XM Radio is getting sued, McCartney gets his coffee fix and smart kids do Rock n' roll.
As if XM Radio, which is in the process of being taken over by Sirius Satellite Radio, had anything else it needs to bother with, a group representing The National Music Publishers' Association filed a Federal lawsuit Thursday against the station.
XM allows its users to download and store songs onto portable music devices as long as they have a subscription to the service (which is $13 a month).
The suit is bound to have a tough time in the courts as it holds similarities to a case filed last year by a group representing the Recording Industry Association of America that is still pending.
In other blog-worthy news:
Paul McCartney has left Capitol Records to sign with Starbucks’ new label. Entitled, Hear Music, he apparently couldn’t resist the temptation of getting free Mocha-latte-double-frappe grande-cinnos—something Capitol could only spuriously offer. No, but really McCartney said he was intrigued by the idea that the company would be using it’s coffeehouses to push music and also by their dedication to supporting artists.
And in the most amazingly horrible/excellent/obvious/Oh-that-explains-a–lot-about-me news of the week: A team of researchers from the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth at Warwick University in the UK just finished a study that claims smart kids enjoy rock music more than any other type, including classical. Researchers believe this is probably because most smart kids feel alienated and thus seek comfort in angst-ridden and misanthropic good ole’ rock n’ roll.
