Tagged: ukmusic

While it has been widely ignored, the post Britpop / pre "The Libertines/The _____/garagey" band era was kind of a dark period in UK music. UK had just witness one of the greatest talent and musical explosions of all time in the early 90s but by the late 90s, those bands had all either broken up, started to suck or completely change their sound. During this time, bands found it hard to garner success, specially with the charts being dominated by the Spice Girls/Westlife/whatever. To put it into perspective, Stereophonics was considered one of the biggest acts from the UK [...]

Feargal Sharkey, who has been so much the public face of shadowy lobbying organisation UK Music that we were starting to think it might have consisted entirely of him and a collection of hats and false moustaches, is moving on : Feargal Sharkey commented, "UK Music has been one of the greatest adventures of my life and I leave now so I might continue on other journeys. "While there will be many memories above all I shall never forget what a honour and a privilege it has been to have worked with such a dedicated, [...]

IS TROPICAL's The Greeks video won not one but TWO prices at the UK Music Video Award! The phenomenal video directed by MEGAFORCE won Best Animation in a Video and Best Indie / Rock Video's prices! Filmed in a sleepy French suburb in god-knows-where, and starring a group of kid, The Greeks' video reflects the [...]

In just one short year, The Vaccines seem to be everywhere. It's difficult to look for indie music without encountering them on almost every blog, and even my Facebook news feed has been diligently feeding me posts from my friends Z and Z about their love for The Vaccines. They're playing to sold-out shows across [...]

• The Vaccines - Last friday night (Katy Perry Cover)
• TheVaccines - Post Break-Up Sex

So it was yet another big year for the MOBOs, where stars were awarded for bringing music of black origin to the masses. Jessie J stole the show this evening, having won 4 out of her 5 categories. The Essex born star, won best UK act, best newcomer, best song for Do It Like A Dude and best album for Who You Are. She missed out on the best video award, beaten by Tinchy Stryder and Dappy with the song Spaceship. She opened the show, performing the single that gave her a big name, [...]

UK music industry revenue fell £189M / $309M USD . Digital revenue continues to grow as CD sales fall and digital piracy hits UK music industry takings. ( Guardian ) Rdio has beat Spotify to the iPad with the launch of a robust iPad app that takes advantage of the iPad screen and touch interface. Facebook News Feed to get face-lift . ( CNet ) MORE: [...]

There's a large pot of money - the enterprise finance guarantee scheme - which is available to reassure lenders that if they loan to a small business, they'll not lose out if it all goes wrong. (The sharp-eyed amongst you might spot that this is yet another way in which taxpayers take on the risk that is meant to be the part of the banking industry for which they get their rewards, but let's park that for now.) Supposedly, the scheme applies to musicians. Back in February, Feargal Sharkey appeared before a Commons [...]

The UK Sunday will publish lists of the richest men in women in UK music this week, but have offered a sneak preview. The list of 10 Richest is a Whose Who of music's old guard. but a partial look at the Top 20 Music Millionaires offers a few surprises: Clive Calder (Zomba,Jive) £1.3bn/US$2.14bn Andrew Lloyd Webber £680m/US$1.1bn Sir Cameron Mackintosh £675m/US1.1bn Sir Paul McCartney £495m/US$815m Simon Fuller £375m/US$617m Simon Cowell £200m/US$329m [...]

Tinie Tempah has revealed that he is teaming up with Wiz Khalifa for his next US Single. The Brit Award winning rapper is due to release the single "Till I'm Gone" in the States after the success of "Written In The Stars" which peaked at number 14 in the Hot 100 singles chart. Speaking to the Daily Star, Tinie says "I feel like we are both in the same situation but in reverse. He is big in the US and I have a prescence in Europe and the UK, so if [...]

She's recently announced her biggest tour to date but it doesn't just stop there. Katy B has today released details of her next single. The track 'Easy Please Me' from her debut debut album 'On A Mission' will be the fourth release from the UK star. Her album peaked at number two last week on the UK album chart. The track follows her previous single 'Broken Record' and is produced by dubstep duo Magnetic Man. Listen to 'Easy Please Me' below.

Having recently released her long awaited debut album, 'On A Mission', UK star Katy B will be playing her biggest shows to date this October. Her current tour sold out in record time therefore quick purchase of tickets for this Autumn is imperative! The singer who entered the UK charts at Number 2 with her debut LP 'On A Mission' will be touring following her summer schedule, which also includes T4 On The Beach, Wireless Festival and Radio 12s Big Weekend. Tickets went on sale at 9am this morning so book [...]

Encore are stepping into the limelight and are ready to unleash themselves into the UK market. Having toured with Jessie J and now touring with N-Dubz, they have received a great response from the UK crowd! We had a quick chat with them while they were on their way to their next destination of Margate. What's the story behind Encore? How did you guys come about? Pierre: Well we knew eachother before and used to get together for writing session on a regular basis. It [...]

So she came to give London a taste of her vocals last night and we must say that Jessie J smashed it. The Brit's Critic's Choice Award winner from Redbridge enetertained a sold out O2 Shepherd's Empire last night and was supported by some fantastic acts. Encore came on to show us what they are about and did a fantastic cover of Michael Jackson's Human Nature, with a wicked mash up of Love Will Be Right Here by American R&B group [...]

In a week where UK hip hop efforts have been laughable, AKS comes through with an EP worthy enough to be sold as an album. With all the f**kery surrounding Skepta's video antics, it was down to his fellow Nigerian and Cordless Show winner AKS to save the day. I've been waiting a month for [...]

I've had this mixtape in my inbox for a week now but kept forgetting to post it up. I first came across this London artist Shakka when he was supporting Jesse Boykins III at Bloomsbury Ballroom, something about his funny eccentric stage presence makes his performances stick in your mind. There was this one song [...]

Apparently Feargal wrote an article about copyright today. Unfortunately, he published it The Times, snug behind a paywall, so we have no idea what he said. Still, at least he can be sure nobody's copying it. [Thanks to Michael M for the tip.] Let's look at something else curious, shall we? There's the story of songwriter Russ Courtenay . He'd written a song recorded by Tina Turner, but somehow, the music industry's commitment to making sure artists get paid had gone awry. Courtenay had gone unpaid for a while, but he's got some cash now. [...]

When Jessie J's eagerly awaited debut album Who You Are was released on Monday, I was very tempted to do a song-by-song review of the album immediately after listening to it first time. But I always believe that you have to give an album time to grow on you to make a better judgement of [...]

UK artist Devlin has just announced dates for his official Bud, Sweat and Beers UK Tour. With the release of his latst single "Let It Go" featuring Labrinth, Devlin's success has continued into 2011 and he's also worked with some great upcoming artists including Yasmin. The 15 date tour starts on 10th May in Oxford and continues throughout the UK until the end of May. Full Tour Schedule: Tue 10 May 2011: O2 Academy, Oxford, UK Wed 11 May 2011: Coal Exchange, Cardiff, UK Thu 12 May 2011: [...]

Jessie J has revealed that she wants to be a little different a sing her acceptance speech at the Brits this year. The "Do It Like A Dude" singer has been given the "Critics Choice" prize told NOTION magazine "I'm actually thinking of writing a song for my speech, instead of doing a speech" "Just 'cause no-one's ever done it, and I think it would be quite entertaining for people. I reckon it's quite boring, innit, people just getting up and going, 'Yeah, thanks to my fans', you know what I [...]

Jessie J has revealed that she wants to be a little different a sing her acceptance speech at the Brits this year. The "Do It Like A Dude" singer has been given the "Critics Choice" prize told NOTION magazine "I'm actually thinking of writing a song for my speech, instead of doing a speech" "Just 'cause no-one's ever done it, and I think it would be quite entertaining for people. I reckon it's quite boring, innit, people just getting up and going, 'Yeah, thanks to my fans', you know what I [...]