US GROUPS CALL ON GOOGLE AND VERIZON TO HELP POLICE PIRACY
Following a joint announcement last week from Google and US ISP Verizon regarding so called net neutrality, in which the two companies announced a joint commitment to ensure that all net users will always "have access to all legal content on the internet" (ie so smaller online publishers won't be disadvantaged in favour of the bigger service providers), a consortium of American music business types have called on the two web giants to add cracking down on piracy to their joint mission.

The Recording Industry Association Of America, indie labels body A2IM and collecting societies BMI, ASCAP and SESAC are among the signatories to an open letter to Google top man Eric Schmidt. They focus on the "legal" bit of Google and Verizon's commitment, and argue that the flip side of that commitment is that ISPs should help in the crack down on the distribution of illegal (ie copyright infringing) content on the internet. The US music industry is busy lobbying the ISP sector there to take a more proactive role in policing piracy though, as in Europe, the net firms are not exactly embracing such a role.

The letter reads as follows (complete with American spellings of some words, for added authenticity):

Dear Mr Schmidt:

We write to you on behalf of the broad and diverse music community represented by our organizations. We read about your recent joint policy proposal for an open internet and commend you and Verizon for advancing the public conversation on this important issue.

The music community we represent believes it is vital that any internet policy initiative permit and encourage ISPs and other intermediaries to take measures to deter unlawful activity such as copyright infringement and child pornography. The principle of distinguishing lawful from unlawful activity has become a firmly established tenet of broadband policy - articulated clearly by FCC Chairs Powell, Martin and Genachowski, leading Members of Congress from both parties, and industry executives. It is also contained in the standard user policies of many legitimate businesses that operate online.

We all share the goal of a robust internet that is highly accessible, secure and safe for individuals and commerce. An internet predicated on order, rather than chaos, facilitates achievement of this goal.

As you well know, music is a powerful driver of broadband adoption and related applications. So, too, the internet has become a crucial part of the music discovery process and a central platform for commerce. The number and range of music services is exploding. Our ability to invest in and create the next generation of music is grounded on crafting Internet policies and procedures that respect intellectual property.

Accordingly, we are deeply interested in the details of your proposal as they may relate to the protection of content and to making sure that the distinction between lawful and unlawful activity has operational meaning.

The current legal and regulatory regime is not working for America's creators. Our businesses are being undermined, as are the dreams and careers of songwriters, artists, musicians, studio technicians, and other professionals. That's why we look forward to working with you, other stakeholders, the FCC and the Congress to make the distinction between lawful and unlawful relevant in the marketplace so that the internet fulfills its promise for consumers, subscribers, providers, creators and business.

Google and Verizon are yet to respond.

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KATHERINE AND JOE JACKSON TO DIVORCE
Michael Jackson's parents are to divorce after 60 years of marriage. Although the couple have been estranged for five years, Katherine reportedly made the decision to formalise their split after Joe recently accused her of being responsible for their son's death.

Despite their separation, Katherine has apparently been reluctant to divorce until now, mainly because she's a Jehovah's Witness and that sort of thing is frowned upon by her religion.

As previously reported, Joe told the News Of The World in June this year: "[After Michael's death] Katherine was weeping uncontrollably and highly upset. But I didn't give her a hug because I was mad at her crying. I said, 'If you had listened to me, Michael would be living now'. I kept thinking about the times I had stood in front of her saying something was wrong. I couldn't bottle up my feelings. Katherine didn't say a word - I had to get away from her. If she'd done what I asked, Michael would be here today. I am incensed with her. She could have made a difference. In Michael's final months alive I said to her, many times, that I couldn't get through to him - and that she needed to help her son".

A spokesperson for Katherine reportedly said: "Joe Jackson's statement and conduct toward Mrs Jackson are outrageous. The world also knows who Joe Jackson is and he seems bent on never letting us forget. She's been humiliated by him for too long. She's absolutely livid. There's no going back".

Including Michael, the couple, who married in 1949, have nine children, as well as 26 grand children.

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BRET MICHAELS SUES OVER CANCELLED GIG
Poison man Bret Michaels is suing a US gig promoter for a cool five million in a dispute over an abandoned gig that was due to take place in Syracuse, New York State earlier this month.

According to reports, Michaels only found out the gig had been cancelled when he showed up at the venue and found it shut. Meanwhile the promoter claimed that the show had to be axed because the Poison man had a clashing TV appearance. Michaels did appear on an edition of 'American's Got Talent' that aired that night, but it was a pre-recorded show.

Michaels reckons promoter Michael Banks had financial issues and that was the real reason the concert was cancelled. He is suing for breach of contract and defamation in relation to the claims the cancellation was Michaels' fault.

Banks is yet to respond.

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SWIZZ BEATS SIGNS TO WARNER/ATLANTIC
Hip hop producer of the moment Swizz Beats has signed a new deal with a company called Everest Entertainment and Warner's Atlantic US division to release his second album, ending his relationship with Universal's Motown.

Mr Beatz said in a statement: "I couldn't ask to be in a better place right now. Both Everest and the Warner/Atlantic team have been great and I'm looking forward to sharing this project with true fans of good music".

Due out this autumn with guest appearances from Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Coldplay, John Legend, Drake and TI, the as-yet-untitled album will be Everest's first musical release, the company typically known for producing films.

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ESBEN AND THE WITCH SIGN TO MATADOR
Esben And The Witch have signed to Matador and will release their first EP for the label in October, it has been announced.

The video for the EP's title track, 'Marching Song', directed by David Procter and Peter King from the The Agenda Collective, is available to watch now at www.esbenandthewitch.co.uk.

The band are also set to release their debut album early next year.

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UNDERWORLD AVOIDING OLD AGE
Underworld have said that they collaborated with a number of newer artists on their new album, 'Barking', because they were worried that they were becoming an 'old' band.

As previously reported, the album was created by the duo in their Essex studio, though most tracks were then sent to other producers for additional production type tweaking, which is interesting, making this a bit like a remix album for an LP that was never released.

The Duo's Karl Hyde told Metro: "We didn't want to be in an 'old' band. Our heroes were people such as Miles Davis, Bowie and Picasso, who had the ability to constantly reinvent themselves. They didn't have a problem working with younger people. We've always been about jamming, and passing ideas back and forth. When we were working with Anthony Minghella [on the soundtrack for 2006 film 'Breaking And Entering'], he'd get us in to talk about film edits".

He added: "When Rick and I came together in the early 1980s, we were listening to a lot of German electronica and Jamaican reggae. We'd always come back to making sounds to make your body move. And for seventeen, eighteen years we'd walk out on stage with no set list and just improvise. Underworld was based on a concept of disaster - whenever something went wrong, the audience would get excited because you'd have to use your intuition".

The album will be released under a 'services deal' with Cooking Vinyl later this year.

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SLIPKNOT ANNOUNCE LIVE DVD
Slipknot have announced that they will release a DVD of their headline performance at the 2009 Download festival on 27 Dec, entitled '(sic)nesses'. As well as being a highlight of the band's career, the show was also one of the final major shows for bassist Paul Gray, who died in May this year.

In addition to the full Download performance, the DVD will also feature a 45-minute behind the scenes documentary created by the band's percussionist Shawn 'Clown' Crahan, as well as all four music videos from the 'All Hope Is Gone' album.

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WARPAINT CONFIRM ALBUM DETAILS
Warpaint have announced details of their previously reported debut album. Entitled 'The Fool', it will be released through Rough Trade on 26 Oct. Production was handled by Tom Biller (Liars, Karen O), while it was mixed by Andrew Weatherall.

Hey! Here's the tracklist:

Set Your Arms Down
Warpaint
Undertow
Bees
Shadows
Composure
Baby
Majesty
Lissie's Heart Murmur

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DJ YODA ANNOUNCES TOUR
DJ Yoda has announced that he is bringing his 'Stop, Look & Listen' AV tour. With tracks synced up to scenes from film, TV and YouTube, the tour will see him performing at, amongst many other locations, the IMAX cinema at the BFI in London. Excellent.

Anyway, here are the tour dates:

30 Sep: Cardiff, C-Y-N-T
1 Oct: Liverpool, The Masque
8 Oct: Leeds, Faversham
9 Oct: Bristol, Metropolis
15 Oct: Nottingham, Gatecrashe
21 Oct: Derry, Nerve Centre
22 Oct: Dublin, Bodytonic
23 Oct: Belfast, Spring and Airbrake
29 Oct: Brighton, Concord 2
30 Oct: Birmingham, Gatecrasher
6 Nov: Manchester, Warehouse Project
11 Nov: London, BFI IMAX
13 Nov: Preston, 53 Degrees, Preston
17 Nov: London, Everyman Hampstead
18 Nov: London, Screen On The Green Islington

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GUNS N ROSES DEFINITELY PLAYING READING AND LEEDS, YES
Despite the fact that the band themselves are yet to make any statement on the matter, and the rogue tweet that announced the cancellation of their upcoming UK tour is still online, Melvin Benn is still insisting that Guns N Roses are playing Reading and Leeds at the end of the month. To be fair, they probably are, but if you don't build a bit of drama into these things, what's the point?

Benn told NME: "I'm absolutely confident about them showing up. There were probably four or five emails back and forth between 1am and 3am Monday morning. [Guns N Roses'] agent was absolutely clear that [the Tweet] was false - it wasn't true. I think he was in the UK, but I think he'd spoken to Axl and he came back and said it was a false alarm".

He added: "Axl confirmed to the agent and the agent confirmed to us. When you look at the Twitter transactions, Axl's Twittering is pretty infrequent and has generally been from a mobile phone. This wasn't in Axl's style. I didn't know it was still on. I don't know why it hasn't been deleted. It certainly is completely untrue".

The tweet in question was actually posted from a mobile phone, but whatever. It wasn't from an iPhone, and that, my dear friends, is how Axl rolls.

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

BESTIVAL, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight, 9-12 Sep: Janelle Monae and The Jolly Boys are amongst the latest acts confirmed to play at Bestival, along with Domino State, David Harks, The Shadow Orchestra, Sound Of Rum and many more. www.bestival.net

BINGLEY MUSIC LIVE, Myrtle Park, Bingley, 3-5 Sep: Public Image Ltd have been confirmed as special guests at Bingley Music Live, with Hadouken!, Buzzcocks, Frightened Rabbit and The Fantasy Funk Band also confirmed to play. www.bingleymusiclive.com

ELECTRIC PICNIC, Stradbury Hall Estate, Co Laois, Ireland, 3-5 Sep: John Cooper Clarke, Omar Souleyman, Caribou and Timber Timbre are the latest acts announced to play at next month's Electric Picnic, joining the previously announced Massive Attack, Roxy Music, Leftfield and LCD Soundsystem. www.electricpicnic.ie

LOOPALLU, Ullapool, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, 17-18 Sep: The Magic Numbers have been announced as Saturday night headliner's at this year's Loopallu, with Clare Maguire and Carly Connor also added to the line-up. www.loopallu.co.uk

READING AND LEEDS, Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Bramham Park, Leeds, 27-29 Aug: Neil Hamburger and Dan Nightingale have been added to the line-up for the Alternative Stage at this month's Reading and Leeds, along with Inel Tomlinson, Carl Barat and Jon McClure. www.readingfestival.com, www.leedsfestival.com

SWN, Various Venues, Cardiff, 21-23 Oct: Throats, Stricken City and Pull In Emergency are amongst the latest acts confirmed to play at Wales' SWN festival, with the likes of Tall Ships, Mimas, Talons and Dad Rocks also added to the bill. www.swnfest.com

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ALBUM REVIEW: Tony Lionni - As One (Freerange Records)
Lionni has been a player in the world of electronic music ever since his time immersed in Manchester's Hacienda club scene back in the late 80s, but this album proves that he is still as fresh as ever.

The influence of the early Detroit scene is there from opener 'Distant Memories', but 'As One' still sounds very much like a 21st century album. There is some proper epic house in the form of 'Precious', with Marvin Belton on vocals, then some hard staccato beats on 'Out of Sight', before a more poppy and Euro feel with 'Found Another Place' and 'The More You Give' respectively.

'Harmony's Song' provides the compulsory chill out, while 'Waiting For You' takes us more techy with some swirling spacious keys and synths. The stand out track, meanwhile, is 'Deep Fried', some brilliant deep house.

An extremely likeable and well crafted debut LP, this is a great signing for Jimpster's east London label. PV

Physical release: 11 Oct
Press contact: Freerange IH

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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CHILLY GONZALES PICKED FOR IPAD AD
Chilly Gonzales' recent single, 'Never Stop', will soundtrack a new Apple TV advert for the iPad. It's actually the second time the musician has got himself in an Apple ad, having produced the very successful '1234' by Feist.

Have a little watch of the ad here, if you like: www.apple.com/ipad/gallery/#ad

The album from whence came 'Never Stop' - 'Ivory Tower' - is due for release on 30 Aug.

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ROBERTSON AND TAYLOR RENEW CONTRACTS WITH ROBERTSON TAYLOR
Music business insurance specialists Willie Robertson and Bob Taylor have renewed their contracts with the broker firm that bears their name, Robertson Taylor. The company is now owned by another outfit called Oxygen Holdings.

The brokers' MD, John Silcock, told Music Week: "We are delighted that Bob and Willie are continuing in the business as before. Their experience and industry knowledge are unparalleled and there is a huge amount of affection and respect for them from both the music industry and the insurance industry".

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CHRYSALIS ROYALTY REVENUES UP
Music publisher Chrysalis has revealed that its share of the royalties their songs catalogue earned between April and August was 5.2% up on the same period a year earlier.

An 'interim management statement' from the company dished out namechecks to songwriting talent Fraser T Smith, Nerina Pallot and Ethan Jones, who between them have written for the likes of Taio Cruz, Kylie Minogue and Tom Jones, as helping bring in all that lovely loot.

The publisher's CEO Jeremy Lascelles said this: "I am especially delighted with the two Ivor Novello awards which recognise both a breakthrough act in Bats For Lashes and an established artist, Johnny Marr. Chrysalis continues to outperform the market and to deft wider music industry turmoil".

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SOUNDCLOUD ANNOUNCES DEEPER CREATIVE COMMONS INTEGRATION
SoundCloud has announced a raft of new features linked to a stepped up partnership with the dudes behind Creative Commons, the only slightly complicated copyright system whereby creators allow other creators to use their work for non-commercial projects.

Creative Commons-licensed tracks hosted on the SoundCloud platform will now be listed on a dedicated page at www.soundcloud.com/creativecommons, and the site's search engine will now allow users to search for free-to-use samples.

SoundCloud CEO Alexander Ljung told CMU: "Providing the talented and varied userbase we have on SoundCloud with more options to share and create their own original works is core to our mission. Partnering with Creative Commons is great for our users and any audio creators in the CC community as we look to build a huge library of sounds, samples and songs to inspire more new creativity. These new features will facilitate this process and help to consolidate all the disparate sources of CC audio around the web for future creators".

For more information, have a read of this: blog.soundcloud.com/2010/08/19/reuse-soundcloud-style/

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SPEARS FILMS GLEE EPISODE
Oh look, 'Glee' creator Ryan Murphy wasn't lying when he said Britney Spears was going to appear in an episode of the new series. The singer tweeted yesterday: "About to do my first shot of the day for Glee tweeties! Here we goooo!" and later "What's up GLEEKS? Having so much fun on set!! Can't wait for you guys to see the episode!"

So that's all sorted then. Good.

Not appearing in 'Glee' are Kings Of Leon, whose bassist Jared Followill told NME this week that they had turned down an offer to appear in the show, saying: "We could have sold out so much more. We turn stuff down constantly".

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TYLER SIGNS ON AS NEW IDOL JUDGE
It seems Aerosmith's Steven Tyler has taken a break from falling off stages for long enough to sign a contract to be a new judge on 'American Idol', joining the show's only remaining original judge, Randy Jackson, after the departure of Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi.

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told New Jersey's Star-Ledger: "Steven is doing 'American Idol'. The ink is dry on that. Steven is someone who absolutely lives to be in front of an audience, and the people closest to him know how witty and entertaining he can be. I don't know if 'American Idol' will be rock n roll enough for him, but it is an opportunity for millions of people to see another side of Steven Tyler".

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EMINEM LETS MARIAH GO
Eminem has decided to put his feelings for Mariah Carey behind him, so that they can both get on with their lives. Which is big of him. He claims that they were once lovers, which she denies.

The whole thing has been going on for some time, with Eminem referencing Carey in various songs, including one released last summer, 'The Warning', which contained samples of voicemail recordings the rapper claims were left for him by Carey during their relationship. Carey in turn has released two songs seemingly referencing Eminem (though not by name), including 'Obsessed', which is about a man who claims to have had a relationship with her.

You may remember that Carey's husband, Nick Cannon, got a bit annoyed after Eminem included the line "Mariah, what ever happened to us, why did we have to break up, I want another crack at ya, Nick Cannon better back the fuck up, I'm not playing, I want her back, you punk" on a track from his 'Relapse' album, 'Bagpipes From Baghdad'. There was some to-ing and fro-ing, in which both sides generally denied anyone had said or done anything.

In a new interview with Vibe, Eminem said: "You know what? I got to be honest. I really don't want to talk about her any more only just because it's kind of like the last thing I said about her was on 'Cold Wind Blows' [the opening track from his recently released 'Recovery' album]. I made the comment ["Take a look at Mariah next time, I inspire you to write a song"], [but] I don't want to keep beating a dead horse. I'm not even going to comment about it. I'm done with that whole situation. I said what I had to say. I'm done".

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