Global Music Sales - Sales of music slid by 7% around the world in 2009, new figures have revealed. But the music market in 13 countries, including the UK, grew during the past year, according to data released by recording industry body the IFPI. It added that global digital sales registered a strong increase across many markets in 2009. Susan Boyle's debut album was confirmed as the world's biggest seller of the year, shifting 8.3m copies. The Scottish star's performance was substantially up on 2008's world number one, Coldplay's Viva La Vida, which sold 6.8m. The Black Eyed Peas and Michael Jackson's This Is It followed Boyle in the rundown.

The IFPI also reported that countries which have the least stringent protection from music piracy, such as Spain and Canada, registered the most serious falls in official music sales. Improvements in anti-piracy measures in countrie

USA - A new Avolites Pearl Expert is the lighting control console on the long awaited North American tour of Public Image Ltd. (PiL). Theatrical Media Services (TMS) of Omaha is supplying the Pearl Expert for the six-week tour, which kicked off in Los Angeles this month.

TMS has specialized in complete event production and state-of-the-art lighting for over 20 years. The company's principal partners have worked in entertainment production since the early Eighties. "The new Avo Pearl Expert is small with plenty of balls," says TMS vice-president, Mark Huber. "The new Titan software represents a real leap forward for Avo. PiL needed a desk with plenty of horsepower yet compact and reliable. The Pearl Expert fits the bill perfectly.

"Our new Pearl came from TMB, a supplier of ours since the early days," adds Huber. "Now TMB are the exclusive distribu

UK - PLASA Events confirms that PLASA Focus: Leeds 2010 has broken all records over the two days at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Visitor attendance topped 1800 - an increase of nearly 30% on last year's launch event. Thirty-three first-time exhibitors at PLASA Focus meant the show was brimming with key industry players, bringing the total to over 130 exhibitors, with both halls sold out weeks in advance of the show.

A lengthy list of new products were on show, many representing their first UK appearance following international launches, including 15 new products by Martin Professional; the SADiE 6 LiVE system; the UK debut of RCF's VSA 2050 Digital Steerable Column; Audio-Technica's updated 2000, 3000, 4000 & 5000 wireless systems; Clay Paky's first LED screen product - the Mirage LED curtain display; Trantec's Channel 38-ready S6 wireless system; GDS's latest additions

UAE - ETC's Selador range of LED fixtures has scooped another award, this time for Best Intelligent Lighting Fixture at the PALME Middle East Awards 2010.

Selador was entered for the award by ETC's Dubai based distributor, Oasis Enterprises. David Gray, architainment division manager, says, "Quality of light output is an important feature in an energy efficient fixture, and the PALME award recognises this. It is always a challenge to convince professionals that one Selador Vivid Ice fixture can replace 16 Source Four PARs in Congo Blue; or that the same fixture then also be used to generate Sky Blue which would have required eight PARs. But by setting up demonstrations and shoot-outs, we can prove this amazing technology to end users first hand.

"The TV market has been fastest to recognise the benefits of Selador in producing warm whites - we have supplied many Lustr

Canada - Wireless Solution Sweden helped Electric Aura take a carbon-friendly footstep during the 2010 Olympic Games at one of the installations found above Robson Square in Vancouver. Every night from 12-28 February, the skies overhead exploded with lights, pyrotechnics, lasers, projections and flying performers.

The project, aptly named Ignite the Dream was the creation of Partrick Roberge to be the signature show celebrating the end of each day of the Olympic competition. Lighting designer Robert Sondergaard of Electric Aura explains, "Patrick's vision was that this show had to be one of the top 10 things to see during the Olympics." The lighting, as well as all of the special effects, were designed to create a stunning 360-degree experience that would showcase British Columbia at its best.

The show was produced by Partrick Roberge Productions, with lightin

China - SONO, a company specializing in event engineering projects, has chosen Barco to be its visualization partner for the Spanish Pavilion during the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The Spanish Pavilion extends over three rooms, each one directed by a leading Spanish filmmaker. A total of 47 Barco projectors help the design team to give visitors an impression about Spanish history, modern life and future dreams.

Inspired by the general theme of the Expo, Better City - Better Life, Spain asked their leading directors to work out the themes inside the Spanish Pavilion. The area is organised in three rooms. SONO was asked for the technical project design and implementation. They decided to use Barco's series of CLM projectors to project filmic images on the various screens. The CLM projectors are compact single-chip DLP projectors with 10,000 or 8,000 lumens light output that d

UK - The RevEAL CW colour-mixing washlight, the first product from innovative new manufacturer Prism Projection and the award winner for Best Debuting Lighting Product at last year's LDI Show in Orlando, is now available in the UK - exclusively from White Light.

Designed to offer "unparalleled colour rendering and colour repeatability in a compact, well engineered and environmentally friendly package", the RevEAL CW overcomes many of the problems found in other LED fixtures, in particular being designed to project a beam of light rather than just creating a wash of light - a range of field angles are available.

"The beam of the RevEAL was what first drew our eye to the fixture at LDI last year," comments White Light's managing director, Bryan Raven. "Eeven before further exploration revealed how much work the Prism team have done to overcome the proble

China - PALM Expo Beijing is the first tradeshow for Robert Juliat following its successful launch of the RJ Aledin LED profile spotlight at Prolight & Sound, Frankfurt in April.

The Aledin has been an instant hit as it is the first product of its type to combine high quality, powerful image projection with an extremely low power consumption, says the company. Interest has come from theatre, opera, architectural and event markets and this LED fixture is now on show in Asia for the first time.

Further examples of Robert Juliat's wide range of lighting products will be exhibited including the 710SX 2.5K tungsten profile and the RJ 329HF 2.5K Fresnel spotlight which have been designed for the long throw applications of large theatre and opera houses.

Horus, Robert Juliat's popular tungsten cyclorama fixture, has been redesigned and updated to ensure it remains as relevant and p

Italy - Magazzini Generali is not just a high-spirited discotheque in Milan; it also serves as a concert hall and multi-functional event centre which has staged photo shoots, fashion shows, music festivals, and theatre productions.

The owners of Magazzini Generali were motivated to maintain a versatile ambiance to meet the multi-faceted needs of this venue. To accomplish this, they have entrusted the experience of Martin Professional.

The club required a lighting fixture that was fast and reliable with low power consumption and the choice fell to the Martin smartMAC. Used throughout the space, the smartMAC is an extremely bright, fanless 150 W moving head luminaire offering precise image quality with economic advantages and ease of installation. Designed for clubs, lounges, bars and restaurants, it is appropriately silent for noise sensitive environments.

The smartMAC offers

USA - A critical letter about the use of chemical pesticides on its lawns in 2008 led to a series of steps and decisions at Farnsworth Art Museum that culminated with a resolution to become a leader in environmentally sustainable practices. Converting the entire museum from halogen to LED light bulbs was a major part of that decision.

The effort will make the Rockland, Maine, institution one of the first art museums in the nation to use LED lighting for all of its galleries. The lights will dramatically reduce the museum's energy consumption, allowing the Farnsworth to allocate more funds for programs and exhibitions.

For the LED project, the museum has partnered with Efficiency Maine and California-based LEDtronics. The relamping will not only help protect displayed artwork by reducing the potentially harmful effects of standard lighting on works of art, but it will also prov

China - Themed as Better City - Better Life, the Shanghai Expo 2010 recently started with a spectacular Opening Ceremony, produced by David Atkins Enterprises from Australia, for which a grandMA2 system was used for lighting control. Robert Dickinson and Ted Wells realised the lighting design for this major event.

The 2010 Expo lasts from 1 May to 31 October 2010. Over 190 countries and more than 50 international organisations attend - and 70m visitors are expected.

Paul Collison, the project's lighting manager, reports, "Our main MA system was built from three grandMA2 full-size, three grandMA2 light, six MA NPU (Network Processing Unit), 32 MA 2Port Nodes and eight MA NSP (Network Signal Processors) which we used as 4Port Nodes. The grandMA 3D software was used as well for pre-programming and designing purposes. grandMA2 was the ideal platform given the size of t

Slovakia - Lighting and video content for multiple LED surfaces at the 2010 Miss Universe Slovakia beauty pageant, staged in the SIBAMAC Arena, Bratislava, was controlled by two grandMA full-size consoles, six video stations with the MA VPU software (Video Processing Unit) and six MA NSPs (Network Processing Units). The show - which regularly draws one of the highest annual ratings on Slovakian TV - was broadcast live on national STV1, and featured an enthusiastic audience of 5,000 people.

The show's visuals were designed by Martin Kubanka. He worked closely with lighting and video programmers and operators Michal Schmid and Tomas Lecky, who each used a grandMA full-size console for their respective departments.

Says Kubanka, "I have been using grandMA for at least 10 years on all my shows and I would not even think about using another brand, and especially not now, for s

UK - Infinity M, the latest addition to the Coemar range, is making its début at the Adelphi Theatre in London in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical Love Never Dies.

The opera, which will run until 23 October 2010, continues the story of The Phantom of the Opera of 1986, the highly successful musical that has been performed in over 25 countries and seen by more than 100m people.

To translate the complex story into reality and make it a successful musical, Webber chose prize-winning lighting designer Paule Constable, who called in the lighting supplier White Light.

The Infinity M moving head projectors were chosen first and foremost due to their excellent output in relation to their dimensions: as powerful as 2000W projectors, they have the dimensions of a 250 W projector and consume less than half the energy, due to the optical quality of the components u

Indonesia - RCTI (Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia), one of the biggest TV stations in Indonesia, recently proved that 10 years of hard work is no big deal for a grandMA lighting console. Their two grandMA full-size boards have been in active service over the past 10 years, starting on the show Who wants to be a Millionaire.

"The consoles are still in very good condition and all they have needed is a minor upgrading of the memory and a round of updates to the installed software", reports Jens Poehlker, sales director MA Lighting Asia Pacific. "Since coming here last December, we also wanted to follow up on our promise to provide training."

After the console upgrades, a two day MA training session was jointly organised by MA Lighting, Adi Nugroho (head of lighting at RCTI), Setyo Wibowo (head of technical maintenance at RCTI) and Rocky Jong (PT Monal

China - This year's international exposition in Shanghai China is considered to be the world's biggest and most spectacular expo ever. Some of the permanent pavilions where Compulite's equipment is featured include the China Pavilion, Urban (City) Beings Pavilion and Urban Planet Pavilion.

The Chinese national pavilion is the largest and tallest of its kind at the Expo. Compulite's Vectors are used in the China Pavilion section called Wisdom journey.

To facilitate the Urban Being's pavilion lighting and sound Shanghai Yongjia chose to control the lighting (accompanied with sound and video synchronization) utilizing Compulite's Vector console. The Vector console and the sound system receive MIDI signal from a Medialon system achieving synchronous play of light, sound and video. The lighting system of the Urban Being Pavilion was programmed and operated by King Chou from

Spain - QAV, who are a leading events company and have many years' of experience and expertise of managing events throughout the world, provided a full turnkey package for the Global Progress and Promise event sponsored by Pfizer. As part of this package Stage Electrics recently supplied two of their high resolution 6mm LED screens for the event, which took place in Madrid.

Working together over the four-day conference, the two 4mx3m indoor 6mm LED screens, were flown from two 4m truss structures within the reception of the conference. They then were taken down and combined into one 8mx6m screen and again flown from the truss structure in the main exhibition area for last two days of the event.

Included within the package, Stage Electrics also supplied their own video specialist, Chris Lewis, who was on site to provide technical support, for the whole duration of the co

Belgium / China - In response to growing demand in China and across Asia, ADB Lighting has opened its first regional subsidiary - ADB Asia, headquartered in Hong Kong. The ADB Asia team is headed by Bertrand Dauphant who will manage the Asia / Pacific area.

It follows the recent appointment of Acoustic and Lighting System, with offices in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, as ADB's new distributor for Malaysia and Brunei.

Bertrand Dauphant comments, "The two largest Asian markets for us are currently China and South Korea, where ADB is a leader in the entertainment lighting market for theatre and broadcast. We're expanding further with our new distributor, Acoustic and Lighting System in Malaysia, and we've recently signed a new distributor for broadcast in the Philippines, as well having a good presence in the Vietnam and Thai TV studio markets."

He adds: "As

USA - This year, Wybron celebrates 30 years at the cutting edge of stage lighting invention and manufacturing, from the current LED technology of the Cygnus line to dichroics and watchdog systems, all the way back to the company's initial offering of scrolling colour changers.

Invented by Wybron CEO Keny Whitright in 1980, the scrolling colour changer sparked a revolution in the way lighting rigs were outfitted, designed and employed. Colormax, the first scroller, paved the way to the subsequent Colorwhiz, to The Scroller, to the Coloram, and then to Wybron's current offerings, the Forerunner, Coloram II and CXI. The advent of scrollers allowed for vastly consolidated rigs, providing a quick and painless way to squeeze many colours out of one fixture.

Jim Lenahan, the longtime LD for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was the very first designer to use the scrolling colour change

UK - Matt-LX supplied lighting and technical support services for the West End production of Sweet Charity starring Tamzin Outhwaite at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, which opened to glowing reviews on the 5 May 2010.

Working with lighting designer David Howe, Matt-LX provided pre-production services, including plan reproduction, equipment scheduling, specification, and procurement, venue liaison, fit-up and rehearsal lighting personnel.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Vanity is a high profile nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas whose visual focal point is a stunning, custom-made chandelier made up of 20,000 LED points driven by a Martin Maxedia Compact media server.

The Maxedia media server drives 25 universes of pixelmapped Artnet output across the chandelier, creating floating graphic effects with a three-dimensional feel.

Besides complementary club and dance floor effects, the chandelier displays custom content for marketing purposes, VIP customisation, or graphics and logos for corporate events such as a recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition launch and Microsoft event.

The one-of-a-kind chandelier is surrounded by 40 Martin MAC 250 Entour moving heads and Martin Atomic 3000 strobes with Atomic Colors scrollers.

Lighting supplier is FBP Systems of Las Vegas with lighting design and programming by

UK - Blackburn-based lighting rental company HSL were involved in supplying equipment for the latest UK tour by cult US electronic band, Passion Pit.

HSL's Mike Oates was approached by Passion Pit's lighting designer, New York based Mike Janowitz, with whom they are working on various other projects. Janowitz asked if HSL could put together a good visuals package for the band's UK tour. Says HSL's Mike Oates, "It's very exciting working with cutting edge new artists, so we looked at Mike's design and approached XL Video to supply the video elements required. We also co-ordinated a trucking deal with Fly By Nite for the tour."

The two-week UK tour encompassed a variety of venues including students unions and small to medium theatres and town halls including Rock City, Nottingham, Manchester Academy and The Forum in London. Passion Pit's lighting was looked after on th

Italy - Zelig is and has been one of the most followed variety shows on Italian television for many years. It is a breeding ground for home-grown theatre and cabaret talents.

As in previous seasons, the motorised lights for the 2009-10 shows are provided by Renato Neri's Xenon, and consist almost entirely of Clay Paky lights: Alpha Spot HPE 1200s, Alpha Spot 575s, Alpha Wash 575s, Stage Color 1200s, Stage Profile Pluses, CP Color 400s and Alpha Beam 300 motorized ACL lights. The lighting was designed by the photography director Daniele Savi.

"I have worked a lot with a photographic approach," says Savi. "I have dimmed all the lights so that I can open the TV camera apertures more. This means I have less depth of field, and therefore a blurred background, which results in a double advantage: it concentrates attention on the star on the stage by isolating him/her

UK - Production Services Ireland has completed the supply and installation of lighting and sound equipment at the new 400-seater Theatre At the Mill in Newtownabbey, Belfast.

The state-of-the-art building offers a diverse programme of quality performances. It is the newest addition to Newtownabbey Borough Council's HQ, and is located in the Civic Square area at the back of the renovated Mossley Mill, a former 19th century flax mill.

Locally based PSI tendered and won the contract to equip the theatre against stiff competition. They worked to the specification of consultants Theatre Plan and closely with the venue's technical manager, Mick Draine. PSI also supplied technician Alan Clarke for the full fit up period and the first few weeks of operation, to ensure that all things technical went smoothly.

PSI's Brian Reilly says, "We were delighted to win this contract. Thea

UK - ETC's SmartModule 2 will have its first major UK outing at this year's ABTT in London's Royal Horticultural Halls. SmartModule 2 brings portable, compact and affordable dimming solutions to any venue and can be wall mounted, hung on a pipe or placed on the floor. Museums, schools and small touring shows can now have professional quality dimming with a small price tag, says the company.

Designed as part of ETC's Smart Solutions range of portable dimming and control, SmartModule2 doesn't require any complicated setup - just plug in and go! Available with either four or six 2.3kW dimmer modules as standard, both are available with CEE 16A, Schuko, NF (French) and UK15A sockets; the six-dimmer module is also available with six-circuit multi-pin outlets.

Also on display will be the latest additions to the ETC Selador series of LED fixtures - Vivid Fire and Vivid Ice. Fire burn

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