Tuesday 30 June 2009

Pendulum – The Other Stage, Glastonbury 27th June 2009

Pendulum’s spectacular penultimate set on The Other Stage at Glastonbury on Saturday night (June 27) completely stole the show.

The Aussie-British rockers delivered an absolutely blinding hour-long set packed full of hardcore electro rock which featured some of their new tracks.

As Pendulum took to the stage high energy MC Ben ‘The Verse’ Mount yelled out "Glastonbury... We're gonna take you to another dimension!" before they kicked off with Showdown which got the Glastonbury crowd hyped-up and dancing.

This was followed by Fasten Your Seatbelts and hits Propane Nightmares and Granite just as the sun was starting to set over Worthy Farm. The atmosphere was electric.

These guys were relentless, "Glastonbury, you are now about to witness pure, undiluted carnage," lead singer Rob Swire shouted before playing Blood Sugar.

A stunning onstage lightshow, helped add to the excitement, and whipped the crowd into frenzy, sparking off mayhem in a mosh-pit right in front of were I was.

They also performed an amazing cover of Calvin Harris' hit; I'm Not Alone, which Swire explained they worked out only a day before, especially for the festival.

The crowd was jumping; those who prefer the metal and grunge elements of Pendulum were moshing and pogo jumping, whilst those who prefer the Drum ‘n’ Bass were raving their wellies off with Glow Sticks in hand, all dancing side by side.

Pendulum were fantastic, they should have been headlining The Other Stage, their highly charged spectacular set is worthy of the headlining slot at any festival.

Set List:

Showdown
Fasten Your Seatbelts
Propane Nightmares
Blood Sugar
Mutiny
Slam
Tarantula
Different
I'm Not Alone
Granite

Starlet

Monday 29 June 2009

Glastonbury festival hit by swine flu

Three people have been sent home from Glastonbury with suspected swine flu. A spokesperson for Somerset NHS said they have mild symptoms and that "there was no need for alarm among festivalgoers".

Officials explained that the three individuals thought to be two students, one from Edinburgh and one from Exeter universities and a 10-year-old child were taken into isolation facilities after being diagnosed, before they headed home.

Festival spokesman Christo Hird said: "Three unconnected people were taken off-site, straight to an isolation unit on the advice of the doctor and have now gone home."

He added: "This was anticipated. There is no more risk here than anywhere. The figure of three in 177,000 people is regarded as very low."

In other Glastonbury news: A man has been arrested for public nudity at the festival for the first time in its 39 year history. Police took the man into custody yesterday.

Meanwhile an unnamed woman tried to give birth in the Green Fields area of Worthy Farm yesterday. The woman had taken a midwife with her to the festival in the hope that she could give birth to the first Glastonbury child since 1998.

Despite her best efforts, the woman was eventually taken off site to a nearby village to continue the birth.

The number of arrests at this year’s event has already exceeded the total for last year. Since the event began on Friday police have made a total of 131 arrests, most are drugs related, compared to a total of 89 in 2008.

Friday 26 June 2009

Concerns over Refunds for Michael Jackson, London O2 Gigs

Following the death of Michael Jackson, who passed away on Thursday 25th June, concert promoter AEG Live is facing the daunting task of refunding ticketholders for the 50 sell-out concerts at London's O2 Arena due to start on the 13th of July.

London's O2 Arena has said there will be news soon regarding the ticketing situation. Organisers have not issued ticketholders with instructions on what to do.

A representative for AEG Live said, "At this moment our thoughts are with Michael's children, family and friends. We will announce ticketing information in due course."
Under British law, anyone who bought their ticket directly from the O2 or from agencies connected to the tour should get a refund or possibly an exchange for another event as stated in their terms and conditions.

Fans who bought tickets using agencies and other secondary sellers will have to contact their point of purchase once the O2 Arena makes its announcement.

In a statement, Ticketmaster said: "Ticketmaster is aware of the news relating to Michael Jackson. We have no official information at this stage. "As soon as we have any information we will immediately contact all customers who have booked tickets through Ticketmaster or GET ME IN!"

Ticketholders are advised to check their confirmation for the name of the company which the tickets were bought from, this shows who they should make their claim to.

However, for fans who bought tickets from private sellers either on the internet or in person, if no terms and conditions applied then these buyers have no legal rights.

Graham Burns, of the Association of Secondary Ticket Agents, said the association had drawn up a code of conduct for legitimate agents which included a refund policy. Following a spate of incidents last summer where unofficial ticket agencies failed to deliver tickets to music fans.

Thursday 25 June 2009

Glastonbury, Last Ever Gig for Good Books as Band Split-Up

Indie four-piece, Good Books, have announced that they are splitting up.

The band, who released their debut album 'Control' in 2007, revealed their final gig will be this weekend, at Glastonbury Festival.

A statement from the band said: "It's been a fantastic few years, but the world keeps turning, and in the massively original words of Wet Wet Wet "They say all good things come to an end.""We do, however, have one rather special date in the diary before we shut up shop - we'll be playing the opening slot on the John Peel Stage on the Sunday morning at Glastonbury (June 28th).

If you're coming to the festival, come along and bid farewell to Good Books with the four of us."The band also revealed that they have finished recording their second album, 'Cry of the Hunters’; however for the time being it will remain unreleased.

Friday 19 June 2009

US Woman Fined $1.92 Million for Illegal Filesharing

A woman has become the first person to be successfully sued for illegal filesharing in the US and has been ordered to pay a fine of almost $2m after a retrial.

A federal jury ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a 32 year-old mother of four from Minnesota wilfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs.

Thomas-Rasset was originally found guilty of copyright infringement in 2007 and was ordered to pay a fine of $222,000. However, a new trial was ordered after the judge in her original case said he had "erred in giving the jury instruction".

Unfortunately for Thomas-Rasset, a new jury decided her crime warranted a larger punishment, and awarded recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song.

A spokesperson for the Recording Industry Association of America said that the companies due the payment were willing to settle out of court for a lower amount.

The companies that sued Thomas-Rasset are subsidiaries of major recording companies, Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, EMI Group PLC and Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment.

On Tuesday (June 16) the UK Government published a report, 'Digital Britain', outlining measures of tackling illegal file-sharing in Britain.

Amazon Sold Albums at 29p After Pricing Blunder

Online retail giant, Amazon, was left counting the cost of a technical glitch last night after the site accidentally offered entire album downloads for just 29p.

Music fans soon learned that the site was unknowingly offering a 95 per cent discount and flooded the site to take advantage of the pricing blunder.

There were around 30 albums being sold on the store at the cut price. Albums like Lily Allen's It's Not Me It's You, which usually retails at £7.99 was sold for just 29p, cheaper than the price of a single download.

Other Albums available were by acts such as Kings of Leon, MGMT, Calvin Harris, Metallica, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, James Morrison and Norah Jones.

Some believe the next album charts could be affected by the surge in sales.

The mistake, which was flagged up by Blogs and several consumer discount websites, was rectified after about 4 hours.

In a statement, Amazon said: "We can confirm that yesterday there was a pricing error on a small number of MP3 albums. This issue has been rectified. Despite our best efforts, with the millions of items available on our website, pricing errors can occur."

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Police Ask Rockness Revellers for Feedback

Following the overall success of Rockness 2009, Northern Constabulary police force is asking revellers for their views on how well the music event was policed.

Around 35,000 people attended the festival at Dores on the shores of Loch Ness at the weekend. Music fans are invited to e-mail their comments to Northern Constabulary police at feedback@northern.pnn.police.uk

Fifteen people have been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with drug offences.

During the three day event about 800 people needed medical assistance, most of them suffering from the effects of a previous medical condition or simply had forgotten to take their prescribed medication with them (asthmatics, diabetics etc).

There was one case where a young man suffered superficial burns to his hands after using a gas canister at the festival campsite.

A 22-year-old man who was attending the gathering died after being taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness on Saturday evening.

James Smith, who had brittle bone disease and used a wheelchair, had gone with VIP tickets. Police said he became ill shortly after arriving at the festival with a friend.

Mr Smith, from Elgin, was a keen bowler and had been shortlisted to take part in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Chief Superintendent Andy Cowie said the fourth year of the festival saw fewer thefts, incidents of public disorder and assaults.

He said: "I think this is reflective of the carnival atmosphere and general good humour of the crowd over the weekend.

"We have had a significant number of positive drugs searches and a total of 15 people reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with alleged drug possession with intent to supply, which are both up on last year."

The officer added: "We are welcoming any feedback that festival goers have on the policing of the event."

Monday 15 June 2009

Universal Music and Virgin Media to Offer Unlimited Downloads

Universal Music and Virgin Media unveiled plans today for a digital music service allowing unlimited music downloads for a monthly fee.

The service will allow Virgin Media customers to stream and download as many tracks as they want from Universal’s catalogue, in return for a monthly subscription fee. Universal Music is home to artists including Amy Winehouse, U2, Kanye West and Elton John.

Virgin Media is currently negotiating with “other UK major and independent music labels and publishers” to offer a “complete” catalogue by the time of launch. The partnership is intended to launch later this year.

Today's announcement comes on the eve of the publication of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, which is expected to contain more stringent measures to tackle illegal downloading of music, films and TV shows.

In addition Universal Music and Virgin Media say they will work together on anti-piracy initiatives to protect the music company's intellectual property to "drive a material reduction in the unauthorised distribution of [Universal's] repertoire across Virgin Media's network".

This will include raising awareness of online piracy, legal downloading alternatives and, as a last resort for "persistent offenders", temporarily cutting users’ internet access. However, no users will be permanently disconnected and the partners will also be working on educational measures.

Universal Music Group International chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge described the service as “world class”. He said “Britain has a world-class reputation for artists and music.”

“Now British consumers will have access to a world-class digital music service, I believe this puts all of us at the forefront of a new era.” He added.

Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett adds, "In terms of both convenience and value, our new music service will be superior to anything that's available online today and provides a fair deal for both consumers and artists.”

“There is no better example of Virgin Media's commitment to harnessing digital technology to give customers what they want, when they want and how they want."

Thursday 11 June 2009

UK DJ Gang Arrested in Alleged iTunes Royalty Scam

Scotland Yard and the FBI have smashed a fake music gang who allegedly conned iTunes and Amazon out of more than half a million pounds.

A group of DJs from London and the Midlands were arrested and their homes raided on Wednesday over a suspected music royalties scam which is the first of its kind dealt with by Metropolitan police detectives.

It is alleged that the gang placed their own music on iTunes, the Apple music store, and Amazon, and used stolen credit card details to buy it.

It is claimed they generated about £450,000 in download sales - even catching the eye of music industry chiefs as a new emerging talent.

The group used the fake sales to boost their ratings on the charts after recording 19 music compilations. They then claimed nearly £200,000 in royalties, it is alleged.

Ten people aged 19 to 41 were arrested in raids in London, Birmingham, Kent and Wolverhampton by detectives from Scotland Yard's new E-crime unit, working in partnership with the FBI in the US.

They are being questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering.

The alleged scam began last August with the DJs paying an annual $30-per-album fee to the company Tunecore, a music distribution service, to get their albums uploaded on to iTunes.

The DJs then obtained thousands of stolen credit card numbers and opened iTunes accounts with them and began downloading their albums at $10 a time.

DCI Terry Wilson, from the Met's Police Central e-Crime Unit, said: "This has been a complex investigation to establish what we believe to be an international conspiracy to defraud Apple and Amazon."

Wednesday 10 June 2009

New Site Found for Beach Break Live Festival

Organisers of the Beach Break Live Festival Beach Break Live festival organisers have announced they have found a new site to host the festival, which takes place on the 16th to the 19th of June.

The event will now take place at Port Lympne Safari Park in Kent.

Event organisers were forced to find a new location after councillors voted against granting permission for the festival to take place in its original setting at St Agnes, Cornwall on the 27th of May.

In a statement, Beach Break Live organiser Celia Norowzian said she was delighted the festival will now definitely go ahead.

"I can't say how delighted we are," she said. "This has been a heartbreaking few weeks, but we literally feel like a miracle has happened!

"The most shocking thing is that Cornwall's economy is really struggling in the recession – there's over 30 firms going bust every day, but we're still doing our best to bring as many Cornish firms and artists with us as possible."

Acts playing Beach Break Live include Dizzee Rascal, Mystery Jets and Friendly Fires.

For more information, go to: www.beachbreaklive.com

Monday 8 June 2009

Pirate Party Wins European Parliament Seat

Sweden's Pirate Party, which aims to reform copyright laws and protect music file downloader’s, has gained enough vote's to win a seat in the European Parliament.

The party gained 7.1 percent of the Swedish vote in last night's, June 8th, count, meaning that it will gain at least one, possibly two seats.The Pirate Party is the third largest political party in Sweden and has seen an increase in profile since four men involved in setting up the file-sharing website were sentenced to a year in jail for copyright infringement in Stockholm.

Party leader Rick Falkvinge hailed the victory as a victory for young technology-savvy people, reports ToffentFreak."Together, we have today changed the landscape of European politics," he said. "This feels wonderful. The citizens have understood it’s time to make a difference."The older politicians have taken apart young peoples' lifestyle, bit by bit. We do not accept that the authorities' mass surveillance."

Friday 5 June 2009

Tickets on Sale for MOBO Awards 2009

Tickets for the hotly-anticipated MOBO Awards 2009 in Glasgow are now on sale.

The prestigious annual music event will be held on Wednesday 30th September in the SECC. It is the first time the MOBO Awards Show is being staged outside London in its 13-year history and organisers anticipate that demand for the tickets will be 'unprecedented’ thanks to the stellar line-up of musicians that is MOBO’s trademark.

The SECC has been given exclusivity for duration of two weeks to handle ticket sales via its new ticketing website – ticketSOUP.com, which was launched on Monday 1st June 2009.

The first wave of tickets to go on sale are priced at £29 and £39, with the second wave being made available at a later date in June at £49. VIP tables can be ordered now via the Mobo website at: www.mobo.com

The MOBO Awards are being brought to Glasgow through a partnership of EventScotland, the national events agency and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau with the support of Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.

The outstanding win for Scotland was announced in April this year by Kanya King, CEO and founder of MOBO Awards, R&B superstar Lemar and X-Factor finalists JLS.

Line up Announced for T Break Stage

16 new and unsigned acts have been chosen to perform at this years T in the Park.

After listening to almost 1400 entries, the T Break judging panel have selected 16 of the finest unsigned Scottish acts to join the bill for Balado this July.

The sixteen acts follow in the footsteps of the likes of Snow Patrol, Biffy Clyro, Attic Lights, Twin Atlantic and Zoey Van Goey, who all had their first taste of performing through T Break.

The acts selected to play on the T Break stage are:

Barn Owl
Brother Louis Collective
Dead Boy Robotics
G1ft
Gong Fei
Homework
Little Eskimos
Maple Leaves
Mike Nisbet
Ming Ming and the Ching Chings
My Cousin I Bid You Farewell
Popolo
Punch and the Apostles
Tango in the Attic
The French Quarter
We Are Trapped in Kansas

You can see them live at the T Break Stage, T in the Park 10th – 12th July 2009.