Added 16/03/2010 by ronni

French singer Jean Ferrat dies

French singer and songwriter Jean Ferrat, whose communist views saw some of his songs banned from French TV in the 1960s, has died aged 79.

The musician died in hospital in Aubenas in the south of France, where he had been admitted a few days earlier, an official told AFP.

Ferrat wrote about 200 songs which reflected his political views.

Among his best-known tunes were La Montagne (The Mountain), Potemkine and Ma France.

Born in a Parisian suburb as Jean Tenenbaum, the singer began his career in the cabarets of the postwar Left Bank before making his name in the 1960s and 1970s with a succession of lyrical love songs.

He was also known for his adaptations of works by the communist poet Louis Aragon.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement praising the singer's "unyielding conception of French song"

Michel Drucker, one of France's most popular television presenters and a friend of the singer, told France Info radio: "A whole part of France, a whole generation is mourning today."

Added 14/03/2010 by ronni

Lilith Fair Tourdates to be announced

Specific tour dates for the relaunched Lilith Fair tour will be announced on Tuesday, Nettwerk Music Group chief executive Terry McBride said today at Canadian Music Week.

McBride, who was involved in a mentoring session at the conference, says the 37-show tour will have its first dates announced with full lineups on Tuesday. Ticket presales will start the following week, he says, and be staggered over a period of time.

“Not 37 shows on sale at the same time,” he says. “That would be a nightmare.”

McBride says part of the show is being done with promoter Live Nation, while other dates will be done with secondary promoters dependent on the venue.

“Most of it will be through Live Nation, but not everything,” he says, adding most shows will seat around 20,000, while some will be upwards of 30,000. “It is venue-based and we want to get the best venues.”

McBride says he’s confident a new album by Vancouver singer Sarah McLachlan, who headlined most of the previous Lilith shows, will be ready in time for the summer tour.

McBride says he has no expectations for the tour, but was pleased with the artist response he received both from acts that had played Lilith before it went on hiatus in 1999 after three years of tours, and newer acts.

“The older artists knew what it was,” he says. “The younger artists had a lot of questions. But once they heard the answers they said, ‘My God.’”

Acts like Loretta Lynn, Norah Jones, Cat Power and Gossip have already been confirmed as participating in some shows on the tour. Cities named for the tour include Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. Dates in July for Chicago and Seattle, on July 3 and 17 respectively, have already leaked on the Internet.

As for McLachlan’s new album, McBride would not confirm details or even name whether she is again working with longtime producer Pierre Marchand, who has helmed every one of her albums since 1991.

“I’m not going to comment on it,” he says. “When Sarah’s album is delivered I will comment on it. Otherwise I put her in a box that I’m not going to do. I’m not going to talk about it until the album is finished.”

Added 12/03/2010 by ronni

Pink Floyd win digital legal dispute over EMI

Pink Floyd tracks may be removed from digital music services like iTunes after a High Court ruling.

Their latest record deal, signed with EMI before legal downloads came along, said individual songs must not be sold without the band's permission.

They argued that the same rule should apply to digital sales as well as CDs.

EMI disagreed but a judge has sided with Pink Floyd. The ruling is part of a long-running battle between the two sides over £10m in unpaid royalties.

EMI said it had not yet been ordered to stop selling single Pink Floyd tracks. That may come at a later stage in the case, however.

In court, Chancellor Sir Andrew Morritt said the contract contained a clause to "preserve the artistic integrity of the albums".

He said the contract meant EMI were "not entitled to exploit recording by online distribution or by any other means other than the original album, without the consent of Pink Floyd".

The band largely avoided releasing singles during their career, instead preferring fans to listen to entire albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, which has sold more than 35 million copies around the world.

EMI has been ordered to pay £40,000 ($60,000) costs. The band were not present to hear the judgment at the High Court in London.

An EMI statement said: "Today's judgment does not require EMI to cease making Pink Floyd's catalogue available as single track downloads, and EMI continues to sell Pink Floyd's music digitally and in other formats.

"This litigation has been running for well over a year and most of its points have already been settled.

"This week's court hearing was around the interpretation of two contractual points, both linked to the digital sale of Pink Floyd's music. But there are further arguments to be heard on this and the case will go on for some time."

Earlier this week, Robert Howe QC, appearing for the group, said the the band's deal with EMI stipulated that their "seamless" albums should not be split up and that they "wanted to retain artistic control".

Elizabeth Jones QC, appearing for EMI, disagreed and said the word "record" in the band's contract "plainly applies to the physical thing - there is nothing to suggest it applies to online distribution".

The issue of selling individual tracks online has been a thorny one for many artists, who want their albums to be seen as complete works. Bands also receive less money if fans pick and choose tracks instead of buying a full suite of songs.

It is believed to be one reason why The Beatles - whose catalogue is also owned by EMI - have not appeared in download stores like iTunes.

Garth Brooks and AC/DC are among the others who have objected to their albums being split up.

Peter Jenner, who managed Pink Floyd when they first signed with EMI in the 1960s, said releasing complete albums was important to the band.

"Clearly in cases like the Floyd, there was a coherence in the content as an album," he told BBC 6 Music. "Tracks were dropped because they didn't fit in with the whole thing. I think that was quite common, especially in the 70s and 80s."

Mr Jenner, now emeritus president of the International Music Managers' Forum, predicted that the ruling would be significant.

"I think it will give the artists some ammunition to get the record companies to be a bit fairer with the royalty treatment they give artists for digital work."