Music News

Ed Sheeran was worried he'd never make it as a pop star because he was a "chubby, fat ginger kid".
The 'Sing' hitmaker has topped the charts in 12 countries with his new album 'X' but when he was an unsigned act he feared his appearance would stop him from being a success in the music industry.
In an interview with Zane Lowe for MTV Music show 'Relentless Ultra Presents Soundchain', he said: "I wasn't a very marketable person ever. This was point where James Blunt was huge. All labels looking for next singer/songwriter and I was chubby, ginger kid with a small guitar."
Ed also accepts that his decision to play 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' - a derisory song about record labels - at many industry meetings probably didn't help his cause.
The musician joked: "Knockbacks seemed bad at time, but looking back if I'd been at label I'd have knocked myself back then."
The 'A Team' singer also credits Taylor Swift for his success in the US, admitting Taylor's offer to support her on her sell-out 'Red Tour' introduced him to the wider American audience.
He said: "[Taylor] owns the US pop scene. She knows how to do it. In England I was a commercially successful artist, but I came to the US as an alternative artist playing shows with Snow Patrol. She not only opened doors for me in the pop world but told me how to do it. You have to do all radio shows at Christmas and do all those sessions. The key is not to lose that."
'Relentless Ultra Presents Soundchain With Zane Lowe & Ed Sheeran' airs on Sunday (20.07.14) at 9.30pm on MTV Music.

One Direction singer Liam Payne has been busy recording a dance "banger".
While fans may know 1D more for their catchy harmonies, it appears that Liam, 20, is keen to take the boy band down a different musical path.
The singer posted a black and white photo of himself on Instagram with an accompanying caption that read: "Just going to bed been studio written a pure banger for you guys who like dance more info to come."
Fans of One Direction were quick to comment on the post and the initial reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
One fan enthused: "Can't wait!!!"
Liam and the other 1D band members, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, have all been writing separately for their next album in order to take the LP - the follow-up to 'Midnight Memories' - in a new direction.
Zayn has been working with producer Naughty Boy, while Harry has been writing with Ed Sheeran - who previously penned their hit 'Little Things'.
Harry has previously revealed he always tries to draw on personal experiences when he's writing lyrics.
He said: "You're always going to draw inspiration for things that you're feeling, things that you've felt. It's kind of impossible not to unless there's an exact scenario that you're trying to write a song for."

Drake has had to pay $100,000 for lyrics he "borrowed" from another artist.
The 'Take Care' hitmaker was forced to fork out the huge sum after he copied lines from Rappin' 4-Tay's track 'Playaz Club' for his collaboration with YG on 'Who Do You Love'.
4-Tay was offended that the 27-year-old rapper had ripped off his lyrics and not credited him on the track and is believed to have approached the star's management to come to an agreement over the plagiarism, reports TMZ.
According to 4-Tay's manager the matter was soon solved after Drake's label agreed to pay the 'Problems' singer $100,000 for "borrowing" the lyrics and avoided a lawsuit being filed against them.
The news comes just days after Drake buried hatchet with his long-time rival Chris Brown after a photograph of them together in a recording studio appeared on Instagram.
Tension first erupted between the pair - who have both had on-again, off-again relationships with Rihanna - in New York City nightclub W.I.P. in 2012, when a violent fight left several people injured.
A source revealed to TMZ that the duo made a business decision to put their differences aside, as they believe they can make millions by teaming up together.
Drake, 27, has signed on to produce Chris' upcoming album, and is collaborating with him on several tracks.
The pair believe the album will be a huge hit because fans will want to pick apart the lyrics and compare their vocal abilities.
Another source told HollywoodLife.com: "[Drake] will work with anyone in the biz if he thinks the collaboration has the potential to be epic."

Lily Allen has replaced Two Door Cinema Club on the Latitude Festival line-up.
The 'Hard Out Here' singer has stepped in to replace the band after it was reported that frontman Alex Trimble was in hospital and unable to perform the band's headline slot at the music event at Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk, in Eastern England on Friday (18.07.14) night.
She said in a statement: "So sorry to hear about Alex from Two Door Cinema Club. However, I am more than happy to step in. I've never been to Latitude, but I hear it's fabulous and I can' wait to get my heels on for some serious dancing action on Friday evening - so, so excited."
In addition to adding Lily to the line-up, festival organisers are also planning to make up for the loss of the 'Changing of the Seasons' singers by promising fans a surprise guest performance on the night.
Managing Director of Festival Republic Melvin Benn said of the change in line-up: "We are honoured that Lily Allen is able to step in at the last minute and would like to thank her for filling the headline slot. After her show-stopping performance at Glastonbury Lily was a natural choice, the Latitude audience are in for something really spectacular."
Fellow headliners The Black Keys and Damon Albarn will perform on Saturday (19.07.14) and Sunday (20.07.14) as planned while other acts scheduled to appear include Editors, Kelis and George Ezra.

Rudimental will headline the Our House Stage at Virgin Media's V Festival.
The 'Feel the Love' hitmakers will take part in a sound-clash with Hospital Records (All Stars); London Elektricity, Danny Byrd, Fred V & Grafix and Dynamite MC, at the event's Chelmsford site on Sunday 17 August - and fans unlucky enough not to have tickets for the event will still be able to catch the performance as it will be streamed live on Virgin Media's YouTube channel.
Other performers in Our House - which offers mobile recharge points and free wifi to festival goers at both Chelmsford and Staffordshire -over the V Festival weekend include Too Many Ts, Naughty Boy, Redlight, Shy FX, and Sub Focus.
Richard Larcombe, brand and marketing director at Virgin Media, said: "This year we are inviting everyone to join in the ultimate house party experience, live from V Festival. By live-streaming the sound-clash from Our House, it means even more people can get involved and experience the festival - whether they're logging on from their living room or grooving in their garden."
This year's Virgin Media V Festival will be headlined by Justin Timberlake and The Killers, with other performers including Ed Sheeran, Manic Street Preachers, Paolo Nutini, Blondie and Miles Kane.

Ed Sheeran was worried he'd never make it as a pop star because he was a "chubby, fat ginger kid".
The 'Sing' hitmaker has topped the charts in 12 countries with his new album 'X' but when he was an unsigned act he feared his appearance would stop him from being a success in the music industry.
In an interview with Zane Lowe for MTV Music show 'Relentless Ultra Presents Soundchain', he said: "I wasn't a very marketable person ever. This was point where James Blunt was huge. All labels looking for next singer/songwriter and I was chubby, ginger kid with a small guitar."
Ed also accepts that his decision to play 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' - a derisory song about record labels - at many industry meetings probably didn't help his cause.
The musician joked: "Knockbacks seemed bad at time, but looking back if I'd been at label I'd have knocked myself back then."
The 'A Team' singer also credits Taylor Swift for his success in the US, admitting Taylor's offer to support her on her sell-out 'Red Tour' introduced him to the wider American audience.
He said: "[Taylor] owns the US pop scene. She knows how to do it. In England I was a commercially successful artist, but I came to the US as an alternative artist playing shows with Snow Patrol. She not only opened doors for me in the pop world but told me how to do it. You have to do all radio shows at Christmas and do all those sessions. The key is not to lose that."
'Relentless Ultra Presents Soundchain With Zane Lowe & Ed Sheeran' airs on Sunday (20.07.14) at 9.30pm on MTV Music.

Ryan Tedder says hit songs shouldn't "need a lot of thought".
The OneRepublic frontman has written catchy tracks for numerous singers as well as his own band and he insists great pop should sound easy to create.
In an interview with the new issue of FAULT Magazine - out on July 18 - the singer-songwriter explained: "You have to have hits all the time: that is your currency. You have to have the most cutting edge, innovative, driving, fantastical songs that the world instantly reacts to. They don't need a lot of thought, and you don't have to dig deep."
Among Ryan's hits are Leona Lewis' worldwide smash 'Bleeding Love', which he co-wrote with Jesse McCartney, and 'Halo' which he penned with Beyoncé and Evan Bogart.
However, he insists not all musicians share the same passion for the craft as he does.
When asked if he's ever met or worked with pop stars who aren't as involved in their music as he is, the 35-year-old star shared: "Yes. If the artist is part of the machine then they're too busy to really artistically care, they just say, 'Give me the biggest hit.' "
Admitting he finds it harder to write songs for OneRepublic than for other artists, he added: "OneRepublic songs are a lot harder for me. I compare it to theatre. A OneRepublic album is a play written, directed, produced, performed by us, by me, but when it's for another artist I feel like I wrote the dialogue, but I don't have to stand on stage and deliver it, so I'm not the one getting tomatoes thrown at 'em if it doesn't go well."
OneRepublic's new single 'Love Runs Out' is out August 3 and appears on a new version of the album 'Native' out August 11 on Mosley Music/Interscope Records.

Kodaline found it "very cool" writing with Harry Styles.
The group bonded with the One Direction singer after he went to one of their gigs, and they spent an interesting day in the recording studio together afterwards, though singer Steve Garrigan has no idea what the 'Little Things' hitmaker wants to do with the tracks.
Asked if he thinks Harry will go solo, Steve told BANG Showbiz: "I have no idea if that's the plan at all. But writing with him was very cool.
"He came to one of our shows and we were just hanging out afterwards. We all had the next day off so decided to go to the studio together and played music together all day, that was how it all came about really."
The 'High Hopes' group have performed a string of recent outdoor gigs including at the Glastonbury festival and the Summer Series at London's Somerset House with American Express, and love the differing experiences they get for playing different sized crowds.
Steve explained: "Glastonbury was amazing and at the time was definitely a career highlight.
"Large gigs are always great because of the sheer volume of the crowd, but small, intimate gigs, like the Summer Series, are equally as exciting for a musician.
"When you perform you feed off the energy of those listening and obviously being able to attract a big crowd and entertain them is great. But on the flip slide, a smaller crowd is slightly more personal."
Kodaline were part of the stellar line-up for this year's Summer Series at Somerset House with American Express(r), just one example of the enriched entertainment experiences available to Cardmembers.
For more insider information from some of the UK's most sought after events visit youtube.com/AmericanExpressUK.

David Bowie will release new music "soon".
The 'Space Oddity' hitmaker - who made a surprise comeback with the shock release of single 'Where Are We Now?' last January - has confirmed in a statement praising London that he is working on new material, a follow up to March 2013's 'The Next Day' album.
In a statement read out at a recent charity event at the 12 Bar in London, which was held to celebrate 50 years of the singer's music and raise money for the Terrance Higgins Trust, he said: "This city is even better than the one you were in last year, so remember to dance, dance, dance. And then sit down for a minute, knit something, then get up and run all over the place. Do it. Love on ya. More music soon. David."
A spokesperson for the 67-year-old singer confirmed that the statement came directly from the star.
Earlier this year, the 'Starman' singer fuelled speculation he was back in the recording studio during a congratulatory message to Columbia Records US chairman, Rob Stringer, who was honoured with the prestigious Strat Award at the Music Awards in April.
In the tongue-in-cheek message to his record label boss, David joked: "When he asked me if I minded if he took a few Saturdays off from his duties as percussionist on my new album this year in order to catch the Luton Town football club fixtures, how could I refuse? It's the least I could offer to the man who with his own hands pulled my album to Number One throughout the world."