Brits join coalition to defend music in digital future

Pop stars including Coldplay, Radiohead and Kate Nash were set to meet in London today in the fight to protect rights to their songs.

They are among more than 100 musicians behind the Featured Artists Coalition which was set up in response to the digital revolution and the popularity of downloads.

The meeting at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in The Mall will decide how to fund the new union and set up a full-time executive to represent artists' interests.

Brian Message, co-manager of Radiohead, who offered the band's last album In Rainbows as a "pay what you can" download, said: "What's going on is that artists are starting to have to take more control over what they are doing because the economics are getting twisted so dramatically."

Blur drummer David Rowntree said: "It's about taking control of your future - the digital world has given us new opportunities of making a living."