Performing Rights - The royalties that UK songwriters, composers and music publishers get from online sales are growing faster than the decline from CDs and DVDs. That is the finding of PRS for Music, the not-for-profit body which ensures such groups are paid when their music is played, performed or reproduced. It said UK online revenues for its members rose by £12.8m or 73% to £30.4m in 2009. At the same time, UK revenues from CD or DVD sales were down £8.7m. This is the first time that the annual growth in online revenues has been higher than the fall in revenues from CD or DVD sales. But PRS for Music chief executive Robert Ashcroft said it remained too early to say whether this represented a turning point for the industry.
Eurovision Update - A teenager from Essex has been chosen to represent the UK in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Josh Dubovie, who is 19 and from Basildon, won the most public votes after performing live on Your Country Needs You! on BBC One. Six previously unknown acts competed for the chance to perform a Mike Stock and Pete Waterman song, called That Sounds Good To Me, in Oslo in May.
Waterman, who was part of the team behind hits for Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Steps, had remained tight-lipped about his new composition, which was heard in public for the first time on Your Country Needs You! Speaking on Friday on BBC Breakfast, Waterman said he and Stock "were not frightened" by the challenge and were "used to the pressure". "It's like entering a competition every time you write [a pop song]. You're after a number one, not a number two," he continued.
(Jim Evans)
