The ultimate try before you buy ?

People will know that I stumbled across spotify earlier this year and love it.

So I was excited to hear today that a deal has been struck between Spotify and 7 Digital that will see a 'Buy From 7Digital' option added to the right click menu inside Spotify and will cover a six million strong catalogue of tracks. Now for the iTune haters amongst us - and there are many - this is just fantastic news as 7Digital also delivers its content at ear embracing 320kbps bitrates.

But is this the ultimate try before you buy experience ?? In the past you were only able to hear a few seconds of poor quality audio before making a purchase decision on a particular track. Now you get the whole track, superb quality, arguably better performance than on your local device (see my comment on iTunes performance vs Spotify) and all this before hitting the buy button. Is this the future for other consumer items ?? What d'ya think ??

In related news, I also heard that Spotify are finalising an iPhone / iTouch solution that will be available from the app store. Will Apple really let this go out unencumbered and embarrass their belover iTunes ? Indeed, if you can get Spotify quality streamed to your device and the buy from 7Digital - why would you use the iTunes store at all ? This one will be interesting to watch.

Coldplay vs Satriani - will it ever get to court ?

I've never been a Coldplay fan. Personally I find their brand of rock very boring and derivative but you can't argue with their commercial success and yes .... lots of people out there do like them.

So I was intrigued to hear back in December last year that Joe Satriani had filed a suit for plagiarism accusing the band of ripping off his 2004 track “If I Could Fly” for their own Grammy-nominated hit “Viva La Vida.” Satriani accused Coldplay of stealing “substantial original portions” of his track.

If you're into the musical theory, then the video below covers that in great detail however you can also just listen and let your ears decide (its not the greatest quality but good enough to hear - the owner has done a pretty good job with "mashing" the 2 tracks)



Anyway, its all gone a bit quite on this one. The last big news was that Satriani's legal team were due to serve the writs on Coldplay at this years Grammys but that seems to have been and gone now.

Personally, I hate this type of thing - I remember the whole Belinda Carlisle and Bon Jovi spat in the eighties over the similarities between "you give love a bad name" and "heaven is place on earth". They're almost always unsatisfactory and show the musicians involved in a poor light. In this case however I have to feel for Joe satriani. This isn't the first time that Coldplay have been cited for plagiarism - see the list in the video above - and the amount of "lifted" material goes way beyond co-incidence.

Anyway - you decide but feel free to post comments or updates to the story.

Tottenham 1 - 0 Chelsea

Off to what used to be "3 point lane" but now is a little bit harder with Harry at the Helm. The Blues have Alex and Belletti back for the injured Rickey and Deco respectively otherwise its the team that beat City last weekend.

Its a frenetic start and with 7min on the clock as Ess plays a beautiful one/two with Anelka on the edge of the box but his shot is parried by Gomes. Spurs then drive straight up the other end but Jenas shoots just over. Spurs are pressing both ball and player and as a result Ballack has given a few sloppy balls away - cant keep doing that. Alex lets a nothing ball bounce over his head on 17mins, Keane pounces and his drive forces a good save from Cech. Anleka looses the ball in midfield on 25mins and Chorluka drives forward and finds Keane on the edge of the box but his shot is straight at Cech. With half an hour gone it looks now like Spurs have settled back into a "9 men behind the ball" shape when the Blues have possesion but they're then breaking quickly when we loose it. Belletti pulls a loose ball back to Anelka on the edge of the box but his drive is again parried by Gomes. For the second time, a long ball is allowed to bounce and it releases Mordric but fortunatley it comes to nothing. With a minute to go, the Drog is helped off after a bad clash with King but that's pretty much it for the first half.

No changes as Spurs get the 2nd half underway and they're in front with 4mins as Lennon teases down the right and squares to Mordric who fires low into the corner past Cech. Chelsea need some width - in attacking and defensive play - so no surprise that on 60mins Queresma replaces Belletti on the right. Chelsea are second best all over the pitch right now however Queresma immediately fires in a great back post cross but Lamps header is bundled past the post by Chorlukas hand but no penalty. News comes through that Man U are now 2-0 down which makes this result even more vital. A nice passage of play finds Drogba on the left but his strike is easily saved by Gomes. This is a big 20mins coming up. Jenas and Bent combine on the edge of our box but the block falls to Keane who thankfully fires over. Quarter of an hour to go and Chelsea go 4-4-2 as Malouda replaces Essien - desperate stuff now and a point would do. Another Lamps free kick finds JT's head but his goal bound connection is brilliantly saved once again Gomes. This time JT floats a diagonal ball into the box but this time the Drog heads wide. With 5mins to go, Chelsea break with Ballack but his woeful pass is rightly berated by Drogba. There's 4mins of stoppage time but it might as well be 4 hours for Chelsea as first Anelka scuffs a shot at Gomes, from the resulting corner Alex hits the bar and then Gomes saves from Malouda. Its too little too late and it ends 1-0 to Spurs.

Guss has his first defeat and a chance to pile pressure on Man U is wasted

Chelsea 1 - 0 Man City

I'm at the Rugby today - needs must and if you have to watch the egg chasers, it may as well be England V France at Twickers (.... edit the French got well and truely thumped 34-10) so just the radio and web for following the mighty Blues.

Deco comes into a 4-3-3 with Ess, Lamps and Ballack driving the midfield and Rickey is back alongside JT. Within 2mins its almost a dream start as an Anelka cross finds Deco whose shot is deflected in by Lamps but its flagged offside. Its all Chelsea and with 28mins gone, Lamps finds Ess in acres of space with a quick free kick which he shins up over Shay Given. A bit lucky but the domination deserved it. City get their first proper chance as Caicedo is found completely unmarked by Bridge but he drags his shot well wide. Ballacks having a better game for a change in an unfamiliar holding role. As the half draws to a close Anelka is clearly pulled back in the box but Onuoha but our good friend Mike Riely has another case of blue tinted myopia. In the final 10 mins, two cracking attacks come to nothing as first the Drog back heels to Ballack but his shot curls over and then Ess heads over from 12yrds out. That's it for the half though Deco hobbles off to be replaced by Belletti.

The second half gets underway much like the first with Onuoha forced into a last ditch tackel to stop the Drog doubling the lead and 5mins later, Bozzy again finds the Drog but this time Shay Given to brilliantly palms away the shot. We're starting to worry that this might be another one of those "one goal's not enough" days as Belletti hits the post with 20mins gone. We should be 5 up by now. We're in the last 15mins and the injured Drog is replaced by Malouda. Man City don't look threatening but its all a bit twitchy as we go into 3mins of added time and Lamps cracks a creamer from the edge of the box but it flys high and wide. Its the last action of the game and that's another win under the Guus man.

Come on you Blues

Juventus 2 - 2 Chelsea

Its a huge night as Chelsea take a slender 1-0 lead to the Stadio Olympico to face the return leg against Juve. The big news is that both Ess and Anelka start in place of Kalou and Malouda. So not much in the way of width but a front 2 of Drogba and Anelka with a middle 3 of Balack, Ess and Lamps in front of the Jedi looks pretty imposing -lets see. Trezeguet and Del Piero start up front for Juve.

Juve have started brightly winning 2 corners in the opening 6mins but Nedved has been stretchered off twice already and is finally replaced after 13mins. With 15mins gone Anelka is put through by the Drog and is wrongly flagged offside - he shoots wide anyway though however 3mins later the Blues are behind. A fabulous through ball from Trezuget releases Iaquinta who pulls Cech wide and dills the ball home. Ballack, who's started really poorly, looses the ball in midfield 2mins later and Del Piero hits a drive from 30yrds that is tipped over by Cech. Its all Juve now but slowly Chelsea are getting a liitle more possession and look to have weathered the storm. Inside the last 2mins of the half, its a free kick on the edge of the Juve box and Drogba cracks a ball that Buffon seems to scoop out from behind the line but the goal is amazingly not given. Justice is done a minute later though as Lamps strikes a ferocious drive against the bar and Essien is on hand to tap home. The half ends 1-1 but we have the vital away goal.

No changes in personnel at half time but there's a change in approach as the Blues start with some good crisp passing. With 53mins on the clock, its a free kick from an almost identical position but this time its straight at Buffon. Belletti is waiting to come on but while play continues Cech makes an incredible reaction save from a header from Trezeguet. Finally, Belletti replaces Essien as Juve press higher up the park and start to threaten again. Chiellini lunges in on Drogba and gets sent off as a result and then immediately after that Del Piero gets a free kick on the edge of the box which hits Belletti on the arm, Penalty to Juve that is calmly slotted away by Del Piero. Its now 2-1 to the 10 men of Juve on the night and 2-2 on aggregate but the Blues have the away goal. Calm heads needed now with 15mins to go. Chelsea are hoofing balls to Anelka but he can't hold the ball up - they need to go to the Drog. It must be over now though. Ballack feeds Bozzy down the right on 82mins and his cross is slotted home by the Drog. Juve now need to score twice in 8mins with only 10 men on the park. With 2mins of normal time remaining, Guss introduces Rickey for Alex as the clock runs down but its of little consequence as the Blues comfortably see out the final few minutes.

So we're into the last 8 and who wants money on us being paired with the Scousers again ?

Come on U Blues !!

Google flexes its considerable muscles

In a move that some would say smacks of an excessive show of strength, Google have pulled music videos from the UK version of YouTube as part of an ongoing dispute with the Performing Rights Society.

YouTube claim that the new charges from the PRS, following the expiry of the previous deal, are excessive and for their part the PRS claim that Google's actions to pull videos from YouTube came in the middle of ongoing negotiations.

Whatever the rights and wrongs here, this one looks like its gonna run for a while and, once again, the only loosers are the UK music loving consumer.

Come on - sort it out girls

Click here for the full article from The Guardian

Ashley Cole - Apoliogies 2 - 1 Goals

Entertaining commentary on Ashley Coles drunken exploits in this mornings Sky Sunday Supplement. Apparently Ashely has issued more formal apologies than he has scored goals since arriving at Chelsea.

>> Watch the video

>> Sky Sports link

Well it made me smile

Coventry 0- 2 Chelsea FA cup 1/4 final

Up to the Ricoh arena for an FA cup quarter final that Guss is taking very seriously despite the away tie with Juve on Tuesday night. Its a full strength side with Anelka and Deco still injured so the front 3 are the Drog with Maoluda and Kalou on either flank. The big news thogh is that Ricky and Ess return to the bench.

Its a bright start from the Blues and within the first 6mins a hoof up field from Cech sets Drogba through on goal but he scuffs his shot wide and then Ballack scoops a shot over the bar after some nice work from Kalou. Its all Chelsea and the reward comes on 15mins when a mistake by Scott Dann lets in the Drog who looks to have taken the ball too wide before he drills the ball home for 0-1. Coventry are really being stretched as Bozzy and Kalou combine well on the right but they are not lying down and are fighting for every ball. On 28mins Alex gives away a needless free kick which thankfully is struck high and wide - Heads up Chelsea !! Malouda is having another invisible game and when he is finally seen, he sky's the ball to waste some good possession. With 35mins gone, Westwood makes a fine save from a dipping and swerving LAmps free kick and in the last minute of the half, first Drogba and then Kalou shoot wide from the edge of the box.

Queresma is on for Kalou in the second half, presumably with Juve in mind as Malouda would have been the obvious choice to be replaced. Lots of possession in the opening 10mins but not much penetration and Coventry are coming back into this game. However a huge roar goes up on 62mins as Essien gets ready to make an appearance. he replaces the Jedi though frankly we all wanted to see the back of the ineffectual Ballack but .... Om 72 mins a hign ball into the Chelsea box results in a clash of heads between Alex and the Drog. Both go off as we defend a long throw with 9 men however from the clearance Quersma breaks forward in a lightening counter attack and finds Alex with a perfect cross and he side foots home - that's 0-2 and game over but 5mins later another quick break, this time from Malouda (yes he can do quick occasionally) releases Lamps but his shot is well saved by Westwood. Drogba makes way for Di Santo in the last few mins but it ends 0 - 2 and the Blues are on their way to a Wembley semi final.

Now the small matter of Juve on Tuesday - Come on U Blues !!

Portsmouth 0 - 1 Chelsea

Had to resort to text updates from the Beeb for this vital away game (aren't they all now) at Fratton Park. By all accounts it was a "cup tie like" affair that was not helped by storm conditions down on the south coast. Thankfully it was settled with just over 10mins to go when the Drog connected with a whipped cross from Bozzy to steer the ball past David James.

Clicke here for Skysports match report