The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) yesterday announced that Ed O'Brien of Radiohead, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd and Sandie Shaw would be the new co-Chairs of the organisation, taking over from Dave Rowntree of Blur, who has stepped down due to work commitments.

Each chair will focus on a different key area, with Nick the FAC ambassador to the music industry. Commenting on the announcement, Nick said:

"We plan to focus on really making a difference to our members and artists in general. There are three key reasons people tell us they value being part of the FAC: to make sure they are fairly represented and heard, to network with other artists and to learn from one another - and the structure will allow us do this in a more streamlined way."

"I have been co-chairman for a year but finally they realised I can't do it alone. The belief is that in this organisation, it suits us to have a number of chair people," he said.

He thinks joining the FAC should be one of the first things a new band does so they can tap into its resources. "That would be terrific, to not just have established artists."

On music industry rivalry, he noted that "It is painted as a competitive industry but it isn't really. I feel quite strongly that we [artists] really enjoy working together. The more people the better. We'd like to spread the net as widely as possible."

Nick also felt the FAC's position over filesharing had been misrepresented: "We have been termed as the Taliban of the music industry in favour of free downloads, but we are not that. If there is money being made from it then the artists should benefit and the artists should decide what is free or paid for. There are dissenting views in the FAC but we should represent that. We felt that [with the DEA] the legislation was very, very clunky."

More details of the organisation can be found at www.featuredartistscoalition.com.