Performing rights

This first public holiday of the year proper reminded us that we've not done a radio last.fm check for a while, and just gone three months into the new year is as good a time as any. For those joining late this is where we copy and paste, in this case, the three month artist and song scrobble charts up to Friday 10th April from the last.fm accounts of assorted leading national music radio stations to adjudicate what's popular with the kids on the M6 and groups of lads in factories that text Jo Whiley and equivalents these days.

BBC Radio 1
1 Kings of Leon 259
2 The Killers 209
3 Beyoncé 197
4 Lady GaGa 184
5 Take That 177
6 Prodigy 175
6 Katy Perry 175
8 Franz Ferdinand 174
9 Kelly Clarkson 165
10 Tinchy Stryder 162
11 Alesha Dixon 158
12 MGMT 155
13 Pink 154
14 U2 153
15 The All-American Rejects 149
16 White Lies 148
17 The Saturdays 144
18 Flo Rida 136
19 N-Dubz 131
20 Noisettes 125
20 September 125
22 Coldplay 124
23 Just Jack 120
24 Snow Patrol 119
25 Calvin Harris 109
25 The Enemy 109
27 Lily Allen 108
28 Jason Mraz 107
29 Friendly Fires 106
29 Metro Station 106

The Prodigy's elevated position here is interesting - while they still attracted interest, especially as it was off the back of a long break, there was a feeling then that they were played out as a potential commercial force outside the dance hardcore. Yet here they are, back to Keith and Maxim shouting and getting no end of airplay. The most glaring entry there, and even more so in the song list, is the All-American Rejects, all but one play of which is for Gives You Hell, which for a song that peaked at number 18 by a band currently averaging one top 40 entry every three years is a surprise to say the least. Does it feel to anyone else that Jason Mraz has been subject to frenzied launch attempts for most of this decade?

1 Tinchy Stryder – Take Me Back 153
2 The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell 148
3 Kings of Leon – Revelry 142
4 Alesha Dixon – Breathe Slow 141
5 Prodigy – Omen 138
6 Kelly Clarkson – My Life Would Suck Without You 127
7 Beyoncé – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) 124
8 N-Dubz – Strong Again 123
9 U2 – Get on Your Boots 122
10 MGMT – Time to Pretend 121
11 The Killers – Spaceman 120
12 Noisettes – Don't Upset the Rhythm 119
13 Flo Rida – Right Round 117
14 Just Jack – Embers 116
15 Take That – Up All Night 112
16 September – Can't Get Over 109
17 White Lies – Farewell to the Fairground 108
18 Calvin Harris – I'm Not Alone 107
19 Pink – Sober 105
20 Metro Station – Shake It 104
21 The Enemy – No Time For Tears 92
22 Taylor Swift – Love Story 88
23 Snow Patrol – If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It 87
23 Chipmunk – Chip Diddy Chip 87
23 Shontelle – T-Shirt 87
26 Chase & Status / Kano – Against All Odds 86
27 Friendly Fires – Skeleton Boy 84
27 Jason Mraz – I'm Yours 84
29 Katy Perry – Hot n Cold 82
29 Britney Spears – Circus 82

Imagine being Kano. Seeing which way things are heading with Roll Deep having a top ten single and with your own MOBO and Brit success, you make This Is The Girl with Craig David, a see through attempt at populism, and it doesn't get far. You then watch, relegating yourself to the commercial sidelines, as many contemporaries - Dizzee, Wiley, that sort - take the money and run further. Can things get any more insulting? Well, protege Tinchy Stryder could go and have a big hit and become the new youth poster boy. Your last throw of the dice is to leap aboard the watered down D'n'B set, at which you're criticised for, erm, chancing your commercial arm. Tinchy, N-Dubz and Chipmunk? A subset of urban music that appears to be aimed at nobody over 18? Is this your fault, Grimshaw?

BBC Radio 2
1 U2 143
2 Take That 140
3 Pet Shop Boys 137
4 Lily Allen 126
5 Fleet Foxes 113
6 Morrissey 101
7 Coldplay 99
8 Taylor Swift 96
9 Annie Lennox 94
10 The Beatles 89
11 Tony Christie 87
12 Jon Allen 82
12 Empire of the Sun 82
14 The Killers 80
15 Tom Jones 77
15 Keane 77
15 Sugarland 77
15 Imelda May 77
19 Lionel Richie 75
20 James Taylor 73
21 David Bowie 71
21 Paul Carrack 71
21 Lunik 71
24 The Script 67
25 Daniel Merriweather 66
25 Seal 66
27 Alain Clark 65
28 The Rolling Stones 64
29 Doves 63
30 Stevie Wonder 62

Sharing 39th place with 54 plays are Bruce Springsteen and 'Bruce Springsteen / The E Street Band'. There you see laid out the perils of flexible backing band credits. At the risk of getting another admonishing email from someone's management we had never heard of Sugarland (Nashville country duo), Lunik (Swiss (!) female fronted AOR) or Jon Allen (Winchester post-Bluntisms from a Land Rover advert), but they all sound more like DJs or 1Xtra artists.

1 Take That – Up All Night 119
2 Pet Shop Boys – Love etc. 108
3 Lily Allen – The Fear 100
4 Taylor Swift – Love Story 94
5 Annie Lennox – Shining Light 89
5 Morrissey – I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris 89
7 Jon Allen – In Your Light 82
8 U2 – Get on Your Boots 80
9 Sugarland – All I Want To Do 77
10 Tony Christie – Every Word She Said 74
11 Lunik – Everybody Knows 71
12 Fleet Foxes – Mykonos 70
12 Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream 70
14 Daniel Merriweather – Daniel Merriweather - Change 66
15 The Script – Talk You Down 63
16 Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II 60
16 Doves – Kingdom of Rust 60
16 Gary Go – Wonderful 60
19 Alain Clark – Father & Friend 59
20 Imelda May – Johnny Got A Boom Boom 58
21 Tom Jones – Give a Little Love 57
22 Shena – Can't stop the Rain 56
23 Lionel Richie – Just Go 52
23 Seal – It's Alright 52
25 jools holland / louise marshall – I Went By 51
26 Beyoncé – Halo 50
26 James Taylor – It's Growing 50
28 Karima Francis – Again 49
29 Stone Walters – Trouble 47
29 The Killers – Spaceman 47

Hello Mrs Walters, is your Stone about? Taylor Swift there, because every generation needs its own Leann Rimes. Empire Of The Sun's not going to happen, is it? Luke Steele must be getting used to that feeling.

BBC 6 Music
1 Franz Ferdinand 198
2 Morrissey 138
3 U2 131
3 Friendly Fires 131
5 Oasis 127
5 Doves 127
7 Kings of Leon 115
8 Yeah Yeah Yeahs 113
9 La Roux 111
10 Animal Collective 109
11 Bat for Lashes 102
12 The Maccabees 101
13 School of Seven Bells 97
14 White Lies 94
15 Empire of the Sun 93
16 hockey 91
17 Dan Black 89
18 Fleet Foxes 87
19 Passion Pit 86
19 Lily Allen 86
21 Depeche Mode 85
22 Jack Peñate 84
23 Röyksopp 81
23 Wintersleep 81
23 David Bowie 81
26 Super Furry Animals 75
27 Pet Shop Boys 74
27 Coldplay 74
29 Bloc Party 71
30 The Cure 68

School of Seven Bells and Wintersleep being up there is a reminder of the station's early days when they'd play the chrome off stuff like Brendan Benson, the Fallout Trust and McKay that nobody else was then touching, plus new stuff by Ian Dury and Joe Strummer. George Lamb would have been attempting to manage the Audio Bullys then. M Ward and Art Brut are in touching distance of this list, as for some reason are Madness. We know they've got this Camden Crawl promotion going on at the moment, but a lot of their plays don't appear to be very recent, and not the new stuff either.

1 Friendly Fires – Skeleton Boy 127
2 U2 – Get on Your Boots 107
3 Animal Collective – My Girls 105
4 Oasis – Falling Down 99
5 Bat for Lashes – Daniel 94
6 hockey – Too Fake 91
6 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero 91
8 La Roux – In for the Kill 90
9 Dan Black – Alone 89
10 Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream 88
11 Doves – Kingdom of Rust 86
11 Kings of Leon – Revelry 86
13 Morrissey – I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris 83
14 Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls 82
14 Passion Pit – Sleepyhead 82
16 Jack Peñate – Tonight's Today 81
17 School of Seven Bells – Iamundernodisguise 79
18 Fleet Foxes – Mykonos 77
19 The Maccabees – No Kind Words 76
19 Wintersleep – Oblivion 76
21 Lily Allen – The Fear 74
22 White Lies – Farewell to the Fairground 68
22 Röyksopp – Happy Up Here 68
24 Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses 60
25 Emiliana Torrini – Jungle Drum 58
26 Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II 57
27 The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime around Midnight 55
28 Justice / Uffie – Tthhee Ppaarrttyy 52
28 M. Ward – Never Had Nobody Like You 52
28 Golden Silvers – True Romance 52

Is it just us put off a bit Golden Silvers when we realised their singer is a vocal ringer for Joe Lean? No? Alright then. Skeleton Boy being so far ahead is very interesting in that despite Paris' reputation it never took off for them as much as someone like Late Of The Pier, which suggests word of mouth is going around to their ultimate benefit. Well, maybe not ultimate given their first album promotion is drawing to a close.

BBC 1Xtra
1 Beyoncé 206
2 Kanye West 186
3 Ne-Yo 163
4 Donae'o 156
5 serani 142
6 K.I.G Family 129
7 DJ Perempay & Dee / Katie Pearl 128
8 Eminem / Dr Dre / 50 Cent 124
9 Chipmunk 123
10 Jazmine Sullivan 120
11 Elephant Man 119
11 N-Dubz 119
13 Attacca Pesante / Shea Soul 117
14 Akon / Kardinal Offishall / Colby O'Donis 113
14 Ghetto 113
16 Shontelle / The Dream 112
17 Fuzzy Logic / Egypt 105
18 Young Nate 103
19 Chase & Status / Kano 102
20 Jay-Z / Santogold 100
21 Ryan Leslie / Jadakiss 96
21 Jamie Foxx / T.I 96
23 Jay Sean 94
23 Sway / Akon 94
23 Ron Brownz / Ludacris / Jim Jones / Juelz Santana 94
23 T2 / Michelle 94
27 Tinchy Stryder / Taio Cruz / Sway / ChipMunk 93
28 Crazy Cousins / Kyla 88
28 Kid Cudi 88
28 T.I. / Justin Timberlake 88

Plus Vanilla Ice with 6 plays and MC Hammer with 5. There's the hot new sound of the urban underground. Blasting off in the area! Banging in your face! Excuse me, Doug E Fresh! Anyway. As well as sounding like the name of a rundown beachfront budget joke goods emporium, Crazy Cousinz are at the forefront of the 'funky' scene, which we see a problem with. See, according to all the specialist press this is supposed to be the UK-centric urban scene that becomes massively popular in a way grime, garage etc never properly managed. And yet to date what has been the best known and most public invocation of the movement?



Yeah, that's funky's PR issue right there.

1 serani – No Games 139
2 DJ Perempay & Dee / Katie Pearl – In The Air 128
3 K.I.G Family – Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes 126
4 Eminem / Dr Dre / 50 Cent – Crack A Bottle 121
5 Chipmunk – Chip Diddy Chip 120
6 Beyoncé – Single Ladies 118
6 Donae'o – Party Hard 118
8 Attacca Pesante / Shea Soul – Make It Funky For Me 115
9 Shontelle / The Dream – T-Shirt (Remix) 112
10 Akon / Kardinal Offishall / Colby O'Donis – Beautiful 110
11 Fuzzy Logic / Egypt – In The Morning 102
12 Chase & Status / Kano – Against All Odds 101
12 Young Nate – i wonder 101
14 Ghetto – Sing For Me (Remix) 100
14 Jay-Z / Santogold – Brooklyn (Go Hard) 100
16 Elephant Man – sweep 97
17 Kanye West – Heartless 96
17 Ryan Leslie / Jadakiss – How It Was Supposed To Be (Remix) 96
19 Jamie Foxx / T.I – Just Like Me 95
20 Jazmine Sullivan – Dream Big 94
20 T2 / Michelle – Come Over 94
22 Sway / Akon – Silver & Gold 91
23 Tinchy Stryder / Taio Cruz / Sway / ChipMunk – Take Me Back (Remix) 90
24 N-Dubz – Strong Again 88
24 Crazy Cousins / Kyla – Do You Mind (Remix) 88
26 Ron Brownz / Ludacris / Jim Jones / Juelz Santana – Pop Champagne (Remix) 87
27 T.I. / Justin Timberlake – Dead & Gone 85
28 Melanie Fiona – Give It To Me 84
29 Kid Cudi – Day 'n' Nite (Crookers remix) 83
30 Jay Sean – Tonight 82

Last week someone gave a play to Wonderwall. Not Jay-Z's miming, that wouldn't have worked, the actual Wonderwall. Serani is dancehall, by the way. Yeah, a new Sean Paul, we were crying out for one of those.

Absolute
1 Kings of Leon 572
2 The Killers 535
3 U2 485
4 Coldplay 461
5 MGMT 430
6 Snow Patrol 366
7 Oasis 316
8 Bruce Springsteen 289
9 Lily Allen 284
10 Queen 276
11 Elbow 275
12 White Lies 271
13 R.E.M. 238
14 The Rolling Stones 236
15 Keane 230
16 Stereophonics 212
17 David Bowie 208
18 Razorlight 203
19 The Beatles 201
20 James Morrison 194
21 Bon Jovi 190
21 The Police 190
23 Blur 183
24 Doves 177
25 Red Hot Chili Peppers 170
26 Kaiser Chiefs 164
27 Fleet Foxes 159
28 Simple Minds 158
29 Foo Fighters 157
30 The Cure 145

1 MGMT – Kids 315
2 Lily Allen – The Fear 280
3 Kings of Leon – Use Somebody 274
4 Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II 259
5 Snow Patrol – Crack the Shutters 243
6 The Killers – Spaceman 219
7 White Lies – To Lose My Life 217
8 Elbow – One Day Like This 215
9 The Killers – Human 205
10 James Morrison – Broken Strings 194
11 Doves – Kingdon Of Rust 165
12 Fleet Foxes – Mykonos 149
13 Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire 144
14 Bruce Springsteen – Working on a Dream 141
15 Kings of Leon – Revelry 133
16 Keane – Better Than This 132
17 Oasis – Falling Down 130
18 U2 – Magnificent 128
19 U2 – Get on Your Boots 124
20 Coldplay – Viva la Vida 115
21 MGMT – Time to Pretend 114
22 Florence and The Machine – Dog Days Are Over 90
23 Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls 88
24 The Script – Talk You Down 82
25 Pet Shop Boys – Love etc 79
26 The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell 77
26 Razorlight – Hostage of Love 77
28 The Fray – You Found Me 74
29 Elbow – Grounds for Divorce 57
30 Foo Fighters – Long Road to Ruin 49

We think we could have put most of those together without looking, to be honest. Which we wouldn't have done had we extended the latter list to a top 50 to take in two AC/DC songs and, surely being used as some DJs' bed music, Tubular Bells.

AbsoluteXtreme
1 Kings of Leon 778
2 White Lies 688
3 The Killers 652
4 MGMT 640
5 Franz Ferdinand 576
6 Lily Allen 517
7 Coldplay 457
8 Doves 448
9 Oasis 447
9 Fleet Foxes 447
11 The View 401
12 Bloc Party 382
13 The Enemy 378
14 Maxïmo Park 376
15 Kasabian 374
16 The All-American Rejects 366
17 The Rifles 360
17 Razorlight 360
19 Ladyhawke 354
20 Yeah Yeah Yeahs 346
21 The Ting Tings 340
22 The White Stripes 338
23 Editors 332
24 Muse 326
25 Glasvegas 325
26 Prodigy 311
27 Friendly Fires 309
28 Florence and The Machine 308
29 The Wombats 307
30 Passion Pit 295
31 The Virgins 294

Bad luck, Laura Branigan. We've extended this by one because The Virgins, like The King Blues, are one of those bands who seem to be getting acres of press by subterfuge. Do they sell out large venues? Not really. Are the specialist outlets mad on them? Not really, bar the King Blues' recent Kerrang cover. Is it an underground following? Definitely not. They just seem to have arrived fully formed and coming for your 17 year old with, in the Virgins' case, their sound of indie disco 2004.

1 Lily Allen – The Fear 458
2 Doves – Kingdon Of Rust 426
3 Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II 394
4 The Killers – Spaceman 386
5 Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls 373
6 White Lies – To Lose My Life 366
7 The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell 365
8 Oasis – Falling Down 353
9 MGMT – Kids 335
10 Kings of Leon – Use Somebody 321
11 Ladyhawke – Paris Is Burning 315
12 Glasvegas – Flowers and Football Tops 310
13 Friendly Fires – Skeleton Boy 309
14 MGMT – Time to Pretend 303
15 Prodigy – Omen 298
16 The View – Shock Horror 286
17 Florence and The Machine – Dog Days Are Over 277
18 Röyksopp – Happy Up Here 270
19 hockey – Too Fake 261
20 The Ting Tings – We Walk 254
21 The Wombats – Circuitboard city 249
22 Passion Pit – Sleepyhead 246
23 Fleet Foxes – Mykannos 245
23 White Lies – Farewell to the Fairground 245
25 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero 243
26 Kings of Leon – Revelry 241
27 The Parlor Mob – Hard time 240
28 Peter Doherty – Last of the English Roses 238
29 The Enemy – No Time For Tears 232
30 Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream 200

Another artist we drew a blank on here, The Parlor Mob. That's what Google is for, of course, so we learn they're a classic rock outfit from New Jersey, the Black Crowes to the Gaslight Anthem's Springsteen. Every half-generation needs its Jet, we suppose.