A round up of music and music business events happening in the next seven days...

MIDEM. It's still going and showing no sign of stopping. Well, OK, it'll stop tomorrow, but until then, anything could happen! Not literally. Anyway, today is 'Visionary Monday' at MIDEM, where you'll get to see the likes of Blink 182's Mark Hoppus, Robert Scoble and more speak. And look out for a summary of key MIDEM announcements in tomorrow's CMU Daily.

MusicTank live music course. The 2013 edition of MusicTank's live music training course kicks off on Tuesday. Once again led by Andy Inglis, the programme will include guest speakers Dave Newton of WeGotTickets, Ruth Barlow of Beggars Group, Carina Jirsch of Schoneberg Concerts, and more.

MTV Brand New For 2013 winner announced. I know, you thought it had already been decided who was going to be big this year, but bringing up the rear after the pundit-led BRITs Critics' Choice and BBC Sound Of 2013 is the punter-voted MTV Brand New, which will on Friday announce the winner of the public vote from the shortlist announced last year.

Super Bowl. America's annual TV advertising extravaganza takes place this Sunday, and will see Beyonce providing the musical entertainment. Does this mean a live Destiny's Child reunion too? Who knows, maybe. Will she lip-sync? Who knows, maybe. Can I think of anything else to say about this? No.

New releases. Speaking of Destiny's Child, just in case you thought me mentioning a reunion was completely random, they have a new greatest hits compilation out today, which features their first new song for eight years. It's almost timed too perfectly for Super Bowl weekend, isn't it? Also out this week are new albums from Cult Of Luna, Local Natives, Adam Green & Binki Shapiro, Ducktails and The History Of Apple Pie. There's also new No Pain In Pop compilation 'The Bedroom Club II' and the latest EP from Flux Pavilion.

Gigs. Well, while Little Mix and Plan B both head out on arena tours, back in London Jane Birkin will be performing songs by her late ex-partner Serge Gainsbourg at Cadogan Hall, and Enter Shikari will play a free show at the 100 Club. Also touring this week are Dinosaur Jr, The History Of Apple Pie, Indians, METZ, Men Without Hats and Thurston Moore, who brings with him jazz-folk great Michael Chapman as a travelling buddy.

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OVER 230 DIE IN BRAZILIAN CLUB FIRE
At least 233 people have died in a horrific nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, in the country's Southern-most region of Rio Grande do Sul. Echoing the fire that occurred at a Great White gig in Rhode Island in 2003, in which 100 fans and the band's guitarist died, it is thought this weekend's tragedy most likely occurred after a band set off pyrotechnics of some description.

Eyewitnesses recall seeing the ceiling above the stage at the Kiss Club catching fire after flares were lit by the band. The fire then quickly spread throughout the venue as a packed audience tried to escape the flames. Reports suggest only one small exit was open at the time contributing to the high death toll, with fire fighters having to demolish a wall to rescue those trapped inside.

It is also thought that toxic fumes from burning fixtures inside the venue may have contributed to the problem, disorientating those trying to escape the venue. Firefighters reportedly found in the region of 50 bodies in the club's toilets, and it's thought some clubbers mistook doors to the toilet facilities for an emergency exit.

Although reports vary regards the number of victims in the fire, the BBC reports that Brazilian authorities have published the names of 230 of those who died, while three further bodes are still to be identified. A further hundred or so clubbers are still receiving hospital treatment. It is thought the club was hosting an event for local university students, and therefore most of those killed were in their late teens.

Speaking to BBC Brasil, Sergeant Arthur Rigue from the local fire department, said: "I never witnessed a tragedy like this in my whole career. These people are so young... There were many bodies piled up in various parts of the place. Some were in the toilet. They died of asphyxiation".

In the wake of the tragedy, Brazilian officials announced that they were postponing a ceremony due to take place in the city's capital to mark the fact it is now 500 days until the 2014 football World Cup, while Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has cut short a visit to Chile to fly to Santa Maria.

The fire and large death toll is likely to throw a new spotlight on the use of pyrotechnics in smaller venues not really equipped to accommodate such effects, and the responsibilities of venue owners, tour managers and artists themselves to be aware of such risks. Since the high profile club fire in Rhode Island in 2003, similar tragedies have occurred in Buenos Aires, Bangkok and the Russian city of Perm.

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MARTIN MILLS CALLS FOR MORE SUPPORT FOR RIGHTS OWNERS FROM TECH-GIANT-OBSESSED POLITICAL CLASS
Beggars chief Martin Mills was yesterday presented with an Icon award by Billboard at the MIDEM conference in Cannes. And after eighteen months in which Mills has so often been the highest profile critic of the major music companies - and in particular the two EMI acquisitions that made Universal and Sony ever more dominant in the wider music rights business - this time the Beggars boss used his moment in the spotlight to discuss those areas where he is in agreement with his bigger rivals.

Although criticising the "predatory behaviour" of the majors, and expressing concerns at Sony/ATV/EMI's recent decision to licence Pandora in the US directly rather than via the collective licensing system (a dominant rights owner using its size to secure a better deal than everyone else, Mills reckons), the latest Billboard icon told his audience: "I want to address the lack of support that governments, politicians and bureaucrats worldwide show to the creative industries".

He added: "Many [in governmental and political circles] pay lip service to the value and importance of the creative economy, but most fail to match that with their actions. Creative industries are built upon strong and defendable intellectual property rights, and without that they will inevitably wither and fail. It is impossible to make the investments to produce new creative goods without the security that ownership of them is protected. Yet governments are seduced daily by elements of the new technology industry into diluting and compromising that security".

Admitting that rights owners - especially the bigger ones - have made various mistakes in the way they licence online content services in the last fifteen years, and that the music rights industry still needed to work harder on developing better cross-territory licences, he continued: "I don't believe that the present day music industry is a reluctant licensor".

And, he added, "we do not need to have control of our rights taken away from us, to be forced to licence that in which we have invested at uneconomic prices, to simply allow huge tech firms to make even huger profits". Yes, music companies needed tech companies just like tech companies need content, but "as someone who invests in music - and when I looked at the numbers a few years ago we had written off £25 million in unrecouped advances to artists over the years - it makes me fume when politicians cosy up to the big techs at our cost and spout philosophically about the needs of the modern world, about us being dinosaurs, and about music's irresistible urge to be liberated and free".

"All in life needs balance and vision, and the likes of [European digital commissioner] Neelie Kroos miss that point. When businesses make money out of music, music rights owners must have the right to a fair share of that income". Noting also that the music industry pumps a lot more into the tax system than many of the tech giants putting pressure on rights owners, Mills concluded: "I'm incensed about the discrimination and the lack of understanding with which those like us who spend their lives creating art that brings people joy, can get treated by those in power. I very much hope that we can all be a part of changing that, because unless we do, the ladder we climbed will not be there for those who follow us".

Elsewhere at MIDEM yesterday, U2 manager Paul McGuinness, who last year used his Cannes contribution to hit out at Google for failing to stop infringing content from appearing high up in its web searches, returned to that topic once more. According to Music Ally, he told the industry shindig: "I don't want to engage in Google-bashing, but there is a sense of unease across Europe, across the world, about Google. Google have been making encouraging noises about restricting illegal sites or directions to illegal sites for acquiring music. The noises are very encouraging, but I'd like to see some action. It's as simple as that".

Read Mills full speech on the Billboard website, and Music Ally's full report on McGuinness's comments here.

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MPG ANNOUNCES NEW STANDARD FOR EMBEDDING ISRCS INTO WAVS
The UK's Music Producer's Guild has announced the launch of a new standard for the embedding of International Standard Recording Codes - the code used to uniquely identify any one sound recording - into WAV files.

It is hoped that the adoption of this standard, created in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union, will simplify the reporting of the use of tracks by broadcasters, and the distribution of broadcast royalties. The system would also ensure that ISRCs are carried through the digital aggregation process, and could power a global database containing credit information associated with a track, hopefully overcoming a digital music gripe particularly important to the producer and sound engineer community, shoddy crediting (which, arguably, is a violation of a creator's moral rights in some copyright systems).

The MPG is planning a launch presentation to outline its new standard, and is calling on labels, rights administrators, artists and managers, broadcasters and industry trade groups to get behind the initiative. More when we get it.

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MORRISSEY HOSPITALISED AS JOYCE TALKS SMITHS REUNION INTEREST
Morrissey was hospitalised in Detroit on Friday with a suspected bladder infection, causing a number of shows on the singer's US tour to be cancelled. A Thursday night show had already been pulled, seemingly because of illness in his band, and a Friday night gig in Minneapolis and Saturday show in Chicago were also pulled once Morrissey himself had been diagnosed with the bladder condition. It's not yet clear when the singer will be able to resume with his American tour.

Though while he's in his hospital bed, Mozza will be able to contemplate recent comments from his former bandmate Mike Joyce who apparently told The Sun he'd be rather up for a Smiths reunion. As previously reported, following the customary Smiths reunion rumours that circulated last year, heightened by the return of fellow Mancunian reunion hold outs The Stone Roses, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr denied they had any interest to revisit their old band.

But Joyce told The Sun: "It would sound great. I'm a better player than I was. Morrissey's voice is still incredible, Johnny is playing great. With the equipment and PA systems 30 years on, if we got up on stage and played, it would sound incredible. A promoter asked me, 'Why don't you just do it? It would make millions of people happy'. I said, 'You're asking the wrong man'. I don't think about it every day. But if they asked me, I'd probably say yes. If you put everyone in the same room, it's amazing how things can turn around".

Hmm, we might have to take Joyce's name off The Smiths' recent CMU Artists Of The Year trophy.

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SIGUR RÓS KEYBOARDIST LEAVES, AS BAND PREVIEW NEW LP
It's all change at Sigur Rós HQ, as they lose keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson but gain a new track towards their seventh studio LP.

Frontman Jonsi et al shared those and other such truths whilst talking to fans via this Reddit dialogue, saying that Sveinsson's leaving the band had been "on a good note" but that he had wanted to go "for some time", adding: "He said he spent half his life in the band and it was time to do something different".

The band also revealed that they'd started making a follow-on to 2012's 'Valtari', adding that they are going to carry that on between the various live dates they're playing in the coming months.

This segment of a weird and distinctly un-Sigur Rós-like new track, tagged 'sr7' (aka Sigur Rós seven), is listenable in the mean time.

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SONY REPORTEDLY SIGNING DAFT PUNK
According to Billboard, Sony Music is close to signing Daft Punk via its Columbia Records division. The French dance duo have previously released all their artist albums via EMI, with their most recent work, the soundtrack to the 'Tron: Legacy' movie, coming out via Disney's label.

If the reports are true, it would be a good signing for a major clearly keen to boost its electronic and dance music credentials, having recently signed up Depeche Mode and taken a stake in New York-based EDM label Ultra Music. Presumably Columbia would release the long mooted new Daft Punk longer player, reportedly featuring Chic's Nile Rodgers, which most people now expect to be released this spring.

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RCA SIGNS X-FACTOR FINALIST JAHMENE DOUGLAS
Sony Music has signed up another finalist from last year's 'X-Factor' talent irritant, in the form of Jahmene Douglas, having already done deals with Union J and Ella Henderson as well as show winner James Arthur. Douglas has signed to Sony's RCA division.

Says Douglas: "I'm so excited about signing to RCA. They have such a rich heritage of amazing artists. [Label boss] Colin Barlow and his team share my vision of being a timeless artist and I can't wait to start recording my first album. Let the journey begin!"

That journey will begin with a jaunt round the UK on the 'X-Factor Live Tour', before settling down in a studio to record some tunes like. Good times.

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THE SLOW SHOW SIGN ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING DEAL
Rough Trade Publishing has signed up new Manchester-based band The Slow Show to a publishing deal, which will include sync representation.

Confirming the deal, Cathi Gibson, MD of Rough Trade Publishing, which is independent from both the label and record store business of the same name, told CMU: "[The Slow Show] have great sync potential and their original sound and writing is grabbing deserved attention. Their material will shortly be made available on Rough Trade's specialist [sync] site rough-cuts.com".

The band's manager JC Caddy added: "The band are delighted to sign with Rough Trade Publishing in what is a very credible and exciting partnership and where the emphasis is on quality not quantity".

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DOWNTOWN PUBLISHING SIGNS DEAL WITH ONO
Fresh from splitting off from its sister record label business, Downtown Music Publishing announced a deal late last week with Yoko Ono that will see the independent administrate the song rights belonging to both Lenono Music and Ono Music, which together include John Lennon's solo catalogue and Ono's own complete output. EMI Music Publishing previously represented the works.

Confirming the deal, DMP President Justin Kalifowitz told reporters: "We are both honoured and humbled to represent the iconic songs of John and Yoko. We look forward to creating new opportunities that will expand the reach of their timeless music and message".

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KOBALT SIGNS PUBLISHING DEAL WITH LADY ANTEBELLUM
Kobalt's US division last week signed a worldwide administration deal with country pop trio Lady Antebellum. The publisher will provide creative, sync and administration services for some of the trio's catalogue, as well as the songs penned by the band on their upcoming new album.

Kobalt's Senior VP Whitney Daane told CMU: "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with such unique individual and collective talent as Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott. As songwriters, they each bring their own creative vision for Lady Antebellum. Their collaboration has created one of country music's top bands, and they are truly a global ambassador for the format. We are honoured that Lady Antebellum has chosen Kobalt and look forward to being a part of their ongoing and future success".

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BONOBO SHARES LP DETAILS, NEW TRACK, LIVE DATES
Ninja Tune-signed Bonobo has just signalled a 1 Apr release for his first LP since 2010's 'Black Sands'. Characterised as a "stride forward" for the Brighton DJ, 'The North Borders' has already given out its first track, one titled 'Cirrus', for free listening via this video.

Meanwhile, 250 twelve-inch vinyls featuring another brand new track will also be appearing via Bonobo and co's White Label Competition in various record shops at various times in the near future. As well as the new track, each record will also carry a unique code that - when logged at bonobomusic.com - could win the owner a "top secret grand prize".

Bonobo is also going to be playing a trail of international live dates, the first of six British shows being at London's Roundhouse on 18 May. That is all.

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BRITISH SEA POWER BACK WITH NEW LP, MACHINERIES OF JOY
British Sea Power are, as the headline says, back. And since they're back, they may as well release an LP, and that's just what they're doing via their fifth studio set 'Machineries Of Joy'.

I'm quite fond of that title, as is in-band vocalist Yan, who says: "We'd like to think the album is warm and restorative. Various things are touched on in the words - Franciscan monks, ketamine, French female bodybuilders turned erotic movie stars. The world often seems a mad, hysterical place at the moment. You can't really be oblivious to that".

Yeah, totally. Now that we've all faced that reality, it might be nice to face this tour itinerary:

4 Apr: Exeter, Phoenix
5 Apr: Birmingham, Library
6 Apr: Newcastle, University
7 Apr: Glasgow, Oran Mor
9 Apr: Leeds, Met University
10 Apr: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
11 Apr: Manchester, Gorilla
14 Apr: Cardiff, Coal Exchange
15 Apr: Portsmouth, Wedgewood
16 Apr: Norwich, Waterfront
17 Apr: London, Shepherd's Bush Empire

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KILO KISH TO TOUR
Hyped 'experimental rap' type Kilo Kish has just published a list of new PAs to go with 'K+', the mixtape she's releasing on 7 Feb. I say 'mixtape', it's really (apparently) a "collaborative multimedia project" featuring guest MCs like Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt and The Internet, rapper/actor Childish Gambino and A$AP Mob character A$AP Ferg.

This is 'Creepwave', her collaboration with Flatbush Zombies.

Kilo Kish, who's also something of a 'James Franco' (aka a polymath) in that she's a designer, model and "21st century artist", says this of 'K+': "My songs include layers of sound spanning from at-home demos to professional studio recordings. This is in an attempt to purposely highlight our imperfections and reject the finality of 'the finished product'. We are all always working and making changes and my project represents this elementary idea".

Ah. Anyway, those live PAs I was just talking about:

9 Mar: Manchester, Night & Day
10 Mar: Newcastle, Think Tank
11 Mar: Glasgow, Arches
12 Mar: Leeds, Brundenell
14 Mar: Nottingham, Bodega
15 Mar: London, Great Suffolk Street Warehouse
16 Mar: Brighton, Audio

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RYAN HEMSWORTH LISTS FIRST EURO DATES
CMU Approved DJ and remix artist Ryan Hemsworth is stopping at several places as part of his first European tour. Four of those, being in Britain as they are, are especially relevant, and look like this when in a list:

1 Feb: London, Birthdays
5 Feb: Southampton, Unit
6 Feb: Dublin, The Button Factory
7 Feb: Brighton, The Jazz Palace

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE
Okay, so... Coachella. The twice-as-nice American alt-pop party has disclosed its 2013 artist listings in one go, dividing its headline credits between The Stone Roses, Blur, The xx, The Postal Service, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lou Reed, New Order, Vampire Weekend, Wu-Tang Clan, Sigur Rós, Spiritualized, Franz Ferdinand and Tame Impala - who'd be doing the same (headlining, that is) at any other festival - are consigned to the slightly lesser ranks amid a vast live programme.

Talking of Tame Impala, they (alongside Biffy Clyro and Twin Shadow) are new to the bill at Primavera Sound's Portuguese parallel, Optimus Alive!, and so join Depeche Mode, Kings Of Leon and Green Day.

Not talking of Tame Impala at all, Kentish-rock-festival-in-a-zoo Hevy has confirmed it'll host an exceedingly rare live appearance by punk fossils Black Flag. They'll be back in Britain for the first time in thirty years (as original line-up Black Flag), give or take, to give their only GB performance of the year. So, that's significant.

Also new - and not quite as significant - in Euro FLUUs is a post-festival set by Rihanna at Poland's Heineken-sponsored Open'er. Whilst she isn't involved in the official 3-6 Jul event, she'll play a "special extra show" that's free to those owning four-day tickets, or an even £93 to all other humans. So, that's nice.

And now it's time to move over to itemised additions to the above plus Shropshire pop do Osfest, Bristol's cool and castle-adjacent Love Saves The Day, and the beyond-retro Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul...

COACHELLA, Empire Polo Club, California, USA, 12-14 Apr/19-21 Apr: The Stone Roses, Blur, The xx, The Postal Service, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, Lou Reed, Jurassic 5, Grinderman, Sigur Rós, Vampire Weekend, Social Distortion, Wu-Tang Clan, Pretty Lights, Eric Prydz, Tame Impala, New Order, Hot Chip, Grizzly Bear, Knife Party, Benny Benassi, Two Door Cinema Club, Bassnectar, Dog Blood (Skrillex & Boys Noize), Moby, Descendents, Yeasayer, Franz Ferdinand, Violent Femmes, Simian Mobile Disco, Spiritualized, How to Destroy Angels , Passion Pit, Tegan & Sara, Band Of Horses, Beach House, Metric, Local Natives, Of Monsters and Men, Infected Mushroom, Japandroids, Divine Fits, Stars, Johnny Marr, Puscifer, Cafe Tacvba, Portugal. The Man, The Make-Up, Bat For Lashes, Richie Hawtin, Major Lazer, Fedde Le Grand, Dropkick Murphys, Foals, Ben Howard, 2 Chainz, Janelle Monae, Danny Brown, Wild Nothing, Booka Shade, Bingo Players, Allen Stone, El-P, The Selecter, Pusha T, Kill The Noise, The Evens, Biffy Clyro, Theophilus London, Baauer, Zane Lowe, Trash Talk, Birdy Nam Nam, Action Bronson, Jason Bentley, The Wombats, Guards, Mona, Savages, Shovels & Rope, Hueratron, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Reignwolf, Cassy, 3Ball MTV, Kids These Days, The 2 Bears, The Couloris, Luciano, Wolfgang Gartner, Nicky Romero, Modestep, Tommy Trash, Thomas Gold, Shouting Matches, Dillon Francis, Four Tet, Aesop Rock, Alt-J, Jello Biafra And The Quantanamo School of Medicine, TNGHT, Jake Bugg, Earl Sweatshirt, Polica, Sparks, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Purity Ring, Lee Scratch Perry, DaM-FunK, DJ Harvey, Jamie XX, Seth Troxler, Youth Lagoon, Deathfix, C2C, Beardyman, Lord Huron, Palma Violets, 10 Echo, Skinny Lister, The Neighborhood, Sam XL Pure Filth Sound, The Lumineers, Dead Can Dance, La Roux, James Blake, Excision, Grimes, The Gaslight Anthem, The Faint, Hardwell, Paul Oakenfold, Dinosaur Jr, Raider Klan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Roni Size, The Airborne Toxic Event, Father John Misty, Tanlines, Rodriguez, Alex Clare, Paul Kalkbrenner, Jessie Ware, Loco Dice, Jamie Jones, The Three o'Clock, Disclosure, Mimosa, Cloud Nothings, Parov Stelar, Julio Bashmore, Thee Oh Sees, Dub FX, Maya Jane Coles, Jeff The Brotherhood, Smith Westerns, Dirtyphonics, Joris Voorn, Hanni El Khatib, Danny Arila, Ghost, DIIV, Little Green Cars, Mord Fustang, James McCartney, Unicorn Kid, Robert DeLong, White Arrows, Deap Vally, Wild Belle, Adrian Lux, Ladies Night. www.coachella.com

HEVY, Port Lympne Animal Park, Kent, 2-4 Aug: Black Flag. www.hevy.co.uk

LOVE SAVES THE DAY, Castle Park, Bristol, 25 May: AlunaGeorge, Âme, Applebottom, Baby Malc, Bicep, Bondax, Bonobo - Live, Breakage, Bromley, Christophe & Lukas, Crazy P - Live, Crump & Keady, Deetron, Dismantle, Dubious & A.Quake, Dusky, Eats Everything, Eton Messy DJs, Feel The Real, Futureboogie DJs, Jackmaster, Jay-L, Joy Orbison, Jus Now, Marco Bernardi, Maxxi Soundsystem, Mickey Pearce, Monki, Mr Scruff, Outboxx, Paleman, Roses Gabor, Rudimental, Seth Troxler, Shanti, Shy FX, Sly-One, The Other Tribe, Tom Rio & Dan Wild, Waifs And Strays. lovesavestheday.org

MOSTLY JAZZ, FUNK & SOUL FESTIVAL, Moseley Park, Birmingham, 5-7 Jul: Chic feat Nile Rodgers. mostlyjazz.co.uk

HEINEKEN OPEN'ER, Gdynia, Poland, 3-6 Jul: Rihanna. opener.pl/en

OPTIMUS ALIVE!, Lisbon, Portugal, 12-14 Jul: Biffy Clyro, Tame Impala, Twin Shadow. www.optimusalive.com

OSFEST - BREAK FOR THE BORDER, Oswestry Showground, Shropshire, 24-26 May: JLS. www.osfest.co.uk

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CONTROVERSIAL PRANK CALL RADIO SHOW REPLACED ON SYDNEY'S 2DAY FM
The Australian radio station caught up in the prank call scandal late last year has replaced the show on which the spoof call was made, but says that its presenters, Michael 'MC' Christian and Mel Grieg, are still on the payroll.

Christian and Grieg have been on leave ever since one of the nurses that appeared in their pre-recorded call, made to the London hospital that was at the time caring for Kate Middleton, died by suicide just days after the controversial prank became a global news event.

While the exact circumstances around nurse Jacintha Saldana's death remain unknown, the incident threw the spotlight on radio pranksters who pick their victims at random, while the DJs and 2day FM were heavily criticised for not clearing the pre-recorded item with the London hospital before airing it.

Since Saldana's death in mid-December, 2day FM has aired a basic music-heavy fill-in programme in Christian and Grieg's old slot. But now a new programme is being launched in that spot in the schedule, though station owners Southern Cross Austereo have said that both Christian and Grieg will return to the airwaves at some point in the future.

The media firm's CEO Rhys Holleran told reporters: "We look forward to Mel and MC returning to work when the time is right, in roles that make full use of their talents. We will discuss future roles with them when they are ready".

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ONE DIRECTION'S MALIK MEETS WITH LITTLE MIX GIRLFRIEND AFTER SUN'S KISS AND TELL EXPOSÉ
Pity poor Harry Styles. First he lost his status as 'most talked about British Harry' after his namesake royal gave that "yeah, I kill people sometimes" interview. And now he's not even leading for the title of 'most talked about pop shagger' or even 'most talked about One Direction love rat' (and this despite the "Styles to attend same awards ceremony as recent ex Taylor Swift" stories doing the rounds ahead of this weekend's NRJ Awards in Cannes). No, today both those titles belong to a certain Zayn Malik, supposedly hooked up with Little Mixer Perrie Edwards, but also the subject of the kiss and tell that was splashed across the front of yesterday's Sun.

According to the tab, Malik recently had a one night stand with "Aussie beauty" Courtney Webb after he told the kiss-and-teller in the making, who found herself at a party at the star's London home, that he was single.

He then bedded Webb underneath a large picture of Edwards, one quarter of fellow 'X-Factor' alumnus Little Mix, hung on the wall above his bed. In The Sun's article Webb provides a 'Cribs' style overview of the pop star's house and a couple of snaps of the 1D-er sleeping in his bed (presumably to verify the story) before declaring: "He's an absolute shit. How dare he - not only to me but to Perrie?"

Recalling her early-hours meeting with the popster, she continues: "He was a really nice guy. We were talking about music and playing songs on his iPad. He even gave me a maroon jumper when I was cold. He was drinking vodka and we were having a laugh. I asked him if he had a girlfriend, and he said he didn't. He said he wanted to enjoy being 20".

Later, she adds, "Zayn cornered me, looked me in the eyes and said, 'You're so hot, you're so fit, you're really beautiful. Wow!' I was taken aback. He kept giving me these looks across the room, a look I translated as 'come to bed eyes'. I knew where this was going. He just said, 'Let's chill in my room'. We sat on his bed and before I could even say anything he started snogging my face off, kissing me passionately. It just snowballed from there. We fooled around then had sex. It was amazing".

Though Webb admits that she slowly learned about Malik's relationship with Edwards while still at his home (mainly by spotting some of his girlfriend's belongings), but says that when she questioned him about the Little Mixer, the 1D star said "don't worry about her, she's on tour". And so the night continued to its climax.

With The Sun story hitting the web this weekend, Malik returned from the NRJ Awards and headed straight to Nottingham, where Little Mix were due to play a show last night, seemingly in a bid to save his relationship with his fellow popstar. The couple left Edwards' hotel "looking tense", reports the tabloid. Meanwhile, Styles is presumably plotting his bid to regain some of that lost kudos. Maybe re-hook up with Taylor Swift and then immediately cheat on her with a Sun-reading waitress. Before heading to Afghanistan to take out the enemy with some well practiced pop moves.

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