This month, each Scandinavian territory puts forward its own Chanteuse, in a proud display of what each country is capable of producing at the moment!

Don’t stop

Norwegian songstress Annie is finally releasing her second album Don’t Stop. After constantly being delayed by her old record label and altered by Annie herself, the final version is ready and will be released in the UK on 19 October. It’s a dreamy opus of melody riddled electronica married to Annie’s remarkable vocals, which are interchangeable between sexy and vulnerable.

Finnish pop princess returns

Over in Finland, their reigning pop princess is back to launch the first single from her third album (following on from two number 1 albums!). Music Everywhere sees Anna Abreu adopting what’s become THE sound of Autumn 2009 around the world – dance music merged with r&b. It’s a fast paced, often frantic pop gem,  that pays audio homage to Lady Gaga. Incidentally, one of Anna’s earlier singles, Vinegar, has just been given a UK deal and will be Anna’s first release here later this year.

New tracks from Sweden and Iceland

Iceland’s Hera Bjork has released an interesting new track over there. My Heart sounds like schlager music for the clubland generation, and it works really well. Hera sang backing vocals earlier this year for Iceland’s successful Eurovision entry, which came second. She also participated as a solo artist in the 2009 Danish pre-selections, again finishing second!

Finally we head to Sweden, where they’ve just had an exceptionally good record occupy the number 1 position on their album chart. Moving On by Sarah Dawn Finer is a down tempo soul album with its roots firmly planted in pop! Full of sweet tunes all sung by the large voiced diva-in-the-making, Sarah.

All perfect soundtrack fodder for Winter!

www.scandipop.co.uk

Contact: scandipop@gmail.com

]]> http://www.scanmagazine.co.uk/2009/10/scandipop-issue-12/feed/ 0 http://www.scanmagazine.co.uk/2009/10/leadership-for-the-upturn-business-column-issue-12/ http://www.scanmagazine.co.uk/2009/10/leadership-for-the-upturn-business-column-issue-12/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:30:17 +0000 Mads http://scanmagazine.co.uk/new/?p=1434 By Inger Buus, Mannaz

When we run leadership development programmes, top executives from the organisation typically participate as speakers to deliver ‘the strategic messages from the top’. Recently, the core message from one senior executive was the following: “Now you must choose whether you want to be a survivor or a winner!” – clearly with the intention of encouraging the leaders to refocus and start driving for revenue growth.

The challenge is, though, that the business leaders were there precisely because they had developed and deployed survival skills, cut costs, made people redundant and managed to hold on to their own jobs despite the restructuring over the past couple of years. How can they change mindset and behaviour all of a sudden? And how can they do it in a way that is believable to their organisations? As markets stabilise and the first glimmers of hope emerge, companies need to rethink how leadership is executed and distributed.

As some of the shortcomings and misjudgements of celebrated, heroic leaders have been exposed, a revised model of leadership is emerging. In this model, leadership is distributed, relational, personal and situational. Distributed in that it is not the privilege of the chosen few at the top but executed across the organisation by individuals who take it when needed – and are encouraged to do so. Relational because it is co-created and continuously refined by the multiple relationships and interactions the leaders have. Personal in that leaders will regain trust by being themselves and authentic in their actions. Situational since there is no ‘one style fits all’. Leadership has to be adapted to the person and to the situation.

So whether you successfully make the transition from ‘surviving’ to ‘winning’ will be determined by the extent to which you are able to rebuild trust and are willing to take risks, engage with people and empower others to take leadership.

Regular readers of this column may have the impression that tax investigations and dealing with tax irregularities are at the top of my agenda every day.  In fact, the world of tax is far more varied than that, and a typical working day involves dealing with a wide variety of questions.  In terms of tax news to share, however, the intense activity by the tax authorities in their quest for information regarding offshore structures and accounts mean that this must again be my topic of choice.

Over the last few weeks, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) have announced further details of the New Disclosure Opportunity (“NDO”), which is designed to enable taxpayers to disclose details of unpaid taxes in relation to offshore accounts or assets in return for a reduced fixed penalty.  The NDO runs from 1 September 2009 to 12 March 2010.  The deadline to notify HMRC of an intention to make a disclosure is 30 November 2009.  In connection with the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (“TIEA”) between the UK and Liechtenstein on 11 August 2009, a separate Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility has also been set up, which will run from 1 September 2009 to 31 March 2015.  This is more generous than the general NDO.  As further encouragement to non-compliant “customers” to come forward, HMRC have also obtained an order against 300 financial institutions, forcing them to hand over information to HMRC of offshore account holders with UK addresses.

Taken together, these measures form part of HMRC’s general attack on tax evasion through offshore arrangements. Other G20 nations are also busy clamping down on similar issues, and hardly a week goes by without another TIEA being entered into by a succession of low tax jurisdictions (which in the past were referred to as “tax havens”).  There must be a minimum of 12 TIEAs in place for a jurisdiction to be entered on the OECD “white list” and sanctions are threatened against those who fail to comply.  Since September 2008 the UK has signed TIEAs with the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Anguilla, Turks & Caicos and Liechtenstein.  In the same period, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have all signed agreements with Guernsey, Jersey, Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands.

The message is very clear – the end of secrecy is nigh.  The low tax jurisdictions are of course keen to stress that confidentiality is still alive and well, but should not be thought of as a cover for tax evasion.  This all adds up to one conclusion – errant UK taxpayers with offshore accounts or assets should take this opportunity to put things right with HMRC in return for a reduced penalty of 10% plus improved chances of sleeping at night.  Those who simply don’t know if they have paid the correct taxes on their overseas accounts should take tax advice now to ensure all is in order, so that if any problems are identified these can be put right while there is a discounted penalty on offer.

HMRC have stated that they do not intend to offer any further disclosure opportunities, and that taxpayers who do not take this opportunity to come forward are likely to face future penalties ranging from 30% to 100% of the tax unpaid, and will also run the risk of prosecution.  In contrast, the NDO and the Liechtenstein Facility offer a 10% penalty (20% under the NDO for those who already received a letter from HMRC under the earlier 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility – but no penalty is payable if the total amount of the unpaid liability is less than £1,000.).  A disclosure under the NDO must include all undisclosed amounts that tax should be paid on going back 20 years, not merely items linked to the offshore accounts or assets.  The Liechtenstein Facility is more generous, as it only requires back taxes for a maximum of ten years up to 6 April 2009.

Further information is available on HMRC’s website www.hmrc.gov.uk, or by contacting the writer. This column is intended to provide information of general interest to the public and is not intended to offer legal advice about specific situations or problems.

Author:  Helena Whitmore, McGuireWoods London LLP (formerly Grundberg Mocatta Rakison LLP) hwhitmore@mcguirewoods.com.

Joining a queue requires commitment.
You must therefore ask yourself: Am I ready for the queue? Is my heart in it? Can I go all the way?
This is because you cannot suddenly go to the bathroom, or buy a magazine or embark on similarly audacious quests which will lead to the dramatic outcome of having to leave the queue. You can’t. The queue will know you’re a quitter who can’t be trusted. If fellow queue members later see you on the plane, seated by the emergency exit, they might tell authorized personnel that you are in no way suited for this kind of responsibility.

Second, when queuing, the Boy Scout’s motto “Be prepared” applies at all times.
You must ALWAYS keep an eye on the queue ahead of you, because you can’t EVER let the queue move without INTSTANTY moving with it. Otherwise the people behind you will feel deeply betrayed, and slowly lose hope. Do you really want to be the one who killed the hope of the queue?

I didn’t think so.
Be aware that engaging in hazardous activities such as talking or texting on your mobile, is frowned upon by fellow queue-members; it makes you lose focus.
Last but not least, you must prepare yourself for the mental change that will occur. Upon joining, you will notice that you immediately start to suspect everybody else of wanting to get ahead in your queue. This is only natural. That’s the way other people are.

You therefore have to watch over whoever darts about in the periphery of the queue. Don’t hesitate to look angry, even mean and unwelcoming. That’s the only thing these potentially cheating bastards respect.
Those are the rules. They need to be protected.
God save the Queue.

Thanks to the continuing trend of Scandinavian artists scoring hits in the UK, the last month has seen even more record deals to bring scandipop hits to these shores!

Scan releases in the UK
Two acts, which with varying degrees of success have tried to break the UK, have now joined forces to launch an attack on the charts. The Alexander Bard helmed BWO have recruited Swedish pop starlet Velvet to appear on their new single, Right Here, Right Now, a melancholic, anthemic piece of pop music pretending to be dance music. It works perfectly, and hopefully Brits will agree when it’s released here in early September.

You may remember we wrote about a Danish superhit that had taken up permanent residency in Denmark’s top 10 earlier in the year. Well now Kun For Mig by Medina has been translated into English and signed to Polydor Records. They’ll be hoping that You & I can repeat even a fraction of the success that it had in Denmark when it’s released later in the year.

Touring the UK
Therese is making a double pronged return to the UK! After scoring club hits Put Em High and Take Me Away with dance producer, and fellow Swede, Stonebridge, Therese releases two new dance tracks over here soon. Bodyswerve and Neon Lights have been snapped up by two separate record labels, showing exactly how much Therese and her catchy style of club music are in demand right now.

Finally, after selling over 320,000 units of her debut UK single, Release Me, Swedish poppet Agnes is coming here on tour later in the year. She’ll be taking part in the Clubland 3 tour which makes its way around UK arenas throughout November and December. Now in its third successful year, the Clubland tour is an excellent opportunity for artists without a massive fan base to play to tens of thousands of potential new fans.

Scandinavian pop music isn’t leaving the UK anytime soon!

www.scandipop.co.uk

Contact: scandipop@googlemail.com

Scandinavia is currently churning out quality music at an alarming rate, from both exciting newcomers, and much loved legends. This month, Finland gets its own Duffy, Denmark produces a girlband to rival Girls Aloud and one of the most loved and loathed acts of all time returns and so does a master of melody!

New pop in old disguise

The modern revising of sixties soul music has dominated the UK and US music scenes over the last year. Now Finland has got its very own sixties siren, Anna Puu. Puu has captivated the Finns with her debut single, C’est La Vie, a melancholic motown tribute with lovelorn vocals and dramatic bells! Its parent album, Anna Puu, has just gone to number one.

Sukkerchok are an enchanting new girlband from Denmark. Their debut album, Hvor Som Helst, Når Som Helst, has just been released and is a fun-packed, 45 minute romp through catchy melodies clinging to electro synths. Imagine how Girls Aloud would have sounded 25 years ago, and you get a good idea of Sukkerchok.

The legends are back

The almighty Aqua (yes, they really are back) have just gone to number one in Denmark and top ten in Norway with Back To The 80s, the lead single from their new Greatest Hits album. One of the most globally successful Scandinavian acts ever, Aqua has recently been touring their native Denmark.

Finally, last month we wrote about a new Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus composition. This month, a second new composition from the Abba pair has been unveiled. Story Of  A Heart is the first international single from Benny’s most recent musical project, Benny Andersson Band and it’s just been A-Listed by BBC Radio 2. So hopefully, the UK will be all singing along to the pair’s music – 35 years after their first UK hit.

www.scandipop.co.uk

Contact: scandipop@googlemail.com

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