The US was the top-earning foreign territory for the British in 2008, providing an income of £21.7m, followed by Germany with £15.1m and France with £11.7m. "It's not just MTV any more - there are loads of music video channels and loads of commercial radio stations around the world," said Barney Hooper, PRS for Music, on the rise in earnings. Other major international tours by British artists in 2008 included those by Coldplay, Spice Girls and Elton John. "That's had a big impact on it," Hooper told the BBC.
Buyers Beware - Music fans have been warned not to buy tickets for this year's Reading Festival from unauthorised sellers. Weekend and day tickets for the event, which will feature Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon, have already sold out. Trading standards said it has so far identified 70 bogus sites and directed people to the festival's official site. Some ticket and travel packages are still available while a scheme for buying unwanted tickets can also be found on the site.
Reading Councillor Paul Gittings, said: "People should take care to only buy from the official website and beware fakes. The difficulty we have is that some of these websites are very impressive indeed and designed to entice and attract consumers into using them. The whole appearance and layout of these sites makes them look official and genuine. Many of these websites are simply online ticket touts, resellers of tickets, who are working on the customer's desperation by promising tickets for a sold out event."
Come Together - Former Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed together at a New York charity show on Saturday night. Sir Paul headlined the concert, in aid of The David Lynch Foundation, and sang a string of Beatles and solo career hits before bringing Starr on stage. The pair performed the Beatles song, With a Little Help from My Friends together before embracing afterwards. Sir Paul also paid a tearful tribute to the late John Lennon before playing Here Today, a song he wrote for him.
You Have Been Warned - Spoof band Spinal Tap have announced a 'world tour' consisting of a single June date at London's Wembley Arena. The tour marks the 25th anniversary of mockumentary film, This is Spinal Tap, which launched the band's career. The band will be backed by 1960s folk trio The Folksmen, the focus of another spoof film, 2003's A Mighty Wind.
Spinal Tap's lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel commented: "If we're going to do a World tour on only one night, at least it's this world." Bassist Derek Smalls added: "One night is not enough, and it's way too much". Spinal Tap have used a variety of drummers over the years due to several untimely deaths, including a spontaneous combustion on stage. The rest of the line-up for the world tour has not been announced but the group paid tribute to former members. Singer and rhythm guitarist David St Hubbins said: "This show will be dedicated to all of our drummers who have passed on, either to their reward or to middle management at Sainsbury's."
(Jim Evans)
