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New mobile phone music services such as Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow Plus and Nokia’s Comes With Music could reduce internet piracy considerably, a new study has claimed. But the services, which are being promoted as a major rival to Apple’s iPhone, could also have a negative effect on the sale of CDs. Both phones come with music, and PlayNow Plus offer users a range of ‘unlimited’ options that allow them to download as many tracks as they want, as previously reported.
(More about iPhone rivals to kill off internet piracy…)

If you were anywhere near a radio or jukebox in 1958 and had an ear open for pop music, chances are very good that you would have heard a song about love that became a hit for two different musical acts at the same time, but that wasn't the end. That same song experienced a resurgence in popularity when recorded by a different group in 1966, and a decade later became a hit for yet another singing act.
(More about Retro Redux: A Love Song That Became A Four-Time Hit…)

After Jive Records decided to push back the release of Britney Spears’ new single, “Womanizer,” the song made its official debut Friday morning (September 26) on New York radio station Z100. And now you can listen to it online right here.

A 37-second snippet of the song, the first single off Circus (due out December 2), was leaked on a Nashville radio station last Friday before promptly being removed.

(More about Britney Spears’ ‘Womanizer’ Makes Radio Debut…)

Fabio, Roni Size, Shy FX and Mickey Finn are amongst an all star cast of drum & bass DJs who will be performing at London’s Koko next month for a special party celebrating the early release of Grooverider from prison in Dubai. His recent release was greeted with joy from peers such as Calibre (“finally the injustice has been reversed”) and 4 Hero’s Marc Mac, who speaking about the case this week declared; “the drum and bass scene was on hold while Groove was held captive.” The event’s promoters address his imprisonment directly in the event’s marketing material, with a detailed description of his case.
(More about International News: Grooverider’s DJing return…)

Around a hundred riot police smashed into Pacha London last Friday night in a co-ordinated drugs raid that discovered just a small quantity of illegal substances amongst the 200 revellers present, leading to ten arrests.
(More about International News: Police raid Pacha in London…)

We caught up with some of their celeb friends and fans at last night's Entertainment Weekly pre-Emmy party at the historic Beverly Hills Post Office. Here's what they had to say:   • Jamie Kennedy: "You know, it's crazy because I've been trying to call Travis because he was on my show Blowin' Up and I've known him for a long time.
(More about DJ AM & Travis Barker: Hollywood Reacts (E! Online)…)

Recorded live on May 23, 1998 and originally released just a couple months before Rick Danko’s death at the age of 56, the reissue of Live On Breeze Hill is a solid and occasionally surprising album that finds the Band bassist performing songs from his time with that fabled, er, band.

Supported by a backing group that includes fellow Bander Garth Hudson, Aaron “Louie” Hurwitz, Lenny Pickett, and Blues Brother alum Tom “Bones” Malone, Danko reinterprets Band standards, sometimes in a way that reveals striking differences from their better-known studio versions.

Though these live cuts don’t surpass those from Danko’s days with The Band, it’s certainly not a maudlin trip into pointless nostalgia or a case of a performer simply reliving his glory days at the audience’s expense.

(More about Music Review: Rick Danko Band - Live On Breeze Hill…)

"PCD" (Interscope ) has sold 2.9 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and spawned such chart-topping hits as "Don't Cha" and "Buttons" featuring Snoop Dogg. But when lead singer Nicole Scherzinger tried to go solo last fall, the response couldn't have been more different. Four singles fizzled on the charts and on radio, and her album, "Her Name Is Nicole," was shelved indefinitely.
(More about Pussycat Dolls’ solo work on hold for “Domination” (Reuters)…)

Upon the 1973 release of Berlin, a Rolling Stone critic deemed the record “patently offensive.” Thirty years later, Lou Reed’s concept album about speed freaks on a downward spiral of infidelity, spousal abuse, parental neglect and death ranked 344 on this magazine’s 500 all-time-greatest-albums list. Reed has always fed upon this kind of irony, and in 2006 he staged a concert adaptation of his rock musical in Brooklyn.
(More about Lou Reed - Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse…)

Blonde On Blonde found Bob Dylan taking rock ‘n’ roll to places where it had not previously gone. However, in July of 1966 Dylan was in a motorcycle accident and disappeared from public view. He would only perform live twice in the next three years and that would be at two memorial concerts for Woody Guthrie at Carnegie Hall. He would spend a great deal of time and effort cloistered with The Band in Woodstock, New York, recording dozens of songs.

(More about Music Review: Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding…)