Music Minute: Clean Bandit for Christmas number one, X Factor's 5AM sign to Syco

IBTimes UK senior entertainment reporter Alicia Adejobi rounds up this week's music stories.

In this week's Music Minute, Clean Bandit are on course to claim the Christmas number one, X Factor's 5 After Midnight sign to Syco and Chris Brown releases Party.

Clean Bandit number one

Will British pop-orchestra collective Clean Bandit clinch 2016's Christmas number one? It is looking even more likely as the group are currently at the chart summit with their unstoppable single Rockabye, which features Sean Paul and Anne-Marie.

According to the Official Charts Company, the dancehall-tinged track is spending its sixth consecutive week at the top after selling 15,000 more copies than its nearest competition. Other contenders for the Christmas number one are X Factor winner Matt Terry with When Christmas Comes Around and Louis Tomlinson and Steve Aoki with Just Hold On.

5AM sign to Syco

The roster for Simon Cowell's Syco record label just keeps getting bigger. The X Factor boss has reportedly signed third-place contestants 5 After Midnight in hopes of filling the boy band gap in the market.

A source told the Daily Star: "The boys are overjoyed and can't believe they are signing to Syco. Simon has been a big fan of 5 After Midnight throughout the series. Out of all the artists he thinks 5AM have the biggest gap in the market to play with. There are very few boy bands around at the moment and even fewer urban boy bands who dance."

Clean Bandit are spending their sixth week at number one with Rockabye and could claim the Christmas number one Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

Cowell has also snapped up controversial X Factor contestant Honey G, who will release her debut single on 23 December, but the series' winner Matt Terry opted for a record deal with Sony's RCA instead.

Chris Brown brings the Party

If you need to update your playlist then get into the party spirit with Chris Brown's new dancefloor filler. The music video for Party, which features Usher and Gucci Mane, was directed by Brown himself and sees the singer dancing in an underground club for five minutes. Party is expected to feature on the r'n'b star's forthcoming album Heartbreak On A Full Moon, set for release in 2017.