Despite being the recipient of billions of pounds every year thanks to the ridiculous tax they call the TV license, the BBC is officially beginning to penalise music lovers in order to justify the salaries of its big stars. What do I mean? Well, a recent report in The Times newspaper revealed that at least two radio stations will be shut down in order to save up to £600 million in the coming year.

The two stations that are said to be on the chopping block are 6Music and the BBC Asian Network.

It must be said that this report has not been confirmed by the BBC yet, although it will apparently be announced at some stage in March. According to the BBC website, the National Union of Journalists had said that they received a briefing and that most of the information reported was actually true.

Upon hearing the news, David Bowie added his voice to the many that had rallied around the stations on Facebook and Twitter. Bowie stated that “6 Music keeps the spirit of broadcasters like John Peel alive and for new artists to lose this station would be a great shame.” I thoroughly agree.

Although the likelihood is that the radio department is not the only one that will experience severe cuts, it is highly unfair on music fans that have personal preferences, especially in regards 6Music. Furthermore, it will actually deprive the Asian community in the UK of a voice that they are more than entitled to on the BBC airwaves.

Some reports suggest that this move is politically motivated and has been put in place in order to prevent a license fee freeze in the coming months. However, what the BBC have effectively done is penalised the very people who are paying that fee in the first place. 

The awards season is in full swing in the music industry now with the Shockwaves NME Awards 2010 taking place tonight. Taking place at the O2 Academy Brixton in London, some of the biggest names in British music attended the awards to see exactly who had benefitted from the votes of the public!

The big winners of the night were Muse, who won two awards – the Best British Band and Best Website awards to be precise. Kasabian also won two awards. They scooped Best Album and Best Album Artwork. There were no awards for the lady of the moment though – Lady Gaga. Although she won the awards for best dressed and worst dressed – no idea how she won both – there were no awards based on her musical ability.

This year, it was The Specials that won the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award with Paul Weller winning the Godlike Genius Award. Both performed and were absolutely fantastic on stage. The entire show was amazing, with no miming in sight!

For a full list of winners, take a quick look below:

Best British Band – Muse

Best International Band – Paramore

Best Solo Artist – Jamie T

Best New Band – Bombay Bicycle Club

Best Live Band – Arctic Monkeys

Best Album – Kasabian – ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’

Best Track – The Big Pink – ‘Dominos’

Best Video – Biffy Clyro – ‘The Captain’

Best Live Event – Blur at Hyde Park

Best Festival –Glastonbury

Best Dancefloor Filler – La Roux – ‘In For The Kill’ (Skream Remix)

Best DVD – The Mighty Boosh – Future Sailors

Giving It Back Fan Award – Lily Allen for her Twitter ticket treasure hunt

Hero Of The Year – Rage Against The Machine

Villain Of The Year – Kanye West

Worst Album – The Jonas Brothers – ‘Lines Vines Trying Times’

Worst Band – JLS

Best Album Artwork – Kasabian – ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’,

Best Band Blog – Radiohead (Radiohead.com/deadairspace)

On Friday, I wrote a post about the plans for Abbey Road studios, the former home of the Beatles and one of the most iconic buildings in the British music industry past or present. According to reports last week, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber had confirmed that he wanted to not only save it but buy it in order to keep it in use. This week, the story is completely different and has definitely thrown my information out of touch!

Now, nobody will be buying Abbey Road because… it’s no longer for sale! Yes, after all the uproar and outrage that such an established and important part of British music history would be sold or worse, it is no longer for sale.

EMI have now taken Abbey Road off the market and are instead looking for investment to revitalise the studios. They have also welcomed news from the National Trust that they are expediting plans to list the building. This may come as a bit of a shock but it is absolutely true. They said so themselves in the following statement:

“In response to recent press speculation, EMI confirms that it is holding preliminary discussions for the revitalisation of Abbey Road with interested and appropriate third parties. Abbey Road studios had, for a number of years, been losing money and we have developed plans to revitalise the studios. These plans would involve a substantial injection of new capital.”

It really is a shame that it took a National Trust campaign and a Facebook campaign to alert EMI to the fact that Abbey Road can still be a viable proposition in the music industry, whether for recording purposes or simply as an attraction. Profitability overrules sentimentality though so if it cannot generate cash then we will probably hear the same rumours again in the near future.

Let’s hope not!

The world has changed a lot since the days of the height of Beatles hysteria. Music has changed time and time again since then, and no circumstance or event highlights that as much as the plight of Abbey Road.

The Beatles made Abbey Road iconic during their heyday, recording many of their albums there in the 1960s and of course naming one of those albums after it. The image of all four Beatles walking across the road on the crossing depicted above is one of the enduring images of British pop. However, the recording studio has now been under threat for some time after EMI announced that they were to sell it.

The London based recording studio was set to be offloaded in an attempt to raise funds to pay off the debts that EMI currently have and a surprise announcement may mean that the studio will not have to close at all. Hot on the heels of Paul McCartney’s expression of the need to save it, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced that he is interested in purchasing it.

This new information has come on the back of numerous Facebook and Twitter campaigns to save the Abbey Road and even the announcement of a National Trust planned campaign should no buyer be found.

Abbey Road and Lloyd Webber go back years because he has used the studio before when recording soundtracks for his musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar. As such, he not only recognises the sentimental value of the place but also the practical use that it can be put to.

A spokesman for Lloyd Webber declared: “”He thinks it is vital that the studios are saved for the future of the music industry in the UK. Abbey Road has such great facilities, with three major recording studios.” He went on to add: “Andrew has probably brought more musicians to record there than anyone else, because it has the capacity to record large orchestral productions.” With a little luck, long may that continue!

Oasis is undoubtedly one f the greatest bands of the past couple of decades in British music, with unbelievable albums like What’s The Story, Morning Glory? making their mark on the face and identity of British music as we know it. However, they are also incredibly well known for their ability to fall out with each other at the drop of a hat, with Liam and Noel Gallagher particularly derogatory about each other, although that really is putting it mildly at the moment.

Of course, Oasis won the award for the best album of the last 30 years at the BRITS on Tuesday night and the reaction of Liam Gallagher has been well documented. He threw the microphone into the crowd as well as the statuette in a move that was highly disrespectful but had an edge of rock n roll about it. This split the country’s opinion, with some disgusted and others cheering, but one thing that everyone agrees on is the fact that Liam was highly disrespectful by failing to mention Noel when he did pick up the award.

Peter Kay, the host of the BRITS and the UK’s favourite comedian, had something to say on the night with his infamous “what a knobhead” comment after Gallagher had left the stage. However, he’s gone a little further on his website, writing the following: “So it was the Brits last night (February 16) and I was honoured to be asked to host the show, especially with it being 30 years old. Congratulations to all the winners, including Noel Gallagher, who sadly didn’t get a mention (and who thankfully isn’t a knobhead).”

Noel Gallagher actually wrote all the songs on the album and so deserved more than a mention. Good on Peter Kay for at least recognising him, but shame on Liam for acting like a complete idiot. Methinks he’s gotten a little too above his station for someone that hasn’t done much for the past decade or so!

There has been so much hype surrounding the major event in British music that occurred today that many people believed the live awards ceremony would fall flat on its face. In fact, the 30^th annual BRIT awards did anything but. I’m sure everyone that watched the show live would have been impressed by a number of the acts, especially those that won their well deserved awards tonight. Having said that, the night belong to one lady and one lady only – the extraordinary Lady GaGa.

Having been nominated in three categories, Lady GaGa was expected to win at least one award, but in the end she wound up taking all of those she had been nominated for home. Her stage performance was also absolutely amazing and definitely took the breath of the audience away. Nobody could say that she did not deserve it.

The winners are listed below in full:

British Male Solo Artist – Dizzee Rascal

British Female Solo Artist – Lily Allen

British Breakthrough Act – JLS

British Group –Kasabian

British Album – Florence & the Machine – Lungs

British Single – JLS – Beat Again

BRITS Performance Of 30 Years – Spice Girls – Wannabe/Who Do You Think You Are (1997)

International Male Solo Artist – Jay-Z

International Female Solo Artist – Lady GaGa

International Breakthrough Act – Lady GaGa

International Album – Lady GaGa – The Fame

BRITS Album Of 30 Years – Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

I just hope that Lady GaGa’s well earned success tonight is not overshadowed by one Cheryl Cole. Having had her husband splashed all over the papers for cheating again this week, she will probably dominate them tomorrow thanks to her atrocious miming and a performance that looked more angry than controlled. I hope not because Lady GaGa most definitely deserves the headlines.

If there was anything that could make me wish that I was able to go to Glastonbury Festival this year it would be the news that I am about to impart, the news that makes me gutted I have to miss it… Muse are headlining on the main Pyramid Stage on the Saturday night of the festival!

U2 had already been announced as the Friday headliner but for anyone that has yet to see Muse live, this is the ultimate performance that you need to see. Muse have been filling stadiums for some years now and have won award after award for their live performances so it will be a fantastic spectacle that you should tune in to see on TV if you cannot be there.

There has also been an announcement regarding the headliner on the closing Sunday night. It is to be the living Motown legend, Stevie Wonder. Also know for his outstanding performances live, this is sure to be the ideal closing act for the festival, ensuring that it goes from strength to strength. Given that it has also recently been announced that the license to hold Glastonbury has been extended for another six years, the line up should prove that such a decision was definitely the right one.

Taking a look at the headliners will highlight the quality of acts queuing up to play, but so does the list of confirmed supporting acts. Jack Johnson, Corrine Bailey Rae, Dizzee Rascal and Andy Williams have also been confirmed.

2010 is officially the 40^th anniversary for Glastonbury and it is expected that 175,000 people will attend this year. Lucky b***ers – they’re certainly in for a hell of a show!

Well, my friends, it was good while it lasted and we always knew that it would inevitably come to a sad end. We could but hope, and hope we did, but now that hope has headed for the hills. Yes, the beginning of the end for free music has arrived.

Although we have all been aware of illegal downloading for some time (and most of us avoid it like the plague), certain record labels have helped to keep the pirates at bay by offering licenses to free music services and allowing them to stream their songs. However, now it has been announced that Warner Music is going to withdraw its licensing privileges and prevent fans listening to their music via free sites like Spotify, Last.fm and We7, all of which earn their revenue via advertising.

The reason why this has been done? A statement from Warner stated that these services and providers were “clearly not positive for the industry”, meaning that they are not lucrative enough for them to continue. Never mind about the fans, the fat cats at the labels are not earning money! As if to ram that point home, Mr Edgar Bronfman Jr. said the following: “The number of potential subscribers dwarfs the number of people who are actually purchasing music on iTunes.”

The music labels do get a royalty from streaming music sites like Spotify whenever they are played. Although this is smaller than the amount offered as a result of a paid download, they still do get paid. It seems to me that Mr Bronfman has lost touch with the public actually and needs to look at it realistically.

There is a reason why people are not downloading much music at the moment and that is called recession. They cannot afford it. That is why the subscription streaming services that Bronfman has advocated will not attract the “hundreds of millions if not billions of people, most of whom are not today either buyers or certainly heavy buyers of music” that he has predicted. 250,000 people pay for Spotify for example, whereas those taking advantage of the free service with ads make up the 95% of the users.

If that does not tell the chief executive, who is probably not short of cash, something then I have no idea what will.

In the mother of all unbelievable battles, it has been announced that The White Stripes are officially suing the US Air Force. Yes you read that correctly. Just to drive the point home, The White Stripes are suing the US Air Force. Some have welcomed this action, with the anti war groups being particularly vocal about this, and some have branded it unpatriotic but either way it looks set to be one of the biggest battles in music in the coming months.

So what exactly is the issue? Well, an advert was screened on TV during Sunday night’s Superbowl showcasing the Air Force in an attempt to recruit those interested in a career in the military. The song used was Fell In Love With A Girl by The White Stripes, which has been re-recorded for the ad. Apparently the Air Force did so without permission and will now have to answer that charge in court.

Jack White has been particularly vocal on the issue and has used the band’s website to put out a statement that made his position crystal clear: “We believe our song was re-recorded and used without permission of the White Stripes, our publishers, label or management. The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserves presenting this advert with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support. The White Stripes support this nation’s military, at home and during times when our country needs and depends on them. We simply don’t want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict, and hope for a safe and speedy return home for our troops.”

Needless to say after that diatribe, the Air Force Reserve had absolutely no comment to make at all. So who is in the right here? And, more importantly, how much will the military have to pay to stop the furore in its tracks?

Kurt Cobain can be described as a 1990s icon, the hero of Grunge and an absolute legend in more ways than one so the legacy that he left behind when he committed suicide on April 5, 1994 began on that very day and has continued to grow ever since. Cited as one of the many rockers that may not have been as big today had he lived, Cobain has undoubtedly gained infamy. However, another element of his legacy is about to make a major impact on the music industry if the latest news and reviews are to be believed.

Born on August 18, 1992, Frances Bean is the daughter of Cobain and wife Courtney Love. She was just a year old when Cobain died at his own hand and has certainly had a rollercoaster of an upbringing with Love if all of the rumours are to be believed. However, with Cobain and Love as parents and the influence of godparents REM’s Michael Stipe and actress Drew Barrymore, it was only a matter of time before she became involved in the music industry and that day is just a few weeks away now.

Now aged 17, Frances is to sing on Evelyn Evelyn’s self titled album with Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Weird Al Yankovic and Andrew WK. Her vocals will be found on the track entitled ‘My Space’.

The Evelyn Evelyn project is being headed up by Amanda Palmer, front woman of the Dresden Dolls and certainly looks as if it is going to be an amazing project. In addition to those on the track with Frances Bean, it also features Jason Webley, Tegan and Sarah and writer Neil Gaiman. And if that is not enough for you then the suggestion of it featuring fictional conjoined twin singers should certainly up the intrigue!

The album is expected to hit the shops on March 30 this year so it will certainly be worth a listen when it comes up.