1.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
2.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop
3.
Grime (music genre)
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Grime is a genre of music that emerged in East London in the early 2000s. It developed out of earlier UK electronic music styles, including UK garage and jungle, and also influence from Jamaican dancehall, ragga. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated breakbeats, generally around 130 or 140 bpm, rapping is also a significant element of the style, and lyrics often revolve around gritty depictions of urban life. Other prominent artists include Ghetts, Jme, Skepta, Stormzy, prominent grime crews include Boy Better Know, Newham Generals, Roll Deep, and Ruff Sqwad. In the mid 2010s, grime began to receive attention in North America. Grime emerged in the early 2000s in Londons East-end and it has origins tied with UK pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM, Deja Vu FM, Freeze 92.7 and Raw Mission. This indicated the movement of UK garage away from its house influences towards darker themes, among the first tracks to be labelled grime as a genre in itself were Eskimo, Ice Rink and Igloo by Wiley, Pulse X by Musical Mob and Creeper by Danny Weed. Dizzee Rascal garnered widespread acclaim and commercial success with Boy in da Corner winning the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. Grime has since received exposure from television stations including Channel U, Logan Samas show on London radio station Kiss FM, Grime is not an offshoot of early electronic music, but rather a subgenre that draws from a wide variety of influences. The genre’s popularity grew exponentially in the United Kingdom, as people across the musical spectrum appreciated Grime’s eclectic mix of instrumentation. This hybridization united many different music scenes, allowing for it to spread in the same word-of-mouth and mixtape-based style as hip-hop and it also paved the way for more electronic music artists to incorporate stronger African and Caribbean influences in the future. Grime never received the same attention worldwide that it did in the UK, much like many other less mainstream forms of British electronic music, its main scene and fan base remained in the United Kingdom. From 2013 onwards producers started to create what they called instrumental grime and they battled in so-called war dubs, in April 2014, Meridian Dan reached #13 in the UK Singles Charts with his single German Whip featuring Big H and Jme. Two months after that, Skepta reached #21 in the UK Singles Chart with his single Thats Not Me featuring his brother Jme. Two months later, Lethal Bizzle released the single Rari WorkOut featuring Jme and Tempa T, as of 2015, Lethal Bizzle has four of the highest charting grime songs to date. In February 2016, Ministry of Sound and DJ Maximum released a compilation entitled Grime Time. In May 2016, Skeptas fourth studio album, Konnichiwa, entered the UK Albums Chart at number two, the album explored grimes relationship with the United States, and features appearances from ASAP Mob members Young Lord and ASAP Nast as well as production and vocals from Pharrell Williams. The album was awarded the 2016 Mercury Prize, in February 2017, Stormzys album Gang Signs & Prayer, was the first grime album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart
4.
Sony Music
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Sony Music Entertainment is an American music company owned by Sony. It is incorporated as a partnership of Sony Music Holdings Inc. through Sony Entertainment. The company was first founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938, in 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records. Sony Corporation bought the company in 1987 and renamed it Sony Music Entertainment in 1991, the buyout led to the dissolution of BMG, which relaunched as BMG Rights Management. Sony Music Entertainment is one of the Big Three record companies, being the second largest after Universal Music Group, in 1929, ARC was founded through a merger of several record companies. In 1934, in the midst of Great Depression, the Columbia Phonograph Company, ARC was acquired in 1938 by the Columbia Broadcasting System, which, in turn, had been formed by the Columbia Phonograph Company, but then sold off. ARC was renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, RCA Victor Records executive Ted Wallerstein convinced CBS head William S. Paley to buy ARC and Paley made Wallerstein head of the newly acquired record company. The renamed company made Columbia its flagship label and Okeh its subsidiary label and this allowed ARCs leased labels Brunswick Records and Vocalion Records to revert to their former owner Warner Bros. which sold them to Decca Records. Columbia kept the Brunswick catalogue recorded from December 1931 onward on the Columbia label and he was succeeded by James Conkling as head of Columbia Records. In 1951, Columbia severed its ties with the EMI-owned record label of the same name, Okeh Records continued to be distributed by EMI on the Columbia label. Columbia founded Epic Records in 1953 and in 1956, Conkling left Columbia and he would help establish the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences before eventually becoming the first president of the newly launched Warner Bros. His successor, Goddard Lieberson began the first of two stints as head of the record company, and in 1958, Columbia founded another label, Date Records, which initially issued rockabilly music. In 1960, Columbia/CBS began negotiations with its international distributor Philips Records with the goal of starting its own global record company. Philips acquisition of US-based Mercury Records in 1961 paved the way for this, elsewhere, CBSs Mexican record company, Discos Columbia, was renamed Discos CBS by 1963. In 1964, Columbia set out acquiring record companies in countries for its CBS Records International Unit. EMI continued to distribute Epic and Okeh label material on the Columbia label in the UK until the deal with EMI expired in 1968 when CBS took over distribution. In late 1965, the Date subsidiary label was revived and this label released the first string of hits for Peaches & Herb and scored a few minor hits from various other artists. Dates biggest success was Time of the Season by the Zombies, the label was discontinued in 1970
5.
Freestyler (song)
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Freestyler is a single by Finnish hip hop group Bomfunk MCs. It was released in October 1999 in Finland as the single from their debut studio album In Stereo. It also peaked at two in Denmark and the United Kingdom and number three in Ireland. Freestyler is primarily a drum and bass song, with influences of UK dance culture and electronic dance music. The music video was filmed at the Hakaniemi metro station. The actor was fifteen at the time of shooting and got the part through his mother, Marlo Snellman appears briefly in another Bomfunk MCs music video, B-Boys & Flygirls. The video begins with Marlo catching a train while listening to “Freestyler” on his MiniDisc player, the music video may be inspired by and seems to use similar themes from the music video of Ferry Corsten’s 1999 song Out of the Blue. The music video is a play on themes of empowerment, with the power of the music being transferred to, there is a continuity error in the video with the number on the train carriage changing throughout the sequence. The music video was parodied by hip hop group Raptori for their song Hiphopmusiikkia. In 2011, the scene was also remade in the music video of DJ RZYs Tervetuloo Helsinkiin. CD maxi – Europe Freestyler –2,52 Freestyler –4,07 Freestyler –4,48 Freestyler –5,40 Official Freestyler video on YouTube Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
6.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
7.
Scandinavia
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Scandinavia /ˌskændᵻˈneɪviə/ is a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethnocultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages. The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are usually not seen as a part of Scandinavia, nor is Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark. This looser definition almost equates to that of the Nordic countries, in Nordic languages, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden are commonly included in the definition of Scandinavia. In English usage, Scandinavia sometimes refers to the geographical area, the name Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to the formerly Danish, now Swedish, region Scania. Icelanders and the Faroese are to a significant extent descended from the Norse, Finland is mainly populated by Finns, with a minority of approximately 5% of Swedish speakers. A small minority of Sami people live in the north of Scandinavia. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages form a continuum and are known as the Scandinavian languages—all of which are considered mutually intelligible with one another. Faroese and Icelandic, sometimes referred to as insular Scandinavian languages, are intelligible in continental Scandinavian languages only to a limited extent, Finnish and Meänkieli are closely related to each other and more distantly to the Sami languages, but are entirely unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Apart from these, German, Yiddish and Romani are recognized minority languages in Scandinavia, the southern and by far most populous regions of Scandinavia have a temperate climate. Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Much of the Scandinavian mountains have a tundra climate. There are many lakes and moraines, legacies of the last glacial period, Scandinavia usually refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Some sources argue for the inclusion of the Faroe Islands, Finland and Iceland, though that broader region is known by the countries concerned as Norden. Before this time, the term Scandinavia was familiar mainly to classical scholars through Pliny the Elders writings, and was used vaguely for Scania, as a political term, Scandinavia was first used by students agitating for Pan-Scandinavianism in the 1830s. After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism, the term is often defined according to the conventions of the cultures that lay claim to the term in their own use. More precisely, and subject to no dispute, is that Finland is included in the broader term Nordic countries, various promotional agencies of the Nordic countries in the United States serve to promote market and tourism interests in the region. The official tourist boards of Scandinavia sometimes cooperate under one umbrella, Norways government entered one year later. All five Nordic governments participate in the joint promotional efforts in the United States through the Scandinavian Tourist Board of North America, Scandinavia can thus be considered a subset of the Nordic countries
8.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
9.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
10.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
11.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
12.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
13.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
14.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
16.
Product placement
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Product placement stands out as a marketing strategy because it is the most direct attempt to derive commercial benefit from the context and environment within which the product is displayed or used. The technique can be beneficial for viewers, since interruptive advertising removes them from the entertainment, in April 2006, Broadcasting & Cable reported, Two thirds of advertisers employ branded entertainment—product placement, brand integration—with the vast majority of that in commercial TV programming. It said, Reasons for using in-show plugs varied from stronger emotional connection to better dovetailing with relevant content, a major growth driver is the increasing use of digital video recorders, which enable viewers to skip advertisements that interrupt a show. Product placement began in the nineteenth century, by the time Jules Verne published the adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days, his fame had led transport and shipping companies to lobby to be mentioned in the story. Whether Verne was actually paid to do so, however, remains unknown, similarly, a painting by Eduoard Manet shows bar at Folies Bergere with distinctive bottles placed at either end of the counter. The beer bottle is immediately recognisable as Bass beer and this led to cinema becoming one of the earliest channels used for product placement. For example, the German magazine Die Woche in 1902 printed an article about a countess in her castle where she, in one of the photographs, held a copy of Die Woche in her hands. Product placement was a feature of many of the earliest actualities. During the next four decades, Harrisons Reports frequently cited cases of on-screen brand-name products and he condemned the practice as harmful to movie theaters. Publisher P. S. Harrison’s editorials reflected his hostility towards product placement in films, an editorial in Harrison’s Reports criticized the collaboration between the Corona Typewriter company and First National Pictures when a Corona typewriter appeared in the film The Lost World. Harrisons Reports criticized several incidents of Corona typewriters appearing in mid-1920s films, recognizable brand names appeared in movies from cinemas earliest history. In the first decade or so of film audiences attended films as fairground attractions interesting for their visual effects. This format was suited to product placement than narrative cinema. Gurevitch argued that early cinematic attractions have more in common with television advertisements in the 1950s than they do with traditional films, segrave detailed the industries that advertised in these early films. In the 1920s, Harrisons Reports published its first denunciation of that practice over Red Crown gasoline appearance in The Garage, a feature film that has expectations of reaching millions of viewers attracts marketers. In many cases no payment is made for product exposure and no promise of marketing support is made when consumer brands appear in movies. Film productions need props for scenes, so each movie’s property master, in addition to items for on-screen use, the product/service supplier might provide a production with large quantities of complementary products or services. Tapping product placement channels can be valuable for movies when a vintage product is required—such as a sign or bottle—that is not readily available
17.
MTV Europe Music Award
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The MTV Europe Music Awards is an event presented by MTV Networks Europe which awards prizes to musicians and performers. Since 2007, the winners are chosen by the viewers and fans by visiting the EMAs website, the first EMAs ceremony was held in 1994 in Berlin, Germany. Though it was conceived as an alternative to the MTV Video Music Awards. The MTV Europe Music Awards are held every year in a different country and it has been hosted mostly in the United Kingdom. Since 2011 other worldwide/regional nominations have been added, the awards are presented annually and broadcast live on MTV Europe, MTV Live HD and most of the international MTV channels as well as online. 1994, The first MTV Europe Music Awards in 1994 were held on 24 November, George Michael performed Jesus To A Child and Freedom surrounded by many famous models including Naomi Campbell and Bono received the Free Your Mind Award on behalf of Amnesty International. 1995, French nuclear testing in the South Pacific got the most attention at the 1995 ceremony, during his acceptance speech after winning the award for Best Rock, Bon Jovi lead singer Jon Bon Jovi said, The only enemy is ignorance. Lets get rid of all nuclear testing. And U2s Bono said, What a city, what a night, what a crowd, what a bomb, what a mistake, stop abusing the earth, urged Madonna in a videotaped segment before designer agnès b. picked up the award for Greenpeace. 1996, During their performance Metallica performed the songs Last Caress, instead of performing their single King Nothing as scheduled. The song So What. is known for its amount of expletives and references to bestiality among many other controversial lyrics while Last Caress has lyrics pertaining to murder, as a result of their performance Metallicas performance and references to Metallica have been removed from future broadcasts of the ceremony. 1997, U2 opened the show performing Mofo dressed in boxing gowns,1998, On this year 6 new categories were introduced including the MTV Selects, UK and Ireland, Northern, Central and Southern. Faithless opened the show with God is a DJ and Madonna performed The Power of Goodbye, the big winners of the night were the Spice Girls and Madonna with two awards. Mel C, alias Sporty Spice, and Emma Bunton, known as Baby Spice, on receiving the award, Mel C shouted, Weve done it again. And a big hello from the two, she added, referring to Mel B and Victoria Adams, both of whom were pregnant and did not attend the ceremony at the Fila Forum in Milan. The Prodigy won the Best Dance award but according to their frontman, Liam Howlett, the Free Your Mind award, given to organisations helping with human rights, was given to Serbian radio station Radio B92 in Belgrade. 1999, Britney Spears was the big winner of the winning four awards. She also performed during the ceremony, entertaining the crowd with a medley of her hits. Baby One More Time, the other multiple winner was Boyzone, who nabbed two awards, for Best UK & Ireland Act and Best Album
18.
Jessica Folcker
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Jessica Folcker is a Swedish singer, better known by her mononym Jessica. Her debut album Jessica in 1998 used her mononym, whereas follow up album Dino credited Jessica Folker and her following albums På svenska in 2005 and Skin Close in 2007 have used her full name Jessica Folcker. She is best known for her two international hits Tell Me What You Like and How Will I Know both in 1998 and for Something Going On that featured her vocals and was a big hit for Bomfunk MCs in 2002. Folcker was born as Jessica Elisabeth Angelique Folcker in Täby, a Stockholm suburb and her mother is Swedish and her father is from Senegal. Jessica attended Adolf Fredriks Music School in Stockholm for six years until she was 17 and her big dream of becoming a singer, was fulfilled when she was engaged as a backing singer for the Ace of Base and Dr. Alban. She also performed the chorus in Leila Ks hit Electric and did vocals for E-Type. In 1994 Jessica was selected to represent Stockholm in the Miss Sweden competition, on Jessicas debut album, named simply Jessica and released in the autumn 1998, she worked with composer and producer Max Martin, known for having written Britney Spears Baby One More Time. The album was an instant hit, and Jessica became a star overnight. In South Korea, her remake of David Foster classic Goodbye was used as the ballad for the movie A Promise. In Sweden, Jessica peaked the top of the charts with two singles from the album, How Will I Know Who You Are and Tell Me What You like. She also won two prizes at the show of Swedens major pop radio station, NRJ, New Artist of the Year as well as Swedish Female Artist of the Year. No artist before her had won more than one award until then, in 2000, two years after releasing her debut album, Jessica Folckers second album came out, called Dino, nicknamed after one of her producers. Besides Europe and Asia, Jessica wanted to conquer the USA as well this time around, however, since many Americans pronounced her surname similar to fucker, she decided to change her name to Folker instead, without the c. Jessicas first single from the album, To Be Able To Love, became a hit in the states thanks to a remix by DJ Jonathan Peters. Another of Jessica Folckers songs - Lost Without Your Love - once again became the tune of another Korean film. Again, Jessica reached the top of the South Korean airplay chart, in April 2001, Jessicas song Miracles was chosen as the theme melody for the Dutch Fame Academy replica, Starmaker. Due to this, she decided to release the song as her single from the album. Jessica debuted in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, in Melodifestivalen 2005, she performed Om natten
19.
Universal Music Group
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Universal Music Group is an American-French global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMGs global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is considered one of the Big Three record labels, along with Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Universal Music was once the music attached to film studio Universal Pictures and its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939, MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998, however, the name had first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMGs oldest unit, UMGs Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company. With the 2004 acquisition of Universal Studios by General Electric and merging with GEs NBC and this is the second time a music company has done so, the first being the separation of Time Warner and Warner Music Group. On June 25,2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion purchase of BMG Music Publishing, after receiving European Union regulatory approval, doug Morris stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1,2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge was promoted to CEO of the company, Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9,2011. Morris became the chairman of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1,2011. With Grainges appointment as CEO at UMG, Max Hole was promoted to COO of UMGI, starting in 2011 UMGs Interscope Geffen A&M Records will be signing contestants from American Idol/Idol series. On January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the Library of Congress for preservation, in March 2011, Barry Weiss became chairman & CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group & Universal Republic Records. Both companies are restructuring under Weiss, in December 2011, David Foster was named Chairman of Verve Music Group. Among the other companies that had competed for the music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid. However, IMPALA has said it would fight the merger, coincidentally, UMG sister company StudioCanal has owned the EMI Films library for several years. On September 21,2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in Europe, UMG divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings, MPS Records, Cooperative Music, Now Thats What I Call Music. Jazzland, Universal Greece, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, the Beatles recorded music library was allowed to remain with UMG despite being considered part of Parlophone and is now managed by UMGs reorganized Capitol Music Group worldwide. Robbie Williams, who had recorded for Chrysalis, had his transferred to Universals Island Records
20.
ARIA Charts
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The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia, ARIA became the official Australian music chart in June 1988, succeeding the Kent Music Report which had been Australias national charts since 1974. The Go-Set charts were Australias first national singles and albums charts published from 5 October 1966 until 24 August 1974, succeeding Go-Set, the Kent Music Report began issuing the national top 100 charts in Australia from May 1974. The compiler, David Kent, also published Australias national charts from 1940–1974 in a retrospective fashion using state based data, in mid 1983, the Australian Recording Industry Association commenced licensing the Kent Music Report chart. The first printed national top 50 chart available in record stores, ARIA began compiling its own charts in-house from the chart dated week ending 26 June 1988. Various artists compilation albums were included in the albums chart, as they had been on the Kent Report chart, until 2 July 1989. The ARIA Report, detailing the top 100 singles and albums charts, was first available via subscription in January 1990, the printed top 50 chart ceased publication in June 1998, but resumed publication later in the year. The printed top 50 chart again ceased publication at the end of 2000, the ARIA charts are based on data collected from physical and digital retailers in Australia. Data of physical sales come from such as Sanity and JB Hi-Fi, while data of digital sales come from online retailers such as iTunes, Bandit FM, GetMusic. Since 17 February 1997, all physical sales data contributing towards the chart has been recorded electronically at point of sale. In March 1991, Do the Bartman by The Simpsons was the first single to reach #1 in Australia that was not available on 7 inch vinyl, but cassingle only. Starting from 8 October 2006, due to low physical single sales at the time, in 2006, it was announced that the Brazin retailing group, comprising major retailers HMV, Sanity and Virgin music/DVD stores would no longer contribute sales data to the ARIA charts. However, after an absence, Brazin reportedly re-commenced contributing sales figures to the ARIA Charts on 26 November 2006. The ARIA website publishes the top 50 singles and albums charts, top 40 digital tracks chart, the ARIA Report lists all charts in full and is available via paid e-mail subscription each week. These reports are uploaded to the Pandora Archive periodically, on 5 February 2006, the ARIA Chart Show was a radio program launched on the Nova network and broadcast throughout Australia, playing the official ARIA top 50 singles. The live music program was hosted by Jabba each Sunday afternoon at 3, the show was aired before the top 50 chart, dated for the following Monday, is published on the ARIA website at 6,00 pm. The charts were published online at 6,00 pm each Sunday. The diamond certification was created for albums in November 2015 to mark 500,000 sales/shipments, for music DVDs, a gold accreditation originally represented 7,500 copies shipped, with a platinum accreditation representing 15,000 units shipped. co. uk
21.
UK Albums Chart
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The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company on Fridays and it is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and published in Music Week magazine, and on the OCC website. To qualify for the Official Albums Chart the album must be the correct length and it must be more than three tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £3.75, additionally, various artist compilations – which until January 1989 were included in the main album listing – are now listed separately in a compilations chart. Full details of the rules can be found on the OCC website. In the 1970s the new chart was revealed at 12,45 pm on Thursdays on BBC Radio 1. Since October 1993 it has included in The Official Chart show from 4,00 –5,45 pm on Fridays. A weekly Album Chart show was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo,2005 saw a record number of artist album sales with 126.2 million sold in the UK. In February 2015, it was announced that, due to the sales of albums and rise in popularity of audio streaming. Under the revised methodology, the Official Charts Company takes the 12 most streamed tracks from one album, the total of these streams is divided by 1000 and added to the pure sales of the album. This calculation was designed to ensure that the chart continues to reflect the popularity of the albums themselves. The final number one album on the UK Albums Chart to be based purely on sales alone was Smoke + Mirrors by Imagine Dragons, on 1 March 2015, In the Lonely Hour by Sam Smith became the first album to top the new streaming-incorporated Official Albums Chart. The most successful artists in the charts depends on the criteria used, as of February 2016, Queen albums have spent more time on the British album charts than any other musical act, followed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, U2 and ABBA. By most weeks at one, however, The Beatles lead with a total of 174 weeks. The male solo artist with the most weeks at one is Presley with a total of 66 weeks. Presley also holds the record for the most number one albums by a solo artist and most top ten albums by any artist. Madonna has the most number one albums by a female artist in the UK, though this includes the Evita film soundtrack which was a cast recording, Adele is the female solo artist with the most weeks at number one, with a total of 37 weeks. Queens Greatest Hits is the album in UK chart history with 6 million copies sold as of February 2014
22.
Compact disc
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Compact disc is a digital optical disc data storage format released in 1982 and co-developed by Philips and Sony. The format was developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data. The first commercially available Audio CD player, the Sony CDP-101, was released October 1982 in Japan, standard CDs have a diameter of 120 millimetres and can hold up to about 80 minutes of uncompressed audio or about 700 MiB of data. The Mini CD has various diameters ranging from 60 to 80 millimetres, they are used for CD singles, storing up to 24 minutes of audio. At the time of the introduction in 1982, a CD could store much more data than a personal computer hard drive. By 2010, hard drives commonly offered as much space as a thousand CDs. In 2004, worldwide sales of audio CDs, CD-ROMs and CD-Rs reached about 30 billion discs, by 2007,200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide. In 2014, revenues from digital music services matched those from physical format sales for the first time. American inventor James T. Russell has been credited with inventing the first system to record information on an optical transparent foil that is lit from behind by a high-power halogen lamp. Russells patent application was first filed in 1966, and he was granted a patent in 1970, following litigation, Sony and Philips licensed Russells patents in the 1980s. The compact disc is an evolution of LaserDisc technology, where a laser beam is used that enables the high information density required for high-quality digital audio signals. Prototypes were developed by Philips and Sony independently in the late 1970s, although originally dismissed by Philips Research management as a trivial pursuit, the CD became the primary focus for Philips as the LaserDisc format struggled. In 1979, Sony and Philips set up a joint task force of engineers to design a new audio disc. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the Red Book CD-DA standard was published in 1980, after their commercial release in 1982, compact discs and their players were extremely popular. Despite costing up to $1,000, over 400,000 CD players were sold in the United States between 1983 and 1984, by 1988 CD sales in the United States surpassed those of vinyl LPs, and by 1992 CD sales surpassed those of prerecorded music cassette tapes. The success of the disc has been credited to the cooperation between Philips and Sony, who came together to agree upon and develop compatible hardware. The unified design of the disc allowed consumers to purchase any disc or player from any company. In 1974, L. However, due to the performance of the analog format
23.
Compact Cassette
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The Compact Cassette or Musicassette, also commonly called cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. It was released by Philips in 1962, having developed in Hasselt. Compact cassettes come in two forms, either already containing content as a cassette, or as a fully recordable blank cassette. Its uses ranged from portable audio to home recording to data storage for early microcomputers, the first cassette player designed for use in car dashes was introduced in 1968. Between the early 1970s and the early 2000s, the cassette was one of the two most common formats for prerecorded music, first alongside the LP record and later the compact disc. Compact Cassettes contain two miniature spools, between which a magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film is passed and wound and these spools and their attendant parts are held inside a protective plastic shell. This reversal is achieved either by flipping the cassette, or by having the machine itself change the direction of tape movement. In 1935, decades before the introduction of the Compact Cassette, AEG released the first reel-to-reel tape recorder and it was based on the invention of the magnetic tape by Fritz Pfleumer, which used similar technology but with open reels. These instruments were expensive and relatively difficult to use and were therefore used mostly by professionals in radio stations. In 1958, following four years of development, RCA Victor introduced the stereo, quarter-inch, reversible, however, it was a large cassette, and offered few pre-recorded tapes. Despite the multiple versions, it failed, consumer use of tape only took off in the early 1960s, after playback machines reached a comfortable, user-friendly design. This was achieved primarily by the introduction of transistors which replaced the bulky, fragile, reel-to-reel tape then became more suitable to household use, but still remained an esoteric product. The team at Philips was led by Lou Ottens in Hasselt, Philips was competing with Telefunken and Grundig in a race to establish its cassette tape as the worldwide standard, and it wanted support from Japanese electronics manufacturers. However, the Philips Compact Cassette became dominant as a result of Philips decision to license the format free of charge, Philips also released the Norelco Carry-Corder 150 recorder/player in the US in November 1964. By 1966 over 250,000 recorders had been sold in the US alone, by 1968,85 manufacturers had sold over 2.4 million players. By the end of the 1960s, the business was worth an estimated 150 million dollars. In the early years sound quality was mediocre, but it improved dramatically by the early 1970s when it caught up with the quality of 8-track tape, the Compact Cassette went on to become a popular alternative to the 12-inch vinyl LP during the late 1970s. The mass production of blank Compact Cassettes began in 1964 in Hanover, prerecorded music cassettes were launched in Europe in late 1965
24.
Australian Recording Industry Association
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It oversees the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties. The association has more than 100 members, including small labels typically run by one to five people, medium size organisations, ARIA is administered by a Board of Directors comprising senior executives from record companies, both large and small. As of October 2010, the directors were Denis Handlin, George Ash, Mark Poston, Sebastian Chase, David Vodica, in 1956, the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers was formed by Australias major record companies. It later included smaller record companies representing independent acts/labels and has over 100 members, by 1997, the six major labels provided 90% of all recordings made in Australia. ARIA is administered by a Board of Directors comprising senior executives from record companies, as of October 2010, the directors were Denis Handlin, George Ash, Mark Poston, Sebastian Chase, David Vodica and Tony Harlow. Australian TV pop music show Countdown presented its own awards ceremony, Countdown Music and Video Awards. ARIA provided peer voting for awards, while Countdown provided coupons in the related Countdown Magazine for viewers to vote for populist awards. At the 1985 Countdown awards ceremony, held on 14 April 1986, fans of INXS and Uncanny X-Men scuffled during the broadcast and as a result ARIA decided to hold their own awards. Since 2 March 1987, ARIA administered its own entirely peer-voted ARIA Music Awards, to recognise excellence, initially included in the same awards ceremonies, it established the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988 and has held separate annual ceremonies since 2005. The ARIA Hall of Fame honours Australian musicians achievements have had a significant impact in Australia or around the world, in February 2004, the Australian Record Industry Association announced its own legal action against Kazaa, alleging massive copyright breaches. The trial began on 29 November 2004, on 6 February 2005, the homes of two Sharman Networks executives and the offices of Sharman Networks in Australia were raided under a court order by ARIA to gather evidence for the trial. In 2006, ARIA formed sponsorship deals with Motorola and Nova and changed the appearance, Motorola took naming-rights sponsorship seeing the charts referred to in the media as the Motorola ARIA Charts. ARIA, have commented that as part of the same marketing printed charts would be reintroduced into media retailing shops, as part of the deal Nova began broadcasting the charted singles in reverse order on a Sunday afternoon show before it was released on the ARIA charts website. The ARIA Charts is the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association, the charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres. All charts are compiled from data of both physical and digital sales from retailers in Australia, the ARIA No.1 Chart Awards were established in 2002 to recognise Australian recording artists, who reached number one on the ARIA albums, singles and music DVDs charts. The ARIA Music Awards is a series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry. This criticism is stauncher in Australia due to the absence of an equivalent Digital Millennium Copyright Act or state crimes acts which clearly establish copyright infringement as a crime, in February 2004, the Australian Record Industry Association took legal action against Kazaa, alleging massive copyright breaches. The trial began on 29 November 2004, on 6 February 2005, the homes of two Sharman Networks executives and the offices of Sharman Networks in Australia were raided under a court order by ARIA to gather evidence for the trial
25.
GfK Entertainment Charts
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The GfK Entertainment Charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment GmbH on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Following a lawsuit in March 2014 by Media Control AG, Media Control® GfK International had to change its name, dissemination of the charts is conducted by various media outlets, some of which include VIVA music channel, and the Swiss charts website. Other entities that present the charts are MusicLoad and MIX1, furthermore, GfK Entertainment also runs a dedicated website providing chart-related news and access to most of the charts. Charts have been published in Germany since 1959, in a magazine called Der Musikmarkt, since 1959, the growing desire to have a well-developed music program has made Bundesverband Musikindustrie work together with charts providers to improve the way the charts are determined. For this purpose, different research institutes were tested, out of which Media Control, hence, the first official charts were made available in the magazine Der Musikmarkt in September 1977. Initially, there used to be 50 positions only, which later in January 1980, was extended to 75 slots, since 1989, however, GfK Entertainment has adapted the international standards providing 100 positions, now called Offizielle Top 100 Charts. In 2001, the Top-100 singles charts was modified to reflect the sales of the singles, Media Control developed Music Video charts in 2001, which later, in 2004, was renamed as DVD charts. While music-videos have their own charts, in 2001, GfK Entertainment made it possible for the music-video singles to have the ability to enter the Top-100 singles chart. Similarly, in 2002, it was available for music-video albums to chart on the Top-100 album chart. If not, then, the DVD album could qualify for the DVD chart only, in the same vein, if an audio CD contains at least 50% of video recording, then, it could qualify to chart on the DVD chart. In 2003, Media Control joined forces with GfK, thus the name officially being changed to Media Control GfK International GmbH. In 2004, Germany became one of the first music markets wherein sales charts were reflected by online digital downloads, digital-only releases came into existence on 13 July 2007, for online downloads only, which also altered the way the sales figures were conducted up to that point. Consequently, chart positions would no longer be affected by the number of music downloads as before. Thus, the albums would not necessarily be the ones ending up in the number-one position on the charts. In March 2014, GfK announced that the official chart providers name in Germany will change from Media Control GfK International GmbH to GfK Entertainment, there are currently 3,000 outlets that report their sales on weekly bases in Germany. The weekly sales data is transmitted to GfK Entertainment via communication network channel and this is the list of categories, for each of which charts are provided by GfK Entertainment
26.
British Phonographic Industry
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The BPI Limited, commonly known as the British Phonographic Industry or BPI, is the British recorded music industrys trade association. Its membership comprises hundreds of companies including all three major record companies in the UK, and hundreds of independent music labels and small to medium-sized music businesses. It has represented the interests of British record companies since being formally incorporated in 1973 when the aim was to promote British music. In 2007, the legal name was changed from British Phonographic Industry Limited. It founded the annual BRIT Awards for the British music industry in 1977, the organizing company, BRIT Awards Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of the BPI. Proceeds from both shows go to the BRIT Trust, the arm of the BPI that has donated almost £15m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation in 1989. In September 2013, the BPI presented the first ever BRITs Icon Award to Sir Elton John, the BPI also endorsed the launch of the Mercury Prize for the Album of the Year in 1992. In September 2008, the BPI became one of the members of UK Music. The BRIT Trust is the music charity actively supporting all types of education across the entire spectrum of music. Through the projects it supports, which include Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and the BRIT School, proceeds from the BRIT Awards and the Classic BRITs shows go to the BRIT Trust, which has donated almost £15m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation. Opened in September 1991, the BRIT School is a joint venture between The BRIT Trust and the Department for Education and Skills, based at Selhurst in Croydon, the school is the only non fee-paying performing arts school in the UK. It teaches up to 1,100 students each year aged from 14–19 years in music, dance, drama, musical theatre, production, media and art & design. Students are from diverse backgrounds and are not required to stick to their own discipline, dancers learn songwriting. Nor do students have to work/perform in the evening to pay for the tuition, the BPI administers the Platinum, Gold and Silver awards scheme for music releases in the United Kingdom. The level of the award varies depending on the format of the release, member companies do, however, still have the option to certify titles based on shipment levels if they choose to. Since July 2014, audio streaming has also included for singles at a ratio of 100 streams equivalent to 1 unit. From June 2015, audio streams were added to album certifications, according to BPI, they would take the 12 most-streamed tracks from the standard version of an album, with the top two songs down-weighted in line with the average of the rest. The total of these streams will be divided by 1,000, additionally, personnel are also seconded to the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit top support anti-piracy operations
