We seem to have a bit of a shortage of quality MP3s that aren’t available elsewhere at the moment, so instead of putting up sub-par stuff, or music that will get us sued, we’ll resume our MP3 of the day on Monday hopefully when we find some good stuff!

In the mean time, enjoy this amazing video from Coldplay of their new single, Life In Technicolor ii. It’s certainly a far flung change to their early “Yellow” days. It’s got puppets, a stadium set-up, fire, helicopters, and a rather bewildered vicar. Confused? Don’t be. Watch the video below.

It’s that time of year again, readers, when the who’s who in music gather together at the Staples Centre, in Los Angeles, to celebrate the world famous ceremony that is the Grammy Awards. This year’s bash has been a particular success for British artists. Home-bred talent such as Coldplay (pictured top), Radiohead (pictured right), Duffy, Leona Lewis and Led Zepplin’s Robert Plant are all up for coveted gongs ranging from ‘Album of the Year’ to ‘Best New Artist’. Brits performing at the awards include Adele, Paul McCartney, Estelle and M.I.A – who has riskily decided to go on with the show despite the fact her baby is due that very night!

Further performances come from Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, Katy Perry, Jonas Brothers, U2 and even a potential surprise appearance from Green Day. The band have hinted on their website, that they may be showing at this year’s awards despite a near 5 year hiatus since releasing hit-album, American Idiot.

The nominees and consequent winners of the gongs’ are decided by a board of around 10000 members made up of artists, songwriters, producers and music engineers. American rapper, Lil Wayne, is the artist to receive the greatest amount of nominations this year, claiming a cool eight nods. Jay-Z, Kanye West, John Mayer, The Eagles and Metallica are other name’s that will be featuring across a significant array of awards tonight. Meanwhile, Neil Diamond is set to be awarded the acclaimed MusiCares Person of the Year title, which aims to recognise those who have made both an outstanding contribution to music as well as charity-work. Previous winners of the award include Bono, Sting and Aretha Franklin.

Catch all the Grammy action tomorrow night (Monday 9th), at 9pm on ITV2.

Ahh…The Brits. Perhaps more famous for Jarvis Cocker’s stage invasion, or Arctic Monkey’s drunken speeches rather than for it’s showcasing of the best of British music. Either way, every year it certainly proves an interesting watch and this 2009, the controversial show will be presented by disco diva, Kylie Minogue and Gavin and Stacey stars, Mathew Horne and James Corden. There will be performances from Kings of Leon, U2 and Take That to name but a few. You can catch all the action live on ITV1 on February 18th, but if you can’t wait till then, There Goes The Fear is here to tell you about the successful nominees that were announced earlier this week.

The artists leading the way with the highest amount of nominations this year are Welsh songstress, Duffy and Coldplay – both tallying up a total of four nods. Both artists had number 1 albums last year – Duffy with ‘Rockferry‘ and Coldplay with ‘Viva la Vida‘ (pictured right) – so are unsurprisingly up for Mastercard’s Best British Album alongside Elbow, Radiohead and The Ting Tings. Duffy’s ‘Mercy’ and Coldplay’s ‘Viva la Vida’ will also be going head to head in Best British Single category alongside the likes of Estelle’s ‘American Boy’, Adele with ‘Chasing Pavements’ and the X Factor Finalists’ ‘Hero’.

Duffy also features in the Best British Female Solo Artist category alongside Adele, Beth Rowley, Estelle and MIA, while the nominees in male counterpart include Ian Brown, James Morrison, Paul Weller, Streets and Will Young. Best British Group has seen the nomination of the ever-popular Coldplay, Elbow, Radiohead, Take That and Girls Aloud.

New music recieving nods in this year’s Best British Breakthrough Act include Last Shadow Puppets and Scouting For Girls, while 2009’s Best British Live Act showcases everyone from Iron Maiden and The Verve, to Elbow.

Singer-songwriter, Florence and the Machine (who we featured here), is tracing the footsteps of 2008 winner Adele through gaining the coveted Critics Choice Award which recognises upcoming music talent. Meanwhile, Pet Shop Boys have been intriguingly awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award, following on from Beatle Sir Paul McCartney’s win last year.

Band’s receiving nods in the international categories including Best International Group and Best International Album are Kings of Leon, The Killers, AC/DC, MGMT and Fleet Foxes. Solo artists featuring in the categories honouring oversea talent include Katy Perry, Gabriella Cilmi, Seasick Steve, Beck and Kanye West.

To see the nominations in full, check out the official Brits website.

Social networking site, MySpace has completely transformed the way we discover and listen to our music. Aspiring musicians are uploading their music everyday to an audience of over 100 million people, worldwide. It’s famously known for assisting in the launch of artists such as Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys and this week, MySpace has chosen to reveal the eight most popular musicians on the site for this year.

So, who reached the number one spot? Well, unusually, it’s an act that’s not released any material since way back in 2005. The band in discussion are also non-human. Guessed yet? Well, Damon Albarn’s virtual band, Gorillaz (pictured top), is the act that’s surprisingly topped the poll, beating the likes of Amy Winehouse, Oasis and Coldplay. The animated group, who’s hits include ‘Feel Good Inc’ and ‘DARE’, have had a crazy 11,498,760 hits on their MySpace page and boast of 682,875 friends.

Coming in second place is Welsh metal band, Bullet for My Valentine, with an impressive 596,885 mates. Comments on the seemingly worshipped band’s profile include “i will never get over how aswome u guys r!” and “OMG I LOVE U GUYS U RULE U WILL ONE DAY RULE THE WORLD”. The ‘Hearts Burst Into Fire’ band are currently preparing to embark on a tour around Australia and New Zeland, take parting in the awesome ‘Big Day Out’ festival.

Check out the complete list compiling MySpace’s eight most popular acts of 2008, here:

1. Gorillaz (682,875 friends)
2. Bullet for My Valentine (596,885 friends)
3. Amy Winehouse (542,268 friends)
4. Coldplay (525,110 friends) (pictured top right)
5. Lily Allen (462,159 friends)
6. MIA (399,858 friends)
7. Oasis (353,484 friends)
8. Imogen Heap (351,484 friends)

If you haven’t heard of the Joe Satriani – Coldplay scandal then you must have been in an isolated jungle. Possibly set to be the biggest music industry law suit this year, Coldplay have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Last week on 4^th December, court papers were filled in by Joe Satriani’s legal team alleging that the vocals on the hit single “Viva La Vida” copied his main guitar melody from his own track “If I could fly”.

Now using someone else’s music in your own track is nothing new, but you must have an agreement with the person you are sampling from. Joe Satriani never made such an agreement and Coldplay have come up with little response to defend themselves. Coldplay have really put themselves in it as “If I could fly” was laboured over for ten years by one of the most iconic guitar players ever.

Speaking out on the 6^th December, Joe Satriani explains that he never wanted to go to court but Satriani expressed that he is only doing what he thinks is right. He also said that “The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] If I Could Fly” and added “That’s what really hurts about this whole thing. That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it – and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own.”

Both artists have received massive publicity but neither would be happy for the reasons why. A jury will decide the case in the close future but why don’t you see if you think Coldplay copied Joe with this mashupof the two songs:

Picture this. Ok, so you stroll into a store. You glance over the array of magazines. One catches your eye and off you go to purchase it. You arrive home, settle down, and read it. A few days later – you throw the magazine away.

That is all well and good. But, how would you feel if throughout the above process you had saved several peoples’ lives, too?

Well, that is exactly what you would have done if you had just purchased a subscription to brand-spanking new digital music magazine, (RED)WIRE. Let me explain..

(RED)WIRE is an innovative new music service that is set to change the way we discover and receive our music. Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie (pictued right), The Police and Jay-Z are just some of the artists (RED)WIRE has received backing from. For just £4 a month, subscribers will receive an issue of (RED)WIRE direct to their desktop every week, in an exciting, digital magazine-like interface. Issues will not only feature exclusive tracks from the biggest names in music around, but tunes from awesome new and upcoming artists aswell. That’s not all – every issue of (RED)WIRE will also feature a range of different digital content each week, may it be a short film, reading from an actor/artist, photography, etc. If it couldn’t get any better… all (RED)WIRE content is DRM-free, so you’ll be able to burn all your new music to CD-Rs without any problems!

The greatest thing about (RED)WIRE, however, is that half of your monthly subscription fee will be sent straight to the Global Fund. The Global Fund will make sure that all the money collected will be invested in vital HIV and AIDS programs in Africa. Through purchasing (RED)WIRE, you will be helping towards the costs of life-saving medicine for HIV sufferers in Africa. Infact, just five members will generate enough money each month to provide such necessary medication for one person in Africa living with HIV. Since it’s formation in 2002, the Global Fund have successfully averted more than 2.5 million AIDS-related deaths, so you know that your money will be in good hands with such a brilliant investor.

Furthermore, (RED)WIRE will also be helping towards rescuing the flagging music industry too. The magazine subscription charge, while helping to fund vital HIV treatment, will also be providing a new revenue stream for music artists who are struggling in the modern-day environment of illegal downloads. So basically, everyone wins.

If you sign up to (RED)WIRE by December 10th, you will become an official “founding member” of the magazine. Founding members will receive a special, premier issue of (RED)WIRE, aswell as an exclusive track from Jay-Z. So what are you waiting for?

If the credit crunch is doing you some favours and you’re actually feeling particuarly plush at the moment, maybe you’ll be interested in bidding on some amazing money-can’t-buy items thanks to childrens charity Rays of Sunshine. Normally they hold a gala dinner at London’s Roundhouse, however in the current climate they’ve moved online, auctioning their amazing lots online and giving everyone a chance to win the auction, not just the rich..

Website founder Mia Woodford commented “The Rays of Sunshine Virtually Brilliant Auction contains some of the best lots we have ever seen. Bids have already started to come in for such money-can’t-usually-buy opportunities as meeting the Kaiser Chiefs or Coldplay, with VIP concert tickets, or the chance to go on set with Emma Thompson as she films Nanny Mc Phee II”

So, if you want a chance to win some of the amazing auction items below, just go on over to Rays of Sunshine’s online auction. At the time of writing, you can get 6 VIP Madness tickets for just £80 – so get bidding before the price goes astronomical.

Auctioned items include:

• 2 VIP tickets to see Coldplay in concert followed by a meet and greet
• 2 VIP tickets to see Kaiser Chiefs at Wembley Arena followed by a meet and greet
• A Fender guitar signed by Sting
• The chance to have lunch or dinner with Craig David at his home in Hampstead
• 4 VIP tickets, flights and accommodation to the 2009 Europe Music Awards in Berlin
• 6 VIP tickets to see Madness and meet the band backstage

Are you a fan of Chris Martin and his band of merrymakers (otherwise known as Coldplay)?

Well, rejoice as they’ve announced their three biggest shows ever for 10 months time around the UK, where they’ll play three stadium shows.

Tickets for all three dates go on sale on Friday (28th November) at 9:30am.

Saturday 12th September – Manchester LCCC
Wednesday 16th September – Glasgow Hampden Park
Saturday 19th September – London Wembley Stadium

Coldplay have announced a 10 date UK tour for December around the arenas of the UK.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (30th May) at 9am.

Catch the lads at:

Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd December – Birmingham, NIA
Friday 5th and Saturday 6th – Glasgow, SECC
Sunday 7th December – Sheffield, Arena
Wednesday 10th December – Liverpool, Echo Arena
Thursday 11th and Friday 12th December – Manchester, MEN
Sunday 14th and Monday 15th December – London, O2 Arena

Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Until June release their debut album in the USA on Tuesday, with their unique brand of honesty and perseverance offering an American style of Coldplay, Keane, The Feeling, The Fray and umpteen other morose pop bands of the last few years.

Named after their self-imposed deadline of June 2006 to get a record deal, they signed by their deadline with Flicker Records/Sony-BMG, and after a busy time touring and building up a bit of buzz about themselves, they’re now ready to take both America and the rest of the world by storm.

Whilst they’re not doing anything particuarly different or innovative, its incredibly catchy and radio friendly – something that is bound to make them quite popular.

Opening with ‘Sleepless’, the “ooh-oooh”’s will either grate you all excite you, dependant on your viewpoint. ‘What I’ve Done’ follows, reminiscent of some of The Fray’s more powerful stuff, and would be instantly at home on an episode of The OC, Scrubs, Greys Anatomy or any one of the hit US TV series.

‘The Saddest Song’ is blockbuster movie material – suitable for the montage of the fairytale couple splitting up… epic, and yet very accesible.

Overall, a strong debut album. Amazon says that the album is available here in the UK on April 30th, so be sure to catch it then – though I’m sure its only a matter of time before the band comes over here to make it big.