The ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer has spoken out about the British Government’s plans to crack down on file-sharing and claims she supports those who access her tracks without paying for them.
She said: “I like what’s going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music.
“It’s the democratisation of music in a way. And music is a gift. That’s what it should be, a gift.”
‘Smile’ singer Lily Allen recently blasted Radiohead for their views on illegal downloading.
She attacked the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) – whose members include the band’s guitarist Ed O’Brien – for not considering new artists when voicing their opinion on file sharing.
Lily said: “I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead don’t seem to think so.”
The ‘Love Sex Magic’ singer – who has released two solo albums, 2002’s ‘Justified’ and 2007’s ‘Future Sex/Love Sounds’ - takes his time over new music and will “tinker around with everything” until he has an idea for his next LP.
He told MTV News: “I’m obviously not the type of artist who rushes anything. I’ve done, like, two records in the last eight years.
“So, until it kind of slaps me in the face, I’m going to tinker around with everything.”
The 28-year-old singer is pleased with the way his first two albums were produced and is determined not force his next song collection.
He said: “You know, I just believe that the process is what it’s really all about. And if you make the process like what I was able to have the luck of tapping into for the first two albums, the end comes out the way it comes out.
“For me it is about the process — the discovery of whatever it is it’s going to be. That’s the most fun part.”
Despite charting second in the British singles charts, the ‘Supernova’ singer – real name Ben Hudson - is unused to fame and is still baffled when he hears children singing along to his records.
He said: “Everything is new to me. It was my first red carpet at the MOBOs. So I start walking this red carpet, and there’s kids on one side going crazy singing ‘Supernova’ at me, and then on the left, there’s all these photographers shouting, ‘Mr Hudson!’ and I’m like, ‘What… what is it?’.
“Then they start taking pictures and they keep going, ‘Over ‘ere, over ‘ere’ and their cameras flash! Within a minute I felt like I’d been punched in the eye.”
However, Ben hasn’t always been popular with the paparazzi.
When he went on a date with ‘Live Your Life’ singer Rihanna, he claims photographers kept shouting at him to get out the way.
He told More! magazine: “When I was with Rihanna, they were all like, ‘Blondie! Milky Bar Kid! Get out of the way!”
Justin Timberlake thinks Michael Jackson’s songs were “99.79 percent perfect”.
The ‘Love Sex Magic’ singer – who has previously cited the late ‘King of Pop’ as his musical icon – has always “gravitated” towards the ‘Bad’ singer’s musical hits despite not understanding why he was famous.
He said: “Growing up in Tennessee, I never really understood the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson or the pandemonium that followed him around.
“I just heard certain songs that I loved as a kid and I gravitated toward those songs. It just so happens that 99.79 percent of his songs are perfect. They’re perfect songs. The other whatever percentage are works of art as well.”
The 28-year-old chart-topper’s dance skills have often been compared to Michael’s trademark moves, but Justin claims he has never deliberately tried to “imitate” the late ‘Thriller’ singer.
He told MTV news: “You don’t imitate it, but you know when you have something that he had. You could tell he was just excited about the music he was doing. That’s the feeling that you get sometimes and that’s when you feel like the king — but other than that, not so much!
“That type of energy, that kinetic energy into the music, I think that’s what we all try to emulate. From hip-hop to pop to rock and roll, I think that there’s inflection that he put into music as a vocalist that no one had ever really heard that way.”
The Spandau Ballet rocker – who recently reunited with ‘Gold’ hitmakers Tony Hadley, Gary Kemp, Steve Norman and John Keeble – hadn’t touched his favourite instrument in over two decades until his daughter asked him to help her with a song she was writing.
He said: “In my heart of heart I never thought we would reunite. But one day my 20-year-old daughter Harley, who has started writing songs and recording, asked me if I would play on the tracks for her.
“So I went out and bought a bass and was playing it for the first time in 20 years. Six months after that, we were talking about reforming Spandau.”
Although Martin cites his daughter as the reason behind the reunion, frontman Tony says it was British TV star Shane Richie who forced them to put years of animosity behind them and plan their return to the music scene.
He told Britain’s Hello! magazine: “There was a little part of me that always hoped that one day I could get over what happened. Funnily enough, Shane Richie was the one who pushed me on the radio by constantly urging, ‘When’s the band getting back together?’
“Because Shane is a massive Spandau fan. So just to shut him up one day I said, ‘Okay, we are getting back together again – yes, the 30th anniversary.’ Move forward two years and here we are. We are really happy. Genuinely, we are getting on very, very well, which is lovely.”
The 35-year-old singer worked with a producer to write the songs for the band’s seventh album ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ after group songwriting sessions failed to get results.
Kelly explained to The Independent newspaper: “We weren’t having the time of our lives. We were making the record by taking it away and listening to it more than was actually playing.”
Instead the singer, who released a solo album in 2007, sought out producer Jim Abbiss, who has worked with Bjork and Adele.
He said: “The band were trying to emulate things that were already done, catching the spontaneity of the demos, which was really frustrating.”
Stereophonics’ last album, ‘Pull the Pin’, was slated by critics, but Jones says the shock was needed.
He explained: “It gave us a reality check. We knew we had to continue to work hard to keep this thing moving.”
While Jones is happy with the results, the band – also consisting of Richard Jones, Javier Weyler and Adam Zindani - took convincing.
Kelly explained: “In many ways it was an uncomfortable process. People had to sit back and listen rather than say ‘let’s get on with it’.
‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ is released on November 16.
The British musician claims – who released his debut album ‘Matinee’ in 2007 – says his latest LP ‘Everything Is New’ highlights his new-found confidence.
He said: “I wrote and released ‘Matinee’ when I was quite young and was maybe nervous of completely showing my influences. This time I wanted to bring them out and colour the record with sounds and feelings of my own. I think it is more representative of me now.”
The 25-year-old singer claims it was with the encouragement of his producer Paul Epworth which helped him make such an honest album.
He told ThisIsNottingham.co.uk: “In a way he was like a counsellor or football manager; he gave me the confidence to run with ideas that, on my own, I was too nervous to.
“The negativity I received after the first record was a positive for my artistry in a way. At that point, I realised trying to please people and win them over doesn’t fulfil anything; I decided I’d just write this album for myself.”
The ‘Come Away With Me’ singer – who is set to return with her fourth album ‘The Fall’ next month – is happy with her career despite her belief the LP may not do as well as her previous albums.
She said: “I’m very aware of the ways things go. It would have been nice to have a steady career and go up and up.
“And if you look at it that way, yeah I am just going to keep on going down and that’s kind of sad but the truth is it is fine; I have been very successful. I know I will never reach that kind of craziness again, thank God.”
Meanwhile, the 30-year-old songstress has admitted she found her rise to fame “insane”.
She explained: “It was a bit overwhelming and I can’t say it was all fun. In the beginning it was a lot of work, but, yeah, it was insane.
“But people struggle their whole lives making music and don’t get any notoriety so I felt really lucky and I also felt, “Wow, I can’t believe people really like this.” I came to New York to sing jazz and then two years later I had a record deal, and was writing songs. It was amazing.”
Norah will release her fourth album ‘The Fall’ on November 17th.
The band’s frontman Julian Casablancas - who has just released a solo album, ‘Phrazes For The Young’ - has reassured fans that the group are planning to make a fourth album together and already has an idea of how it should sound.
He said: “I’m looking forward to it. We worked on it for months, we have most of the songs written, more than half of them written. But it’s just a question of getting all five dudes in the room. I’m ready to do it. We’re supposed to have done it already but it got pushed back.
“I have my own personal wish that it would sound like Thin Lizzy, but if they could peer into the future and kind of have eighties melodies. Like a super-tight late seventies rock band but A-Ha moments, if that makes sense.”
Although he has his own ideas about the record, Julian admits he doesn’t have as much musical control as he would like.
He added to XFM Radio: “The Strokes is a tough musical jury so if something is going to survive it’s got to pretty much please five incredibly picky dudes. That’s the great thing about the band but on the other hand sometimes it can be stifling for certain parts.
“You might have a vision for a part but you can’t express what you want to look like in its final state. And it’s hard to even get to the final state because before it works, people are like ‘I don’t like it’, so it’s hard to work an idea through when people are fighting you.”
That ‘Real Slim Shady’ rapper has teamed up with Jay-Z for ‘DJ Hero Renegade’ and in addition to a selection of songs from his back catalogue, the hip hop star has also included a new track, ‘Taking My Ball’.
He said: “The tracks we put on this disc are mostly overlooked or rarer favourites of mine from all different parts of my career.
“I also put a brand new, unheard song on there so even the biggest fan has something new.”
Jay-Z’s selection of tracks for the game - which allows users to interact with an electronic timetable - are mainly taken from his new album ‘Blueprint 3′ and songs from his back catalogue, including ‘Hard Knock Life’
and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’.
‘Taking My Ball’ will premiere on Shade 45 radio on October 16, ahead of the game’s release on October 27.
The ‘Beautiful’ hitmaker - whose son with husband Jordan Bradman, Max Liron, is 20-months-old - insists it would be “unfair” if she changed her career or style just because of her family commitments.
Asked how becoming a mom had affected her attitude to work, she said: “There are a few songs that have been inspired by him. But as far as it affecting me creatively - like, I shouldn’t be wearing that because I’m a mom - no.
Because that wouldn’t be fair to me.
“It’s important to keep a strong sense of yourself when you’re a mom. You’re still you.”
The singer insists it is important to carry on her life as before in order to set a good example for her son.
She added to Britain’s Cosmopolitan magazine: “There’s got to be a balance and I want to set that example - as the kind of woman I want my son to respect.
“And as an individual himself, I want him to set goals and feel good about whatever it is that makes him feel good.”
