News & UK Play Chart

Despite the fact Mariah Carey's festive tune All I Want For Christmas Is You never actually made it to number one in the singles chart, it has topped a poll to find the decade's most played Christmas song. The poll was carried out by the PPL, the body behind collecting royalties for artists, and they discovered that Mariah pipped The Pogues' Fairytale Of New York and Wham!'s Last Christmas to the post as the most-played festive ditty. Like the Mariah Carey song, both The Pogues and Wham!'s efforts also stalled at number two in the charts when released as singles.

Mariah's anthem was released in 1994 and has since become a mainstay of radio and music channels' yuletide playlists, making it a bona fide modern classic. Its position at the top of the PPL poll means it's a must-have for any Christmas soundtrack, alongside older festive hits like Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody and Bing and Bowie's Little Drummer Boy. Make sure your venue is ready for the season with Soundnet's Christmas song package, and give your customers' Crimbo drinks or seasonal dos the perfect tinsel-tinged atmosphere.

On the 23rd of November, 1889, the world's first ever jukebox was installed in San Francisco's Palais Royale Saloon, and a craze that was set to sweep venues across the world was born. The brains behind this new device were the Pacific Phonograph Co. and while it wasn't quite as sophisticated as a modern digital device it quickly became a word-of-mouth hit.

The machine was made of four tubes which looked a little like stethoscopes and were attached to an electric phonograph, all contained within an oak cabinet. It wasn't called a jukebox at the time – the man who brought it to the Palais Royale, Louis Glass, christened it a 'nickel-in-the-slot-machine' – but it could cater to up to four customers at a time, thanks to its separate listening tubes. There was even a towel provided so listeners could give their tube a quick wipe before listening.

The success of this first ever jukebox (the name jukebox came later, possibly as a reference to juke houses – the slang name for rowdy nightspots) signalled the death knell for the player piano, which up until this nickel machine was the most popular way for drinkers to sample the hits of the day.

Colombia might not have qualified for this year’s World Cup in South Africa, but they’ll still be represented at the showpiece tournament thanks to their most famous singing export – Shakira.

She’s been picked to provide the official song for the tournament, alongside South Africa’s Freshlyground, and with football in the blood in Colombia we’ve no doubt she’ll be up to the task.

The Hips Don’t Lie star has teamed up with the Afro-fusion band from Cape Town to record the track called Time For Africa, which is available for download from 26 April. She’ll perform it live with the band at the World Cup’s opening ceremony in Soweto on the 10th of June, in front of a global audience of billions. She’ll reprise it before the final on July 11 (hopefully in front of a stadium full of England fans).

Let’s hope Shakira doesn’t pull a Diana Ross at the US 1994 opening ceremony and miss a penalty from close-range – that moment’s still one of my favourite footy gaffs.

Get your venue in the mood for the World Cup with the track, and a whole host of other football themed songs in Soundnet’s bespoke football package.
 

The issue of online copyright law was brought into focus when a pub owner in the UK was faced with an £8,000 fine in November last year after its open wireless Internet connection was used to illegally download copyrighted material. The Cloud, hotspot provider to the pub, declined to name its location.

With the passing of the Digital Economy Bill it looks like this large fine, the first of its kind in the UK, won’t be the last. Under the new legislation the owner of the copyright which has been infringed will only need to target the address which owns the Internet connection used – in this case the pub in question.

Bringing a case against someone infringing on copyright isn’t a new thing, but targeting the Internet hotspot rather than the individual is – and makes clear the need for anyone providing web access to their customers to ensure there are filters in place.

The increasing crackdown on illegal downloading means Internet usage will be under more scrutiny than ever, and it’s absolutely essential to go down the proper channels when providing music, video and web content to your customers, or risk being punished for their misdemeanours.

Soundnet’s James Luck found himself trapped in Spain after his holiday, here’s his tale of how wi-fi saved the day:

I found myself trapped in Spain this Easter holiday, thanks to the volcanic ash cloud grounding flights back home last week. Luckily, with various iphones, itouches and  the power of wi-fi, we were able to find alternative ways home, plot the final drive, organise accommodation and even keep up with work.

Being two adults and two teenagers with five Internet-enabled devices between us, we first found out about the volcanic ash cloud and its effects on flights via email and Facebook updates.

When the flight was officially cancelled we immediately booked a ferry from Le Havre online and the family were on the road in our hire-car, checking regularly for updates on departure times, traffic situation and of course the route itself – with maps accessed in wi-fi hotspots saved as screen grabs there was never any danger of getting lost.

On the two-day journey home every McDonald’s wi-fi hotspot was met with cheers – not only could the teens keep up to speed with friends via social networking, I could cancel meetings, check emails and ensure we were on target to make the departure time. We made it to Le Havre with three hours to spare. The boat didn’t have wi-fi but we were online again as soon as the white cliffs were in view – the 3G miraculously making it out to us from good old Blighty.

It isn’t just tourists, or our own James Luck, who were grounded by the volcanic ash clouds last week. The glitzy US festival Coachella had a good few notable absentees thanks to the weather, with a host of British musicians unable to travel for their scheduled shows.

The fact Gary Numan couldn’t make the event is maybe the most ironic of all – he’s got a pilot’s license! Even under his own steam, however, the Cars star was no match for the dust – and neither were fellow 80s icons Bernard Sumner or Johnny Marr.

Former New Order frontman Sumner has a new band, Bad Lieutenant, but they had to cancel their big US show. Marr meanwhile, currently lending his jangly chords to Wakefield’s Cribs, was stuck in Blighty. It’s almost as if the skies have no respect for our indie heroes – don’t they realise he was in The Smiths...?

If you want to create a festival feeling without the need for mud or long queues for the toilet it’s simple – just load up your digital jukebox with Soundnet’s MIM or Rockbox package and experience all the hits with the added bonus of having a comfy seat and no risk of rain.

This month music lost one of its biggest characters, and revolutionaries, with the death of Malcolm McLaren. Having overseen the birth of British Punk, McLaren changed the face, and the dress-code, of pop culture and not only gave the world the Sex Pistols, but made sure they were suitably attired to boot.
Kicking music up the backside, McLaren’s unique vision meant he was always a few steps ahead of the game, and whether that meant kitting out his group in bondage gear or staging a Situationist style protest gig on a boat, he always knew how to create a stir.
McLaren wasn’t a one-hit wonder either. He constantly innovated, pioneering early Hip Hop, managing Bow Wow Wow and almost running for London Mayor. Well, Boris got it off the back of a TV show. 
His influence can clearly be seen in any band who try to shock, who dress to impress or who know that three chords and a melody pinched from ABBA is all you really need.
He was a one-off, and even when he didn’t get it right he was never less than fascinating. What better way to remember him than sticking on some Punk and partying like it’s 1977?
 

A survey on drinking habits in Europe has found Britain is the binge drinking capital of the continent, with none of our European counterparts consuming as much in one sitting as us Brit

The survey, carried out by Eurobarometer, found 12% of the British population confessed to consuming up to 10 drinks in a session, a figure which puts us way ahead of the rest of the 27 EU member nation

Only Malta and Finland came close, with one in ten surveyed able to match our single-session intake. The good news was that, while we might drink the most in one go, we aren’t top of the pile when it comes to frequency of boozing.

Brits drink four times a week on average – less than many nations polled. With Europe at the top of the world’s per capita alcohol chart, and Britain way out in front in Europe, it’s a worrying sign for the state of the nation’s livers, not least when alcohol costs over £100 billion in European healthcare annually.

The balance between enjoying a drink and drinking to excess is a fine one, but with more under-18s binging it seems like the time is right for more education on the matter, to ensure we Brits enjoy a drink sensibly, and safely.