UK: British singer Lilly Allen led the field with four nominations for the Brit music awards when the shortlist was announced last night. She is closely followed by Gnarls Barkley, Muse and Irish band Snow Patrol, who received three nominations apiece.
The Belfast band is now in the running for the best British band title, while Eyes Open is a contender for British album of the year and Chasing Cars is nominated for best British single. Muse and Allen will also be competing for the coveted British album award, while Barkley is bidding for a clean sweep in the international awards.
Corinne Bailey Rae secured three nominations as well, while two other leading British singer-songwriters - Amy Winehouse and James Morrison - secured two nominations each. Two nominations also went to the Arctic Monkeys, who led an internet revolution in music and boasted the fastest-selling debut album of all time in Britain. They already received a Mercury music prize.
Competition for best international male solo artist provided an intriguing shortlist spanning the pop generations - Beck, Bob Dylan, Jack Johnson, Justin Timberlake and Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice.
Beyoncé, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera and Cat Power will battle to be named best international female solo artist when the awards are announced on Valentine's Day, February 14th.
Critics have praised 2006 as a vintage year for British artists, but CD sales dropped 2.5 per cent, music giant EMI issued a profit warning and retailer HMV reported losses.
"Creatively, music is as healthy as it has ever been," said Gareth Grundy, deputy editor of Q magazine. "But major record companies are struggling to cope with the digital age. It is a business in transition which is very exciting if you are a band. If you are good, you can get your music out there quickly, but it is utterly terrifying if you are a record company executive trying to hold onto your job."
Global digital music sales more than doubled in the first half of 2006, but the overall market fell 4 per cent.
Britain is the world's third-largest music market after the US and Japan.
Daily Telegraph music critic Neil McCormick said 2006 was a healthy year for British music. "It is very appropriate that Oasis is getting a lifetime achievement award at this time as this is a new era of Britpop.
"But major labels are struggling to work out how they are going to continue to make extortionate amounts of money from this download culture." - (Reuters)