Music News

Ed Sheeran will battle Ellie Goulding and Hozier for the Song of the Year prize at the BBC Music Awards 2015.
The trio of artists are all in the running for the accolade, with Ed up for 'Bloodstream', Ellie for 'Love Me Like You Do' and Hozier's 'Take Me To Church'.
They are also up against Jason Derulo who is nominated for his track 'Want To Want Me', Jess Glynne's 'Hold My Hand', Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' 'Uptown Funk', OMI who is up for 'Cheerleader', The Weeknd's single 'Can't Feel My Face', Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's hit 'See You Again' and Major Lazer and DJ Snake's 'Lean On'.
The Song of the Year accolade is the only award that is voted for by the public and voting - which can conducted via SMS or online at bbc.co.uk/musicawards - opens on Wednesday (09.12.15) at 7am and closes at 8pm.
The ceremony takes place on Thursday (10.12.15) at Birmingham's The Genting Arena and will be hosted by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans and former Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton.
Performances at the event will come from some of the biggest names in music and hot new talent, including Ellie, Jess, One Direction, Little Mix, Faithless, James Bay, and Rod Stewart among others.

BBC Music Awards 2015 Song of the Year shortlist:

Ed Sheeran - Bloodstream
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
Hozier - Take Me To Church
Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me
Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand
Major Lazer & DJ Snake feat. MØ - Lean On
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
OMI - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth - See You Again

Liam Payne and Nathan Sykes are keen to work together.
The One Direction hunk, 22, and the Wanted singer may have been locked in a bitter feud in the past but they've decided to bury the hatchet and head for the studio.
Nathan, 22, explained: "I spoke to Liam about writing together, which is going to be cool. I'm looking forward to that when we can get it in our schedules."
News that the pair are planning to write some music together will no doubt come as a surprise to fans as the boybands have been embroiled in a long-running feud.
Liam's band mate Louis Tomlinson kicked off a war of words with the five-piece when he referred to Tom Parker as a "little girl" via social media, while Tom poked fun at his voice.
But it seems the spat has now been brushed under the carpet and Nathan is pleased they can all get along.
He told The Sun newspaper: "That was a few years ago, everyone has grown up.
"I hate confrontation so it was nice to see them on a friendly level. I sat down with a few of them and we kind of laughed about it. It was nice to see them and be like, 'Oh my god, we can be friendly with each other!' "
Meanwhile, The Wanted announced last year they would be taking an extended hiatus but are keen to join forces again in the near future, while One Direction have also decided to go their separate ways for a bit to focus on solo projects.

Ringo Starr's personal copy of the Beatles' 'The White Album' has been sold at auction for a record $790,000.
The legendary rock star's copy, numbered No.0000001, carried a pre-auction estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, but that figure was easily surpassed as the bidding reached record-breaking proportions.
Ringo, 75, previously admitted that he and the other members of the Beatles - John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison - never gave any thought to the value of their records when they were making music together.
He said: "We used to play the vinyl in those days.
"We didn't think, 'We'll keep it for 50 years and it will be in pristine condition.' Whoever gets it, it will have my fingerprints on it."
Because the copies of the album were numbered in sequence, the buyer of Ringo's edition can claim they own the first ever printed copy of the iconic album, which is considered by some critics to be among the best records ever made.
What's more, it reached number one on both sides of the Atlantic and was released just two years before the chart-topping group split up.

Idris Elba thinks US hip-hop has lost its way.
The 43-year-old star - who has achieved success as a musician and as an actor - has claimed the genre has gone into decline in the US, arguing that hip-hop stars have become obsessed with material possessions.
Idris said: "To me, grime is the purest form of hip-hop in the world at the moment because it comes from a place of: 'We are who we are and we aspire to be this.'
"I feel close to that. That's where US hip-hop lost some of its way because now it's like: 'We're all ballers and we all make stupid amounts of money.'"
The London-born star explained that music remains an important part of his life, because it allows him to be creative and express his own thoughts.
He shared: "As an actor, all day long I'm reading someone else's thoughts. What about my own thoughts? That comes out in various guises. Writing. Directing. And music, unfortunately."
Idris also said he can understand why some people might be surprised that he tries to combine the two interests.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "You must be thinking: 'F**king hell, why are you doing that?'
"I was on a film called 'Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance' and I had a lot of downtime. Imagine me in a Hilton hotel: desk, laptop, little mic, me sitting there in me boxers..."

Noel Gallagher relies on Paul Weller to hear about new music.
The 48-year-old rocker rarely listens to the radio any more so only discovers new artists through his friend, who is obsessed with independent stations.
He said: "I was doing a festival during the summer and Jamie T was on before me and I didn't know any of Jamie T's stuff apart from 'Zombie', which is a great song and he was f***ing amazing.
"All the time I'm thinking, 'Why do I never hear these songs?' I suppose it's because I don't listen to the radio any more.
"I'm really reliant on Paul Weller. I don't know what he does, he must listen to f***ing independent radio all the time because he's forever on the phone to me all the time saying, 'Have you got this? Check this out, check this out.' "
However, Noel is never very impressed by his pal's recommendations.
Asked if he is ever recommended anything bad, he told Q magazine: "All the f***ing time. Most of it is s**t. But he's still getting it in there, do you know what I mean?"

Queen think 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is an "albatross".
The group are tired of hearing their most famous song played everywhere and overshadowing the rest of their back catalogue, though they acknowledge it took their success to another level.
Discussing receiving the Classic Single prize at the recent Q Awards, drummer Roger Taylor said: "I am [sick of hearing it].When the video came on the screens I thought, 'Oh Christ, don't let the audience sit through the whole thing.'
"They've all seen it. Certainly I've seen it a thousand times.
"It's like a bit of wallpaper. We did a lot of other records as well. It's an albatross.
"But it was a good song. It put us on another level and enabled is to keep making lots of records."
And Roger believes 'Bohemian Rhapsody' could have been surpassed by 'Under Pressure' if it had been recorded better.
He told Q magazine: "I thought 'Under Pressure' was one of our better songs - although not one of our best recordings.
"I think if we had recorded it more beautifully it would have been greater than it turned out."

New Order felt they had to "fight" to prove themselves after their rebirth.
The 'True Faith' hitmakers - consisting of Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Phil Cunningham and Tom Chapman - felt they had to go out of their way to pull off a good record after they bounced back on the scene with their new album 'Music Complete' following the departure of bandmate Peter Hook in 2007.
Drummer Stephen said: "Even though you didn't feel like you had something to prove, you felt like you ought to try harder to make a great record. Not that you go out of your way to make a s**t record...
"And this one was more interesting than most because you're doing something new, and when it's novel and fun you come up with something better than when it turns to drudge."
The group treated the rebirth as a new beginning but felt the newly-released collection proved their completion.
Stephen explained to Mojo magazine: "It kind of is like starting again, but then a bit of me thinks, 'you're a bit old to be starting again.' Did we just strike lucky? And, shouldn't you stop when you're on top? I don't think there'd be much point in doing another one the same as this one, though."
Gillian added: "I think we are a new entity in a way, the past is gone a bit. We decided to call it 'Music Complete' because that's what it was, we just thought, that's our music. Complete."

Will Smith is busily making new music - but won't be releasing an album.
The 47-year-old rapper - who has three children Trey, 22, Jaden, 17, and Willow, 14, from two different marriages - has revealed he's been making new tracks, but thinks the distribution of music through albums is outdated.
Will shared: "I have a bunch of songs. I don't know if I'll do an album. I'm looking for a really clever and creative way to release the music.
"I've been watching my kids, and they don't do albums any more. Just the way that people consume music is really different than (to) go out and buy 12 songs, 14 songs, and listen all the way through in one sitting. It's much more ADHD - unless you're Adele."
However, the handsome star has no plans to slow down and he's looking forward to performing in front of a live audience when he goes on a world tour with his old pal Jazzy Jeff next year.
He told Billboard: "I'm just getting to the point that there are things I love to do and I just want to go and I want to do it. There's nothing that compares to being onstage with a hit record.
"Those first couple of seconds when people recognise the song and it's the one they've been waiting for, there's nothing in entertainment that matches that feeling. So I'm really looking forward to getting out there this summer and performing."

Kanye West was blasted by Jay Z for ditching him to watch Alexander McQueen's fashion show in Paris.
The 'FourFiveSeconds' rapper was on a tight deadline to finish his 'Watch the Throne' album with the Jay, but also desperately wanted to see the British designer's collection in Europe, so he flew off without permission.
Recalling the time he angered the rap legend, Kanye revealed: "I was at that McQueen show that he dedicated to his muse that had the wings and everything. I snuck in because they wouldn't let me in because I was a celebrity. And he was kind of disappointed when he saw me, he was like, 'I thought I said no celebrities and s**t.'
"And I remember Jay Z text me and said 'Get off the runway', you know it's kind of rude and stuff because we had an album to finish.
"So I was like, 'I'm not leaving' so we brought all the n****s to Paris and made a song about it."
The 38-year-old hip-hop star has been working on his seventh studio record, titled 'Swish', for over two years and plans to release it any day now.
However, Kanye claimed he hasn't chosen fashion over music, and the two pursuits inspire each other.
Speaking from the Shoe of The Year Awards, where he accepted a gong for his Yeezy collection, he continued: "People would always say, why do you love fashion so much why don't you love music. And I'm likes, so many of my songs came from the pursuit of another creative art form."