CMU Daily - on the inside Wednesday 22nd October |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Jurors fail to reach verdict in Britney case
- Another P2P case hopes to use Thomas precedent - RIAA appeals said precedent
- Can we really compete with free? A rather lengthy MusicTank Think Tank round up
- AC/DC sell lots of records
- Iglesias fine after emergency landing
- Devil's Muse will screen this week
- Aerosmith are on a break
- EP review: Da Lata - This Is Not Your Job (Papa Records)
- Scissor Sisters lose drummer
- Deep Elm records seeks bands
- Early Madonna recordings appear online
- Eels give away free live EP
- New Soulja Boy album
- Weller announces O2 date
- Metallica announce second O2 date
- Cage The Elephant UK dates
- Album review: Nell Bryden - Second Time Around (457 Records)
- New EMEA marketing VP for EMI
- New US GM for Warner/Chappell
- MAMA launch publishing firm
- Yahoo! to cut 1500 jobs
- Failed radio venture could have lost C4 £9 million
- Slim Shady: "rap is crap"
- Lil Wayne announces impending fatherhood
- Timberlake is Leona fan
- Boyzone beg for awards invite
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SAME SIX QUESTIONS: JAMES YUILL
Folktronica superhero James Yuill released his painfully brilliant debut album 'The Vanilla Disc' in 2005 on his own label The Happy Biscuit Club and instantly caused shockwaves of amazement. Fusing various somewhat different genres, Yuill creates incredible atmospheric tracks, taking his passion for the gentle musings of Nick Drake and Sufjan Stevens and the not so gentle beats of Justice, Chemical Brothers and Aphex Twin and blending the sounds to make his own music, which stands out from the crowd. He's already been championed on the wireless by DJs including Huw Stephens and Colin Murray and the music press has nothing but nice things to say. His wonderful second album 'Turning Down Water For Air' was released on 13 Oct through Moshi Moshi. James took a few moments to answer our Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started out making music with a terrible electric guitar which had its own built in amplifier. Basically it fed back the whole time I was playing it. I soon upgraded to an Encore (a very slight upgrade, your guitar playing readers will deduce!).
Q2 What inspired your album?
Lots of things really. Mainly what I was doing at the time. Working all day and only getting to spend a few hours a night on my music. Unrequited love, endless daydreaming... you know. The usual.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Well, with this album I wrote all the tracks on the guitar first and added the dance element in later. But now I'm trying to make it a 50:50 relationship with the computer. I believe I write better songs on the guitar as one (ie: me) can get pretty lazy using just the computer, as I tend to start looping things, which is sometimes the problem with dance music.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Nick Drake massively influenced the style of song I write, but the production is very much French house, Warp Records and Radiohead.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Hello, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't, please refrain from throwing things... NOT THE FACE!
Q6 What are your ambitions for your album, and for the future?
My ambition for the album would be that it becomes a cult classic... as that would entail not selling much, I think that could be a reality. For the future I'd love to be able to carry on making music and being able to live by doing that. Just accidentally catching the commuter tube traffic is enough to make me vow to do my best.
MORE>> http://www.jamesyuill.com and http://www.myspace.com/jamesyuill
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SNAP OF THE DAY: THE STILLS
The Stills seem to have been in creative meltdown since their 2003 debut, the excellent 'Logic Will Break Your Heart', was released. Their 2006 effort, 'Without Feathers', was a pale version of that record, in part due to the departure of lead vocalist and guitarist Greg Paque, a seismic change to the line-up and one that seemed to mark a shift in direction, as they veered away from the dark, melodic, Cure-isms of their debut. New album 'Oceans Will Rise' goes some way to correcting this, particularly new single 'Being Here', a fine anthemic indie torchbearer. Not in any way as immediate as their previous work, there are qualities that you'll miss on first listen, but given time there's a sweetness to this new record that will ween its way into your consciousness.
www.myspace.com/thestills
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JURORS FAIL TO REACH VERDICT IN BRITNEY CASE
The jurors in Britney Spears' trial for driving without a valid California licence have failed to reach a verdict after eight hours deliberation, and the judge has declared a mistrial. The foreman of the jury said that they had failed to reach a decision after three votes, adding that they were stuck at 10 - 2, but we don't know which group were finding in the star's favour. Asked by the judge, James A Steele, what could be done to reach a verdict, the foreman replied: "I think with each return to the assembly room, everyone becomes more entrenched in their position".
As previously reported, Spears faced the charge in relation to an incident back in August 07, when the singer hit a parked car and left the scene. You'll remember that lawyer J Michael Flanagan insisted that his client didn't need a licence because she was a temporary resident of California, and was in possession of a licence from her home state of Louisiana. He also argued that she was the victim of overzealousness on account of her celebrity status, and rejected a plea deal, saying that Spears did not wish to have a criminal record. That was a good decision I reckon, because following the mistrial declaration the prosecution said they wouldn't pursue the case a second time, which basically means Britney gets off.
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ANOTHER P2P CASE HOPES TO USE THOMAS PRECEDENT - RIAA APPEALS SAID PRECEDENT
Interesting developments in the Recording Industry Association Of America's continued legal attack on the kids who fileshare.
As previously reported, earlier this year the RIAA's hand was arguably weakened when a judge ordered a retrial on the long running and high profile Jammie Thomas case. She had been found guilty of copyright infringement by making tracks available to share via Kazaa. But, her legal people argued, the RIAA had failed to prove that anyone actually did share the music Thomas had made available, and therefore actual infringement had not been proven. It's a technicality, of course, but enough of a technicality to persuade Judge Michael J Davis to call the retrial. Given Thomas' shared music has long since been removed, and given the RIAA, back in the day, didn't know they had to provide evidence of actual sharing, it could make the case against Thomas hard to fight.
This is even more interesting because of developments in a another P2P case against Whitney Harper. She actually admitted to making 37 songs available via Kazaa in court earlier this year, though added as a defence that at the time she was unaware that doing so was illegal. Ignorance of the law isn't usually a good defence, but the judge in that case, Xavier Rodriguez, expressed sympathy for the defendant and proposed a more lenient damages package of $200 per track. The RIAA weren't impressed, though subsequently decided to accept the proposed $7400 settlement. Except, now her lawyer is pushing for a full trail in the case, and it is assumed that's because he knows the US trade body doesn't have any evidence the files Harper put into her Kazaa sharing folder were ever actually downloaded and, given the Thomas precedent, his client could get away with paying no damages.
The RIAA continue to fight the technicality defence used in the Thomas case and launched an appeal against Davis' retrial ruling last week, requesting their appeal be heard before the retrial itself. If said appeal and retrial go against the trade body, and if Harper's lawyers use the precedent the Thomas case sets to get their client off, despite her admitting to file sharing, then this could be the beginning of the end for the RIAA's use of litigation to combat the P2P problem.
Which would be a blessing in disguise, to be honest with you, the RIAA's approach to P2P being counter-productive from almost the minute it began tackling the issue.
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CAN WE REALLY COMPETE WITH FREE? A RATHER LENGTHY MUSICTANK THINK TANK ROUND UP
The unnamed kid who took part in that previously reported 'kids and their music' survey for UK Music (then British Music Rights) and who admitted to having 72,000 illegally acquired music tracks on his hard disk became something of the star of last night's MusicTank debate on the state of the digital music sector. If the music industry is going to continue to sell recordings - and the latest four-talk Think Tank series from MusicTank is called 'Lets Sell Recorded Music', so that's the aim here - the question remains: what can you sell to a guy who's managed to acquire 72,000 songs, more than he could ever really listen to, without paying a penny?
Despite reeling off other stats from the UK Music report which he described as "scary" (though nothing in said report is particularly surprising if you ask me), the trade body's top man and last night's first keynote speaker, that Feargal Sharkey fella, said there was a lot for the record industry to be optimistic about.
Yes 95% of the 14-24 year olds surveyed admitted to illegally copying music, yes most kids said they had at least as many illegal tracks in their collection as legal ones, and yes the kids admitted that music exchange was now increasingly done through untraceable hard disk swaps in the playground, but 80% of those interviewed listed music as the one thing they simply couldn't live without, and most indicated they would, in theory, be willing to pay for it if the right kind of affordable service came along.
Of course those who advocate the 360 degree record deal as the future of the music industry - and I think I'm still one of them, despite such deals being criticised more than praised of late - might point out that the kids, while not paying for records, are still spending their pocket money on music related products, whether that be ringtones or wallpapers or t-shirts or gig tickets or the latest Guitar Hero downloads. But if we assume that, in addition to all that, the kids can be persuaded to part with a few pounds a month on actual recorded music too, and most people at the Think Tank seemed to think they could be, maybe even 72,000 tracks boy, then what kind of service will successfully deliver such consumer cash extraction?
There were lots of answers to that question from the sizable panel of experts at the Think Tank last night, and quite a bit of disagreement in the room as to which were right.
Perhaps the most interesting disagreement was over the emerging 'total music' services, those which offer consumers access to such large quantities of music that the providers can refer to them as 'unlimited' and nobody notices. Said services are in some ways already available in the form of the licensed streaming services like YouTube, MySpace and last.fm - especially as those services offer more on-demand and play-listing functionality.
But unlimited downloading is also on its way, of course. In France Orange's Musique Max service, outlined at the Think Tank by the phone firm's music man Philippe Steinmetz, offers 500 downloads a month for a mere 12 euros. And elsewhere Nokia Comes With Music and Sony Ericsson's PlayNow Plus are also entering the market with a sort of unlimited music offer.
For former IFPI man and strategy consultant Keith Jopling, those two services are the ones to watch in 2009. Giving a round up of the digital services out there in the second keynote of the evening, he observed that such services, and other total music offers that may or may not be in development by the internet service providers and social networks of this world, would appeal to the kids who are used to a world where all music is available all the time for free, albeit illegally. If these kids could be offered that experience, but with a hidden subscription fee bundled in to the cost of a phone handset or an ISP bill, couldn't we all be happy? Even 72,000 track boy.
Except, is total music the answer? While there may be kids in the 14-24 age group who collect music tracks in the way we used to collect cigarette cards or Panini stickers, does the wider music market really want or need an unlimited amount of digital music?
Russell Hart from Entertainment Media Research and Ben Drury from 7Digital reckon not. Actually, they argue, most people don't want several gigabytes of music on their hard drives - they only have the brain space to actively follow 2-3 bands at any one time, and only want to acquire a handful of tracks each year. There's a reason, they say, it's the a la carte download services that have boomed to date - 24 year old plus consumers prefer a digital experience that replicates their previous (and, in most cases, current) CD buying habits - quality over quantity and all that. The whole DRM debacle hindered the growth of this market for some time, but now that this is behind us, with 7Digital and Play.com now offering a full MP3 service in the UK, and Amazon likely to follow in 2009, perhaps it's a la carte downloading that's about to go big.
Meanwhile, even if we do accept that long term it will be the total music experience that prospers, because as the kids in Feargal's survey grow older they won't suddenly become a la carte downloaders, will the services offered by the likes of Orange and Nokia satisfy those consumers' needs? Probably not, some in the room argued.
Firstly, most of the total music services on offer are either stream-based or come with pretty limiting DRM (though, it should be noted, users of the proposed Ericsson service will get a helping of DRM-free MP3s as part of the deal).
Secondly, none of these services are really offering what the kids apparently want - a legal P2P network, where sharing is central to the mix. The long talked about licenced P2P service, whether it be funded through advertising, subscription or a share of an ISP fee, is the future, some reckon. There have, of course, been many attempts to get legal P2Ps off the ground - Paul Hitchman, on last night's panel, has been working in this area for years through his Playlouder company - but the record companies, while more interested in this model than ever before, remain unhelpfully (though possibly rightly) cautious.
So, what is the future? A la carte, total music, DRM-free, ISP bundled, legalized P2P? Well, there was little consensus in the room, which is unsurprising given there are so many competing digital offers on the market and in development, and an awful lot of people who reckon they know "what consumers want". Of course, as Feargal pointed out in a bit of conciliatory chatter towards the end of the debate, it's unlikely that one kind of digital service will succeed over all others - so perhaps everyone is right.
Although, as one less conciliatory person pointed out, can low-cost total music services and a la carte platforms really co-exist long term? If the music industry embraces the former too heavily, will it kill off the latter before it's really had time to get off the ground? And, if we're being honest, will the kids who have grown up accessing 72,000 tracks from P2P for free ever really be persuaded to pay? Should we be writing off those consumers (or, rather, concentrate on selling them t-shirts), and concentrate our digital energies on the more occasional music consumer who doesn't have time to go and download 72,000 tracks for free? And, in addition to all of that, whichever of these services succeeds, how the hell do we distribute the money that comes in to the artists?
So, to conclude, more questions than answers I reckon. Though that was sort of the point with this, the first of four MusicTank Think Tanks on the digital music domain. The debate continues, on technical advances on 4 Nov, on licensing, billing and revenue distribution on 18 Nov, and on how different stakeholders can work together to make all this happen on 2 Dec. More info at http://www.musictank.co.uk - and look out for another lengthy round up, no doubt, here in the Daily after each debate.
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AC/DC SELL LOTS OF RECORDS
The Young brothers are not only still not dead, but continue to be the music makers whose band is incredibly more successful than the average man of the street realises. Yes, AC/DC's new album 'Black Ice' is out, and despite not being available via iTunes, and only being available in WalMart in the US, is selling really rather well thank you very much. Which is good news for SonyBMG, who must be enjoying having a chart topping album that didn't involve Simon Cowell in some way. Current reports suggest first week US sales will top 800K, making it the major's fastest selling album for over two years. Here in the UK the Aussie rockers are outselling the new Kaiser Chiefs long player by at least two to one, and could top 120K sales by the end of the week - a number one in Sunday's album chart is assured. And similar album chart dominance is expected for AC/DC in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, and, of course, Australia. Like I say, a lot more successful that the average man on the street realises.
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IGLESIAS FINE AFTER EMERGENCY LANDING
Enrique Iglesias is fine after his plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Luton Airport. The singer's private flight from the US to Europe was over the Atlantic when it ran into trouble, and the pilot had to shut down one of the jet's engines. Label Polydor confirmed that no-one was hurt, and Iglesias himself is quoted as saying: "The highly skilled pilots managed to make a safe landing and nobody was hurt". Let's hope celebrity aviation incidents don't come in threes.
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DEVIL'S MUSE WILL SCREEN THIS WEEK
'The Devil's Muse', a film about real life murder case the Black Dahlia, will be screened in LA on Thursday. Not sure why, as it was released in 2007, although, it was only recently released on DVD so maybe it's something to do with that. And why is this music news? Well, a) the recently deceased Marilyn Manson member Gidget Gein stars in the film and b) David J of Bauhaus and Love And Rockets wrote the score for the film, and will perform songs from it at the aforementioned screening. He told NME.com: "I ran with the idea of the Black Dahlia. I became consumed by it and wrote the pieces. I made the music and just handed it over [to the director]."
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AEROSMITH ARE ON A BREAK
According to Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, the band have taken a break from recording their new album. Work on the new LP began last month, but now Whitford says he doesn't know when that work will be finished. "We're sitting on a bunch of music we've already recorded for a new album," he told Billboard. "We haven't gone back into the studio to put the final touches on it and get it done and still don't know when we're gonna do that. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later".
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EP REVIEW: Da Lata - This Is Not Your Job (Papa Records)
It's happened to the best of us: sitting in an uber trendy Soho-boho bar with a margarita placed between your delicately manicured hands, you attempt to engage in a discussion about the contemporary ethnic lounge jazz playing in the background, and fail miserably. Well fear not, ye of the uncultured, for I have come to save you from your plight with knowledge of Da Lata, one of the most refreshing lounge-dance bands around. Backed up by effervescent percussion and bass, 'This Is Not Your Job' melds hyena-like Brazilian vocals to flourishing mandolin, providing a distinctive cosmopolitan vibe that would be equally invigorating under the light of a lava lamp or on a grubby dancefloor. With this single from their up and coming third album, Da Lata consistently avoid the usual Buddha Bar pitfall - deathly repetition of deathly boring music - and show promise for another compilation of beanbag-fillers. GB
Release Date: 3 Nov
Press Contact: EMMS Publicity [all]
Buy from iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/5aqdl2
Buy from Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/6g8ltt
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SCISSOR SISTERS LOSE DRUMMER
The Scissor Sisters have revealed that their drummer Paddy Boom has left the band, while the band work on their third album.
In a statement on their website, the band said: "We would like our fans and friends to know that we have amicably parted ways with our original Scissor drummer Paddy Boom. He will no longer be on stage with us but he will always be our sister".
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DEEP ELM RECORDS SEEKS BANDS
US independent label Deep Elm Records has announced that it is actively seeking new bands to add to its roster. Over the years, the label has released albums by bands such as Fightstar, The Appleseed Cast and Dartz! and through its 'Emo Diaries' compilations series released early material by the likes of Jimmy Eat World and Further Seems Forever.
If you fancy joining the Deep Elm family, go to http://www.deepelm.com/submit/
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EARLY MADONNA RECORDINGS APPEAR ONLINE
Recordings of Madonna singing and talking in the late seventies have appeared online at The Daily Beast. The recordings were made by Madonna's then boyfriend Dan Gilroy and his brother Ed in a New York basement below a synagogue where the couple lived and were given to the website by the singer's biographer, Andrew Morton.
Listen to the tapes here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-
10-20/the-lost-madonna-tapes
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EELS GIVE AWAY FREE LIVE EP
To celebrate the release of Eels' 'Blinking Lights & Other Revelations' deluxe vinyl box set, the band are giving away a free live EP to download from their website for one week. The four songs are all taken from a full live recording which features on an extra disc that comes with the new vinyl release.
Download the free EP until 28 Oct from here: http://www.eelstheband.com/eels_blinkinglights_deluxe.php
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NEW SOULJA BOY ALBUM
US rap type Soulja Boy Tell 'Em is to release a new album in the US on 16 Dec. The imaginatively titled 'iSouljaboytellem', the follow up to last year's similarly imaginatively titled 'SouljaBoytellem.com' features a guest appearance from reggae star Sean Kingston and has been produced by Soulja himself alongside Mr Collipark and Polow Da Don.
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WELLER ANNOUNCES O2 DATE
Paul Weller has announced a one-off date at the O2 Arena on 1 Mar, with support from The Coral. Tickets for the show go on sale on Friday. Weller's new single, 'Sea Spray/22 Dreams' is released on 3 Nov.
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METALLICA ANNOUNCE SECOND O2 DATE
Metallica have announced a second date at the O2 Arena, an addition to the tour dates they announced on Monday, due to popular demand for tickets that, er, haven't actually gone on sale yet. But they will on Friday, and you can bet your thumbs they won't be around for long.
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CAGE THE ELEPHANT UK DATES
Kentuckians Cage The Elephant have announced a series of November tour dates, to follow an appearance at this Friday's FS04 Freeze Festival at Battersea Power Station.
Here are the dates:
1 Nov: Coventry, Kasbah
2 Nov: Oxford, Academy
3 Nov: Cambridge, Junction
4 Nov: Brighton, Concorde 2
5 Nov: Plymouth, The Hub
7 Nov: Manchester, Academy 2
9 Nov: Liverpool, Academy 2
10 Nov: Bristol, Thekla
12 Nov: Dundee, The Dog House
13 Nov: Glasgow, King Tuts
14 Nov: Aberdeen, Moshulu
15 Nov: Inverness, The Raigmore
17 Nov: Nottingham, Rock City
18 Nov: London, Scala
19 Nov: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
21 Nov: Stoke, Sugarmill
22 Nov: Middlesbrough, Empire
23 Nov: York, The Duchess
26 Nov: Leeds, Cockpit
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ALBUM REVIEW: Nell Bryden - Second Time Around (457 Records)
Sometimes it takes fate for someone's dream to come true, and Nell Bryden's story has more serendipitous schmaltz than any Will Smith vehicle (even the ones that also star his son). Funding her singing career by working as a waitress in New York, Bryden dreamt of hitting the big time. But it remained just that; a dream. Until, one day, whilst selling all her worldly possessions to fund one last tour, Bryden stumbled across an original painting by Milton Avery, which she sold for just under $300,000. Suddenly she had enough money to record and promote this album, 'Second Time Around'. But is the result as interesting as the story behind it? Well, there are many who are singing this woman's praises, but those who are shouting loudest seem to be the same who find something worthwhile in Norah Jones and Katie Melua, which is likely to unfairly put off the more sane among us. But Bryden's sound has an altogether more memorable blend of blues, jazz and soul. But don't worry, there's no Joss Stone border crossed here, with things kept classy, especially on sultry opener 'Tonight'. This smoky jazz club mood is sustained through much of what Bryden offers, although things do veer towards sentimental country on 'Only Life I Know' and even Brechtian swing on 'Where The Pavement Ends'. The ballads may not work quite so well as the album's more swinging moments, but 'Second Time Around' offers a mix of styles that puts the aforementioned Jones and Melua to shame. TM
Release Date: 27 Oct
Press Contact: Zest PR [all]
Buy from iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/6guz25
Buy from Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/68qfk2
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NEW EMEA MARKETING VP FOR EMI
EMI has announced the appointment of Morvan Boury as VP Marketing Services And Digital Music Development EMEA, which will require a long business card. It's a new position within the EMI Group for the major's former VP Strategy & Development France. In his new Paris-based role, Boury will oversee customer relationship, management and creative services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, though not in the UK, which is part of the US in EMI's eyes.
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NEW US GM FOR WARNER/CHAPPELL
More major music firm appointments, and Warner/Chappell publishing have announced the appointment of Jason Boyarski, formerly of BMG Music Publishing, to a Senior VP/GM role for the pubbery's New York office. He will oversee the development of Warner/Chappell's US business strategies and also be involved in signing or going into JV partnerships with American songwriters and producers.
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MAMA LAUNCH PUBLISHING FIRM
More publishing, and the good old MAMA Group has announced it will launch a new music publishing company in partnership with Nettwerk Music. The new company, to be called Manett Publishing, will be based in London and will utlise Nettwerk's existing publishing company to enable it to operate globally. Yoav, Johnny Foreigner and Super Furry Animals are already signed up to the new firm.
Music Week quote MAMA Group co-CEO Adam Driscoll thus: "When MAMA Group became a partner in Nettwerk Music Group late last year this was exactly the kind of joint venture activity we envisaged flowing from our collaboration. Through this new business we are able to combine some of the best assets of our two businesses. We're delighted with the calibre of our early signings and believe that they point the way to an exciting future for this publishing venture".
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YAHOO! TO CUT 1500 JOBS
One from the web industry files to show you there are worse places to be than the music industry this month (and not just in City banks).
Yahoo! is about to lose another 1500 employees, which is about 10% of its workforce. The job cuts are part of attempts by the web firm to lose about $400 million in operating costs following a sharp quarterly earnings drop which was revealed this week.
An internal memo from Yahoo! chief Jerry Yang informed staff of the pending cuts yesterday, while the company's CFO Blake Jorgensen said: "An increasingly challenging economic climate and softening advertising demand contributed to revenues this quarter coming in at the low end of our outlook range. While we are disappointed with our results, we're pleased that we continue to benefit from the aggressive cost management efforts we have pursued during the year".
It's not entirely clear as yet where the cuts will happen, and how hard Yahoo!'s music or UK divisions will be hit.
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FAILED RADIO VENTURE COULD HAVE LOST C4 £9 MILLION
Channel 4 boss Andy Duncan has admitted that his company may have lost up to £9 million by pulling the plug on its digital radio plans.
As previously reported, the long time in development Channel 4 Radio venture came to a halt last week when the TV firm pulled out, admitting it couldn't find a way to make the new national digital radio network it planned to launch commercially viable in the short term.
Duncan's actual statement was that the costs of the now defunct project would come to less than 1% of Channel 4's annual turnover, which is about £945 million. It might be quite a bit lower than £9 million - the previous estimate by industry experts was £5 million - though if it was substantially less than the nine mill figure you'd have thought Duncan would have said so.
Commenting on collapse of the 4Digital venture, he also put some of the blame of C4's partners in the project - Bauer, BSkyB, UTV, UBC Media and Carphone Warehouse - all of whom had a stake in the new national network and who had originally planned to launch new stations on it. But said companies started to have second thoughts about launching their new stations, Duncan says, and that made the wider venture unviable for C4, who were relying on income from the partners to prop the whole thing up.
Speaking to the House of Commons Culture, Media And Sport Select Committee, Duncan also said Channel 4 would not return to DAB in the foreseeable future and that he thought it was "highly unlikely" any new national digital-only stations would now launch in the next year or two.
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SLIM SHADY: "RAP IS CRAP"
More quotes from that interview Eminem did with Zane Lowe. This time on the state of the current rap scene, which Slim Shady, ever the rhyme-master, reckons is "crap". That said, he admitted there was some good stuff out there. He said: "I don't mean everything about rap is crap. I just mean the majority of it. Actually I think TI's new album [that'll be 'Paper Trail'] is great and I've been pumping that for the last two weeks every day in my car aside from my own stuff as I record it. Andre 3000 is also incredible. So I just mean rap in general".
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LIL WAYNE ANNOUNCES IMPENDING FATHERHOOD
Lil Wayne announced at the BET hip hop awards at the weekend that he is expecting a second child. Not in the literal sense, obviously, it'll be his lady-friend who's up the duff. Anyway, he let slip the news as he departed the stage after collecting an award, saying "I got a son about to be born any day now, so shout out to him".
There's no indication as to the identity of the mother. His first child, a girl, was the product of his failed marriage to childhood sweetheart Antonia 'Toya' Johnson, which ended in 2006.
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TIMBERLAKE IS LEONA FAN
Justin Timberlake has revealed that he's a fan of Leona Lewis, which is nice for her. Asked by MTV News about fellow popsters he might be thinking of working with, he responded: "I'm going to go pimp myself to Leona Lewis, cause I think she's an amazing singer. I've been working with different people here or there. I feel weird. You'll hear it when it comes out. I would love to give you everyone but there's some stuff that might not work out due to business stuff, unfortunately".
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BOYZONE BEG FOR AWARDS INVITE
Boyzone aren't expecting to be invited to this year's MTV European Music Awards. But, no, not because they're rubbish and irrelevant, but because last time they went, back in 2000, Shane Lynch got drunk and swore a bit while accepting one of the two awards the group won that night and then got in a fight with P Diddy at the aftershow.
Writing a fairly pointless article in The Daily Star (presumably to help fill the tab's guest writer pages), the band said: "We'd like to take this opportunity to apologise. As a band we are really keen to bury the hatchet and would love to attend this year's event in Liverpool next month to present an award and move on".
In a second article (they really are very sorry), Stephen Gately offered to kiss Katy Perry, who will be presenting one of the awards, by way of some sort of cultural exchange. Elsewhere, they also revealed that they like Louis Walsh and that some popstars have breakdowns because they have the wrong people around them. It really is some very hard-hitting journalism.
