agencies, has produced a compilation CD called Water Music designed to raise money for international charity WaterAid. Copyright: CMP...

IN BRIEF: EMI to make formal review of media agencies.
August 5, 2006... EMI has announced that it is to make a formal review of its media agencies. The major said that the review was not due to dissatisfaction with current service providers, but rather formed part of a wider media review to keep its strategy in...

IN BRIEF: Just Isn't Music signs publishing deal.
August 5, 2006... Indie publisher Just Isn't Music has signed a publishing deal with singer/songwriter/producer Ben Westbeech, whose debut album is due out on Gilles Peterson's new label Brownswood Recordings in early 2007. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

IN BRIEF: Mashboxx news.
August 5, 2006... EMI had made its entire catalogue of digital recordings available to legal peer-to-peer service Mashboxx, which is currently in development. Mashboxx P2P software will give music fans the ability to preview and buy copyrighted EMI artists from...

IN BRIEF: Swopex launches CD sharing service.
August 5, 2006... Entertainment trading community Swopex has launched a legal CD sharing service, promising to cut illegal downloading while sparing consumers download fees and CD buying. The service allows consumers to register their music CDs and swap them...

IN BRIEF: Universal DVD man steps up.
August 5, 2006... Ian Brenchley has been promoted from international DVD marketing manager to DVD and broadcast director at Universal Music Group International. Brenchley joined UMGI in 2003, having previously been with EMI and Virgin Records. Copyright:...

IN BRIEF: Handleman appointment.
August 5, 2006... CD and film distribution company Handleman has appointed former Hallmark executive John Beeder as US-based president and chief operation officer. Breeder has more than 23 years' experience at Hallmark Cards, most recently as senior vice...

IN BRIEF: Mute Records head of press to leave the label.
August 5, 2006... Mute Records head of press Sarah Lowe is to leave the label to go freelance. She will head her own company, Fifth Avenue PR, with a roster including Moby, Richard Hawley, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Erasure and My Alamo. Copyright: CMP...

IN BRIEF: Prism Leisure appointments.
August 5, 2006... Prism Leisure has announced two new sales appointments. The former Warner Vision and Music Chocie executive joins as head of sales across the DVD and audio division, while Alan Rowe, who has worked for Demon Music Group, Pinnacle and 3mv, joins...

IN BRIEF: Official Charts Company appointment.
August 5, 2006... The Official Charts Company has appointed Meriel Blackburn head of chart operations. Blackburn joins from the MCPS-PRS Alliance and replaces Paul Want, who leaves this week. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Sanctuary fends off Mama's moves.
August 5, 2006... Groups manoeuvre to gain upper hand in proposed takeover of troubled music operation by Robert Ashton & Martin Talbot Channelfly parent the Mama Group vowed that its takeover bid was still alive last Friday, after Sanctuary...

End of the road for Town House.
August 5, 2006... Sanctuary is shutting down Town House Studios after failing to find a buyer for the west London complex. Town House, which has helped craft hits for Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Oasis and was famously used by Elton John to record his...

Music Zone plans to take on Virgin after expansion.
August 5, 2006... Music Zone is planning an ambitious campaign of organic growth over the coming year, on the back of an update to its retail offer and changes to the company's infrastructure. Since the company's dramatic acquisition of 41 former MVC stores...

THEPLAYLIST: 05.08.06.
August 5, 2006... SCISSOR SISTERS I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (Polydor) An anthemic return from the NY group who promise to build substantially on the foundations of their debut. (single, Sept 4) THE HORRORS Sheena Is A Parasite (Loog) Chris...

SNAP SHOT: THE RAPTURE.
August 5, 2006... The Rapture's hotly-anticipated new studio album Pieces Of The People We Love will receive its first airing online via a website launched this week at www.piecesofthepeoplewelove.com. Fans of the band will be encouraged to upload their own...

Relentless plans to keep up the pressure.
August 5, 2006... Expect plenty of noise from the Relentless camp over the next 12 months. After inking a new three-year deal with EMI, the major's top brass is now looking to firmly cement the Relentless brand within the group's framework, while growing its...

IFPI delighted with Kazaa settlement.
August 5, 2006... The IFPI is hailing its $115m (#61m) settlement with Kazaa as a new high in its ongoing fight against online piracy. Under an agreement announced last week, Kazaa's owner Sharman Networks will pay the sum to the four majors who brought the...

Schools queue up for music.
August 5, 2006... More than 2,000 schools are set to sign up for National Music Week by Ben Cardew National Music Week organisers expect more than 2,000 schools in total to sign up for the event following a rapid response to initial publicity. The...

Dawn of a new Era as Bard changes its name.
August 5, 2006... The organisation formally known as Bard has reiterated its support for independent retailers, despite changing its name to better reflect its widened remit of covering all entertainment retailers. The organisation, which formed in 1988 as...

Radio: Takeovers back on the agenda.
August 5, 2006... Speculation over SMG move highlights consolidation in commercial radio by Jim Larkin With speculation growing concerning a takeover of Virgin Radio owner SMG, experts are predicting that the consolidation that has marked the industry...

Radio digest: Rajar figures due this week.
August 5, 2006... Rajar will release second-quarter listening figures this Thursday. The new figures are eagerly anticipated, especially in the volatile London commercial market where Magic climbed to number one in the last quarter and Capital Radio slipped to...

Radio digest: Second quarter revenues at GCap Media.
August 5, 2006... Second quarter revenues at GCap Media dropped 6% year-on-year for the quarter ending June 30, according to a trading statement released last week. Capital Radio revenues declined 3% year-on-year, which the company puts down to the short-term...

Radio digest: Gaydar records best UK listenership figures to date.
August 5, 2006... Gaydar Radio has recorded its best UK listenership figures to date in results released last week. The figures were measured by Ipsos Mori and are supported by Rajar and reveal the digital station has a weekly reach of 224,957 and a monthly...

Radio digest: Music Industries Association teams up with Classic FM.
August 5, 2006... The Music Industries Association has teamed up with Classic FM to launch the Get Alive! campaign, designed to encourage more people to play musical instruments. Classic FM presenter Myleene Klass will be the face of the campaign, which is...

Radio digest: Anthony Ballard to leave Radio Academy.
August 5, 2006... Anthony Ballard is to leave his current role as development manager at the Radio Academy to take up a position as presenter and producer at BFBS. Before joining the Radio Academy, he was part of the management team of UKRD and began his career...

Radio digest: Two-part profile of The Rolling Stones.
August 5, 2006... Radio Two is to broadcast a two-part profile of The Rolling Stones as the band's A Bigger Band European tour reaches the UK on August 20. The first programme, The Rolling Stones: 4 x 4, will air from 9pm to 10pm on Saturday, August 12, and...

Radio digest: Kerrang! Radio launching WAP service.
August 5, 2006... Emap's West Midlands-based station Kerrang! Radio is launching a WAP service, giving listeners access to their favourite acts via their mobile phones. The Legends Of Rock service will offer exclusive pictures, mobile downloads and ringtones by...

Radio digest: Coverage of Summer Sundae Weekender.
August 5, 2006... BBC 6 Music has finalised its coverage of next weekend's Summer Sundae Weekender in Leicester, when it will be broadcasting live from the site. Steve Lamacq, Phill Jupitus, Nemone, Clara McDonnell and Gideon Cow will act as festival guides over...

Radio: Technology points the way for Rajar.
August 5, 2006... VIEWPOINT Sally de la Bedoyere Radio audience measurement is an increasingly complex business. The flexibility of radio, ubiquity of listening and explosion of choice alongside multi-platform delivery in this digital age, continues to...

TOP INDIE GROUPS.
August 5, 2006... SINGLES MoS 14.2% Beggars 8.3% Gut 7.1% Sanctuary 7.1% V2 3.0% ALBUMS MoS 13.3% Sanctuary 9.7% Demon 6.2% V2 5.6% Beggars 5.6% The above shows share of independent market Source: OCC Copyright: CMP...

Download effect impacts on sales.
August 5, 2006... Universal extends market leadership, as shares incorporate digital sales for first time by Paul Williams The digital age finally reached the world of record company market shares in quarter two, with download sales incorporated into...

Charting 50 years of hits.
August 5, 2006... As the album chart marks its 50th birthday with a flurry of activity including an OCC online poll, a Radio Two Music Club listeners' vote of their favourite number one album of all time culminating in a three- hour special, presented by Simon...

Albums chart: 50 chart facts.
August 5, 2006... The very first album chart was published in Record Mirror ("Britain's biggest and brightest musical weekly") on July 28 1956. In a list headed "Best Selling Long-Players: First Five", Frank Sinatra was number one with Songs For Swingin'...

ALBUMS CHART: 1950s.
August 5, 2006... With album sales running at around 10m a year and the record industry's attention sharply focused on singles, only 92 albums made the album chart in the 178 chart weeks which elapsed between the list's inception in 1956 and the end of the...

ALBUMS CHART: 1960s.
August 5, 2006... Almost a third of the decade had gone before The Beatles made their album chart debut in 1963 with Please Please Me, but the Fab Four went on to dominate album sales like no act before or since, spending 133 weeks at number one, and supplying...

ALBUMS CHART: 1970s.
August 5, 2006... The Seventies was a decade of major upheaval, with the focus constantly shifting. Hard rock, singer-songwriters, glam rock, disco and punk all took turns in the ascendancy. The album chart, naturally, reflected all of this. Many of the...

ALBUMS CHART: 1980s.
August 5, 2006... As rock music became more sophisticated and global, the Eighties saw more common ground between what charted here and in the rest of the west and the emergence of superstars such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. Jackson had been plying his...

ALBUMS CHART: 1990s.
August 5, 2006... Although the albums market was already ticking over very nicely at the beginning of the decade, it was given a major shot in the arm by the arrival of Oasis, to spearhead the Britpop movement in 1994. Although none of their peers - Blur, Suede,...

ALBUMS CHART: 2000s.
August 5, 2006... The albums market is now bigger than ever and 20 times the size it was when the chart started. Already this century, more than 100 albums have topped the 1m sales mark and all 10 biggest sellers have sold more than 2.25m. Despite the...

ALBUMS CHART: Sgt Pepper tops them all.
August 5, 2006... As the contrasting commercial popularity of, say, the Velvet Underground (a total of 11 weeks in the UK albums chart, highest career peak 47) and Westlife (13 number one singles, seven multi-platinum albums) testifies, the public and critics'...

DANCE SPECIAL.
August 5, 2006... Herd & Fitz Top Five Clubs Pacha, Ibiza Risque, Club Ohm, Manchester In Bed With Space, Ibiza One Love, Australia Kink, Sydney, Australia Joey Negro Top Five Summer Tunes Till West and DJ Delicious - Same Man Sessomatto - Movin...

DANCE SPECIAL: Dance adopts united stance.
August 5, 2006... Paul Sullivan talks to dance music tastemakers, including DJs and producers such as Erick Morillo, Shapeshifters and Paul Van Dyk, to highlight the dance hits of 2006, and discover how the dance factions are coming together to create a unified...

DANCE SPECIAL: Dance hot shots of the season.
August 5, 2006... MW has got the inside story from some of the UK's key dance labels, including AATW, Apollo, Data, Hed Kandi, MoS, Positiva and Purple City, for an upfront guide to this season's hits All Around The World Cascada - Everytime We Touch...

TOTP fades out with a whimper.
August 5, 2006... Retrospective final show fails to reflect the vibrancy of one of TV's longest-running shows Just as one attempt at consolidation bows out, another raised its head. In the week when both Warner and EMI indicated that they were planning...

The big question: Warners has been ruled out, so what's next for EMI?
August 5, 2006... Now that EMI has announced that it will not be pursuing a takeover of Warner for the time being, what next for EMI? Steve Morton, Union "EMI is a great British company that should carry on being just that. Mergers and takeovers are...

`It's so rewarding to see our album in that elusive list'.
August 5, 2006... Over the next two months, two of this year's Mercury nominees will provide an ongoing update on their progress towards the big night - this week Guillemots' Fyfe Dangerfield discusses being nominated "Last week we got nominated for the...

Quickfire: Mark Cooper.
August 5, 2006... With the last TOTP screened last night (Sunday), we meet its executive producer Mark Cooper to mark the passing of a legendary show How did you come to decide on the format for the final show? The idea was to produce a big retrospective...

FAST CHART: 05.08.06.
August 5, 2006... SINGLES NUMBER ONE: SHAKIRA FEAT. WYCLEF JEAN HIPS DON'T LIE Epic McFly's Don't Stop Me Now/Please Please retreats to number six, allowing Shakira and Wyclef Jean to claim pole position for the second time with Hips Don't Lie, which...

Singles market improves.
August 5, 2006... Although its sales are down 9.9% week-on-week to 29,109, Shakira and Wyclef Jean's Hips Don't Lie returns to the top of the singles chart. Rebounding 3-1, it is the first single to reclaim the number one position since Eric Prydz's Call On Me...

THE SCHEDULE - 05.08.06: Albums.
August 5, 2006... This week DMX Year Of The Dog Again (RCA); James Morrison Undiscovered (Polydor); Pharrell Williams In My Mind (Virgin) August 7 Nick Lachey Whats Left Of Me (RCA); Frank Devils Got Your Gold (Polydor); Joel Edwards Lost And Found...

THE SCHEDULE - 05.08.06: Singles.
August 5, 2006... This week Paris Hilton Stars Are Blind (Warner Bros); Boy Kill Boy Civil Sin (Mercury); The Raconteurs Hands (XL); Frank Im Not Shy (Polydor); The Horrors Death At The Chapel (Polydor); Captain Glorious (EMI); Panic! At The Disco Lying Is...

THE SCHEDULE - 05.08.06: NEW ADDITION.
August 5, 2006... Kelis will release her highly-anticipated new album, Kelis Was Here, on August 28. The set features an all-star line-up of names including Will.I.Am, Scott Storch, Max Martin & Dr Luke and Gnarls Barkley's Cee Lo Green. Lead single, Bossy, will...

Vagrant cues all-out blitz.
August 5, 2006... Vagrant is to use the press, radio and live performances to build Dashboard Confessional's profile DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL DUSK & SUMMER (VAGRANT) Vagrant Records is aiming to mirror Dashboard Confessional's US crossover breakthrough...

Upfront - 05.08.06: TASTEMAKERS tips.
August 5, 2006... Baby Cham Ghetto Story (Madhouse) Hattie Collins, Editor, RWD Magazine "Already hugely popular in Jamaica, dancehall DJ Cham looks set to replicate Sean Paul's success with the lead single from his Atlantic Records' debut album....

The Insider: MTV Flux.
August 5, 2006... MTV has set itself the bold ambition of reinvigorating music television as it prepares for the launch of its user-generated music channel MTV Flux. The channel will roll out on September 6, along with a mobile community, allowing users to...

Groundbreaking video director returns with a vengeance.
August 5, 2006... Some people believed it would never happen again, but here it is: a new video by Chris Cunningham. What's more, it's for a garage-punk track of snarling urgency and satisfying brevity. The video for The Horrors' Sheena Is A Parasite has...

Upfront - 05.08.06: Radio playlists.
August 5, 2006... Radio ONE A list Arctic Monkeys Leave Before The Lights Come On; Beyonce feat. Jay-Z Deja Vu; Bob Sinclar feat. Steve Edwards World Hold On (Children Of The Sky); Christina Aguilera Ain't No Other Man; David Guetta Vs The Egg Love...

Upfront - 05.08.06: BPI AWARDS.
August 5, 2006... ALBUMS Pharrell Williams: In My Mind (Virgin) (silver) Placebo: Meds (Virgin) (gold) Paolo Nutini: These Streets (Atlantic) (gold) Razorlight: Razorlight (Vertigo/Mercury) (gold) Nina Simone: Very Best Of (Sony BMG/Universal)...

Upfront - 05.08.06: In-store next week.
August 5, 2006... ASDA Instore - Pharrell, Bill Withers, James Dean Bradfield, Heather Small, Now! 64, Cream Summer 2006, Now Presents Holiday, Album of the week - James Dean Bradfield; BORDERS Instore - Rolling Stones Campaign, Pink Floyd, Chart...

Upfront - 05.08.06: My Top 10 - Dan Martin.
August 5, 2006... Dan Martin Journalist, NME 1. Muse Map Of The Problematique (HELIUM 3/Warner BROS) 2. Kasabian By My Side (Columbia) 3. Justin Timberlake SexyBack (Jive) 4. Get Cape Wear Cape Fly Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenage' (demo/Atlantic)...

Upfront Reviews - 14.08.06: ALBUM of the week.
August 5, 2006... Christina Aguilera Back To Basics RCA 82876896342 Aguilera returns with a 22-track, two-CD bonanza destined to cover absolutely all possible bases. The first set, produced by DJ Premier and Mark Ronson among others, features a...

Upfront Reviews - 14.08.06: SINGLE of the week.
August 5, 2006... Arctic Monkeys Leave Before The Lights Come Up Domino RUG236CD This may nominally be a new song, but it could easily have featured on Arctic Monkeys' all-conquering debut album, following similar themes both lyrically and...

Upfront Reviews - 14.08.06: Singles.
August 5, 2006... Alesha Lipstick (Polydor 1705458) Lipstick marks an attitude charged return for the former Mis-Teeq vocalist who as a frontwoman sounds like she has well and truly found her natural home. A punchy, energetic production provides the...

Upfront Reviews - 14.08.06: Albums.(Sound recording review)
August 5, 2006... Captain This Is Hazelville (EMI 3708502) This is a very promising debut album from a band who play a brand of indie pop akin to the hotly-tipped Norwegians Lorraine, in that it is joyful, intelligent and extremely well produced. That...

TV Airplay Chart - 05.08.06: ON THE BOX THIS WEEK.
August 5, 2006... MTV UK ADDS Justin Timberlake SexyBack; Pink U And Ur Hand; Nelly Furtado Promiscuous The Box ADDS David Guetta Vs The Egg Love Don't Let Me Go; Justin Timberlake Sexyback; Nelly Furtado Promiscuous; OutKast Morris Brown; Pink U...

TV Airplay Chart - 05.08.06: Duncan James.
August 5, 2006... Beyonce continues to hold an emphatic lead at the top of the TV airplay chart but there is some eye candy for the girls too in the form of the new video for former Blue boy Duncan James' Can't Stop A River. Exposure of the video for James' solo...

TV Airplay Chart - 05.08.06: Sandi Thom.
August 5, 2006... Better late than never, TV exposure of Sandi Thom's I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker video reached a new peak last week. Number one on sales eight weeks ago, it reached its airplay peak (number eight) the following week but has pottered around the TV...

Radio Airplay - 05.08.06: Captain.
August 5, 2006... Captain's first single, Broke, reached number 34 in May but failed to attract enough radio support to make even the Top 200 of the airplay chart. The London band's anthemic summery follow-up Glorious, produced by distinguished veteran Trevor...