Hypebot reported today about a protest at Popkomm against Sony/BMG music and DRM. Popkomm is an international business platform for the music and entertainment industry. Imagine an annual trade show combined with an awards ceremony. Sony/BMG was one of the many booths set up to share their “innovations” and was subsequently the site of a protest against DRM and the malicious software and hardware that Sony produces. ([More →])

Macy Gray has a new video for “Everybody” off her new album Big. The video was shot on the Santa Monica Promenade and depicts Gray calling for action and participation. People join in declaring their own message of empowerment, involvement and participation. Gray is also calling on everybody to participate by posting video responses on youTube. So far, there have been great responses from Common, will.i.am, Lauren London, and Baron Davis. ([More →])

It’s hip to be helpful these days. Dave Mathews will be the next contender to launch his tour with a social-conscious effort. Last week it was Linkin Park announcing that would plant trees as part of their Projekt Revolution tour. This week Mathews announced his desire for US troops, traumatized by war, get the medical and psychiatric assistance they need when they return home. To achieve this, he has joined the movement that is pressing Congress to see that the aid is provided. Too many troops are denied help when they return to the US under the premise that they already had their mental problems when they left for combat. So, does this mean that the US government admits that a person must be deranged in order to sign up for duty in the military? ([More →])

Linkin Park, heroes of the environment? Well, not too surprising I guess. A few years ago, the band started their own non-profit called Music for Relief in order to channel some funds from the music community into environmental relief campaigns. They just played Live Earth of course, and now are about to head off on the Projekt Revolution tour. Linkin Park vocalist, Bennington, answered questions at a press conference last week, telling reporters that environmental education would be a focus of this tour. ([More →])

As promised, the Future of Music Coalition has ended a week of exposing Clear Channel’s devious business practices with a BANG! I don’t want to spoil the plot, so head over to the FMC blog to see what they’ve served up. If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out the links to previous posts below.

LINKS

FMC surprise for Clear Channel
Clear Channel Steals From Independent Musicians
Clear Channel Seeks Royalty-Free Souls

Those of you in the NYC area this weekend are hopefully excited about the FREE Citysol Party. You didn’t forget did you? Well, just in case you did, here’s a reminder…

The clean energy, interactive art and music festival opened tonight at 6pm with performances that included bicycle-powered turntablism by DJ Mistakes! Wow! The wheels of the bike turn the wheels of wax? Too cool! But, wait - you haven’t missed out, the festival runs all weekend long and there is great stuff happening Friday, Saturday and Sunday too! ([More →])

BIG BIG News! Fans of dancehall and reggae have often discussed the elements of homophobia, racism, sexism, and other nasties in Jamaican music. The music industry goes through cycles of acceptance and rejection of these messages in music. ([More →])

Launching your artwork into the world can be a whirlwind of manic activity, especially when it’s your first time. Mr. J Medeiros is not new to releasing albums, he’s put out 3 albums as a member of the Procussions. But putting a solo work out into the world is a whole new game. ([More →])

This message is so important that I have decided to repost it with some extra information. SaveNetRadio.org has declared a Day of Silence for internet radio broadcast on Tuesday June 26th. The stations that participate will give listeners only a taste of what it will be like after July 15th if the increased royalty rate is upheld. Stations that go silent will likely include Pandora, Live 365, Yahoo LAUNCHcast, and MTV Online, and NPR member stations. These stations, plus others like AccuRadio, Radioio, Digitally Imported, Rhapsody and many more would be seriously impacted by retroactive royalty increases equal to 50-300% of the station’s current revenue income. In Rhapsody, Pandora and Live365’s cases, the increase would also penalize their multiple channels platform, causing rate increases equal to more than 1000% of their current revenue. 1000%! According to the RAIN (Radio And Internet Newsletter):

Webcasters will be alerting their listeners that “silence” is what Internet radio may sound like on or shortly after July 15th, the day on which 17 months’ worth of retroactive royalty increase payments are due to the SoundExchange collection organization under the terms of a recent Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decision.

Read more about the situation on the RAIN website and check out SaveNetRadio.org for more options of what you - the listener, the musician, the dj, the webcaster - can do to help.

LINKS To Contact Your Congress

US Senators Home Page
Write Your Representatives Page

DO ANYTHING THAT IS WITHIN YOUR POWER TO SAVE NET RADIO!!

Please spread the word, copy and save this image and use it on your own blog. Tell all your friends. Write to the US Congress using the links above. If you can think of other ways to get involved, please share them in the comments here…

This report has been submitted to DIGG and Reddit. Please add your support to either.

REDDIT THIS!

Wilco announced a plethora of new tour dates today - they added 11 cities, mostly west coast/PNW locations. In addition to more cities, the veteran musicians have also expanded the spread of their love for humanity. Sure, give them a hard time about the VW commercial (is that any different than being featured on AOL or MTV?), but these boys are working overtime to drum up some charity from fans. All proceeds from the sale of show posters (available at the shows) will be donated to local charities. From their website:

Wilco Show Posters For Charity:

21 June - Merriweather (DC) - http://www.dccentralkitchen.org/
Canned food drive - Needed most are canned beans, tuna, chicken, or salmon. 4 cans of food gets $10 off the event poster

25/26 June - NY/Brooklyn - http://826nyc.org/

29 June - Burlington - Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf (http://www.cvoeo.org/htm/FoodShelves/foodshelves.html)
Canned food drive - 2 cans of food gets $10 off the event poster

30 June - Toronto - http://musican.ca/

So catch a great show and chip in for a great cause!

Current Tour Sched:

June 2007
19 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
20 - Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium
21 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
22 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theater
24 - Northampton, MA - The Pines
25 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
26 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
28 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
29 - Shelburne, VT - The Green at Shelburne Museum
30 - Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall

New Tour Dates (with a few previously announced):

August 2007
14 - Duluth, MN - Bayfront Festival Park
15 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
17 - Calgary, Alberta - Jubilee Auditorium
18 - Edmonton, Alberta - Jubilee Auditorium
21 - Seattle, WA - Marymoor Park
22 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield
24 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre
26 - Santa Barbara, CA - County Bowl
27 - San Diego, CA - SDSU Open Air Theater
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre

September 2007
1, 2 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
16 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival

Official Wilco Web

SaveNetRadio.org has declared a Day of Silence for internet radio broadcast on Tuesday June 26th. The stations that participate will give listeners only a taste of what it will be like after July 15th if the increased royalty rate is upheld. Stations that go silent will likely include Pandora, Live 365, Yahoo LAUNCHcast, and MTV Online, and NPR member stations. These stations, plus others like AccuRadio, Radioio, Digitally Imported, Rhapsody and many more would be seriously impacted by retroactive royalty increases equal to 50-300% of the station’s current revenue income. In Rhapsody, Pandora and Live365’s cases, the increase would also penalize their multiple channels platform, causing rate increases equal to more than 1000% of their current revenue. 1000%! According to the RAIN (Radio And Internet Newsletter):

Webcasters will be alerting their listeners that “silence” is what Internet radio may sound like on or shortly after July 15th, the day on which 17 months’ worth of retroactive royalty increase payments are due to the SoundExchange collection organization under the terms of a recent Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decision.

Read more about the situation on the RAIN website and check out SaveNetRadio.org for more options of what you - the listener, the musician, the dj, the webcaster - can do to help.

Look at the left sidebar here at HearingTest for 2 links for contacting your Senators and Representatives in Congress. The lins are under the title act!

Oxjam, the Oxfam music festival, announced its preliminary lineup today. Oxjam is no ordinary show, it is an umbrella for 3,000 music events that take place in the UK in October. Oxjam is considered a movement - different musicians, artists, promoters and party people come together each year to try to raise money and awareness for Oxfam. Oxfam is a UK charity whose mission is to end poverty worldwide. So, you can see why it would take such a large event to accomplish such a HUGE goal.

The Klaxons are one of the headliners of this year’s event, and their very own James Righton describes Oxjam thus:

For us, Oxjam is the highlight of the festival season because everyone gets to make the noise themselves. The only thing more exciting than putting on your own event to help fight poverty is knowing that you’re part of a movement of thousands of gigs, club nights and events right across the country.

That’s right, Oxjam needs your help putting these events together! Each year they put out the call for musicians and promoters to organize events as part of the greater movement. And besides a feeling of accomplishment and the satisfaction that you are making the world a better place to live, you might also get featured on MTV. So, if you are in the UK or plan on being there in October, you might want to join the fun!

OXJAM Partial LINEUP 2007

Klaxons
The Kooks
DJ Shadow
Kasabian
Kaiser Chiefs
Merry Men
the Matadors
The Furze
Yer MoMMa
Lost Without Cause
The Clerks Band
The Bakery Girls
Mirno

That’s a lot of K in a lineup… 40,000 musicians total are expected to be involved, so don’t expect a full lineup from me! :) To find out more about any of these bands, and to see other bands that are involved in Oxjam 2007, go to the Mtv Oxjam page…

LINKS

Mtv Oxjam page
NME report
Oxfam website