From the news desk…. Tweak, Spotify, PiL, Mercury Day etc
Jim Carroll
It’s back (part one). Multi-media fest Tweak returns to Limerick for a second year from September 21 to 26 with workshops, performances, exhibitions, films and happenings of every sort. Find out more about this year’s array of bleeps, clicks, pops and hisses here.
No more free Spotify for Irish folks. Many OTR readers will have received an email from Spotify today announcing a clampdown on those using proxy servers to access the service for free.
“While we are really happy that you are enthusiastically using Spotify, we are unfortunately going to have to restrict access to your free account. Spotify is currently available in six countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Spain, France and the UK. We never intended to allow use of our service outside of those countries and we do not run any adverts on your account like we do in the launch countries. For this reason we have to restrict your account, you will be able to log in to Spotify and view music and playlists but not listen to any music.”
I wonder will all those folks who have been using Spotify for free now sign up for the Premium service (actually, hold on, can Irish users sign up for Premium) and available of Spotify for your mobile?
It’s back (part two). Seeing as he made such a great success of his other reunion, John Lydon has put the PiL train back on the tracks, though without founding members, guitarist Keith Levene and bass-playing legend and all-round nice guy Jah Wobble. I’m currently reading the latter’s forthcoming autobiography, “Memoirs Of A Geezer”, and he has some less than complimentary things to say about Lydon. Indeed, when I interviewed him in 2004, Wobble said that, while “I don’t think I would have become a musician if John (Lydon) hadn’t got me into PiL”, he found the PiL experience to be “dark, destructive, nihilistic”. The following year, when I talked to Lydon, he said he’d work with Wobble again “in a heartbeat. I have total respect for him and I think he feels the same way.” Anyway, PiL on tour and there’s talk of an Irish show.
In case you missed it over the weekend, OMM is back.
As announced by herself onstage at EP09, Marina & The Diamonds play Dublin’s Academy on November 11. Tix, at €14.80 a pop, go on sale on Friday.
Finally, it’s the day of reckoning for the acts on this year’s Mercury Music Prize shortlist. Our prediction: Florence & The Machine.
Irish users can sign for premium. that’s what i’m on at the mo
Lydon is an absolute toolbag. i think he knows it himself. a horrible human being.
i’m rooting for Bat for Lashes in the Mercury
hope Friendly Fires win tonight….amazingly brilliant album..can’t wait until they tour these parts again
on another note the pre-sale standing tickets for FATM are now sold out only seating left.
I will sign up for Premiem, without a doubt.
Just on the pre-sale for F&TM, are the Ticketmaster charges for this unusually high? Got a few emails about this so just wondering. Also are the TM charges for this higher than they would be for UK shows?
Jim, did you ever find out who was on the Mercury Jury? Logic would suggest that Florence wins; it ticks all the boxes, but if history tells us anything, logic has never come in to it with the Mercury vote.
Anyway, the 2009 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize is also being announced tonight. Noms are:
‘Beat Again’ by JLS
‘Better Off As Two’ by Frankmusik
‘I’m Not Alone’ by Calvin Harris
‘In For The Kill’ by La Roux
‘Love Etc’ by Pet Shop Boys
‘Method Of Modern Love’ by Saint Etienne
‘New In Town’ by Little Boots
‘Take Me Back’ by Tinchy Stryder
‘The Promise’ by Girls Aloud
‘Up’ by The Saturdays
‘The Boy Does Nothing’ by Alesha Dixon
‘The Fear’ by Lily Allen
In my usual outsider fashion I say, Love your Florence but Bat For Lashes to win with Two Suns! And although Speech Debelle is almost atypical Mercury London r’n'b foddah, she made a good album!
The Spotify news was really crushing but Tim mentioned a few weeks ago that Irish users could ask a location-friendly person to login and set the location every 14 days on their behalf. My sister’s just done this for me so I hope it lasts….
Ivor – weirdly enough, the Mercurys make it very hard to get this info for some reason. Couldn’t find the list anywhere, though I probably didn’t look very hard. Though it’s not in the most obvious place – ie their website
Naomi – I just logged onto Spotify and the music is still playing – though I wonder how long that will last? And yeah, I wonder if they can or will stop the 14 days loophole.
@4
you know now that you say it, i’ve gone back and paid 87.95e for three tickets..this is the break down
standing tickets x3 @ 73.50
handling charge @ 7.35
shipping charge @ 7.10
if pre-sale standing tickets are sold out does that mean all standing tickets are sold out?
@9
i doubt it very much…from my understanding the mailing lists are allocated a certain number of presale tickets from the full amount sold to the public
Re: Spotify’s email … Where can I sign up to view music, & not listen to it ? I’m intrigued.
How does one get in on the pre-sale? I’m not gonna fuckin bother if there’s only seated tickets going.
Re Spotify.
I wonder what the profile was of those who received the e-mail.
- those that signed up via a UK proxy and UK postcode and later changed their profile to be in Ireland to avoid having to sign in with a UK IP address every 14 days
- those that did above but did not change their profile to Ireland and thus continue to require a UK based login every 14 days
- Both
I signed up for Premium yesterday and got the Spotify Mobile ipod app (via the UK itunes store) so did not receive this mail. Very happy with the app performance and offline sync of playlist – at least on WLAN using the ipod touch. Don’t have iphone so cant say what performance is like on 3G. One is probably better off doing all their off-line syncing on WLAN anyway to avoid exceeding tariffs on 3G data plans etc.
Spotify have €10 off me for the next month anyway – will reappraise before next instalment but looking like I am entering the realm of legitimate downloading.
PIL in the olympia. i’d buy a ticket for that
12 oct -NICK CAVE-an evening of reading and music in vicar street
‘those that signed up via a UK proxy and UK postcode and later changed their profile to be in Ireland to avoid having to sign in with a UK IP address every 14 days’
that was me, and I got the mail
Seriously thinking of signing up for premium. I saw a quote from Tom Pepper of Nullsoft, makers of WinAmp/Gnutella from 10 years back where he opined that the future was a $10/month “all you can stream” music service. pity the music biz took 10 years to agree with him.
I’m guessing that Bat For Lashes will win the Mercury, although I’m feeling a little less love for her since the no-show at EP.
Fair play for the mention for Tweak, Jim. A friend of mine is one of a very small team of organisers and I know that they have very little funding so any support is welcome.
I’m guessing that Bat For Lashes will win the Mercury, although I’m feeling a little less love for her since the no-show at EP.
Unless I misread a message from a friend that was working the picnic Bat For Lashes made it to Stradbally and then cancelled. Strange.
She fell off a chair or something in her home.
http://www.batforlashes.com/latest_news/entry/electric_picnic_cancellation/
Just wondering: do the acts still get paid their fee if they cancel at the last minute?
Ian/Quint – she was definitely NOT in Stradbally.
And no, she won’t get paid. If the promoter cancels the show due to “unforeseen circumstances”, he will still have to pay but if the act yanks the gig due to a make-up disaster or something, no money changes hands.
Pil in the Olympia would be amazing
Just got me a ticket for Manchester though in case it doesn’t happen
she was definitely NOT in Stradbally.
I asked my mate again at lunch and she was quite certain that she’d checked a Bat For Lashes tourbus into the festival. Unless that was just the gear that was being transported.
@ Ian,
More than likely that was just her backing crew with gear, etc…
Has the world gone mad? People are excited about a PiL reunion?
God.
As for Spotify, I will find some other online sampler to help me decide how I spend my wage.
EUR9.99 is probably a good deal, but I am happy to go back to YouTube to listen to music before buying it.