It's worse than that, Woodsie. It doesn't seem to be about direct control so much as obliging the mainstream music industry, which, no doubt, quietly contributes sums of undeclared moolah to the campaign funds of a government which removes the competition.

The money grabbing moguls of the big record labels will no longer have anything to do with musical innovators, because intellectual property laws prevent them from snatching the copyright of new songs. So no more Beatles, or similar ground breaking acts, just Will Youngs or Gareth Gates's, doling out covers of stuff they already own.

The number of DJs bolshie enough to insist on choosing their own playlists is reducing day by day, and soon they will control music broadcasting completely.

That's why the internet is so important. They will never be able to prevent us from broadcasting our music on sites like Mudcat, and, in the long term that will be where people will look for worthwhile entertainment.

It will be the death of live music, tho', unless we can persuade more licensees to tick the box, and that is where our efforts should be concentrated.

Don T.