APPLE LAUNCHES ITUNES RADIO
As expected, Apple finally announced its long awaited streaming music service at its World Wide Developers Conference yesterday.

To be called iTunes Radio (iRadio, after all, is already used by another company), the new service will be of the Pandora model, providing users with a personalised stream of music but only limited on-demand functionality. It will be free to use, funded by advertising, though subscribers to Apple's premium digital locker service iTunes Match will be able to access an ad-free version.

iTunes Radio will, initially at least, be restricted to Apple devices, accessible via iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, Apple TV and iTunes on the Mac. Most of the functionality on offer matches that of other 'interactive radio' services - playlists based on past usage, track skipping, the option to block tracks for good - though the iTunes service will have more overt download sell-through. The new service will launch in the US at first, at some point this autumn, before global roll out.

In theory global expansion should be easier than for Pandora, which licences sound recording rights through the American statutory rights agency SoundExchange rather than directly off the labels. The collective licensing of digital services varies from territory to territory causing complications as Pandora moves abroad, whereas - in theory at least - once Apple has a template agreement in place with each of the major record companies, similar arrangements should be available in each market.

As previously reported, getting agreements with the majors involved some tough negotiations, and it's thought both the labels and music publishers secured pretty good terms, though with a few concessions for Apple at the outset, giving the tech giant an opportunity to build the advertising side of the business, and to reduce its risk. Universal was first to sign up, followed by Warner and, at the final hour, Sony. Work is now ongoing to get the indies labels and publishers on board too.

It remains to be seen if Apple's long-awaited move into streaming - the 'access' model of digital music - is in anyway a gamechanger. Unlike with the iTunes download store, Apple is very late to the party. And with a pretty standard service that is more limited than those provided by many competitors, both in terms of device compatibility and on-demand functionality.

Though, as Apple bosses reminded everyone with their parade of stats before announcing iTunes Radio yesterday, the company has sold 600 million iOS devices worldwide that can run the new service, it has access to 575 million iTunes accounts, most with credit card info provided, and it still commands a 63% share of the download market. Plus there is still an argument that less interactive streaming services are actually more attractive to mainstream consumers, and it wouldn't be the first time Apple scored big time with an unoriginal idea.

Though Apple's competitors in the streaming music space remained mainly upbeat yesterday, arguing that the tech giant's move into streaming proved that 'access' rather than 'ownership' was the future of digital content, as they'd always said, while insisting that their services were sufficiently different to iTunes Radio, or their existing user-bases sufficiently loyal, that Apple moving in to their territory didn't matter.

And they may well be right, in that iTunes Radio will likely go after those still downloading, and new iPad and iPhone owners yet to properly engage with any digital content platforms, more than the early-adopters already signed up to a Pandora or Spotify etc. Though as nearly every streaming service seems to need to break into the mainstream to have a sustainable business long term, having a mega-player like Apple also going after that market isn't going to help.

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BIEBER FACES POLICE INVESTIGATIONS AND LAWSUITS OVER SNAPPER SCUFFLES
Justin 'The Diva' Bieber and his security team are facing two battery investigations and a lawsuit in relation to two run-ins with photographers in the last seven days. Which is pretty good going. Hey Justin, can I get a picture of you with your lawyers?

Photographer Jeffrey Binion reported Team Bieber to the police last week after a run in with the pop teen's security in Miami on 5 Jun. Police have reportedly launched an investigation. Binion was trying to take photos of the singer when, he claims, Bieber ordered one of his minders to attack him and take his camera's memory card.

According to a subsequent lawsuit, Bieber security man Hugo Hesny pinned the snapper against a wall and grabbed his throat. Binion says the altercation resulted in bodily injury, mental anguish, pain and suffering, and medical expenses.

Binion's legal rep Russell S Adler told reporters: "Justin Bieber is now an adult, and he should act like one. He needs to learn that he cannot use bodyguards as weapons to harm innocent people. Bieber's violent behaviour toward photographers must end, and he should take responsibility for his actions ... To send him that message and deter his misbehaviour in the future, we will seek punitive damages against him as allowed by Florida law".

The second police investigation relates to an incident back in LA, where a fan claims he was assaulted by one of the singer's security team after trying to snap the star. Bieber himself isn't a suspect, and, unlike with the Binion case, there doesn't seem to be any allegation that the singer requested his minder intervene.

The Diva Bieber's people are yet to comment.

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PIRATE BAY PROXY OPERATOR VISITED BY POLICE
The operator of a Pirate Bay proxy site has been visited by police, according to TorrentFreak, and ordered to shut down the service or face criminal action.

Pirate Bay proxies help web-users circumvent the blockades put in place by the internet service providers to stop people from accessing the controversial file-sharing website. As previously reported, the UK ISPs have been operating such blocks since being ordered to do so by the English courts after action was taken by record label trade body the BPI. At one point political group The Pirate Party operated a proxy, but chose to remove it after the BPI threatened legal action.

The operator of the PirateSniper proxy has told TorrentFreak that he was visited at his home by the police and reps of the Federation Against Copyright Theft. The FACT men did most of the talking, and said that unless he shut down his TPB proxy he could face criminal charges that could result in a jail sentence.

The legalities of running a Pirate Bay proxy are something of a grey area, as the injunctions ordering the original web-blocks are specifically targeted at the ISPs not the proxy operators, and said operators are two steps removed from the primary copyright infringement (in that they provide access to the website that provides access to the link that is then used by the infringer).

Though there would still be a case for contributory or, in English law, authorising infringement against the proxy runner, and if the rights owners could secure an injunction ordering the proxy be shutdown, and the operator ignored that injunction, then there would be a more tangible legal wrong.

In the meantime, the operator of PirateSniper - which he insists isn't a massively utilised proxy - says he is taking legal advice, but will keep the proxy online for the time being because "we have to show companies that we will not get bullied into doing their bidding - censorship is like a cancer, we must kill it before it spreads".

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DOTCOM EXTRADITION HEARING POSTPONED AGAIN
America's bid to extradite MegaUpload founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz has been delayed yet again, and now won't get to court until at least November.

US prosecutors want New Zealand resident Dotcom to face charges of money laundering, racketeering and copyright infringement in an American court, but efforts to extradite him have been hindered by various legal technicalities, not least the fact the authorities in New Zealand raided the Mega chief's home in January 2012 with the wrong warrant.

The date for an extradition hearing has been pushed back a number of times already, though had been set to finally occur in August. But yesterday a spokeswoman for Auckland's North Shore District Court said that hearing had now been postponed again, to 21 Nov, plus a back up date of 14 Apr 2014 had already been pencilled into the diary in case the November hearing wasn't possible.

Dotcom, of course, denies all the allegations against him and his MegaUpload colleagues, and accuses the US government of breaking the law itself when it swooped to shut down his online operation last year.

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ALISON MOYET TO RECEIVE SILVER CLEF ICON AWARD
Alison Moyet has been confirmed as this year's winner of the Icon Award at music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins' Silver Clefs later this month.

With the announcement of the award, Moyet said: "I've admired [Nordoff Robbins'] work for many years and it feels really special to be recognised by them as an 'icon'".

Other artists to be honoured at the ceremony at the Park Lane Hilton in London on 28 Jun will include Alison Balsom, who will receive the Classical Award, Coldplay, who will be named Best British Act, Barry Gibb, who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Labrinth, who, as previously reported, will receive the Innovation Award.

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GUITARIST ADRIAN BELEW QUITS NINE INCH NAILS
Dear me, Trent Reznor seems to have been concentrating so hard on his new Nine Inch Nails album of late that he keeps dropping members of his live band. Or they drop him. Or something. Whatever, another is gone, this time guitarist Adrian Belew.

The former King Crimson guitarist has also contributed to a number of Nine Inch Nails albums in the past, and will reportedly appear on new album 'Hesitation Marks', out in September. However, last week he posted the succinct message to his Facebook page: "Concerning me being part of the 2013 Nine Inch Nails [live] band: it didn't work".

In an earlier, since deleted update, he said: "Hey folks, before this goes too far let me say this: I greatly respect Trent and the music he makes. No one is at fault. We both agreed it just was not working. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone. That really hurts. But NIN will do an amazing show and I am back where I belong: creating [solo project] 'Flux".

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LOSERS LAUNCH NEW ALBUM ON PLEDGEMUSIC
Losers have announced that they will release their second album, '...And So We Shall Never Part', through PledgeMusic.

In addition to being able to pre-order the album, fans of the band can get hold of all manner of extra goodies in exchange for shiny cash, such as dinner cooked for you by the band's Eddy Temple-Morris while Tom Bellamy and Paul Mullen DJ, down to the more usual t-shirts, posters, gig ticket packages and more. A portion of all proceeds raised will go to the British Tinnitus Association too.

Find out more and stream a remix of first single 'Azan' here.

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MYPET ANNOUNCE DEBUT EP
MYPET released their CMU approved debut single, 'Pays To Know', a little under a year ago. Now, finally, they're back with more, having announced the release of their eponymous debut EP.

Due for release on 24 Jun, the lead track from the release, 'Gloria', is up on YouTube right now. Have a watch of it here.

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ISIS TO REISSUE DEBUT ALBUM
Defunct post-metallers Isis have announced that they will re-release their 2000 debut album, 'Celestial', via Ipecac on 8 Jul. Long out of print, the remastered record will feature new artwork by frontman Aaron Turner.

Elsewhere in Isis-related news, the new band formed by the other four members of the band and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno will release their eponymous debut album on 24 Jun, also through Ipecac. Listen to a track from that, 'Patagonia', here.

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JARVIS COCKER TO PLAY SHEFFIELD-THEMED SHOW AT DOC/FEST
Jarvis Cocker is to perform live at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this week as part of the 20th edition of documentary convention Doc/Fest. The show, which is set to take place on the first night of the five day event, is part of the premiere of 'The Big Melt', a new film directed by Martin Wallace that tells the story of the Yorkshire city's steel industry through footage from the BFI National Archive accompanied by music from Sheffield musicians.

Cocker, who also worked as Musical Director on the film, said in a statement: "Just like Billy Casper told Jud he'd 'never work down t' pit, I vowed never to get in all that 'Sheffield: Steel City' biz. But guess what? Looking at the BFI's awesome collection of steel-related films changed my mind. I only hope that we can pay proper homage to the extraordinary individuals featured in this footage. Our aim is to melt faces (and hearts) and to blow minds. With maybe a bit of smelting thrown in for good measure. The jesses are so off".

Wallace added: "We wanted to tell a story about steel that opened out the basic social history and facts about the process itself. There are some awesome BFI archive films that already paint a vivid picture of the real story, so we wanted to drag this archive into the present, re-imagine and invigorate it, turn it into something more fantastical, more playful and, at the same time, more challenging".

Cocker will be joined on stage tomorrow night by a number of local musicians, including Richard Hawley.

For more on Doc/Fest, check out our interview with BBC Music & Events Commissioning Editor Jan Younghusband here.

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JAGWAR MA ANNOUNCE MORE TOUR DATES
With their debut album out this week, Jagwar Ma have announced another string of live shows, this time taking place in October.

In addition to shows due to take place this month, the band will also now play the following:

19 Oct: Manchester, Gorilla
20 Oct: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
22 Oct: Brighton, The Haunt
23 Oct: London, Scala
24 Oct: Bristol, Thekla

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HMV TO RETURN TO IRISH HIGH STREET
HMV will return to the high street in Ireland; well, some high streets. The entertainment retailer is reportedly in the process of recruiting about 100 staff ahead of the reopening of three of its Irish stores, two in Dublin and one in Limerick.

As previously reported, when the HMV UK business went into administration in January, the Irish HMV company was wound down completely, with its sixteen stores shutting and about 300 staff laid off. However, since restructuring company Hilco bought a streamlined HMV UK out of administration, bosses there have been talking with some of HMV Ireland's former landlords to see if rents could be agreed to make a revival of the Irish business a viable proposition.

The three shops due to reopen in the coming weeks are those on Dublin's Henry Street and at the city's Dundrum Centre, and the Crescent Shopping Centre branch in Limerick. Other former stores elsewhere in Ireland could also reopen, or the reinvigorated HMV may look for new stores. According to the Irish Independent, Hilco chief Paul McGowan said: "Deals have been done with landlords. It will take around six weeks, some stores have to be refitted, but Henry Street is ready to go".

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STEIN EXPANDS ROLE AS TORTELLA EXITS WARNER MUSIC
American record industry veteran Seymour Stein has confirmed he is expanding his role at Warner Music by also supporting the major label's independent distribution arm the Alternative Distribution Alliance.

Stein has been a senior A&R within Warner Bros Records for decades while also overseeing Sire Records, the imprint label that he co-founded as an independent back in 1966. In his new role, as well as seeking artists to sign directly to the major, Stein will also advise on indie labels and self-releasing artists which ADA might want to work with. And while remaining US-based, this will include labels and artists Stein discovers on his various international travels, especially in emerging markets.

Discussing his newly expanded role, Stein told reporters: "Technically, I've not been an indie since Sire joined Warner back in the late 70s, but that indie spirit has always been very much in my heart, soul and mind. To me, being an indie is being out there in the streets, the way my mentors like Syd Nathan at King Records, Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic, George Goldner at Red Bird and Leonard Chess were identifying talent and changes in music long before the majors. In fact, I never saw Warner Music as a major label on its own, but rather a coalition of three great indie labels; Atlantic, Reprise and Elektra, headed by pioneers such as Ahmet and Jerry as well as Jac Holzman, Mo Ostin and Joe Smith".

Elsewhere in Warner Music executive movements, Livia Tortella, COO at Warner Bros Records in the US, is departing the major. Her exiting follows that of her colleague and ally at the Warner division Todd Moscowitz, who was Warner Bros CEO until last December. Since his departure Tortella has reported into Cameron Strang, the boss of Warner's music publishing business who has risen in power at the major in the last year, taking over responsibility for chunks of the company's American recorded music operations too.

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BLINKBOX MUSIC LAUNCHES IN BETA
So, while everyone was getting in a flap about iTunes Radio, another streaming service launched yesterday.

Tesco's Blinkbox Music - formerly We7 - went into beta. Also a personalised radio service, with a focus on themed playlists, the service launches with a catalogue of eleven million tracks and is available on your PC or through iOS and Android apps.

Founder of the original Blinkbox film service Michael Comish was also yesterday announced as Tesco Group's new Digital Officer.

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NIGEL LYTHGOE "FIRED" FROM AMERICAN IDOL
Nigel Lythgoe has announced that he has been "fired" as producer of 'American Idol', having been at the helm since the show launched in 2002. Fellow producer Ken Warwick will also leave, following the previously reported recent departures of judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson.

Announcing the news on Twitter, Lythgoe said: "Just had ten days in the Bahamas, rain every day. I get back to the States and get fired. Sad!". Though he quickly added: "It's not a personal thing they just feel 'Idol' needs new leadership after twelve seasons".

He will remain Executive Producer on another Fox talent show, 'So You Think You Can Dance'.

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TIMES TO CUT 20 EDITORIAL ROLES, BUT WON'T MERGE WITH SUNDAY TIMES
The Times is cutting 20 editorial roles after the paper's acting editor John Witherow told his staff "the era of being subsidised is coming to an end". The cutting of 20 journalists, 10% of the London paper's editorial team, comes as the broadsheet's owners, New International, look to control the outgoings of the loss-making title.

Traditionally The Times has been subsidised by its sister paper The Sun, following a principle applied across the Murdoch-controlled News Corp empire, where some of the profits from more lucrative ventures were used to subsidise prestigious but less commercially viable titles or projects. But News Corp is in the process of being split into two companies, with the less secure newspaper and publishing side of the operation being separated from the much more profitable TV and movie business.

According to the Times itself, Witherow said: "For several years now, Times Newspapers has been losing money. The company has tolerated this because it could use profits from elsewhere in News Corp to pay for our papers and because the proprietor has a passion for newspapers. I fear that era of being subsidised is coming to an end. The separation of the two companies means that the newspapers will form a bigger and more exposed element in the new News Corp".

But Witherow told his staff that, while they were facing 20 compulsory redundancies, there was currently no plan to merge the editorial teams of the daily and Sunday editions of the Times.

Most newspaper groups in the UK are quietly integrating the operations of their daily and equivalent Sunday titles, even though Sunday papers are arguably a different beast editorially speaking (reporting on the week just gone, rather than the last 24 hours). As profits have slumped, it's an obvious economy, usually beginning with back-office operations before moving to editorial.

The shutting down of News Of The World in disgrace and resulting launch of the Sun On Sunday enabled News International to set that title up as a cheaper-to-run seven day operation much quicker than anyone originally anticipated.

The move of former Sunday Times editor Witherow into the acting editor role on the main Times was seen by many as a forerunner of a merger there too, even though agreements dating back to Murdoch's 1981 acquisition of the title make such integration harder to achieve. But, said Witherow yesterday, there were commercial as well as editorial reasons to keep the two London Times papers separate. Though the merger proposition would continue to be reviewed from time to time.

The latest in a number of job cuts in recent years, it's not clear what impact the latest redundancies will have on the Times' output.

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RICHARD HAWLEY'S DOWN ON GLASTONBURY AND BIG FESTS
Richard Hawley's no fan of Glastonbury. Or any of the big festivals really. Asked by Gigwise whether he'd been tempted to play at the Glastonbury Festival this year, Hawley said: "Nah. Good luck to everyone that does it, but I've done all that shit. I'd rather do these gigs at Graves Park and say something to the people of Sheffield and South Yorkshire than do Glastonbury, which has become meaningless to me".

He added: "I got offered a lot of money to play there and I turned it down because it doesn't have any meaning. All of the political sides of it seem to have been whitewashed and airbrushed over. The Rolling Stones are playing and that just seems weird to me if you think about what it's supposed to be and what it's become".

But don't worry Team Glasto, it's not just your field-based extravaganza the former Long[igs guitarist man doesn't like. Though he is about to compare your event to the V Festival. Brace yourself for that.

Hawley goes on: "It's not just Glastonbury - I don't like the whole corporate festival thing. I've done V Festival with Pulp and as a solo artist, and I hated every minute of it. It's just nasty and not what I'm about - I want something a bit more free and organic. I want the audiences to feel included rather than trapped. They've paid for the privilege to be trapped in a field and marketed to. What the fuck is that all about? I won't be there. I'll probably be in a place I love. I love the British coast - it's fucking awesome".

Does that mean he's booked for a summer season in Bridlington?

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