Music News

Lily Allen has hit out at the music industry following the flop of her comeback album 'Sheezus'.
The feisty 29-year-old singer claims those in charge are "elder males" who "see women as weak" as she tried to justify the poor sales of her third record.
She told PressPlay: "The music industry is run mainly by elder males. It sits better with them to be able to assert their power and control over something that they see as weak and i think they probably see women as weak."
And they weren't the only ones who came in for a tongue lashing, with Lily also blasting BBC Radio 1 for recently dropping her from their playlist.
She fumed: "The truth is nobody knows what the f**k they're doing. They can pretend they've got a formula that works and [that] they 'know' they're exactly in control of the game but they're just not. No one knows."
This comes after Lily recently admitted her songs weren't good enough on her third album.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Maybe the songs aren't good enough this time, who knows? I just know I can't wait to get back into the studio."
Lily - who went on a musical hiatus between 2011 and 2013, during which time she had daughters Ethel, two, and Marnie Rose, 18 months and wed Sam Cooper - also blamed her advisors.
She added: "I put my trust in other people, which I don't usually do. I usually go with my own gut feeling but maybe I wasn't feeling as confident as I have in the past because of all the hormones."

Justin Bieber is a "scary talent".
Canadian rockers Magic - who penned 'Never Say Never' for the pop star - were hugely impressed with Bieber when they worked with him and have praised his professionalism and talent.
Singer Nasri Atweh told the Daily Star newspaper: "Justin is a scary talent - people don't appreciate how talented the guy is. He knows what he likes and is hyper-focused, never lost or confused."
And he revealed Justin doesn't need many takes to get things right when recording.
Nasri added: "He's got a great voice, so he nails a track in one or two takes."
Justin isn't the only singer Nasri has written for, he has also penned tracks for stars including Cheryl Cole, but admitted he found it unfulfilling and is thrilled to now be writing for his own band.
He explained: "I'd made a lot of money, but I wasn't enjoying it. I started thinking these musicians were very narrow-minded and that I knew something they didn't."
The band are currently riding high in the charts with 'Rude', a song about a man being refused permission to marry his girlfriend by a prospective father-in-law but Nasri insists it is not autobiographical.
He said: "None of us have proposed. It's a scene so familiar from movies, but the song just came flooding out of me one day, no idea why. I thought it was just a throwaway, friendly song that might go Top 20."

Tom Parker says it is "impossible" to compete with One Direction.
The 25-year-old singer admitted that The Wanted - who announced they were taking "a break" from each other earlier this year following their worldwide 'Word of Mouth' tour - struggled to keep up with the 'Kiss You' hitmakers' success.
He told Digital Spy: "For The Wanted to try and compete against one of the biggest bands in the world - One Direction - it's almost impossible.
"I don't think any band out there can compete with them at the moment."
Meanwhile, Tom insists that the group - which also includes Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes - remain good friends and says their decision to go their separate ways was born out of each member wanting to do their "own thing".
He explained: "I played guitar when I was younger and that kind of took a back seat when I was in the band.
"Obviously when you're in a band like that it's a product at the end of the day, and you're a boyband and that's what you do, even though we'd say, 'We don't wanna dance and we don't wanna do this'.
"Ultimately it probably wasn't a route I would've wanted to go down myself, so it's nice to come out of it and experiment in the studio and do my own thing for a while, which is cool."
The 'Walks Like Rihanna' hitmaker also hinted that a reunion could still be on the cards in the future.
When asked if there's a chance that The Wanted will release new material in the future, Tom said: "I think so, yeah. It's just timing at the end of the day."

Weird Al Yankovic went to an Iggy Azalea concert to ask permission to parody 'Fancy'.
The 54-year-old singer wanted permission from the singer to include his spoof song 'Handy' on new album 'Mandatory Fun' but with time running out to get the track approved in time, he took matters into his own hands.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "We contacted her management office and we felt we'd hear back right away but we didn't ... The clock was ticking.
"Finally I decided if I wanted to get this album out, ... I just needed to track her down in person. So I flew out to Denver where she was doing this show and I waited by the side of the stage.
"As she walked off stage, I introduced myself and said 'Hi, we're supposed to be going to the studio tomorrow to record my new song ['Handy'] and I just wanna make sure that you're ok with that'.
"I showed her the lyrics, she looked at them and said 'seems fine' ... I got back on the plane the next morning and recorded the song."
The 'White and Nerdy' hitmaker hasn't always been given permission to parody songs - but insists that in the case of James Blunt, it worked out for the better.
He said: "A couple of albums ago, I wanted to do a parody of 'You're Beautiful' by James Blunt called 'You're Pitiful'. James had signed off on it but his record label, Atlantic Records, had told me they did not want me to release the song.
"I didn't want any drama and complications ... so we decided to back off. Actually, they did me a favour because that was originally the single off my album and instead we released 'White and Nerdy' which became my biggest hit ever. It was a top 10 single, a platinum selling single."
Weird Al's new album 'Mandatory Fun', which features the song 'Handy', is out now.

One Direction will headline this year's iHeartRadio Music Festival.
The boyband will be joined by acts including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Iggy Azalea, and Lorde, on the main stage at the annual event which will take place over two nights at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on September 19 and 20.
Coldplay, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Motley Crue, Zac Brown Band, Paramore, Train, Eric Church, Calvin Harris, Bastille, and Steve Aoki have also been confirmed to play at the star-studded gathering.
Ryan Seacrest will once again return as host for the music festival's fourth year in Las Vegas.
Tom Poleman, president of Clear Channel's national programming platforms, told Billboard: "We want to continue to deliver the goods for artists and help their development, and to see more great music to keep the radio industry healthy."
He added: "It's great to have the diversity of genres this year, too. We have Motley Crue, which is obviously very different from Train, Eric Church, or Ariana Grande, but that's what makes it so special.
"You'll often have people on the side of the stage watching other bands. It's not unthinkable to see someone like Coldplay watching Zac Brown or One Direction because they're already on-set and they never get to see them play themselves."

Chrissie Hynde has compared rock legend Neil Young to God.
Neil appears on the track 'Down The Wrong Way' on Chrissie's new album, 'Stockholm' and the former Pretenders singer was honoured to work with the Canadian musician.
She told the Daily Telegraph: "If you believe in God, playing with Neil is probably the closest thing you'll have to being in the presence. A demi-God, let's say.
"As far as an individual, he's the hippy you always imagined him to be, funny, personable, real easy-going.
"He's like the guy who passes you the joint in the back of a station wagon as you're travelling across some dusty terrain."
Meanwhile, Chrissie insisted that song-writing performs a cathartic function for her.
She said: "I am not a poet, I am not a storyteller. I just kind of get stuff off my chest. These songs just tumbled out."
Chrissie admitted that the central theme running through the new album - which has been described as edgy by various critics - is emotional concerns.
She added: "That's why there's millions of love songs made out of just 12 notes. It's a Rubik's Cube times a thousand, there's so many possible combinations of primary colours."

Former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has had his jail term appeal refused.
The shamed star was jailed for 29 years last December, with another six years on license, after being found guilty of a number of child sex offences, and after claiming that his sentence was "too harsh", judges at Cardiff Crown Court have now decided he didn't have sufficient grounds to appeal, Sky News reports.
The singer had originally insisted he was innocent of offences including the attempted rape of an 11-month-old child, possession of child-abuse videos - some of which he made himself - and encouraging a fan to abuse her own child.
However, he changed his plea at the last minute, averting the need for a trial, and later complained he hadn't realised his guilty plea would indeed make him "look guilty".
At his original trial, the judge told him: "I am satisfied that you are a deeply corrupting influence, you are highly manipulative, you are a sexual predator, you are dangerous.
"The public and, in particular, young females need protection from you."
Watkins was told that he would have to serve at least two-thirds of his custodial sentence before he could even be considered for release by the Parole board.
His barrister insisted her client wasn't given enough discount for pleading guilty, saying: "This case causes a very disturbing reaction for anyone who has anything to do with it ... But by pleading guilty my client averted the need for a most distressing and unpleasant trial for all those concerned, especially a jury.
"I am not trying to minimise the gravity of these offenses, just simply make the observation that a sense of proportion needs to be maintained."

Nick Jonas' new song 'Chains' describes how he felt trapped in the Jonas Brothers.
The 21-year-old singer and his brothers Kevin, 26, and Joe, 24, disbanded their squeaky clean band last year and with his new solo single, Nick details his unhappiness at how they were perceived but friends now say he no longer "gives a s**t" what people think of him.
A source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "'Chains' is a metaphor for what he has been feeling all these years.
"He feels free now for the first time in his life. He's making music he believes in. He's done saying sorry for everything and trying to be perfect. He's just going to be himself; if people like him, great, if not, he's done giving a s**t."
The steamy video for the song features Sean Penn's daughter Dylan and will be a departure from the Jonas Brothers.
Friends of Nick have also claimed he found the Jonas Brothers a "burden" and now finally "feels free".
The pal said: "Nick has spent years experiencing a burden that's hard to explain. He's not blaming anyone for it; it's just what fame does to people, especially at a young age.
"Different people respond in different ways - some do drugs and act out, but his response was to conform to what he thought people wanted him to be. Remember, he was a 13 year-old kid when he became famous. For example: He thought that when he slept in a hotel room on tour, people would talk s**t about him if he didn't make his own bed. So he made it."

Calvin Harris is taking a break from writing for other artists to concentrate on his own music.
The DJ - who has worked with stars including Ellie Goulding, Cheryl Cole and Chris Brown - wants to focus on his own career and plans to finish his new album before he helps out anyone else.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It's very rarely that I have to deal with it face-to-face. Usually, it's not really a case of turning them down, it's the case of I've got too much on. Do you know what I mean?
"It's a serious thing. I've got to finish my album, I have to take care of me before I take care of anyone else."
And one person Calvin has no desire to help is his ex-girlfriend Rita Ora as it was recently claimed their split has has left plans for her new album in chaos.
Rita, 23, recorded a number of songs with her former beau - including hit single 'I Will Never Let You Down' - but he's now said that she cannot release any more of the tunes they made together.
A source previously said: "Rita's album has hit a bit of a road block after Calvin pulled all the songs he had worked on for the project before they split.
"He'd made a lot of songs for her but they're now likely to go to other artists."
It's been reported that the pair made at least a dozen tracks together, which were to represent the bulk of the eagerly-awaited record.
The source added: "Calvin wants a clean break, personally and professionally. He's already given her one massive hit so doesn't feel her owes her.
"He doesn't want to be linked to her, especially now she's in a new relationship with Rich Hilfiger."