Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Spears is inspired by Justin Timberlake.

Spears praised her former boyfriend who she dated from 1999 to 2002 and hitmaker Bruno Mars for being "different and fresh" and encouraging people to enjoy music more.

She said: "Bruno Mars is so different and fresh, and Justin Timberlake is, too. It's inspiring for me, and it makes people eager to listen to music, which helps everyone."

As well as Justin and Bruno, Britney is also finds inspiration from "genius" Beyoncé and admiring the way she released her self-titled new album without warning earlier this month.

She said: "I look up to Beyoncé, what she did with her album was genius, really brilliant."

The 32-year-old singer also talked about her "cool" friend Miley Cyrus - who was in the audience for her debut Las Vegas show last week - admitting she loves spending time with the former 'Hannah Montana' star, with who she shares manager Larry Rudolph.

She told USA Today newspaper: "She's cool, she's fun to be around. You know, she's got really good energy."

Britney laments the way the music industry has changed in favour of downloads and thinks the ritual of purchasing albums on CD is no longer special.

She said: "We're too smart for our own good. We're at the point where the simplicity of buying a CD and the specialness has gone. I think it's a shame. The whole process of buying a record was so special."