OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE IN SHOREDITCH
The Shoreditch Arch is a beautifully renovated railway arch situated behind Cargo night club on Rivington Street EC2A. It was unused until 2003 when it was transformed into stunning open plan office space and became home to the friendliest creatives in the whole of Shoreditch.

www.theshoreditcharch.co.uk

MORE SESSIONS ADDED TO GREAT ESCAPE CONVENTION PROGRAMME AS EARLY BIRD DEADLINE APPROACHES
More panels have been added to the line-up for this year's CMU-programmed Great Escape convention, as the deadline for buying delegate passes at the special early bird rate of £120 approaches.

In addition to the previously reported strand of sessions putting the spotlight on DIY, another strand will focus on the music media in 2012, exploring how the music press and music radio are changing as media owners adapt to the digital and social media age.

Drowned In Sound's Sean Adams, This Is Fake DIY's Stephen Ackroyd and Vice's Dan Miller will discuss the changing nature of the music press, while Amazing Radio's Matt Jamison, Juice 107.2's Daniel Nathan and Mr Trick And Wrongtom's Darren Hemmings will consider radio and podcasting. Meanwhile Record Of The Day will lead a debate on the role of music reviewing in the digital era, involving Q's Paul Stokes, The Sun's Jacqui Swift, The Times' Will Hodgkinson, The Line Of Best Fit's Josh Hall and The Guardian's Caspar Llewellyn Smith.

Joining the In Conversations programme - which already includes Xfm's John Kennedy in conversation with 6music's Jon Hillcock, and Glastonbury's Michael Eavis and Bestival's Rob da Bank taking part in the Great Festival Conversation - is Domino Records' Richard King, who will be discussing his brilliant indie-label-reviewing book 'How Soon Is Now?' with The Guardian's Alexis Petridis.

Once again a stack of great content partners will also return, presenting events as part of The Great Escape convention, led by PRS For Music, who will be hosting a whole day of sessions, including debates on the PR battle over copyright reform and opportunities that the second screening phenomenon offer the music business, plus the traditional TGE keynote from PRS For Music's Chief Economist Will Page, which will focus on the emerging music market in Brazil. Elsewhere, PPL will present a panel asking what bands looking for a record deal need to do to make themselves 'label ready', and the Music Publishers Association will reveal some of the secrets about sync.

You will find a full overview of this year's convention as confirmed so far on theCMUwebsite.com, or check out the schedule on escapegreat.com. Though take note, a final raft of sessions is still to be added, this time next week, with more partners, more topics, and more great speakers. Plus, of course, on top of all that there's the fabulous festival line up, also available on escapegreat.com.

All of which means you really ought to be getting your delegates passes sorted asap - and by tomorrow to benefit from the discounted early bird price of £120. Go here.

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MEGAUPLOAD ASKS COURTS FOR ACCESS TO SEIZED FUNDS
Lawyers for MegaUpload formally complained to the American courts on Friday about the US government's refusal to give the accused company access to its seized assets in order to fund a defence against the copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering charges that have been made against the firm.

Although the Hong Kong courts allowed some of the company's assets held there to be unfrozen to make good on unpaid salaries, and the New Zealand courts have allowed some funds to be handed over to Mega founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz to pay for his living and legal costs, the bulk of the assets seized by the States when its authorities raided and shut down the Mega operation in January remain off limits.

But reps for Mega say the company needs access to more cash to ensure the firm and its executives get a fair trial, if and when they are extradited to the US. First, they need to be able to pay legal fees (and they've just engaged star attorney Andrew Schapiro, who won't be cheap), and second they want to buy the servers on which their websites were stored, so they can use them as evidence in court.

As previously reported, the off limits Mega servers have become a contentious issue, as the company which leased the rogue file-transfer firm server space agonises over what to do about the huge amounts of data still clogging up its hardware, now that the Mega empire is unable to pay its bills. The US government says it has all it needs from the servers, so much so they can be wiped, but the Mega defence team want access to the data too, as does the Motion Picture Association Of America, which is planning a civil case against the Mega execs.

Plus, of course, there is the matter of any legitimate files (ie those that don't infringe copyright) stored by former Mega customers on the servers. One former customer has asked the courts to help him get his content back. If Mega was able to buy the servers, its lawyers say they would pull off the evidence they need, and then let former customers reclaim any legitimate data.

But the US government says it won't free up the funds to allow that to happen (former customers should have read the small print of Mega's terms and conditions, the US Attorney overseeing the case said last week, which urged them to keep local back ups too). And the MPAA is concerned that if Mega gets ownership of its former servers, the company might relocate them outside the US and relaunch the service.

But, in a court filing on Friday, Mega's lawyers said that the US government's refusal to let their client access some of its frozen funds to pay for legal fees and to secure ownership of vital evidence amounted to "undue prejudice".

The court papers said: "In essence, the government has taken what it wants from the scene of the alleged crime and is content that the remaining evidence, even if it is exculpatory or otherwise relevant to the defence, be destroyed. And by refusing to permit MegaUpload to use its assets to mount a defence, the government is effectively making sure that MegaUpload has no practical way to preserve the evidence itself".

They continued: "Such a course of proceeding by the government would be troubling in any circumstance. But this is, of course, a criminal case. It is, in fact, what the government has called the largest such case it has ever brought in the history of alleged copyright infringement. If the government's position now wins the day, the integrity of what ensues will be lost - the Mega servers will have been wiped and potentially exculpatory or relevant evidence will have been spoliated, en masse, before being properly surveyed by the parties, not to mention the court".

Now that Team Mega's complaints - which they have been expressing informally for a while - are with the courts, it remains to be seen how the judge responds. A hearing on the matter is expected later this week.

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LIL WAYNE ENTOURAGE ATTACK PHOTOGRAPHER'S BIKE
Lil Wayne's entourage are accused of threatening a photographer and attacking his bike with a skateboard.

According to TMZ, tensions rose when a snapper started photographing Wayne and his posse as they skateboarded outside a church in Miami Beach (reportedly the skating was taking place near a 'no skateboarding' sign, which is possibly why the photographer thought these would make great pictures).

The pap would have got away with it, but seemingly pushed his luck by following the rapper and his friends when they returned to their car. It was then that Wayne's eight man entourage started threatening the photographer, forcing him to delete all his images, pushing him to the ground and spitting on him. Then they smashed the snapper's bike with a skateboard.

According to the gossip site, the photographer promptly reported the incident to the Miami Beach Police Department. Team Wayne are yet to respond to the allegations.

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ONE TIME IDOL FINALIST SUED BY FORMER BANDMATES
Former 'American Idol' contestant, and the most successful 'Idol' runner up in terms of post-show record sales, Chris Daughtry says he is "very hurt" by claims by former bandmates that he has screwed them over on the royalties from four songs.

After appearing on the 2006 series of 'Idol', Daughtry, with rather more rock leanings that the average 'Idol' wannabe, formed a band which took his surname as its moniker. But it wasn't the singer and guitarist's first band, and the new lawsuit - reported on by North Carolina's News & Record - comes from other members of the outfit he performed in prior to his 'Idol' appearance, called Absent Element.

Former Absent Elementers Ryan Andrews, Scott Crawford and Mark Perry claim that four songs on the first Daughtry album were co-written by the Absent Element band members before they disbanded, and that their former frontman previously acknowledged this fact and promised them a share of any revenues the songs generated.

But no share of the loot has been given to Andrews, Crawford or Perry, the new lawsuit claims, which, the legal papers add, amounts to "constructive fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, unfair trade practices and other deceptive and wrongful conduct".

But Daughtry denies that his former bandmates were in any way involved in the writing of the songs they mention, nor that any previous agreement was reached on royalties. In a short statement on his website, the singer said: "I am very hurt by these false accusations. The songs listed in this lawsuit were written solely by me and no one else and at this time, I have no further comment".

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ATTACK AT JESSIE J BLACKBERRY SHOW SPARKS MURDER INVESTIGATION
A murder investigation is now underway after a man attacked during a Blackberry-sponsored Jessie J gig at a South London club last week died this weekend.

Phillip Sherriff from Preston, a sales manager for Blackberry parent company Research In Motion, was attacked with a bottle during the event at the Pulse nightclub in Southwark and, despite being rushed to the Royal London Hospital, he remained in a serious condition throughout the week, and died in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police called the attack "unprovoked".

Ashley Charles, a 25 year old Creative Director for a Leicester-based digital design firm, has been charged over the attack, which is now being treated as murder. The accused appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court on Saturday where a bail application was denied. He will now attend a hearing at the Inner London Crown Court on 20 Apr.

In addition to the tragedy of losing a workmate, the incident is a further blow for the UK division of Blackberry, which last year became associated with the riots in London when it emerged rioters were using the company's BBM social network to plan their attacks. The flagging phone firm has already indicated it may withdraw from the consumer-facing mobile market to concentrate on its B2B products.

Jessie J expressed her sympathies for the friends and family of Sherriff this weekend, writing on Twitter on Sunday: "I am lost for words. All I can say is my thoughts, love and respects are with the family and children of the man who attended the Blackberry gig last week, who sadly lost his life this morning - so sad".

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COHEN TESTIFIES AGAINST FORMER MANAGER IN HARASSMENT CASE
Leonard Cohen was in court last week to give evidence against his former manager Kelley Lynch, who he fired in 2004 amidst allegations she had stolen much of his five million dollar fortune, leaving him facing bankruptcy. Cohen subsequently successfully sued Lynch, though has struggled to claim the $9 million in damages the courts awarded him.

Lynch now faces criminal charges of harassing various people, including Cohen, and of violating previous restraining orders issued against her. In court the singer, who once had a brief romantic relationship with Lynch, said his former manager started bombarding him with long and rambling voicemail messages and emails shortly after he fired her, and that they subsequently increased in number, and sometimes included violent threats.

At one point Lynch was sending him 20 to 30 messages a day, including ten minute long voicemails and 50 page long emails. In some, the former manager said the singer "needed to be taken down and shot", while others accused Cohen of drug addiction.

Said the singer: "Ms Lynch routinely accused me of being a drug addict and many other things. Of course I didn't like it, and I felt my reputation was being assailed, and the reputation of my family". Regards the death threats he continued: "It makes me feel very conscious about my surroundings. Every time I see a car slow down, I get worried".

Cohen, of course, has returned to touring after losing his fortune to Lynch, and enjoyed something of a revival of his career in the process. Lynch is currently being held in custody as the criminal case against her goes through the motions.

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DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS REMAINS CRITICAL OF GROOVESHARK'S SUBPOENA
Digital Music News has again hit out at Grooveshark over the streaming company's attempts to find out who left an anonymous comment on the industry website alleging that they worked for the digital firm and were routinely asked by bosses there to upload unlicensed content to the organisation's servers.

As previously reported, the latest lawsuit by the Universal, Warner and Sony music companies alleges that Grooveshark executives routinely upload unlicensed content to their own website. This would deprive Grooveshark bosses of protection from copyright infringement claims via the Digital Millennium Copyight Act, which only helps digital companies if it's customers uploading content files without licence. Grooveshark denies its own staff have ever been involved in uploading unlicensed files, though Universal says that data pulled off the digital firm's servers as part of an earlier legal squabble show that they do. The major also presented the anonymous DMN comment as evidence.

Presenting an anonymous comment on a website as evidence in court was always a bit ambitious on Universal's part, and has led to Grooveshark owners Escape Media Group subpoenaing DMN in a bid to identify the author of the accusatory comment, and to assess whether the digital news site has any relationship with Universal or its execs that might make them biased in this case.

Although Grooveshark likes to position itself as the little guy in its David & Goliath style legal battle with the major record companies, DMN says it's the digital firm sending in the expensive and intimidating lawyers in this dispute. In a post on his ongoing battle with the Groovesharkers, DMN's Paul Reskinoff writes: "Of course, a legal team this extensive (and expensive) means endless and redundant paperwork, lecturing 'nastygrams' and not-so-friendly phone calls. That's probably part of a well-worn intimidation tactic designed to bury 'opponents', but often divorced from the actual merits of the case. We have a shoe-string budget for defending against this onslaught".

Nevertheless, Reskinoff says he hopes his arguments will prevail at a court hearing in LA next month on Grooveshark's subpoena. The DMN founder maintains his company has no more information about the anonymous commentator, despite a Grooveshark attorney "lecturing us with completely misguided and uninformed information related to database architecture". And anyway, the website should be protected from subpoena claims like this, Reskinoff argues, by the First Amendment and America's shield laws for protecting journalists from having to reveal their sources.

He also questions why Grooveshark lawyers are telling the New York courts, hearing the Universal litigation, that the DMN comment is an irrelevance that should be ignored, while telling the LA courts, hearing the subpoena claim, that the commenter's identity is key to their defence in the major label legal battle.

You can read DMN's full update on its own little legal battle with one of the more controversial streaming music platforms here: www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120405grooveshark

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JIM MARSHALL 1923-2012
Jim Marshall, the founder of Marshall Amplification, died last Thursday at a hospice in Milton Keynes, aged 88. He had suffered several strokes in recent years and developed cancer in 2011, according to his son.

Born in Acton, West London in 1923, Marshall spent much of his early life in hospital due to tuberculosis, and as a result was exempt from military service during World War Two. Instead, he became an electrician during the day and in the evenings worked as a singer. Using knowledge from his day job, he built amplifiers that were light enough to transport on a trailer pulled by a bicycle (petrol being too expensive during the war) but powerful enough to carry his vocals.

When the drummer in his group was conscripted, Marshall took his place, in part due to a shortage of drummers not fighting in the armed forces at the time. His skill on the drums grew throughout the war and the rest of the 1940s, and in the 50s he began teaching, with pupils including Mitch Mitchell, later of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and others who went on to success.

In 1960, Marshall opened a musical instrument shop in Hanwell, West London, where a number of customers, including a young Pete Townshend, complained that guitar amplifiers at the time weren't big enough or loud enough. Having built small but reasonably powerful amps for himself during the war, Marshall began experimenting with this new spec, and launched Marshall Amplification in 1962.

Having filled a gap in the market with 'the Marshall sound', many of rock music's biggest names quickly began using his equipment, including Townshend, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, helping the 'Marshall Stack' to become as iconic as the Gibson and Fender guitars the rockers played.

The brand was further cemented into the popular conscious with the release of comedy film 'This Is Spinal Tap', in which the character Nigel Tuffnel proudly shows off a customised Marshall amp which features a volume dial that goes up to eleven, rather than ten - "It's one louder", he proudly proclaims. So well known is this scene that these days even the BBC iPlayer's volume control goes up to eleven.

Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, Marshall Amplification released a statement on Thursday, saying: "Jim rose to become one of the forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar, as we know and love it today, to be born. In addition to the creation of the amps, chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes".

Some of those guitar heroes also paid tribute last week. Former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash tweeted: "The news of Jim Marshall passing is deeply saddening. [Rock n roll] will never be the same without him. But, his amps will live on FOREVER!"

Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello also took to Twitter, saying: "[My] amp [was] stolen in 88. The store had a Marshall [amp and the] latest solid state fancy one. Flipped a coin, changed my sound and my life".

Meanwhile, Paul Weller told BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row': "[My Marshall amp] is at least 40 years old and still sounds fantastic ... for me it's just the exactly right amp, and I don't know if anyone's really particularly improved on it, to be honest".

Marshall is survived by his two children Terry and Victoria, and step children Paul and Dawn.

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DUBLINERS BANJO PLAYER BARNEY MCKENNA 1939-2012
Barney McKenna, the last surviving member of the original line-up of The Dubliners, has died. He passed away suddenly on Thursday after collapsing in the kitchen of his home in Howth, County Dublin.

Originally known as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, The Dubliners formed in 1962, soon after switching to their more famous name, taken from the James Joyce collection of short stories, 'Dubliners'. Their big break came the following year when they performed at the Edinburgh Festival and were asked to appear on BBC programme 'Hootenany', which in turn helped them to gain a record contract with Transatlantic Records.

McKenna had been a full time member of the band for 50 years at the time of his death, the longest serving and last remaining member of the original line-up and recently performed two 50th anniversary shows with the band in Dublin in January. He was due to begin a tour of Denmark with the band next week.

Dubliners guitarist Eamonn Campbell told The Irish Times: "I can't come to terms with the suddenness of it. He was unique, there will never be another Barney. He was very droll man and great company. You'd never know what he'd come out with next. He was just a great guy. My favourite song that he sang was 'I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day' and that was true about Barney".

McKenna is survived by his partner Tina, his brother and sister Séan and Marie, plus several nephews and nieces.

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DAMON HOPES BLUR IS OVER, AND RECKONS GORILLAZ MIGHT BE TOO
Despite past indications from various members of the band that new Blur projects or recordings may occur at some point, Damon Albarn has now told The Guardian one last single release and a big gig for the Olympics will be it for the Britpop outfit.

Well, he said he "hoped" that would be it for his band, which provides a get out, I suppose. Cynics might wonder if the "final show ever" promise is designed to boost interest in the Olympics-closing Hyde Park show, featuring Blur, New Order and The Specials, which for many is one of a number of lacklustre line-ups provided by Britain's festival promoters this year.

Commenting on their upcoming Olympics show Albarn told the paper: "I'll give it 100%, like I did last time [we played Hyde Park]. And that's it. And I hope that's the truth: that that's how we end it".

While on the new single, 'Under The Westway' (which some might argue is in itself solid proof of why it's definitely time for Blur to stop), he added: "We recorded it live. One take. It's the first Blur song where it's been one take, because previously I never finished the lyrics before we recorded. This time, I'd done that, so we were actually able to perform it. Which is quite nice, because I don't really see any more recordings after this. So it's nice to have finally done one song where we did it properly".

And just in case you think that means Albarn will have more time to spend on Gorillaz, think again, because that project is at its end too. Well, it's definitely on hiatus, seemingly because the cartoon band's visuals man Jamie Hewlett has tired of the project, reckoning his input has become secondary to the music. Asked by The Guardian about the future of his other big project, Albarn continued: "Jamie [reckons it's over], which is fair enough. I think we were at cross purposes somewhat on that last record, which is a shame. So until a time comes when that knot has been untied..."

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LADY GAGA ANNOUNCES UK SHOWS
Lady Gaga will perform two UK shows in September as part of a wider European tour under the banner 'The Born This Way Ball'. Support will come from The Darkness and tickets will go on sales on 13 Apr at 9am.

Gaga says of the show: "The Haus of Gaga and I have worked for months conceiving a spectacular stage. 'The Born This Way Ball' is an electro-metal pop-opera; the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom Of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating".

Right. Well, here are the dates:

8 Sep: London, Twickenham Stadium
11 Sep: Manchester Arena

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

BEAT HERDER, The Ribble Valley, Lancashire, 29 Jun - 1 Jul: Aeroplane, Fake Blood, Etienne De Crecy, The Parov Stelar Band, The Whip, Rudimental, Girl Unit are amongst the latest editions to the Beat Herder bill. They join Orbital, Lee Scratch Perry, Goldie, James Holden, Pariah, D/R/U/G/S and The Orb Sound System. www.beatherder.co.uk

BERLIN FESTIVAL, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, Germany, 7-8 Sep: The Killers will headline this year's Berlin Festival, alongside other new additions including Kate Nash, Junior Boys and We Have Band. They join previously announced acts such as Sigur Rós, Friendly Fires, Little Dragon, Metronomy, Totally Enourmous Extinct Dinosaurs, SBTRKT and Major Lazer. www.berlinfestival.de

BEAUTIFUL DAYS, Escot Park, Devon, 17-19 Aug: Toots and The Maytals, Katzenjammer, The Black Seeds, Juan Zelada, Dub Pistols, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Mad Dog Mcrea, Fay Hield and The Hurricane Party, Shy FX, Zinc, Eat Static and Mampi Swift are all new aboard The Levellers' annual bash. www.beautifuldays.org

CAMDEN CRAWL, various venues, Camden, London, 4-6 May: The ever-expanding Camden Crawl line-up has, erm, expanded some more. Among the new additions are Johnny Foreigner, Loney Dear, Micachu & The Shapes, Veronica Falls, Bo Ningen, Mistabishi, Ayah Marar, FOE, Kyla La Grange, Liz Green, The Milk, Post War Years, The Rumour Said Fire, Rustie, Simian Ghost, Weird Dreams, and more. www.thecamdencrawl.com

CREAMFIELDS, Daresbury, Cheshire, 24-26 Aug: The Chemical Brothers are the latest edition to this year's line-up, joining the likes of Deadmau5, Tiësto, David Guetta, Avicii, Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Example, Axwell, Steve Angello, Sub Focus, and more. www.creamfields.com

DOUNE THE RABBIT HOLE, Duncarron Fort, Carron Valley, Kilsyth, Scotland, 24-26 Aug: In a brand new venue for this year the Doune The Rabbit Hole festival has so far announced a line-up of acts including The Phantom Band, JD Twitch, Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, Sparrow & The Workshop, The Lovely Eggs, Holy Mountain, Three Blind Wolves, and the wonderfully named John Knox Sex Club. www.dounetherabbithole.co.uk

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL, Donington Park, 8-10 Jun: Thirteen acts have joined the Download line-up anew, which seems like an appropriate number. They are Refused, Kids In Glass Houses, Lower Than Atlantis, Four Year Strong, Gallows, Don Broco, Porter Robinson, T Mills, Fearless Vampire Killers, Kobra & The Lotus, Edguy, Rival Sons and Black Spiders. www.downloadfestival.co.uk

EASTERN ELECTRICS FESTIVAL, Clapham Common, London, 4 Aug: This one day event in London has just added Pan-Pot, Amirali, Sebo K, Greg Wilson, Ralph Lawson, Luca C & Ali Love, Trickski and Dusky amongst others to its line-up. www.easternelectricsfestival.com

ELECTRIC ZOO, Randall's Island Park, New York, 1-2 Sep: This New York City electronic festival has announced its first batch of acts for 2012, including David Guetta, Axwell, Tiësto, Steve Aoki, Boys Noize, Twelfth Planet, A-Trak, Benny Benassi, Flux Pavilion & Doctor P, Andy C, Knife Party, Martin Solveig, Porter Robinson and Sasha. www.electriczoofestival.com

GLASS BUTTER BEACH, Crugan Beach, Nr Abersoch, Cardigan Bay, 17-18 Aug: Chicane, Grandmaster Flash, Charlotte O'Connor and The Kickbacks are the first acts to be announced for this multi-action sports and music festival that takes place on lush fields overlooking Cardigan Bay and on the festival's very own private beach in North Wales. www.glassbutterbeach.com

GREEN MAN FESTIVAL, Glanusk Park, Powys, Wales, 17-19 Aug: Van Morrison will headline this year's Green Man, joining the likes of Feist, The Walkmen, Yann Tiersen, Ghostpoet, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Tune-Yards, Of Montreal, Michael Kiwanuka, Friends and Three Trapped Tigers. www.greenman.net

GUILFEST, Stoke Park, Guilford, Surrey, 13-15 Jul: Joining this family fun-fest's tenth anniversary party are Bryan Ferry and Chic featuring Nile Rodgers. Joining them to cut the birthday cake and then dance around its ashes (or something) will be Tim Minchin, Olly Murs, Jools Holland, Jimmy Cliff, and more. www.guilfest.co.uk

HULTSFRED FESTIVAL, Hultsfred, Sweden, 14-16 Jun: Amongst those on the bill of this Swedish festival are The Stone Roses, The Cure, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Gorillaz Soundystem, Kasabian, Marina & The Diamonds, Mumford & Sons, The xx, Noah & The Whale, The Vaccines, James Blake, Bat For Lashes, Spector and Willy Moon. Also, The Cardigans will perform their 1998 album 'Gran Turismo' in full. www.hultsfredsfestivalen.se

IN THE WOODS, secret woodland location, south of London, 1 Sep: This intimate affair run by indie outfit The Laurel Collective returns for its seventh year with Alt-J, Kwes, Maia, Peter & Kerry, Stealing Sheep and Sculptures so far listed on the bill, along with the organisers themselves, ie Laurel Collective. www.inthewoodsfestival.co.uk

KENDAL CALLING, Lowther Deer Park, Hackthorpe, The Lake District, 27-29 Jul: We Are Scientists, The View, Tribes, Spector, DJ Yoda And The Transiberian Marching Band, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Beans On Toast, Toy, Swiss Lips, Hyde & Beast, Toddla T, Mosca, Jaymo & Andy George and / D/R/U/G/S are amongst a plethora of acts to join the Kendal Calling line-up.
www.kendalcalling.com

LAND OF KINGS, various venues, Dalston, London, 4-5 May: The second wave of line-up announcements for this year's Land Of Kings festival in Dalston have arrived, bringing Speech Debelle, Maurice Fulton, Bicep, Trophy Wife, Bos Angeles, NZCA/Lines, Breach, Hannah Holland, Stay+, Mo Kolours, Dreamtrak, Hall Of Mirrors, Spirit Of Mantra, All The Queen's Ravens and Stealing Sheep into the fold. www.landofkings.co.uk

OFF FESTIVAL, Katowice, Poland, 3-5 Aug: Thurston Moore, Baroness, Josh T Pearson, Akron/Family and Megafaun join previously announced acts such as Moore's soon to be ex-wife Kim Gordon, King Creosote & John Hopkins, The House Of Love, Forest Swords, Henry Rollins, Iggy & The Stooges, Shabazz Palaces, Iceage, Swans, Ty Seagall, Nils Frahm and Connan Mockasin. www.off-festival.pl/en/2012/

SLAM DUNK, Leeds University/University Of Hertfordshire, 27 May: Charlie Simpson will headline the Acoustic Stage and Hadouken the Dance Stage at this punk and metal fest. Also joining them afresh on the bill are Canterbury, Heavy In The Day, Marmozets, Into It Over It, former Valencia member Shane Henderson, and Rob Lynch. www.slamdunkmusic.com/slam-dunk-festival

T IN THE PARK, Balado, Kinross-shire, Scotland, 6-8 Jul: Orbital have been added as headliners of the Slam Tent. Also new on the bill are DJ Yoda, Gary Beck, Paul Kalkbrenner and Hans Bouffmyhre, joining the likes of Snow Patrol, The Stone Roses, Kasabian, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Florence And The Machine, Tinie Tempah, New Order, David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Nicki Minaj. www.tinthepark.com

TUSK FESTIVAL, Star & Shadow, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 5-6 Oct: The second Tusk Festival will bring acts from around the globe to the Star & Shadow venue and cinema in Newcastle this October. Already on the bill are Keiji Haino, Pelt, Hieroglyophic Being and The Dead C member Michael Morley's solo project Gate. www.tuskfestival.com

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DAVID CAMERON NOT HAPPY WITH RECORD INDUSTRY'S RESPONSE TO RAUNCHY VIDEO REPORT
David Cameron is disappointed at the music industry's efforts to regulate access by children to overly-sexualised pop promos, and plans to host a summit on the issue next month, according to the Daily Telegraph.

As previously reported, pop videos were among the things criticised for exposing young people to overly sexualised content in a government report published last summer and authored by Mothers Union boss Reg Bailey. The record industry pre-empted the report by announcing it was extending its 'parental advisory' labelling programme, which identifies content that is possibly inappropriate for children on music CDs and DVDs, to the digital domain, with both audio and video services pledging to more clearly identify such tracks and vids.

But, the Telegraph says, Bailey and Cameron reckon the music industry should be doing more to block access for children to more raunchy or violent videos, especially online. And, according to the broadsheet, a particular target is the major label owned VEVO which, apparently, does less than YouTube to block those under eighteen from seeing raunchy music clips.

The paper quotes Bailey as saying: "Many of the industries mentioned in last year's report have responded positively to our recommendations. I cannot say that has been the case with music videos. Age ratings should be introduced for music videos and there is also a clear case for age-verification for music video websites".

It's thought record label bosses and execs from music video services will be asked to attend a meeting at 10 Downing Street later this month. Publishers of lads mags like Loaded, FHM and Nuts are also expected to be called in to justify their responses to last year's Bailey Report.

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UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING MAKES FILM & TV APPOINTMENTS
Universal Music Publishing last week announced two new appointments in its UK Film & TV department, which has just been revamped.

Becca Gatrell has been promoted to the position of Head of Film & TV Creative while Tom Foster joins the major from Warner Chappell as Head of Film & TV Licensing. The two execs will head up the department day-to-day, reporting to UMPG Europe/UK President Paul Connolly.

Confirming the appointments, Connolly told CMU: "We are delighted to announce the promotion of Becca and to welcome Tom to our company. Under their joint guidance I am confident our Film & TV team will continue to support and protect the creative endeavours of our writers and to create excellent opportunities for our catalogue of songs to all forms of visual media".

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FACEBOOK BUYS INSTAGRAM
Facebook is spending a mere billion of its loot buying popular mobile-based photo-sharing service Instagram. The photo service will stay separate from the social network, Facebook bosses have said.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said the acquisition was significant because his company didn't usually buy companies that were so established, and had so many existing users, adding that other such takeovers are not likely in the future.

Regards keeping Instagram as a standalone entity, he continued: "We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook".

Facebook's purchase of Instagram came as the company offered an Android app for the first time, the service previously only being available on Apple devices.

Read Mark Zuckerberg's full statement here: www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10100318398827991

And Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom's statement here: blog.instagram.com/post/20785013897/instagram-facebook

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LAST.FM APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF MUSIC
Last.fm last week announced the appointment of a new Head Of Music in the form of Chris Price, who has previously worked in music programming roles at both MTV and Radio 1, and before that had marketing roles at major labels.

Confirming the appointment, Tom Lisack of Last.fm owners the CBS Interactive Music Group told reporters: "We're excited for Chris to step into the role, and lead the team forward on content and artist programmes that really showcase the strength of the brand, as well as the opportunities that make Last.fm so appealing to the music community who engage with it daily".

Price himself added: "As a music fan first and foremost, I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Last.fm, the best digital music discovery service in the world. I can't wait to begin exploring the possibilities of working with colleagues across the wider CBS Interactive Music family".

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WELLER WATCHES 'X-FACTOR', BUT DOESN'T LIKE IT
So, for any of you that are collecting 'aging rockers dissing 'X-Factor' quotes, here are two more courtesy of a recent edition of the Radio Times.

First up Paul Weller, who when asked if he'd appear on 'X-Factor' or 'The Voice' told the magazine: "Would I be a judge? Would I hell. I'd be too embarrassed to be on those shows. You get some of these kids who think they're a little bit 'edgy', got a bit of a Pete Doherty haircut. You're not edgy, really, mate. Otherwise you wouldn't be on an effing talent show, would you?"

When asked if Simon Cowell was due some credit for helping get 'X' alumni One Direction to the top of the US albums chart, Weller continued: "Dunno, cause I've never heard em. I do know what you're talking about. But I wouldn't give him anything, personally".

Despite having never heard 1D sing, Weller has admitted to sometimes tuning into the 'X' franchise, something Noel Gallagher had already revealed via Sky Arts' 'Jo Whiley' show. Gallagher said: "Weller watches it. He denies it, but I know for a fact that he does because his daughter is one of my daughter's best friends. I'd go to her: 'Did you watch 'The X Factor'?' and she said: 'Yeah, watched it with my dad'. And I'd say: 'Well that is interesting'"

But Weller has responded to that claim via Shortlist, saying that he may well watch the show with his daughter, but that doesn't mean he has to like it. "Yeah, I do watch it, but I also watch 'Peppa Pig' with my six year old boy. And I'm more of a fan of 'Peppa Pig' than I am of 'The X-Factor'. If anything, it makes more sense".

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Radio Times-based 'X-Factor' dissing, Jools Holland has also criticised the talent show machine - though in a slightly more polite 'do em if you want' kind of way. He told the mag: "Budding artists need a break, I suppose. But music's not like a competition. It's an art form. I wouldn't knock the competition shows if that's what people want to do. But there's a difference between having it like a game show and having it as something that connects with your spirit and moves you ... that's what music's supposed to be about".

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