Spot On - Ed Sheeran has bucked the trend for criticising Spotify, saying his popularity on the site enabled him to play three nights at Wembley Stadium. "My music has been streamed 860 million times, which means that it's getting out to people," he said backstage at the BBC Music Awards. "I'm playing sold-out gigs in South America, I've sold out arenas in Korea and south-east Asia. I don't think I'd be able to do that without Spotify." His comments come after Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke pulled their music from the streaming music site.
Why? Why? Why? - Sir Tom Jones' classic and Welsh rugby anthem Delilah has been labelled inappropriate for rugby crowds over claims it promotes domestic violence. Former Plaid Cymru president and folk singer Dafydd Iwan said the iconic ballad should be abandoned for its violent lyrics. He said the song tends to "trivialise the idea of murdering a woman". The Welsh Rugby Union disagrees though, comparing the lyrics to Shakespeare plays such as Romeo and Juliet.
Dylan Day - An annual day dedicated to Dylan Thomas has been announced to mark the end of a year-long festival. Dylan Day will be held each year on 14 May, the date Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at The Poetry Centre in New York in 1953. Starting in 2015, Dylan Day aims to celebrate and raise the profile of Thomas' work in Wales and abroad.
Real Estate - One of the landmarks of Manchester's clubland is up for sale. The Embassy Club in Harpurhey was owned by the late controversial comedian Bernard Manning. The club, founded in 1959, attracted variety show fans from around the UK. It has been owned by his son, who has the same name, since 1999. Manning Jr said: "I want to see if anybody is interested in running the club as it is or enhancing it and breathing some new life into it."
He told BBC Radio Manchester: "I'm the other side of 50 years of age and I'm thinking of the future because my own children are certainly not interested in getting involved." Regular cabaret shows at the club ended following Manning's retirement in 1999 and it has since been a pub with a private function room.
Rare Recording - Northern Soul fans are bidding more than £11,000 for a rare 7-inch record, a week before its online auction ends. The London Records' pressing of Darrell Banks' club classic Open the Door to Your Heart is thought to be the only copy in circulation. It had been thought that all the original versions were destroyed when rival label EMI won the rights to release the track in 1966. Fans described the record as "the find of a lifetime".
John Manship, who has been selling rare vinyl since 1969 and runs the RareSoulMan website, told BBC News online it was the "holy grail" for record collectors.
(Jim Evans)
