No Rock And Roll Fun

EMPTY CHAIR AT THE BRITS: With all the people who've had their dreams crushed and their lives ruined by the music industry over the years, we're not sure that many people will be shedding tears over the BPI making its Director General redundant. Andrew Yates role is being squished out of existence and his work being handed to the exec chairman of the Music Industry lobbying group. What's remarkable is that the BPI has managed to have the two positions in place for so long, while the companies which fund them have been chopping down employees in the name of falling sales. Yates is negotiating a departure package, a luxury not afforded to, say, the thousand people whose liives were wrecked when EMI fucked up over Mariah Carey.

The decision to poke the DG out into the streets comes while the BPI's main thing, the Brits, is getting it from all sides. Last week, Virgin Megastores pointed out that this year's celebration of British talent is, erm, chock full of American acts.