A lot of people with a passion for music end up spending all their spare cash downloading tracks and going to festivals and gigs. It can be a very expensive hobby, but not if you have a way to fund it.

This is where online bingo comes in, believe it or not. It is a great way for music fans to earn some extra cash, so that they never miss out on a gig because of a dwindling bank account.

Online bingo is fun too, as it gives you the opportunity to meet up online with like-minded people and chat as you play. You are likely to bump into lots of other music fans in the bingo chatrooms, and some sites even offer music-themed prizes, such as signed merchandise and concert tickets.

Music and online bingo go hand in hand, but don’t just take our word for it – get online and try it for yourself.
Hot tip: lots of newbies to online bingo choose to play Cheeky Bingo games before heading anywhere else, due to its great jackpots and welcome offers.

You can usually predict the winners of each award fairly easily because there is so little quality on show. Even when, as this year, a band with some credibility wins an award (in this case Arcade Fire), it seems the band loses face rather than the awards gaining integrity.

Perhaps the most insulting event of the 2011 Brits was the inclusion of The National in the International Newcomer category – something that must have felt strange for a band whose last studio release was their fourth full album.

What it really needs is for the next credible act up for an award to refuse to accept it if they win on the grounds that talent is routinely overlooked in favour of tabloid and Radio 1 sweethearts.

Add Beyonce’s announcement to the strongest rumours out there and you have a 2011 line-up led by her, U2 and Coldplay. Doesn’t exactly fill you with anticipation does it?

Headliners never suit everyone, but this year’s selection does seem particularly weak, simply because of the number of people out there who love to hate the likes of Bono and Chris Martin. Featuring both frontmen in one weekend is a brave choice and not a good one if you prefer your rock and roll without their brand of insincere sermonising.

Fortunately, you can always rely on Glasto to fill its schedule with some seriously credible acts that will divert attention from the lukewarm headliners.

The Manchester scene rose to prominence in the 1980s and its influence was felt through the 1990s and early 2000s, with bands like The Smiths, Joy Division, New Order and The Stone Roses informing the likes of The Charlatans, Doves and Oasis, who in turn have passed the mantel on to the likes of The Courteeners and Delphic.

However, it seems counterintuitive that modern bands should perpetuate the sounds and sentiments of their predecessors. Surely music is about invention and interpretation rather than preservation and reproduction? That doesn’t mean resorting to outlandish modes of expression, but it does mean showing a little ingenuity with regard to style and poetics.

The so-called Manchester scene could really do with an overhaul. It is quickly becoming a burden as new bands fail to shake off the influence of their celebrated forerunners or use it in a more original and productive manner. At the moment, they are just upholding out-dated stereotypes.

Although it’s great to be part of a movement, it’s not so great to carry a label by virtue of creative retrogression.

One of the fantastic things about Benicassim is that it offers a very particular atmosphere. Like many European festivals, it is attended by thousands of Brits, but the climate, the surroundings and the bands give it a unique feel that it’s touching to be part of.

The atmosphere on the campsite is excellent. The crowds very much integrated, showering together, dressing together, drinking together, partying together and moving down to the festival site together. This inclusivity makes for a lot of fun, but it also makes for a quite profound shared experience.

People like Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, Jim Morrison and other artists of the sixties, seventies and eighties, forged long careers out of their poetic styles. Listening to these artists is likely to lead you down other routes to find the sort of writing that really gets inside your head and makes you think.

More modern poetic acts include the likes of Ryan Adams, Peter Doherty, Arcade Fire, Jeff Buckley, The National and PJ Harvey, all of whom manage to transcend the shallowness of a lot of modern music. Even some of the more precious indie bands like Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura demonstrate much greater propensity for imaginative lyricism than most chart-topping acts.

Add these people to your playlist if you want to develop your musical taste in the direction of more lyrically impressive work.

The reunion would follow in the footsteps of the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block, and would be set to very successful, especially for those members who haven’t gone on to have the same high profile career as Mr Timberlake.

After being asked about whether he would be performing, Elton John said that if he was to perform it would most likely be outside busking, which seems to suggest that he won’t be part of the couples happy day, but who knows what will happen in the next 6 months?

The announcement is set to be made in December but until then Cowell is staying tight lipped. The only clue he has given is that one of the judges has very long hair, which doesn’t give much away at all.

The stars said to be under consideration for the role include Katie Perry, Nicole Scherzinger, as well as the current UK judges Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.

The gig was set to be performed at the county home of Jemima Khan who is associated with many charities associated with Pakistan.

The cancellation was said to be instigated by Nick Mason who said “that particular event wasn’t right for a reformation of Pink Floyd” who didn’t want to play for a lot of “posh totty instead of some other things”.