DAVID HASSELHOFF - GERMAN POLITICIAN'S HOMEGROWN MUSIC BID

EMINEM, METALLICA, BRITNEY SPEARS and DAVID HASSELHOFF's lucrative careers in Germany will be over - if a top German politician gets his way.

WOLFGANG THIERSE, who holds the second highest political office in the country, Bundestag President, is attempting introduce a law which would severly restrict the time given on German radio to English speaking acts, in favour of homegrown talent.

Currently, German acts only account for three per cent of the music played on the country's airwaves, with German record companies complaining that it is impossible to promote native talent, even though four of the five majors are from English speaking nations.

Thierse wants to rectify the disparity by introducing a law which operated successfully in the former East Germany, where he comes from, which decreed 60 per cent of music played on the radio must be German.

The bearded politician has cited similar successful laws in France, even though the Gallic country's music industry has always been far healthier.