Paul Weller about "Crooked Mountain, Crooked sea": "They rock"

Crooked Mountain Crooked Sea Hope To Benefit From Midge Ure Lead Initiate

Midge Ure's new campaign is miles away from his Live Aid work. The man who was awarded an OBE for his services to the music industry is now spearheading Tunited.com - which he says will be the 'new music industry' and could be a way in for such bands as Brighton's hottest talent, Crooked Mountain Crooked Sea.

The four-piece, who have this week been championed by esteemed 6 Music DJ, Tom Robinson: 'Wow, that"s quite something', and Paul Weller: 'They rock', could be in line for a push up the music industry ladder, thanks to the Midge Ure lead initiative The service aims to be the main source of new musical talent in the world by providing all the tools artists need to promote and sell their music.

And they're recruiting 100 acts to be showcased as pioneers when the service launches in January. Ure said: "With Tunited we're not just opening doors for new artists. We"re blowing the doors right off, Italian Job style. Tunited will be the new music industry.
"As soon as Napster was launched it was clear to me the industry was about to suffer from shareware and illegal downloading. Ten years on we can all see the effects.
"Major labels don't have the money to invest in new acts. They're taking fewer risks – and as a result new music is being crushed. But if they don't nurture fresh talent the business will kill itself off."

Tunited will counter these issues by providing a suite of services including design software, a collaboration community, promotion advice and support, and a download store which passes all payments back to the artist.

The site will launch on January 10, but ahead of that 100 profile artists will be chosen by a panel of experts including Ure.

(Mike Cobley)

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