It's that exciting time of year for music programmers all over. It's safe to say that there's something for everyone on this month's programs, which are overflowing with quality cuts.
	One of the most anticipated singles of 2005 is here and it was well worth the wait! The one and only Madonna fires back in full form with a cracking club gem that will pack floors and get the party started all over. ABBA fans will take cover and curse its use of the Gimme Gimme Gimme sample, but Hung Up simply amounts to the queen of disco returning to her roots and giving her core fans exactly what they want. The same club kids that ripped up floors for Holiday, Vogue and Ray Of Light will revel in the awesome rolling bassline and yet another classic Madonna video on CR116. Don't just sit there, get up and dance!
	The name Pharrell Williams may not ring a bell to everybody, but you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard a song produced or written by him. As one half of The Neptunes, the hottest production/songwriting duo around, Pharrell has been responsible for a truckload of smash hits in the last 5 or 6 years. After churning out hit after hit like Hot In Herre (Nelly), Drop It Like It's Hot (Snoop Dogg), Milkshake (Kelis), Hella Good (No Doubt), Senorita (Justin Timberlake), I'm A Slave 4 U (Britney Spears) and Hollaback Girl (Gwen Stefani) what's left to do? Go solo of course. Can I Have It Like That is the first single from his debut album In My Mind and is a scorching slice of hip hop that features serial collaborator Gwen Stefani. This is bound to be a massive summer hit so get in first and play it now from CR116.
	They’re airy, simplistic and really are the easy way out. But admit it, euro-dance remakes of past pop hits are pretty irrepressible. DJ Sammy re-paved the way in 2002 as he shamelessly reduced hits from Bryan Adams, Don Henley and the Mamas & the Papas to little more than diva vocals and a melodic pulse. Not since the mid 90s have we been subjected to such an abundance of cheesy, danced up remakes with artists as varied as Jefferson Airplane, Choirboys, Lou Reed, Boy Meets Girl and Fleetwood Mac all being given the treatment. Now comes the US smash hit from DHT with their treatment of the 1989 smouldering Roxette ballad, Listen To Your Heart. Singer Edmée delivers a convincing and familiar vocal over an accelerated and trancy beat that really is fluff with a noble purpose. Bound to be a Top 10 smash Down Under, you have it now on CR116.
	It's yet to be decided, but probably one of my favourite albums for 2005 would have to be Silent Alarm from UK rockers Bloc Party. Their unique blend of high-energy rock really makes you want to get up and jump around the room. Their new single Two More Years is featured this month on RD116 and is the first teaser of their brand new, forthcoming untitled sophomore album.
	Congrats must go to Brissie-boy Bernard Fanning on the outstanding debut of his album Tea & Sympathy (no, not Symphony) at the coveted number one position on the ARIA albums chart. I was privileged to catch his recent album launch in Brisbane and it was absolutely jaw-dropping. We released Wish You Well, one of 2005's catchiest singles last month. Rock on Bernie!

	Author - Ben Preece Music Programming
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DJ Insane - High Court Cafe. Toowoomba is one of Queensland's largest regional cities and chock full of beautiful heritage buildings such as the home of the High Court Café. The awesome three storey venue rocks to the sounds of DJ Insane's selections on the HDMS™ four nights a week. On a day to day basis, DJ Insane, aka Luke Bunston also assists with promotions and general entertainment at the venue.

Luke has only worked with a Nightlife system for just over a year but reckons it's the easiest equipment to DJ with. He has a total of 6 years DJ experience under his belt and before that was mixing music in high school.

Favourite song of all time: Dreams by Quench, Favourite current song and artist: Adagio For Strings by Tiesto. Luke loves Tiesto's music and his ability to make a crowd feel emotions with his music.

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At Your Service
Counting down to your special event

The end of the year is fast approaching and this means there are a lot of special events coming up. With the new billboard features available on HDMS™ you can easily create a custom billboard to countdown to any big event happening in your venue. You can countdown to Christmas; a band appearing or the start of the next footy season for example. It can be set to any date you wish and will display your programmed message when the date arrives. To activate this billboard on your system, simply call Customer Service on 1800 773 468 and one of our consultants will have it delivered to your venue.

Next month we will show you how to activate your New Year's Eve Countdown billboard as that big night of the year approaches.

News from NZ

This month we welcome Glyn MacLean as the new Account Manager for the Lower North Island. Glyn comes to us with a background in radio and retail music equipment, not to mention comprehensive computer skills, so we are sure he will be able to help you with any problems you may have. He is gradually making his way around to see you all, but if you wish to see him sooner rather than later, please call us at the office.

There is often some confusion as to what royalties and licences need to be covered when music is played in a venue, so we thought we would outline the situation for you here.

All venues must be registered with APRA & PPNZ prior to the public performance of any music. This covers the use of the music, plus the public performance of the music, and includes, but is not limited to, all sound recordings, videos, radio, TV, CDs, Sky, licensed computerised systems.

This is known as the licence for Public Performance and this fee is paid to Phonographic Performances NZ Ltd (PPNZ). This is an annual fee and is based on the number of people your venue is licensed to hold. Nightlife is working in conjunction with PPNZ in this area, and we are happy to report that, if you pay this licence on the form provided by Nightlife, you will enjoy a 10% discount. Ed's note: For Australian clients, please note that this is not an option that is available at this time through our local licensing bodies.

The second licence you are required to pay is that of royalty to the owner of the recording - this fee is also paid annually through APRA (Australasian Performing Rights Association). Queries relating to APRA or PPNZ fees should be made directly to the respective organisations.

ARIA Fever

The ARIA Awards have been and gone for another year and if you managed to attend the ceremony or catch the broadcast on TV, we're sure you'll agree that it was a cracking night!

With acts like Powderfinger, Jet and Delta in between projects, this year saw a 'new wave' of Aussie artists emerge and take centre stage. Of course, Missy Higgins and Ben Lee were the big winners, taking home every major award between them. But the likes of Sarah Blasko, End Of Fashion, Evermore, Eskimo Joe and a young, up and coming rocker called Jimmy Barnes have all enjoyed a surge in sales thanks to exposure from the awards.

The highlight of the evening had to be Barnsey's induction into the Hall Of Fame and his rousing finale performance of Working Class Man and the Easybeats' classic Good Times.